Hinduvoice New List

{UnitedHinduFront} Re: Dirty and Mean methods adopted by followers

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:31:00 GMT

From: poonam abbi <<a href="mailto:poonam_abbi@yahoo.com">poonam_abbi@yahoo.com</a> How did they succeed in this case when there is nothing like sati pratha or birth based caste system? I live in the USA. And how many times I have seen these groups who go about recruiting to xtianity pass my house, & tell their partners to leave this house alone when some one from this group has pointed toward it. It is so very amusing to see their faces when they are given no as an answer. --- On Sat, 6/14/08, Mohan Gupta <<a href="mailto:mgupta@rogers.com">mgupta@rogers.com</a> wrote: From: Mohan Gupta <<a href="mailto:mgupta@rogers.com">mgupta@rogers.com</a> Date: Saturday, June 14, 2008 Subject: {UnitedHinduFront} Dirty and Mean methods adopted by followers of Semitic religion for conversion of Hindus Dirty and Mean methods adopted by followers of Semitic religion for conversion of Hindus The followers of Semitic religion want to convert the whole world into their respective religions Christianity or Islam. Followers of Christianity had quite success in converting the people of Africa into Christianity but they were not finding it easy to convert Hindus of Bhaarat. For that purpose they started adopting many tricks. One of the tricks was to denigrate Hindu religion in many ways. Christians found it very convient that by distorting Caste System and Sati system of Hindu religion for conversion Hindus into Christianity. See the details in the following article how the Christians took advantage for converting Hindus by distorting the Sati system. <a href="http://indiaview.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/censoring-indian-history/">http://indiaview.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/censoring-indian-history/</a> Sati Pratha and its origins Prabhat Varun Sati Pratha is a favorite topic among Hindu-bashers. As soon as they are questioned about the validity of their own claims, goals and methods they immediately start harping on Sati Pratha. And lo! The trick works. The questioning Hindu becomes defensive. He never tries to probe into the origin of so-called Sati Pratha, or at least about its rumors. So, let us try to do it here, what the typical-Hindu always refrains to. Sati Pratha is nowhere mentioned in Hindu scriptures. Not a hint of it. There is no case of forceful widow burning in any of our scriptures. News about Sati Pratha started surfacing only with the advent of Christian Missionaries in India. They with their mission of converting the wretched idolaters, i.e., Hindus to Christianity started slandering Hinduism. For they quickly perceived that Hindus were an unyielding, staunch lot. They would not yield to the treacherous methods of Christian Missionaries. So they devised a new way for accomplishing their Harvest. They decided to slander Hinduism in front of Hindus, so as to shake their belief in it, and also in front of global community so as to justify their demonic agendas of Conversion. And for that they had a new tool in their hands to which Hindus had no access. This tool was the combined institution of Modern British Education System and the newly born media, i.e., the propaganda machine. (How they developed these mediums in India is another topic, related to Macaulay and many others and too long to be discussed here). So, they started their well-planned campaign against Hinduism. A very good example of this is the English word "Juggernaut", meaning, "a huge and overwhelming force". It is originated form the Rath Yatra of Jagganath. Christian Missionaries said that there goes one evil Yatra among Hindus, in which wretched idolaters take out a procession of three idols. In the Yatra, they take intoxicating drugs, dance nude in front of the chariot, make obscene gestures to each other and then in a fit throw themselves in front of the chariot to commit suicide. Hence, the word with its meaning of an "overwhelming force". Swami Vivekanand also mentions this at one place along with many other calumnies heaped over Hinduism and Hindu civilization by the designing Christian Missionaries. Here is an excerpt of that, "What is meant by those pictures in the school-books for children where the Hindu mother is painted as throwing her children to the crocodiles in the Ganga? The mother is black, but the baby is painted white, to arouse more sympathy, and get more money. What is meant by those pictures, which painted a man burning his wife at a stake with his own hands, so that she may become a ghost and torment the husband's enemy? What is meant by the pictures of huge cars crushing over human beings? I have heard one of these gentlemen preach in Memphis that, in every village of India, there is a pond of the bones of little babies. What have the Hindus done to these disciples of Christ that every Christian child is taught to call the Hindus 'vile' and 'wretched' and the most horrible demons on earth?" Swami Vivekananda, The Complete Works, Vol. IV (1945 ed.) Any person even most slightly acquainted with the Rath Yatra needs no explaining about the truth. Similarly, they harped on Sati, and invented the very term and phenomenon of Sati Pratha, citing some allegedly eye-witness accounts of widow burning on the funeral pyre of their husband. So, what was the truth in those accounts? If, there was any truth in those accounts, then what was their origin? For finding their origin, we have to stretch our memory some centuries back to the Medieval Ages, the era of great unprecedented rape, pillage and looting of India by Muslims and their armies. Among the very first provinces to bear the brunt of Islamic sword were Sindh, Punjab and Rajputana. Sindh being Buddhist in majority and Punjab also having a considerable population of Buddhists, succumbed soon to the unprecedented barbarous Islamic invasions. But Rajputana being completely Hindu held out for centuries. Even now there are only 9% Muslims in Rajasthan. But this resistance cost them a great deal. They had never faced such barbarous invaders and looters. All of the wars which they fought until then, were fought with a moral ethical code. Being synonymous with the Hindu philosophy, wars were fought only between warriors and concerned only them. Civil populace was never even touched, let alone molested. But the new Islamic enemy they were now facing was an unprecedented evil force, which did not rely on valour for victory, but instead on treachery, deceit, malice, crookedness and all other evil means. Those Islamic armies instead of fighting chivalrously with their opponents, chose to decimate the civilian populace, by laying siege to the country side, thus decimating the social, cultural and economic fabric of the nations. They massacred and butchered complete populations of Hindus, broke their idols, desecrated their temples, butchered the Brahmins, converted them forcibly to Islam (by making them eat beef!) destroyed their corps, poisoned their wells, burned their houses, abducted their children and raped their women. They took their inspiration from Quran. Ayats 2:193, 8:39, orders them to break idols. Ayats 8:12, 22: 19-22 exhorts them to massacre the religious leaders of the other religion. Ayats 33:59 and 4:24 encourages them to commit sexual transgr essions without compunction with the non-Muslim women. This, this last atrocity done to the local populace by these Islamic marauders was without precedence in cruelty. (No one in Hindu era even thought of touching another woman, let alone raping her). It was a greater calamity on women than their family men. They did not think of such calamity befalling them in their wildest nightmares. They were free women under Hinduism with an equal say in society as men. They were not used to the sexual, and mental humiliation and torture to which Muslim and non-Muslim women under Islamic rule were subjected to. Chastity for them was everything, the prime value of life. They could not imagine an unchaste life. The very concept was unthinkable to them. And for preserving their chastity they were prepared to do anything, to break every barrier, to sacrifice every tying, even their life. And so they did. Facing these Islamic molesters, the brave Hindu women chose death. They built big cauldron like pots, lit then with fire and jumped into them, to die voluntarily and happily in order to save their honour and chastity. They chose and embraced death themselves and nobody forced them to do so. They with their very feminine bravery defied whole armies of Islamic marauders with all of their evil means and intentions. This phenomenon was called 'johar', meaning giving themselves to fire in order to be saved from disgrace. So, this was 'Johar', later practiced by Hindu women in every part of India in order to save themselves from the dirty hands of Islamic marauders. There was no forced immolation in that process, no malign Brahmins, no cruel priests, thus no 'Sati Pratha.' And for suicide no other person can be blamed, other than those Islamic marauders whose threat forced Hindu women to suicide. 'Sati' is an ancient Sanskrit term, meaning a chaste woman who thinks of no other man than her own husband. The famous examples are Sati Anusuiya, Savitri, Ahilya etc. None of them committed suicide, let alone being forcible burned. So how is that that they are called Sati? The word 'Sati' means a chaste woman, and it has no co-relations with either suicide or murder. The term 'Sati' was never accompanied by 'Pratha'. The phrase, 'Sati Pratha' was a Christian Missionary invention. Sati was taken form the above quoted source and 'Pratha' was taken from the practice of Johar', (by distorting its meaning from 'suicide' to 'murder') and the myth of 'Sati Pratha' was born to haunt Hindus forever. So 'Sati Pratha' (in its modern avatar of forcible widow burning) is not a fault of Hinduism but a crime of Islam. Islam is the perpetrator of crime here, and Hinduism, the victim. It is a joint crime of Islam and Christianity. The crime of Islam was transposed on Hinduism (absolving Islam in the process) by the historical connivance of anti-Hindu forces (Islam, Christianity and Marxism). To insert a spiritual clause here, it is very important to say that in modern times whenever is there a case reported of voluntary immolation of a woman on her husband's pyre, it is never reported that the dying woman shrieked in the unbearable pain of the burning flesh. Sucha case is reported by Mark Tully in his book 'No Full Stops in India'. He tells of a woman Roop Kanwar in the village Deorala, district Sikar of Rajasthan who in Sep 1987 voluntarily died by burning herself with fire, without emitting any cries or shrieks. So what does it signify? No mortal can remain calm when his flesh is being burnt. So what is the reason of this superhuman quality of these women? The answer lies in dharma, Yoga and meditation. There are umpteen stories in Puranas and Vedas in which both men and women voluntarily accept death by immolating their mortal bodies by various means, including fire. The power of Yoga makes them oblivious of the pain of the decay of the morta l body. So women who voluntarily gave up their life in fire were empowered with the power of Yoga. Pain did not touch their chaste bodies. Hindus being oppressed for centuries have developed a mental state called 'Dhimmitude', which means a mental slavery to its long time oppressor Islam. So, now even those Hindus who stand against Islam are timid, defensive and guilty of some hypothetical crimes, imagined for their chagrin, for them by their enemies. They still can't think freely, analyze history objectively and recognize the true nature of Hinduism, i.e., Dharma. But, if they want to re-generate Dharma, Truth and Goodness then they will have to view History in its true light, with Courage, Resolution and with Objectivity. Then only they will be able to re-discover their Dharma and do something for its regeneration. History being 'Dharma' itself hopes them to do so. <a href="http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_060328.htm">http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_060328.htm</a> One strong Hindu can change the thought-current of the whole world... Hindus should have fearlessness,the first prerequisite of a spiritual life. ================== What you expect from from people who have slavery not in blood but even in their bones. All media of Bhaarat is controlled by Muslims and Christians. There is no pro -Hindu media or press. BJP has taken pledge to start English paper Motherland and Hindi paper Matribhoomi. When indira Gandhi closed down motherland it should have been re - started within six months when the emergency was removed. Hindi paper Martribhoomi was never started. When Hajpayee Atal Bihari was prime minister, he answered to a question that there is no need for BJP paper as present media is doing good job. This the quality of BJP leaders. Mullah lal Krishan Advani is no better who went to grace the wedding of his niece to a Muslim man and praised Jinnah who caused division of Bhaarat. What you think which party or leader is good? BJP is Bteam of congressand fooled Hindus and now on road to appease Muslimsand Christians.While in power for six years did they ever try to form a policy to trace and deport 20 million Bangladeshi Muslims? Why didn't they stop Hajj subsidy? Why DIDN'T THEY BUILD FENCE TO STOP BANGLADESHIS getting in India? Why didn't they take strong action when 19 Indian soldiers were killed by Bangladeshi troops on Indo-Bangladesh border? Hindus are leaderless those who claim to be Hindu leaders are betraying Hindus. We need a ultra militant Hindu organisation to take care of Hindu interests . This is the need of time. The final battle is on and if we donot act now then to morrow will be too late. DR.S.SHARMA =============================

Many Christians & Muslims used Hindu names to fool Hindus. (yashwini1@aol.com)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:30:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:yashwini1@aol.com">yashwini1@aol.com</a> Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 Many Hindus are not aware that having a Hindu name does not make one Hindu.Many Christians & Muslims used Hindu names. Film actor Dilip Kumar is Yusuf Khan, similarly actresses Meena Kumari and Madhubala were also Muslims using Hindu names. A lot of Christians also use Hindu names:Sadhu Sunder Singh, Ajit Jogi, Yesudas, Vijay Amritraj, Mala Sinha, Pandita Ramabai etc. all of these people are Christians using Hindu names. Similarly,on internet, you may find many people with Hindu screen IDs bashing Hindu Dharma. Obviously, they are using Hindu IDs to fool Hindus. Now that they have started calling Biblical psalms as Shalokas, and Bishops as Swami, and Jesus as Satguru,more confusion is created. Its responsibility of each Hindu to educate his children & fellow men.

{UnitedHinduFront} Re: Hindu Family in Panvel,Mah. terrorised by Christians. (psharma@rand.com)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:30:00 GMT

From: Peet Sharma <<a href="mailto:psharma@rand.com">psharma@rand.com</a> Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 How can we asist. What can we do? Krishna ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: <a href="mailto:Unitedhindufront@googlegroups.com">Unitedhindufront@googlegroups.com</a> [<a href="mailto:Unitedhindufront@googlegroups.com">mailto:Unitedhindufront@googlegroups.com</a>] On Behalf Of hindu voice Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 3:51 AM Subject: {UnitedHinduFront} Hindu Family in Panvel, Mah. terrorised by Christians. Hindu Family in Panvel, Mah. terrorised by Christians. P. Deivamuthu, Editor, Hindu Voice, Mumbai. 022-28764418, 28764460, 09324728153 Vishwadeep Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. is a housing complex in Reeswadi, Rasaini, (PO: Mohopada) Tal. Khalapur, Dist. Raigadh, Maharashtra, about 12 KMs from Panvel, sandwiched between old and new Mumbai-Pune Highways. The housing complex consists of 12 buildings, 12 bunglows and an old age home. This is predominantly a Catholic colony, promoted by one Father Anthony Corriea. In 2001, looking at the attractive advertisements released by Father Corriea in newspapers, a Hindu couple, Karunakar and Usha Shetty, booked a flat in the complex. They occupied the flat (A1/102) in 2004, along with their three children - Ramya (17), Sowmya (9) and Kalyani (6). To their utter shock, they did not find any of the facilities promised in the advertisement - school, shopping complex, etc - for which they had to fend for themselves. Probably that is the reason why most of the flats are unoccupied. What is surprising is that at the time of booking, the Shetty family was aware that it is a Christian colony. However, since they were very much in love with Mother Tressa and her activities (in fact they have made donations to her charity), they thought that they can live in a Christian colony peacefully. Father Corriea was also too happy to enrol Hindus as he was sure that they will have no other go except converting to Christianity, which he did in a few other cases. However, since the Shetty couple insisted on their remaining a practising Hindus, troubles started visiting them. Father Corriea and the present secretary of the Society, Mr. Jude Fernendes could not digest that a practising Hindu can reside in their complex. The result was that the Hindu family was harassed and was put to bear untold miseries. They were deprived of all their facilities - stopping of sweeping, cutting of electric supply at odd times, putting off the light facing their terrace, etc. Since the Shetty family (especially the lady) was very bold and stubborn, they started physical terrorism. One day, both Usha and Karunakar, were dragged out of their home and taken to the nearby hamlet. Through out the 300 metres route, they were severely beaten, just to show them that even Hindus will not come to their rescue. One day, Mr. Shetty was pushed away from his scooter and was severely beaten. A bleeding Shetty lodged a police complaint, but with little effect. It seems the Police Dept., the Hindu watchmen of the Society and the Hindus living in the nearby hamlet are in the good books of Father Corriea and Mr. Fernandes. Shettys children are studying in St. Joseph High School which is run by the same management. This school does not celebrate 26th Jan. and 15th Aug. They have stopped the school bus service for the Shettys children, with the result that their children, including the 6-year old Kalyani, have to walk nearly 5 KMs through jungles to reach her school. The little girl told me how she was beaten up by her Teacher. One day, the teacher held me by my hair and beat me, saying do you know why I beat you, because you are Hindus. Tell your parents to become Christians. Then I wont beat you. I along with my friends met the Shettys in their home on 15th June 2008. They just want to get out of this predicament, and lead a peaceful live somewhere else. They wanted to sell off the flat, but again there is a hitch. Since it is a remote place and most of the flat owners are just investors, selling is difficult. Still, when a prospective purchaser comes, Jude Fernandez scares him away. The Christian management wants the Shetty family to just run away from there, so that they can usurp the flat. In fact, they have played this trick with a few others. One lady, Nancy Nazereth of 90+ age, a Christian herself, who owns four flats in the Society was locked inside her flat for 10 days. After 10 days, the management called the police presuming that the lady would have died. But, when the police came, she came out alive. Now she is staying in Borivli (Mumbai). Last year, Father Corriea brought 10 students from North East and got five of them admitted in the nearby Govt. school and the other five in St. Joseph High School, after converting them. Ganesh was renamed Ryan. Then they got the students videographed, so as to claim foreign grants. After two months, some of the boys were found near Pune crying for help. Yes, once their documentation work was over, the boys were just left in the lurch. A few murders too are reported from the complex. Since all Christian managements have a good rapport with the Police Dept., police seldom pursues their case. The Shettys today are a terrorised lot. They have reported the matter to local Hindus and the Shiv Sena, but to no avail. Mrs. Usha Shetty says if the situation is allowed to continue, she may become a lunatic. Alternatively, she threatened us that she, along with her husband and 3 children, may convert to Islam. Here is a challenge for Hindu organisations, to rescue the Hindu family from Christian terrorism and to expose the Christians claim of peace loving religion. Any one interested in helping this family, may contact these numbers - 09820215751/09892468828 - who are trying to provide succor to this battered Hindu family. --~-

Arabs aren't our friends (www.dailypioneer.com)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:29:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 Second opinion: Priyadarsi Dutta It would be ludicrous to believe the statement of visiting Syrian President Bashar Al Assad that India shares much in common with the Arab world. His statement is nothing more than a clever snub at growing Indo-Israeli ties. No President of Egypt or Syria, two important countries of the Arab world, has visited India since 1980. Our technological, business and cultural ties with Israel, on the other hand, have been blooming since 1992. Even the UPA Government, in the grip of Israel-baiting Left parties, has not been able to find an alternative to this beneficial mutual relationship that the two nations share. Paradoxically, Israel is a major investor in the social sector in Communist-ruled West Bengal. In October 1999, I was working with the Press Bureau of the Egyptian Embassy in New Delhi when a super cyclone struck Orissa. Our Press Counsellor Mohammed Saber Antar got a list made of all the international help India received. However, there was no help from Egypt, which was supposed to be our "old friend" and "ally". A few months earlier during the Kargil war we were expecting a favourable statement from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, as Jawaharlal Nehru had stood by Gamel Abdel Nasser during the Anglo-French invasion of the Arab country in 1956. However, Mr Mubarak's silence belied our expectations. Again our Arab friends did precious little when an earthquake struck Gujarat in 2000. On the other hand, a medical team of Israeli marines set up a relief camp before other international agencies could get their act together. Mr Bashar continues to back Hamas and Hizbullah who are wedded to the agenda of "wiping Israel off from the face of the earth". He is selective towards Israel's occupation of the West Bank, whereas Syria's occupation of Lebanon until a few years ago is forgotten. Syria still continues to have its sway in Lebanon through the Hizbullah, which was raised for destroying Christian Lebanon in the late-1970s. History bears testimony to the fact that Arabs turned hostile towards India once they adopted Islam. Arabs had tried to conquer India in the eighth century, but were repulsed by the Gujjar-Pratihar dynasty. Since then the relation between the two people hasn't really warmed up.

Liberty abridged - Ahmadiyas are Indians, too (www.dailypioneer.com) (G. C. Asnani: In a liberal country like India, Ahmadiyas should be encouraged. What the Congress Govt. has done to Ahmadiya in Andhra Pradesh is to yield before anti-Ahmediayas fanatical Islamists and harass Ahmadiya Muslims. This is a component of Central UPA Govt. of India to encourage and support fundamentalist and terrorist Islamism throughout India. To what consequences?)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:29:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 The Pioneer Edit Desk The cancellation of a conference of the Ahmadiya community by the Andhra Pradesh Government last Sunday is a gross infringement of the secular principles on which the country is founded. The State Government cancelled this conference, which was to be held at the open air Lalitha Kala Thornam in Hyderabad, by citing a patently spurious 'technical' reason -- that there was a "major breakdown" in the electricity supply line. This would have held more water had it not been that several fundamentalist Muslim organisations, which are not particularly representative but claim to be so, had threatened to besiege the place if the Ahmadiyas were allowed to hold the proposed meeting. Clearly the Congress Government in the State was eager to oblige these organisations and thus appease mullahs as part of the party's minority appeasement policy that subverts India's secular polity and divides its society along communal lines. This abject capitulation is in keeping with the manner in which the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre has been pandering to Muslim fanatics under the cover of 'secular' politics. Such capitulation flies in the face of constitutional guarantees and is unacceptable. Followers of every religion, faith and sect are free to practice and preach their beliefs in India; by disallowing the Ahmadiya conference, the Government of Andhra Pradesh, which has sworn to uphold the Constitution of India, has abridged this fundamental right and thus harmed the cause of liberty. Indeed, what the Congress has done is to legitimise the persecution of Ahmadiyas by fundamentalist Muslims -- what is widespread in Islamic countries where theocracy prevails over democracy, has now been given official recognition in India. Coming as it does in the wake of Bangladeshi dissident writer Taslima Nasreen being hounded out of this country simply because some mullahs and their cohorts wedded to intolerant Islam and given to violence in the name of Islam willed it so, the cancellation of the Ahmadiya meeting only serves to confirm, if at all confirmation was needed, that the Prime Minister's "Muslims first" policy is in reality "Muslim fanatics first" policy. In the process, India has been shamed, though not for the first time on account of the Congress's perverse notions of 'secularism'. The Ahmadiyas are as Islamic as those Muslims who deny them the right to practice Islam and thus denude them of their religious identity. In any event, it is not for a secular state to decide who is or is not a Muslim -- or, for that matter, a Hindu, a Christian or a Sikh -- nor is it incumbent on a secular state to accept the primacy of one sect over another. What the Andhra Pradesh Government has done, and knowingly so, is to set an extremely dangerous and sinister precedent. Its decision will embolden fanatics to force their warped perception on both the state and society. To prevent this from happening and to dampen the spirit of those who are celebrating the suppression of the rights of Ahmadiyas in free India, everybody who cherishes liberty and pluralism must protest against the Andhra Pradesh Government's decision. It would be nice to see our self-righteous human rights activists speak up in support of the Ahmadiyas. It would also be in order for the Opposition to ral ly support for this persecuted community, unless it is as desperate as the Congress to stoop to any extent for a fistful of votes.

Amid Bol Bum chant, first batch leaves on Amarnath pilgrimage (www.dailypioneer.com)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:28:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 Pioneer News Service | Jammu Dancing to the tunes of drum beats and chanting Bol Bum, the first batch of Amarnath-bound pilgrims was flagged off amid tight security arrangements by Education Minister GS Charak from Jammu base camp on Tuesday morning. This year the pilgrims are happy as the naturally formed ice lingam is about 12 feet high. The first darshan would be performed on June 18 subject to fair weather, marking the opening of two- month-long annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Lord Shiva, situated at a height of 13500 ft in South Kashmir. The pilgrims, singing chants of Lord Shiva and his consort Mata Parvati, climbed atop tourist buses to begin their holy trek from Jammu early Tuesday morning. Before the yatra was flagged off by the Congress Minister Gulchain Singh Charak, large number of devotees were seen making calls to their relatives informing them about the start of their yatra schedule. Shyam Lal was standing tall in front of the tourist bus guiding his fellow passengers to climb the bus.Shyam Lal is undertaking the pilgrimage for the last one decade and is the guiding force behind the group of elderly couples from Himanchal Pradesh. Unprecendented security arrangments were made by the State Government at the base camp to prevent any militant strike. Official sources said at least 50 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed along the route of the yatra and on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway to ensure incident free yatra. The Army jawans were positioned along the highway to sanitise the road in the form of road opening parties.Besides this, separate security check points and nakas have been raised in and around the Jammu base camp to prevent entry of any anti national close to t he base camp. On day one around 2800 pilgrims were flagged off in over 70 light and heavy motor vehicles under tight security arrnagments, GS Charak said after the flagging off ceremony. He said the Amarnath shrine board is assisted by the state government in extending all facilities to the pilgrims. He said security is the biggest concern of the Government and adequate number of security personnel have been deployed to ensure incident free yatra.

Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) nabs 2 more for Thane blasts (http://www.dailypioneer.com)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:28:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 ATS nabs 2 more for Thane blasts TN Raghunatha | Mumbai Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) sleuths on Tuesday arrested two more hard-core activists of Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Jan Jagruti Samiti in connection with the June 4 explosion at Thane's Gadkari Rangyatan, taking the total number of arrests to four. Sleuths booked Ramesh Hanumant Gadkari (50) and Mangesh Dinakar Nikam (34) for their alleged involvement in Thane's blast and two other earlier incidents. The ATS officials picked up Vikram Vinay Bhave and Santosh Angre, both aged 26 years, from Sanatan Sanstha's Panvel ashram. Bhave and Angre have been charged with having colluded with Gadkari and Nikam in executing the blast in the parking lot of "Gadkari Rangayatan", in which seven persons were injured. Among other things, the low-intensity bomb used in Thane blast - composed of ammonium nitrate and gelatin sticks - was assembled at Bhave's residence. Nikam assembled the bombs used in Thane blast and two incidents - one of which exploded on February 20 this year at a Panvel cinema hall Ashutosh Gowariker's film, Jodha Akbar, and the one which was recovered and defused at a Vashi drama theatre on May 31, while Gadkari transported the explosives and planted them at the three locations. In a related development, the Panvel-based Sanatan Sanstha (SS) and the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS) have distanced themselves from the three incidents and disowned Gadkari and Nikam. In a statement issued here, Sanstha's Mumbai convenor Abhay Varatk denied either his organization or HJS had anything to do with the three incidents. "We are not involved in any anti-social activities. The Sansta and HJS believe in scientific spirituality. We are committed to evolving solutions to problems through dialogues, not acts of terrorism." "We have condemned the Thane blast and two other incidents. We are fully cooperating with the ATS in their investigations," Vartak said. Vartak's statement should be seen in the light of an admission made by Gadkari and Nikam to the police that they had chosen to register their protest against the producers of Marathi play "Amhi Pachpute" and Ashutosh Gowariker's film, Jodha Akbar, by engineering incidents at Thane, Vashi and Panvel, as they had felt that the Hindu gods and goddesses had been projected as "caricatures" in both the play and film. However, what has really complicated the matters for the two right wing organizations is the fact that both Gadkari and Nikam have told the police they were active members of SS and HJS and the fact that Gadkari had been living at the SS ashram at Panvel for five years with his family; while his wife works in the publicity and advertising department of a newspaper run by SS in the city.

ULFA on back foot, Assam agog with truce rumours (www.dailypioneer.com) (G. C. Asnani: Weak and fumbling attitude of Govt. only encourages Terrorist Groups. If Govt. is serious, hit the Terrorists hard; they should have no time to breathe and plan the next attack. Hit them and hit them hard; Then the Terrorists will come to their senses and talk of peace. After weakening them, be prepared for pence.)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:27:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 Syed Zarir Hussain | Guwahati The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) is facing severe reverses at the hands of security forces in recent months triggering speculation that the group's key strike force, that has its headquarters in Myanmar, is considering a ceasefire with authorities. "In the past 10 days alone, 17 militants have been killed in gunfights with security forces. The group's morale is certainly down," said an Assam Police intelligence official. Early on Tuesday, two ULFA rebels were killed in a shootout with soldiers of the 11 Sikh Regiment at Banderkhati Khamti village in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh, a security official said. Ten kgs of explosives, besides a pistol and a revolver, were recovered from the slain militants. ULFA rebels use the adjoining Arunachal Pradesh both as staging areas and stopovers during transit to its bases in Myanmar. The group's key strike unit called the 28th battallion or the 'Kashmir Camp', is based in Myanmar. Since Monday, the State has been agog with rumours that the potent 28th battalion of the ULFA, active in the eastern Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Sivasagar districts, was considering a truce with the State authorities. Throughout the day on Monday, journalists were in touch with Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who heads the Unified Command of the Army, police and the paramilitary in the State, on news of the truce. "We cannot say anything now. Talks about a truce were held in the past too," Gogoi told mediapersons. However, Jiten Dutta, the self-styled commander of the ULFA's 28th battalion, denied plans to enter into a ceasefire with the Government. "This is nothing but a malicious propaganda to defame the outfit and create confusion," Dutta told a local TV channel over telephone. The Assam Government, meanwhile, has sought a detailed report on the circumstances leading to the shooting down of four ULFA militants on Sunday in the eastern Sivasagar district. Rights groups and locals have alleged that Army troopers have shot the rebels after they were captured. A temporary ceasefire between the ULFA and the Government was called off in September 2006 after authorities said the rebels utilised the truce to regroup. There has been no progress in the failed attempt since then to bring the. The United Liberation Front of Asom and the Government for peace talks.

Baghdad insists on right to veto US operations Intensive talks on future status of American forces (http://www.guardian.co.uk/)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:27:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 Iraq is insisting on the right to veto any US military operations throughout its territory under a "status of forces" agreement currently being negotiated between Baghdad and Washington, according to a senior member of the Iraqi government. The agreement will last for a maximum of two years and can be terminated by either side with six months' notice, Hussain al-Shahristani, Iraq's oil minister, told the Guardian yesterday. His remarks come amid intensive closed-door negotiations between the Iraqi and US governments which have led to complaints in the US Congress as well as Iraq that the Bush administration is tying the next US president's hands by seeking to maintain long-term bases in Iraq for possible attacks on Iran and other neighbouring states. But Shahristani insisted yesterday: "Neither the constitution nor our people will allow any violation of our sovereignty. Obviously foreign troops on Iraqi soil carrying out operations without the prior consent and approval of the elected government is a violation. "Any arrests, any operations internally or externally against our neighbours without prior agreement of the Iraqi government will be considered a violation ... Land and sea movements and air space is all part of Iraq's sovereignty." The status of forces agreement, known as Sofa, will flesh out a more general "strategic framework" pact on all aspects of the US-Iraqi relationship that is also being worked out secretly. The two agreements are seen as "legacy issues" allowing Bush to claim success and a legitimation of the US occupation when the UN mandate runs out at the end of this year. Before the talks started this spring, Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, sought to remove nationalist suspicions in Iraq by saying the US had "no interest in permanent bases". Shahristani's disclosure that Iraq wants the Sofa to be "only short, for one or two years" is designed to put a time limit on the US presence and remove ambiguity about what constitutes a temporary or a permanent base. US commanders have warned repeatedly that the relative peace which has prevailed in Baghdad is fragile because extremists, including al-Qaida in Iraq and Shia militant groups, remain capable of high-profile attacks, the latest of which took place yesterday afternoon on a busy street in a Shia area in west Baghdad when a car bomb exploded, killing at least 51 people. The blast shattered the relative calm experienced in Baghdad since a ceasefire on May 11 ended fighting between US and Iraqi forces and Shia militants. The Sofa has aroused fierce controversy in Iraq. No drafts have been published and only a handful of MPs have seen it. The Iraqi government has been forced to give parliament a vote on the final text, although Washington says it need not go to the US Senate as it is not a treaty. A letter denouncing various leaked provisions, signed by more than 100 of the 275 Iraqi MPs was handed to US senators recently. Since the talks began in March, Washington has reduced its demands. "The first US draft wasn't even remotely acceptable," said Shahristani, who is a member of the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shia movement that is the largest bloc in parliament. The prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, was given full control over negotiations by Iraq's political council for national security last weekend. Recent US concessions will allow Iraqi courts to have jurisdiction over thousands of private contractors in Iraq, currently immune from prosecution. They will also transfer the 21,000 detainees in US jails to Iraqi custody. But with Iraqi prisons already overcrowded, this may involve a paper transaction. Iraq is still insisting US troops be chargeable in Iraqi courts. The US is unlikely to concede this. The Bush administration is putting the Iraqi government under intense pressure to agree to the security pacts by July 31. But Shahristani said: "There is no way for the Sofa to be presented to parliament before its summer recess." The oil minister also disclosed that the Iraqi government expects to sign its first contracts with western oil companies within the next two weeks. These will be for technical support and repair. Bidding for developing new fields is under way but "it will be open to competitive tendering". Shahristani denied this was backdoor privatisation, since the Iraqi National Oil Corporation would retain control of 80% of Iraq's discovered reserves. He criticised the Kurdistan regional government for signing agreements with small oil firms for developing fields in northern Iraq without Baghdad's consent. Backstory The US wants to cover its military presence in Iraq with a bilateral pact with Baghdad once the annually renewed UN resolution runs out on December 31. This requires the Iraqi parliament's approval, and has aroused suspicion and opposition. Moqtada al-Sadr's nationalist movement is holding weekly protests calling for an end to the occupation. Other parties are uncertain whether to accept a deal. Major issues are whether the roughly 50 US bases would be permanent, and under whose control. Disputes also centre on whether the US could use them freely, and for what operations - inside Iraq, or against other countries. The Iraqi government wants US crimes to be tried in Iraqi courts. The US says yes for US contractors, no for US troops. Bush wants a deal by July 31 before the US party conventions. The Iraqi parliament is unlikely to review the text until the autumn.

Faulty formula, fake figures for inflation in India. (http://www.organiser.org)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:26:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 By K.L. Pathela Rise in rate of inflation makes the Government shiver in sleeves. The Finance Minister, nay even the Prime Minister, comes out with statements justifying the rise on the ground that it was the world phenomena and India could not be an exception in an age of globalisation. The Finance Minister P. Chidambaram speaking on rising inflation said on April 20 that the prevailing general price rise could be attributed to imported inflation. We can control prices of some goods but no Prime Minister or Finance Minister can ever roll back prices of essential imported goods. Some of them in order to cover up failure of the UPA Government even held the NDA (that was voted out in early 2004) responsible for price rise in 2008. But it bewilders one when the Government that is run by a clean man, uses dirty tricks to befool aam aadmi, he swears by with every breath. The rate of inflation announced for the week ending March 8, was 5.92 per cent whereas the final figure now made out for the same period is 7.78 per cent i.e., 1.9 points higher. If the same trend continues, inflation at 7.83 per cent for the week ending May 3 will end up over 9 per cent in the final figures. Again the Government attitude on inflation based on wholesale price index that forms the basis of Government policies has been casual. There is no regular machinery to verify the data provided by producers or traders on a voluntary basis. Sometimes the samples included in the survey are not updated according to the price rise. Again the weight given to different sectors does not take care of aam aadmi who has to spend 70 per cent of its earnings on food and fuel. WPI gives just around 22 per cent for Agro goods (wheat, rice, pulses, edible oil, etc.) whereas over 63 per cent weight is stated to have been allotted for manufactured goods, which are mostly beyond the reach of aam aadmi or it is once a while that he has to go in for them. It seems that Inflation Index that attracts headlines is related to the rich that is why a minor stir in WPI becomes a big news where as Consumer Price Indexes which are mostly related to the labour/farmer are lost sight of or put in a forlorn corner of the newspaper. It is perhaps for the same reason whenever people have raised their voice against price-rise of essential commodities like wheat, rice, edible oil or the like, the Finance Minister makes an appeal to the manufacturers of steel and cement to bring down prices and assures the people that price would come down in four or five months. Like P. Chidambaram, the Prime Minister also follows an economists escape route and asks the people to wait till September. Both of them perhaps forget or tend to forget that for those who are not sure of getting another meal of the day, September is too far and who knows how many more farmers would have committed suicide by then. (The writer is former secretary general of Bharatiya Posts and Telegraphs Employees Federation and can be contacted at A-5-B/60-B Janak Puri, New Delhi-110058.)

Stop the constitutional use of the word dharmanirpeksh (http://www.organiser.org/)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:25:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 Rajnath Singh This time the party president Shri Rajnath Singh coined a theme slogan: SankalpVijay and Lakshya Rashtra Nirman (Target victory and Goal-Nation building). This message was written on colourful hoardings erected in the streets of national capital. Shri L.K. Advani borrowed a slogan from the last Gujarat assembly electionIn the BJP victory, India will win (Jitega Bhajapa, Jitega Bharat). BJP national president Shri Rajnath Singh disqualifying the Congress claim of number one party said: The Congress partys longstanding claim of being the largest party of the country both politically and organisationally has weakened and the BJP has emerged as the largest party of the country both in political and organisational terms. Now we are the obvious frontrunner for the Lok Sabha elections. Attacking the UPA for working against the interest of the common man, party president Shri Rajnath Singh said, It appears that the current administrators of the nation are completely oblivious of the extent to which the common man has been burdened by the unending price rise. Todays price rise is multi-dimensional. I would like to ask not only the learned Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission but also our learned economist Finance Minister and Prime Minister: Is development possible only by crushing the common man under the burden of inflation? Cant these experts see an alternate model of development? Didnt development take place in the tenure of the NDA? Was not inflation under control? Is this the same hand of the Congress party, which came to power on the claim of being with the common man and today it is willing to sacrifice all the requirements of the common man for the sake of building a so-called palace of development? And that too such development is not refl ected anywhere. The BJP will never accept a policy that seeks to build a palace by sacrificing a hut. The BJP president charged the UPA for neglecting the agriculture and rural India and stated: If life is not possible without food then a nation without land is not possible either. The pledge of nation building is a farce without it encompassing agriculture and the villages, the perpetual symbol of our great nations life and vibrancy. This is what the present UPA government is doing with the villages, the poor and the farmers. If we get an opportunity to form a government at the Centre, then we will revive and re-establish both agriculture and the villages. Shri Rajnath Singh said that in the decade of the 1970s through the 42nd constitutional amendment, the words Secular and Socialist were added to the Preamble of the Constitution. And after this change, the Preamble of Indias Constitution became Sovereign, Secular, Socialist, Democratic, Republic. It is only after this change that widespread politics began over the word secular, which was interpreted as dharmanirpeksh. However, neither technically nor politically, the true meaning of the word secular can ever be dharmanirpeksh. In the official Hindi translation of the Preamble of the Constitution published by the Law & Justice Ministry of Government of India, which is also a public document, the meaning of the word secular is written as panthnirpeksh. The BJP national president explaining the issue in detail said that there is a big difference in being dharmanirpeksh and panthnirpeksh. Panth or sect symbolises devotion towards any specific belief, specific way of prayer and specific form of God but dharma symbolises absolute and eternal values, which can never change like laws of nature. For example, one can say dharma is like the earth or land while panth is like different paths built over it. Our mind can chose any path, change from one path to another, we can hold different views about the various paths but how can we ever get separated from the earth? Dharmapran nation means a nation whose actual consciousness is imbibed in dharma. India is a dharmapran nation and this is evident from Amarnath in the extreme north to Sabarimala Temple in the extreme south, and in Haridwar, Nasik, Ujjain and Prayag, where one can see Kumbh Melas in perpetual occurrence. Indias national emblem has three lions and carries the eternal message of Satyamev Jayate (Truth Always Triumphs) of the Mundakopanishad. Truth signifies dharma and not a sect. Indias National Flag has the Ashoka Chakra in it. This Chakra found in Sarnath is dharmachakra and basically symbolises the cycle of dharma. In Indias Parliament behind the seat of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha Dharmachakra Pravartanay (For the propagation of the eternal cycle of dharma) is inscribed. Therefore, if dharma is present in the National Emblem, National Flag, and in the supreme seat of Parliament then how can the entire establishment of India be neutral to dharma or be dharmanirpeksh? The confusion created by dharmanirpeksh and panthnirpeksh cannot be removed only through an explanation. The only solution is to stop the use of the word dharmanirpeksh. That is why I am announcing that in future we will never use the word dharmanirpeksh and the Government of India should also issue a direc tive prohibiting the constitutional use of the word dharmanirpeksh so that from the Prime Minister to the common public no one constitutionally uses this term and this will prevent confusion and damage from taking place through its usage, Shri Rajnath Singh said. Describing the partys agenda before the nation party president said: We also want the nation to experience an environment of value-based politics. Along with cultural nationalism, Article 370, Uniform Civil Code and true secularism, we are committed to preserve the national unity and integrity. We always maintain that power is a means and not an end for us. I have great hope that our party workers in every village will constitute their teams at every booth and while they will ensure the BJPs geographical, social, political and cultural expansion, they will also ensure that our ideology spread among our supporters in their respective areas. If we succeed on this front, which I am confident that we will achieve, then that day is not far when on the ramparts of the Red Fort, our prime ministerial candidate Shri Lal Krishna Advani will address the entire nation.

Honor killing in Canada: Father Mr. Muhammad Parvez gets first-degree murder charge for killing his daughter after she refused to wear hijab. ((http://www.jihadwatch.org/)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:25:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 Aqsa, in life Given the political and social climate today, Canadian authorities could easily have opted for a lesser charge, and mumbled about respecting the cultures of immigrants. Instead, to their credit, they have charged Muhammad Parvez with first-degree murder for killing his daughter after she refused to wear hijab. May this be just the beginning of a general awakening to stealth jihad initiatives in the West, and a toughening of legal sanctions against Sharia norms and Islamic cultural practices that are at odds with our societies and laws. Aqsa Parvez deserves no less. Aqsa Parvez Update: "First-degree murder charge in Aqsa Parvez death," by Bob Mitchell in the Toronto Star, June 17 (thanks to all who sent this in): The father of a Mississauga teen killed last year has been charged today with first-degree murder in connection with her death. Muhammad Parvez, 57, appeared in a Brampton courtroom today where he was officially charged. The charge is an indication investigators believe the girls killing was pre-meditated. Parvez was arrested in early December after his daughter Aqsa, 16, was found strangled in the family's Mississauga home. Paramedics revived her, but she died later in hospital.... The death drew international attention after her friends said she had argued with her father over her desire to shun the hijab, a traditional Muslim scarf that covers the head and shoulders....

Canada: Muslim arrested at airport with handgun in carry-on luggage (http://www.jihadwatch.org/)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:24:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 A test of screening procedures? "Gun, ammunition confiscated from air passenger," from CBC News, June 17 (thanks to APA): A man was arrested at the Calgary International Airport Tuesday after a handgun was detected in his carry-on luggage. Security officers in a pre-boarding screening area at concourse D noticed the gun inside the luggage and alerted police just after noon Tuesday. Police arrested the man without incident and seized an unloaded, small calibre handgun and several rounds of ammunition from the bag, said Calgary police. They believe the man was flying to Saskatoon. Ziad Mohamad Jeha, 30, of Calgary, has been charged with possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace, possession of a concealed weapon, possession of a weapon without a permit and possession of a restricted weapon with readily accessible ammunition. Calgary police said the suspect is known to them.

Pentagon to Consult Academics on Security (www.nytimes.com)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:10:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 By PATRICIA COHEN Published: June 18, 2008 Eager to embrace eggheads and ideas, the Pentagon has started an ambitious and unusual program to recruit social scientists and direct the nations brainpower to combating security threats like the Chinese military, Iraq, terrorism and religious fundamentalism. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has compared the initiative named Minerva, after the Roman goddess of wisdom (and warriors) to the governments effort to pump up its intellectual capital during the cold war after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957. Although the Pentagon regularly finances science and engineering research, systematic support for the social sciences and humanities has been rare. Minerva is the first systematic effort in this area since the Vietnam War, said Thomas G. Mahnken, deputy assistant secretary of defense for policy planning, whose office will be overseeing the project. But if the uncustomary push to engage the nations evolutionary psychologists, demographers, sociologists, historians and anthropologists in security research as well as the prospect of new financial support in lean times has generated excitement among some scholars, it has also aroused opposition from others, who worry that the Defense Department and the academy are getting too cozy. The Pentagon put out its first requests for proposals last week. Minerva will award $50 million over five years. Another set of grants administered by the National Science Foundation is expected to be announced by the end of this month. Mr. Gates, a former university president with a degree in Soviet and Russian history, has a particularly personal stake in the program, Mr. Mahnken said. He was a beneficiary of the investment made by the government during the cold war, he said, adding that Mr. Gates was determined to repair the bridges that used to exist between academics and the government that have fallen into the river. Cooperation between universities and the Pentagon has long been a contentious issue, and the recent death of Michael V. Bhatia, the first death of a civilian scholar working with combat troops in Afghanistan, has raised academics sensitivities on the issue. Mr. Bhatia, a 31-year-old graduate student in political science, was working on a completely different project when he was killed by a roadside bomb last month. I am all in favor of having lots of researchers trying to figure out why terrorists want to kill Americans, said Hugh Gusterson, an anthropologist at George Mason University. But how can you make sure you get a broad spectrum of opinion and find the best people? On both counts, I dont think the Pentagon is the way to go. Mr. Gusterson is a founder of the Network of Concerned Anthropologists, which was created because of a growing unease among scholars about cooperating with the Defense Department. The American Anthropological Association, an 11,000-member organization, has also told administration officials that while research on these issues is essential, Defense Department money could compromise quality and independence because of the departments inexperience with social science. There was pretty general agreement that this was an issue we should weigh in on, said Setha M. Low, the organizations president, who contacted dozens of anthropologists about it. In its written call for proposals, the department said Minerva was seeking scholars who can, for example, translate original documents, including those captured in Iraq; study changes in the Peoples Liberation Army as China shifts to a more open political system; and explain the resurgence of the Taliban. The department is also looking for computational models that could illuminate how groups make what seem to be irrational decisions, and decipher the way the brain processes social and cultural norms. Mr. Gates has stressed the importance of devoting resources to what he calls soft power, the elements of national power beyond the guns and steel of the military. Toward that end, he contacted Robert M. Berdahl, the president of the Association of American Universities which represents 60 of the top research universities in the country in December to help design Minerva. A former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and a past president of the University of Texas at Austin, Mr. Berdahl knew Mr. Gates from when the defense secretary served on the associations board. In January Mr. Berdahl and a small group of senior scholars and university administrators met in Washington with Defense Department officials. Also there was Graham Spanier, the president of Penn State University and the associations chairman. He said the scholars helped refine the guidelines, advising that the research be open and unclassified. As for the issue of Pentagon financing, Mr. Spanier said, Peer review is a good idea, but there are many different ways to do that. He added, We have pledged to go back and recommend individuals who could help in that process. The beauty of Minerva, Mr. Spanier said, is that it provides a lot of opportunity for people in the social sciences and humanities to solve national-security-related questions. Mr. Berdahl said some participants favored having the National Science Foundation or a similar nonmilitary federal organization, rather than the Pentagon, distribute Minerva money. It would be a good way to proceed, because theyve had a lot of experience with social science, he said. In a speech to the Association of American Universities in April, Mr. Gates said, The key principle of all components of the Minerva Consortia will be complete openness and rigid adherence to academic freedom and integrity. At a time when political campaigns have treated the word elitist as an epithet, he quoted the historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr.s statement that the United States must return to the acceptance of eggheads and ideas to meet national security threats. We are interested in furthering our knowledge of these issues and in soliciting diverse points of view, regardless of whether those views are critical of the departments efforts, Mr. Gates added. In response to Mr. Gatess speech, the American Anthropological Association sent a letter to administration officials saying that it is of paramount importance that anthropologists study the roots of terrorism and violence, but adding, We are deeply concerned that funding such research through the Pentagon may pose a potential conflict of interest and undermine the practices of peer review. Mr. Gusterson, who says he is worried that the Pentagon will end up scaring off some voices and limiting the full range of opinion on a subject, said the project was assigning the recruitment task to the agency that doesnt know how to do this and ignoring the ones that do. One reason the State Department misread Vietnam so badly in the early 1960s is that the liberal experts on East Asia were purged under McCarthyism, he said. I fear that a conversation about the sources of violence and terrorism run under the auspices of the Pentagon might be similarly misshapen. John D. Kelly, chairman of the anthropology department at the University of Chicago, said the research subjects were good. But he cautioned that by focusing, for example, on military technology, we might simultaneously misunderstand whats happening in China and cause the Chinese to feel that we have identified them as a threat. Anthropologists have been especially outspoken about the Pentagons Human Terrain Teams, a two-year-old program that pairs anthropologists and other social scientists with combat units in Afghanistan and Iraq, and in which Mr. Bhatia was participating at the time of his death. As for Minerva, many scholars said routing the money through the National Science Foundation or a similar institution would go a long way toward easing most of their concerns. To Mr. Spanier of Penn State, the answer to scholars who oppose Pentagon financing is simple: Those who dont want to do their research in the context of Department of Defense funding shouldnt apply.

Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan denies fresh nuclear claim (http://www.cnn.com/)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:10:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- The architect of Pakistan's nuclear program on Tuesday rejected a report alleging that his network may have shared blueprints for an advanced nuclear weapon with countries such as Iran and North Korea. Abdul Qadeer Khan, under house arrest since 2004, is revered as a hero by many in Pakistan. Speaking to The Associated Press by telephone, Abdul Qadeer Khan described the report issued Monday as a "pack of lies" and lashed out at its author, former top U.N. arms inspector David Albright. "It is all concoction, it is a pack of lies, and this is a campaign. Whenever they see Pakistan can be pressured, they pressure it," Khan said from the Islamabad villa where he is under house arrest. "The previous government has been succumbing to such pressure." The 72-year-old Khan is a hero in the eyes of many Pakistanis for his pivotal role in developing the Islamic nation's nuclear bomb. He was detained in December 2003, however, and admitted in early 2004 that he operated a network that spread nuclear weapons technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. Khan has opened up to the media since Pakistan's new civilian government took power this year, eclipsing the dominance of President Pervez Musharraf. The scientist has been strongly critical of Musharraf, a former general who pardoned Khan but ordered his detention after the U.S. and the U.N. nuclear watchdog presented Pakistan with evidence of his proliferation activities. The government, however, has refused to let outsiders such as the International Atomic Energy Agency directly question him. Khan made a rare trip out of his home in May, when he was allowed to visit the Academy of Sciences in the capital, Islamabad, to express condolences over the death of a former colleague. Unanswered questions remain about the technology that Khan's network shared with nations such as North Korea and Iran, and whether Pakistani authorities knew what he was doing or profited from sales. Khan's network was largely dismantled in 2004 and in the investigation of its operations Swiss officials seized computers and files from three brothers accused of smuggling for the network. By 2006 the files had been deciphered and among them was a detailed design for an advanced but small nuclear warhead. Albright told The Associated Press on Monday that the design goes far beyond the schematics and information about nuclear weapons available on the Internet. "It's a very different category of information, and it's very dangerous," he said. "There are no other designs out there. There is very little information of this quality out there outside of the nuclear weapons states." The drawings were recently destroyed by the Swiss government under the supervision of the IAEA to keep them out of terrorists' hands. But U.N. officials said they could not rule out that the material already had been shared. Khan, who gave the interview in Urdu, claimed Albright's report was funded by the CIA and was an attempt by the United States to spread negative propaganda about Pakistan. "He (Albright) has been writing against Pakistan for years since we started our program," Khan said. "This is all lies. We never made any compact (device). In the beginning, we made a simple weapon in 1983, and we never made it again or changed it," he said. However, in Vienna, a senior diplomat said the IAEA had knowledge of the existence of a sophisticated nuclear weapons design being peddled electronically by the black-market ring as far back as 2005. The diplomat, who is familiar with the investigations into the Khan network, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly on the issue. In his recent interviews, Khan has denied doing anything unauthorized, but has declined to discuss whether other Pakistani government and military officials knew of his activities. "Right now I only want to say that I did nothing wrong," he told the AP.

Car bomb kills at least 51 Iraqis, official says (http://www.cnn.com)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:09:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 NEW: Dozens injured in bombing near bus stop in Shiite area of capital, official says Another bomb kills police chief and another officer south of Baghdad, police say BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- In one of the deadliest attacks in Baghdad in months, at least 51 Iraqis were killed and 75 were wounded Tuesday in a car bombing, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said. U.S.-allied fighters collect the body of a comrade who was killed in a suicide bombing Tuesday in Baghdad. The bomb ripped through a garage and a bus stop, hitting an outdoor market and apartments, the official said. The blast in Hurriya, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in northwestern Baghdad, was one of the deadliest to hit the Iraqi capital in months. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed it on "the defeated remnants of terrorism" and called it an attempt to revive the sectarian warfare that wracked the country for more than a year. In a statement issued by his office, al-Maliki said "terrorists" and Islamic militants "returned to their old failing bet in trying to incite the sectarian strife" after defeats in Baghdad and other cities. "This crime will not affect our determination and our commitment to fully defeat the terrorists and preserve the security triumphs achieved by the armed and security forces," the prime minister said. "This will add to our determination to rid the capital and the provinces from the remnants of the terrorists, murderers and criminals." And U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered his "heartfelt condolences," his office said. "The secretary-general condemns, in the strongest of terms, the terrorist bombing in northern Baghdad today which has reportedly killed over 50 people and left scores more injured," a U.N. statement said. The blast came as officials tried to tamp down violence in Shiite areas, where U.S. and Iraqi forces have battled militias. Earlier Tuesday, four civilians were killed in a suicide attack in northern Baghdad targeting a predominantly Sunni group opposed to al Qaeda in Iraq, an Interior Ministry official said. The suicide attack is the latest in a flurry of strikes targeting the groups of predominantly U.S.-allied Sunni fighters known as the Awakening Councils or Sons of Iraq. Al Qaeda in Iraq is believed to be responsible for many of these assaults. The suicide bomber was driving a motorcycle that struck a checkpoint in the predominantly Sunni Suliekh neighborhood. The four victims were Awakening members manning the checkpoint. Two others were wounded. In other violence Tuesday, gunmen killed an employee of the Council of Ministers and wounded his father in western Baghdad, the Interior Ministry said. The man was driving and his father was in the passenger seat when gunmen in another vehicle shot them. Also Tuesday, a bomb killed a municipal police chief in a volatile Shiite region south of Baghdad, police said. Col. Saleh Mehdi Kuneihar, the chief of Aziziya, and another police officer were killed and two others were wounded when a roadside bomb struck their car on a road between Wasit and Diyala provinces. Iraq's government battled Shiite militants in the southern city of Basra and Baghdad's Sadr City this spring. The government is in the first stages of an operation in the southern province of Maysan, where Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced a Wednesday deadline for "outlaws" to turn in in their weapons. The move is al-Maliki's latest effort to stamp out militants and establish central governmental authority in the oil-rich southern region. Iraqi security forces also are fighting al Qaeda in Iraq militants in the northern city of Mosul. Much of the fighting in Baghdad and Basra has been between Iraq security forces and members of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia. Maysan province and its capital of Amara are believed to house Mehdi Army members who fled Basra and Baghdad after the earlier push. Other developments Gunmen killed an Iraqi journalist Tuesday in Mosul, police said. Muhieddin Abdul Hamid, an anchor for state TV's Nineveh channel, was slain by gunmen in a drive-by shooting outside his house. An American-led coalition raid aimed at an al Qaeda in Iraq bombing network killed four "suspected terrorists" Tuesday in Mosul, the U.S. military said. Coalition troops approached a building and ordered people there to surrender; four militants were killed when they refused, according to the military. At least 18 people were wounded Tuesday when a parked car bomb detonated near a police checkpoint in Baquba in Diyala province. A U.N. refugee agency survey issued Tuesday said the Iraqi and Afghan conflicts have spurred an increase in refugees and the number of Iraqis internally displaced has grown. "After a five-year decline in the number of refugees between 2001 and 2005, we have now seen two years of increases, and that's a concern," said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres. The number of refugees under the responsibility of the UNHCR rose to 11.4 million by the end of 2007, up from 9.9 million at the end of 2006, according to the annual report issued Tuesday. "Much of the increase in refugees in 2007 was a result of the volatile situation in Iraq," the agency said

Space cameras to monitor forests (http://news.bbc.co.uk/)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:09:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 Deforestation threatens the long-term future of the Congo rainforest Plans to use a state-of-the-art camera onboard a satellite to monitor deforestation levels in Africa's Congo Basin have been unveiled. The high resolution RALCam3 camera, designed and built by UK scientists, will provide the first detailed view of the area's rate of forest cover loss. The project is part of the Congo Basin Forest Fund, a £108m joint-initiative by the UK and Norwegian governments. The fund aims to curb climate change by preventing deforestation in the region. Speaking at the launch of the scheme, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "We are pledging to work together to secure the future of one of the world's last remaining ancient forests. "Preserving our forests is vital if we are going to reduce global emissions and tackle climate change." Ecological hotspot The Congo rainforest is the second largest in the world, containing more than a quarter of the planet's remaining tropical rainforest. The UN warns that two-thirds of the Congo rainforest will be gone by 2040 It is also home to more than 50m people, and supports an estimated 10,000 plant species, 1,000 types of birds and 400 different kinds of mammals. A UN study warned that unless action was taken to tackle deforestation in the region, more than 66% of the rainforest would be lost by 2040. The high definition camera will be made by a team at the UK's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL). "We're delighted to be involved in this very important and timely project," said Nick Waltham, head of RAL's Imaging Systems Division. "RALCam3 will provide 10-metre per pixel ground sampling from an orbit of 650 km (400 miles) altitude," he told BBC News. "The image is 88km (55 miles) thereby enabling large areas of the terrain to be imaged in one satellite pass." Dr Waltham said the system would also have other applications, including surveillance of environmental change and offshore pollution. The camera is one of the first projects to be supported by the fund, which is headed by former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. "The Congo Basin Forest Fund is a joint response to a global problem whereby an innovative and consensual mechanism has been embraced," Professor Maathai explained. "It involves various partners committed to preserve and protect one of the most unique ecosystems in the world." The fund, which has received an initial £58m (73m euros) from the UK government and £50m (63m euros) from the Norweigan goverment, will support anti-logging projects in the region until 2012.

Israel and Hamas 'agree truce' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:58:00 GMT

Date: 18.6.08 Israel carries out regular raids into Gaza to counter Hamas rocket fire Israel and militant group Hamas have agreed to end months of bitter clashes with a six-month truce starting on Thursday, Palestinian officials say. A Hamas official said he was confident all militant groups in Gaza would abide by the agreement, brokered by Egypt. Israeli officials said they were "looking to see if this is serious". Earlier at least six Palestinians were reportedly killed in Israeli air strikes in southern Gaza. Israel said it had targeted "terror operatives". Islamic Jihad said a missile struck a car carrying five of its members near Khan Younis. A sixth man died in a separate strike nearby. Two-stage deal Hamas took over Gaza in June 2007, driving out forces loyal to Fatah, the political faction led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Since then, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the international community have sought to isolate Hamas. HAMAS 'TRUCE' TIMETABLE 0600 (0300 GMT) Thursday ceasefire begins after 24 hours Israel eases crossing restrictions after five days Israel opens commercial crossings after two weeks Egypt starts talks with all sides to seek reopening of Rafah crossing ceasefire applies in Gaza Strip only What chance of lasting peace? Israel declared the territory a "hostile entity" and has blockaded it in an attempt to pressure Hamas into stopping rocket fire from the strip into Israel. Over the past seven days, more than 20 people have died in Gaza as a result of Israeli military action. In the same period, the Israeli army says that Palestinian militants have fired more than 90 rockets and mortars into Israel. Egypt, which has worked for months to clinch a deal between Israel and Hamas, urged both sides to "exert all efforts to bring the calm to a success", senior officials were quoted as saying. The BBC's Tim Franks in Jerusalem says a ceasefire should lead to an improvement in people's everyday lives in southern Israel and Gaza, but any talk of political upheaval or breakthrough is premature. Palestinian and Egyptian officials say the truce is to come into effect at 0600 (0300 GMT) on Thursday. As well as a halt to all hostilities, this stage of the deal also envisages a partial reopening of Gaza's borders, they add. A second stage would focus on the return of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and on a deal to reopen the main Rafah crossing into Egypt, they say. In the talks process until now, Israeli concerns have centred on whether all militant groups would adhere to a truce, and what Egypt would do to stop arms smuggling into Gaza, says our correspondent. 'New situation' Israeli officials stress that phone lines to Cairo are "still running hot". "It is still too soon to talk of that period of calm and when it comes into force, supposing it does come into force, it is difficult to know how long it will last." A Hamas leader in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, confirmed at a news conference that militant groups had agreed a truce. Hamas official Ahmed Yousef told the BBC: "I am confident that everybody will abide by what we've agreed. All the groups which went to Cairo gave their okay to the ceasefire. "If anybody does anything, they will be doing it on their own." According to a detailed breakdown released by Hamas, Israel will ease its restrictions on Gaza crossings with Israel on Friday morning, followed by the bigger commercial crossings next week. After two weeks, talks will start involving Israel, Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and the European Union on finding agreement on reopening the Rafah crossing into Egypt, Hamas says. The truce will apply only in Gaza, Hamas says, and it will not be allowed to respond from Gaza to any Israeli action in the West Bank. Next steps Egyptian officials say they will continue efforts to broker a similar ceasefire in the West Bank. The last ceasefire between Hamas and Israel ended in April last year, shortly before the Islamist movement took control of the Gaza Strip. Mr Yousef said that the aim now was to push ahead talks on a prisoner exchange, as well as a new round of talks in Cairo between the rival factions of Fatah and Hamas. A delegation from Fatah has already travelled to the Gaza Strip from the West Bank for talks with other party members. The group is the first representing Mr Abbas to go to Gaza since Hamas seized control. Hamas has said it is prepared to hold talks with the Fatah officials, but there has been no word from Fatah on whether such a meeting will take place.

Holy Bible - Gospel of Jesus: - New Testament, Luke 12; 51-53: Jesus said, "Do you suppose that I came to bring peace to the World? No, not peace, but division. From now on a family of five will be divided, three against two and two against three. Fathers will be against their sons, and sons against their fathers; mothers will be against their daughters and daughters against their mothers; mothers-in-law will be against their daughters-in-law, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law."

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:28:00 GMT

Holy Bible - Gospel of Jesus: - New Testament, Luke 12; 51-53: Jesus said, "Do you suppose that I came to bring peace to the World? No, not peace, but division. From now on a family of five will be divided, three against two and two against three. Fathers will be against their sons, and sons against their fathers; mothers will be against their daughters and daughters against their mothers; mothers-in-law will be against their daughters-in-law, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law."

Pak Frontier Corps: To Trust or Not To Trust? - International Terrorism Monitor--Paper No. 400 (By B. Raman)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:27:00 GMT

Twenty-seven persons----13 of them members of Pakistan's Frontier Corps, including a Major--- are reported to have been killed in an air strike by US Air Force planes on a check post of the FC located near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the Gora Parao area in the Mohmand agency of the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan on the night of June 10, 2008. 2. While a Pakistani army spokesman has condemned the US attack as cowardly and unprovoked, Pentagon spokesmen in Washington DC, while not denying the attack, have justified it as a legitimate act of self-defence. 3. The check post attacked by US planes was manned by the Mohmand Rifles, a unit of the FC, which consists mainly of local recruits. The Mohmand Agency is one of the preferred infiltration routes of the Neo Taliban of Afghanistan headed by Mulla Mohammad Omar and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) headed by Baitullah Mehsud of South Waziristan. In recent months, tribesmen from Mohmand Agency had also repeatedly attacked trucks transporting logistic supplies for the NATO forces in Afghanistan from the Karachi port. 4. Pakistani media accounts as well as reports from independent police sources indicate that the incident was provoked by a joint attack launched by the Neo Taliban and the TTP on a recently-opened post of the Afghan National Army (ANA) in Afghan territory just across the Gora Parao check post of the FC. When the ANA soldiers were outnumbered and outmanoeuvred by the Taliban attacks from the Pakistani territory, they sought the assistance of US troops. When the ANA and the US troops faced difficulty in countering the Taliban forces, who were supported by cover fire from Pakistani territory, they asked for air support. US planes then bombed the area in the vicinity of the FC check post. The air attack killed a number of Taliban cadres, but at the same time, it also destroyed the FC check post. 5. The incident once again underlined the difficulty faced by the ANA and the US troops in countering Taliban intrusions from Pakistani territory. These intrusions often take place through areas manned by the FC. The FC consists almost completely of tribals recruited locally, though some officers do come on deputation from non-tribal areas too. 6. While senior officers of the Pentagon and the State Department refrain from criticising the FC of complicity with the Neo Taliban and the TTP, US and Afghan soldiers in Afghanistan do not make any secret of their conviction that there is considerable sympathy for the Taliban among the tribal members of the FC and that they often facilitate infiltrations by the Taliban into Afghan territory. A recent report of the Rand Corporation of the US, which highlights the collusion of many serving and retired Pakistani personnel---from the Army as well as the FC--- with the Taliban largely reflects this conviction of the Afghanistan-based US troops. The US soldiers and their officers in Afghanistan consider retaliatory attacks on FC personnel and check posts aiding the Taliban as a legitimate exercise of their right of self-defence for which they require no clearance from Washington DC. 7. The fact that the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) of the Swat Valley of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the TTP have been demanding that any peace agreement with the Government should provide for the withdrawal of the Pakistani Army troops from the tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan and their replacement by FC personnel reflects their confidence that the FC personnel will be more friendly to the Taliban. 8. The US faces a dilemma in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region. The FC's tribal recruits, with their considerable local knowledge, can be an asset in the operatins against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, provided they co-operate sincerely. At the same time, their sympathy for fellow-tribals serving in the Taliban comes in the way of such sincere co-operation and reduces their reliability. It has not so far found a way out of this dilemma. Its plans for a modernisation of the FC are unlikely to produce results so long as this sympathy for the Taliban among the recruits to the FC persists. 9. One way out of this dilemma could be by using the FC units for internal security duties in other parts of Pakistan and using regular Pakistan army units consisting of non-tribal soldiers for counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency duties in the FATA. This is already being attempted for sometime now, but the regular army units, who were raised and trained essentially for duties on the Indian border, find themselves ill-adapted for duties in the tribal belt near the Afghan border. 10. Though Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, Pakistan's Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), has reportedly been talking of the need to retrain the Pakistani army troops for counter-terrorist and counter-insurgency duties in the tribal belt, he has not taken any action to implement his idea because the Pakistan Army gives more importance to its role against India than to its role against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. (The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: <a href="mailto:seventyone2@gmail.com">seventyone2@gmail.com</a>)

MYSTERY SURROUNDING ADAM GADAHN: INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR--PAPER No.401 (By B.Raman)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:27:00 GMT

A missile suspected to have been fired by an unmanned US aircraft early on the morning of January 29, 2008, had destroyed a house, owned by Madad Khan, a local leader of the Taliban at a village called Khushali Torikhel, 12 kilometres south of Mir Ali town, in North Waziristan, where the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and the Islamic Jihad Group, another Uzbek jihadi organisation, are based. While Madad Khan reportedly survived the attack, his 10 guests----all believed to be Uzbeks and Arabs---were killed. Two wives of Madad Khan and three of their children were also killed. 2. While the Pakistani authorities did not confirm the identities of those killed, local tribals suspected that one of those killed must have been Abu Laith al-Libi, a Libyan national and an important Al Qaeda leader, whose martyrdom, meaning death while waging jihad, was announced by a web site (ekhlas.org) associated with Al Qaeda, on January 31,2008. His so-called martyrdom has since been confirmed by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the No.2 to bin Laden, in an audio message disseminated on February 27, 2008. 3. The nine-minute, 59-second message titled "An Elegy to the Martyred Commander Abu Laith al-Libi," was issued by As-Sahab, the group's PSYWAR branch.It described al-Libi as a "knight" of Al Qaeda's holy war. He was "a mountain of Jihad and a lion." It added: "You Americans and you the agents of the Americans: (al-Libi and others) are the pioneers of the march and the good omen of a new dawn.Every time a martyr falls, another martyr grabs the banner from him, and every time a chief goes down in blood, another chief completes the march after him." 4. Immediately after the missile strike, there was speculation in the area targeted by the US that Adam Gadhan, the American convert to Islam, who headed As-Sahab, was also with Abu Laith at the time of the attack and was also killed, but this has not been confirmed so far. 5.Three mysteries continue to surround this incident giving rise to interesting speculation in the global community of terrorism analysts. First, what happened to Madad Khan, the owner of the house attacked? Many members of his family were reportedly killed, but there is so far no confimed information regarding his fate. There has been speculation in the tribal belt of Pakistan that he must have been the man who tipped off the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) about the expected presence of Abu Laith in his house and that is how he escaped the missile attack of which he must have been aware.. 6. The second mystery surrounds the fate of Adam Gadahn.According to Pakistani sources, he was also expected in the house along with Abu Laith. Did he come? If so, was he among those killed? If not, did he not keep his appointment with Abu Laith? If he had absented himself, did he also play a role in facilitating the missile strike? Did he know in advance about the impending strike and thus escape? Was he a mole of the CIA in Al Qaeda? Did he know that Madad Khan was also in touch with the CIA? Or were the two working independently of each other? 7. According to some sources in the tribal areas, Gadahn was not a mole of the CIA. He was present in the house of Madad Khan along with Abu Laith, but survived the missile attack with minor injuries. He was picked up by the Americans and flown to Morocco, where he is being interrogated by the US intelligence. It is also claimed by these sources that the US has not admitted this lest US legal rights experts raise the matter in US courts. 8. The third mystery surrounds the absence of Gadahn's translations in American English from the propaganda pieces produced by As-Sahab since the missile attack. He used to translate the messages of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri and provide English sub-titles. Since the missile attack, either the English sub-titles are missing or when they are given they are of a different quality----either Pakistani or Arab English and not American English. 9.Is Gadahn alive or dead? If alive, where is he? If dead, why Al Qaeda has not admitted his death as it admitted the death of Abu Laith? Why the CIA, whose Director Lt.Gen.Michael Hyden claimed credit for the death of Abu Laith in a recent interview with the "Washington Post" remained silent on Gadahn? 10. Well-informed police sources in the Pashtun belt assert that both Al Qaeda and the CIA know what happened to Gadahn, but neither of them wants to say anything on the subject. There is speculation galore. 11. Only four people must be knowing the truth---Osama bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, Lt.Gen.Michael Hayden and Gadhan himself, if still alive.Will one of them clear the mystery? (The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai. E-Mail: <a href="mailto:seventyone2@gmail.com">seventyone2@gmail.com</a> )

Jihadis breed like flies and abuse Children sexually in Afghanistan (panjpani@gmail.com)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:26:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:panjpani@gmail.com">panjpani@gmail.com</a> Date: Friday, June 13, 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KABUL: The girl was 11 when she was molested by a man with no legs. He paid her $5. And that was how she started selling sex. The girl is now 13, and her features have sharpened into striking beauty. She speaks four languages Pashtu, Dari, the Urdu she picked up as a refugee in Pakistan and the English she learned in a course in Kabul. She is the breadwinner in her family of 10. She does not know what a condom is. She has not heard of AIDS. Afghanistan is one of the worlds most conservative countries, yet its sex trade appears to be thriving. Sex is sold most obviously at brothels full of women from China who serves both Afghans and foreigners. Far more controversial are Afghan prostitutes, who stay underground in a society that pretends they dont exist. Customs meant to keep women "pure" have not stopped prostitution. Girls are expected to remain virgins until their wedding nights, so some prostitutes have only anal sex. Police make two to three prostitution arrests each week, according to Zia ul-Haq, chief investigator in the interior ministrys department of sexual crimes. They are often the casualties of three decades of brutal war and a grinding poverty that forces most Afghans to live on less than $1 a day. "Prostitution is in every country that has poverty, and it exists in Afghanistan," says women's rights activist Orzala Ashraf. "But society has black glasses and ignores these problems. Tradition is honor, and if we talk about these taboos, then we break tradition." It's hard to know how many other women in Afghanistan are prostitutes because of the extreme secrecy around the issue. A University of Manitoba report last September estimated about 900 female sex workers in Kabul.

Hindu FREEDOM GAGGED by Muslims and Communists in Sunderban Delta, West Bengal --- by Francois Gautier

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:26:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:hindureligion@gmail.com">hindureligion@gmail.com</a> Date: Monday, June 16, 2008 12:36 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FREEDOM GAGGED Ganga Sagar, located on the western edge of the Sunderban Delta in West Bengal, is for many Hindus a very renowned Place of Pilgrimage, because there the Ganga river has a confluence with the Bay of Bengal. At the edge of Sagar town - adjacent to the beach - is an ancient temple dedicated to Kapil Muni, the sage responsible for initiating the chain of events that ultimately resulted, according to the legend, to 'Mother Ganga' descending to the earth from heaven and giving mankind an opportunity to wash away its sins in her pure water. The earliest mention of this place is found in the Mahabharata where a sage explains to Bhishma the significance of taking a dip at the confluence of Gangasagar. Thus, millions of Hindu pilgrims visit this holy place all year round to take a dip in the Ganges, particularly during the Kumbha Mela and Makara Sankranti festivities. Last Thursday, a Hindu social group, named the Hindu Sanghati, led by its National convener, Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh, had started conducting there for 180 men, women and children, a three-day Yoga and meditation camp in a building close to the confluence owned by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. After attending the first Yoga and meditation session in the morning, the group went to take a dip in the Ganga Sagar confluence, and thereafter to pay obeisance in the Kapil Muni shrine. On its way, the group chanted "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and "Jai Sri Ram". This was enough to anger the local people, mostly immigrant Bangladeshi Muslims. Later in the day, led by Sheikh Ismail, who happens to be CPI(M)'s Panchayat Samiti seat winner in the area, about 3000 men reached the building were the pilgrims were put up, and started throwing gas cylinders and petrol bombs (Molotov cocktails) and kept on attacking incessantly for a few hours, till all 180 of the camp were trapped inside this burning cam p along with Tapan Ghosh. The local police-appeared to side more with the Muslims than the Hindus, maybe just out of plain fear, and only very small posse of 15 policemen was sent, totally inadequate for resisting such a huge armed mob. The police could not control the mob of Muslims even after firing several rounds. As a result, quite a few Hindus attending the camp have been injured in the carnage, and at least 7 of them are in critical condition, apart from 2 others who could not be identified because of serious facial burn injuries. 2 policemen have also been seriously injured due to the assault by the Muslim mob. Apart from throwing petrol bombs to incinerate the camp building, the mob also attacked and seriously damaged some nearby houses of the local Hindus as well as an adjoining Kali temple and a 'Yatri Nivas' (Travellers' Lodge) run by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. In a travesty of justice, 15 of the pilgrims were arrested by the local police, and booked under Sections 147, 148, 149, 307, 310 and 323 of IPC (Indian Penal Code) for inciting "communal disharmony". Out of these 15, the organiser of the camp, Tapan Ghosh, and one other have been remanded 7 days' police custody in Kakdwip Thana (Police Station) in West Bengal and it is feared they will be tortured. A pilgrim who was injured in the clash, said: "We got beaten up only for chanting religious slogans; Jayanta Mukherjee, the SDPO of the area also abused us and arrested many of our members." Ironically, not even one of the attackers was arrested by the police. It seems like a reverse logic: instead of punishing the attackers, you penalize the attacked ! The communists, by allowing knowingly hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis to settle in West Bengal, out of ideology (Muslims are our allies), but also for electoral purposes (they are furnished fake identity cards, so that they vote for them) have created a monster that will come back to haunt India, not only in Nandigram, but other places, such as Jaipur or Varanasi, though communists, once more have shown that they will side with Muslims if they attack Hindus. One has to laud Nehru's concept of protecting the oppressed and the minorities, but is it not now going overboard, with the police seeming to side increasingly with minorities, at the expense of the majority community of India, the Hindus, who have been known throughout their history to be extremely tolerant and to accept diversity? Is it a common pattern? Yes ! the same thing happened in Chennai when on the 7th March 2008, the Tamil Nadu police vandalized an exhibition on Aurangzeb and threw some paintings on the ground, shattering them. Yet it was an artistic exhibition on the great Moghol emperor using his own records and firmans (edicts), many of which are still preserved in Indian museums, such as the Bikaner archives. Aurangzeb was truly a pious Muslim, copying the Koran himself, stitching Muslim skullcaps and enforcing strict laws. Nevertheless, according to his own documents, he was a very ruthless and cruel emperor. Forget what he did to Hindus : re-imposing the humiliating jiziya tax, forbidding them from riding horses, elephants or palanquins and ordering all temples destroyed (Among them the Krishna's birth temple in Mathura, the rebuilt Somnath temple on the coast of Gujurat, the Vishnu temple replaced with the Alamgir mosque now overlooking Benares and the Treta-ka-Thakur temple in Ayodhy a), he was also a monster to his own family, having his father poisoned, his two brothers killed, and imprisoning his own son. The day before the Nawab of Arcot, local Muslim leader, had visited the exhibition and had been enraged by two miniatures -- the first depicted Aurangzeb's army destroying the Somnath temple and the second showed the destruction of the Kesava Rai temple in Mathura. Soon, the nawab sent a group of Muslims from TMMK (Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam) and MNP (Manitha Neethi Paasarai) to pick up arguments with the volunteers, most of them elderly women from decent family backgrounds. They came back again on 7th afternoon, screaming on top of their voices in Tamil and in English that this exhibition was absolutely false and that unless it was closed immediately they would come back in force tomorrow (Friday) to break it down. The volunteers tried to reason with them, that these were all documents from Government archives, that they could explain everything to them, that they could even debate on TV, but they shouted even louder and got more threatening. Then the police openly sided with the TMMK, vandalized the exhibition and closed it down. This raises the question of what kind of freedom exists in India at the moment. We understand that without the support of the communists the present Government would collapse. But does that mean that the Congress leaders have to turn a blind eye to what the communists are doing to the social fabric of India and South Asia? There is such a thing as Karma. By allowing hundreds of Bangladeshis to settle in India, or having helped the Maoists to take over Nepal, or letting artistic freedom be gagged, these people, who soon will be out of power, will hand over to the next government extremely difficult situations to handle. François Gautier

Vedic Verses for 6/16/08 (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com) : Singing the verses from Sama Veda fulfils our pious wishes.

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:25:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com">Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com</a> Date: Monday, June 16, 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vedic Verses A daily collection of verses from the Vedas, Hinduism's revealed scripture -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vedic Verses for 6/16/08 He is the lord of the worlds which spread beneath that (i.e. the eye) and also of all the wishes of men. Therefore all who sing to the vina sing of him and from him they obtain wealth. Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad I, VII - The Person in the Eye, 6 He who, knowing this (i.e. the Udgitha), sings the Saman, sings both. Through that (i.e. the person in the sun) he obtains the world beyond that (i.e. the sun) and the wishes of the gods. Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad I, VII - The Person in the Eye, 7 Likewise, through this (i.e. the person in the eye), he obtains the worlds that spread beneath that (i.e. the eye) and all the wishes of men. Therefore an udgatri priest who knows this may say to the sacrificer for whom he acts as priest: What desireof yours shall I fulfil by singing? For he who, knowing this, sings the Saman is able to fulfil wishes through his singing of the Saman, yea, through his singing of the Saman. Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad I, VII - The Person in the Eye, 8-9 There were three men versed in the Udgitha: Silaka the son of Salavat, Chaikitayana of the line of Dalbhya and Pravahana the son of Jivala. They said: We are indeed versed in the Udgitha. Let us have a discussion of the Udgitha. Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad I, VIII - The Story of the Pravahana (I), 1 Let it be so, they said and sat down. Then Pravihana the son Jivala said: Revered Sirs, you speak first and I shall listen to what the two brahmins have to say. Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad I, VIII - The Story of the Pravahana (I), 2

Tirukural - Chapter 22: Understanding One's Duty to Give (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:24:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com">Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com</a> Date: Monday, June 16, 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tirukural A daily chapter from South Indian saint Tiruvalluvar's Tirukural, "Holy Couplets." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 22: Understanding One's Duty to Give Kural 211 The benevolent expect no return for their dutiful giving. How can the world ever repay the rain cloud? Kural 212 It is to meet the needs of the deserving that the worthy work so hard to acquire wealth. Kural 213 Of all duties, none is better than benevolence, whether in this world or that of the Gods. Kural 214 He who understands the duty of giving truly lives. All others shall be counted among the dead. Kural 215 The wealth of a community-loving wise man may be likened to a well-filled village water tank. Kural 216 Riches retained by the big-hearted resemble fruits ripening on a tree in the heart of a village. Kural 217 In the hands of a generous man, wealth is like a medicinal tree whose healing gifts help all. Kural 218 Those who know duty deeply never neglect giving, even in their own unprosperous season. Kural 219 The benevolent man considers himself poor only when he is unable to render his accustomed duty to humanity. Kural 220 Were it said that loss of wealth is the price of generosity, such loss would be worth selling one's self to acquire.

Sounding the Alarm for the Jews (A Voice from Hebron by Gary M. Cooperberg)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:24:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:voicefromhebron@projectshofar.org">voicefromhebron@projectshofar.org</a> Date: Monday, June 16, 2008 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bsd A Voice from Hebron by Gary M. Cooperberg P.O. Box 1444, Kiryat Arba-Hebron, Israel 90100 Tel. 972-2-996-3761 Fax 972-2-996-1778 Email: <a href="mailto:gary@projectshofar.org">gary@projectshofar.org</a> - Website: <a href="http://www.projectshofar.org">http://www.projectshofar.org</a> Sounding the Alarm for the Jews June 16, 2008 Once again I am preparing to fly to the USA to speak to both Jewish and Christian Zionist audiences about Israel. It is the role of the Jewish People to wake up the whole world to recognize that we all have but One Creator. I am very grateful that G-d has enabled me to play my part in that eternal role. It is nothing less than a miracle which enables me to personally travel all over the USA, sound my Shofar and try to open up eyes to the coming Redemption. Despite the seemingly impossible and desperate situation which sees our world on the brink of self destruction, we must take solace in the fact that we can clearly see the Hand of G-d beginning to bring His Prophesies to fruition. Yes, indeed, the madman from Iran is thumbing his nose at the world as he busily works to develop weapons which he believes will destroy the Jewish State. It is comforting to know that should he succeed in doing so that the USA will respond. The fact is that the Jewish People have been threatened with extinction ever since our creation. As it says in the Passover Hagaddah, In every generation there arise those who seek our destruction. And in every generation our G-d saves us from them. This generation is no different. . . but it may be the last threat we will have to face. Israel, like the USA, seems to be cursed with hapless (mis)leaders. The captains of our ships seem to have no idea where we are going. We have been given a very good map which clearly defines our destiny from the time G-d presented it to us on Mount Sinai. Instead of using that map to guide us to Redemption, our leaders have devised their own map which leads only to tragedy. Bushs Road Map will never lead to peace. His assertion that Israel must create a new enemy state upon her own holy soil is an affront to the Creator of the Universe and should have been rejected outright by Jewish leaders. The USA rose to greatness only because her founding fathers included the G-d of Creation as a full partner. Today it seems that our leaders seek to throw G-d out of that partnership. This is akin to expecting a strong building to endure while pulling out its foundations from under it. The future of the USA is in grave danger because of this. While it is true that in Israel too our leadership seems to be rejecting our partnership with our Creator, the big difference here is that our partnership with G-d is not based upon how we behave. The rebuilding of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel was not based on our merit, rather upon the beginning of fulfillment of Biblical Prophesy which no power on Earth can alter. It is the Will of G-d that the Jewish People return to the Land of Israel and become a beacon of light unto the nations of the world. It would be better would we choose to fulfill our destiny with joy and determination. But even should we choose to reject our destiny, as did the prophet Jonah, G-d will force us to do His Will in any event. Today we suffer because of our attempts to defy our destiny. But that destiny will prevail in spite of us, as we can clearly see in recent history. Like Jonah, I too am loathe to leave my homeland. But I have discovered that G-d has given me a gift to speak out to those who care to listen. As such I feel it my responsibility to use that gift to serve my Creator. I never go where I am not invited. And I try to go wherever I am invited. I trust His guidance and find myself going places I never thought I would go. And wherever I do go I can see in the faces of those to whom I speak that my words, the words placed in my mouth by our Creator, enter the hearts of those who listen. It seems that this visit will find me mostly in the State of Texas. This is the first visit which will not see me flying haphazardly all over the USA. Although the days are just about filled up, should you wish to invite me to your neighborhood dont hesitate to contact me. If I cant come this time, perhaps I will see you on the next visit. It is exciting to know that so many good people are tuned in to the G-dly dimensions of the time in which we live. Let us all search within ourselves to determine how we can participate in this Divine Process of Zionist Redemption.

{UnitedHinduFront} Re: HINDU TV (Rashtra1947@aol.com)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:23:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:Rashtra1947@aol.com">Rashtra1947@aol.com</a> Date: Sunday, June 15, 2008 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your spirit, commitment and sacrifice to establish HINDU TV is most commendable since such spirit is so rare. We are a sub continent and to our right and left small impoverished Islamic republics are covering the skies with their Islamic Jehadi propaganda while the Hindu voice is silent. For the sake of our children's morale this vacuum must be filled. We have always felt sick in stomach noticing NO Hindu TV while within a few months Pakistanis have taken over the skies. Sky TV is widespread in the UK and our own Hindu brothers and sisters have been turning more and more to Pakistani channels like sky 825, 802, 804, 805, 806 815 and 807. Couple of days ago we watched their NEWS channels like ARY ONE WORLD and GEOTV all night long to see the LONG MARCH and listen to speeches by their leading lawyers and political leaders. How interesting to see that media in Pakistan have won such freedom to put people and leaders in direct contact with each other. In our case the Hindu- bashing leaders are secretive because they are dishonest and only planning against their own people. They will never approve of any medium that will INFORM and INSPIRE the HIndus. Thank God, you have risen to rectify the situation. When right and left is either ISLAM or CHRISTIANITY, then why is the HINDU voice silent? BEST WISHES. regards Kuru ============= ----------------------- in a message dated 09/06/2008 17:03:20 GMT Standard Time, <a href="mailto:lashkarehind06@yahoo.co.in">lashkarehind06@yahoo.co.in</a> writes: Dear Sir, Jai Hind. This is great thing to start Hindu TV Channel. We already discussed this issue in our meetings and we have team, accomodation, supporters to implement your ideas. Only today I came back from Rajasthan and busy with day-to-day work will talk in the evening in details. I assure you we will provide all necessary help for Hindu TV Channel including financial contribution. Jai Hind. I. G. Khandelwal, LEH Chief HINDU TV CHANNEL <<a href="mailto:hindu.bharatiya@googlemail.com&gt">hindu.bharatiya@googlemail.com&gt</a>; wrote: My HINDU brother and sisters!!!! i send 1 mail about my wish to start HINDU TV Channel globally and also request to all of u for your idea and suggestion but till today i got only 10 replies! is it our seriousness about HINDU TV Channel? we r discussing only and only about Media negative propaganda but not doing on front of the war ground! I'M READY TO FIGHT WITH MY 100 CROR RUPEES BUT I WISH SOME KNOWLEDGE and information from u. plz reply ur idea and persons from this industry for go ahead. your HINDU brother

{UnitedHinduFront} Dirty and Mean methods adopted by followers of Semitic religion for conversion of Hindus (indiaview.wordpress.com)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:23:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:mgupta@rogers.com">mgupta@rogers.com</a> Date: Sunday, June 15, 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dirty and Mean methods adopted by followers of Semitic religion for conversion of Hindus The followers of Semitic religion want to convert the whole world into their respective religions Christianity or Islam. Followers of Christianity had quite success in converting the people of Africa into Christianity but they were not finding it easy to convert Hindus of Bhaarat. For that purpose they started adopting many tricks. One of the tricks was to denigrate Hindu religion in many ways. Christians found it very convient that by distorting Caste System and Sati system of Hindu religion for conversion Hindus into Christianity. See the details in the following article how the Christians took advantage for converting Hindus by distorting the Sati system. <a href="http://indiaview.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/censoring-indian-history/">http://indiaview.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/censoring-indian-history/</a> Sati Pratha and its origins Prabhat Varun Sati Pratha is a favorite topic among Hindu-bashers. As soon as they are questioned about the validity of their own claims, goals and methods they immediately start harping on Sati Pratha. And lo! The trick works. The questioning Hindu becomes defensive. He never tries to probe into the origin of so-called Sati Pratha, or at least about its rumors. So, let us try to do it here, what the typical-Hindu always refrains to. Forced Sati Pratha is nowhere mentioned in Hindu scriptures. Not a hint of it. There is no case of forceful widow burning in any of our scriptures. News about Sati Pratha started surfacing only with the advent of Christian Missionaries in India. They with their mission of converting the wretched idolaters, i.e., Hindus to Christianity started slandering Hinduism. For they quickly perceived that Hindus were an unyielding, staunch lot. They would not yield to the treacherous methods of Christian Missionaries. So they devised a new way for accomplishing their Harvest. They decided to slander Hinduism in front of Hindus, so as to shake their belief in it, and also in front of global community so as to justify their demonic agendas of Conversion. And for that they had a new tool in their hands to which Hindus had no access. This tool was the combined institution of Modern British Education System and the newly born media, i.e., the propaganda machine. (How they developed these me diums in India is another topic, related to Macaulay and many others and too long to be discussed here). So, they started their well-planned campaign against Hinduism. A very good example of this is the English word Juggernaut, meaning, a huge and overwhelming force. It is originated form the Rath Yatra of Jagganath. Christian Missionaries said that there goes one evil Yatra among Hindus, in which wretched idolaters take out a procession of three idols. In the Yatra, they take intoxicating drugs, dance nude in front of the chariot, make obscene gestures to each other and then in a fit throw themselves in front of the chariot to commit suicide. Hence, the word with its meaning of an overwhelming force. Swami Vivekanand also mentions this at one place along with many other calumnies heaped over Hinduism and Hindu civilization by the designing Christian Missionaries. Here is an excerpt of that, What is meant by those pictures in the school-books for children where the Hindu mother is painted as throwing her children to the crocodiles in the Ganga? The mother is black, but the baby is painted white, to arouse more sympathy, and get more money. What is meant by those pictures, which painted a man burning his wife at a stake with his own hands, so that she may become a ghost and torment the husbands enemy? What is meant by the pictures of huge cars crushing over human beings? I have heard one of these gentlemen preach in Memphis that, in every village of India, there is a pond of the bones of little babies What have the Hindus done to these disciples of Christ that every Christian child is taught to call the Hindus vile and wretched and the most horrible demons on earth? Swami Vivekananda, The Complete Works, Vol. IV (1945 ed.) Any person even most slightly acquainted with the Rath Yatra needs no explaining about the truth. Similarly, they harped on Sati, and invented the very term and phenomenon of Sati Pratha, citing some allegedly eye-witness accounts of widow burning on the funeral pyre of their husband. So, what was the truth in those accounts? If, there was any truth in those accounts, then what was their origin? For finding their origin, we have to stretch our memory some centuries back to the Medieval Ages, the era of great unprecedented rape, pillage and looting of India by Muslims and their armies. Among the very first provinces to bear the brunt of Islamic sword were Sindh, Punjab and Rajputana. Sindh being Buddhist in majority and Punjab also having a considerable population of Buddhists, succumbed soon to the unprecedented barbarous Islamic invasions. But Rajputana being completely Hindu held out for centuries. Even now there are only 9% Muslims in Rajasthan. But this resistance cost them a great deal. They had never faced such barbarous invaders and looters. All of the wars which they fought until then, were fought with a moral ethical code. Being synonymous with the Hindu philosophy, wars were fought only between warriors and concerned only them. Civil populace was never even touched, let alone molested. But the new Islamic enemy they were now facing was an unprecedented evil force, which did not rely on valour for victory, but instead on treachery, deceit, malice, crookedness and all other evil means. Those Islamic armies instead of fighting chivalrously with their opponents, chose to decimate the civilian populace, by laying siege to the country side, thus decimating the social, cultural and economic fabric of the nations. They massacred and butchered complete populations of Hindus, broke their idols, desecrated their temples, butchered the Brahmins, converted them forcibly to Islam (by making them eat beef!) destroyed their corps, poisoned their wells, burned their houses, abducted their children and raped their women. They took their inspiration from Quran. Ayats 2:193, 8:39, orders them to break idols. Ayats 8:12, 22: 19-22 exhorts them to massacre the religious leaders of the other religion. Ayats 33:59 and 4:24 encourages them to commit sexual transgressions without co mpunction with the non-Muslim women. This, this last atrocity done to the local populace by these Islamic marauders was without precedence in cruelty. (No one in Hindu era even thought of touching another woman, let alone raping her). It was a greater calamity on women than their family men. They did not think of such calamity befalling them in their wildest nightmares. They were free women under Hinduism with an equal say in society as men. They were not used to the sexual, and mental humiliation and torture to which Muslim and non-Muslim women under Islamic rule were subjected to. Chastity for them was everything, the prime value of life. They could not imagine an unchaste life. The very concept was unthinkable to them. And for preserving their chastity they were prepared to do anything, to break every barrier, to sacrifice every tying, even their life. And so they did. Facing these Islamic molesters, the brave Hindu women chose death. They built big cauldron like pots, lit then with fire and jumped into them, to die voluntarily and happily in order to save their honour and chastity. They chose and embraced death themselves and nobody forced them to do so. They with their very feminine bravery defied whole armies of Islamic marauders with all of their evil means and intentions. This phenomenon was called johar, meaning giving themselves to fire in order to be saved from disgrace. So, this was Johar, later practiced by Hindu women in every part of India in order to save themselves from the dirty hands of Islamic marauders. There was no forced immolation in that process, no malign Brahmins, no cruel priests, thus no Sati Pratha. And for suicide no other person can be blamed, other than those Islamic marauders whose threat forced Hindu women to suicide. Sati is an ancient Sanskrit term, meaning a chaste woman who thinks of no other man than her own husband. The famous examples are Sati Anusuiya, Savitri, Ahilya etc. None of them committed suicide, let alone being forcible burned. So how is that that they are called Sati? The word Sati means a chaste woman, and it has no co-relations with either suicide or murder. The term Sati was never accompanied by Pratha. The phrase, Sati Pratha was a Christian Missionary invention. Sati was taken form the above quoted source and Pratha was taken from the practice of Johar, (by distorting its meaning from suicide to murder) and the myth of Sati Pratha was born to haunt Hindus forever. So Sati Pratha (in its modern avatar of forcible widow burning) is not a fault of Hinduism but a crime of Islam. Islam is the perpetrator of crime here, and Hinduism, the victim. It is a joint crime of Islam and Christianity. The crime of Islam was transposed on Hinduism (absolving Islam in the process) by the historical connivance of anti-Hindu forces (Islam, Christianity and Marxism). To insert a spiritual clause here, it is very important to say that in modern times whenever is there a case reported of voluntary immolation of a woman on her husbands pyre, it is never reported that the dying woman shrieked in the unbearable pain of the burning flesh. Sucha case is reported by Mark Tully in his book No Full Stops in India. He tells of a woman Roop Kanwar in the village Deorala, district Sikar of Rajasthan who in Sep 1987 voluntarily died by burning herself with fire, without emitting any cries or shrieks. So what does it signify? No mortal can remain calm when his flesh is being burnt. So what is the reason of this superhuman quality of these women? The answer lies in dharma, Yoga and meditation. There are umpteen stories in Puranas and Vedas in which both men and women voluntarily accept death by immolating their mortal bodies by various means, including fire. The power of Yoga makes them oblivious of the pain of the decay of the mortal body. So women w ho voluntarily gave up their life in fire were empowered with the power of Yoga. Pain did not touch their chaste bodies. Hindus being oppressed for centuries have developed a mental state called Dhimmitude, which means a mental slavery to its long time oppressor Islam. So, now even those Hindus who stand against Islam are timid, defensive and guilty of some hypothetical crimes, imagined for their chagrin, for them by their enemies. They still cant think freely, analyze history objectively and recognize the true nature of Hinduism, i.e., Dharma. But, if they want to re-generate Dharma, Truth and Goodness then they will have to view History in its true light, with Courage, Resolution and with Objectivity. Then only they will be able to re-discover their Dharma and do something for its regeneration. History being Dharma itself hopes them to do so. <a href="http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_060328.htm">http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_060328.htm</a> One strong Hindu can change the thought-current of the whole world... Hindus should have fearlessness,the first prerequisite of a spiritual life. ================== What you expect from from people who have slavery not in blood but even in their bones. All media of Bhaarat is controlled by Muslims and Christians. There is no pro -Hindu media or press. BJP has taken pledge to start English paper Motherland and Hindi paper Matribhoomi. When indira Gandhi closed down motherland it should have been re - started within six months when the emergency was removed. Hindi paper Martribhoomi was never started. When Hajpayee Atal Bihari was prime minister, he answered to a question that there is no need for BJP paper as present media is doing good job. This the quality of BJP leaders. Mullah lal Krishan Advani is no better who went to grace the wedding of his niece to a Muslim man and praised Jinnah who caused division of Bhaarat. What you think which party or leader is good? BJP is Bteam of congressand fooled Hindus and now on road to appease Muslimsand Christians.While in power for six years did they ever try to form a policy to trace and deport 20 million Bangladeshi Muslims? Why didn't they stop Hajj subsidy? Why DIDN'T THEY BUILD FENCE TO STOP BANGLADESHIS getting in India? Why didn't they take strong action when 19 Indian soldiers were killed by Bangladeshi troops on Indo-Bangladesh border? Hindus are leaderless those who claim to be Hindu leaders are betraying Hindus. We need a ultra militant Hindu organisation to take care of Hindu interests . This is the need of time. The final battle is on and if we donot act now then to morrow will be too late. DR.S.SHARMA

The Ramakrishna Mission requested the courts to declare them a non-Hindu institution (commentisfree.wordpress.co)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:22:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:scnjat@gmail.com">scnjat@gmail.com</a> Date: Monday, June 16, 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worth mulling over. Gives a short discourse on Hindu philosophy & Indian civilisation, and argues about Sonia Gandhi's behavior in 1971 war and the emergency and her reluctance to take Indian citizenship (facts every true Indian should know). Sudhir <a href="http://commentisfree.wordpress.com/">http://commentisfree.wordpress.com/</a> Infidelity and Sonia Gandhi (Part 1) 16 06 2008 I (<a href="mailto:mukukv@aol.com">mukukv@aol.com</a>) came across an interesting piece written by Gurumurthy sometime ago when Sonia Gandhi was seeking candidature for the Prime Ministerial position. In this enlightening piece, Gurumurthy goes on to discuss the philosophy that strengthened India and guided its freedom movement and contrasts it with the concept of the nation-states of the west. He also recounts numerous instances from the Indian political history to support his arguments thereby questioning the legal and moral grounds on which Sonia, a foreigner, can assume the highest office in our country. Since it was a lengthy article, i have pruned a half of it, proofread it and have posted it here. The second half will follow sometime in future. Here is how it goes: Dear brothers and sisters, It is certainly not a matter of pride to have Sonia as the Prime Minister. You cannot be electing a person as a Prime Minister and not feel proud about having elected her. When someone wants to lead this country, it must be a matter of pride for the people of the country to have that person leading the country. It is not one of those also ran positions where you can say it is ok for her to be the Prime Minister. You do not even appoint a clerk in your office with so little thought. Imagine the depths to which this issue has descended. What is wrong if she is the Prime Minister, is an argument which comes not only from the ordinary, but also from the educated Indian. This comes from the Chidambarams and from the Rajdeeep sardesais of this country; this comes from editorial writers sitting in Madras. So let us analyze this issue in all its deeper implications for a country like India, which as Radha Rajan said, has an unbroken continuity. India is a civilization pretending to be a nation. Something like this is inconceivable by the intellectuals we are turning out of our universities today. This civilization is now facing the might of the nation-state, which has evolved in the west. The nation-state mechanism in the west is basically aggressive, violent, conquering, invasive, dominating, and imperialistic. This is a concept, which, the Indian mind, cannot internalize, cannot understand, and cannot exhibit in its attitude. India is basically a civilization, which is committed to fostering our civilization. That is why it grew far beyond its boundaries, without a single soldier moving out of this country to propagate it. You can find temples and can still hear the sound of the recitation of Vedas in Indonesia, in Vietnam, in Thailand even today. It is unbelievable that Vedic sounds are still heard in tribal areas of South-East Asia. No Hindu king went there. No one imposed his culture, his tradition or literature on them. Hinduism grew because of its worth and its philosophical reach. This is a civilization which is non-conflicting, which cannot understand why people confront and kill each other. It cannot really understand why someone has to fight over whether his God is superior to my God; and decide the outcome through a boxing match/ jihad/crusade. For a civilization of this kind, to be aggressive is alien, violence is alien, and domination is alien. But the worldly affairs of today are organized broadly on these bases. These have become the fundamental rules of existence today. Organized violence is the basis of the nation-state in the west. The nation-state in the west was forged by clans, by dictators, by oligarchies, and by powerful men. They thought that their power was signified by their armies; and this power can be seen in the destruction through out present-day Europe. You can see desolate monuments, the ruins of cities and societies in all parts of Europe. A nation-state, which philosophically grew out of this kind of attitude to other civilizations, to other nations, to other people, and other societies, is now recognized as the paradigmatic framework of all political existence. This, for people like us, is a difficult phenomenon to understand and to deal with. In no religious-political literature of this world can one find the equivalent of something like let noble thoughts come to us from all sides. All political, social and religious philosophies of the west and of the Abrahamic faiths rest on the premise that What I say or think is noble. This is the essence of all the western philosophies. Contrast this to our civilization where you open your hearts and mind to others, and say athithi is God personified. You belong to a civilization which has internalized this value. We therefore find it very difficult to reconcile it with the modern idea of the nation-state, which is based on violence, exclusivity and intolerance. We have problem which we, as intellectuals, must understand and deal with eventually. Why do we have a difficulty in dealing with the issue of foreigners and their holding high offices in our country? Britain would never enact a constitution in which they have to mention that only a British-born can be the Prime Minister or the Chief Justice. The French and the Germans see no necessity to do a similar thing because it is generally accepted in their political, social and cultural traditions that only a white Christian will hold the highest office in their countries. But the USA will have to make such a stipulation in its Constitution. It is because Am erica is basically an immigration society. It is a nation state brought about by a boarding and lodging mentality. Safe guards, which are needed for a nation that is forged from a melting pot identity drawn from different countries of the world, have to be made to ensure a modicum of loyalty to the American State. The forefathers of the white, Christian American in the USA today, had systematically and ruthlessly wiped out the nation, the society, the civilization, which existed 500 years ago. A 110 million people were wiped out in a planned genocide lasting three centuries! The entire Mayan civilization was wiped out in this campaign of hatred and intolerance. The Americans brought something new in the place of what had been destroyed. We are a far more evolved society. This society, this country, this nation, this civilization is not run, not controlled, or administered by the police, President or the Prime Minister. I am amazed at this concept which I have now internalized for the last twenty-years. It was only after twenty-five years of completing my university education that my real education began. And the understanding I have about our society is that it is an enormously harmonious society which knows how to live with others. We have seven and a half lakh villages and fifty thousand police stations only. American society cant live like this. Their insecurity is so internalized in the system of relationship between the State and the society and there is nothing called society. It is in inter-personal relationships, that they depend on the police and the law for security and protection. So we do not understand the rules that govern the idea of the nation-state dichotomy in the west and at the global level and contrast it with the idea of the nation-state that all of us in this country are experiencing. What is the nation in India? The greatest of the great sociologists have been confounded by this country. In this context I have often asked myself what is it about this nation that a Thanjavurian in Los Angeles continues to feel anxious about the level of water in the Mettur Dam. He owns no land there, as he has disposed them off. Still, he continues to follow the level of water in the Mettur dam from Los Angeles. The obvious reason is that he is still linked to the Cauvery and to his village subconsciously. He is linked to cultivation there, in his thoughts and in his ideas. It is these ideas that bond a person with the land, that make this nation what it is. At the highest level of existence, there have been nations without territories and nations without g overnments. On a more mundane level and from recent history, one singular example is the Jews. For two thousand years, they were butchered and persecuted and displaced from a hundred and seven countries. They were strewn and scattered around the world as refugees. They were hated everywhere uniformly. They migrated to seek asylum in a hundred and eight countries and were abused and treated with scant respect in 107 of them. It was only in India that they were treated with courtesy, respect and compassion. The Jews published a book in 1965. This book was printed in America and distributed all over the world except in India. In this book, the author mentions that the Jews had to beg for survival in hundred and eight countries. In 107 of those countries, they were butchered, maimed, raped or rubbished. It was only in India, where they were received and treated like their own. There was no constitution in India at that time. There was no article 29,30,25,26 calling for protection of the minorities. Do we mean to say that it is the constitution, which protects the minorities here? Our constitution, that arguably protects the minorities, is a product of this civilization. It has evolved from our working, our method, our language, and our life. And when we wish to discuss the issue of foreigners holding high offices in this country, we are told, to look at the Constitution and at times even frowned upon that we are communal, that we are promoting hatred. A majority in India have been increasingly losing confidence with the governance in the last 50 years. Looking at it deeply, ours in a country in which the majority (whether you like it or not there is a majority because there is a minority as well) have been abused, hounded out in public discourses on issues which are important to Hindus, have had their symbols discredited, and their points of respect derided. For fifty years, we have been forced to assume an excruciatingly defensive position in the countrys public life. This situation has assumed such tragic proportions that a senior Hindu institution like The Ramakrishna Mission requested the courts to declare them a non-Hindu institution. This was the kind of pressure thrust on the Hindus. If eighty-five percent people in a country are under pressure, the country cant be at ease. We, the qualified intellectuals, have been looking at the situation for all these years. But what did we do about it? Nothing. This inaction is the direct consequence of the enormous implication, the destructive implication of the Macaulay mix in our education. This civilization was so noble that it was hardly a competitor to the nation-states of the west. The western states could easily conquer the Indian geography, but not the nation. The nation in India has always been free. The State in India may have been conquered and may have passed into the hands of alien invaders. But it never really mattered. The state in India never symbolized the nation in India. The State was never the protector of the nation. The State was a residual mechanism that was vested with only a residuary power. But in western societies, the State, the king, the administration, the building, the army, and the police symbolize everything. They symbolize the State and society. Therefore if you take over the capital, the country is gone, and the civilization is gone. In this country, as Swami Vivekananda says, temple after temple rose again after being demolished because the spirit of the people was not broken. Rulers of alien religions tried to levy tax for visiting Hindu temples. Some people paid the tax and went to the temples. Those that couldnt afford the tax gave in. Though it was a submissive approach, it can be compared to the pliant and the submissive grass that lives to see another day in the midst of a tempest that threatens to fell trees. This is how we learnt to counter a barbarian attitude, a barbarian civilization, a barbarian army, and barbarian rulers. That is why this nation is a very difficult nation to define. One can easily define what is French One who detests all things English is French. You can also define what is British and what Australian is because they are all shades of the same culture. There is no difference among them in their overall attitude towards other civilizations. There is no demarcation betwe en them with respect to their own civilization. They are only distinguished by their approach and attitude to power and how they demarcate that power. These are civilizations whose age is marked in decades or centuries or millenniums. They have no concept called the Yuga. Our civilization spans beyond decades and millenniums. We need an aerial view so to say, to understand this nation. We can catch a glimpse of it in our freedom struggle. What triggered India to fight for freedom and what was the core of the philosophy of the Indian freedom movement? Maharishi Aurobindo once said that Sanathana Dharma is nationalism in India. He went to deliver a talk in Uttarapara in Bengal. He had a prepared text with him and when he wanted to read from this text, his inner voice instructed him to ignore the text and speak extempore. That was his last speech because he exiled to Pondicherry then after. In the speech, he had mentioned that the nation will disintegrate when Sanathana declines. Vande Mataram, the single slogan that motivated thousands to go to jail, had its base in Sanathana dharma. What this country responds to, what this country accepts, what this country reveres is Vande Mataram, Rama Rajya and Sanathana Dharma. Swami Vivekananda talked about spiritual nationalism. It is these ideas, these abstract ideas that provided a concrete shape to this country and guided the freedom movement. People left their homes, never bothering to return. People gave up their lucrative businesses; rich people destroyed or forwent their property. Young people did not bother about their career. They did not give up so much for a democracy to be installed in this country, not to elect someone as Prime Minister and President. They never had who will rule this country after independence in mind. All they wanted was this country to be free, from the domination of foreigners, foreign ideas, alien civilization, and destructive nation-states. India fought for freedom in the real sense of the term. It is this philosophy that shaped the Indian freedom movement. It is an irony that th e greatest destruction of the Indian mind was brought about by the intellectual and academic systems of free India. India was such a civilization and she posed a major challenge to both Macaulay and Marx. In their own words, The Indian civilization has its ideas rooted till the lowest levels of our social and political structures. It could, therefore, be destroyed only by distortive and destructive ideas. Nothing else could make any kind of an impact on the Indian civilization. Invading armies cannot achieve it, foreign rule cannot end it, coercive and violent religious conversions certainly can not harm it. The fact that the Indian State passed into the hands of successive invaders for 900 years meant that there was no protection for the Hindus of this nation. In fact, I remember one of my friends, an IAS officer, who resigned from his job and went to an Australian University. He was telling me that the Hindus were the only people in the whole world who were denied protection to life and property for 900 years. He also added that a single amendment to Article 21 in the constitution of India, which guarantees protection to life and property, should now be done in a manner to make it available only to Hindus in India. If this happens, there will be no other people in India in the next 200 years. But this thought will not even occur to us. This is the thought on which the entire concept of nation-state in the west and in the Middle East was based, the concept of Only I can live, you have no right to live. And to protect and defend their right is, to say in todays India, protecti ng the minority right. The extent to which the thinking of Indian intellectuals has been convoluted by the English invasion is appalling! We have to straighten them out, and only English speaking Indians can do it. So, the Indian mind, the Indian philosophy, and the non-conflicting approach of the Indian civilization have to confront the exclusive, conflicting and aggressive nature of the other civilizations and the institutions born out of those civilizations. We must understand the attitude of the makers of our constitution in this background to understand why they did not think of stipulating the clause that only Indian-born people can hold high offices in India. The thought of anybody foreign to this soil would one day target these high offices would have never occurred to them. It was a time when we had just won freedom from foreigners. So, they would have thought it to be superfluous to stipulate such a condition in our constitution. It does not make any sense if the argument today centres on the absence of this clause in our constitution and allows someone alien to India to hold high offices in this country. Today, people who support Sonias candidature concede the fact that foreigners can become Prime Ministers and Presidents in India if they hold a valid citizenship certificate. They also go on making odious comparisons with great people in support of their arguments to make Sonia the Prime Minister. People, who have not studied her closely, cite Sister Nivedita (Margaret) as an example. Nivedita rebelled against the British in India. She also helped in smuggling arms into India to fight the British. The Ramakrishna Mission, which kept away from politics, requested her to leave them. Swami Vivekananda called her Nivedita because she had surrendered herself to this country. Where does Sonia stand in comparison with her? Sonia came to India in 1968, marrying a very good looking husband in Rajiv, who was the son of the Prime Minister of India. It is in our tradition that when a woman is married, she becomes one in the husbands family and an ideal part of that familys tradition. But supporters of Sonia must not ignore the fact that she did not apply for Indian citizenship when she married Rajiv and came to India, something that any Indian wife would have done. She filled in an application in 1968 seeking for permission to stay in India as a foreigner for five years. She preferred to remain a foreigner despite marrying an Indian. She was issued a certificate in 1968 to reside in India as a foreigner for five years. In 1973, after her first five year period of stay expired, she sought extension to stay in India for another five years. Can we expect someone, who didnt want to seek permanent Indian citizenship to live and die for us when she represents our nation? My dear friend, Cho, once told me that what she says is divorced from what she does. There have been numerous instances which remind us of Sonias infidelity. Lets delve deeper into once such instance. When Sonia applied for a five year extension of her stay in 1973, the political climate was such that a war with Pakistan over East Pakistan was imminent. A struggle for Bangladesh independence was also round the corner. When all commercial pilots were asked to forgo their leaves and come back to service during the Bangladesh war, she urged Rajiv Gandhi to avail long leave on special permission. Sonia doubted Indias chances of survival when the seventh American fleet was moving towards India. They left India and spent their time in Rome throughout the war period and returned only after peace was restored. India had won the war because of Indira Gandhis vision, and the congress party acquired an invincible status in the eyes of the opposition parties. Compare the contrasting attitudes of Vajpayee and Sonia Gandhi. After the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, Vajpayee, who was the opposition leader at that time, stood up in Parliament and congratulated Indira Gandhi for her courage and compared her with goddess Durga. At that important moment, he never thought that acknowledging the achievement of his political adversary will cost him votes. He lost on votes in the election that followed. Still, Vajpayee stood tall in his praise for Indira Gandhi. Compare him with Sonia Gandhi, who did not give the credit due to the soldiers of the Kargil war when they successfully evacuated the infiltrators. It is not everyday that a nation comes together to feel proud. Such opportunities do not come very often and that is why these incidents are studied, reread and recapitulated in history. Sonia even played politics with the self-esteem of this country by choosing the wrong moment to demand an explanation from the NDA government in raising issues related to corruption in defence deals. Even her praise for our armed forces came late when she realised that the people of this country were not taking her criticism of our armed forces very well. That she was a foreigner and had no business asking for explanations came through very clearly. Every educated Indian knew there were problems, including corruption, associated with some sections of the army and it was these problems that resulted in the Kargil invasion. But Sonia chose the wrong occasion to escalate the issue to expose a smaller number of people and ended up defaming the entire army in the process. The army represents the c ore of Indian nationalism. There are moles everywhere and the Indian army is no exception to it. But the occasion demanded the nation to rise above everything and pat the army for its heroism, its courage and its sacrifice. But then, one can expect such broad-mindedness and consideration only from a nationalist. A person like Sonia Gandhi, who is after votes, who is after power, who is after a citizenship certificate to rule this country, cannot think like one. So, we have to read between the lines and look at what is preset under the persons skin. In 1973, Sonia sought for a five-year extension to stay in India. When Indira Gandhi was defeated in the 1977 elections after the Emergency period, Sonia Gandhi understood the mood of the nation and went into the Italian embassy refusing to come back. She had ideas of going back to Italy and Sanjay Gandhi pleaded with her to give up the thought and return back home. And we expect this woman to live and die for India. To live in India is very different from living for India. And to live in India in such glory, with such protection, with such resources, is very different from dying for India. No one will die for something which one does not own or feel a part of. Swami Vivekananda once went to Colombo after his American visit. When everybody was waiting with garlands to receive him, they were shocked to see Vivekananda rolling on the sand, embracing his mother. He was one of the towering intellectuals of the world who could leave a hostile audience spellbound for hours. He was the same person who was a rationalist to start with; one who questioned the existence of God to Ramakrishna. He was found rolling on the sand; in the lap of his mother, embracing her. This is nationalism. Nationalism does not come by merely dressing traditionally. The sari is as much a fancy dress today like any other haute couture. But some Indians are very happy when they see Sonia wearing a sari. Cho once told me something that he may not put down in his writing. But I take this opportunity to share this with the audience. He said If Sonia Gandhi had been black, or had she been a person of African origin, this problem would never have arisen. The educated Indian would then not support her candidature. The problem is with the educated Indian, for he reveres the White and has a fascination for the white skin. That is why he is pushing forward her candidature, questioning anyone and everyone who feels otherwise. The million dollar question is how to remove this inherent bias from the Indian mind and how to remove this fascination for the white skin and for the English language. Let us assume that I become the Prime Minister one day and explain how I will go about eliminating this bias. I will then bring in 50,000 shoe-shiners from different parts of the world and make them work in Indian bus stands, railway stations and airports. I will also ask the government to pay on someones behalf, who gets his shoes shined by the white men. So, the idea that the white man can also be a shoe-shiner will come to us. It may be a petty idea, it may seem funny, but there is a deep implication in this idea with respect to our civilization. Let us assume that a lorry driver from a foreign country comes to India on a vacation. When he approaches the Air India counter, the attendant will courteously ask him to wait while she serves the waiting customers. This is the way we treat the white man in our co untry, with deference. As a result, there is a definite racial bias in favour of Sonia, which we must understand. Source: Gurumurthys website.

WE'RE BAAAACK! (blj@jewishworldreview.com)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:21:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:blj@jewishworldreview.com">blj@jewishworldreview.com</a> Date: Monday, June 16, 2008 Dearest readers: Imagine slaving to prepare a banquet straight thru the night. And then once set up beautifully on a table, the legs give way. Pretty lousy, huh? That's how I feel! We're still determining why, but our servers WERE down both JewishWorldReview.com as well as our sister site, PoliticalMavens.com WE ARE NOW BACK UP! Please read this note to the bottom. We have a smorgasbord of intellectual delights ready for you! Unlike the above mentioned trashed banquet, the "treats" are still delectable and will leave you intellectually satiated at least for today. There's always tomorrow and onward! So, PLEASE visit JewishWorldReview.com as well as our sister site, PoliticalMavens.com today! We have inspiring and humorous pieces as well as hard hitting and controversial analysis for those who aren't afraid to think. (For those who have yet to visit PoliticalMavens.com, be ready to bookmark it!) In case, Heaven forbid, we have more problems, PLEASE try back later. While I have your attention, could I please ask for one more minute? Some time ago, we began running "Ads by Google", that appear just above our articles and toons. The idea was that readers would click on them and, according to how many clicks we received -- in a "sliding scale" type of way -- we will be paid. . While other sites seem to have their loyal readers click, JWR has less than a 1% click rate. In other words, 99% of the ads on our pages run for free. Clicking would take all of a second -- literally -- a day and JWR would be funded. To make matters worse, we arent allowed to ask readers to click on the ads, either. We will shortly be re-launching JWR with a slick new design and tech upgrade and a number of nifty features. We will also have prime advertising space available. If you have a business and you'd like to reach a highly educated, upscale international readership --- or just want to support a source of information, inspiration and entertainment you gain from, PLEASE drop me a line. As you will be purchasing without an ad agency, the prices will be heavily discounted. PLEASE enjoy today's issue by visiting our Front Page: JewishWorldReview.com In gratitude and friendship, Binyamin L. Jolkovsky, Editor in Chief

Daily Master Course Lesson Delivery (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:21:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com">Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com</a> Date: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Master Course The lesson of the day from Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami's trilogy: Dancing with Siva, Living with Siva and Merging with Siva -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daily Master Course Lesson Delivery Namaskar, to all the dedicated students of the Master Course: As you well know, there have been some problems with regular delivery of the daily lessons by email. We are working on these but may not solve the problem until next week. In the meantime we will also be away for the next 3 days for our full moon "back to nature and meditation" retreat and unable to do a "manual" distribution, which we have been doing each day when the lessons are not sent automatically. We recommend that you keep the following web page book marked in your browser and those of you who are very dedicated to reading your daily Master Course lesson at a certain time can simply use your browser instead of your email to read the daily lesson here: <a href="http://www.himalayanacademy.com/study/mc/todays_lesson.shtml">http://www.himalayanacademy.com/study/mc/todays_lesson.shtml</a> Hopefully we will get this solved soon. In the meantime, it is always available online. Aum shanti Monks of Kauai Aadheenam

Bullet for bullet - At last, Maoists are on the run (www.dailypioneer.com) (G. C. Asnani: Stronger bulled for a bullet will work, not only bullet for bullet.)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:20:00 GMT

Date: 17.6.08 The Pioneer Edit Desk Blazing guns in the forests of central India have begun to have their effect on Maoists. The offensive of the security forces has them on the run in Chhattisgarh. It is to the good that the combined assault of the paramilitary personnel and the police has placed these red terrorists, whose depredations have caused immense suffering, on the backfoot. The success of the security forces is shown from the fact that the Maoists have lost 68 of their cadre over the last one month, which is the largest such casualty that they have ever suffered. What is also a positive development is that the security forces are able to move freely in what were Maoist-controlled areas till recently. This is a result of the firepower that has been employed and was just not possible till a short while ago. The last few months have seen success because paramilitary and State forces have begun coordinating their counter-terrorist operations. What has also helped is the use of modern technology and acces s to satellite images, apart from deploying helicopters. A third contributory factor is Maoist cadre spilling the beans about their comrades. The thrust of the anti-Maoist operations has been on penetrating Bastar and Bijapur and on establishing bases for the security forces in these areas. This is necessary to ensure deeper strikes in Maoist-held territory elsewhere. Yet it must not be forgotten that the Maoists are a relentless lot who do not give up easily. They have already begun resorting to diversionary tactics. Just last week they blew up 220 KV high-tension electricity towers, plunging large areas in darkness. They have also been sabotaging mining activity. It would, however, be counter-productive if the security forces begin celebrating their successes and the authorities declare the war against Maoists won. For, despite the losses they have suffered, the Maoists remain a potent force: Their access to modern weapons and funds remains unhampered; there has been no let up in the patronage they receive from foreign organisations, including Maoists in Nepal. Hence, they should not be under-estimated. More important, we can expect the Maoists to step up their brigandage to demonstrate that the death and desertion of their comrades has not weakened their 'movement'. The right course to follow would be to strengthen the counter-Maoist operations through the induction of more forces and arms and chase the terrorists till they have no place to hide. Simultaneously, there should be an effort to reassert the state's authority in the places that have been cleansed of Maoists by posting committed officials and implementing development proje cts that address the aspirations of the people. Bad governance, let us not forget, is often the cause of disaffection, which in turn helps the Maoists to replenish their ranks with new recruits.

Frontier turbulence- Hot pursuit in Pakistan is inevitable (www.dailypioneer.com)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:20:00 GMT

Date: 17.6.08 The Pioneer Edit Desk By warning that attacks by Taliban operatives living in sanctuaries inside Pakistan are becoming an insurmountable problem for Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai is speaking for more than just himself. It is clear Kabul is relaying a message from Washington, DC. The Afghan President has threatened to send his troops across the Durand Line, either in hot pursuit or in pre-emptive action. It is important to see the current exchange of words in context. As is well-known, jihadi armies have been based in Waziristan and the North-West Frontier Province ever since they were driven out of Kabul and Kandahar by the American-led forces in 2001. Attempts to quell, divide or buy peace with them have failed for a complex mix of reasons. First, Islamabad has, over the past seven years, refused to allow foreign security forces to enter these areas, even though the Pakistani state has only notional control over them. Second, after realising that his Army did not have the capacity -- or per haps the desire -- to pacify the frontier regions, Gen Pervez Musharraf quietly gave up. As a shrewd diplomat, he played both sides. He told the Americans he was doing what he could, gave the frontier chiefs and militas just enough breathing space and sought to explain every act of surrender as tactical retreat. In recent months two things have happened. One, by assassinating Benazir Bhutto in close proximity to the Rawalpindi headquarters of the Pakistani Army and then, just days ago, blowing up part of the Danish embassy in Islamabad's supposedly sanitised diplomatic zone, the jihadis have completely exposed the Pakistani security establishment. That apart, in the absence of Gen Musharraf, the US is dealing with a chaotic, confused civilian Government that doesn't even have notional authority and a new Army leadership that is keen to be seen as distancing its strategic goals from those of a final-year Bush Administration. The result has been increased activity on the Afghan frontier as well as the Line of Control that divides Jammu & Kashmir. For both Islamabad and the Kabul-Washington alliance, the July 11 incident in the Mohmand tribal area was an act of grave provocation. Pakistani Taliban fighters crossed into Afghan territory and were challenged by Allied forces. They were helped, it would appear, by paramilitary troops on the Pakistani side of the border. In the skirmish that followed, the US Air Force took recourse to air strikes, killing Taliban desperadoes and 11 Pakistani soldiers. While the civilian Government in Islamabad has condemned the USAF bombing but sought to play down the incident, Mr Karzai's statement suggests Afghanistan and the US see it differently. There is little choice in the matter. A degree of determined military action inside Pakistani territory is unavoidable if the war on terror is to be won and if Afghanistan and, on the other front, Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of India, are to live in relative peace. Since September 11, 2001, the Pakistani military and state have been trusted with this action but have proved incapable and inefficacious. As such, whether it is autonomous action by NATO troops or a more institutionalised arrangement under the auspices of the United Nations peace-keeping mechanism, trans-national forces will inevitably be needed. After all, Pakistan is no longer the frontline state - it is the battleground.

Amarnath yatra begins on Tuesday, 17th June 2008 under tight security (www.dailypioneer.com)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:19:00 GMT

Date: 17.6.08 PTI | Jammu Posted online: June 16, 2008 Escorted by security personnel, the first batch of Amarnath pilgrims leaves for the cave shrine early on Tuesday from the Jammu base camp in the shadow of a three-tier security that will see deployment of over 6,000 CRPF men. With over two-lakh pilgrims having registered for the two-month-old yatra, security forces have been put on high alert for a smooth and successful conduct of the yatra. "The pilgrims will leave for the holy cave shrine in the Himalayan range of south Kahsmir tomorrow escorted by CRPF personnel from here," official sources said. Buses, trucks and light motor vehicles carrying the pilgrims will leave around 5 am and the CRPF will provide security from Jammu to Pahalgam and Baltal camps, the sources said. The actual yatra will begin from June 18 when the first batch will perform darshan at the holy cave shrine. As many as 4000 pilgrims have arrived and they have been housed in an Amarnath Yatra camp in Bhagwati Nagar area of the city. Over 300 sadhus have also arrived in Jammu for their onward journey to the cave shrine. "The three-tier security setup has been activated in and around cave shrine, base camps, eating points along the pilgrim route from Lakhanpur (Kathua) to Amarnath," security officials said. The security setup consists of area domination and setting up of mountain posts by army, deployments of CRPF and mobile patrolling by armed police. The CRPF has deployed 50 companies comprising 6,250 men and officers while the army has set up 97 area domination posts in and around the holy cave shrine in Lidder valley of south Kashmir Himalays, besides Pahalgam and along the highway in Anantnag, Ramban and Udhampur districts.

Modi dares Cong to file sedition case against him (www.dailypioneer.com)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:19:00 GMT

Date: 17.6.08 PTI | Surat Posted online: June 16, 2008 A week after daring the Centre to remove Gujarat from the list of centrally-assisted states, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has hit out at the Congress again. "I invite the whole Congress regime, please do not waste a single day, book me for sedition today and hang me. Let me see how they can," he said while addressing a public function in Surat on Sunday. "But how can they? They have not been able to hang Afzal Guru," he added referring to the man convicted for terror attack on Parliament in 2001. Modi has been playing political rhetoric again in recent days. At a function in Vadodara last week, he said that Gujarat gives Rs 40,000 crore as taxes to the Centre and receives only 2.5 per cent of it in return. He asked the Government to stop collecting taxes from Gujarat and also stop aid to the State. The Congress questioned Modi's remarks and said that they were "nothing less than an assault on the idea of India." During recent Gujarat elections, Modi's controversial statements reaped rich dividends for him. He had taken on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for calling him a 'maut ka saudagar'(merchant of death). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks at itself at the only party strong enough to deal with terror and is not leaving any opportunity to hit out at the Congress. Modi has kick-started the BJP's new campaign before general elections due next year. And he is looking ahead to a larger role in national politics.

Inflation fears force Bank of England into a corner (www.guardian.co.uk)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:18:00 GMT

Date: 17.6.08 City expects price pressures to trigger rise in interest rates instead of cuts The government is on inflation alert amid fears that dearer petrol and food will herald the start of a year of bad news on the cost of living and limit the Bank of England's ability to cut interest rates. With the latest official inflation data due out this morning, the City is braced for an annual increase of more than 3% - a figure that would prompt only the second exchange of letters between Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England and the chancellor, Alistair Darling. The Treasury dropped a broad hint at the weekend that Darling was preparing for bad news, although he is likely to accept the explanation from King that rising prices are the result of global trends in fuel and food. At a time when the economy shows signs of weakness, ministers believe the Bank can remain vigilant on inflation without interest-rate overkill. The Bank has a legal obligation to keep inflation at 2% under the terms of its independence drawn up by Gordon Brown in 1997, but Whitehall sources stress that Thread needle Street is also supposed to support the government's goals for growth and full employment. An explanatory letter from the governor to the chancellor is required once a quarter for as long as inflation is more than a percentage point higher or lower than its target. Speculation has mounted in recent days that today's figure will edge up from 3%. Commenting on the possibility of a letter from King, a Treasury spokesman said at the gathering of G8 finance ministers at the weekend: "It wouldn't be surprising, given recent trends in world food and fuel prices." City analysts said the inflation rise would come at an unwelcome time for the Bank, with evidence house prices are falling and unemployment has started to rise. Inflation is expected to peak at 4% in the autumn but to remain at or above 3% until 2009 - prompting three or four letters. The last time the Bank was forced to explain itself was in April last year, after inflation for the previous month spiked to 3.1%. Only one letter was required because price pressures subsided quickly. Interest rates in the City's money markets have increased sharply over the past month in anticipation that the Bank would push up the bank rate from 5%. The Nationwide, Britain's second biggest lender, became the latest building society to raise the price of home loans yesterday - hiking the cost of its mortgages by as much as half a percentage point. Matthew Carter, mortgages director at Nationwide, said: "We've seen continued large rises in money market rates together with further competitor activity, and as a result it has been necessary to increase the rates on our range of mortgages." Despite three cuts in bank rate from the Bank of England between December last year and April, fixed rate mortgages in the UK are now at their highest in a decade, adding to downward pressure on activity and prices in the property market. Rising prices for food and energy have affected all parts of the world, with the eurozone reporting yesterday the highest cost of living increase - 3.7% - since the creation of the single currency. Crude oil prices also briefly rose to a record of just under $140 a barrel on world commodity exchanges before falling back sharply, but Darling and his fellow finance ministers are concerned at the potential damage by rising energy costs to western economies as they struggle to cope with the impact of the year-long credit crunch. The communique released by G8 finance ministers after their weekend in Japan reflected concern at rising inflationary pressures. "Elevated commodity prices, especially of oil and food, pose a serious challenge to stable growth worldwide, have serious implications for the most vulnerable, and may increase global inflationary pressure. These conditions make our policy choices more complicated. "We have strong concerns about the sharp rise in oil prices, which have surpassed past peaks in both nominal and real terms, and the impacts on global macro-economic stability as well as people's welfare and development prospects." Nick Parsons, head of strategy for NAB Capital, said King should beware of giving the impression that rates needed to rise in response to inflationary forces beyond his control. "In the letter he needs to do two things, explain why inflation has gone up and what action he intends to take. "On the first point, he should say 'energy and food'. On the second point, he should say 'nothing'." Vicky Redwood, at Capital Economics, said: "Having leapt unexpectedly sharply in April, there is a serious chance that consumer price inflation will move higher in May. It is possible that April's rise will turn out to be the start of an upward trend as the very sharp increase in core factory inflation finally starts to work its way into the high street."

Were they (Gandhiji and Nehru) under Muslim spell? (www.organiser.org) (I beg to disagree. Mahatma Gandhi was largely ignorant about Islam and hence wrong in his actions in respect of Hindu-Muslim relationship. Shri Nehru was over-anxious to get power. Britishers understood these two leaders of India and played their game skillfully.)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:18:00 GMT

Date: 17.6.08 By M.S.N. Menon No. They were not. But the belief persists. Their policy of appeasement was notorious. But it was a matter of expediency. Gandhiji believed in Hindu-Muslim unity. It was an axiom with him for the victory of the freedom struggle. And what mattered to Nehru were the votes of the Muslims. Without their votes, the Congress was not sure of gaining power in view of the anti-Congress upsurge among the Hindus. But what were their innermost thoughts about the Muslims? Gandhiji says that though Hindus and Muslims came from the same stock, the religious environment in which they were brought up made all the difference between them. And being a minority, he says, Muslims, as a class, developed into bullies. How? He explains: The 1400 years of (Muslim) imperialist expansion made the Mussalmans into fighters. They were, therefore, aggressive. Bullying is the natural excrescence of an aggressive spirit, he warns. Surely Gandhiji was not blind. As against this, say the Mahatma, the Hindus had an age-old civilisation. They were essentially non-violent. As such, he says, they were not equipped to fight. In fact, they had become docile to the point of timidity or cowardice, he says. If Hindus would but believe themselves, the Mahatma says, and work in accordance with their tradition, they would have no reason to fear the bullying. (Young India, 19.6.1924) Gandhiji admits that the sword is not the emblem of Islam. But (it) is yet too much in evidence among the Mussalmans. It must be sheathed, if Islam is to be what it means (what it claims to be?)peace, he says. (Young India, 30.12.1926) If this was what Gandhiji really thought of the Indian Muslims, his policy of appeasement can be explained only in terms of expediency. It is true, Gandhiji was least informed on matters Islamic. Independent India offered the Muslims an unique opportunity to share power with the Hindus. But they failed to seize the opportunity. After raising a revolt against the British raj in 1857, they became collaborators of the British. And after having brought about the horrendous Partition of the country, they became collaborators of the Congress Party. This was no way to carve out a worthy destiny. Of course, they desperately wanted assurance of security. They also wanted to prevent a Hindu revival. And the Congress, as I said before, was desperately in need of Muslim votes to be in power. That was how a deal came to be struck between the Muslims and Pt. Nehru. The outcome was the introduction of secularism as a government policy. But did Nehru know that the Muslims consider secularism as the worst evil? He did not. He had a poor opinion about the Muslim advent. He writes: The people of Central Asia, who invaded India, were fierce and merciless... Having conquered a new country, they knew only one way of keeping it under controlthe way of terror A terrible indictment! Terror is still a major weapon in the hands of Muslims. Nehru did not hide his real feelings about the vandalism of Aurangzeb. He writes: He was an austere puritan, a bigot tolerating no religion but his own. Deliberately, he laid down a policy of persecution of Hindus. Deliberately, he reversed Akbars policy of conciliation and synthesisHe reimposed the Jaziya, excluded Hindus from office, gave offence to the Rajput nobles and brought about the Rajput war. Not these alone. He destroyed Hindu temples by the thousands and many a beautiful building of the past was reduced to dust. As against this, he was a great admirer of Indias past. Their (Hindus) moral and spiritual culture was so high that it could resist conversionThe blind bigotry of the Muslims was gradually tempered by the philosophic culture of the Hindus. But it is true he had a poor opinion of the Hindus among whom he lived. In a confidential letter dated 17.11.1953 addressed to his Home Minister K.N. Katju, he says: What real Hinduism may be is a matter for each individual Hindu to decide. We can take only as it is in practice and in practice the Hindu is certainly not tolerant and is more narrow-minded than almost any person in any other country except the Jews. It does not help much to talk of Hindu philosophy, which is magnificent. The fate of India is largely tied up with the Hindu outlook. If the present Hindu outlook does not change radically, Im, quite sure that India is doomed. The Muslim outlook may be, and I think is often worse, but it does not make much difference to the future of India. (emphasis mine) Dear reader, the Muslim policy of Gandhiji and Nehru might have been a Himalayan blunder, but they were under no spell. I am convinced that the appeasement policy of the Congress today is far more shameful than it ever was under Gandhiji and Nehru. Think it over.

Were they (Gandhiji and Nehru) under Muslim spell? (www.organiser.org) (I beg to disagree. Mahatma Gandhi was largely ignorant about Islam and hence wrong in his actions in respect of Hindu-Muslim relationship. Shri Nehru was over-anxious to get power. Britishers understood these two leaders of India and played their game skillfully.)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:18:00 GMT

BJP should win Centre (www.organiser.org) (G. C. Asnani: BJP should not repeat its earlier mistakes; over-confidence should not shatter our heads and bring us to a fatal downfall, which is not impossible.)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:17:00 GMT

Date: 17.6.08 By Dr Karan Thakur Having won Karnataka, the BJP must now set its sight on the general elections which are due in 2009. Given the stinging setback suffered by the Congress, it is unlikely that they will call for early elections, wanting instead to bide their time in power. While the BJP will rightly bask in the glory of the Karnataka win, it must keep in mind the next state elections due in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. All three have an incumbent BJP government and all three have issues that may work against them. The BJP is riding high after making a historic foray into the South of the country with a remarkable win in Karnataka. The BJPs victory is not only momentous for the numbers it won or for its maiden foray into Southern India, it is momentous for the agenda that was used by the party to come to power. The BJPs victories have often been attributed to either the use of Hindutva or on the basis of cashing in on an anti-incumbency vote. By winning Karnataka, the people of the state have reposed faith in a leadership that was wronged and needed a clear mandate to deliver on issues of development and overall welfare of the state. The charge of igniting religious fervour or anti-incumbency cannot gain currency in these elections given how the campaign panned out and considering the fact that the BJP was a partner in the previous government with the JD(S). The BJP has now gained a foot in the door in the politics of South India and it has an opportunity to now deliver on what the Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani calls the GDP mantragrowth, development and protection (security) for all. Having won Karnataka, the BJP must now set its sight on the general elections which are due in 2009. Given the stinging setback suffered by the Congress, it is unlikely that they will call for early elections, wanting instead to bide their time in power. Also, given the surrender of national and international policy at the behest of UPA allies and the Left, the Congress has proved that it is unlikely to rock the UPA boat to carry forward contentious legislation or foreign policy initiatives. While the BJP will rightly bask in the glory of the Karnataka win, it must keep in mind the next state elections due in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. All three have an incumbent BJP government and all three have issues that may work against them. In all three states the GDP mantra along with local issues will need to be fully deployed for the BJP to have any chances of retaining power. But beyond that the BJP must now formulate a strategy for the general elections due in 2009. The current UPA dispensation is biding away its time with not much to show in terms of achievements. The Congress will want to claim for programmes like the NREGA and the RTI, but predictably, all other allies in the UPA too will want to walk away with some credit for these initiatives, thereby blunting any electoral advantages to the Congress per se. Rising prices and the precarious state of the world economy will certainly put pressure on the government to prove its middle class credentials at the time of elections. Further, the Congress will face an uphill task on the farmers loan waiver declared in this budget, as it seems unfeasible that a scheme declared in March of this year will have any significance a year from now, when general elections are due. Given these dynamics and the manner in which the Congress leadership in the government has capitulated to the demands of its allies, the BJP must base its general election manifesto on change. A change from the status quoits nature of the UPA. A change from capitulation. A change from the manner in which vote bank politics guides internal security. A change from the manner in which the office of Prime Minister is not the most powerful political position in the country. A change from the manner in which coalition dharma has come to mean giving in to coalition partners. A change from the manner with which issues like secularism and respect of religion are defined. A change from a manner in which foreign policy is not dictated by the nations best interests but on who can shout the loudest in opposition to government policy. A change from the manner with which terrorism and internal security has been given a shoddy Laissez Faire attitude. The BJP must offer the alternative to the shortcomings of the UPA government and how it can change the drift we see in national governance. The BJP must fall back on its record as the NDA to act as a guide for where they intend to take their country. The BJP was the first party to declare their prime ministerial candidate if the NDA were to come back to power in 2009. By reposing their faith in Shri L.K. Advani, they have the first mover advantage, which will increasingly put pressure on the UPA to declare their candidate. The Congress will be wary of not declaring their prime ministerial aspirant given how it hurt them in Karnataka where not projecting a Chief Ministerial candidate hurt the party immensely. Also, by projecting Shri Advani as its prime ministerial candidate, the BJP has removed any question on the leadership issue. Contrast that to the UPA, where Congress president is always full of praises for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but remains non-committal whether he will be their partys prime ministerial candidate next year. The BJP currently enjoys tremendous momentum given their election triumph in Karnataka that follows the successes of Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It is incumbent on them to not cede this momentum for the next fights in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will be an uphill battle. The people of India need to know the message of change that the BJP proposes to bring before it can give them another shot at heading the government at the Centre.

Booming, China Faults U.S. Policy on the Economy (www.nytimes.com) (G. C. Asnani: In the economic field, in a short time, China is in a position to give advice to USA how to handle economic matters; tables have turned! Indian competent brains should also be bold and brave, to lead the world; enough of being slaves of others.)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:17:00 GMT

Date: 17.6.08 Reuters By EDWARD WONG Published: June 17, 2008 BEIJING Not long ago, Chinese officials sat across conference tables from American officials and got an earful. The Americans scolded the Chinese on mismanaging their economy, from state subsidies to foreign investment regulations to the valuation of their currency. Your economic system, the Americans strongly implied, should look a lot more like ours. But in recent weeks, the fingers have been wagging in the other direction. Senior Chinese officials are publicly and loudly rebuking the Americans on their handling of the economy and defending their own more assertive style of regulation. Chinese officials seem to be galled by the apparent hypocrisy of Americans telling them what to do while the American economy is at best stagnant. China, on the other hand, has maintained its feverish growth. Some officials are promoting a Chinese style of economic management that they suggest serves developing countries better than the American model, in much the same way they argue that they are in no hurry to copy American-style multiparty democracy. In the last six weeks alone, a senior banking regulator blamed Washingtons warped conception of market regulation for the subprime mortgage crisis that is rattling the world economy; the Chinese envoy to the World Trade Organization called on the United States to halt the dollars unchecked depreciation before the slide further worsens soaring oil and food prices; and Chinese agencies denounced a federal committee charged with vetting foreign investments in the United States, saying the Americans were showing hostility and a discriminatory attitude, not least toward the Chinese. All this reflects a brash new sense of self-confidence on the part of the Chinese. China seems to feel unusually bold before the Summer Olympics, seen here as a curtain raiser for the nations ascent to pre-eminence in the world. The devastating earthquake last month helped by turning world sympathy toward China and dampening criticism of its handling of Tibet. The Chinese attitude is no doubt bolstered by the lame-duck status of the Bush administration and by the fact that the United States is widely seen as having squandered its political and military leadership during the war in Iraq, which China opposed. Likewise, Chinese officials and state news media have suggested that the relatively quick mobilization of the Chinese Army during the recent earthquake in Sichuan Province contrasts favorably with the Bush administrations reaction to Hurricane Katrina. The aggressive stand comes at an inopportune moment for the White House. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and other cabinet members are to meet with Chinese officials in Annapolis, Md., on Tuesday in the latest round of semiannual economic talks. The Americans have a laundry list of complaints, among them that the Chinese use regulations to favor domestic companies over foreign rivals and that Beijing does too little to police the theft of copyrights and patents held by Western companies. The United States is also pressing China to address concerns about the safety of food and drugs it exports. But China has its own list of grievances, topped by management of the dollar and restrictions on foreign investment in the United States. And the Americans could find themselves with little negotiating leverage. U.S. credibility and the credibility of U.S. financial markets is zero everywhere in the world, said Joseph E. Stiglitz, a professor of economics at Columbia University who has sharply criticized the Bush administration and praised Chinas economic management in the past. Anybody looking at this from the outside says, Theres been a lot of hot air coming out of the U.S., so why should we listen to these guys when they didnt know how to manage risk? Here in China, economic observers are noting that the Chinese posture toward the Americans has decidedly shifted. This time, the Chinese side is trying to change its attitude to be more active, to be more aggressive, to balance the two sides, said Song Hongbing, author of The Currency War, a best-selling if conspiratorial book on the American economy. They just started to change their attitude for the future. Chinese officials are expressing their disdain in forums around the world. Last month, Liu Mingkang, the chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, delivered a lecture at the British Museum in London in which he blamed the American government for the subprime mortgage crisis that came close to freezing Western debt markets and required extensive intervention by the Federal Reserve. The turmoil, he said, was counteracting the course of global civilization. Does moneymaking or doing business justify the regulators in ignoring their duty for prudential supervision and their job of preventing misbehavior? he said. One of Mr. Lius colleagues, Liao Min, told the newspaper The Financial Times in late May that the Western consensus on the relation between the market and the government should be reviewed. In practice, they tend to overestimate the power of the market and overlook the regulatory role of the government, and this warped conception is at the root of the subprime crisis, said Mr. Liao, director general of the commission. China is grappling with its share of economic problems, including high inflation. But it has reasons to feel optimistic. Some economists say it has improved its state-owned banking system by writing off bad debt and overhauling management even as it rejected American pressure to privatize banks and allow unfettered competition in the financial sector. Its financial system is more tightly regulated and less dynamic than the American one, but also more stable, Chinese economists argue. On currency management, China has been under heavy pressure to raise the value of the renminbi, which foreign critics say is maintained at an artificially low level to make Chinese exports less expensive. So far, China has managed to walk a tightrope. It has allowed the renminbi to increase in value against the dollar in tiny increments, for a total of 20 percent since 2005, a less dramatic change than the Bush administration and Congress demanded. The gradual approach has allowed the export sector to adjust while preventing a currency shock that might derail growth. Meanwhile, the Americans allowed the dollar to plunge in value. That angered the Chinese, which keeps most of its $1.76 trillion in foreign reserves in dollars. Chinese officials have accused the Americans of mismanaging the dollar at a time when Washington is still pressing China to appreciate the renminbi to narrow the trade deficit. This month, the Chinese envoy to the World Trade Organization said in Geneva that the United States had failed to safeguard the value of its currency, worsening the pain for people around the world who pay high oil and food prices in dollars. The envoy, Sun Zhenyu, also said the United States was engaging in protectionism by imposing unfair duties on Chinese goods and subsidizing American products. Also this month, several Chinese institutions submitted sharp critiques to the Treasury Department of proposed new regulations relating to foreign investment in the United States. Some of the remarks were scathing. The regulations still include some sections and procedures which reflect the enshrouded protectionism, an obvious contradiction to the spirit of free competition the U.S. has championed since long time ago, wrote the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The commission said the proposed regulations reflected a self-evident hostility and discriminatory attitude to certain types of foreign investments and will ultimately hurt enthusiasm of foreign investment in the U.S. China was particularly stung in 2005 by opposition in Congress to a bid by its third largest national oil company to buy the Unocal Corporation, an American oil company, for $18.5 billion. Mr. Paulson, the Treasury secretary, said Monday that he agreed that there had been a general trend of Chinas becoming increasingly vocal in its criticism of American policies, but that this was not a cause for concern. Weve had a relationship where both sides have been pretty frank privately and pretty frank publicly, Mr. Paulson said in a telephone interview in Washington. He said Chinas criticism of American policies grew out of its rise as an economic power, with greater voice in global discussions on trade, currency and the flow of capital. Nicholas R. Lardy, a China expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, said in an interview that the Chinese are reacting adversely, and I think with some justification. He added, though, that he interpreted Chinas recent aggression more as a reaction to specific events or policies involving the American economy than as a result of a new surge in national confidence. If that is the case, China might be able to avoid the pitfall of hubris. Japan attacked the American governments economic management in the 1980s, only to find itself tumbling into recession and stagnation ever since. Some economic experts here warn that Chinas economy could soon feel the full brunt of the downturn in the world economy, and that the American economy, in the long run, could stay on top. The U.S. has always considered its economy powerful and is reluctant to listen to other countries, said Lin Jiang, the head of the economics department at the China Youth College for Political Sciences in Beijing. Of course China now is more confident than before and Chinese people are more proud of Chinas economy, but we cant be blind. Its still hard to challenge the U.S. Huang Yuanxi contributed research from Beijing. Keith Bradsher contributed reporting from Hong Kong, and Steven R. Weisman from Washington.

Iran Supremo: Islam should have seat on Security Council (http://www.jihadwatch.org/)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:16:00 GMT

Date: 17.6.08 And he calls for unity among all the Muslim countries. In Sunni Islam, that unity under a caliphate is a prerequisite for lawful offensive jihad. I suspect that he has something similar in mind himself. "A UN seat must be given to Islamic world," from IRIB News, June 16 (thanks to Twostellas): Islamic Revolution Leader, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei in a meeting with visiting Comoros President, Ahmad Abdullah Muhammad Sambi termed unity as the basic need of the Islamic world. Pointing to valuable resources of the Islamic countries, Ayatollah Khamenei said, "The Islamic world with rich, natural resources, strategic geographical position, vast lands and population as well as expert human sources can turn into a power but the traditional powers of the world oppose such a development." The IR Leader highlighted the recent achievements of the Islamic countries in scientific and technological fields, notably the Islamic Republic of Iran's access to peaceful nuclear energy, adding "Although the enemies of the Islamic world know that the IRI's nuclear activities are peaceful by nature, they oppose it because the Iranian nation's achievement is notable and progressive." Ayatollah Khamenei said a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council should be given to Islamic countries. "The Islamic world despite having many facilities suffers lack of sufficient power to defend itself. To resolve the issue it should take practical steps to put aside phony hurdles and leave behind geographical, ethnic and religious differences." Pointing to the enemies' plots to sow discord among Muslims especially by inciting Shii-Sunni difference, Ayatollah Khamenei said, "Unfortunately some politicians, intellectuals and Alims in the world of Islam have fallen into this trap. They should know that the only solution to make a powerful Islamic world is practical and willing unity and cooperation among the Islamic countries."...

"If Arghandab is taken over by the Taliban, it will mean a significant shift in power, and people are concerned that this will be a step forward for the Taliban towards Kandahar." (http://www.jihadwatch.org/)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:15:00 GMT

Date: 17.6.08 Another escalation: "Taliban seize Afghan villages," from Al Jazeera, June 16: Taliban fighters have taken control of eight villages in Arghandab district in Afghanistan, and have said they plan to march towards Kandahar city. About 500 fighters are said to be involved in the ongoing Taliban offensive, which got under way on Monday, Al Jazeera has learnt. Arghandab district lies 30km north of Kandahar city. Afghan and US-led forces in Afghanistan are said to be preparing to repulse the offensive. Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Kandahar, said that hundreds of Taliban fighters are taking up positions in the area and taking over nearby villages. "Sources from the Afghan army say that unless they get support from the Afghan national and international coalition forces, they won't be able to launch any counterattack," he said. "If Arghandab is taken over by the Taliban, it will mean a significant shift in power, and people are concerned that this will be a step forward for the Taliban towards Kandahar."

Hundreds of Taliban occupy Afghan villages in Arghandab district about 20 km north of Kandahar (www.cnn.com)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:15:00 GMT

Date: 17.6.08 KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Hundreds of Taliban fighters have taken over several villages in the same southern Afghanistan province where about 400 Taliban militants recently escaped from prison, local officials and police said. Kandahar is the second biggest city in Afghanistan and a former Taliban stronghold. About 400 to 500 Taliban militants were seen streaming into the Arghandab district of the Kandahar province late Sunday night on motor bikes and pickup trucks, said Haji Aka Jan, a tribal elder in the district. Abdul Wali Karzai, younger brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and head of the provincial council, also said a large number of militants entered the district, and Afghan and NATO forces were preparing to come into the area. Reports varied on how many villages were taken. Taliban fighters have taken at least 5 villages and could have taken as many as 13, locals said. The villages area is about 20 km (12 miles) north of Kandahar, a former stronghold for the Taliban, and close to the prison escape. The daring and well-executed jail-break occurred Friday and had coalition and Afghan forces searching for escapees. Mark Laity, spokesman for NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said that they were aware of the report of attacks on villages. He said that Afghan troops "are sending reinforcements and ISAF forces are redeploying within the city to see if there is any potential threat." The prison break and the Taliban push have locals fleeing, said Norine MacDonald, president of the Senlis Council, a think tank that is based in the Kandahar province. "Hundreds of people are moving out to get away from the fighting," said MacDonald. "Things are getting worse by the day, by the minute." MacDonald said she has heard from locals that Taliban fighters had taken villages by positioning heavily armed fighters on the streets in the area and telling village leaders that the Taliban has taken control of the area. If the militants are not rooted out, they will try to create their own government in the area, MacDonald said. Pushing the Taliban out will be very difficult, MacDonald said. "It is extremely difficult to chase these guys out of the villages when they are not wearing uniforms that say 'I am the Taliban,'" MacDonald said. "They can just put down their guns and blend in. NATO may have to decide to bomb and that could bring civilian casualties." In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the border region remains "a real problem" for allied troops battling a resurgent Taliban and its al Qaeda allies in Afghanistan, particularly along the rugged border with Pakistan. "They are more of a problem in the south in Afghanistan than they are in the east," Gates said in a speech to the North American Forum. "We will just have to watch carefully and see how these agreements with the tribes are going." The incidence of attacks in Afghanistan set record numbers in 2007 and remains on pace to match those figures this year, according to statistics from the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, obtained by CNN. As of June 6, the coalition had tallied 2,999 attacks. That compares to 7,143 during all of 2007 and up significantly from the 5,174 attacks during 2006. The total for 2005 was 2,542 and 2004 was 2,112. The 733 attacks by roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices through early June are on track to exceed the 1,313 for all of last year. And the 72 recorded suicide bomb attacks in 2008 is a pace about equivalent to the 157 for 2007.

Bombs rips through Pakistan Shiite mosque at Dera Ismail Khan (www.cnn.com)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:14:00 GMT

Date: 17.6.08 DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) -- A bomb exploded outside a Shiite mosque in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing at least four people and wounding five others, police said. The bomb exploded near the outer wall of the mosque in downtown Dera Ismail Khan as worshippers were leaving after evening prayers, said Abdul Ghafoor, a local police officer. The blast shattered the mosque's front wall and damaged its dome. Twisted fans hung from the ceiling inside the mosque and prayer mats were scattered across the bloodstained floor. Police cordoned off the area as people sifted debris looking for survivors. An Associated Press reporter saw a crater near the shattered wall where the bomb went off. Ghafoor said four people had died in the bombing and five were wounded, three seriously. Pakistan is struggling to combat a tide of Islamic militancy particularly in its volatile northwest. It has a history of violence between the majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslims. While most members of the two sects co-exist peacefully, violence by extremist elements is common. Last month, gunmen opened fire on a car killing four Shiite Muslims in Dera Ismail Khan. Hours later, a Sunni was shot dead elsewhere in the city. The Sunni-Shiite schism originates in a dispute dating back to the seventh century over who was the true heir to Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

Bush and Brown's warning to Iran (news.bbc.co.uk)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:14:00 GMT

Date: 17.6.08 President Bush warns Iran that "all options" are on the table Gordon Brown and President George Bush have warned Iran to accept their "offers of partnership" or face tough sanctions and international isolation. The UK prime minister said he wanted to maintain a dialogue with Tehran, but if Iran ignores UN resolutions then sanctions would be intensified. Europe would freeze overseas assets of Iran's biggest bank and impose new oil and gas sanctions, he said. But the EU foreign policy chief said no new sanctions had so far been agreed. Javier Solana was speaking after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. Iran's nuclear ambitions Mr Brown and Mr Bush were speaking at a press conference after talks in London. The trip is part of Mr Bush's European tour - although he dismissed reports that it would be his last before leaving office as "speculation". In their talks on Monday the two leaders discussed issues including Iraq and Afghanistan, Burma and Zimbabwe and oil and food prices. Iran has been accused of not co-operating with the UN over its nuclear programme, amid fears it is enriching uranium to use in weapons. The prime minister said the Iranians did not have to choose a "path of confrontation" and Britain would do "everything possible" to maintain dialogue with Tehran. They face serious isolation and the people who are suffering are the Iranian people But he said if it ignored UN resolutions, they would intensify sanctions and face "further isolation". President Bush said Tehran's demand for nuclear power for civilian purposes was "justifiable" - but could be met by Russia's offer to supply them with fuel. In a message to Tehran, he said: "You bet you have a sovereign right, absolutely, but you don't have the trust of those of us who have watched you carefully when it comes to enriching uranium." Mr Brown said Britain would urge Europe to impose "further sanctions" on Iran and Europe would take action to freeze the overseas assets of the country's biggest bank and impose new sanctions on oil and gas. Troop numbers President Bush thanked Mr Brown for his "strong statement" and added: "The Iranians must understand that when we come together and speak with one voice we are serious." He said pressure was necessary to "solve this problem diplomatically" - but added: "Iranians must understand, however, that all options are on the table." Mr Brown, who became prime minister a year ago, and President Bush, who leaves office in six months' time, also discussed Afghanistan, with Mr Brown announcing there would be an increase in British troop numbers. Mr Brown described the US president as a "true friend of Britain" while President Bush praised Mr Brown for being "tough on terror" and said it was in "all our interests" to help people in Afghanistan and Iraq. "He's left more troops in Iraq than initially anticipated and like me, we will be making our decisions based on conditions on the ground ... without an artificial timetable." President Bush said history would judge whether the military tactics could have been different in Iraq, but he stood by the decision to remove Saddam Hussein as the right one for "our security", for peace and for 25 million Iraqis. He said it was important to support democracy "at the heart of the Middle East": "It's a democracy that's not going to look like America, it's not going to look like Great Britain, but it's a democracy that will give government responsive to the people." He said it had "absolutely" been worth it and democracy in Iraq would make it easier to deal with "the Iranian issue" and would send a message to reformers and dissidents. He dismissed the idea that "perhaps freedom is not universal - maybe it's only western people who can self govern" as "the ultimate form of political elitism". After the press conference in Downing Street, Mr Bush and Mr Brown travelled to Stormont, Belfast, for talks with Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and his deputy, Martin McGuinness.

EU vows to pursue Lisbon treaty (news.bbc.co.uk)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:13:00 GMT

Date: - 17.6.08 Micheal Martin said the Irish people's decision must be respected EU foreign ministers have agreed to keep the Lisbon reform treaty alive despite its rejection by Irish voters. The ministers said those EU members who have not yet ratified the treaty should carry on and do so. The ministers have been meeting in Luxembourg ahead of a two-day summit in Brussels, starting on Thursday, that is expected to chart the way ahead. The treaty cannot be implemented unless approved by all 27 EU states. Only the Irish Republic has held a referendum. The Lisbon treaty is meant to streamline the workings of the enlarged EU and give it a stronger voice in the world. French and Dutch voters rejected a previous - more comprehensive - draft European constitution in 2005. 'No quick fix' Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin has said it is "far too early" to seek a solution to the Irish rejection of a European Union reform treaty. Speaking in Luxembourg, Mr Martin told reporters: "The people's decision has to be respected and we have to chart a way through... It is far too early for proffering any solutions or proposals. No-one senior is talking about leaving Ireland out in the cold, but some MEPs are in favour of this 'coalition of the willing' The BBC's Mark Mardell Euroblog: EU crisis talks begin "There are no quick fix solutions." But it is now up to the Irish Taoiseach - or Prime Minister - Brian Cowen to find a way forward with the other EU leaders at their Brussels summit, says the BBC's European affairs correspondent Oana Lungescu. Leaders want to know what went wrong, what changes could be made to accommodate the disparate concerns of Irish voters and how soon a second vote may be possible, if at all, she says. The most likely scenario, our correspondent suggests, is a declaration assuring the Irish that the treaty will not affect their policies on abortion, taxation and neutrality. But one minister told the BBC that there may not be any concrete proposals until the next EU summit in October, by which time it would be clear how many other countries have ratified the treaty and on what basis Ireland could vote again, adds our correspondent. "It is time for a little bit of thinking and analysis," said Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency until the end of June. "It would be risky to say we are going to bring the treaty back to life when we are facing a blockade." German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who met Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the Polish city of Gdansk, said: "The EU needs the Lisbon treaty to be able to act and for future enlargements," she said. LISBON TREATY Creates post of an EU president, elected for two-and-a-half years, rather than current six-month rotating presidency A new high representative for foreign policy, to boost EU's external voice - a merger of the existing two foreign policy posts Commissioners from two-thirds of member states - no longer from each state - and rotated among member states to serve five-year terms More decision-making by qualified majority voting, reducing national vetoes, but new voting system only takes effect in 2014 Enhanced roles for European Parliament and national parliaments Q&A: Lisbon Treaty But the Czechs have cast doubt on whether the treaty project should be continued. "The discussion here is whether in case of the Irish No it is even possible and legitimate to continue ratification," Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said after talks in Prague with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The Czech Republic is one of nine countries who have not ratified the treaty. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made it clear on Monday that he intended to press ahead with the ratification process, but stressed that the treaty could not come into force until all 27 members sign. He has been under pressure to stop the treaty from going through the last stage of ratification on Wednesday. The Lisbon treaty provides for a streamlining of the European Commission, the removal of the national veto in more policy areas, a new president of the European Council and a strengthened foreign affairs post. It is due to come into force on 1 January 2009.

Holy Bible - Gospel of Jesus: - New Testament, Luke 12; 51-53: Jesus said, "Do you suppose that I came to bring peace to the World? No, not peace, but division. From now on a family of five will be divided, three against two and two against three. Fathers will be against their sons, and sons against their fathers; mothers will be against their daughters and daughters against their mothers; mothers-in-law will be against their daughters-in-law, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law."

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:36:00 GMT

Date: June 14th 2008 Holy Bible - Gospel of Jesus: - New Testament, Luke 12; 51-53: Jesus said, "Do you suppose that I came to bring peace to the World? No, not peace, but division. From now on a family of five will be divided, three against two and two against three. Fathers will be against their sons, and sons against their fathers; mothers will be against their daughters and daughters against their mothers; mothers-in-law will be against their daughters-in-law, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law."

Egypt says it wants Iran to play positive role (www.jpost.com)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:36:00 GMT

By JPOST.COM STAFF Egypt constantly calls on Iran to use its influence in the Middle East in a positive manner, according to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Slideshow: Pictures of the week "Egypt sees Iran as a rising power in the Arab world," Army Radio quoted Gheit as saying in an interview Sunday. "The political cards that Iran is holding," he went on, "are [for the purpose of] defending Iranian interests. Maybe that's Iran's right, but Egypt has the right to defend Arab territory." Speaking of the controversial Iranian nuclear program, Gheit said that "the argument between Iran and the US and Europe affects the Palestinians and Lebanon in a negative way." "Iran is looking for momentum from abroad," said Gheit, speaking of discussions between Iran and Western countries about its nuclear program, but claimed that it will only be able to find that push from Arab countries. He reiterated that the nuclear issue had a negative effect on the "Palestinian question" and the situation in Lebanon. "Iran's power is on the up at the moment," he went on, stressing again that his country constantly calls on the Islamic Republic to be a positive influence in the region. Gheit also mentioned Iranian influence on Iraq and Hizubllah, saying again that whilst Iran "holds many cards," it has "no desire to defend Arab interests."

You represent India not China, BJP reminds CPI (www.rediff.com)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:35:00 GMT

June 15, 2008 20:11 IST Bhartiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Sunday expressed concern over Communist Party of India general secretary A B Bardhan's remarks that the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal would make India a US outpost against China. Coverage: Indo-US Nuclear Deal In a statement issued to the media on Sunday, Rajnath said: 'The CPI in its over-enthusiasm towards China seems to have forgotten that it is not a Chinese but an Indian political party. Ever since the idea of the nuclear deal has been mooted, the Left Front parties have consistently indicated that they are more concerned about protecting China's interests than our own national and strategic interests.' 'The BJP is the only political party that has opposed the proposed nuclear deal on pure nationalistic grounds. Playing the role of a constructive opposition party, the BJP has vociferously protested against certain provisions of the proposed deal that could jeopardize our long term strategic sovereignty and interests,' he said. 'Instead of properly addressing the nationalist concerns being raised by the BJP, the UPA government and its allies are consistently engaging in regular bouts of verbal boxing through the media and in the public domain without recognising the fact that such statements and public posturing could actually jeopardize our long term and strategic relations with both the United States and China. 'The Left parties are trying to politicize the issue in an attempt to regain their losing political relevance and mass support. However, in this process the Left parties are in reality thoroughly exposing their true colours and their cross border affiliations before the public,' he added.

Officials: Gaza truce likely this week (www.jpost.com)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:35:00 GMT

Date: 16/6/08 By YAAKOV KATZ AND HERB KEINON An Egyptian-brokered cease-fire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip is likely to go into effect by the end of the week, Israeli defense officials said Sunday. Hamas officials meet with Egyptian security chief in Cairo regarding ceasefire with Israel The officials said it was not certain Amos Gilad, the head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, would return to Cairo to finalize the deal, and that a truce could go into effect following a phone call between Tel Aviv and Cairo. On Sunday, Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, the head mediator on the issue, met with a Hamas delegation to discuss new Israeli conditions set by Gilad during his visit there last Thursday. Israel is seeking a multi-stage deal under which Hamas would cease terrorism and the IDF would end its operations in the Gaza Strip. Israel has withdrawn its demand that kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit be released under the cease-fire deal, but has demanded that progress be made in the negotiations for his release before opening the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Sinai. RELATED A bitter anniversary - seven years of Kassams from Gaza Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at the weekly cabinet meeting that "advancing the release" of Schalit was "an inseparable part of the effort to achieve calm in the South." He did not speak in terms of Schalit being released in return for the security calm. According to the deal being worked out, after several weeks of quiet, the IDF would begin to slowly lift the siege and begin allowing in supplies via the crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip. At a later stage, if the lull in terrorism continues and progress is made in negotiations for the release of Schalit, Israel and Egypt would allow the reopening of the Rafah crossing. Olmert, at the cabinet meeting, termed a decision on whether to accept the cease-fire proposal "a complicated and complex decision." After weeks of saying that a decision was imminent, the security cabinet met last week and decided to "exhaust" Egyptian efforts to broker a cease-fire, while at the same time continuing preparations for military action if Cairo's efforts don't bear fruit. That decision, Olmert said, "precisely defines the government of Israel's position regarding the cessation of Gaza Strip-based terrorism, and I very much hope that this decision will indeed lead to a halt to such terrorism in accordance with the criteria that we have set. If it is possible to halt it this way, all the better. If, to our regret, terrorism is not halted this way, then the government of Israel will know how to use other means as well." Olmert again termed as intolerable the Kassam rockets, suicide attacks, infiltrations and shootings emanating from the Gaza Strip. "The government of Israel has reiterated that we must bring about a situation in which we uphold the most fundamental obligation of all governments toward their citizens: a response to their security problems; a halt to the daily threats that disrupt the lives of the many residents who live in that area," he said.

10 best workplaces in India (Rediff News)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:34:00 GMT

1. RMSI June 5, 2008 There's never been a better time to work in India. Today, India offers such good opportunity and career prospects that many people stay back in India reversing the trend of going abroad in search of greener pastures. As India becomes a much sought-after jobs destination, here's a look at the best places to work in India. In a survey conducted by 'Great Place to Work Institute' and The Economic Times, among the top 50 companies, IT and ITeS sectors dominate the best workplaces' list. The institute researched and promoted the concept of 'Great Places to Work' for over 25 years and is now present in 40 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. The study uses an employee-centric methodology. Workplaces were ranked on a points scale based on both quantitative and qualitative data. Almost 66 per cent of the score is based on employee response and the rest on management survey. The 2008 study, spanning 6 months and 200 participating firms, surveyed 36,000 employees. Read on... 1. RMSI You may hardly have heard about RMSI, but -- according to the survey -- it is the best company to work for in India. In the survey conducted by the 'Great Place to Work Institute' RMSI tops the charts on credibility, respect, pride and camaraderie. Based in Noida, India, RMSI provides critical geographic information systems (GIS), modelling and analytical services to customers worldwide. It develops innovative solutions that integrate geographic information with niche business applications. Known to be highly ethical and transparent, the company is employee-centric. It offers equal employment opportunity, regardless of gender, age, race, physical disability, sexual orientation, or marital status, communicating openly and honestly, respects the individuality of all employees and does not tolerate harassment of any kind. RMSI has also been voted as one of the great workplaces by Dataquest IDC India's Top 20 Best Indian IT Employers survey.

Leaderless Jihadis: A Supplement or a Substitute for Al Qaeda? ---International Terrorism Monitor--Paper No. 399 (By B. Raman)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:34:00 GMT

Source: <a href="http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/">http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/</a> Paper no. 2731 10-June-2008 By B. Raman A big debate is going on presently between Dr. Bruce Hoffman and Dr. Marc Sageman, two well-known terrorism analysts of the US, regarding the phenomenon of angry individual Muslims, not belonging to any organisation, taking to jihadi terrorism. Dr. Sageman, in his latest book, calls them leaderless jihadis. Dr. Hoffman is a reputed academic, formerly of the Rand Corporation and now of the Georgetown University, Washington DC. Dr. Sargeman is a retired officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). 2. Has the rise of leaderless jihadis reduced the danger from Al Qaeda as an organisation? Can the present counter-terrorism policies and techniques, which were tailor-made to confront organisations such as Al Qaeda, be effective when the danger is no longer from organisations but from individuals? That is the central point of their debate. 3. Both are right and both are wrong. It is true---as pointed out by Sageman--- that more and more individual Muslims, out of anger, are taking to jihadi terrorism without identifying themselves with Al Qaeda. We in India have been seeing this phenomenon since 9/11. The West has been seeing it since the Madrid train blasts of March, 2004. Pakistan has been facing this since the commando raid in the Lal Masjid of Islamabad in July last. The 56 suicide terrorists, who committed acts of suicide terrorism in different parts of Pakistan last year, were not members of Al Qaeda, though, personally, they were admirers of bin Laden. 4. At the same time, these individual jihadis---whom I have called citizen jihadis in my articles written after July, 2007--- have the capability only for tactical terrorist strikes, but not strikes of a strategic nature such as an act of maritime terrorism, or strikes directed at energy supplies or strikes involving weapons of mass destruction material. These are terrorists born out of the anger of the moment. They give vent to their anger through tactical strikes, but have no strategic objective. 5. Only Al Qaeda and other similar organisations have the capability for terrorist strikes of a strategic nature, which could cause mass casualties, mass economic damage, mass disruption and mass panic. Al Qaeda, which is a flexible organisation, has adapted itself to this phenomenon of individual jihadis by encouraging and helping them to do whatever they want, while retaining to itself the leadership role in respect of strategic strikes. 6. Any meaningful counter-terrorism policy has to cater to the continuing resilience of Al Qaeda while at the same time evolving new techniques of dealing with individual jihadis with no organisational affiliation. 7.Prof.Hoffman is right in warning that the rise of individual jihadis should not be interpreted as meaning that the strategic threat from Al Qaeda is diminishing. 8. I am appending below an extract from my latest book on "Terrorism: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow", which has some relevance to this debate. (The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: <a href="mailto:seventyone2@gmail.com">seventyone2@gmail.com</a>) ANNEXURE Extract from my latest book On January 27, 2004--- two months before the Madrid blasts and 18 months before the London blasts---Hossam el-Hamalawy, an Egyptian free-lance journalist, in an article drew attention to the emergence of the phenomenon of free-lance jihadis----that is, individual Muslims not belonging to any organisation, who take to jihad against the US and Israel because of their anger against their policies. His article was titled Crusaders Vs Soldiers of Allah (Jundullah). He wrote: Quote Observers in Cairo have highlighted the outbreak of the second Palestinian Intifada, September 11 attacks, and the US-led onslaught on Afghanistan and Iraq as triggers to the ongoing radicalization across the Muslim World, a radicalization that is feeding Islamist militancy, especially as Muslims could clearly see that it is largely the Islamists who are now on the forefront of the struggle to end Western hegemony in the region. It has never been that easy for rage to meet ideology. September 11 was Islamisms Suez War, said Diaa Rashwan, an analyst with Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. Nassers defiance of the West in 1956 was the virtual birthmark of pan-Arabism. September 11 attacks and the war on terror served the same purpose for pan-Islamism. They united Muslims around the world by the sense that we are all under attack by the West, and we have to do something. This is pushing, Rashwan argues, new actors to enter the stage of armed politics: the freelance jihadis. Unquote. Enquiries with well-informed sources in the Islamic world show that Jundullah is not the name of any particular organisation. It is the name of a pan-Islamic, anti-US and anti-Israel suicide terrorism phenomenon which is creeping across the Islamic world and the Muslim diaspora in the Western countries. Everybody, who takes to suicide terrorism against the US or Israel-----whether individually or as a member of a jihadi organisation---looks upon himself or herself as a Jundullah---a soldier of Allah. All pan-Islamic jihadi organisations---whether Al Qaeda or any other organisation--- look upon themselves as Jundullah fighting to establish the sovereignty of Allah over the Islamic world and to "liberate" areas which, according to them, historically belonged to the Ummah. The Jundullah phenomenon has made its appearance in Pakistan at a time when more and more individual Muslims are taking to jihad and suicide terrorism out of their own volition. They were not made into suicide terrorists, with offers of money, women or a place in heaven by their religious leaders. One has been seeing this not only in Afghanistan, but also in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. Traditional pan-Islamic jihadi organisations allied with Al Qaeda in its International Islamic Front (IIF) such as the Pakistan-based Neo Taliban of Afghanistan, the various brands of Taliban of the tribal areas of Pakistan, the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM), the Harkat-ul-Jihad-Al Islami (HUJI), the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM), the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LEJ) and Gulbuddin Heckmatyar's Hizb-e-Islami (HEI) have been claiming credit for the acts of terrorism of these citizen jihadis and trying to give an impression as if all that has been happening in the areas on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border has been orchestrated by them. It is true that these organisations continue to play an active role in the further radicalisation of the people of these areas and in egging them on to join the on-going jihad. At the same time, an increasing number of incidents being reported from these areas is the result of individual jihadi initiatives by persons unconnected with any of the known organisations. That is why the Pakistani Police has not been able to make much headway in its investigation of the acts of suicide terrorism, which have been taking place at regular intervals in different parts of the NWFP. New leaders, new cadres, new groups and new mullas are coming up almost every other week and taking to jihadi terrorism. Old fundamentalist leaders of the 1980 Afghan war vintage such as Qazi Hussain Ahmed of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI), Maulana Fazlur Rahman of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema Islam (JUI) of Pakistan, Maulana Samiul Haq of another faction of the JUI, Prof.Hafeez Mohammad Sayeed of the LET, Maulana Masood Azhar of the JEM, Fazlur Rahman Khalil of the HUM and Qari Saifullah Akhtar of the HUJI no longer command the kind of influence and obedience which they commanded in the past. Fatwas of the Mullas of the past do not carry much weight with these citizen jihadis. They ignored with contempt a fatwa against suicide terrorism against fellow Muslims issued by a group of old Mullas. The traditional organisations of Afghan vintage were exploiting factors such as the alleged foreign occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, the perceived occupation of Muslim lands in Palestine, Jammu & Kashmir, Chechnya, Southern Philippines, Southern Thailand, the Arakan area of Myanmar etc by non-Muslims, violation of the human rights of the Muslims etc for motivating their recruits and making them take to suicide terrorism. The citizen jihadis of Pakistans tribal belt, who see no TV, Internet and video players which they regard as evil, have no way of seeing with their own eyes what is happening in other lands and far-away places. They are being influenced more by what they hear on the FM radio stations operating in the tribal areas. Many Mullas have their own FM radio station. These stations have been propagating highly exaggerated accounts of the humiliation allegedly being inflicted on Muslims all over the world and of the evil impact of cultural globalisation on their religion, men, women and children. The news of Ms.Nilofer Bakhtiar, a former Pakistani Minister, letting herself be hugged by her French gliding instructor spread far and wide in the tribal areas through such FM stations. Stories of the evil influence of foreign culture on the Islamic way of life, trivialisation by foreign analysts of what is projected as the glorious instances of martyrdom by suicide terrorists etc are addin g to the number of citizen jihadis. The Internet plays an active role in the spread of pernicious ideas and calls for action in the Western world and in other countries such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Algeria etc, but in the tribal areas of Pakistan, where the literacy rate is very low, it is the word of mouth and the FM broadcasts, which are instigating individual Muslims to acts of terrorism in the name of jihad. In the non-tribal areas of Pakistan and in the Muslim diaspora in the West, the Internet plays an important role in motivation. A typical example of the spread of the Jundullah phenomenon to the diaspora abroad was the cell consisting of two Indian Muslims and some Arabs, which tried in vain to carry out acts of terrorism in London and Glasgow in June, 2007. They were self-motivated Jundullahs not associated with any organization. Al Qaeda and other structured jihadi organizations are concerned over this phenomenon because if this trend continues, it could affect the flow of volunteers and funds to their organisations. It is said that many angry Muslims in the non-tribal areas and in the diaspora no longer flock to these organisations to volunteer their services for suicide terrorism. Instead, they rush to the nearest Internet Cafe to learn how to be a suicide bomber, gang up with a small number of like-minded persons, pool their savings, buy material which could be converted into explosives and embark on their suicide missions. For these Made-in-the-Internet suicide bombers, the cyber world has become a virtual Ummah and everyone of them looks upon himself as a bin Laden or as an Amir fighting for the cause of his religion. Concern over this development has been openly expressed by Maulana Masood Azhar, the Amir of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) of Pakistan, in an article in "Al Qalam", a publication of the JEM, written before the Pakistani Army raid into the Lal Masjid of Islamabad in July, 2007. He said: "Now, there are hundreds of jihadi outfits and hundreds of Amirs. Most of these Amirs are computer operators, who have become jihadis by watching CDs of jihad. They have received jihadi training through websites. They think that via the Internet, they have become Amirs. If they come across a gullible youth, they tie a bomb around his body and send him to jihadi battlefields. Some of the jihadis are in the business of drugs, human smuggling and kidnapping for ransom. Jihad has become everybody's business. Now, it is difficult to control these jihadis." However, unlike the JEM, Al Qaeda's reaction to this phenomenon has been more nuanced. It does not claim responsibility for these individual attacks, but at the same time, it does not discourage them. It has been trying to give the impression that it is still in total control of the global jihad and that whatever has been happening in the world in the form of jihadi attacks----whether by individuals not belonging to any organisation or by those belonging to Al Qaeda and other organisations---- is in pursuance of its global jihadi strategy. The stepping-up of its propaganda offensive and dire warnings since the beginning of 2007 are part of its strategy of creating an impression that it continues to be in total control of the jihad.

PAKISTAN: DID MUSHARRAF TELL NAWAZ ABOUT KARGIL PLANS? (By B. Raman)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:33:00 GMT

Source: www.southasiaanalysis.org Paper No 2728 7-June-2008 By B. Raman Did President Pervez Musharraf, who was the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) under Mr. Nawaz Sharif when he was the Prime Minister before October 12, 1999, inform Mr. Sharif about his plans to send the Army to occupy the Kargil heights? If not, why not? If so, when did he inform him? What was the reaction of Mr. Sharif? Did he concur with Musharraf's action or did he disaprove of his action? What is the truth? 2. These questions have assumed importance in the light of two interviews given by Lt. Gen. (retd) Jamshed Gulzar Kiani on June 2, 2008, to the Geo TV and the "Dawn" of Karachi. Jamshed Gulzar Kiani was a Major-General in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) at the time of the Kargil conflict and the subsequent coup against Mr. Sharif. The ISI was then headed by Lt. Gen. Ziauddin, a Kashmiri of Punjabi origin from the Engineer Corps. The differences between Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif initially developed shortly after the appointment of Musharraf by Nawaz Sharif as the COAS in October, 1998. 3. These differences were due to Nawaz Sharif's over-ruling Musharraf's objections to the appointment of Ziauddin as the Director-General of the ISI. Ziauddin was a close confidante of Nawaz Sharif and kept him informed of all actions of Musharraf, who stopped inviting him to some of his meetings with the Corps Commanders. 4. Jamshed Gulzar Kiani ingratiated himself with Musharraf by keeping him informed of the activities of Ziauddin. A small coterie of Army officers headed by Lt. Gen. Mohammad Aziz, the then Chief of the General Staff (CGS), staged a coup when Musharraf was returning to Karachi from Colombo on October 12, 1999, and had Nawaz Sharif arrested because he dismissed Musharraf and appointed Ziauddin as the COAS. They prevented Ziauddin from entering the office of the COAS. He was arrested subsequently. 5. A question often debated in senior circles of the Pakistan Army is whether this coterie would have behaved in this manner if Nawaz Sharif had appointed a Punjabi Lt. Gen. from a fighting formation instead of an engineer as the COAS. Those, who held this view, used to argue that the objection of this coterie was not to the dismissal of Musharraf, a Mohajir, who was disliked by many of the Punjabi officers, but to his appointment of Ziauddin as the COAS. It is difficult to know the truth. 6. A month after taking over power as the Chief Executive, Musharraf promoted Jamshed Gulzar Kiani as a Lt. Gen and appointed him a Corps Commander. The two were very close to each other. Musharraf greatly appreciated his action before October 12, 1999, in keeping him informed of the activities of Ziauddin and his links with Nawaz Sharif. 7. When Jamshed Gulzar Kiani reached the age of superannuation in 2003, Musharraf rewarded his loyalty by appointing him as the Chairman of the Federal Public Services Commission, which post had a fixed tenure of five years under the law. Serious differences developed between the two when Kiani as the Chairman of the Commission did not do the bidding of Musharraf and Mr. Shaukat Aziz, the former Prime Minister, in respect of some appointments and postings of officers. Musharraf asked him to resign. He declined. Musharraf had a bill passed by the National Assembly in September 2006 reducing the tenure from five to three years. He was replaced at the end of three years. 8. A bitter Jamshed Gulzar Kiani, who felt humiliated by the treatment meted out to him by Musharraf despite his loyalty to him when he was Maj. Gen. and Lt. Gen., joined the group of anti-Musharraf officers such as Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg, former COAS who succeeded Zia-ul-Haq, after he died in a plane crash, Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul, former DG of the ISI etc and has been keeping on a campaign against Musharraf. 9.In his interview to the Geo TV, he made various allegations against Musharraf regarding the Kargil episode, Musharraf's post-9/11 co-operation with the US in the so-called war against terrorism and the commando raid into the Lal Masjid of Islamabad in July last year. He stated on follows on the Kargil episode: According to his information, Nawaz Sharif did not know anything about the Kargil episode. He was never thoroughly briefed on the same. He (Kiani) supported the holding of a probe into the Kargil fiasco. He had briefed Nawaz Sharif and told him that it was a very sensitive issue and he could not unveil all the details to him. In a meeting of May 17, 1999, Nawaz gave a green signal to the operation. He assured conditional support to General Musharraf that the Government would back the operation when he successfully moved forward. If unfortunately the same failed, he would not be in a position to support him (Musharraf). 10. In his interview to the "Dawn"on June 2,2008,, Kiani said: Nawaz Sharif, the majority of corps commanders and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were kept in the dark about the Kargil operation in 1999.Although Nawaz was briefed on the Kargil issue, it was fairly late and the conflict had started by then. It was not a comprehensive briefing that the chief executive should have been given. 11. Talking to the media on June 3, 2008, Nawaz Sharif demanded the trial of Musharraf on treason charges for his illegal Nov 3, 2007, steps in imposing a State of Emergency, the Lal Masjid carnage and keeping the nation, military officials and the then political leadership in the dark on the Kargil issue. Nawaz termed Musharrafs account on the Kargil issue in his book, In the Line of Fire, a pack of lies and said the interview of Lt-Gen (retd) Jamshed Gulzar Kiani to Geo TV upheld his stance that he was not informed about the Kargil operation. 12. Nawaz was being clever. Kiani did not tell either Geo TV or the "Dawn" that Nawaz was not informed. He only said that Nawaz was informed later and that too not in a comprehensive manner. At the same time, he added that Nawaz approved the already on-going operation provided it would be successful. 13. Who is telling the truth---- Musharraf in his book in which he claimed that Nawaz was on board or Kiani, who claims that Nawaz was informed in passing after the Pakistan Army had moved into the Kargil heights and that he had not objected to it provided it would succeed or Nawaz, who claims that he like many Corps Commanders was not informed at all? 14. The definitive answer to this question is to be found in the archives of the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW). In the last week of May,1999, Musharraf had been to Beijing. He was in daily telephonic contact with Lt. Gen. Mohammad Aziz, the CGS, in Rawalpindi from his hotel room in Beijing. All these conversations were intercepted by the R&AW. The Government of Atal Behari Vajpayee decided to release to the media the transcripts of two of these tapes for three reasons. Firstly, the tapes showed that it was the Pakistani Army which had occupied the Kargil heights violating the Line of Control (LOC) and not the Kashmiri Mujahideen as claimed by Musharraf. Secondly, it was the Pakistan Army which had shot down an Indian Air Force plane and asked the Hizbul Mujahideen to claim the responsibility for it. Third, the tapes showed that Musharraf had launched his operation without the knowledge of Nawaz, many of his Corps Commanders, the ISI, the chiefs of the Air Force and Navy and his Foreign Office. He got nervous after the IAF went into action and there were reports of the Indian naval ships moving from the East to the West coast. 15. Worried over the possibility of the conflict spreading outside Kashmir, Musharraf authorised Lt.Gen.Aziz from Beijing to brief other officers about the operation at an inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Nawaz on May 29,1999. At this meeting, as reported by Aziz to Musharraf, there were objections to Musharraf's keeping others in the dark. According to the account of the meeting as given by Aziz to Musharraf in Beijing over telephone, Nawaz defended Musharraf's action in not informing others as due to the demands of operational secrecy. Nawaz claimed that he himself and other Corps Commanders were informed only a week earlier. He made it appear that Musharraf's action was understandable. 16. A careful examination of the tapes as released by the Vajpayee Government would indicate the following: Musharraf launched the operation without taking the clearance of Nawaz and without the knowledge of most of the senior officers. When the Indian Army hit back and the IAF went into action, he lost his nerve and informed firstly Nawaz and then other senior officers and the Foreign Office. Instead of rebuking Musharraf for launching the operation without his clearance and asking him to stop it, Nawaz went along with it hoping that the operation would succeed. When it did not, he flew to the US and sought the US assistance in bringing the fighting to a halt. 17. It is clear that neither Musharraf nor Nawaz nor Kiani is telling the whole truth. Each is telling only a part of the truth which, they think, would serve their purpose. 18. On June 14, 1999, I had done a detailed analysis of the tapes as released to the media by Shri Jaswant Singh, the then Foreign Minister, and written an article titled "PAK ARMY CHIEF CAUGHT YAPPING". This article is available at <a href="http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/notes/note21.html">http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/notes/note21.html</a>. Relevant extracts are appended below. (The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: <a href="mailto:seventyone2@gmail.com">seventyone2@gmail.com</a>) ANNEXURE (Extract from my article of June 14,1999) At what stage did Mr.Sharif become aware of the Pakistani Army's proxy invasion plans? The CGS, while reporting on May 29 to the COAS on a meeting held by Mr. Sharif says: "He said I (Sharif) came to know seven days back, when Corps Commanders were told. The entire reason for the success of this operation was this total secrecy. Our experience was that our earlier efforts failed because of lack of secrecy. So, the top priority is to accord confidentiality, to ensure success. We should respect this and the advantage we have from this would give us a handle." There are two ways of interpreting this. First, as claimed by Mr.George Fernandes, our Defence Minister, the Army secretly planned and started the execution of this operation and informed Mr.Sharif thereafter. The second interpretation is that at the inter-departmental meeting convened by Mr.Sharif, the Foreign Office representative expressed their unhappiness over the Army not keeping them in the picture since they had to handle the diplomatic fall-out. Mr.Sharif tried to soothe their ruffled feathers by claiming that he himself was informed only seven days earlier in the interest of operational secrecy. This does not necessarily mean that Mr. Sharif was not in the picture from the very beginning. While the Pakistani Press and public are expressing their solidarity with their Army, one could discern in the comments of some independent analysts gnawing fears that Gen. Musharraf is becoming over-assertive at the expense of the credibility of the elected political leadership and that this operation could ultimately boomerang on Pakistan. Thus, the "News" said in an article on May 29: "It is undeniable that armed men have crossed the Line in large numbers, if only because they themselves have admitted their presence and given Press statements by satellite telephone. They were not stopped by Pakistan Army patrols." Mr.Azhar Abbas said in an article in the May issue of the "Herald", the monthly journal of the "Dawn" group:" The assumption here (in Pakistan) is that India cannot respond to this kind of (covert) warfare with a conventional attack on Pakistan.... "The Army appears convinced of the wisdom of keeping India bleeding in Kashmir and in the presence of an effective deterrent (in the form of nuclear weapons in the hands of Pakistan), the temptation to do so would be even greater..... "Several retired Army officers believe that the new Army Chief is far more assertive than his predecessor (Gen. Jehangir Karamat) and, in the event of the Nawaz Government taking issue with the new doctrine, is unlikely to bow out as easily as Karamat. This points to troubled civil-military relations in the future...." The article concludes: " Skeptics are already warning that in the guise of changing threat perceptions and bailing out the (internal) system, the Army may only be searching for a new power-sharing formula after the dissolution of the infamous Troika. If the Army's new doctrine is, indeed, little more than the quest for a new power-sharing arrangement, it is time for the Nawaz Government to disillusion the Army....If the Government fails to do that, in the words of Dr. Eqbal Ahmad (a highly-respected Pakistani analyst), this change of threat perception can cost us, in the long run, our entire future." The article was analysing not only Gen. Musharraf's perception of India, but also his vigorous justification of the Army agreeing to take over purely civilian responsibilities such as running the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA). Mr.Sharif asked the Army to run the WAPDA to end corruption and to improve its efficiency. After taking over, Gen. Musharraf, to the discomfiture of Mr.Sharif, is reported to have issued orders that the Army would not only be responsible for the day-to-day running, but would also conduct all future negotiations with the independent power producers, thereby denying any role in this matter to the political leadership and civilian bureaucrats.

DalitFreedomNetwork: Missionaries beat Hindu to death; harass others in Bihar village of Parmanpur for refusing to convert (CNN-IBN)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:32:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:curved.sabre@gmail.com">curved.sabre@gmail.com</a> To: <a href="mailto:dalitfreedom@googlegroups.com">dalitfreedom@googlegroups.com</a> Subject: DalitFreedomNetwork: Missionaries beat Hindu to death,harass others in Bihar village for refusing to convert Date: Thursday, June 12, 2008 11:53 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Missionaries beat Hindu to death, harass others in Bihar village for refusing to convert ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bihar village alleges missionaries harassing people Prabhakar Kumar CNN-IBN May 03, 2008 MISSION SCARE: Anjoriya Devi alleges missionaries are harassing her. Buxar: Residents of Parmanpur village in Bihar's Buxar district have alleged that Christian missionaries lure them to convert and threaten them with violence if they don't obey. Anjoriya Devi's husband died death eight years ago and she alleges he was beaten to death by goons hired by missionaries. "They beat up my husband when he refused to convert to Christianity. They have threatened me too," alleges Anjoriya. Mithilesh Kumar, another resident of the village, alleges the missionaries tried to lure him by offering him a job. "They said if I remain a Hindu, I will remain unemployed and poor. They said I would have money and a job if I converted to Christianity," he alleges. Police in the village say they have arrested two persons after investigating complaints. "Investigations confirm there have been instances of conversion by intimidation. We have arrested two persons," said Koran Sahay, officer in charge of the local Kuran Sarai police station. Missionaries in the village reject the allegations and claim they are being framed. "We have done no such thing. We are victims of a conspiracy," said Shyamshun Dayal Ishai, a missionary accused of intimidation. The villagers allegation could snowball into major controversy, as it will give excuse Hindu outfits to renew their demand for an anti-conversion Bill. Source:<a href="http://www.ibnlive.com/news/bihar-village-alleges-missionaries-harassing-people/64467-3-1.html?xml">http://www.ibnlive.com/news/bihar-village-alleges-missionaries-harassing-people/64467-3-1.html?xml</a> Please watch the Video of this outrageous incident (Here's the URL of the video): <a href="http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/64467/bihar-village-alleges-missionaries-harassing-people.html">http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/64467/bihar-village-alleges-missionaries-harassing-people.html</a> Do we still keep believing the missionary fiction that conversions are a matter of personal choice and no inducements or intimidation is involved?

SATI: Its Origins (indiaview.wordpress.com)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:32:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:lalhgehi@yahoo.com">lalhgehi@yahoo.com</a> To: <a href="mailto:media_monitor5@yahoogroups.com">media_monitor5@yahoogroups.com</a> , <a href="mailto:Unitedhindufront@googlegroups.com">Unitedhindufront@googlegroups.com</a> Subject: {UnitedHinduFront} Re: SATI : Its Origins Date: Friday, June 13, 2008 6:00 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sati pratha is NOT a Hindu tradition. There is no mention or example of Sati in any old Hindu scriptures. 1. When Raja Dashrath dies in Ramayana, none of his queens perform Sati act. 2. In Mahabharata, many warriors died in the war, but there is no mention of Sati act anywhere. 3. Sati act gained tremendous momentum during Mogul wars with Rajputs, where Muslim invaders raped Rajput women, to save their honor, the brave Rajput women prefer to die with their warrior husbands, rather than becoming victims of rape by Muslim Mogul monsters. 4. Because Sati is not a general Hindu tradition, that is why Raja Ram Mohan Rai was able to ban the Sati act by law, in India. 5. The Sati pratha did not exist in all parts of India, it gained momentum among Rajputs for the reason mentioned above. Lal Gehi --- On Wed, 6/11/08, <a href="mailto:yashwini1@aol.com">yashwini1@aol.com</a> <<a href="mailto:yashwini1@aol.com&gt">yashwini1@aol.com&gt</a>; wrote: From: <a href="mailto:yashwini1@aol.com">yashwini1@aol.com</a> <<a href="mailto:yashwini1@aol.com&gt">yashwini1@aol.com&gt</a>; Subject: {UnitedHinduFront} SATI : Its Origins To: <a href="mailto:media_monitor5@yahoogroups.com">media_monitor5@yahoogroups.com</a> Date: Wednesday, June 11, 2008, 3:24 PM <a href="http://indiaview.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/censoring-indian-history/">http://indiaview.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/censoring-indian-history/</a> Sati Pratha and its origins Prabhat Varun Sati Pratha is a favorite topic among Hindu-bashers. As soon as they are questioned about the validity of their own claims, goals and methods they immediately start harping on Sati Pratha. And lo! The trick works. The questioning Hindu becomes defensive. He never tries to probe into the origin of so-called Sati Pratha, or at least about its rumors. So, let us try to do it here, what the typical-Hindu always refrains to. Sati Pratha is nowhere mentioned in Hindu scriptures. Not a hint of it. There is no case of forceful widow burning in any of our scriptures. News about Sati Pratha started surfacing only with the advent of Christian Missionaries in India. They with their mission of converting the wretched idolaters, i.e., Hindus to Christianity started slandering Hinduism. For they quickly perceived that Hindus were an unyielding, staunch lot. They would not yield to the treacherous methods of Christian Missionaries. So they devised a new way for accomplishing their Harvest. They decided to slander Hinduism in front of Hindus, so as to shake their belief in it, and also in front of global community so as to justify their demonic agendas of Conversion. And for that they had a new tool in their hands to which Hindus had no access. This tool was the combined institution of Modern British Education System and the newly born media, i.e., the propaganda machine. (How they developed these mediums in India is another topic, related to Macaulay and many others and too long to be discussed here). So, they started their well-planned campaign against Hinduism. A very good example of this is the English word Juggernaut, meaning, a huge and overwhelming force. It is originated form the Rath Yatra of Jagganath. Christian Missionaries said that there goes one evil Yatra among Hindus, in which wretched idolaters take out a procession of three idols. In the Yatra, they take intoxicating drugs, dance nude in front of the chariot, make obscene gestures to each other and then in a fit throw themselves in front of the chariot to commit suicide. Hence, the word with its meaning of an overwhelming force. Swami Vivekanand also mentions this at one place along with many other calumnies heaped over Hinduism and Hindu civilization by the designing Christian Missionaries. Here is an excerpt of that, What is meant by those pictures in the school-books for children where the Hindu mother is painted as throwing her children to the crocodiles in the Ganga? The mother is black, but the baby is painted white, to arouse more sympathy, and get more money. What is meant by those pictures, which painted a man burning his wife at a stake with his own hands, so that she may become a ghost and torment the husbands enemy? What is meant by the pictures of huge cars crushing over human beings? I have heard one of these gentlemen preach in Memphis that, in every village of India, there is a pond of the bones of little babies What have the Hindus done to these disciples of Christ that every Christian child is taught to call the Hindus vile and wretched and the most horrible demons on earth? Swami Vivekananda, The Complete Works, Vol. IV (1945 ed.) Any person even most slightly acquainted with the Rath Yatra needs no explaining about the truth. Similarly, they harped on Sati, and invented the very term and phenomenon of Sati Pratha, citing some allegedly eye-witness accounts of widow burning on the funeral pyre of their husband. So, what was the truth in those accounts? If, there was any truth in those accounts, then what was their origin? For finding their origin, we have to stretch our memory some centuries back to the Medieval Ages, the era of great unprecedented rape, pillage and looting of India by Muslims and their armies. Among the very first provinces to bear the brunt of Islamic sword were Sindh, Punjab and Rajputana. Sindh being Buddhist in majority and Punjab also having a considerable population of Buddhists, succumbed soon to the unprecedented barbarous Islamic invasions. But Rajputana being completely Hindu held out for centuries. Even now there are only 9% Muslims in Rajasthan. But this resistance cost them a great deal. They had never faced such barbarous invaders and looters. All of the wars which they fought until then, were fought with a moral ethical code. Being synonymous with the Hindu philosophy, wars were fought only between warriors and concerned only them. Civil populace was never even touched, let alone molested. But the new Islamic enemy they were now facing was an unprecedented evil force, which did not rely on valour for victory, but instead on treachery, deceit, malice, crookedness and all other evil means. Those Islamic armies instead of fighting chivalrously with their opponents, chose to decimate the civilian populace, by laying siege to the country side, thus decimating the social, cultural and economic fabric of the nations. They massacred and butchered complete populations of Hindus, broke their idols, desecrated their temples, butchered the Brahmins, converted them forcibly to Islam (by making them eat beef!) destroyed their corps, poisoned their wells, burned their houses, abducted their children and raped their women. They took their inspiration from Quran. Ayats 2:193, 8:39, orders them to break idols. Ayats 8:12, 22: 19-22 exhorts them to massacre the religious leaders of the other religion. Ayats 33:59 and 4:24 encourages them to commit sexual transgressions without co mpunction with the non-Muslim women. This, this last atrocity done to the local populace by these Islamic marauders was without precedence in cruelty. (No one in Hindu era even thought of touching another woman, let alone raping her). It was a greater calamity on women than their family men. They did not think of such calamity befalling them in their wildest nightmares. They were free women under Hinduism with an equal say in society as men. They were not used to the sexual, and mental humiliation and torture to which Muslim and non-Muslim women under Islamic rule were subjected to. Chastity for them was everything, the prime value of life. They could not imagine an unchaste life. The very concept was unthinkable to them. And for preserving their chastity they were prepared to do anything, to break every barrier, to sacrifice every tying, even their life. And so they did. Facing these Islamic molesters, the brave Hindu women chose death. They built big cauldron like pots, lit then with fire and jumped into them, to die voluntarily and happily in order to save their honour and chastity. They chose and embraced death themselves and nobody forced them to do so. They with their very feminine bravery defied whole armies of Islamic marauders with all of their evil means and intentions. This phenomenon was called johar, meaning giving themselves to fire in order to be saved from disgrace. So, this was Johar, later practiced by Hindu women in every part of India in order to save themselves from the dirty hands of Islamic marauders. There was no forced immolation in that process, no malign Brahmins, no cruel priests, thus no Sati Pratha. And for suicide no other person can be blamed, other than those Islamic marauders whose threat forced Hindu women to suicide. Sati is an ancient Sanskrit term, meaning a chaste woman who thinks of no other man than her own husband. The famous examples are Sati Anusuiya, Savitri, Ahilya etc. None of them committed suicide, let alone being forcible burned. So how is that that they are called Sati? The word Sati means a chaste woman, and it has no co-relations with either suicide or murder. The term Sati was never accompanied by Pratha. The phrase, Sati Pratha was a Christian Missionary invention. Sati was taken form the above quoted source and Pratha was taken from the practice of Johar, (by distorting its meaning from suicide to murder) and the myth of Sati Pratha was born to haunt Hindus forever. So Sati Pratha (in its modern avatar of forcible widow burning) is not a fault of Hinduism but a crime of Islam. Islam is the perpetrator of crime here, and Hinduism, the victim. It is a joint crime of Islam and Christianity. The crime of Islam was transposed on Hinduism (absolving Islam in the process) by the historical connivance of anti-Hindu forces (Islam, Christianity and Marxism). To insert a spiritual clause here, it is very important to say that in modern times whenever is there a case reported of voluntary immolation of a woman on her husbands pyre, it is never reported that the dying woman shrieked in the unbearable pain of the burning flesh. Sucha case is reported by Mark Tully in his book No Full Stops in India. He tells of a woman Roop Kanwar in the village Deorala, district Sikar of Rajasthan who in Sep 1987 voluntarily died by burning herself with fire, without emitting any cries or shrieks. So what does it signify? No mortal can remain calm when his flesh is being burnt. So what is the reason of this superhuman quality of these women? The answer lies in dharma, Yoga and meditation. There are umpteen stories in Puranas and Vedas in which both men and women voluntarily accept death by immolating their mortal bodies by various means, including fire. The power of Yoga makes them oblivious of the pain of the decay of the mortal body. So women w ho voluntarily gave up their life in fire were empowered with the power of Yoga. Pain did not touch their chaste bodies. Hindus being oppressed for centuries have developed a mental state called Dhimmitude, which means a mental slavery to its long time oppressor Islam. So, now even those Hindus who stand against Islam are timid, defensive and guilty of some hypothetical crimes, imagined for their chagrin, for them by their enemies. They still cant think freely, analyze history objectively and recognize the true nature of Hinduism, i.e., Dharma. But, if they want to re-generate Dharma, Truth and Goodness then they will have to view History in its true light, with Courage, Resolution and with Objectivity. Then only they will be able to re-discover their Dharma and do something for its regeneration. History being Dharma itself hopes them to do so. <a href="http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_060328.htm">http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_060328.htm</a>

PRESS RELEASE----Hindu Samhati leaders arrested after attack by 6,000 strong Muslim mob in West Bengal (FRIENDS OF HINDU SAMHATI)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:32:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:curved.sabre@gmail.com">curved.sabre@gmail.com</a> To: <a href="mailto:Unitedhindufront@googlegroups.com">Unitedhindufront@googlegroups.com</a> Subject: {UnitedHinduFront} PRESS RELEASE----Hindu Samhati leaders arrestedafter attack by 6,000 strong Muslim mob in West Bengal Date: Friday, June 13, 2008 9:22 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FRIENDS OF HINDU SAMHATI Registered in: New York, USA. Contact: <a href="mailto:hindusamhati@gmail.com">hindusamhati@gmail.com</a> June 13, 2008 The Friends of Hindu Samhati, USA unequivocally condemns today's gruesome attack on the Hindu Samhati training camp at Ganga Sagar (West Bengal) by a murderous mob of local Muslims, at least 6000-7000 strong, starting Thursday (June 12, 2008). Ganga Sagar is a very reknowned Hindu Tirtha Kshetra (Place of Pilgrimage) where the sacred Ganga River has a confluence with the Bay of Bengal. Ganga Sagar is located on the western edge of the Sunderban Delta on Sagar Island. At the edge of Sagar town - adjacent to the beach - is the ancient temple dedicated to Kapil Muni, the sage responsible for initiating the chain of events that ultimately resulted in Mother Ganga descending to the earth from heaven and giving mankind an opportunity to wash away its sins in her pure water. The earliest mention of this sacred place is found in the Mahabharata where a learned sage explains to Bhishma the significance of taking a dip at the confluence of Ganga Sagar. Millions of Hindu pilgrims visit this holy place all year round to take a dip in the ho,y Ganges, particularly during the Kumbha Mela and Makara Sankranti festivities. Since this morning (Thursday, 12 June, 2008), Hindu Samhati had started conducting a training camp and workshop on the current socio-political scenario to 180 men, women and children in the peaceful and serene surroundings of Ganga Sagar. Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh, the National Convenor of Hindu Samhati is conducting the main sessions of this camp. Other eminent people and local notables are also present. Everything went on smoothly until this evening, when suddenly the camp building was surrounded by a murderous mob of about 6000-7000 local Muslims bent on mayhem. The Muslim attackers were well-prepared and have been throwing gas cylinders and petrol bombs (molotov cocktails) and kept on attacking incessantly for a few hours, to incinerate the whole camp. The entire camp building has been reduced to ashes. All 180 of our camp attendees (a large number of them women and children) and 15 policemen are trapped inside this burning camp along with our dear leader Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh. Already 14-15 attendees of the camp have been injured in the carnage, and at least 7 of them are in very critical condition and are not expected to survive. The names of the critically wounded include: Subodh Kundu, Bivas Mondal, Gopinath Biswas, Prasenjit Sardar and Gautam Halder, apart from 2 others that could not be identified because of serious facial burn injuries. Nine camp attendees are still missing and may have been kidnapped by the Muslim mob. Their names are: Gautam Mondal, Kartick Biswas, Ram Shil, Palash Roy, Gopal Dolui, Piyush Senapati, Ashok Das, Shankar Nandi and Subhash Roy. We are very apprehensive about their well being. The local police-station (Thana) has unfortunately sent in a small posse of 15 policemen who are totally inadequate for resisting such a huge Jehadi mob armed to the teeth. The police could not control the mob of Muslims even after firing several rounds. As of Friday morning (June 13, 2008), as per the recent information received by us, the assault by the Muslim mob at Hindu Samhati campsite in Gangasagar is still on, although the intensity has abated a little bit. Some more police force has reached the trouble spot, though the large force required to subdue a mob of this size and temperament is nowhere in sight. A recent update by phone from the camp is that along with the 14-15 attendees who were injured, 2 policemen have also been seriously injured due to the assault by the Muslim mob. Scores of other attendees to the camp has sustained minor injuries in this most cowardly assault including the National Convener of Hindu Samhati, Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh. Thankfully his injuries are not serious. Apart from throwing petrol bombs to incinerate the camp building, the Muslim mob also tried to breach the wall by exploding cooking gas cylinders against it. Failing to break into the camp, the rampaging Muslim mob has attacked and seriously damaged some nearby houses of the local Hindus. They have also seriously damaged and set fire to an adjoining Kali temple and a 'Yatri Nivas' (Travellers' Lodge) run by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The fireball attacks have slightly abated but the vicious threats and stone pelting continues all attuned to the collective chants of both 'naara-e-takbir, allahu akbar' (allah is the Greatest) and 'inquilab zindabad' (Long Live the Revolution). Sagar island at the Ganga Sagar the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal is one of the holiest pilgrimages of India, where millions of Hindus from all over India and the world gather during the 'Makar Sankranti' (Winter Solstice) for the 'Punya Snan' (Holy Bath) every year. If a peaceful Hindu gathering can be assaulted with such viciousness and impunity in one of the most sacred Hindu sites of pilgrimage, one shudders to think what lies in store for the Hindus of West Bengal a few years hence. In a travesty of justice, instead of arresting the attackers, the Police in West Bengal have slapped a non-bailable arrest warrant against Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh and 15 Hindu Samhati activists. The concocted charges against them are listed as being: "Incitement and Instigation for Rioting" and "Disruption of Communal Harmony". As per the latest news received from the ground, Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh and 15 Hindu Samhati activists have been framed and arrested for inciting communal disharmony by Kakdwip Thana (Police Station) in West Bengal. 1) The Friends of Hindu Samhati, USA strongly protests this outrageous attack on a peaceful, indoor religious function that was held behind closed doors. There was no provocation for this vicious assault nor was any outdoor procession held at the location. It is pitiable that the police could not provide security to its peace loving citizens and is instead insisting on closing the camp down. 2) We strongly urge the police and the local administration to arrest all the perpetrators of this heinous crime immediately and provide security to continue the camp at a nearby, alternate location. 3) We deeply deplore the travesty of justice in West Bengal and appeal to the police and the local administration to remove the framed charges and release Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh and 15 Hindu Samhati activists immediately. 4) We request all friends and readers in India and abroad to call up the Indian administration to inquire about this incident. At least, they will know that people still care about justice and peace in India. The Numbers to Call are: a) District Magistrate, South 24 Parganas Phone: 033-24793713 Email: <a href="mailto:dm-ali@wb.nic.in">dm-ali@wb.nic.in</a> b) Mr. Praveen Kumar District Superintendent of Police, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal Mobile Phone: 91-98300-23142 c) Ganga Sagar Police-Station/Thana Officer in Charge Phone: 91-3210-240-205 d) Mr. Tomal Das Officer in Charge Kakdwip Thana (Police Station) Mobile Phone: 98305-99612 e) Sub-Divisional Police Officer--Senior to Officer in Charge Phone: 94349-66000 5) Finally, please show your solidarity with the beleaguered Hindus of West Bengal, and spread the news of this heinous outrage among your friends, co-workers and family.

Going after American Way (Consumerism) is confusing for traditional Indian like me (rpshahi@gmail.com)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:31:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:rpshahi@gmail.com">rpshahi@gmail.com</a> To: <a href="mailto:Unitedhindufront@googlegroups.com">Unitedhindufront@googlegroups.com</a> Subject: {UnitedHinduFront} Going after American Way (Consumerism) is confusing for traditional Indian like me Date: Saturday, June 14, 2008 5:23 pm The way country is moving right now, ie: ignore our traditional ways of earning ( Agriculture), living in joint family,sharing with others what ever they have and moving towards SEZ and MNCs way, have started having impact on people like me. With village and agriculture background I feel totally confused as to what will happen in next 5-10 years when large Malls will eat away our smaller trade, vegitable growers and MNCs will make small farmers idle and be in their service. The typical Hindu family where all elders were respected is slowly dying away with respect for money and property. People are not satisfied with worshiping God in their own houses or nearby temple with simple traditional ways. Its now a show business to worship your God with much fanfare.. I am sure that Hindu traditions and culture has survived many attacks and have existed, but with the people running around for materialistic object neglecting human sentiments or hurting others is quite disturbing.

Sarve Dharma Raj-dharma-pradhana; Discourse of Bhishma Pitamah on Raj-Neeti from his bed of arrows on battlefield. (ramgopal_94@yahoo.com ) (GCA: Let this Discourse be taught to every one in Democratic system throughout the world.)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:31:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:ramgopal_94@yahoo.com">ramgopal_94@yahoo.com</a> To: <a href="mailto:fhrs_usa@yahoogroups.com">fhrs_usa@yahoogroups.com</a> , Subject: Sarve Dharma Raj-dharma-pradhana Date: Saturday, June 14, 2008 5:58 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sarve Dharma Rajdharma-pradhana Mahabharata In search of answers to a Gandhian truth seeker, I had to turn the pages of the Mahabharata, Shanti-Parva, once again. I found numerous gems on Raj-dharma, which I think must be shared with my Hindu friends and teachers. It may be recalled that Shrimad Bhagvad-gita is a dialogue between Arjun and Lord Krishna, before commencement of the Mahabharata war. Contrary to it, Shanti-parva is a dialogue between Yudhishthir on the one hand and his brothers, wife Draupadi, Lord Krishna and Bhishma pitamah on the other, after the war. Having won the great war, Yudhishthir was so full of remorse due to the unprecedented bloodshed that he decided to take Sanyas, instead of kingship. After prolonged persuasion of his brothers, Draupadi, Shri Krishna and Mahrishi Ved Vyas, Yudhishthir accepted the coronation. Even then, sensing that Yudhishthir could still go astray, Shri Krishna prevailed upon him to meet Bhishma Pitamah to learn lessons of good governance. Here are a few gems from the mouth of Bhishma Pitamah O, King, just as the foot of an elephant covers every other foot, so does Rajdharma cover every aspect of Dharma, in all conditions, (chap.63/25). Among all Dharmas, Rajdharma is supreme, as it provides nourishment to people of all Varnas (professions). Rajdharma encompasses all sacrifices. The sages, since ancient period, praise sacrifice as the best form of Dharma, (63/27). The Sanatan Dharma got destroyed hundreds of time, but (each time) it was redeemed and spread again by Kshatra-dharma. In every age, Kshatra-dharma has to be active. Therefore, Kshatra-dharma is the best in the world, (64/26). Sages praise sacrifice or renunciation, but the greatest sacrifice is that of the kings who lay down their body in fulfillment of their Raj-dharma, (65/3). O, Yudhishthir! Whatever fruits are available to righteous persons after fulfilling obligations of all the four Ashramas, they are all available to those kings who perform Rajdharma selflessly, following the prescribed code of crime and punishment, and who treat their subjects even-handedly. Such kings get the highest position that may be available to a true sanyasin, (66/4-5). On Republics Honourable (chosen) citizens lay down righteous codes of conduct in the spirit of the Shastras. Providing suitable treatment to all and every one, they (Republics) make good progress, (107/17) The distinguished (chosen) citizens punish even their sons and brothers if they do any wrong. They provide them good education and good training. After accomplishing their education and training, they are suitably honoured and given suitable postings. This way, the Republics make good progress, (107/18). The heads, (ministers, officers), of the Republic should work in unison in the best interest of the Republic as a whole. If they are divided, they will form many antagonistic groups (parties). The result will be failure on every front and emergence of various evils. Well-wishers of the Republic should use their powers to crush leaders of separatist parties/groups, (107/25-26). If the senior wise men ignore divisive elements, they result in disintegration and ultimate death of the Republic, (107/27). I wonder, when Hindu Dharmacharyas, Swamis and Priests will take note of the lessons of Rajdharma and make them also part of their sermons. Ram Bhai

DalitFreedomNetwork: Bobby Jindal's dance with the devil to please catholic masters (http://talkingpoint smemo.com)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:30:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:catholicunion@eml.cc">catholicunion@eml.cc</a> To: <a href="mailto:dalitfreedom@googlegroups.com">dalitfreedom@googlegroups.com</a> Subject: DalitFreedomNetwork: Bobby Jindal's dance with the devil to pleasecatholic masters Date: Sunday, June 15, 2008 12:39 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <a href="http://tpmelectionc">http://tpmelectionc</a> entral.talkingpo intsmemo. com/2008/ 06/bobby_ jindals_dance_ with_the_ d.php <a href="http://talkingpoint">http://talkingpoint</a> smemo.com/ archives/ 199925.php Is Bobby Jindal -- Who May Be On McCain's Veep Shortlist -- An Exorcist? By Eric Kleefeld and Kate Klonick - June 11, 2008, 4:42PM Bobby Jindal, the 36-year old governor of Louisiana, is being taken seriously by the national press as a candidate on the shortlist to be John McCain's Vice President. No one doubts that he's a political prodigy -- his impressive resume includes stints as president of the state university system, a Congressman and now governor. But one of Jindal's job titles hasn't gotten much attention -- and it just might prompt a few questions if his Veep candidacy gains steam: Exorcist. As others noted during his 2003 and 2007 gubernatorial campaigns (see update), in an essay Jindal wrote in 1994 for the New Oxford Review, a serious right-wing Catholic journal, Jindal narrated a bizarre story of a personal encounter with a demon, in which he participated in an exorcism with a group of college friends. And not only did they cast out the supernatural spirit that had possessed his friend, Jindal wrote that he believes that their ritual may well have cured her cancer. Reading the article leaves no doubt that Jindal -- who graduated from Brown University in 1991, was a Rhodes Scholar, and had been accepted at Yale Law School and Harvard Medical School when he wrote the essay -- was completely serious about the encounter. He even said the experience "reaffirmed" his faith. Jindal's affection for battling demons never surfaced during Jindal's failed run for governor in 2003 or his successful one in 2007. The state Dems did make an issue in 2007 out of Jindal's extreme Catholicism and his view of Protestant tenets as heretical, but the effort provoked a backlash among voters who thought the assault was religious bigotry. So Dems didn't make an issue out of Jindal's experiment. But Jindal's battle with the dark forces may become an issue should his Veep candidacy proceed. While it's hardly a blockbuster revelation, it could provide fodder for bloggers and late-night comics to turn his candidacy into a media sideshow. If you're interested in the details about Jindal's spiritually experimental past, we have lots more for you after the jump. It's lively stuff. In the essay (purchase required), Jindal describes an emotional friendship with a classmate, "Susan," recently diagnosed with skin cancer and reeling after the suicide of a close friend. Susan's behavior becomes stranger, and she is surrounded by "sulfuric" smells. Finally, one night at a prayer meeting, she collapses in a seizure -- and the exorcism begins: The students, led by Susan's sister and Louise, a member of a charismatic church, engaged in loud and desperate prayers while holding Susan with one hand. Kneeling on the ground, my friends were chanting, "Satan, I command you to leave this woman." Others exhorted all "demons to leave in the name of Christ." It is no exaggeration to note the tears and sweat among those assembled. Susan lashed out at the assembled students with verbal assaults. Jindal then describes how the whole situation made him physically uncomfortable, and he wondered if the same demon afflicting Susan was responsible for his state of nervousness: Whenever I concentrated long enough to begin prayer, I felt some type of physical force distracting me. It was as if something was pushing down on my chest, making it very hard for me to breathe. . . Though I could find no cause for my chest pains, I was very scared of what was happening to me and Susan. I began to think that the demon would only attack me if I tried to pray or fight back; thus, I resigned myself to leaving it alone in an attempt to find peace for myself. After a lull in the event -- it in fact lasted "a few hours" by Jindal's reckoning -- Susan attempted to run away, but was dutifully pinned back on the floor by her friends: Maybe she sensed our weariness; whether by plan or coincidence, Susan chose the perfect opportunity to attempt an escape. She suddenly leapt up and ran for the door, despite the many hands holding her down. This burst of action served to revive the tired group of students and they soon had her restrained once again, this time half kneeling and half standing. After what sounds like a number of hours, and a failed attempt at getting help from a preacher (he refused to assist), the exorcism finally concludes in dramatic fashion: It appeared as if we were observing a tremendous battle between the Susan we knew and loved and some strange evil force. But the momentum had shifted and we now sensed that victory was at hand. While Alice and Louise held Susan, her sister continued holding the Bible to her face. Almost taunting the evil spirit that had almost beaten us minutes before, the students dared Susan to read biblical passages. She choked on certain passages and could not finish the sentence "Jesus is Lord." Over and over, she repeated "Jesus is L..L..LL," often ending in profanities. In between her futile attempts, Susan pleaded with us to continue trying and often smiled between the grimaces that accompanied her readings of Scripture. Just as suddenly as she went into the trance, Susan suddenly reappeared and claimed "Jesus is Lord." With an almost comical smile, Susan then looked up as if awakening from a deep sleep and asked, "Has something happened?" She did not remember any of the past few hours and was startled to find her friends breaking out in cheers and laughter, overwhelmed by sudden joy and relief. Jindal writes proudly about the experiment's conclusion: "When the operation occurred, the surgeons found no traces of cancerous cells. Susan claimed she had felt healed after the group prayer and can remember the sensation of being 'purified.'" Jindal's office has not yet responded to requests for comment. Late update: This post originally asserted that we "discovered" Jindal's essay, but several readers have brought to our attention that we are not the first to blog on this subject. Daily Kingfish and DailyKos discussed Jindal's exorcism experience during his gubernatorial campaigns in 2003 and 2007, and Jezebel parodied it as recently as last month. The topic has renewed relevance now that Jindal is being discussed as a possible vice presidential candidate. But credit where credit is due for these earlier reports.

"KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, REALISATION AND CONSCIOUSNESS- (bimal_mohanty@vsnl.com)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:30:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:bimal_mohanty@vsnl.com">bimal_mohanty@vsnl.com</a> Subject: "KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, REALISATION AND CONSCIOUSNESS - Continued"- Defining Consciousness. Date: Saturday, June 14, 2008 7:08 pm GREETINGS AND BEST WISHES IN YOUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY. THE LATEST VOLUME OF THE SPIRITUAL WEB SITE <<a href="http://www.ahwan.org/&gt">http://www.ahwan.org/&gt</a>; www.ahwan.org (or www.ahwan.com) : VOLUME 88, June 2008 ISSUE, has been published and uplinked with the article "KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, REALISATION AND CONSCIOUSNESS - Continued"- Defining Consciousness. - If you visit the site, and have any observations to make, I shall be grateful. There are also interesting questions from readers dealing with "Deciding priority between social and spiritual", "Do prayers and spiritualism heal people?" "The meaning of Ramarajya", "Love and expectations", etc. You can also browse the previous articles by clicking on the ikon 'articles'. Please share it with your friends and dear ones. God bless you- Sri Bimal Mohanty. (<a href="mailto:bimal_mohanty@vsnl.com">bimal_mohanty@vsnl.com</a>) PS - To continue spreading the benefit of AHWAN to all, we need your assistance if you please. Click on 'special information' on the homepage of www.ahwan.org.

MAOISTS & ISLAMISTS TOGETHER? (http://indiaview.wordpress.com/) (GCA : Very necessary to UNDERSTAND this emerging Anti-Hindu Terrorist System: Ignorance will be fatal.)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:29:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:yashwini1@aol.com">yashwini1@aol.com</a> To: <a href="mailto:media_monitor5@yahoogroups.com">media_monitor5@yahoogroups.com</a> Subject: {UnitedHinduFront} MAOISTS & ISLAMISTS TOGETHER? Date: Saturday, June 14, 2008 8:00 pm ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maoists, Muslim fundamentalists to fight state terror together <a href="http://indiaview.wordpress.com/">http://indiaview.wordpress.com/</a> Cithara Paul, Indian Express June 13, 2008 New Delhi, June 12: Maoists and Muslim fundamentalists they may seem to be the most unlikely partners. But in a move which is rife with much internal contradictions and political ramifications, the two are coming together to forge a national platform to combat state terror. Calling themselves the victims of state terror, the two improbable partners had sat together for the first time and called for resistance against all kinds of terror unleashed by the State and Central governments against Maoists and Muslims. The meeting was held in Kerala last month. The main forces behind the move are Porattom, a Maoist group having base in South India, Minority Watch, a human rights organisation suspected of having close links with the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and National Democratic Front (NDF), a radical Muslim group accused of having similar links with the banned Islamic Sevak Sangh (ISS). Maoists and Muslims share the similar plight of being the victims of the state terror. The best way to eliminate anyone who raises his voice against the wrong doings of the State is to brand him as a Naxalite. Similar is the plight of Muslim brethren. Whenever and wherever there is a terrorist attack, the community as a whole is brought under the eye of suspicion. Every Muslim is being treated as a potential terrorist. It is in this background that we have decided to join hands to combat this state sponsored terrorism, said Ravunni, general convener of Porattom. Nazaruddeen Elamarom of the NDF also echoed similar views. The Maoists and the Muslims are the worst affected victims of state terror. We are the favourite whipping boys of the Government as we are clubbed together as anti-nationals. And this is the common thread that connects the two, he said. According to him, it is for the first time that the Naxalites and Muslim groups are coming together for espousing a similar cause. Nazarudden maintained that the fight would be against the upper caste ruling elite forces of Hindutva and imperialism who have the agenda of hunting down Maoists and Muslims. This is for upholding human rights and to stop the fascists, he added. The agenda of the Maoist-Muslim joint platform group includes withdrawal of ban on SIMI and a total full stop to encounter killings. They also want the Naxalites to be given the treatment of war prisoners. According to Ravunni, they are in touch with many other Maoist and Muslim groups across the country. We are planning to hold our next meetings in Bangalore and Calcutta. We would be deciding upon the nature and structure of the joint platform in those meetings and it would have a pan Indian nature, he said. Ravunni said that the meeting has brought together two victim groups together and the rest of the fight would be fought together. Acknowledging that it was an unlikely alliance, Ravunni said: A lot of complexities are involved in this coming together. But we would unite to fight against the common enemy putting aside differences in their ideologies, he added. The meeting was also attended by some civil society movements including Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (CHRO) and Peoples Union Civil Liberty (PUCL) working against encounter killings and anti-terror laws. <a href="http://indiaview.wordpress.com/">http://indiaview.wordpress.com/</a>

Tirukural - Chapter 20: Avoidance of Pointless Speech (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com )

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:29:00 GMT

Vedic Verses for 6/14/08: Performing Yagna with consciousness of Divine Being (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:29:00 GMT

From: <a href="mailto:Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com">Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com</a> To: <a href="mailto:asnani@giaspn01.vsnl.net.in">asnani@giaspn01.vsnl.net.in</a> Subject: Vedic Verses for 6/14/08 Date: Saturday, June 14, 2008 5:12 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vedic Verses A daily collection of verses from the Vedas, Hinduism's revealed scripture -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vedic Verses for 6/14/08 Svaha to the universe-uttering these words, he offers an oblation in the fire and lets the remainder adhering to the ladle drip into the paste. Svaha to all-uttering these words, he offers an oblation in the fire and lets the remainder adhering to the ladle drip into the paste. Svaha to Prajapati-uttering these words, he offers an oblation in the fire and lets the remainder adhering to the ladle drip into the paste. Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, III-Rites for the Attainment of Wealth, 3 (cont) Then he touches the paste, uttering the mantra: You move as the vital breath; you bum as fire; you are infinite as Brahman; you are unshaken as the sky. You are the meeting-place of all. You are the sound hing and are uttered as hing in the sacrifice by the prastotri. You are the Udgitha and are chanted by the udgatri. You are recited by the adhvaryu and recited back by the agnidhra. You are fully ablaze in the moist cloud. You are omnipresent and the ruler. You are food as the moon and light as fire.You are death and you are that in which all things merge. Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, III-Rites for the Attainment of Wealth, 4 Then he raises the paste, saying: As the vital breath you know all; we too are aware of your greatness as the vital breath. The vital breath is the king, the ruler, the sovereign. May it make me king, ruler and sovereign. Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, III-Rites for the Attainment of Wealth, 5 Then he eats the paste, saying: 'Tat saviturvarenyam' ('That adorable light')-'The winds blow sweetly (madhu), the rivers pour forth sweetness (madhu); may the herbs be sweet (madhu) unto us!' 'Svaha to the earth (Bhuh). 'Bhargo devasya dhimahi'-('Of the radiant sun, We meditate upon' )-'May the nights and days be sweet (madhu), may the dust of the earth be sweet (madhu), may heaven, our father, be sweet (madhu)!' 'Svaha to the sky (Bhuvah).' 'Dhiyo yo nah prachodayit' ('May He stimulate our intellect')- 'May the soma creeper be sweet (madhu) unto us, may the sun be sweet (madhu), may the quarters be filled with sweetness (madhu) for us!' 'Svaha to heaven (Svah).' Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, III-Rites for the Attainment of Wealth, 6 Then he repeats the whole Gayatri and all the verses about sweetness (madhumati) and says at the end: May I be all this! Svaha to earth, sky and heaven. Then he eats all that is left of the paste, washes his hands and lies down behind the fire with hishead to the east. In the morning he salutes the sun saying: You are the one non-dual and best lotus of the quarters; may I be the one lotus among men. Then he returns the way he went, sits behind the fire and repeats the line of teachers. Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, III-Rites for the Attainment of Wealth, 6 (cont)

Punieite takes on RBI for financial folly (The Times of India, 15th June 2008)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:28:00 GMT

PIL filed against RBI by Pune resident. Alleges that RBI lost Rs. 65,065 crore in 2006-07 on the valuation of investments related to market stabilization scheme. Mumbai: A Pune resident has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging that the Reserve Bank of India lost Rs. 65,065 crore in 2006-07 due to fall in its valuation of investments in foreign exchange. Petitioner R.S.Kelkar said that RBI has not taken this loss to its profit and loss account and the centre is also not accounting this loss in its accounts presented to the Parliament. The loss is mentioned in the currency and gold revaluation account in RBIs Balance-Sheet. It is on the valuation of investment done by the RBI from the proceeds of market stabilization scheme (MSS). The MWS Bonds were also issued illegally and unconstitutionally, the PIL claims the RBI borrowed a sum of Rs. 1,61,058 crores by virtue of MSS bonds till January 2008 this year. The Petition demands that this account lying with the RBI in a separate identifiable cash account, be transferred to the consolidated fund of India. These bonds were issued after an Capital MOU was signed by the centre and the RBI in March 2004 without informing Parliament, the PIL said. Ironically, the country is paying interest on this amount at 7.5% p.a. and the proceeds are being invested in foreign exchange, especially in US Treasury, yielding almost no returns. Over and above this loss of interest the country has also suffered this loss of more than Rs. 65065 crores on valuation, according to the PIL. The Petition also said the Comptroller and Auditor General of India should audit RBI accounts and file a report to the President who can put it before both the Houses of Parliament. The PIL also sought a stay on the MOU and on issuance of fresh MSS Bonds. Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice V.M. Kanade of the Bombay High Court heard the matter on Thursday and adjourned it for two weeks as the RBI sought time to file its version. The aim is MSS is to drain out excess liquidity. Under the scheme, the treasury Bills are auctioned. The Central Government in consultation with the RBI, fixes the amount to be collected through the auctions. The auctions are done periodically.

Do Islam & Christianity Respect Other Religions?

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:28:00 GMT

Date: Sunday, June 15, 2008 2:17 AM From: "swamijyoti" <a href="mailto:swamijyoti@vivekanandagospel.org">swamijyoti@vivekanandagospel.org</a> To: "Asnani Prof GC Yahoo" <<a href="mailto:asnanigc@yahoo.com&gt">asnanigc@yahoo.com&gt</a>; Do Islam & Christianity Respect Other Religions? DO ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY TEACH RESPECT OR EVEN TOLERANCE FOR THE FOLLOWERS OR WORSHIP-METHODS OF OTHER RELIGIONS? -- Prof. G.C. Asnani Every Religion has three aspects: a) Relationship between man and God; b) Relationship between man and other persons of the same Religion; c) Relationship between man and persons of other Religions. In respect of aspect 'c' of Religion (relationship between man and persons of other Religions), Islam and Christianity do not teach respect or even tolerance for the followers or worship-methods of other Religions. In simple language, they teach hatred and war against followers of other Religions, particularly against followers of Hindu religion. They teach that people of other religions are condemned and wretched ones whose Religions have to be destroyed and removed from the surface of the earth, who have got to be converted out of their religions by any means, even by slaughtering them, if necessary. One will be surprised to find this teaching of Islam and Christianity, which teaching is quite contrary to what one learns as a member of Sacred Sanatana Hindu Dharma. But with the above revelation one can understand the origin and history of the World Wars I & II and also the history of Hindu-Muslim Conflicts, including the cause of sufferings of the Hindu community; and also the problems which have been developing in north-east India and elsewhere in the country, connected with Christian Missionaries. We have to judge any Religion, not by what is done or proclaimed by a few individuals of that community, here and there. There will always be individuals in every religious community who would be noble or ignoble in their conduct. We should not be hasty in speaking about other religions in terms of the noble or ignoble conduct of a few persons of a community here and there. We should rather go by the following criteria: i) Basic teachings of the Holy Quran in respect of Islam and the basic teachings of the Holy Bible in respect of Christianity; ii) The past histories of these Religions--Islam and Christianity; iii) The recent and current histories of Islam and Christianity. My request to our revered Hindu Sadhus is not to speak much on Islam and Christianity until our Sadhus become more familiar with the ideology and history of Islam and Christianity with relation to Hinduism. The Slogans "Hindu-Muslim Bhai Bhai" or "Hindu-Christian Bhai Bhai" and "Islam, Christianity and Hinduism teach the same thing" are not doing good to Hindu Society. These slogans are misguiding Hindus; one-way traffic has been established from Hinduism to Islam and from Hinduism to Christianity. A number of Hindu girls are marrying Muslims and Christians. They correctly tell their parents, "Your religious Sadhus are declaring that all religions teach the same thing. Then why are you taking objection to our getting converted to Islam or Christianity?" Hindu parents have become helpless. They put the blame on Hindu Sadhus for teaching such things. Muslim Maulvis and Christian Padris never teach their followers that all religions teach the same thing. In fact, they teach hatr ed and war against Hinduism. My humble request to you revered Hindu Sadhus is that you may kindly study the teachings of Holy Bible and Holy Quran along with history of Christian Church and Islam and then decide whether it is right or wrong to declare before your Hindu audience that all religions teach the same thing. Reason-wise, both Islam and Christianity are very weak, but in aggressiveness, both of them are very strong; they do not tolerate any questions. Both Islam and Christianity have the following Common Beliefs: 1) God is jealous. Worship of God in the form of an Idol or any other Symbol like Sun, Moon, Stars, Earth, Ocean, Rivers, etc. is equivalent to worshipping somebody other than the One God. This arouses jealousy of the One God who inflicts severe punishment for this type of worship. Hindus who worship God in many forms including Nature, are the worst offenders according to Christianity and Mohammedanism. Hindus are called Heathens, Pagans, Condemned ones, infidels, idolaters, Kaffirs, etc., deserving severe punishment, torture and extermination wherever possible. 2) Christians and Muslims have both entered into Covenants with God, by which each religious community has received an Exclusive, Irrevocable Power of Attorney from God that its way of worship alone is right, that after death they alone will go to Heaven, others will go to Hell. Of course, the way of worship by Christians is different from that of Muslims. However, both communities claim Exclusive Rights. Believers of Islam become Non-Believers for Christianity and vice-versa. 3) This Heaven for Believers is eternal, and the Hell for Non-Believers is also eternal. Once in Heaven, their enjoyments are eternal; once in Hell, others' sufferings are also eternal. 4) There will come a Day of Judgement when all the dead ones will rise and stand before God to get the verdict of either Eternal Heaven or Eternal Hell. In addition to their Common Beliefs, the Christians and Muslims have also their own special Beliefs. Some of those are outlined below (Read "Appeal to Hindu Sadhus" by Prof. G.C.ASNANI, Email: <a href="mailto:gcasnani@hinduvoice.net">gcasnani@hinduvoice.net</a>)

Monsoon breaks 108-year record in Delhi area (www.dailypioneer.com)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:28:00 GMT

Date: - 16.6.08 Staff Reporter | New Delhi Rains arrive 14 days too soon but nobody is complaining Believe it or not, it's happened! Monsoon officially arrived in the Capital on Sunday, a full fortnight before its scheduled date of arrival. In the process, it broke a 108-year-old record. Available weather records in Delhi date back to 1901 and not once has monsoon hit the city before June 16. Delhi has, however, been receiving rainfall for the past few days. And if the Met department is to be believed, Monday would witness a cloudy sky with a few spells of thundershower and heavy rainfall in some areas of the Capital. Monsoon's arrival has already been declared in many parts of north and northwest India, including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. "On Monday, there would be a cloudy sky with spells of thundershower. Some areas may receive heavy rainfall," said a senior Met official. He said that except for west and northwest Rajasthan, monsoon has arrived in most of the States. "We are unable to tell the exact reason behind this development. It could just be part of the gradual change in system and the effect of western disturbances," added the weatherman. On Sunday, the Met recorded a rainfall of around 30 mm and the minimum temperature dipped to 26.6 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature was recorded at 28.8 degrees Celsius, 10 degrees below normal. "Keeping in view the weather record of the past few weeks, the early arrival of monsoon is not surprising. The summer has been the coolest this year and there have been light rain in the past few days also. I hope that the weather stays this way," said Anshu Khanna, a resident of Vasant Vihar. Seventeen-year-old Khanna spent her day enjoying the rains at India Gate with her friends. Some people were, however, not too enamoured with the rain as it caused heavy waterlogging in the streets and on some main roads of the Capital. Huge traffic jams were also witnessed in some areas. Some of the areas where complaints of waterlogging were reported includes Kashmere Gate and ITO. Several vehicles were stranded near the airport's domestic terminal for a long time. In Kalkaji, Shidipura and Pitampura, several trees were reported to have been uprooted due to the rain. However, no casualty was reported.

Paying for UPA rule -Congress Party unmoved as prices soar (www.dailypioneer.com)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:27:00 GMT

Date: - 16.6.08 The Pioneer Edit Desk After promising to protect the interests of the aam admi, who the Congress claimed had "suffered" during the NDA years, the UPA Government it now heads has delivered a double whammy: Skyrocketing prices and declining growth. The affluence of the NDA years has been rendered a thing of the past as the Congress gloats over its gross mismanagement of the national economy which is now in a free fall. Such is the calibre of our 'economist' Prime Minister and his 'brilliant' Finance Minister that they are totally clueless about what has gone wrong; to expect them to steer the national economy through choppy waters so that it does not founder would be both unfair and unrealistic. A measure of just how rapidly the situation is turning from bad to worse has been provided by statistics released last Friday: Inflation has reached a seven-year high of 8.75 per cent. The Congress can no longer claim that people are better off now than they were when the BJP was in power -- unless the drumb eaters of 10 Janpath have willed themselves into believing that being forced to pay more for less has left the masses cheering for the UPA Government. The real rate of inflation would be much higher than 8.75 per cent if we were to factor in the rising cost of services; once the steep increase in the prices of petroleum products is factored in, the rate of inflation would be well above 10 per cent. So, we have a Government which fooled the people into believing that it will deliver double-digit growth, but in reality is preparing to demit office after gifting the nation double-digit inflation. There is further bad news in the offing: Economists have warned that the worst is yet to come. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister and his colleagues are exerting to add fuel to the inflationary fire. Raising the minimum support price for paddy is an example of their knee-jerk reaction to the looming crisis. To escape censure, the Congress insists that inflation should not be made into a political issue by the Opposition; the Prime Minister, after thumbing his nose at the Opposition, now wants a consensus on how to deal with the problem. There is no reason why the Opposition should oblige either the Congress or the Prime Minister: They must bear the consequences of their inability to prevent the situation from coming to such a sorry pass. It is laughable that those who want to place the national economy above partisan politics are busy scoring points with non-Congress State Governments over the issue of minimum support price for paddy. We are yet to see any meaningful intervention by the Government by way of holding interest rates, leave alone reducing them -- with the Reser ve Bank of India revising the repo rate, it is only a matter of time before banks hike their interest rates, which in turn will adversely impact consumers and key sectors like housing and industry, thus further depressing market sentiment. Already, stocks are tumbling on the bourses and mutual funds are posting falling profits -- the blue chip mutual funds have lost as much as 35 per cent this year and we are not even half way through it. Middle class aspirations and the impetus to perform are at a discount; enterprise is once again a meaningless word. A rent-seeking Government given to squandering money on hare-brained schemes has trampled over the gains of the NDA years. The Congress can seek comfort in the fact that the Communists are celebrating India's stumble and fall.

Maoists on back foot- Joint assault by paramilitary forces, cops makes them flee Chhattisgarh (www.dailypioneer.com)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:27:00 GMT

Date: - 16.6.08 Navin Upadhyay | New Delhi For the first time in years, Maoists are on the run in the dense jungle and hills of Chhattisgarh. A combined assault by paramilitary forces and the police has left behind tracks of blood and dead bodies and given a new thrust to the operation for de-fanging the Red Brigade soldiers. The Maoists lost 68 cadre last month, the biggest casualty they suffered in a month. Sources said that the thrust of the anti-Maoist operation is on penetrating their stronghold in Bustar and Bijapur and establish forward bases from where the security forces can launch major offensive. The security forces, now enforced by the arrival of four additional battalions of Central paramilitary forces, are moving in large numbers inside the Maoist terrain, sources said. Pushed on the defensive, the Maoist leadership is making desperate attempts to stir up their cadre and engage in diversionary tactics. Last week they blew up 220 KV high-tension electricity towers in the forests of Dantewada, plunging the region into darkness. The Maoists also forced stoppage of mining activity at the State-owned National Mineral Development Corp Ltd and torched 19 trucks of Essar Steel. In April too, insurgents had set ablaze 53 trucks at Essar's complex. "These are desperate attempts by the Maoists. They are losing their men in large numbers and we have pushed them on defensive," Chhattisgarh DGP Vishwaranjan told The Pioneer on phone. The DGP pointed out that the Maoists have themselves claimed to have lost 68 cadre last month. "We have seized documents where the casualty figure for the month is mentioned," the DGP said. He added that the figure mentioned in the Maoist document is higher than the bodies of Maoists recovered by the police. "The difference is due the fact that in many encounters, wounded Maoists manage to escape to their hideouts and later succumb to injury," he said. The DGP attributed success of several anti-Maoists operations to the insiders of the Red Brigade, who are now helping the police. Last month, the police gunned down 19 Maoists in an encounter at Pamer, on the Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border, following a tip-off by a 'mole'. Later, the Maoists held a jan adalat and killed nine suspects for leaking out information. Reports from Gadchiroli on Sunday said Maoists have beheaded a former member of their organisation who had surrendered to the police and warned his colleague, who too had surrendered along with him, against acting as police informer or else he would meet the same fate. The incident that occurred in village Murgaon of Dhanora sub district has the entire Maoist-affected region in the grip of tension because of the manner in which the reprisal has been carried out. Even on Sunday, a Maoist was killed at Arpulpeta in Dantewada when security forces attacked their camp. Vastly outnumbered, the Maoists chose to escape, leaving behind a dead body, drilling machine, explosive materials and huge amount of food grains. "The current phase of war against the Maoists is entering a decisive phase. We are determined to deliver a bloody blow to them," said the DGP. However, he cautioned that the desperate Maoists could go for soft targets to divert the attention of the security forces. "The Centre had promised us another CRPF battalion. We need it badly to pre-empt the diversionary engagements of the Maoists," he added.

Hinduvoice New List

{UnitedHinduFront} Re: Dirty and Mean methods adopted by followers

Many Christians & Muslims used Hindu names to fool Hindus. (yashwini1@aol.com)

{UnitedHinduFront} Re: Hindu Family in Panvel,Mah. terrorised by Christians. (psharma@rand.com)

Arabs aren't our friends (www.dailypioneer.com)

Amid Bol Bum chant, first batch leaves on Amarnath pilgrimage (www.dailypioneer.com)

Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) nabs 2 more for Thane blasts (http://www.dailypioneer.com)

Baghdad insists on right to veto US operations Intensive talks on future status of American forces (http://www.guardian.co.uk/)

Faulty formula, fake figures for inflation in India. (http://www.organiser.org)

Stop the constitutional use of the word dharmanirpeksh (http://www.organiser.org/)

Honor killing in Canada: Father Mr. Muhammad Parvez gets first-degree murder charge for killing his daughter after she refused to wear hijab. ((http://www.jihadwatch.org/)

Canada: Muslim arrested at airport with handgun in carry-on luggage (http://www.jihadwatch.org/)

Pentagon to Consult Academics on Security (www.nytimes.com)

Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan denies fresh nuclear claim (http://www.cnn.com/)

Car bomb kills at least 51 Iraqis, official says (http://www.cnn.com)

Space cameras to monitor forests (http://news.bbc.co.uk/)

Israel and Hamas 'agree truce' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/)

Pak Frontier Corps: To Trust or Not To Trust? - International Terrorism Monitor--Paper No. 400 (By B. Raman)

MYSTERY SURROUNDING ADAM GADAHN: INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR--PAPER No.401 (By B.Raman)

Jihadis breed like flies and abuse Children sexually in Afghanistan (panjpani@gmail.com)

Hindu FREEDOM GAGGED by Muslims and Communists in Sunderban Delta, West Bengal --- by Francois Gautier

Vedic Verses for 6/16/08 (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com) : Singing the verses from Sama Veda fulfils our pious wishes.

Tirukural - Chapter 22: Understanding One's Duty to Give (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com)

Sounding the Alarm for the Jews (A Voice from Hebron by Gary M. Cooperberg)

{UnitedHinduFront} Re: HINDU TV (Rashtra1947@aol.com)

{UnitedHinduFront} Dirty and Mean methods adopted by followers of Semitic religion for conversion of Hindus (indiaview.wordpress.com)

The Ramakrishna Mission requested the courts to declare them a non-Hindu institution (commentisfree.wordpress.co)

WE'RE BAAAACK! (blj@jewishworldreview.com)

Daily Master Course Lesson Delivery (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com)

Bullet for bullet - At last, Maoists are on the run (www.dailypioneer.com) (G. C. Asnani: Stronger bulled for a bullet will work, not only bullet for bullet.)

Frontier turbulence- Hot pursuit in Pakistan is inevitable (www.dailypioneer.com)

Amarnath yatra begins on Tuesday, 17th June 2008 under tight security (www.dailypioneer.com)

Modi dares Cong to file sedition case against him (www.dailypioneer.com)

Inflation fears force Bank of England into a corner (www.guardian.co.uk)

BJP should win Centre (www.organiser.org) (G. C. Asnani: BJP should not repeat its earlier mistakes; over-confidence should not shatter our heads and bring us to a fatal downfall, which is not impossible.)

Iran Supremo: Islam should have seat on Security Council (http://www.jihadwatch.org/)

"If Arghandab is taken over by the Taliban, it will mean a significant shift in power, and people are concerned that this will be a step forward for the Taliban towards Kandahar." (http://www.jihadwatch.org/)

Hundreds of Taliban occupy Afghan villages in Arghandab district about 20 km north of Kandahar (www.cnn.com)

Bombs rips through Pakistan Shiite mosque at Dera Ismail Khan (www.cnn.com)

Bush and Brown's warning to Iran (news.bbc.co.uk)

EU vows to pursue Lisbon treaty (news.bbc.co.uk)

Egypt says it wants Iran to play positive role (www.jpost.com)

You represent India not China, BJP reminds CPI (www.rediff.com)

Officials: Gaza truce likely this week (www.jpost.com)

10 best workplaces in India (Rediff News)

Leaderless Jihadis: A Supplement or a Substitute for Al Qaeda? ---International Terrorism Monitor--Paper No. 399 (By B. Raman)

PAKISTAN: DID MUSHARRAF TELL NAWAZ ABOUT KARGIL PLANS? (By B. Raman)

DalitFreedomNetwork: Missionaries beat Hindu to death; harass others in Bihar village of Parmanpur for refusing to convert (CNN-IBN)

SATI: Its Origins (indiaview.wordpress.com)

PRESS RELEASE----Hindu Samhati leaders arrested after attack by 6,000 strong Muslim mob in West Bengal (FRIENDS OF HINDU SAMHATI)

Going after American Way (Consumerism) is confusing for traditional Indian like me (rpshahi@gmail.com)

Sarve Dharma Raj-dharma-pradhana; Discourse of Bhishma Pitamah on Raj-Neeti from his bed of arrows on battlefield. (ramgopal_94@yahoo.com ) (GCA: Let this Discourse be taught to every one in Democratic system throughout the world.)

DalitFreedomNetwork: Bobby Jindal's dance with the devil to please catholic masters (http://talkingpoint smemo.com)

"KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, REALISATION AND CONSCIOUSNESS- (bimal_mohanty@vsnl.com)

MAOISTS & ISLAMISTS TOGETHER? (http://indiaview.wordpress.com/) (GCA : Very necessary to UNDERSTAND this emerging Anti-Hindu Terrorist System: Ignorance will be fatal.)

Tirukural - Chapter 20: Avoidance of Pointless Speech (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com )

Vedic Verses for 6/14/08: Performing Yagna with consciousness of Divine Being (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com)

Punieite takes on RBI for financial folly (The Times of India, 15th June 2008)

Do Islam & Christianity Respect Other Religions?

Monsoon breaks 108-year record in Delhi area (www.dailypioneer.com)

Paying for UPA rule -Congress Party unmoved as prices soar (www.dailypioneer.com)

Maoists on back foot- Joint assault by paramilitary forces, cops makes them flee Chhattisgarh (www.dailypioneer.com)

Baghdad insists on right to veto US operations Intensive talks on future status of American forces (http://www.guardian.co.uk/)

The Ramakrishna Mission requested the courts to declare them a non-Hindu institution (commentisfree.wordpress.co)