Stupefied by the string endorsement all across the country of the demand that the money looted from India must be brought back, the Congress has tied itself in knots.
Its spokesmen — led, as will be clear from the arguments they have advanced, by four lawyers — have given five reactions:
● Why is Advani taking up this matter now, on the eve of elections?
● The G20 meeting was not the proper forum for taking up the issue.
● There is doubt about the figures.
● Why did the BJP government replace FERA by FEMA, and thereby make the offences compoundable?
● Is Advani not unwittingly alerting those with illegal money abroad to spirit it away from Switzerland to other tax havens?
● What was the NDA doing when it was in office? In any case there is doubt about the figures.
The reactions betray panic as even the littlest reflection would have shown the ‘arguments’ to be indefensible. Let us consider them one by one.
Why is Advani taking up this matter now, on the eve of elections?
The fact, of course, is that Advani took up the matter with the prime minister in April last year. He wrote to Manmohan Singh soon after it became known that the Government of Germany had succeeded in obtaining names of persons who had stashed money in the LGT Bank in Lichtenstein. The reply that P Chidambaram, the then finance minister, sent him showed that the government intended to do little except keep going through the pretence of taking some steps. Soon thereafter, we were alarmed to learn that a senior official of the finance ministry had written to the then Indian Ambassador in Germany not to press the Germans for release of the names of Indians in the list that they had obtained from Lichtenstein — lest the Germans take offence and conclude that they were being pressurised and their bona fides were being questioned! (This information was later confirmed by report filed by Amitabh Ranjan in The Indian Express of March 31, 2009.) Subsequently, we took up the matter in Parliament also. And yet the evasion, “Why now?”
The G20 meeting was not the proper forum for taking up the issue
This customarily self-serving rationalisation was put out by one of the Congress party’s lawyers and spokesmen. At this very time the party was trying to insinuate that, actually speaking, the prime minister had taken up the matter at the G20 Summit. As its spokesmen could not point to any statement he made either at the Summit or at a press meet by the PM that followed, they drew solace from a passing reference to the matter in the speech he had made at the dinner hosted by Gordon Brown.
In any case, if the G20 Summit was not the right forum for taking up this matter, how is it that in the communiqué that the G20 leaders issued on April 2, 2009, in paragraph 15, entitled, “Strengthening the Financial System,” they pledged themselves “to take action against non-cooperative jurisdictions, including tax havens. We stand ready to deploy sanctions to protect our public finances and financial systems.
The era of banking secrecy is over. We note that the OECD has today published a list of countries assessed by the Global Forum against the international standard for exchange of tax information”.
Were they also, in the view of the Congress party, acting inappropriately when they made such a strong commitment in their communiqué at the Summit? And recall that no sooner had they issued the threat of imposing sanctions that countries which had been blacklisted by the OECD that very day began declaring that they would indeed sign up on the agreement to exchange tax information, and that includes evasion.
In any case, there is doubt about the figures
As is its custom, the Congress is trying to cover up the basic question of the money which has been looted from India and is lying in tax havens, by raising questions about the precision of figures and estimates. This is exactly the kind of legalisms with which persons like P Chidambaram and other legitimisers were fielded to cover up the loot from Bofors.
In its paper, “Overview of the OECD’s Work on International Tax Evasion,” the OECD itself lists studies that state that there are $1.7 trillion to $11.5 trillion which are today parked in tax havens. This paper of the OECD has been widely reported in the Indian press.
The basic point is: even if the amounts are just a few scores of billion dollars and not one and a half trillion dollars, why should they not be brought back to India? And the fact is that other countries, much smaller countries with none of the pretensions of being a superpower, have succeeded in getting their money back. Even as of October last year, when the OECD released its paper, little Ireland had succeeded in recovering almost a billion Euros through an investigation into offshore banks.
Given that even small countries like Ireland have got money back, is it not a shame, is it not an outrage that, as of Saturday last, April 18, 2009, The Times of India, should be quoting the Swiss Ambassador to India as stating on record that till now, the Swiss government has received no request — not even a request — from the Indian government? The real question is different: can the money looted from India be brought back to the country when the attitude of the government continues to be as determinedly inactive as that of the present government? Can the government which allowed Ottavio Quattrocchi to take his money out of banks — where it was lying frozen on court orders — be trusted to bring back the loot that is lying in Swiss banks and other tax havens? Can the government which prostituted the CBI so that he may get away from Argentina be trusted to bring the loot back?
Why did the BJP government replace FERA by FEMA, and thereby make the offences compoundable?
Again, the Congress is relying on the short memory of its audience. The fact of the matter is that no one had been pressing more for the replacement of the harsh provisions of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) than the Congress itself. The changes were being contemplated since 1996. The demand for doing away with the harsh provisions came to a crescendo during the government of V P Singh when FERA came to be used for interrogating captains of industry — like S L Kirloskar — under harsh circumstances. As news reports of that period themselves indicate, the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) which was approved by the government in July 1998, was on the lines of a draft which had been prepared under the leadership of the preceding finance minister, P Chidambaram. Even today, you can go to the website of Rediff, go to their dispatch of July 25, 1998, on “FEMA, Money Bills: Cabinet nods, Parliament’s turn next,” and you will read, “The Bills were broadly on the lines of a draft prepared under the leadership of then finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram.” In any event, there is no mystery about the reasons on account of which the law was changed. They are well set out in the following passage: “Until recently, we had a law known as the Foreign Exchange
(Regulation) Act. Its object was to conserve and augment the forex reserves of the country. The way to hell, it is said, is paved with good intentions.
Like many well-intentioned laws, FERA paved the way to disaster. FERA created a flourishing black market in foreign exchange. It brought into the economic lexicon the word ‘Hawala’. Illegal forex transactions became the fuel for the growth of crime syndicates with transborder connections.
“FERA also became a tool of oppression.
Successive governments persisted with FERA and added COFFEPOSA and SAFEMA.
International markets do not respect draconian laws that run counter to common sense. India’s reserves, far from being augmented, dwindled at an alarming rate… Mercifully, FERA was buried finally on May 31, 2000.” When and where was this written? In an article that appeared in The Indian Express on August 25, 2002. Who wrote the article? None other than P Chidambaram!
Is Advani not unwittingly alerting those with illegal money abroad to spirit it away from Switzerland to other tax havens?
Another clever little statement by yet another clever lawyer of the Congress party! Would the looters who have stashed away money in tax havens from India still need to be alerted after Germany got the names from Lichtenstein as long ago as last year? Would they still need to be alerted after Germany offered to furnish the names to governments that asked for the names? Would they still need to be alerted after the United States got the names from the leading bank of Switzerland, UBS in February this year, and got it to submit to paying a fine of $ 800 million to boot? Would they still need to be alerted after the G20 leaders, including Manmohan Singh as the Congress would like to remind us, declared their determination to get the tax havens to disgorge the names? But such is the confusion in the Congress party and such the brilliance of its lawyers that all it can do is to seek to deflect the nation-wide demand for getting the loot back from tax havens by such witticisms!
What was the NDA doing when it was in office? In any case there is doubt about the figures
Leaders of the Congress party would be better advised to ask, “During that very period, what was the Congress party doing, what were its lawyers and leaders doing, to thwart the efforts of the NDA government to uncover the names of persons who had looted the country even on defence deals like Bofors?” But even if the NDA had done nothing — whether on terrorism or money abroad — is that any reason for not hurrying to avail of the unique opportunity that has arisen now? Even while replacing FERA by FEMA, the NDA government made sure that it would have an additional two years to file prosecutions under FERA. And it filed 2000 cases against those who were under investigation before FERA lapsed. The reason for doing so, a reason that is well known to lawyers in the Congress party, was that, when a prosecution is filed it is adjudicated according to the law which prevailed at the time at which the case was filed.
These are the very cases which the Congress later on did not pursue.
The fact of the matter is that it is now that the unique opportunity has arisen to get the loot back: Germany has succeeded in getting the names; the US has succeeded in getting the names; the G20 leaders have pledged themselves to ensure the end of bank secrecy; countries that had hitherto refused to share the requisite information are pledging to do so — within a week of their names being published by OECD in the list of countries that were dragging their feet on the question, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Philippines and Uruguay pledged to enter into the relevant agreements.
Conclusion
There is a real fight ahead: a fight in the national interest, a fight that will have to be waged doggedly to get the names from the tax havens and to get the amounts back to India — as tax havens will not easily part with their route to lucre. And not all countries will be eager to wage the fight — so many rulers in Africa, in Latin America, to say nothing of the princelings of China — will be loath to see the fight succeed. So, determination and leadership will be required of India, and persistence, and forging alliances with civil society in Europe and elsewhere.
Nor are bilateral agreements any substitute to multilateral pressure. With close to seventy tax havens, decades will pass before agreements are concluded with each haven, even as money is spirited from the haven that has signed up to the one that is holding out.
As has been correctly emphasised, a consensus is already emerging across the country.
Leaders outside the political realm, parties such as the CPI(M), SP, BSP, JD(U), AIADMK have all demanded that the government act energetically to get the names from the tax havens and to get back the amounts. Instead of quibbling, the Congress would be well-advised to endorse the consensus, and act on it.
Not joining secular forces on even so secular an issue?!
Opinions:
These are the same leaders who: 1) Stealing the money from the people and after they have done that 2) Get all the major landmarks in the country named after them. What is the other name of "rape"? Congress Raj - specially in its current form.
By Anil
4/25/2009 2:03:00 AM
See what has happened to Vidarbha farmers to whom MMS had personally assured big help which was ultimately pocketed by congress people under the very nose of MMS & he conveniently kept quite.Same thing happened with 'Sarva shiksha abhiyan' & 'rojgar hami yojana' which were declared with much fanfare.This clearly shows even MMS is not different from other corrupt congressies. This makes obvious why congress has negative reaction.Being in absolute power for long time ,they have big interest in the stake.
By ckdandekar
4/24/2009 6:50:00 PM
The communists are the greatest betrayers and anti-nationals since they have their loyalty to China and will sell india to china any day. Corrupt congress and allies have trillions of dollars looted black money in swiss and german banks and only BJP has promised to bring back the trillions dollars within 6 months and to distribute the money to majority poor hindus. further BJP has promised to abolish all minroity privileges and to amke all indians equal unlke corroked congress who made minroity muslims and chsirisnas as super citizens and made majority hindus beggars in the country.ALL MAJORITY HINDUS MUST JOIN THIS INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT AND VOTE MASIVLEY FOR BJP AND ALLIES TO KICK OUT CORRUPT CROOKED NEHRU DYNASTY AND ALLIES FROEVER FROM OUR HOLY LAND. TIME TO ACT AND SAVE THE NATION HAS COME NOW.
By V.Mehta
4/24/2009 2:22:00 PM
Why majority hindus and patriotc indians must vote as if fighting for their independence from looters and anti-nationals? The fourth front is a bunch of criminals and looters and if given a chance they will sell the country for a few million dollars.What about UPA partners? All the partners of congress, namley Laloo, Mulayam and Paswan are at each others' throats and communists are the greate betrayers and anti-nationals since they have their loyalty to China and wills ell india to china any day. Corrupt congress and allies have trillions of dollars looted black money in swiss and german banks and only BJP has promised to bring back the trillions dollars within 6 months and to distribute the money to majority poor hindus. further BJP has promised to abolish all minority privileges and to make all indians equal unlke Crooked congress who made minroity muslims and chsirisns as super citizens and made majority hindus beggars in the country.ALL MAJORITY HINDUS MUST JOIN THIS INDEPENDENCE M
By V.Mehta
4/24/2009 2:21:00 PM
If Congress comes to power it will try to make it another "bofor saga" as Indian people in general are "guilty of forgiving" when they should not and this has been the cause of their downfall. They need to take more responsibilty in choosing who is to be their leader that can help them look forward.
By Anil
4/24/2009 2:02:00 AM
By the looks of all responses from Congress heavy weights and its bleeding heart supporters, it appears they are still dragging their feet on this important issue when they should have been proactive. Actions speak louder than word and this says it all who is here to plunder India, fill up their kitty when at the same time shouting at the top of their voice that they are working for the "aam admi". Those unsuspecting and honest citizens who still supporting Congress and its allies should think twice before casting their votes to bring them back.
By Anil
4/24/2009 1:50:00 AM
Vasu mate, listen. If this (black money) is not an election issue, then maybe who pregnated your mother and you were born, should be an election issue. Really intersting, isn't it mate? Cool off mate and don't shit in your pants.
By Charlie
4/24/2009 12:15:00 AM
Mr Advani's demand to bring back illegal money to India is a welcome sign. It is stupid to question the timing, yes it is a poll issue and all those who oppose this are bureaucrats and ministers. Too much of mughal, than british and than congress rule has made average Indian stupid and naive. They cannot even ask for their fundamental rights. Dr Robot singh is a shame of country and Sikhism that boasts of bravery. This tooth less dog is always waggling his tail.
By Concerned Indian
4/23/2009 9:15:00 PM
Brilliant article, the mask of Congress party and nehru Dynasty has been torn apart.Such a shame that world renowned economists and PM Robot Singh and Chidambaram were working for their own family and personla welfare and welfare of the Sonia Maino fmily and not for the majority poor of more than 800 million people. The very fact that even now UPA and Sonia Maino government led by PM MM Singh has not asked for releasing the names of indians holding billions of dollars in swiss and german banks shows that they are actively colluding with the himalayan looting of the nation for the past 60 years.Now BJP and NDA must promise all Indians and hindu voters to bring back the looted black money of trillions of dollars back to india and distribute the money to all poor majority hindus and Majority Hindus must vote massively for BJP and allies to kick out Nehru Dynasty forever from our holy land
By V.Mehta
4/23/2009 9:29:00 AM
THIS ISSUE, ALONG WITH FARMER'S SUICIDE & TERRORISM SHOULD BE THE KEY ISSUES FOR DETERMINING THE POLL RESULTS. THESE ARE CORE ISSUES, WHICH ATTACK THE VERY ROOTS OF OUR SURVIVAL AS A NATION, SO ALL THINKING PEOPLE SHOULD GET BEHIND PARTIES FORCING FOR URGENT ACTIONS ON THESE PRESSING ISSUES.
By Ike
4/23/2009 8:08:00 AM
vasu we have very big topic around us ...Leaglised Islamic Terrorism spreading like a Cancer.and this topic can only be handled by BJP and BJP only let MODI come in power,he will answer these Jehadies in a manner they deserve. this half male MMS will do noting but make India a Hijda Country
By Abdul
4/22/2009 5:47:00 PM
I fully suppport BJP on this. Please publish the list of all account sin All national news papers.
By Pushkar
4/22/2009 5:23:00 PM
Those politicians and business who are in this devilish game of stashing away money to safe accounts in foreign banks, are worse than Islamist terrorists of al Qaeda, Lashkar e Toiba, etc. and their co-conspirators within India who are causing so much death and devastion in India. If the present government has done little to counter terrorism in advance or to capture and speedily try and punish terrorists, we cannot expect that it could have brought back the money . In the first place, they allowed the crime against the nation with the kind of meaningless procedures and ineffective laws and a collusive administration merely pleasing the politicians. Total hypocrisy and duplicity of these politicians warrants that they must not be voted to come to power again.
By Muthubalan
4/22/2009 3:29:00 PM
The BJP has completely run out of election issues so it has with the blessings of Arun Shourie,Yashwant Sinha and Arun Jaitley tried to create a red herring about which they have very little information.Such issues always have some emotional appeal to a certain class of voters and causes confusion in the mind of others.What a waste of time !
By vasu
4/22/2009 3:18:00 PM
The expose reflects on the dishonesty of P M and his stooge P Chidambarm. They are the crooks who are responsible for all the economic ills of the country. They were the archetects of stock market manipulation which made smuglers, drug mafia and anti-nationals to play havoc on Indian economy. Though these nefarious activities were in their knowlledge, the duo pretended that it did not exist. With the cooperation of other crooks in the cabinet, they coolly swindled thousands of crores in Spectrum G-2, Satyam, and even from hapless Tsunami victims and Union Carbide gas victims. The perverted media pampered them as intellectuals. What Quetterochi looted, pales into blue compared to What PM & PC combo did to the country. It is a shame that they are asking for another chance to loot the country. For their shameful economic misdamnoers they should jailed for life.
By R.Krishnan
4/22/2009 3:15:00 PM
Shame on Congress. What else you can expect from the 'HONEST" Dr.MMS and his boss Sonia who has no patrotism for this country. Probably the previous FM and his relatives would be topping the list there.
By vasudevan
4/22/2009 1:39:00 PM
Today or tomorrow or day after, its' going to happen..Illegal money stashed over seas will be exposed. This is a good thing emerged during this ongoing recession.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
It's the terrorism, stupid; not India: US message to Pak
24 Apr 2009, 0424 hrs IST, Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN
Print Email Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
WASHINGTON: The United States will institute benchmarks that Pakistan will have to meet, including scaling down its confrontational posture
against India, if Islamabad is to earn the massive foreign aid Washington and its partners are lining up, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated on Thursday. ( Watch )
The benchmarks will include moving troops from its border with India to its insurgency stricken areas to fight its homegrown terrorism problem, Clinton suggested, following up on the broad US prescription and advice to Pakistan that its grave domestic situation, and not India, constituted the biggest danger to its existence.
Clinton provided the assurances about benchmarks at the urging of some lawmakers, but said she would prefer they remain an executive decision rather than legislative so that the administration would not be paralyzed. Some of the benchmarks would be classified, but the administration would share them with Congress.
"You know, on a simple measure, is the Pakistani military still amassing hundreds of thousands of troops on the Indian border, or have they begun to move those toward these insurgent areas?" Clinton explained at a Congressional hearing, citing the example of one such benchmark. "What kind of kinetic action are they taking? How much? Is there increasing up-tempo or not? Is it sporadic, so they start in and then they move back?"
"I agree with you completely that we need the internal benchmarks," she told an anxious lawmaker, adding the approach would be across the government. "The intelligence community will have certain measurements; the Defense Department will; we (the State Department) will look as well."
The Pakistani government — and some of its supporters like Senator John Kerry — has opposed legislative benchmarks, especially those which condition US aid to Pakistan ending its sponsorship of terrorism against India, saying they are humiliating. But lawmakers on the House side are against giving Pakistan a free ride given what they say is its history of double-dealing.
"I've been around this place 40 years. My experience with Pakistan during all that time is that it has always been Pakistan, which means it's a country of dealmakers, but they don't keep the deals," said Congressman David Obey. "I have absolutely no confidence in the ability of the existing Pakistani government to do one blessed thing."
Other members also complained about Pakistan's double-dealing – paying lip service to fighting terrorism while cutting deals with extremists. "How do we succeed in Pakistan if the Pakistanis themselves are either unwilling or incapable of making the tough choices and taking the tough action needed to confront the insurgency?" asked one Congressman.
Following up on President Obama's assurance that there will be no blank checks for Pakistan, Secretary Clinton also re-iterated what has become a virtual mantra in Washington in recent weeks: Repeated advice to Pakistan that it is not India, but Islamabad's own home-grown terrorism that posed an existential threat to it.
In an indication that US aid to Pakistan will be contingent on its India policy, even if it is not incorporated into legislation, Clinton said US officials have been "spending countless hours in really painful, specific conversations," to convince Pakistan of the changed situation. Pakistan was slow to understand this, she suggested.
"Changing paradigms and mindsets is not easy," Clinton told anxious lawmakers, adding, "I want to underscore the feeling we get, which is that if you have been locked in a mortal contest with someone you think is your principal — in fact, only — real enemy, and all of a sudden circumstances change, it just takes some time."
Similar policy prescriptions and sentiments (It's not India, it's home-grown extremists) were expressed at a Harvard lecture earlier this week by General David Petraeus, chief of the US Central Command with oversight of Pakistan and the middle-east, indicating that US interlocutors are all reading from the same page.
"The existential threat" facing Pakistan "is internal extremists and not India," Petraeus said in the speech at the Kennedy School of Government, adding such an idea was "intellectually dislocating" for the institutions of Pakistan fostered on decades of projecting confrontation against India.
Over at the White House, spokesman Robert Gibbs said the Pakistan crisis was taking a lot of President Obama's time. Defense Secretary Robert Gates too chipped in, asking Islamabad to recognize the danger and take action.
On her part, Clinton told lawmakers there is a growing understanding of the changed circumstances within the Pakistani leadership.
"Now, there are no promises. They have to do it (act against extremists)," she warned.
Print Email Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
WASHINGTON: The United States will institute benchmarks that Pakistan will have to meet, including scaling down its confrontational posture
against India, if Islamabad is to earn the massive foreign aid Washington and its partners are lining up, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated on Thursday. ( Watch )
The benchmarks will include moving troops from its border with India to its insurgency stricken areas to fight its homegrown terrorism problem, Clinton suggested, following up on the broad US prescription and advice to Pakistan that its grave domestic situation, and not India, constituted the biggest danger to its existence.
Clinton provided the assurances about benchmarks at the urging of some lawmakers, but said she would prefer they remain an executive decision rather than legislative so that the administration would not be paralyzed. Some of the benchmarks would be classified, but the administration would share them with Congress.
"You know, on a simple measure, is the Pakistani military still amassing hundreds of thousands of troops on the Indian border, or have they begun to move those toward these insurgent areas?" Clinton explained at a Congressional hearing, citing the example of one such benchmark. "What kind of kinetic action are they taking? How much? Is there increasing up-tempo or not? Is it sporadic, so they start in and then they move back?"
"I agree with you completely that we need the internal benchmarks," she told an anxious lawmaker, adding the approach would be across the government. "The intelligence community will have certain measurements; the Defense Department will; we (the State Department) will look as well."
The Pakistani government — and some of its supporters like Senator John Kerry — has opposed legislative benchmarks, especially those which condition US aid to Pakistan ending its sponsorship of terrorism against India, saying they are humiliating. But lawmakers on the House side are against giving Pakistan a free ride given what they say is its history of double-dealing.
"I've been around this place 40 years. My experience with Pakistan during all that time is that it has always been Pakistan, which means it's a country of dealmakers, but they don't keep the deals," said Congressman David Obey. "I have absolutely no confidence in the ability of the existing Pakistani government to do one blessed thing."
Other members also complained about Pakistan's double-dealing – paying lip service to fighting terrorism while cutting deals with extremists. "How do we succeed in Pakistan if the Pakistanis themselves are either unwilling or incapable of making the tough choices and taking the tough action needed to confront the insurgency?" asked one Congressman.
Following up on President Obama's assurance that there will be no blank checks for Pakistan, Secretary Clinton also re-iterated what has become a virtual mantra in Washington in recent weeks: Repeated advice to Pakistan that it is not India, but Islamabad's own home-grown terrorism that posed an existential threat to it.
In an indication that US aid to Pakistan will be contingent on its India policy, even if it is not incorporated into legislation, Clinton said US officials have been "spending countless hours in really painful, specific conversations," to convince Pakistan of the changed situation. Pakistan was slow to understand this, she suggested.
"Changing paradigms and mindsets is not easy," Clinton told anxious lawmakers, adding, "I want to underscore the feeling we get, which is that if you have been locked in a mortal contest with someone you think is your principal — in fact, only — real enemy, and all of a sudden circumstances change, it just takes some time."
Similar policy prescriptions and sentiments (It's not India, it's home-grown extremists) were expressed at a Harvard lecture earlier this week by General David Petraeus, chief of the US Central Command with oversight of Pakistan and the middle-east, indicating that US interlocutors are all reading from the same page.
"The existential threat" facing Pakistan "is internal extremists and not India," Petraeus said in the speech at the Kennedy School of Government, adding such an idea was "intellectually dislocating" for the institutions of Pakistan fostered on decades of projecting confrontation against India.
Over at the White House, spokesman Robert Gibbs said the Pakistan crisis was taking a lot of President Obama's time. Defense Secretary Robert Gates too chipped in, asking Islamabad to recognize the danger and take action.
On her part, Clinton told lawmakers there is a growing understanding of the changed circumstances within the Pakistani leadership.
"Now, there are no promises. They have to do it (act against extremists)," she warned.
‘Pakistan should worry about terrorism, not India’
LAHORE Daily Times Monitor
* US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman says tensions with India over Kashmir are diverting Pakistan from fight against extremism
* US Senate’s Homeland Security chairman says it’s difficult to convince Pakistani establishment of extremism being the
real threat
The greatest threat Pakistan faces today comes from terrorism, not India, two US leaders have said.
Speaking at Harvard University, General David Petraeus of the Central Command on Monday said the government in Islamabad needed a change in its mindset towards its neighbour similar to what happened in the US after the Cold War.
“The existential threat facing Pakistan,” he said, “is internal extremists and not India.”
Diversion: Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last month that tensions with India over Kashmir were diverting Pakistan from the fight against extremism.
India realises the “desirability of reducing tensions” so Pakistan can focus its efforts on combating terrorists, Petraeus told reporters. But the five-year peace process between the neighbours has been stalled since the November attacks in Mumbai. India blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba for the assault, which Petraeus called “a true 9/11 moment” for India.
Many in Pakistan’s government recognise that extremist elements pose a threat to its authority and must be brought under control, Petraeus said.
According to government estimates, terrorism has cost Pakistan $35 billion in economic losses and damage to infrastructure. More than 3,500 terrorist incidents have occurred since 2007, killing an average of 84 people per month this year.
Separately, Senator Joseph Lieberman told the Council on Foreign Relations, an American think-tank, “Pakistanis have to understand that their major enemy in the region is no longer India, but it’s extremism. In fact, they have a common enemy in that with the Indians.”
Difficulty: Lieberman, chairman of the US Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, admitted, however, that it was difficult to convince the Pakistani establishment. “That’s a tough sell,” he said.
Responding to questions, Senator Lieberman reiterated his view that any new aid to Pakistan needs to be conditional.
* US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman says tensions with India over Kashmir are diverting Pakistan from fight against extremism
* US Senate’s Homeland Security chairman says it’s difficult to convince Pakistani establishment of extremism being the
real threat
The greatest threat Pakistan faces today comes from terrorism, not India, two US leaders have said.
Speaking at Harvard University, General David Petraeus of the Central Command on Monday said the government in Islamabad needed a change in its mindset towards its neighbour similar to what happened in the US after the Cold War.
“The existential threat facing Pakistan,” he said, “is internal extremists and not India.”
Diversion: Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last month that tensions with India over Kashmir were diverting Pakistan from the fight against extremism.
India realises the “desirability of reducing tensions” so Pakistan can focus its efforts on combating terrorists, Petraeus told reporters. But the five-year peace process between the neighbours has been stalled since the November attacks in Mumbai. India blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba for the assault, which Petraeus called “a true 9/11 moment” for India.
Many in Pakistan’s government recognise that extremist elements pose a threat to its authority and must be brought under control, Petraeus said.
According to government estimates, terrorism has cost Pakistan $35 billion in economic losses and damage to infrastructure. More than 3,500 terrorist incidents have occurred since 2007, killing an average of 84 people per month this year.
Separately, Senator Joseph Lieberman told the Council on Foreign Relations, an American think-tank, “Pakistanis have to understand that their major enemy in the region is no longer India, but it’s extremism. In fact, they have a common enemy in that with the Indians.”
Difficulty: Lieberman, chairman of the US Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, admitted, however, that it was difficult to convince the Pakistani establishment. “That’s a tough sell,” he said.
Responding to questions, Senator Lieberman reiterated his view that any new aid to Pakistan needs to be conditional.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Advani is not a womaniser, but such men are dangerous: Khushwant Singh in a candid interview
Shivangi Singh
Not one to mince his words, India’s most admired as well as hated writer Khushwant Singh appeared at his candid best during the launch of his latest book, ‘Why I Supported the Emergency’ – a bold, thought-provoking and immensely interesting collection of essays and profiles, compiled and edited by Sheela Reddy.
The 94-year-old writer’s intellect remains intact inspite of failing health and a number of ailments. The ‘dirty Sardar’, looked frail in form, but unbeaten and bold in spirit. As the author entered the venue ‘Windsor Palace’ at Le Meridien in the capital, he was surrounded by beautiful ladies of different age groups. They hugged, kissed and shook his hands, and made sure that he was comfortable – to the envy of all men present at the event.
The veteran writer, while thanking all present at the book launch said, “Every occasion I come to this venue, I say that this is the last time you would be extending your hospitality. I am saying it again but I promise not to come next time.”
Vinod Mehta, the Editor-in-chief of Outlook, who was in conversation with the author, said, “When talking about Khushwant Singh, I don’t know where to start and where to end.” He brought out the best in the author by posing some tongue-in-cheek questions, which had the audience applauding. Here are the excerpts:
Q: You are unkind to dead people. Is it because the dead can’t sue?
Khushwant Singh: I have a different approach to obits. When you write obits, you usually tend to write good things. But it should not be so. If the fellow is a rascal, say so. When I will go, a lot of people will say nasty things about me. I will not be there to read but I hope my family takes it in a stride.
Q: Who is the most obnoxious person you have ever met?
Khushwant Singh: Krishna Menon. He tops my list of obnoxious men. I served him for four years and I know what kind of a human being he was. Another one is Rajni Patel, a friend since college, but he was extremely corrupt. (Laughs)There are others also, but I can talk about Krishna Menon, because he is dead and he can’t sue. That’s pretty safe. There are others also but they are living.
Q: It is said that the Brits carry sex in their mind. What do you have to say about Indians ?
Khushwant Singh: Indians have sex more often in their brains and not where it should be. Sex is an elemental passion. It’s an integral part of our life. All human relationship is based on the desire to have sex. It’s human to have desire for sex and when it is not fulfilled, it comes out in perverted forms. That is why celibacy does not work. The desire to have multiple partners is also normal. Married people commit adultery in their mind - happy married life is a façade. I have a collection of sex jokes, which I hope will be published posthumously.
Q: It is strange what two people do to each other in bed. Do you agree with Naipaul when he says that it is difficult to write about explicit sex in literature?
Khushwant Singh:You are being dishonest if you are not writing about sex in your book. It is very natural and normal. Well, I have earned the name of ‘dirty old man’ but there is not much sex in my books. What I have written is very serious stuff – biography, history, religious texts etc.
Q: Tell us how do you lure so many beautiful women?
Khushwant Singh: I still don’t know but it is a fact that I have very attractive women dropping at my place. But as I grow old, I get bored. So, I don’t mince my words when I say good bye pretty soon.
Q: What do you think of editing standards of today?
Khushwant Singh: In my time the editor was the boss. Now, the editors are executive officers carrying out the orders of the owner of the publication. The news you get is in the first page, rest is all Bollywood and fashion. Crossword puzzle is the only interesting thing in newspapers these days.
Q: LK Advani doesn’t seem to like you much. Your take?
Khushwant Singh: I am disappointed in him. He was an able and clean man. I supported him initially. After 1984, Sikhs did not want to vote for Congress I put forward his name. He came to thank me. But when he was the Home Minister, and he came with his bodyguards in tow, during an event, I took the liberty to say, “You sowed the seed of communalism in the country and the country will pay for it.” Advani doesn’t womanise, such men are dangerous.
Q: You were called as Indira Gandhi’s ‘chamcha’? Your take?
Khushwant Singh: I supported her when I thought she was right in imposing the emergency. With some reservations, I supported the Emergency proclaimed by Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975. Let me explain why. I concede that the right to protest is integral to democracy. You can have public meetings to criticise or condemn government actions. You can take out processions, call for strikes and closure of businesses. But there must not be any coercion or violence. If there is any, it is the duty of the government to suppress it by force, if necessary
But when she curbed the freedom of press during the emergency, I withdrew my support. Indira Gandhi had the habit of snubbing whoever opposed her. She was waiting for a chance to snub me. I never gave her the chance as I never met her after that.
Q: You are soft on Sanjay Gandhi. What do you think of him?
Khushwant Singh: He was a highly misunderstood man. He was a doer, he got things right. We need his compulsory population method. His idea of tree plantation was also good. I agree he made a mess of the Maruti project, but he had his own way of doing things, I supported him and I have no regrets.
Q: You also called him a ‘Goonda’…
Khushwant Singh: He was a dictator. I saw him fighting physically. India would have probably progressed much under him. But India would not have been a democracy.
Q: Who is the most admirable man, you have ever met?
Khushwant Singh: Manmohan Singh. He is simple, has no charisma, yet he is the best PM we’ve ever had. He is not corrupt, he has plans in mind and is taking the country ahead. He will be underrated with Advani calling him ‘weak’ but it’s not true. I support him not because he is a sardar, but he is truly admirable.
Q: What would you say about Maneka and Varun Gandhi?
Khushwant Singh: Maneka Gandhi brought up Varun alone. I somehow could not believe the abusive words against Sikhs and Muslims attributed to him. One of the men opposing him was a Sikh. Sikhs have this ability to accept jokes about them but the remark 'uska bara baja denge' (I will fix him) is not the kind of thing to say in public. After all, most of his mother's relatives are Sikhs, He is a badly brought up child. I hope Varun will be banned from contesting the polls and the people will throw him out. But I am afraid that he will win the seat.
Not one to mince his words, India’s most admired as well as hated writer Khushwant Singh appeared at his candid best during the launch of his latest book, ‘Why I Supported the Emergency’ – a bold, thought-provoking and immensely interesting collection of essays and profiles, compiled and edited by Sheela Reddy.
The 94-year-old writer’s intellect remains intact inspite of failing health and a number of ailments. The ‘dirty Sardar’, looked frail in form, but unbeaten and bold in spirit. As the author entered the venue ‘Windsor Palace’ at Le Meridien in the capital, he was surrounded by beautiful ladies of different age groups. They hugged, kissed and shook his hands, and made sure that he was comfortable – to the envy of all men present at the event.
The veteran writer, while thanking all present at the book launch said, “Every occasion I come to this venue, I say that this is the last time you would be extending your hospitality. I am saying it again but I promise not to come next time.”
Vinod Mehta, the Editor-in-chief of Outlook, who was in conversation with the author, said, “When talking about Khushwant Singh, I don’t know where to start and where to end.” He brought out the best in the author by posing some tongue-in-cheek questions, which had the audience applauding. Here are the excerpts:
Q: You are unkind to dead people. Is it because the dead can’t sue?
Khushwant Singh: I have a different approach to obits. When you write obits, you usually tend to write good things. But it should not be so. If the fellow is a rascal, say so. When I will go, a lot of people will say nasty things about me. I will not be there to read but I hope my family takes it in a stride.
Q: Who is the most obnoxious person you have ever met?
Khushwant Singh: Krishna Menon. He tops my list of obnoxious men. I served him for four years and I know what kind of a human being he was. Another one is Rajni Patel, a friend since college, but he was extremely corrupt. (Laughs)There are others also, but I can talk about Krishna Menon, because he is dead and he can’t sue. That’s pretty safe. There are others also but they are living.
Q: It is said that the Brits carry sex in their mind. What do you have to say about Indians ?
Khushwant Singh: Indians have sex more often in their brains and not where it should be. Sex is an elemental passion. It’s an integral part of our life. All human relationship is based on the desire to have sex. It’s human to have desire for sex and when it is not fulfilled, it comes out in perverted forms. That is why celibacy does not work. The desire to have multiple partners is also normal. Married people commit adultery in their mind - happy married life is a façade. I have a collection of sex jokes, which I hope will be published posthumously.
Q: It is strange what two people do to each other in bed. Do you agree with Naipaul when he says that it is difficult to write about explicit sex in literature?
Khushwant Singh:You are being dishonest if you are not writing about sex in your book. It is very natural and normal. Well, I have earned the name of ‘dirty old man’ but there is not much sex in my books. What I have written is very serious stuff – biography, history, religious texts etc.
Q: Tell us how do you lure so many beautiful women?
Khushwant Singh: I still don’t know but it is a fact that I have very attractive women dropping at my place. But as I grow old, I get bored. So, I don’t mince my words when I say good bye pretty soon.
Q: What do you think of editing standards of today?
Khushwant Singh: In my time the editor was the boss. Now, the editors are executive officers carrying out the orders of the owner of the publication. The news you get is in the first page, rest is all Bollywood and fashion. Crossword puzzle is the only interesting thing in newspapers these days.
Q: LK Advani doesn’t seem to like you much. Your take?
Khushwant Singh: I am disappointed in him. He was an able and clean man. I supported him initially. After 1984, Sikhs did not want to vote for Congress I put forward his name. He came to thank me. But when he was the Home Minister, and he came with his bodyguards in tow, during an event, I took the liberty to say, “You sowed the seed of communalism in the country and the country will pay for it.” Advani doesn’t womanise, such men are dangerous.
Q: You were called as Indira Gandhi’s ‘chamcha’? Your take?
Khushwant Singh: I supported her when I thought she was right in imposing the emergency. With some reservations, I supported the Emergency proclaimed by Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975. Let me explain why. I concede that the right to protest is integral to democracy. You can have public meetings to criticise or condemn government actions. You can take out processions, call for strikes and closure of businesses. But there must not be any coercion or violence. If there is any, it is the duty of the government to suppress it by force, if necessary
But when she curbed the freedom of press during the emergency, I withdrew my support. Indira Gandhi had the habit of snubbing whoever opposed her. She was waiting for a chance to snub me. I never gave her the chance as I never met her after that.
Q: You are soft on Sanjay Gandhi. What do you think of him?
Khushwant Singh: He was a highly misunderstood man. He was a doer, he got things right. We need his compulsory population method. His idea of tree plantation was also good. I agree he made a mess of the Maruti project, but he had his own way of doing things, I supported him and I have no regrets.
Q: You also called him a ‘Goonda’…
Khushwant Singh: He was a dictator. I saw him fighting physically. India would have probably progressed much under him. But India would not have been a democracy.
Q: Who is the most admirable man, you have ever met?
Khushwant Singh: Manmohan Singh. He is simple, has no charisma, yet he is the best PM we’ve ever had. He is not corrupt, he has plans in mind and is taking the country ahead. He will be underrated with Advani calling him ‘weak’ but it’s not true. I support him not because he is a sardar, but he is truly admirable.
Q: What would you say about Maneka and Varun Gandhi?
Khushwant Singh: Maneka Gandhi brought up Varun alone. I somehow could not believe the abusive words against Sikhs and Muslims attributed to him. One of the men opposing him was a Sikh. Sikhs have this ability to accept jokes about them but the remark 'uska bara baja denge' (I will fix him) is not the kind of thing to say in public. After all, most of his mother's relatives are Sikhs, He is a badly brought up child. I hope Varun will be banned from contesting the polls and the people will throw him out. But I am afraid that he will win the seat.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Experts predict Pakistan’s collapse
By JONATHAN S. LANDAY
WASHINGTON | A growing number of U.S. intelligence, defense and diplomatic officials have concluded that there’s little hope of preventing nuclear-armed Pakistan from disintegrating into fiefdoms controlled by Islamist warlords and terrorists.
“It’s a disaster in the making on the scale of the Iranian revolution,” said a U.S. intelligence official with long experience in Pakistan who requested anonymity.
Pakistan’s fragmentation into warlord-run fiefdoms that host al-Qaida and other terrorist groups would have grave implications for the security of its nuclear arsenal; for the U.S.-led effort to pacify Afghanistan; and for the security of India, the nearby oil-rich Persian Gulf and Central Asia, the U.S. and its allies.
“Pakistan has 173 million people and 100 nuclear weapons, an army which is bigger than the American Army, and the headquarters of al-Qaida sitting in two-thirds of the country which the government does not control,” said David Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency consultant to the Obama administration.
“Pakistan isn’t Afghanistan, a backward, isolated, landlocked place that outsiders get interested in about once a century,” agreed the U.S. intelligence official. “It’s a developed state.”
He added: “The implications of this are disastrous for the U.S.”
The experts interviewed by McClatchy Newspapers said their views aren’t a worst case scenario, but a realistic expectation based on the militants’ gains and the failure of Pakistan’s leadership to respond.
“The place is beyond redemption,” said a Pentagon adviser who asked not to be further identified. He continued: “If you look out 10 years, I think the government will be overrun by Islamic militants.”
That pessimistic view has been bolstered by Islamabad’s surrender this week of areas outside the frontier tribal region to Pakistan’s Taliban movement and by a growing militant infiltration into the rest of the nation.
WASHINGTON | A growing number of U.S. intelligence, defense and diplomatic officials have concluded that there’s little hope of preventing nuclear-armed Pakistan from disintegrating into fiefdoms controlled by Islamist warlords and terrorists.
“It’s a disaster in the making on the scale of the Iranian revolution,” said a U.S. intelligence official with long experience in Pakistan who requested anonymity.
Pakistan’s fragmentation into warlord-run fiefdoms that host al-Qaida and other terrorist groups would have grave implications for the security of its nuclear arsenal; for the U.S.-led effort to pacify Afghanistan; and for the security of India, the nearby oil-rich Persian Gulf and Central Asia, the U.S. and its allies.
“Pakistan has 173 million people and 100 nuclear weapons, an army which is bigger than the American Army, and the headquarters of al-Qaida sitting in two-thirds of the country which the government does not control,” said David Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency consultant to the Obama administration.
“Pakistan isn’t Afghanistan, a backward, isolated, landlocked place that outsiders get interested in about once a century,” agreed the U.S. intelligence official. “It’s a developed state.”
He added: “The implications of this are disastrous for the U.S.”
The experts interviewed by McClatchy Newspapers said their views aren’t a worst case scenario, but a realistic expectation based on the militants’ gains and the failure of Pakistan’s leadership to respond.
“The place is beyond redemption,” said a Pentagon adviser who asked not to be further identified. He continued: “If you look out 10 years, I think the government will be overrun by Islamic militants.”
That pessimistic view has been bolstered by Islamabad’s surrender this week of areas outside the frontier tribal region to Pakistan’s Taliban movement and by a growing militant infiltration into the rest of the nation.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Taliban impose Jazia on Sikhs in Pakistan
Sikhs living in Pakistan’s Orakzai Agency have reportedly paid Rs 20 million as “jazia” to the Taliban, a tax previously levied by Mughal rulers on non-Muslims to exempt them from military service and protect their person in the sub-continent.
The Daily Times, a Pakistani newspaper, reported on Thursday that “detained” Sikh leader Sardar Saiwang Singh was released by the Taliban, who also vacated the community’s houses occupied by them.
They also announced protection for the Sikh community, saying no one would harm them after they paid “jazia”. Sikhs who had left the agency would now return and resume their business in the Agency, which is part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in north-western Pakistan, the paper added.
“The Taliban don’t have a state, so they can’t impose jazia,” Lucknow-based historian Salim Kidwai told the HT.
The Mughal ruler, Akbar, abolished jazia on his subjects, which was re-imposed by Aurangzeb in the 17th century.
In Amritsar, the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) secretary Dilmegh Singh quoted the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) president Bishen Singh as saying that more than 200 Sikhs and Hindus had taken shelter in gurdwaras in Nankan Sahib and Peshawar.
Meanwhile, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani to ensure the security of Sikhs and Hindus in the trouble-torn country.
The Daily Times, a Pakistani newspaper, reported on Thursday that “detained” Sikh leader Sardar Saiwang Singh was released by the Taliban, who also vacated the community’s houses occupied by them.
They also announced protection for the Sikh community, saying no one would harm them after they paid “jazia”. Sikhs who had left the agency would now return and resume their business in the Agency, which is part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in north-western Pakistan, the paper added.
“The Taliban don’t have a state, so they can’t impose jazia,” Lucknow-based historian Salim Kidwai told the HT.
The Mughal ruler, Akbar, abolished jazia on his subjects, which was re-imposed by Aurangzeb in the 17th century.
In Amritsar, the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) secretary Dilmegh Singh quoted the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) president Bishen Singh as saying that more than 200 Sikhs and Hindus had taken shelter in gurdwaras in Nankan Sahib and Peshawar.
Meanwhile, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani to ensure the security of Sikhs and Hindus in the trouble-torn country.
Pakistan: an imploding nation
On the ideological plane, the idea of Pakistan has ceased to be meaningful; it is a failed state led by a reckless elite who could not care less.
Dire warnings about the fate of Pakistan have become daily fare now. The country’s Afghan border frayed a while ago. Now the Al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents have taken the war to its heart: Swat yesterday, Buner today, will Islamabad fall too?
Possibly in one to six months, if David Kilcullen is to be believed. Kilcullen is an adviser to David Petraeus, commander of the US Central Command that oversees operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He made those controversial remarks to the Washington Post in March. He explained the rationale of his statement in an interview to Mint on Wednesday.
Pakistan is today a nation without a political gyroscope. Its political leadership is at war with itself and its army thinks India is top enemy while the Taliban steadily inch towards territorial control. In fact, its army elite is inclined in favour of the Taliban. When the radicals do take over the reins in Islamabad, it would be a unique example of a nation handing over the levers of state power to non-state actors.
This is not a vision of doom. On the ideological plane, the idea of Pakistan has ceased to be meaningful. It never was a promised land for the Muslims of South Asia. The first blow came with the secession of Bangladesh. Then came the Baloch and Sindhi insurgencies. Finally, by the time the last Soviet tanks moved out of Afghanistan in 1989, it was well on its way to turning into a powder keg of feuding ethnic groups, competing regionalisms and a heady brew of medieval Islam. Twenty years later, it is a failed state led by a reckless elite who could not care less.
The question that India and Indians need to address is: What is to be done? Any Indian help is certain to be construed as a conspiracy to dismember the country. That path should be avoided. Apart from practical arrangements (for example, occupying certain territories in a pre-emptive fashion so that the Taliban do not threaten India), there should be efforts at thinking about envisioning alternative political futures for Pakistan. Should there be a confederation of states such as Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab? Should the North-West Frontier Province and the tribal areas be merged into a greater Afghanistan? Or should the present territories remain with all powers to the states and residuary powers with a weak centre? These are questions that cannot be ignored any longer.
Can Pakistan remain a viable nation state? Tell us your views !
Dire warnings about the fate of Pakistan have become daily fare now. The country’s Afghan border frayed a while ago. Now the Al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents have taken the war to its heart: Swat yesterday, Buner today, will Islamabad fall too?
Possibly in one to six months, if David Kilcullen is to be believed. Kilcullen is an adviser to David Petraeus, commander of the US Central Command that oversees operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He made those controversial remarks to the Washington Post in March. He explained the rationale of his statement in an interview to Mint on Wednesday.
Pakistan is today a nation without a political gyroscope. Its political leadership is at war with itself and its army thinks India is top enemy while the Taliban steadily inch towards territorial control. In fact, its army elite is inclined in favour of the Taliban. When the radicals do take over the reins in Islamabad, it would be a unique example of a nation handing over the levers of state power to non-state actors.
This is not a vision of doom. On the ideological plane, the idea of Pakistan has ceased to be meaningful. It never was a promised land for the Muslims of South Asia. The first blow came with the secession of Bangladesh. Then came the Baloch and Sindhi insurgencies. Finally, by the time the last Soviet tanks moved out of Afghanistan in 1989, it was well on its way to turning into a powder keg of feuding ethnic groups, competing regionalisms and a heady brew of medieval Islam. Twenty years later, it is a failed state led by a reckless elite who could not care less.
The question that India and Indians need to address is: What is to be done? Any Indian help is certain to be construed as a conspiracy to dismember the country. That path should be avoided. Apart from practical arrangements (for example, occupying certain territories in a pre-emptive fashion so that the Taliban do not threaten India), there should be efforts at thinking about envisioning alternative political futures for Pakistan. Should there be a confederation of states such as Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab? Should the North-West Frontier Province and the tribal areas be merged into a greater Afghanistan? Or should the present territories remain with all powers to the states and residuary powers with a weak centre? These are questions that cannot be ignored any longer.
Can Pakistan remain a viable nation state? Tell us your views !
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Pakistan: the epicentre of Islamist terror
In the lush, green valleys of the Punjab, young men are being schooled in the principles of mass murder.
By Sean Rayment, Security Correspondent
Some 70 miles north of Lahore, in a 200-acre camp that also houses a large mosque, swimming pool and fish farm, volunteers are taught how to assemble bombs, fire weapons, create terrorist networks and communicate covertly using the internet and mobile phones.
They are also instructed in resistance to interrogation techniques and how to create cover stories in the event of being captured.
This is the headquarters of the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) – which in Urdu translates as "army of the pure" – the organisation widely believed to be responsible for the Mumbai massacre in November which left 172 people dead.
LeT, which professes to be a peaceful organisation, is known to have close links with al-Qaeda and is understood to train around 40,000 young men every year at its madrassas (religious schools) and military bases.
Some of the trainees at its base in the Punjab are British.
Many of those who graduate from the camps are sent to the front line in Kashmir to wage war against the Indian army, others venture north to Afghanistan to fight against Nato forces, while many of the British return to the UK and begin plotting.
Mohammed Siddique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer are both thought to have visited the camp several times before carrying out the 7/7 suicides attacks on the London Tube network.
Mohammed Ajmal Khan, who was sentenced to nine years in March 2006 for fundraising for terrorist groups operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, also admitted visiting one of the organisation’s camps.
Virtually all of the al-Qaeda terrorists convicted in Britain since 2001, including the 7/7 bombers and Dhiren Barot – the so-called "Dirty Bomber" – received training in Pakistan.
Gordon Brown recently stated that three quarters of all British terror plots originate from within the state.
However, monitoring everyone visiting or returning from Pakistan is an impossible task for Britain’s police and MI5.
Up to 400,000 British Pakistanis visit the country every year, the vast majority for completely legitimate reasons. Up to 10,000 young Pakistanis enter the UK every year on student visas.
It is also believed that some of the 12 terrorist suspects arrested in Wednesday’s Operation Pathway may have been trained to form a covert cell in Pakistan before entering Britain.
LeT is a hardcore terrorist organisation committed to using extreme violence to achieve its aim of forcing India to leave the disputed area of Kashmir.
But in the 18 years since its creation, the movement has forged links with other terror groups, most notably al-Qaeda, and has become a major threat to many western countries.
After the Mumbai attacks, it emerged that the group had compiled a worldwide hit list of 320 targets. Yet despite being banned by most western countries, the Pakistani authorities stand accused of effectively having turned a blind eye to its operations.
And the organisation is not alone. Another militant group, Lashkar-e-Janghvi is believed to have been behind the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore last month, also operates openly, while other groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen are understood to be expanding their influence in Punjab, an area with strong British connections.
In one area of Kashmir roughly the size of the West Midlands, 25 militant groups are known to operate with impunity.
Many of their volunteers sign up here for jihad – or ‘holy war’ – before taking the next step of joining other organisations committed to attacking the West.
It is against this backdrop that Pakistan has now acquired the dubious distinction of being epicentre for Islamist terrorism in the world.
At the same time, MI5 and the CIA are becoming increasingly worried by the country’s inability to clamp down on militants.
Pakistan is now a very dangerous country for Westerners to live and work. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office only allows its diplomats to work in the country unaccompanied, meaning partners, wives and children must remain behind in the UK.
As far as the FCO is concerned, Pakistan is as dangerous as Afghanistan, which is currently in the grips of a full-blown insurgency.
The rise of militant Islamist groups in Pakistan began in the early 1980s under the country’s then leader General Muhammad Zia-ul-Huq, largely in response to the growth of Shia fundamentalism in Iran and in a bid to support the Mujahideen who were fighting the Soviets in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Over the last 30 years, the country’s leaders have been content for various Islamist groups to train and recruit in Pakistan, and to wage a proxy war with India over the disputed Kashmir region. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the Inter-Services Agency (ISI), the intelligence wing of the Pakistan army, funded the Mujahideen and, later, the Taliban in the mid-Nineties.
Although Pakistan is fighting its own counter-insurgency war against militants, the ISI is believed to have firm links with groups like the Taliban and even al-Qaeda, much to the consternation of Britain and the US.
MI5 treats any intelligence passed to it by the ISI with caution, given that much of it is politicised, although the relationship between the two organisations remains strong.
But the US, which over the last few years has funded the Pakistan military and therefore the ISI to the tune of £7 billion, is said to be increasingly frustrated with rogue, Islamist-supporting elements within the ISI.
Washington wants the Pakistani government to clamp down on the militant groups operating within the country and to cleanse the ISI of Taliban and Islamist sympathisers.
Admiral Michael Mullen, the US Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs and America’s most senior officer, recently called for the ISI to make "fundamental" changes in its relationship with militants.
But despite the frustrations, there have been some major advances.
The bilateral agreement between Pakistan and Washington, which had been a secret until recently and allowed America’s heavily armed unmanned aircraft, known as Reapers, to attack al-Qaeda and Taliban targets inside Pakistan, have produced enormous dividends.
Security sources said the various strikes over the past 12 months have severely disrupted al-Qaeda operations in Pakistan and their lines of communication back to the UK.
MI5 are convinced that the current lack of so-called "late-stage plots" – in which "cells" of terrorists are close to launching attacks – is partly down to the Reaper strikes in the Pakistan/Afghanistan border regions.
Pakistan, however, remains a country on the brink of catastrophe.
The ‘Talibanisation’ of the Swat Valley in the tribal areas of the northwest frontier province serves to illustrate how the central government is beginning to lose control in certain areas.
It is in this region that more than 75,000 soldiers of its Frontier Corps are waging a bitter counter-insurgency war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The war has reached a stalemate and is causing deep divides within the Pakistani Army. While the officer class support the war, the rank and file see little honour in killing fellow Muslims. The potential for revolt within the Army is very real.
The economy is also in freefall, with some estimates suggesting that Pakistan will be bankrupt within six months, a position which will play further into the hands of the militants, who already recruit the majority of their foot soldiers from the poorest areas.
Pakistan is a country of 150 million people, many of whom are trapped in poverty. It is in desperate need of help, probably more so than neighbouring Afghanistan.
If the economy implodes, the Army revolts and the Islamists gain power – a sequence of events that is entirely possible – the problems for the West will dwarf anything seen in Iraq or Afghanistan and will take international terrorism to a new infinitely more dangerous level.
For the first time since the Cold War, the West would have an enemy with a nuclear capability.
By Sean Rayment, Security Correspondent
Some 70 miles north of Lahore, in a 200-acre camp that also houses a large mosque, swimming pool and fish farm, volunteers are taught how to assemble bombs, fire weapons, create terrorist networks and communicate covertly using the internet and mobile phones.
They are also instructed in resistance to interrogation techniques and how to create cover stories in the event of being captured.
This is the headquarters of the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) – which in Urdu translates as "army of the pure" – the organisation widely believed to be responsible for the Mumbai massacre in November which left 172 people dead.
LeT, which professes to be a peaceful organisation, is known to have close links with al-Qaeda and is understood to train around 40,000 young men every year at its madrassas (religious schools) and military bases.
Some of the trainees at its base in the Punjab are British.
Many of those who graduate from the camps are sent to the front line in Kashmir to wage war against the Indian army, others venture north to Afghanistan to fight against Nato forces, while many of the British return to the UK and begin plotting.
Mohammed Siddique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer are both thought to have visited the camp several times before carrying out the 7/7 suicides attacks on the London Tube network.
Mohammed Ajmal Khan, who was sentenced to nine years in March 2006 for fundraising for terrorist groups operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, also admitted visiting one of the organisation’s camps.
Virtually all of the al-Qaeda terrorists convicted in Britain since 2001, including the 7/7 bombers and Dhiren Barot – the so-called "Dirty Bomber" – received training in Pakistan.
Gordon Brown recently stated that three quarters of all British terror plots originate from within the state.
However, monitoring everyone visiting or returning from Pakistan is an impossible task for Britain’s police and MI5.
Up to 400,000 British Pakistanis visit the country every year, the vast majority for completely legitimate reasons. Up to 10,000 young Pakistanis enter the UK every year on student visas.
It is also believed that some of the 12 terrorist suspects arrested in Wednesday’s Operation Pathway may have been trained to form a covert cell in Pakistan before entering Britain.
LeT is a hardcore terrorist organisation committed to using extreme violence to achieve its aim of forcing India to leave the disputed area of Kashmir.
But in the 18 years since its creation, the movement has forged links with other terror groups, most notably al-Qaeda, and has become a major threat to many western countries.
After the Mumbai attacks, it emerged that the group had compiled a worldwide hit list of 320 targets. Yet despite being banned by most western countries, the Pakistani authorities stand accused of effectively having turned a blind eye to its operations.
And the organisation is not alone. Another militant group, Lashkar-e-Janghvi is believed to have been behind the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore last month, also operates openly, while other groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen are understood to be expanding their influence in Punjab, an area with strong British connections.
In one area of Kashmir roughly the size of the West Midlands, 25 militant groups are known to operate with impunity.
Many of their volunteers sign up here for jihad – or ‘holy war’ – before taking the next step of joining other organisations committed to attacking the West.
It is against this backdrop that Pakistan has now acquired the dubious distinction of being epicentre for Islamist terrorism in the world.
At the same time, MI5 and the CIA are becoming increasingly worried by the country’s inability to clamp down on militants.
Pakistan is now a very dangerous country for Westerners to live and work. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office only allows its diplomats to work in the country unaccompanied, meaning partners, wives and children must remain behind in the UK.
As far as the FCO is concerned, Pakistan is as dangerous as Afghanistan, which is currently in the grips of a full-blown insurgency.
The rise of militant Islamist groups in Pakistan began in the early 1980s under the country’s then leader General Muhammad Zia-ul-Huq, largely in response to the growth of Shia fundamentalism in Iran and in a bid to support the Mujahideen who were fighting the Soviets in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Over the last 30 years, the country’s leaders have been content for various Islamist groups to train and recruit in Pakistan, and to wage a proxy war with India over the disputed Kashmir region. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the Inter-Services Agency (ISI), the intelligence wing of the Pakistan army, funded the Mujahideen and, later, the Taliban in the mid-Nineties.
Although Pakistan is fighting its own counter-insurgency war against militants, the ISI is believed to have firm links with groups like the Taliban and even al-Qaeda, much to the consternation of Britain and the US.
MI5 treats any intelligence passed to it by the ISI with caution, given that much of it is politicised, although the relationship between the two organisations remains strong.
But the US, which over the last few years has funded the Pakistan military and therefore the ISI to the tune of £7 billion, is said to be increasingly frustrated with rogue, Islamist-supporting elements within the ISI.
Washington wants the Pakistani government to clamp down on the militant groups operating within the country and to cleanse the ISI of Taliban and Islamist sympathisers.
Admiral Michael Mullen, the US Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs and America’s most senior officer, recently called for the ISI to make "fundamental" changes in its relationship with militants.
But despite the frustrations, there have been some major advances.
The bilateral agreement between Pakistan and Washington, which had been a secret until recently and allowed America’s heavily armed unmanned aircraft, known as Reapers, to attack al-Qaeda and Taliban targets inside Pakistan, have produced enormous dividends.
Security sources said the various strikes over the past 12 months have severely disrupted al-Qaeda operations in Pakistan and their lines of communication back to the UK.
MI5 are convinced that the current lack of so-called "late-stage plots" – in which "cells" of terrorists are close to launching attacks – is partly down to the Reaper strikes in the Pakistan/Afghanistan border regions.
Pakistan, however, remains a country on the brink of catastrophe.
The ‘Talibanisation’ of the Swat Valley in the tribal areas of the northwest frontier province serves to illustrate how the central government is beginning to lose control in certain areas.
It is in this region that more than 75,000 soldiers of its Frontier Corps are waging a bitter counter-insurgency war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The war has reached a stalemate and is causing deep divides within the Pakistani Army. While the officer class support the war, the rank and file see little honour in killing fellow Muslims. The potential for revolt within the Army is very real.
The economy is also in freefall, with some estimates suggesting that Pakistan will be bankrupt within six months, a position which will play further into the hands of the militants, who already recruit the majority of their foot soldiers from the poorest areas.
Pakistan is a country of 150 million people, many of whom are trapped in poverty. It is in desperate need of help, probably more so than neighbouring Afghanistan.
If the economy implodes, the Army revolts and the Islamists gain power – a sequence of events that is entirely possible – the problems for the West will dwarf anything seen in Iraq or Afghanistan and will take international terrorism to a new infinitely more dangerous level.
For the first time since the Cold War, the West would have an enemy with a nuclear capability.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
CBI's Clean Chit to Tytler ? Is it fair ? Let us support BL Sharma Prem and cause Tytler's political demise !
I understand the sentiments of Sikhs and Akalis for protesting against Congress and CBI for giving clean chit to Sajjan Kumar and Tytler. Every person with clear conscience and just attitude will do that. But do the Sikhs and Akalis want action against those Punjab Terrorists who used to drag and kill innocent Hindu bus passengers regularly by singling them out in Punjab for almost a decade at the instance of Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale and other extremist leaders. Isn't it dual policy that you honor and glorify killers at one place and want that the killers from other side should be hanged or put behind bars for the whole life. Let us be just and impartial and stop playing politics in the favor of these Killers of Humanity. They should be given stern public disapproval and not honored or glorified by putting their photographs in Gurudwaras or party offices.
Now the best way for Sikhs and Akalis to defeat the designs of Congress and give these kind of people a befitting reply will be work against these people politically and get them defeated. B L Sharma Prem who is contesting against Jagdish Tytler is a great warrior and has the distinction of defeating the previous Delhi Congress Presidents and Congress stalwarts like HKL Bhagat and Deep Chand Sharma Bandhu and causing their political demise. So let us support the brave and selfless politicians like BL Sharma Prem who has the guts to stand against these criminals and has the courage to call Spade a Spade irrespective of the party or other affiliations. So let us supprt this old war horse Prem Singh Sher ( His adopted name after Amritpan ) and force the likes of Tytler and Sajjan to run for their political life.
Now the best way for Sikhs and Akalis to defeat the designs of Congress and give these kind of people a befitting reply will be work against these people politically and get them defeated. B L Sharma Prem who is contesting against Jagdish Tytler is a great warrior and has the distinction of defeating the previous Delhi Congress Presidents and Congress stalwarts like HKL Bhagat and Deep Chand Sharma Bandhu and causing their political demise. So let us support the brave and selfless politicians like BL Sharma Prem who has the guts to stand against these criminals and has the courage to call Spade a Spade irrespective of the party or other affiliations. So let us supprt this old war horse Prem Singh Sher ( His adopted name after Amritpan ) and force the likes of Tytler and Sajjan to run for their political life.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Dhoni declared too late, became too defensive
Indian captain Dhoni was not right and did not act like a true fighter when he became too defensive and kept on playing even on the 4th day. This deprived a much sought of victory to India. When you have 90% chance to win and 10% chance to equalize, you have to be a coward in order not to take a chance. No team in the world could make even 500, so Dhoni could have declared at least at 531 which they got by the end of 3rd day. The decision was a big stupidity when you know even the weather forecast.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Jehadi group’s trademark gets stolen Abdullah Khan
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba’s trademark has been stolen, and the irony is that the stolen trademark is now being used against Lashkar’s own support base. The recent attack on the Manawan Police Training School Lahore, after the previous attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the same city, is the latest example of this peculiar development. India has been facing such attacks, usually referred to as ‘fidayeen attacks’, since 1999.
This terminology was also used by the Indian media in their news coverage immediately after the Mumbai attacks with headlines such as, ‘Mumbai under Fidayeen attack’. Although Lashkar-e-Taiba had denied involvement in these attacks, yet Indian, British, and Pakistani intelligence still hold this group, which is active in Kashmir against Indian occupation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, responsible for the Mumbai events in the light of their own investigations. Pakistan has taken more than half a dozen Lashkar commanders into custody, including Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, who is one of the four leaders on whom the United Nations had enforced sanctions on December 10, 2008, and had frozen their assets. Lashkar-e-Taiba had introduced the tactic of fidayeen attacks back in 1999 when the then prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, had announced the withdrawal of Pakistani forces and Kashmiri fighters from the mountains of Kargil in his Washington Declaration, which they captured in the winter of that year, and where a fierce and bloody battle had been fought in the months of May and June. During this battle, Pakistani forces had shot down two Indian war planes and had even captured the pilot of one of the aircrafts. The Indian army had faced such huge loss of life in this battle that it had had to hand out contracts to private firms for the mass manufacture of coffins for transportation of its dead soldiers from the frontlines. Corruption is rife to such an extent in India’s armed forces and its Ministry of Defense that kickbacks and commissions of millions of rupees were paid and received for the manufacture of these coffins. An inquiry was also initiated later regarding this sordid affair, but that is not what I am writing about today, although I do intend to write in detail about the widespread corruption in the Indian armed forces at some later date.
Lashkar-e-Taiba’s leadership had warned the then prime minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, through a press statement that ‘the second round of jihad had now begun’, which had meant that India should now expect fidayeen attacks on Indian forces in Kashmir. In the fidayeen style of attack anywhere from two to ten, or sometimes even more heavily armed fighters make a commando-style entry into the target facility and try their best to inflict heavy losses. If they achieve their desired goal, they try to escape from the location; otherwise they fight until death instead of surrendering. According to a report of the Indian Express which was published after the Mumbai events, the first fidayeen attack occurred at the Battalion Headquarters of the Indian BSF (Border Security Force) in Bandipora, in which three attackers had caused havoc at the BSF Headquarters.
Activities and operations of Indian forces deployed in the Kashmir valley are controlled from the headquarters of the 15 Corps which is located in the Badami Bagh area of Srinagar. But although this location is considered to be the safest place in terms of security for the Indian forces in Occupied Kashmir, yet three fidayeen of Lashkar-e-Taiba attacked this secure headquarters site on November 3, 1999, dressed in the uniforms of Indian troops and were able to infiltrate and mix with other soldiers by taking advantage of the pandemonium and confusion. These fidayeen were so daring and bold that they made their way to the office of the spokesman of the Indian forces, Maj. Parshotam, in the commotion and killed him, and then audaciously used his telephone to call the British news organization, the BBC, to accept responsibility for the attack. Moreover, two of the attackers were able to escape the premises in an Indian forces vehicle, while only one of them was killed. The success of this type of daring attacks raised the morale of this group tremendously with the result that in the year 2000, some attackers of this group left Kashmir and not only attacked the Red Fort based Indian army barracks in the heart of the Indian capital, New Delhi, but also defiantly accepted responsibility for the said attack. A Pakistani citizen, Muhammad Ashfaq, faces the death sentence in India for his involvement in this attack and his case is pending hearing in the Indian Supreme Court. Fidayeen attacks were therefore considered to be a hallmark of Lashkar-e-Taiba in the subcontinent, while other militant groups in the area also began copying Palestinian and Tamil militants and used suicide attacks as a tactic quite successfully in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lashkar, however, instead of moving towards suicide attacks, maintained its distinctive style of fidayeen attacks and with time, tried to perfect this technique further. Even though India blames the suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul on Lashkar, yet if one accepts this as truth, even then it would be a rare incident in Lashkar’s history of resistance.
American intelligence officials and experts on militancy had expressed fears after the Mumbai attacks that other militant groups, including Al Qaeda, may try to mimic this style of attack and those misgivings have turned out to be entirely true. Yet ironically, instead of India or America becoming a victim of this style of attack, as had been expected, the Pakistani province of Punjab and its capital, Lahore; considered to be the nexus of Lashkar sympathizers, has itself fallen prey to this particular style of attacks. The leadership of this group therefore, which had announced numerous times in the past that it will never carry out any militant activities on Pakistani soil, is deeply embarrassed and completely flabbergasted, to say the least, at this bizarre development, because after every attack which uses the Lashkar trademark style, the finger is immediately pointed toward this group due to its previous use of this style outside Pakistani soil. This group, which has enjoyed popular public support in Punjab, is extremely worried, understandably, under these circumstances, that if such attacks continue and its name keeps getting mentioned, it could turn out to be fatal for its popularity among the Pakistani populace.
What is interesting is that this group can neither register a case against the theft of its trademark in any court of law, nor can it have a notice issued to the stealers of its trademark under the Copyright Act.
—The writer is an expert on regional security issues and Indo-Pakistan relations.
This terminology was also used by the Indian media in their news coverage immediately after the Mumbai attacks with headlines such as, ‘Mumbai under Fidayeen attack’. Although Lashkar-e-Taiba had denied involvement in these attacks, yet Indian, British, and Pakistani intelligence still hold this group, which is active in Kashmir against Indian occupation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, responsible for the Mumbai events in the light of their own investigations. Pakistan has taken more than half a dozen Lashkar commanders into custody, including Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, who is one of the four leaders on whom the United Nations had enforced sanctions on December 10, 2008, and had frozen their assets. Lashkar-e-Taiba had introduced the tactic of fidayeen attacks back in 1999 when the then prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, had announced the withdrawal of Pakistani forces and Kashmiri fighters from the mountains of Kargil in his Washington Declaration, which they captured in the winter of that year, and where a fierce and bloody battle had been fought in the months of May and June. During this battle, Pakistani forces had shot down two Indian war planes and had even captured the pilot of one of the aircrafts. The Indian army had faced such huge loss of life in this battle that it had had to hand out contracts to private firms for the mass manufacture of coffins for transportation of its dead soldiers from the frontlines. Corruption is rife to such an extent in India’s armed forces and its Ministry of Defense that kickbacks and commissions of millions of rupees were paid and received for the manufacture of these coffins. An inquiry was also initiated later regarding this sordid affair, but that is not what I am writing about today, although I do intend to write in detail about the widespread corruption in the Indian armed forces at some later date.
Lashkar-e-Taiba’s leadership had warned the then prime minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, through a press statement that ‘the second round of jihad had now begun’, which had meant that India should now expect fidayeen attacks on Indian forces in Kashmir. In the fidayeen style of attack anywhere from two to ten, or sometimes even more heavily armed fighters make a commando-style entry into the target facility and try their best to inflict heavy losses. If they achieve their desired goal, they try to escape from the location; otherwise they fight until death instead of surrendering. According to a report of the Indian Express which was published after the Mumbai events, the first fidayeen attack occurred at the Battalion Headquarters of the Indian BSF (Border Security Force) in Bandipora, in which three attackers had caused havoc at the BSF Headquarters.
Activities and operations of Indian forces deployed in the Kashmir valley are controlled from the headquarters of the 15 Corps which is located in the Badami Bagh area of Srinagar. But although this location is considered to be the safest place in terms of security for the Indian forces in Occupied Kashmir, yet three fidayeen of Lashkar-e-Taiba attacked this secure headquarters site on November 3, 1999, dressed in the uniforms of Indian troops and were able to infiltrate and mix with other soldiers by taking advantage of the pandemonium and confusion. These fidayeen were so daring and bold that they made their way to the office of the spokesman of the Indian forces, Maj. Parshotam, in the commotion and killed him, and then audaciously used his telephone to call the British news organization, the BBC, to accept responsibility for the attack. Moreover, two of the attackers were able to escape the premises in an Indian forces vehicle, while only one of them was killed. The success of this type of daring attacks raised the morale of this group tremendously with the result that in the year 2000, some attackers of this group left Kashmir and not only attacked the Red Fort based Indian army barracks in the heart of the Indian capital, New Delhi, but also defiantly accepted responsibility for the said attack. A Pakistani citizen, Muhammad Ashfaq, faces the death sentence in India for his involvement in this attack and his case is pending hearing in the Indian Supreme Court. Fidayeen attacks were therefore considered to be a hallmark of Lashkar-e-Taiba in the subcontinent, while other militant groups in the area also began copying Palestinian and Tamil militants and used suicide attacks as a tactic quite successfully in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lashkar, however, instead of moving towards suicide attacks, maintained its distinctive style of fidayeen attacks and with time, tried to perfect this technique further. Even though India blames the suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul on Lashkar, yet if one accepts this as truth, even then it would be a rare incident in Lashkar’s history of resistance.
American intelligence officials and experts on militancy had expressed fears after the Mumbai attacks that other militant groups, including Al Qaeda, may try to mimic this style of attack and those misgivings have turned out to be entirely true. Yet ironically, instead of India or America becoming a victim of this style of attack, as had been expected, the Pakistani province of Punjab and its capital, Lahore; considered to be the nexus of Lashkar sympathizers, has itself fallen prey to this particular style of attacks. The leadership of this group therefore, which had announced numerous times in the past that it will never carry out any militant activities on Pakistani soil, is deeply embarrassed and completely flabbergasted, to say the least, at this bizarre development, because after every attack which uses the Lashkar trademark style, the finger is immediately pointed toward this group due to its previous use of this style outside Pakistani soil. This group, which has enjoyed popular public support in Punjab, is extremely worried, understandably, under these circumstances, that if such attacks continue and its name keeps getting mentioned, it could turn out to be fatal for its popularity among the Pakistani populace.
What is interesting is that this group can neither register a case against the theft of its trademark in any court of law, nor can it have a notice issued to the stealers of its trademark under the Copyright Act.
—The writer is an expert on regional security issues and Indo-Pakistan relations.
Spray for 'six times longer' sex
Premature ejaculation can be distressing for couples
A spray can help men with premature ejaculation problems prolong the length of time they have sex by six times.
Men who used the treatment five minutes before having intercourse extended their love-making from half a minute to almost four minutes, trials showed.
The spray, developed at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, contains local anaesthetics that numb the penis.
A British Journal of Urology International study says it could be available in the next couple of years.
Up to 40% of men experience premature ejaculation at some time in their lives, experts estimate.
It improved both sexual performance and sexual satisfaction
Lead researcher Professor Wallace Dinsmore
It is difficult to have an exact idea of the rate because there is still embarrassment about discussing sex lives and the definition of what constitutes a premature climax does vary.
For some 10 minutes in the sack may be enough, but for others intercourse lasting less than 20 minutes may be unsatisfactory.
In the study, the researchers looked at 300 men who regularly had difficulty lasting for more than a minute during love-making.
Most of the men had tried other treatments before, the most common being oral antidepressants.
Every time they had intercourse during the three-month study period, each couple measured the time to ejaculation with a stopwatch.
Sex delay
The men who tested the spray, called PSD502, were able to last 6.3 times longer on average.
In comparison, men who tested a "dummy" spray containing no drug lasted only 1.7 times longer.
There are treatments and training techniques that can help
Peter Baker of the Men's Health Forum
PSD502 helped 90% of the men enjoy sex for up to four minutes, where they had previously only lasted for seconds.
And there was minimal transfer of the spray to the partners, meaning the men did not have to use a condom for this reason alone.
Lead researcher Professor Wallace Dinsmore said: "Premature ejaculation can be a very distressing condition for men and can cause distress, frustration and make them avoid sexual intimacy.
"Our study shows that when the PSD502 spray was applied to the man's penis five minutes before intercourse it improved both sexual performance and sexual satisfaction, which are key factors in treating premature ejaculation."
Peter Baker of the Men's Health Forum said the findings were welcomed.
"Premature ejaculation is a very significant problem for lots of men that is hardly talked about and that needs to change.
"There are treatments and training techniques that can help. It is important that new treatments are looked at and that men are encouraged to seek help."
Paula Hall, a counsellor for Relate, said: "This might particularly help men who have problems with premature ejaculation related to anxiety.
"It could help build their confidence, although the root cause of the anxiety would still need addressing."
A spray can help men with premature ejaculation problems prolong the length of time they have sex by six times.
Men who used the treatment five minutes before having intercourse extended their love-making from half a minute to almost four minutes, trials showed.
The spray, developed at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, contains local anaesthetics that numb the penis.
A British Journal of Urology International study says it could be available in the next couple of years.
Up to 40% of men experience premature ejaculation at some time in their lives, experts estimate.
It improved both sexual performance and sexual satisfaction
Lead researcher Professor Wallace Dinsmore
It is difficult to have an exact idea of the rate because there is still embarrassment about discussing sex lives and the definition of what constitutes a premature climax does vary.
For some 10 minutes in the sack may be enough, but for others intercourse lasting less than 20 minutes may be unsatisfactory.
In the study, the researchers looked at 300 men who regularly had difficulty lasting for more than a minute during love-making.
Most of the men had tried other treatments before, the most common being oral antidepressants.
Every time they had intercourse during the three-month study period, each couple measured the time to ejaculation with a stopwatch.
Sex delay
The men who tested the spray, called PSD502, were able to last 6.3 times longer on average.
In comparison, men who tested a "dummy" spray containing no drug lasted only 1.7 times longer.
There are treatments and training techniques that can help
Peter Baker of the Men's Health Forum
PSD502 helped 90% of the men enjoy sex for up to four minutes, where they had previously only lasted for seconds.
And there was minimal transfer of the spray to the partners, meaning the men did not have to use a condom for this reason alone.
Lead researcher Professor Wallace Dinsmore said: "Premature ejaculation can be a very distressing condition for men and can cause distress, frustration and make them avoid sexual intimacy.
"Our study shows that when the PSD502 spray was applied to the man's penis five minutes before intercourse it improved both sexual performance and sexual satisfaction, which are key factors in treating premature ejaculation."
Peter Baker of the Men's Health Forum said the findings were welcomed.
"Premature ejaculation is a very significant problem for lots of men that is hardly talked about and that needs to change.
"There are treatments and training techniques that can help. It is important that new treatments are looked at and that men are encouraged to seek help."
Paula Hall, a counsellor for Relate, said: "This might particularly help men who have problems with premature ejaculation related to anxiety.
"It could help build their confidence, although the root cause of the anxiety would still need addressing."
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Are Hindus Cowards ???
Source: Rediff.com and Www.francoisgautier.com
“Muslims are bullies and Hindus cowards”, the Mahatma Gandhi once said. He was right - at least about Hindus: there has been in the past 1400 years, since the first invasions started, very few Shivaji’s and Rajput princes to fight the bloody rule of the Moghuls, or hardly any Rani of Jhansi’s to stand against the humiliating colonial yoke of the British. If a nation’s soul is measured by the courage of its children, then India is definitely doomed: without the Sikhs, whose bravery is unparalleled in the more recent history of India, Hindus would have even lost additional land to the Muslim invaders and there would have been infinitely more massacres of Hindus by Muslims during the first weeks of Partition.
Are Hindus more courageous since they have an independent nation (thanks - not to the non-violence of Gandhi - but to the true nationalists, such as Sri Aurobindo and Tilak, who prepared the ground for the Mahatma at the beginning of the century)? Not at all! Because of Nehru’s absurd and naïve “hindi-chini-bhai-bhai” policy, the Indian army was shamefully routed in 1962 by the Chinese, a humiliation which rankles even today. Beijing is still able to hoodwink Indian politicians, by pretending it has good intentions, through the interviews the Chinese leaders very generously give to the Hindu newspaper (which should rightly be called the “anti-Hindu”) and Frontline (”the mouthpiece in India for the Chinese communist party”), while quietly keeping on giving nuclear know-how to Pakistan, as well as the missiles to carry their atomic warheads to Indian cities, arm separatists groups in the north-east and continuing to claim Arunachal Pradesh or Sikkim.
Everywhere in the world, Hindus are hounded, humiliated, routed, be it in Fiji where, once more, an elected democratic government was deposed in an armed coup, or in Pakistan and Bangladesh, where Muslims indulge in pogroms against Hindus every time they want to vent their hunger against India (read Taslima Nasreen’s book “Lalja”). In Kashmir, the land of yogis, where Hindu sadhus and sages have meditated for 5000 years, Hindus have been chased out of their ancestral home by death, terror and intimidation: there were 25% of Hindus at the beginning of the century in the Kashmir valley… and hardly a handful today. And how did India start the new millennium? By surrendering as a lamb goes to the slaughterhouse to a handful of terrorists who took over flight IC 814 from Kathmandu to Delhi (Nepal is another small inconsequential country, which owes its culture to India, but keeps on indulging India’s enemies, whether Pakistan or China)! India had the opportunity to storm the plane when it landed in Amritsar, at a time when the militants had not been furnished with explosives and more guns by the Talibans, but it did nothing out of bureaucratic bungling and sheer incapability. And not only did this Hindu Government (yes, BJP/Hindu, not Congress/Secular) make an ass of itself by calling the Talibans “friendly”, whereas all along the Talibans only helped the terrorists, but also by its weak “Gandhian” attitude, it lost any credibility in a world, where Might is the only criteria, as the US proves us every day.
And what happens when there is ONE man in India - whatever his faults, quirks, or excesses - who dares to call a spade a spade, is not afraid of words and is ready to stand-up for his opinions? Not only, of course, he is attacked by Christians and Muslims, but he is also hounded by his own brothers and sisters, the “secular” Hindus, the Human Rights activists, the journalists, the judges, the police, the (Congress) politicians! Are Hindus so intent to show the world that not only they are cowards, but also idiots? This man, of course, is Bal Thakeray. When Bal Thakeray said, already many years ago, that there was no point in playing cricket against Pakistan, as long as Islamabad was sending militants to kill and maim into Indian territory, he was ridiculed by the secular press as fanatic and un-sportive (and cricket is certainly not a gentleman’s game as the recent scandal has shown). But he was proved right, when during Kargil, India refused - for once - to play cricket with Pakistan. When he says too, that since fourteen centuries, Muslims always strike first against Hindus, he has another good point, for those who live in Indian cities which have important Muslim minorities, will tell you that every time there are Hindu-Muslims, it is the Muslims who start them, either by attacking the police, or by provoking the Hindus.
And this is exactly what happened in Bombay, after the Ayodya mosque was brought down by Hindu militants : Muslims, angry of the “terrible” affront done to Islam, started pelting the police with stones and burning shops; but unfortunately for the Muslims, who have made of riots an art (please read the passages of the Koran which deal with riots as part of jihad), they found that for once, the Hindus under the leadership of the Shiv Sena, retaliated blow for blow - an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth - as the Israelis, who have been so long at the receiving end of Muslim bullying, say so well. It is not for us to condone violence: but how long can the Hindus be the butt of killings and persecution, be sacrificial lambs that meekly go to slaughter ? For in a way, Gandhi was right: Muslims are bullies, they have bullied India and they continue to bully Hindu India, as Pakistan has demonstrated by receiving a well-meaning, but naïve Vajpayee at Lahore, while its soldiers were quietly invading the heights above Kargil; or as Mushraraf shows, by giving gullible Indian journalists pep talk about how he wants peace with India, while Islamabad is still training and arming murderous jihadis for Kashmir.
And what monstrous murder is Bal Thakeray accused of ? What crime against humanity has he committed? He is guilty of having written two “inflammatory” editorials in the Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece. Editorials? Inflammatory? But did Bal Thakeray ever kill anyone ? Is the man going to be arrested for having “written” something ? Are not the leaders of the Muslim organization which spearheaded the recent bombing of churches in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, to sow disharmony between Christians and Hindus, still scot-free, by pretending that they believe in secularism ? Has Tiger Memom, who planted deadly bombs in Bombay in 1992, ever been caught and brought to court ? Are not the Muslim organizations, which organized the bomb attacks in Coimbatore a few years back, still functioning under different names ? Isn’t it true that in Kerala, every day a new mosque is built with money coming from the Gulf and that from these mosques and madrasas the mullahs preach openly violence and anti-Hinduism ? …
The truth is that there are two standards in India: one for the Hindus; and one for the Muslims. Did the “fanatic” Hindus who brought down Ayodhya (and brought shame onto secular India, according to the Indian media) kill or even injure anyone in the process? No. But Muslims do not have such qualms. When Gandhi said they were bullies, he was being very nice or very polite. For forget about the millions of Hindus killed during the ten centuries of Muslim invasions, probably the worst Holocaust in world history; forget about the hundreds of thousands of Hindu temples razed to the ground, whose destruction - whatever our “secular” Hindus of today say - was carefully recorded by the Muslims themselves, because they were proud of it (see Aurangzeb’s own chronicles); forget about the millions of Hindus forcibly converted to Islam, and who sadly are now rallying under a banner, a language, a scripture which have nothing to do with their own ethos and culture (*). Yesterday and also today, when the Muslim world feels it has been slighted, in even a small measure by Hindus, these Infidels, who submitted meekly to Muslim rule for ten centuries, it retaliates a hundred fold - this is the only way one intimidates cowards. After Ayodhya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia (at least in a passive way by giving shelter for a while to Tiger Memon) with the help of Indian Muslims, planted bombs in the heart of Bombay and killed a thousand innocent human beings, most of them, once more, Hindus. Tomorrow, Pakistan might wage, with the blessing of the Muslim word, the ultimate jihad against India, which if necessary, will utilise the ultimate weapon, nuclear bombs. For has not the Koran said “‘Choose not thy friends among the Infidels till they forsake their homes and the way of idolatry. If they return to paganism then take them whenever you find them and kill them” (Koran 98:51-9:5-4:89) ?
Unfortunately for India, the British, when they were here, had created an intellectual elite, to act as a go-between themselves and the “natives”, which today, thanks to the Nehruvian culture of successive Congress governments, looks at its own country, not by means of its own Indian eyes, but through a western prism, as fashioned by the white colonizers and the missionaries. These ” Brown Shahibs “, these true children of Macaulay, the ” secular ” politicians, the journalists, the top bureaucrats, in fact the whole westernised cream of India are very critical of anything Hindu. And what is even more paradoxical, is that 98% of them are Hindus ! It is they, who upon getting independence, have denied India its true identity and borrowed blindly from the British education system, without trying to adapt it to the unique Indian mentality and psychology; and it is they who are refusing to accept a change of India’s education system, which is totally western-oriented and is churning out machines, learning by heart boring statistics which are of little usefulness in life. And what India is getting from this education is a youth which apes the West : they go to Mac Donald’s, thrive on MTV culture, wear the latest Klein jeans and Lacoste T Shirts, and in general are useless, rich parasites, in a country which has so many talented youngsters who live in poverty. They will grow-up like millions of other western clones in the developing world, who wear a tie, read the New York Times and swear by liberalism and secularism to save their countries from doom. In time, they will reach elevated positions and write books and articles which make fun of their own country, ridicule the Bal Thakeray’s of India and put them in jail; they will preside human-right committees, be “secular” high bureaucrats who take the wrong decisions and generally do tremendous harm to India, because it has been programmed in their genes to always run down their own country. It is said that a nation has to be proud of itself to move forward - and unless there is a big change in this intellectual elite, unless it is more conscious of its heritage and of India’s greatness, which has begun to happen in a small way, it is going to be very difficult for India to emerge as a real 21st century superpower.
One would be tempted to say in conclusion : “Arise ô Hindus, stop being cowards, remember that a nation requires Kshatriyas, warriors, to defend Knowledge, to protect one’s women and children, to guard one’s borders from the Enemy”….
And do Indians need a Bal Thakeray to remind them of that simple truth ?
(*) This is no to say that all Muslims are fanatics; on the contrary, many of India’s Muslims are extremely gentle and their sense of hospitality unsurpassed. The same thing can be said about Pakistan: Pakistani politicians, for instance, are much more accessible than in India and Pakistan has its own identity, which cannot be wished away. No, the problem is not with Muslims, whether they are Indians or Pakistanis, the problem is with Islam, which teaches Indian Muslims from an early age, to look beyond their national identity to a country - the Mecca, in Saudi Arabia - which is not their country, to read a Scripture which is not written in their own language, to espouse a way of thinking, which is inimical to their own roots and indigenous culture. Indian Muslims, have to think of themselves first as Muslims and secondly only as Muslims. Muslim soldiers fighting against Pakistan in Kargil, have shown the way.
** From his new book “Arise Ô India” (Har-Anand)
“Muslims are bullies and Hindus cowards”, the Mahatma Gandhi once said. He was right - at least about Hindus: there has been in the past 1400 years, since the first invasions started, very few Shivaji’s and Rajput princes to fight the bloody rule of the Moghuls, or hardly any Rani of Jhansi’s to stand against the humiliating colonial yoke of the British. If a nation’s soul is measured by the courage of its children, then India is definitely doomed: without the Sikhs, whose bravery is unparalleled in the more recent history of India, Hindus would have even lost additional land to the Muslim invaders and there would have been infinitely more massacres of Hindus by Muslims during the first weeks of Partition.
Are Hindus more courageous since they have an independent nation (thanks - not to the non-violence of Gandhi - but to the true nationalists, such as Sri Aurobindo and Tilak, who prepared the ground for the Mahatma at the beginning of the century)? Not at all! Because of Nehru’s absurd and naïve “hindi-chini-bhai-bhai” policy, the Indian army was shamefully routed in 1962 by the Chinese, a humiliation which rankles even today. Beijing is still able to hoodwink Indian politicians, by pretending it has good intentions, through the interviews the Chinese leaders very generously give to the Hindu newspaper (which should rightly be called the “anti-Hindu”) and Frontline (”the mouthpiece in India for the Chinese communist party”), while quietly keeping on giving nuclear know-how to Pakistan, as well as the missiles to carry their atomic warheads to Indian cities, arm separatists groups in the north-east and continuing to claim Arunachal Pradesh or Sikkim.
Everywhere in the world, Hindus are hounded, humiliated, routed, be it in Fiji where, once more, an elected democratic government was deposed in an armed coup, or in Pakistan and Bangladesh, where Muslims indulge in pogroms against Hindus every time they want to vent their hunger against India (read Taslima Nasreen’s book “Lalja”). In Kashmir, the land of yogis, where Hindu sadhus and sages have meditated for 5000 years, Hindus have been chased out of their ancestral home by death, terror and intimidation: there were 25% of Hindus at the beginning of the century in the Kashmir valley… and hardly a handful today. And how did India start the new millennium? By surrendering as a lamb goes to the slaughterhouse to a handful of terrorists who took over flight IC 814 from Kathmandu to Delhi (Nepal is another small inconsequential country, which owes its culture to India, but keeps on indulging India’s enemies, whether Pakistan or China)! India had the opportunity to storm the plane when it landed in Amritsar, at a time when the militants had not been furnished with explosives and more guns by the Talibans, but it did nothing out of bureaucratic bungling and sheer incapability. And not only did this Hindu Government (yes, BJP/Hindu, not Congress/Secular) make an ass of itself by calling the Talibans “friendly”, whereas all along the Talibans only helped the terrorists, but also by its weak “Gandhian” attitude, it lost any credibility in a world, where Might is the only criteria, as the US proves us every day.
And what happens when there is ONE man in India - whatever his faults, quirks, or excesses - who dares to call a spade a spade, is not afraid of words and is ready to stand-up for his opinions? Not only, of course, he is attacked by Christians and Muslims, but he is also hounded by his own brothers and sisters, the “secular” Hindus, the Human Rights activists, the journalists, the judges, the police, the (Congress) politicians! Are Hindus so intent to show the world that not only they are cowards, but also idiots? This man, of course, is Bal Thakeray. When Bal Thakeray said, already many years ago, that there was no point in playing cricket against Pakistan, as long as Islamabad was sending militants to kill and maim into Indian territory, he was ridiculed by the secular press as fanatic and un-sportive (and cricket is certainly not a gentleman’s game as the recent scandal has shown). But he was proved right, when during Kargil, India refused - for once - to play cricket with Pakistan. When he says too, that since fourteen centuries, Muslims always strike first against Hindus, he has another good point, for those who live in Indian cities which have important Muslim minorities, will tell you that every time there are Hindu-Muslims, it is the Muslims who start them, either by attacking the police, or by provoking the Hindus.
And this is exactly what happened in Bombay, after the Ayodya mosque was brought down by Hindu militants : Muslims, angry of the “terrible” affront done to Islam, started pelting the police with stones and burning shops; but unfortunately for the Muslims, who have made of riots an art (please read the passages of the Koran which deal with riots as part of jihad), they found that for once, the Hindus under the leadership of the Shiv Sena, retaliated blow for blow - an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth - as the Israelis, who have been so long at the receiving end of Muslim bullying, say so well. It is not for us to condone violence: but how long can the Hindus be the butt of killings and persecution, be sacrificial lambs that meekly go to slaughter ? For in a way, Gandhi was right: Muslims are bullies, they have bullied India and they continue to bully Hindu India, as Pakistan has demonstrated by receiving a well-meaning, but naïve Vajpayee at Lahore, while its soldiers were quietly invading the heights above Kargil; or as Mushraraf shows, by giving gullible Indian journalists pep talk about how he wants peace with India, while Islamabad is still training and arming murderous jihadis for Kashmir.
And what monstrous murder is Bal Thakeray accused of ? What crime against humanity has he committed? He is guilty of having written two “inflammatory” editorials in the Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece. Editorials? Inflammatory? But did Bal Thakeray ever kill anyone ? Is the man going to be arrested for having “written” something ? Are not the leaders of the Muslim organization which spearheaded the recent bombing of churches in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, to sow disharmony between Christians and Hindus, still scot-free, by pretending that they believe in secularism ? Has Tiger Memom, who planted deadly bombs in Bombay in 1992, ever been caught and brought to court ? Are not the Muslim organizations, which organized the bomb attacks in Coimbatore a few years back, still functioning under different names ? Isn’t it true that in Kerala, every day a new mosque is built with money coming from the Gulf and that from these mosques and madrasas the mullahs preach openly violence and anti-Hinduism ? …
The truth is that there are two standards in India: one for the Hindus; and one for the Muslims. Did the “fanatic” Hindus who brought down Ayodhya (and brought shame onto secular India, according to the Indian media) kill or even injure anyone in the process? No. But Muslims do not have such qualms. When Gandhi said they were bullies, he was being very nice or very polite. For forget about the millions of Hindus killed during the ten centuries of Muslim invasions, probably the worst Holocaust in world history; forget about the hundreds of thousands of Hindu temples razed to the ground, whose destruction - whatever our “secular” Hindus of today say - was carefully recorded by the Muslims themselves, because they were proud of it (see Aurangzeb’s own chronicles); forget about the millions of Hindus forcibly converted to Islam, and who sadly are now rallying under a banner, a language, a scripture which have nothing to do with their own ethos and culture (*). Yesterday and also today, when the Muslim world feels it has been slighted, in even a small measure by Hindus, these Infidels, who submitted meekly to Muslim rule for ten centuries, it retaliates a hundred fold - this is the only way one intimidates cowards. After Ayodhya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia (at least in a passive way by giving shelter for a while to Tiger Memon) with the help of Indian Muslims, planted bombs in the heart of Bombay and killed a thousand innocent human beings, most of them, once more, Hindus. Tomorrow, Pakistan might wage, with the blessing of the Muslim word, the ultimate jihad against India, which if necessary, will utilise the ultimate weapon, nuclear bombs. For has not the Koran said “‘Choose not thy friends among the Infidels till they forsake their homes and the way of idolatry. If they return to paganism then take them whenever you find them and kill them” (Koran 98:51-9:5-4:89) ?
Unfortunately for India, the British, when they were here, had created an intellectual elite, to act as a go-between themselves and the “natives”, which today, thanks to the Nehruvian culture of successive Congress governments, looks at its own country, not by means of its own Indian eyes, but through a western prism, as fashioned by the white colonizers and the missionaries. These ” Brown Shahibs “, these true children of Macaulay, the ” secular ” politicians, the journalists, the top bureaucrats, in fact the whole westernised cream of India are very critical of anything Hindu. And what is even more paradoxical, is that 98% of them are Hindus ! It is they, who upon getting independence, have denied India its true identity and borrowed blindly from the British education system, without trying to adapt it to the unique Indian mentality and psychology; and it is they who are refusing to accept a change of India’s education system, which is totally western-oriented and is churning out machines, learning by heart boring statistics which are of little usefulness in life. And what India is getting from this education is a youth which apes the West : they go to Mac Donald’s, thrive on MTV culture, wear the latest Klein jeans and Lacoste T Shirts, and in general are useless, rich parasites, in a country which has so many talented youngsters who live in poverty. They will grow-up like millions of other western clones in the developing world, who wear a tie, read the New York Times and swear by liberalism and secularism to save their countries from doom. In time, they will reach elevated positions and write books and articles which make fun of their own country, ridicule the Bal Thakeray’s of India and put them in jail; they will preside human-right committees, be “secular” high bureaucrats who take the wrong decisions and generally do tremendous harm to India, because it has been programmed in their genes to always run down their own country. It is said that a nation has to be proud of itself to move forward - and unless there is a big change in this intellectual elite, unless it is more conscious of its heritage and of India’s greatness, which has begun to happen in a small way, it is going to be very difficult for India to emerge as a real 21st century superpower.
One would be tempted to say in conclusion : “Arise ô Hindus, stop being cowards, remember that a nation requires Kshatriyas, warriors, to defend Knowledge, to protect one’s women and children, to guard one’s borders from the Enemy”….
And do Indians need a Bal Thakeray to remind them of that simple truth ?
(*) This is no to say that all Muslims are fanatics; on the contrary, many of India’s Muslims are extremely gentle and their sense of hospitality unsurpassed. The same thing can be said about Pakistan: Pakistani politicians, for instance, are much more accessible than in India and Pakistan has its own identity, which cannot be wished away. No, the problem is not with Muslims, whether they are Indians or Pakistanis, the problem is with Islam, which teaches Indian Muslims from an early age, to look beyond their national identity to a country - the Mecca, in Saudi Arabia - which is not their country, to read a Scripture which is not written in their own language, to espouse a way of thinking, which is inimical to their own roots and indigenous culture. Indian Muslims, have to think of themselves first as Muslims and secondly only as Muslims. Muslim soldiers fighting against Pakistan in Kargil, have shown the way.
** From his new book “Arise Ô India” (Har-Anand)
Indian Nationalism & Sanatan Dharma : Views of the Great Thinkers
“Nationalism is not politics but a religion, a creed, a faith ..... I say that it is the Sanatana Dharma, which for us is nationalism. This Hindu nation was born with the Sanatana Dharma, with it moves and with it grows. When the Sanatana Dharma declines, then the nation declines, and if the Sanatana Dharma were capable of perishing, with the Sanatana Dharma it would perish. The Sanatana Dharma, that is nationalism.”
-- Sri Aurobindo
(‘Uttarpara Speech’, The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo, vol. viii, p. 12).
"After a study of some forty years and more of the great religions of the world, I find none so perfect, none so scientific, none so philosophic, and none so spiritual as the great religion known by the name of Hinduism. The more you know it, the more you will love it; the more you try to understand it, the more deeply you will value it. Make no mistake; without Hinduism, India has no future. Hinduism is the soil into which India's roots are struck, and torn of that she will inevitably wither, as a tree torn out from its place. Many are the religions and many are the races flourishing in India, but none of them stretches back into the far dawn of her past, nor are they necessary for her endurance as a nation. Everyone might pass away as they came and India would still remain. But let Hinduism vanish and what is she? A geographical expression of the past, a dim memory of a perished glory, her literature, her art, her monuments, all have Hindudom written across them. And if Hindus do not maintain Hinduism, who shall save it? If India's own children do not cling to her faith, who shall guard it? India alone can save India, and India and Hinduism are one."
--Annie Besant
“Unless the country is protected, the Hindu Dharma cannot be protected, and unless the Hindu Dharma is protected, the country cannot be protected. ....also, protect the Dharmi to protect Dharma, and remember: ‘Hindu Vote is Sacred: Never Barter it Away’ -- This should be our refrain/campaign all over India, at this critical juncture. We should demand follow-up action on the Historic ‘Tirupati Declaration’ (July 15, 2006), the three cardinal Articles of which are: 1) 'We Hindus assembled here, in Tirupati, declare that we do not support, directly or indirectly, any group, institution, religion, media, or political force, which preaches, practices or works against Hindu Dharma in this country'; 2) 'We appeal to all the Hindus in this country and elsewhere to subscribe to and support this declaration, the Tirupati Declaration'; 3) 'We want all the Hindu religious endowments to be managed by Hindu bodies, and not by the government. We want the secular government to release all religious endowments from its hold.' "
-- Swami Dayananda Saraswati
-- Sri Aurobindo
(‘Uttarpara Speech’, The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo, vol. viii, p. 12).
"After a study of some forty years and more of the great religions of the world, I find none so perfect, none so scientific, none so philosophic, and none so spiritual as the great religion known by the name of Hinduism. The more you know it, the more you will love it; the more you try to understand it, the more deeply you will value it. Make no mistake; without Hinduism, India has no future. Hinduism is the soil into which India's roots are struck, and torn of that she will inevitably wither, as a tree torn out from its place. Many are the religions and many are the races flourishing in India, but none of them stretches back into the far dawn of her past, nor are they necessary for her endurance as a nation. Everyone might pass away as they came and India would still remain. But let Hinduism vanish and what is she? A geographical expression of the past, a dim memory of a perished glory, her literature, her art, her monuments, all have Hindudom written across them. And if Hindus do not maintain Hinduism, who shall save it? If India's own children do not cling to her faith, who shall guard it? India alone can save India, and India and Hinduism are one."
--Annie Besant
“Unless the country is protected, the Hindu Dharma cannot be protected, and unless the Hindu Dharma is protected, the country cannot be protected. ....also, protect the Dharmi to protect Dharma, and remember: ‘Hindu Vote is Sacred: Never Barter it Away’ -- This should be our refrain/campaign all over India, at this critical juncture. We should demand follow-up action on the Historic ‘Tirupati Declaration’ (July 15, 2006), the three cardinal Articles of which are: 1) 'We Hindus assembled here, in Tirupati, declare that we do not support, directly or indirectly, any group, institution, religion, media, or political force, which preaches, practices or works against Hindu Dharma in this country'; 2) 'We appeal to all the Hindus in this country and elsewhere to subscribe to and support this declaration, the Tirupati Declaration'; 3) 'We want all the Hindu religious endowments to be managed by Hindu bodies, and not by the government. We want the secular government to release all religious endowments from its hold.' "
-- Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Friday, April 3, 2009
Pak should shift focus from India to curbing terror inside: US
New York (PTI): Warning that terrorists operating in safe havens in Pakistan were preparing to attack that country and Afghanistan, a top US military commander has asked Islamabad to change focus from fighting India to combating militants within its own borders.
"The Taliban, in particular, are going both ways now," Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff, said.
"They are coming towards Islamabad and they are actually going towards Kabul. I am completely convinced that the vast majority of leaders in Pakistan understands the seriousness of the threat".
Mr. Mullen, who has worked extensively to build a relationship with Pakistani Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, noted that the Pakistan army had difficulties transforming from its military that recruited, trained, deployed and promoted its officers on performance along the eastern front with India to one that focussed instead on terrorists within its own border.
But, he admitted "that's not going to change overnight".
His remarks come as the US Defence Department unveiled a $ 3-billion plan to train and equip Pakistan's military over the next five years, New York Times reported.
The funds, the paper said, would pay for helicopters, night-vision goggles and other equipment and counter-insurgency training for Pakistan's special forces and paramilitary frontier corps.
"The Taliban, in particular, are going both ways now," Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff, said.
"They are coming towards Islamabad and they are actually going towards Kabul. I am completely convinced that the vast majority of leaders in Pakistan understands the seriousness of the threat".
Mr. Mullen, who has worked extensively to build a relationship with Pakistani Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, noted that the Pakistan army had difficulties transforming from its military that recruited, trained, deployed and promoted its officers on performance along the eastern front with India to one that focussed instead on terrorists within its own border.
But, he admitted "that's not going to change overnight".
His remarks come as the US Defence Department unveiled a $ 3-billion plan to train and equip Pakistan's military over the next five years, New York Times reported.
The funds, the paper said, would pay for helicopters, night-vision goggles and other equipment and counter-insurgency training for Pakistan's special forces and paramilitary frontier corps.
Flogging of a teenage girl by Taliban in Swat, Pak Govt unable to control fanatics, says Human Rights activist Asma Jahangir
Published: April 04, 2009
LAHORE - Chairperson Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Asma Jahangir, while denouncing the flogging of a teenage girl by Taliban in Swat, has announced to hold a protest rally organised by the Citizens of Lahore at 4:30pm, from GPO Chowk to the Punjab Assembly on Saturday. Addressing a news conference on Friday, Asma warned that the government’s writ on the extremist elements in the country appears as non-existent and it is yet not clear to what extent they will go.
Flanked by Iqbal Haider and others, she strongly condemned the terrorist attack on the training centre in Manawan terming it as an extremists’ assault on the whole of Pakistan.
Turning back to the flogging incident of the girl in Swat, she said Taliban are now occupying the whole area and they are doing whatever they want.
Expressing deep concern over the incident, she accused Taliban of forcing the women to marry them and subjecting those to harshest punishment who refuses to obey their orders. Asma said the matter is very serious which would not be resolved sitting at home but doing something practical to check advancement by Taliban.
She said Taliban has spread panic in Swat, Dir and other parts where no school and other pubic institutions are safe at their hand. They have created such a strong scare that even local parliamentarians are reluctant to go to their respective constituencies, she added.
It is an eye opener to everyone, she said adding, the terrorists have reached to our cities and time demands of every patriotic Pakistani to stand up to check their way.
Replying to a question, she said the HRCP did not accept at all US drone attacks on the tribal areas, but that could not be taken as a justification of the terrorist attacks. She said Swat accord has brought the citizens to a greater danger at the hand of Taliban.
She invited every citizen of the country to join them for protecting the country from internal threats of Taliban and other jihadi outfits that are responsible for alarming rise in militancy.
LAHORE - Chairperson Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Asma Jahangir, while denouncing the flogging of a teenage girl by Taliban in Swat, has announced to hold a protest rally organised by the Citizens of Lahore at 4:30pm, from GPO Chowk to the Punjab Assembly on Saturday. Addressing a news conference on Friday, Asma warned that the government’s writ on the extremist elements in the country appears as non-existent and it is yet not clear to what extent they will go.
Flanked by Iqbal Haider and others, she strongly condemned the terrorist attack on the training centre in Manawan terming it as an extremists’ assault on the whole of Pakistan.
Turning back to the flogging incident of the girl in Swat, she said Taliban are now occupying the whole area and they are doing whatever they want.
Expressing deep concern over the incident, she accused Taliban of forcing the women to marry them and subjecting those to harshest punishment who refuses to obey their orders. Asma said the matter is very serious which would not be resolved sitting at home but doing something practical to check advancement by Taliban.
She said Taliban has spread panic in Swat, Dir and other parts where no school and other pubic institutions are safe at their hand. They have created such a strong scare that even local parliamentarians are reluctant to go to their respective constituencies, she added.
It is an eye opener to everyone, she said adding, the terrorists have reached to our cities and time demands of every patriotic Pakistani to stand up to check their way.
Replying to a question, she said the HRCP did not accept at all US drone attacks on the tribal areas, but that could not be taken as a justification of the terrorist attacks. She said Swat accord has brought the citizens to a greater danger at the hand of Taliban.
She invited every citizen of the country to join them for protecting the country from internal threats of Taliban and other jihadi outfits that are responsible for alarming rise in militancy.
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