Srijoy Ganguli's Blog

The curious and confusing case of JNU agitation

2016-02-21T10:14:00.002-08:00

So after a gap of 3 years, I am writing a blog post. Coincidentally, my last post involved the same man at the centre of the storm that is blowing over JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University), Afzal Guru. Now, as in my previous post, lets start with some background information on the events that have happened up till now.

A group of students on 9th Feb 2016, held an event on the JNU campus attended by representatives from most of JNU’s political outfits. The event, titled “The Country Without a Post Office”, had been organised to “stand in solidarity with the struggle of the Kashmiri people for their democratic right to self-determination” and, among other things, to protest the ‘judicial killing’ of Afzal Guru, who was hanged in 2013 after being convicted in the attack on Parliament in 2001.

The event soon turned into a scuffle between ABVP and Left organizations and anti India slogans were raised by some people. Arrests were made and the university instituted an enquiry as to how the event went ahead despite having cancelled permission for the event based on a complaint by ABVP.

Afzal Guru was hanged secretly on 9th Feb 2013 in Tihar jail and his body buried in the jail premises and denied to his family thereafter. The protests in JNU were essentially regarding this 'judicial killing' of Afzal Guru. How the people in JNU managed to get permission for an event which included a protest for the death of a terrorist still beats me. One day we might have this sort of protest for the death of Yakub Memon.

Anyway, moving on, a scuffle took place, arrests were made and media spotlight turned on the JNU like bees to honey. Among all this, doctored evidence as to who started the anti India slogans, doctored videos and doctored photos started doing the rounds. The media behaved irresponsibly and started media trials on 9 PM debates to sway public opinion based on the doctored evidence. When the case came up in court, the people who are responsible for upholding the law took the law into their own hands and beat up the 'accused' Kanhaiya Kumar for chanting anti India slogans while the police remained a mute spectator.

Among all that has happened so far, the main culprits have managed to evade police capture. It has been sufficiently established that Kanhaiya Kumar was not the culprit as all the evidence, as I have mentioned above, was doctored. So the question remains: WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ANTI INDIA SLOGANS?

The power of social media is such that it is easy to sway people these days. In India, the educated class even can be made to believe nonsensical stuff (like Tata Industries would not employ or provide job to anybody from JNU any more). Because of a few people, a prestigious institute has been maligned.

Its sad that the people who should have been most responsible in this crisis have been the most irresponsible viz. media persons and lawyers. As Ravish Kumar from NDTV rightly said, "The black screen is the face of media today."

It would be my urge(and if I may say so on behalf of all Indians) that the real perpetrators of events in JNU be caught and punished so that it may be established that Indians, while tolerant, have their limits.

Afzal Guru and the circus called Indian Politics

2013-02-27T09:50:00.003-08:00

Before I start with this post, let me give a little background history to the uninitiated. On 13th December 2001, 5 terrorists infiltrated the Parliament house in a car, rammed it into then Vice President Krishan Kant's car, got out and started firing their weapons.In the ensuing firefight between the terrorists and security personnel, all 5 terrorists, 5 policemen, a parliament security guard and a gardener were killed.

Now to get started on this post. Afzal Guru, one of the chief conspirators of the attack(along with SAR Geelani who was subsequently acquitted and Shaukat Hussain who served 10 year rigorous imprisonment) was recently hanged after having been convicted and sentenced in 2002(more than 10 years!!!!!!!). He was tried on various counts including waging war against the Govt of India and criminal conspiracy to commit murder. It seemed that the Afzal Guru chapter was finally about to close. However this was just the beginning.

After his execution there has been a hue and cry by politicians in Kashmir and various so-called human rights organizations about how the system has been unfair to Afzal Guru. Politicians in Kashmir(including CM Omar Abdullah) have repeatedly asked the body of Afzal Guru to be returned to his family. The Tihar jail authorities and the Govt of India on their part have cited the jail manual to refuse this request time and again saying it could result in chaos and law and order problem in the state. The Human Rights Organizations are the biggest criminals in this episode saying he did not get a fair trial. Where were these so called Human Rights Organizations when people like Jessica Lall got murdered? Where were they when bodies of Indian soldiers were mutilated beyond recognition in Kargil? Did they fight for the Human rights for the victims of the Parliament attack? NO!!! But they would fight for the Human rights for people who are not human at all. They were all too happy when SAR Geelani was acquitted. People like Arundhati Roy thrive on the publicity they would get by fighting for these anti national elements. It is okay if there is insufficient evidence resulting in the acquittal of one person but not so if there is ample evidence to support the conviction and punishment of another.

And then there are our great politicians from Kashmir like Mufti Mohammed Syed and Omar Abdullah by whose attitude it would seem that they would rather have Kashmir in Pakistan than India. Afzal Guru had himself admitted to having been trained in POK and harbored the terrorists. To the general public of India this is tantamount to treason and deserves nothing less than the capital punishment. But for our politicians vote bank politics comes ahead of the Nation itself.

Afzal Guru was a terrorist who waged war against the country of his birth and the punishment he received was well deserved. Not just me but 78% people of this country(as per an India Today Poll in October 2006) think so.

Yet another controversy by Kapil Sibal

2011-12-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

The Congress seems to have an insatiable appetite for causing and being involved in controversies in its 2nd tenure. From 2G and CWG scams to petrol hikes, inflation and the Lokpal Bill, the Congress seems to enjoy being in controversies. Jokes apart, to me it seems the Congress is creating controversies so as to delay passing of important bills for as long as possible. They tried to pass a bill allowing FDI in retail which was vehemently opposed not just by the opposition but also by the Congress' own allies. Now they are trying to get Facebook and Google to screen content users post on social networking websites especially content "insulting" Congress leaders including but not limited to Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and the Gandhi scion, Ra(h)ul. For the uninitiated this is what has been going on:

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/india-asks-google-facebook-others-to-screen-user-content/

So I ask this question to the government of India: Are you directly trying to curb our right to expression? Are you embarrassed so much that you cannot handle the truth which is being shared through social networking? So if I have discontent against the present political situation in India I cannot protest against it? My dear "Leaders" let me remind you one thing. The common people of India have always had patience and have learnt to live with corruption and in total apathy of the situation in this country. But remember, the tides can always turn in the opposite direction and now the patience of the people is wearing thin. If you try to curb the voice of the people it will only grow louder. Among all this there is a good news that Google has refused to remove content just because it is controversial.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/internet/Kapil-Sibal-warns-websites-Google-says-wont-remove-material-just-because-its-controversial/articleshow/11008985.cms

I feel this country is no longer a democracy but is heading towards communism. Just like China.

Of Price Rise and an Incompetent Government

2011-11-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

On reading this topic I was reminded of a very funny scene in 3 Idiots: "Bhindi 12 rupaye/kilo Gobi 10 ki" etc. However it is no laughing matter that in the last 21 months food inflation has been on the rise only and is showing no signs of cooling down.

Flawed government policies and rampant corruption are to blame for this. How do you explain that there are food surpluses in some parts of the country which are neither exported nor consumed by the local people and thus results in spoiling of the food grain? The government is not even trying to solve the supply side problems and is trying to curb the demand through the RBI by hiking the repo and reverse repo rates. RBI has hiked these rates 13 times in the last 21 months in a bid to increase EMIs on loans and suppress people's demand. How can the government expect that demand for foodgrains, vegetables, poultry and milk will reduce? It will only keep rising. In a country with a population of over 1.15 billion people and rising every minute how can you even expect that demand will slow down??Compounding the problems are the rising costs of fuel (read petrol). Petrol has been hiked by nearly 20 rupees in the last year and a half. Now another price rise of Rs 1.82/litre is on the cards. India is among the countries where petrol is most expensive ( Petrol is taxed heavily in India to meet the costs of different welfare programs). Does the government not realise that food inflation and fuel costs are linked???

Along with this we have some moronic characters in the cabinet who make foolish statements blaming the people for food inflation. A few days ago a minister in the UPA government commented that since the purchasing power has increased, people purchase more so that is why there is food inflation. Does this fool not realise that because of food inflation purchasing power is getting decreased as well? Is it supposed to mean that in this country the rich should get richer and the poor should get poorer?

I am not going to go into the fact that Indian politicians have their ill earned wealth stashed in Swiss banks and that it should be brought back because everybody knows about it. But it is indeed time that the government realise the fact that hiking of RBI rates will not reduce inflation. The krishi yojnas should reach the farmer also not just be a name on the paper popularizing a certain GANDHI or a NEHRU. It is more or less confirmed that in 2014 UPA will not be returning to power considering the amount of controversies and scams the ministers have been involved in. But then is there anything better???

Food shortage and how the Congress government manages to get away(still)

2010-08-03T08:57:00.000-07:00

These days it has become front page news that food inflation is on the rise and that the government is not doing anything about it.This oft repeated news has become so common nowadays that the common man has started ignoring it though they are all feeling the pinch.And all of the government's assurances that the food inflation will drop are falling flat.It is time for a reality check.
There was a record procurement of 609 lakh tonnes of wheat and rice last month and still 40% of the nation goes hungry and 46% of the children are malnourished.61000 tonnes of grain in Punjab,Haryana and elsewhere are rotting because of government agencies who have left the grain in the open,Despite these reports,what did the government do?Absolutely nothing.It merely acknowledged the fact and did nothing to store the surplus food grains or distribute it.The result is food inflation and a hungry nation.
Recently the Union Food ministry and FCI had suggested that 50 lakh tonnes of grain be released to the poorest districts.But the government quashed the proposal saying it would add 5000 crores INR to the food subsidy bill.
To keep its food bill low the government is now planning to define which section of people are poor. On one hand the government is spending several thousand crores of rupees on the Commonwealth games preparation for which is well behind schedule resulting in increased costs and yet it cannot feed the poor and the hungry saying there will be increase in the food subsidy bill. Its time the government gets its priorities right.

All 7 convicts in Bhopal gas case get bail

2010-07-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

Trust the Indian judicial system to let people to get away with criminal negligence. All the 7 convicts of the Bhopal gas case have been granted bail.For 26 years the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy have been waiting for justice and it seems they have to keep waiting. Warren Anderson is still "absconding" in the United States of America.Nothing, absolutely nothing has been done by the Indian officials to extradite him for judicial purpose. Now comes this shocking announcement that the other 7 convicts- who in any case had been let off lightly with a 2 year jail term and a fine of around 1 lakh- have been let off on bail.
These people are just making a mockery of the Indian judicial system.Common people sacrifice everything they have to get justice but the Indian judicial system is found wanting in all departments. Corruption is rampant. If all this had happened in a zero tolerance judicial system these scumbags would have been given a life term and nothing less.And why is the media not reporting the news related to this tragedy???If this is the state of affairs of the Indian judicial system,then God help us.....

PM convenes crucial meet on Naxal menace

2010-05-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

The Prime Minister,Dr Manmohan Singh,will convene an emergency meeting today(18th May,2010) at 5 PM to discuss the growing threat of Naxal terror in the states of Andhra Pradesh,Jharkand,West Bengal , Orissa, Chattisgarh,Bihar,Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. This meeting has been convened at the request of P.Chidambaram after naxals blew up a bus carrying 50 people in the Dantewada district of Chattisgarh.

I have only one question to ask to the government. Why is the meeting being convened now? Could it not have been convened earlier when 76 CRPF jawans were massacred in Dantewada? What will it require to make the Government realize that the army now needs to be brought in to counter the ever growing threat of naxals? Innocent lives are being lost everyday.And all that the government (or for that matter the Opposition) does is to condemn the attacks.

The government is doing nothing but testing the patience of the common man.The Indian common man has a lot of patience but not unlimited.The day it snaps could be the day the government falls. Naxals must not be shown any mercy.If they kill one of us or our jawans we should kill 10 of them.You cannot expect a peace process with these murderers. Just launch a counter offensive against them that is so strong that the naxals will be completely wiped out completely.

Some really funny visuals.....

2010-03-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

Aamir Khan and Avatar director James Cameron may work together soon as both showed keen interest to work with each other after their meeting.

Mumbaikars flocked to theatres to watch MNIK inspite of Sena threat, while in Berlin people paid Rs.63,000 per ticket to watch MNIK!

Anti-valentine Hate-Guru Pramod Muthalik's face was blackened by Youth Congress activists in Bangalore!

Ram Gopal Verma has challenged to watch Phoonkh2 alone in a theatre and win Rs 5 lakh!

Swamy Nityananda, who was caught in bed with a Tamil actress says he was just experimenting in bed

Raj Thackeray's MNS attacked a film shooting in Mumbai demanding local item girls instead of foreigners. Good news for Marathi mulgi Rakhi Sawant?

From Dalit Ki Beti to Daulat Ki Beti - Mayawati has been receiving garlands of 1000-rupee notes from her followers in spite of opposition's criticism!

Mayawati: The 'Dalit ki Beti' rises to become 'Daulat ki Beti'

2010-03-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

Couple of days back Mayawati's supporters gifted her a garland made entirely of Rs 1000 notes. The cost of the garland is estimated to be about 5 crores. This vulgar display of wealth left me speechless indeed. This money the Bahujan Samaj Party claims was collected through its supporters who gave some amount each to build this huge garland. This claim I say is bullshit. I would bet any day that this is the taxpayer's money which has been given to her as a "gift".

Recently after many people were killed due to a stampede in an ashram, Mayawati said that the state government could not compensate the victims who were killed in the tragedy and asked the central government to compensate the victims due to acute shortage of funds. On one hand this woman says that her government cannot compensate the victims but on the other hand her supporters give her a garland worth 5 crore (which would have been more than enough to compensate the victims). On one hand she says that she cannot compensate the victims but on the other she uses taxpayers' hard earned money for her own whims like building stupid parks and statues of dalit leaders including those who are alive or for organizing lavish rallies.

The I-T department has said it will probe the source of the money. Though considering the state of affairs in India how far will the I-T department be able to make headway in the case remains to be seen. Mayawati has manged to remain CM despite charges of corruption after all. And what she and her party workers have done amount to nothing less than theft.

One reason why India is a safe haven for criminals........

2010-03-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

According to home ministry figures more than 65000 foreigners were found overstaying in India in 2008. This includes 31200 Bangladeshis, 14500 Afghanis and 7500 Pakistanis. 13995 foreigners were deported. According to the minister of state for home affairs, these foreign nationals had entered India with valid travel documents. Whats more shocking is the fact that some of these illegal immigrants had even obtained voter identity cards, driving licenses and ration cards through fraudulent means. Apparently when such instances are detected government takes action to cancel the above mentioned documents.

This is the sad state of affairs in our country. There are over 65000 foreigners overstaying in India and some of them are from countries that are trying to bleed India. Others are from countries that are friendly to our nation but these people commit heinous crimes like sexually assaulting children. The government does not(and cannot) take any action against them because they are " foreign nationals " and try to leave the country when they are tried in court.

Why is the government so ignorant about this situation? Why does it not come down hard on these illegal residents of the country? These people utilise the loopholes in our legal system and manage to eventually get away with little or no punishment. The government needs to make the laws pertaining to foreign people entering the country more strict even if it means foreign tourism getting affected.

Yousuf and Younis banned from cricket INDEFINITELY by PCB

2010-03-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Wednesday handed out a very harsh punishment to Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan for the triple whitewashing that Pakistan received at the hands of Australia in the series Down Under. Yousuf and Younis have been banned for an indefinite period with the reason that their infighting was responsible in Pakistan's abysmal performance. Other players to have been punished are:

1. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan ( 1year ban and Rs 20 lakh fine)
2. Shoib Malik ( 1year ban and Rs 20 lakh fine)
3. Shahid "hungry" Afridi ( Rs 30 lakh fine)
4. Kamran Akmal ( Rs 30 lakh fine) and
5. Omar Akmal( Rs 20 lakh fine)

This ruling by the PCB has left me in splits. I am in no way sympathetic to the Pakistani players. But this decision made me laugh no end. It is no secret that Pakistanis practice extremism in everyday life blowing up things in their own country and outside as well. But they have now extended their extremism to sports as well. I mean come on. A life ban? That too to two of their frontline batsmen? I wonder who will play for Pakistan now? It certainly makes the job of other teams to defeat Pakistan. So this is what I will say to the PCB: THANK YOU

Sena attacks BNHS for 'Bombay' in its name

2010-03-12T03:28:00.000-08:00

The Shiv Sena, it seems, is competing with MNS about who can destroy public and private property in Mumbai more. A few days ago MNS supporters attacked an Airtel outlet for not launching an IVR (interactive voice response) system in Marathi. Now the Shiv Sena has responded to its "competition" by attacking the Bombay Natural History Society ? The reason for the attack? The BNHS had Bombay written in its name. The Shiv Sainiks came and using hammers and chisel took off the 'B' from the Bombay in the name. They then put 'Mumbai' over 'Bombay' in the Devanagari part of the sign and erected a sign proclaiming the institution as Mumbai Natural History Society.

The BNHS is a 126 year old landmark institution that has undertaken pioneering wildlife conservation and research in the country. The funny thing about the attack (which strictly speaking is not funny) is that the BNHS is opposite the Headquarters of the Maharashtra Police and is a kilometre away from the Colaba police station. The inefficiency of the police once again has come to the fore as the Shiv Sainiks damaged the building of BNHS right under the nose of the Maharashtra Police.The way these attacks are going on the next target could well be IIT,Bombay.

It is high time the Government of Maharashtra stop ignoring these attacks. Innocent people are attacked by these fanatics and property worth quite a lot gets damaged as well. The Thackerays think they can never be touched. They really underestimate the power of the people and the power of the law. If the common man loses his cool it is over for the MNS and the Shiv Sena. Just like the employees of a news channel in Mumbai caught and thrashed Shiv Sena supporters for vandalizing their office a few months ago.

To read more about this news,follow this link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Sena-attacks-BNHS-for-Bombay-in-its-name/articleshow/5673692.cms

Raj raps Airtel for not using Marathi

2010-03-10T00:06:00.000-08:00

Trust Raj Thackeray to return to the news with a bang. For quite a few days there was no sign of Raj Thackeray and his minions. As though to remind people that he still is very much alive and kicking, five members of MNS attacked an Airtel outlet in Mumbai after Raj had criticised Airtel for not launching customer helpline in Marathi. The five came on bikes and pelted stones at the outlet, smashing the glass at the entrance, in suburban Bandra before speeding away, according to senior inspector Prakash George.

http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/09/raj-raps-airtel-for-not-using-marathi.htm

http://in.news.yahoo.com/248/20100310/1582/tnl-raj-dares-sc-unleashes-violence.html

I am now getting really sick of the Thackeray family. Nowhere in India are people beaten up for not speaking a particular language. Yes people in the South are very proud of their language but that does not mean they beat up people who are not able to speak the same. The Thackeray family is under the impression that it is above the Indian Constitution. I just don't understand how can someone have so much hate inside them for the people of their own country. The government ought to take a firm decision and lock up the Thackerays for life. Then maybe non-Marathi people in Mumbai will feel safe.

Pakistan says its military doctrine is purely defensive

2010-03-07T21:47:00.000-08:00

Describing India's massive militarisation as dangerous for peace in the region, Pakistan has said that its military doctrine was purely defensive.

"It is India's dangerous military doctrines and massive militarisation that are matters of huge concern for regional stability whereas Pakistan has always acted to protect its legitimate security interests.Our military doctrine is purely defensive in nature," Pakistan's foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit told the News.

Basit was reacting to Indian Defence Minister AK Antony's statement that "United States decision to provide sophisticated weapons (to Pakistan) is a matter of serious concern to India."

He brushed aside Antony's criticism saying it is for the world to see that the country's military doctrine is purely defensive in nature.

Basit said the American explanation that the Pakistan Army has to be strengthened to fight terrorist outfits like the Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan was not convincing enough for India.

"Our past experience is bitter," he said, adding that the acquisition of equipment for its army had been doubled in the last five years.

Well, what Mr. Abdul Ba-s(h)it has been saying is complete bullshit. Time and time again the Pakistan Army and Rangers have violated the ceasefire agreement. And Ba-s(h)it says that they are purely defensive. He certainly needs to learn a lot more English. Pervez Musharraf had said that the weapons America had provided for fighting terror outfits were used for strengthening border posts against India.

Defensive???????? Bitter experiences in the past??? Don't make me laugh. Pakistan was the one that attacked Kargil in 1999 and it certainly was a bitter experience for them because they were kicked back into the other side of the LOC.

And the biggest profit making player in all this is the United States of America. Despite knowing that these sophisticated weapons can and will be used against India, it is still providing Pakistan with the same. And our Government will still be a loyal pup of the Americans.

Does Sachin deserve the Bharat Ratna?

2010-03-04T05:30:00.000-08:00

Before I start this post,I will mention this:I AM NOT A SACHIN BASHER..He is the greatest batsman of his era( my view). And I, albeit a bit late, would like to congratulate him for his double ton against South Africa.

The voice among the people (especially politicians) is increasing that Sachin Tendulkar be conferred the Bharat Ratna. Well, on one hand if you consider the people who have been receiving the highest civilian awards of late( Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan-Padma Shri, Sant Singh Chatwal-Padma Bhushan), I think it would be fair to give Sachin Tendulkar nothing less than Bharat Ratna. But then again there have been many great players of this game before him from our country (Sunil Gavaskar for example). Also there have been many great sportsmen before Sachin. The greatest name I can think of is Dhyan Chand, considered by many as the best hockey player till date. Dhyan Chand received the third highest civilian honour (the Padma Bhushan) though if his exploits were taken into account like Sachin's, he would have been awarded Bharat Ratna (at least posthumously).

Cricket is a game that is very popular(in fact a craze) in India. But the game is not a game that is played in every country of the world unlike soccer/football. Also it is foolhardy on the part of the people to call Sachin as the greatest batsman of the game ever because eras can never be compared. And to call for him to be given the honour after one innings of 200 in a one day international is even more foolhardy. Sachin is yet to score a triple century in Test cricket or score the highest score in it. And even if Sachin does accomplish those feats I would not recommend him to be given Bharat Ratna. Yes, if after retirement he can show some more accomplishments, I would raise my voice that he be given the highest Indian sporting achievement award ever, the Dhyan Chand Award. But Bharat Ratna,no. I don't think he has done anything for Indian Cricket that he deserves to be given the Country's highest civilian award.

I know most of Sachin's die hard fans will contradict me. But I stand by what I write.

Burqa not integral to Islam,says Election Commission

2010-02-23T23:42:00.000-08:00

Recently a petition had been filed before the supreme court seeking ban on photographs of Muslim women on electoral rolls. The election commision in response had filed an affidavit that use of burqa could not be considered an integral part of Islam.The apex court bench agreed with the poll panel's concern and said that it was not possible to have electoral rolls without photographs since that would not make the elections free and fair.

Now the person (M. Ajmal Khan) who has filed such a petition is either extremely stupid or is trying to be exceedingly smart. I say stupid because he probably does not realize that doing such a thing will result in voter identity fraud. A photo identity would allow identification of voters and prevent bogus enrollment. And if there is bogus enrollment then there will be a huge political hue and cry. And then there will be politically fueled riots and bandhs all of which will either result in death of innocent civilians or bringing the state machinery to a standstill.

Now I say the man is trying to be exceedingly smart because this sort of thing can lead to serious security loopholes. No offence to women,but women have been known to perform terrorist activities. If this petition is made into a law, then if there are terrorist attacks in the country the police would have a real tough time trying to find out the terrorists especially if they are Indian nationals.

So I am extremely happy that this petition has been denied by the Supreme Court.

Advani blames Nehru for 'festering sores' of Kashmir, terrorism

2010-02-22T11:28:00.000-08:00

L K Advani has blamed the foreign policy of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for 'festering sores' of Kashmir and terrorism. He has squarely criticised him for the poor handling of the Kashmir issue and Chinese threats. For the full report click here.

Now, I am no fan of L K Advani ( in fact I can't tolerate him) but this is one area where I will agree with him. When Pakistan attacked India in 1947 (Indo-Pak war of 1947) India had the potential to push the Pakistani soldiers out of Jammu and Kashmir. However, Mr. Nehru as an ambassador of peace took the matter to the United Nations. The United Nations passed Resolution 47 which meant people would vote whether they wanted to be in Pakistan or India. However this required Pakistan to pull back its troops ( which they never did) and India needed to have at least minimum military presence. As a result of this the Kashmir issue has not been solved till date. Just because of one man's stupidity.

The other issue is that of handling the Chinese. Despite several border disputes, Nehru thought that " one developing country will not attack the other." He asserted his "hindi chini bhai bhai " phrase and severely underestimated China's military capabilities. China attacked and our soldiers did not even have time to acclimatise. Why ? Because they were elsewhere and the border was lightly guarded. China came, saw and conquered.

Nehru flatly refused an offer that would have gotten India a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. This showed how unconcerned he was about the country's strategic interests(Click here to read about it). The fact is we have two very hostile neighbours today, one that is fighting using its army and the other using terrorists.

If only Nehru had not committed these blunders,India would not be in the state it is in and I would have always respected him. But as a matter of fact I have never respected him and I never will. His daughter Indira Gandhi showed nerves of steel at least in the matters related to Pakistan. And that is why she is the Prime Minister I will always respect the most.

For further reading click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._S._Thimayya .(I think this is one link you should not miss).

Babbar Khalsa joins 'Karachi Plot' against India

2010-02-21T00:33:00.000-08:00

A month ago, Intelligence Bureau officials had sounded off a warning pertaining to a 'Karachi Plot' that was being hatched in Pakistan to target several Indian cities.The plot was initially being hatched by Lashkar-e-Toiba, Al Qaeda's '313' brigade and ISI. Now according to the information bureau (IB) a new co-conspirer has been revealed- the Babbar Khalsa.

The Karachi plot involves suicide attacks, assassinations and serial bombings and each outfit has been given a specific role to perform. The Babbar Khalsa it may be remembered is one of the Sikh organizations calling for an Independent state of Khalistan. It had become greatly weakened during crackdown on Sikh militancy during the early 1990 by the death of its two greatest leaders, Sukhdev Singh Babbar and Talwinder Singh Parmar . The remaining leaders had fled the country. According to information ISI is sheltering the Babbar Khalsa. The ISI knows Babbar Khalsa is best in business when it comes to targeting leaders.

If security measures are not stepped up there will soon be more bombings and more civilian casualties. I still say that we don't care what the world says and attack terrorists camps in PoK. Yet every one of my friends will say that we should not attack them. America was attacked just once and the reply the Americans gave was so strong that the terrorists were afraid to even think of attacking them until a few months ago. Even our armed forces are not being strengthened. The 126 multi-role combat aircraft deal has been progressing at a snail's pace(to be precise, 9 years). As Brajesh Mishra said,"9% growth is irrelavant if you do not have the military strength to support it."

Our politicians say we will not tolerate terrorism. They will condemn terrorism. However they are the ones aiding terrorists by not taking action. Our politicians are in one word:SPINELESS. They do not have the courage to take bold decisions. And they never will. Our country will continue getting bombed by terrorists. If the politicians are tough the security system will become tough. And terrorists will think thousand times before planning an attack.

The strength of the military has to be increased to be feared. Stop the red tapism and corruption in the defense deals. The government needs to fulfill its first duty of protecting the citizens. Because the citizens are the ones involved in the growth of a country. We need to remove the tag of soft state and be ruthless against terror.

JAI HIND.

Top Cop's Excuse:Maoist attack was not expected

2010-02-17T10:59:00.000-08:00

The Maoist attack on Monday in Shilda(West Midnapore,West Bengal) that left 24 policemen and a college student dead was not expected said the director general of police Bhupinder Singh. He said that if people cannot warn them then the camp would be dismantled.

Shilda is a place that is in the heart of the Maoist territory and to consider the people to warn them is nothing short of ridiculous.Some of the glaring errors on the part of the police were as follows:

1. The camp was situated in the middle of the market which highly increases the chances of civilian casualty during crossfire between the two sides.
2. The police let their guard down.Come on now you cannot do this sort of thing on a field mission. There were only 2 sentries at the 2 gates( ONE at each gate) and the rest were relaxing far away from their guns. On a field mission in a hostile terrain it is mandatory for all personnel to carry guns.
3. There was a lack of preparedness. As an example there were no sandbags at either entrance.
4. Best of all the toilet inside the camp could be used by civilians.Apparently a couple of Maoist women had carried out reconnaissance missions. Imagine the breach of security.

Also there was intelligence that Maoists were gathering in the Shilda area. Despite all this the personnel were lax in their own security, forget the security of the people.

It is high time the cops stop giving excuses for their own incompetence and lack of preparedness to handle this sort of situation. They are supposed to protect the people. And in hostile places like Shilda you cannot expect people to come warn you if they are scared of getting killed themselves. If this is the best the state police can come up with, then there is only one person who can help us: GOD.

To read more on this article:
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100217/jsp/frontpage/story_12116241.jsp

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/west-bengal-says-it-knew-about-maoists-gathering-in-shilda_100321927.html

Now Pune is attacked by terrorists.

2010-02-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

At least eight people were killed and 33 injured in a suspected bomb blast in a popular bakery in Koregaon Park, which also houses a Jewish prayer house and the Osho Ashram, in Pune today evening. Three foreigners were reportedly killed in the blast at the bakery, which is popular among tourists.

The blast took place at the German Bakery, an old business establishment, at approximately 6.30 pm. The site is reportedly located close to the local Chabad House as well as the hotel where terror suspect David Headley stayed during his visit to the city. An improvised explosive device had been used to trigger the blast. It was probably aimed at not just locals but also the foreigners in the bakery.

Now I know what will happen. The Indian Government will condemn these attacks and say this sort of attacks will not be tolerated.They will say Pakistan on its part should fight terror. That is all they will say. Last month over a flimsy reason(the IPL "controversy") the Pakistani parliament decided not to send its delegation to India. After that the Indian government decided to hold talks with Pakistan. The Pakistani Foreign Minister started saying that Pakistani pressure forced India to hold talks.Now after these blasts should India still hold talks with Pakistan??HELL NO.

The current Indian government is as stated in a magazine a few months ago "a lame duck government".And i agree with that comment.Why is our government so scared of attacking Pakistan? If it is worried about what other world leaders would say then I would say only one thing : Worry about the safety of your country's people first and worry about everybody else later. And stop treating Ajmal Kasab like a guest. He has been caught doing terrorist activity. He will not speak much.He will only waste the court's time and make a mockery of our judiciary. Just hang him and set an example.

Indians slam Oz top cop's advice to 'look poor' to avoid attack

2010-02-09T08:13:00.000-08:00

Indian students living in Australia have slammed Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland's advice that they should not work as taxi drivers and should "'look as poor as you can" to avoid being assaulted.

Overland had made the comments at an international students' safety forum attended by about 150 people in the city on Saturday.

"Don't display your iPods, don't display your valuable watch, don't display your valuable jewellery. Try to look as poor as you can," Overland said before adding that foreign students should try to avoid living in Melbourne's poorer suburbs where crime rates are higher.

The Federation of Indian Students of Australia secretary Gautam Gupta blasted the advice, saying that Indians should not have to look "poor" to feel safe.

I agree with Mr.Gupta. Why should we Indians look poor to avoid being assaulted? Why are the Australians hell bent on disagreeing with the fact that the attacks are racist in nature. If a person is displaying his iPod or valuable watch he is more likely to get assaulted and mugged than just get assaulted.The cases of mugging in Australia of the Indians are much lesser than cases of assaults.

Foreigners around the people have an impression that India is a very poor(and i mean poorest of the poor) country in the world(thanks to the way India is depicted in foreign movies). So any show of wealth makes them angry. Isn't that what you are saying Mr. Overland? Sorry Mr. Overland you have with this comment proved that you belong to this category of people.

As for asking the Indian students to not stay in poorer suburbs well only students who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth can afford the luxury of not staying in the poor suburbs.

Mr Overland,instead of trying to pretend that these attacks are not racially motivated you had better do your job properly and try to investigate the cases of murder and assaults on Indians.

JAI HIND.

Have our gallantry and civilian awards become a farce???

2010-02-06T09:41:00.000-08:00

There are many Padma awards(6 Padma Vibhushans, 43 Padma Bhushans and 81 Padma Shris to be precise) being conferred this year.However it seems that with each passing year the value of the Padma awards are diminishing. Last year Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan surprisingly got a Padma Shri "for her contribution to Indian Cinema". As far as I know Aishwarya Rai does not have much of a contribution to Indian Cinema (unless of course you see her movies to learn how 'not to act'). If credentials are an important criteria for giving a Padma Shri award then Nandita Das' credentials far outstrip that of Mrs. Bachchan. This year there are some Padma awards that have left me bewildered. First is the Padma Bhushan for Sant Singh Chatwal. He is being given the award for public affairs. I don't know why a person who has criminal cases registered in his name is being given the award. A wikipedia entry of Mr. Chatwal says:

Chatwal has defaulted on massive loans obtained from Indian and US banks including Lincoln Savings, First New York Bank for Business, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and State Bank of India and filed bankruptcies on false grounds. He has repeatedly used political connections for personal gain.

What is more surprising is the way the government has defended its decision to confer him the award. See the following link to read the government's response :

http://netindian.in/news/2010/01/27/0005046/govt-defends-padma-bhushan-sant-singh-chatwal.Well perhaps Mr. Chatwal used his connection to get this award as well.

Second is the award that is being given to Saif Ali Khan. Saif, it may be remembered had criminal case registered against him for poaching of blackbucks in 1998. He was later acquitted(possibly through connection or something else). Even if that is ignored he has done nothing for Indian Cinema that he has to be conferred a Padma Shri.

Similarly Aamir Khan who is being given the Padma Bhushan has not done much to be given a Padma Shri. Sure his film Lagaan made it to the final round of Oscars. But then if that is the case Mira Nair deserves as much if not more recognition.

The scene is not very different even in the gallantry awards.Last year 11 Ashok Chakras were handed out making it the single most number of awards in a single operation since 1950. As I said before in a previous post I do not doubt the courage of the men who were killed in Mumbai, but 11 Ashok Chakras?? Since 1950 only 40 Ashok Chakras were given till 2008.

I came across this blog: http://theprudentindian.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/ashoka-chakra-2009-eleven-brave-hearts/ and like the author I also wondered,"Is it an attempt to shroud the ‘Guilt Pangs’ of the Man Mohan Singh’s government’s abject failure to contain terrorism?" Why was there politicization of bravery of these martyrs? Terrorists attack take place in our country on an almost regular basis. Our ministers do nothing but condemn these attacks, thats all. But when men in other places are killed trying to fight off terrorists they don't get the same recognition. Since the attack on Mumbai was on a much different scale, the government seems to have given these awards " to shroud their ‘Guilt Pangs’ for their inability to contain terrorism."

It seems thus that like everything in our country the civilian and gallantry awards have become a farce. Maybe I can get a Padma Bhushan too one day.

Rahul Gandhi v/s Uddhav Thackeray

2010-02-05T02:33:00.000-08:00

Rahul Gandhi had recently said that Mumbai belongs to all Indians.He also said that the NSG commandos that had fought during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai included men from not just North India but Maharashtra as well. He said that at that time the MNS and Shiv Sena did not ask the commandos from North India to be thrown out. Uddhav Thackeray retaliated by saying that Rahul Gandhi has disrespected the sacrifice and bravery of police officers like Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte etc.

I, for one, support Rahul Gandhi. If MNS and Shiv Sena care about Mumbai so much why were they sitting at home doing nothing while terrorists were tearing Mumbai apart. Why did they let NSG commandos hailing from North India do the dirty work of saving Mumbai? I am not doubting the courage of Mr. Karkare and the others but they were killed because of the poor quality of the bulletproof vests they wore. When an investigation pertaining to the quality of the bulletproof vests was taking place, the bulletproof vest of Mr. Karkare vanished mysteriously. What did the Shiv Sena and MNS do then? NOTHING.You say Rahul Gandhi has disrespected the sacrifice of these officers yet in your own city your own people do not respect their sacrifice. To prevent the corruption in the police force from coming to the fore they resort to such tactics.And by the way Rahul Gandhi did not disrespect the sacrifice of the brave police officers in any way.

Stop regionalism Mr Uddhav Thackeray. If you really want to do some good for Mumbai and your "Marathi Manoos" then stop the violence and help with the development of the city. Otherwise Mumbai will be destroyed by you and your men.

Tigers: An important part of our heritage

2010-02-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

These days there are a lot of advertisements on TV of movie stars asking us to support the tiger. Well to me this is not just an advertisement but a movement to save the tiger. There are only 1411 tigers left in India. This is a 60% decline from the number of 3500 in the 1990s. The sad part is the poachers are ignorant about all these facts and figures( they ought to be for all that matters to them is M-O-N-E-Y). The tigers are poached not just for their skins but also for their bones which are used to make medicinal balms. Project Tiger which was set up in 1973 tripled the number of these feline beauties from 1273 to 3500 but a lot has changed since then. We need to save our national animal from total extinction. Harsh laws will have to be implemented against the poachers who try to or kill the tigers.

The government is doing its bit by injecting 153 million US dollars into Project Tiger, setting up a poacher combat force and taking up relocation of 2 lac villagers to minimize tiger-human interaction. However we as responsible citizens of the country should do our bit to save the tiger. For that you can visit this link : http://www.saveourtigers.com/WhatCanIDoLeadtheChange.php

You can also show your support for the tiger by joining the save the tiger movement. For that you need to visit the following link:http://www.saveourtigers.com/

I have joined the movement. Now its your turn. We all need to show our support otherwise the day is not far when an important part of our national heritage will be lost forever.

Phir Mile Sur or Phir Mile Bollywood??????

2010-01-27T06:47:00.000-08:00

This morning I watched the new version of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, the national integration jingle launched in 1988. The new version was launched on 25^th January and frankly speaking it failed to impress me.

As if it were necessary to inform us that the Indian film industry is the largest in the world churning out the most number of films (most of which are flops) the song overdosed on movie stars especially from Bollywood. I began wondering:’ What the hell were the makers of this song thinking? Do these film stars show our national integration? Why not concentrate on people who had made breakthroughs in other fields as well? What about our sports stars? Sachin, Sourav, Dhoni(basically the Indian cricket team as a whole),Leander Paes(tennis), Dhanraj Pillay(Hockey), Karnam Malleshwari (Weightlifting) , Pankaj Advani( Billiards) and many more from different disciplines deserve equal recognition. People from field of science and technology also deserve similar recognition. Why not concentrate on people who protect our borders so that we may sleep easily?

Thankfully I am not the only one to share this sentiment. To understand what I mean please follow this link.

All in all a disappointing new version of a song we grew up hearing.