Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Deabate on Kashmir: Arundhati Roy's article in Outllok
Deabate on Kashmir
Arundhati Roy's article in Outllok: Azadi
Vinod Mehta-- Defending Roy : Uses of Treason
Central Chronicle: Article 370: Why is it Sanctimonious
Arundhati Roy's article in Outllok: Azadi
Vinod Mehta-- Defending Roy : Uses of Treason
Central Chronicle: Article 370: Why is it Sanctimonious
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Gayadhar Digal: Frenzied mob did not know he reentered Hinduism and cut him to pieces
Gayadhar Digal paid the price for taking matters of religion in a communally troubled part of the state too lightly. He was born a Hindu and died a Hindu, but in between he proclaimed his liking for Christianity. This cost him his life at his native Kasinipadar village in Phiringia block of Kandhmal district.
On Tuesday afternoon, Sangh Parivar men, enraged over the killings of senior VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and his disciples, attacked his house. Gayadhar, with his wife and son, ran for safety only to be hacked one km away in the field. Gayadhar succumbed. Raimati and Baisnab, a school student, are battling for lives in hospital. Attackers set ablaze many of the 350 houses in the village, with the Digals suffering the most: losing their breadwinner.
Why was the family targeted? The reasons offered by their relatives and villagers would shock even the stoic. "My uncle was a Hindu. I don't know why they attacked him and his family. Possibly, it was due to confusion over his religious identity," said niece Malati. Saroj Kumar Digal tried to clear the air. "All the Christians had left the village and moved into the jungle, fearing violence. The attackers perhaps mistook Gayadhar to be a Christian and vented their ire on him."
Why him? And a villager whispered: "He practiced Christianity for sometime, but was back to the Hindu-fold later. Maybe those in the mob who were from nearby areas, didn't know about his reentering Hinduism."
"The situation in Kandhmal is such that Christians have started claiming to be Hindus to escape communalists' rage. As such, it's difficult to ascertain religious affiliation of people. Many people, even after embracing Christianity, choose to remain Hindus in official records for SC/ST benefits," said a police officer.
Link
On Tuesday afternoon, Sangh Parivar men, enraged over the killings of senior VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and his disciples, attacked his house. Gayadhar, with his wife and son, ran for safety only to be hacked one km away in the field. Gayadhar succumbed. Raimati and Baisnab, a school student, are battling for lives in hospital. Attackers set ablaze many of the 350 houses in the village, with the Digals suffering the most: losing their breadwinner.
Why was the family targeted? The reasons offered by their relatives and villagers would shock even the stoic. "My uncle was a Hindu. I don't know why they attacked him and his family. Possibly, it was due to confusion over his religious identity," said niece Malati. Saroj Kumar Digal tried to clear the air. "All the Christians had left the village and moved into the jungle, fearing violence. The attackers perhaps mistook Gayadhar to be a Christian and vented their ire on him."
Why him? And a villager whispered: "He practiced Christianity for sometime, but was back to the Hindu-fold later. Maybe those in the mob who were from nearby areas, didn't know about his reentering Hinduism."
"The situation in Kandhmal is such that Christians have started claiming to be Hindus to escape communalists' rage. As such, it's difficult to ascertain religious affiliation of people. Many people, even after embracing Christianity, choose to remain Hindus in official records for SC/ST benefits," said a police officer.
Link
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The Singur jam
| |||
| If the contours of the deal are clear enough, what stops it being finalised? The answer lies in the CPI(M)'s tradition of obduracy. Having initially used cadre muscle and police batons to force farmers to part with their land, the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Government is unwilling to admit that its methods were wrong. It wants to tire out Ms Banerjee, rather than make a peace offering lest this be interpreted as surrender. On their part, the Trinamool leaders have taken the somewhat cynical position that they can ignore the English-language media and the urban elite, who are in any case not Ms Banerjee's voters. The rust belt underclass that has always been the Trinamool base can now be combined with a restive south Bengal peasantry to form a potent political combination, or so is the calculation. | |||
| Despite his posturing, it is a fair assumption that Mr Ratan Tata will not easily walk out on Singur. From cheap land very close to a metropolis -- and alongside a modern, recently-built highway -- to a 10-year sales tax holiday, Tata Motors has been given a good deal by Mr Bhattacharjee. Yet, an inordinate delay in getting the project up and running is not going to help West Bengal's image. Like the CPI(M) in the 1970s, the Trinamool Congress is in danger of sending out the same "cholbe na (won't do)" signals that converted West Bengal, in one generation, from an economic heavyweight to an industrial backwater. For all its angularities, the Tata Motors challenge is an important one. If Bengali politicians show the sagacity and statesmanship to meet it, other investors could come in. If not, new India will write off old West Bengal. Link to Pioneer | |||
Monday, August 25, 2008
Kandhamal is Burning
Kandhamal is Burning Again.
By Thomas Pallithanam
Hyderabad, Aug. 25. Hardily have the smouldering embers died down, fresh and wanton torching of churches and other Christian Institutions have begun all over again in Kandhamal and other districts of Orissa.Sequel to the assassination of Swami Lakshmanananda Swaraswati of Kandhamal by Naxalites there has been a violent uprising against the Christian Community in Orissa and particularly in Kandhamal district. The violence will continue to escalate fears every one who has some idea of the way Sangh Parivar works.
Those hands stretched out in loving embrance have been brutalised by the agents of hate and destruction.
View actual size
On the night of 24th August 2008 the Ashram of Swami Lakshmanandan, VHP Leader was bombed and attacked by Maoists. The Swami and 5 others were killed in the Maoist attack. Every one feared a violent reprisal against the Christian Community despite the fact it had nothing to do with the attack on the Ashram and it was the handiwork of Naxalites. Swami Lakshmanananda Swaraswati was the alleged instigator of all the violence that took place around Christmas 2007. In that violence - earlier reported from this news by-line - over 100 Christian churches, institutions were vandalised and burnt and over 800 Christian houses looted and destroyed. The state machinery then responded with deafening silence and fleeing feet. By the Director General of Police`s own admission the state knew that the Swami was behind the violence that was so cruelly unleashed against the Christian Community without any provocation. But they refused to act against him telling every one that Swami was the Thackeray of Kandhamal!!
News of violence is pouring in through private sources. Not only the state machinery but even the Oriya media has a very strong saffron hue. Even the blood of innocent victims spilled all over cannot hope to change that hue. So nothing much will be heard from the media information coming out of Orissa.
Ms Rama Hansraj, Deputy State Representative of CRS sent this news update over the internet ``According the primary information received, Jan vikas (Catholic Charities office in Phulbani), Pastoral centre and Baliguda church have been set ablaze. Missionaries of charity sisters were attacked and stones were pelted at them and one sister is badly hurt. Sr. Nirmala has already spoken to Government of India (details not known). Two jeeps were burnt in Sambalpur and one church in Raikia.
Tension is high across the state and is expected to worsen tomorrow. Stray incidents of attack on churches and institutions are being reported from some of the districts. Section 144 has been declared in many places including Kandhamal. Security has been tightened and prohibitory orders have been clamped in Kandhamal district ahead of the 12-hour bandh called tomorrow by the VHP and other affiliates of the Sangh Parivar to protest the killing (of the Swami)``
She has sent a second update just now ``situation in Bhubaneswar is getting a bit tense with many institutions and churches being attacked (as of now limited to mob breaking down the doors and windows and stone pelting). XIMB, Loyola school and SVD House in Kalinga Vihar have been attacked with damages to windows and walls - priests from SVD house moved to FORUM office but they are not sure if this will be left untouched. Stones were pelted in Archbishops house and mob was stopped from entering into the house and additional police were called for. Windows and walls of the guest house which can be reached from the road side were broken in the Archbishops house. Phulbani parish (district head quarters) and church has been attacked and burnt. All the fathers in the district had to move and are accommodated by some families. Few boys who were being helped by father for their studies in Phulbani were also attacked their houses were burnt. Sr. Suma and five her companions (MC Sisters) who were conducting health camps in Brahamanigoan (severely affected in the previous violence in December) were stuck for long in the village. Most of the sisters left convents are in different schools now``
And there is even more tragic news streaming in. Fr Ajay Singh, Director of Jan Vikas, Social Action Initiative of the Archdiocese of Bubhaneswar reports that Sr Meena has been allegedly raped at the Pastoral Centre by the arsonists. Pastoral Centre which had some how escaped vandalisation last time around now stands completely destroyed and the Director Fr.Thomas Chellan is hospitalised with serious head injury.
Christian homes, Christian headed NGOs and Community Based Organisations, businesses are all being systematically being attacked and destroyed. I had mentioned that there was a new churning in the hills of Kandhamal. The attacks have come even before our hapless Christians have had the time to gather their wits together. Everyone is wondering ``Where is He Our `Great Big Wonderful God` ``. We need to see His mighty deeds as of old. And Moses to hold up his hands as the battle rages. And all of us can lend the support of out little hands to His mighty arm. Sure we shall fold them in prayer but also raise them in protest, with those hands send our protest letters to the authorities, register our protest at the Indian Embassies (in your countries), the UN, UNCHR, EU and in whatever other ways the Spirit inspires us.
Here are some relevant fax numbers and e-mail ids:
Mr Manmohan Singh - Fax: 011-23019545 / 23016857
E-mail: manmohan@alpha.nic.in
pmosb@pmo.nic.in
Shri. Shivraj Patel
Fax: 011-23092979 / 23094221
E-mail: svpatil@sansad.nic.in
Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patel
Fax: 011-23017290 / 23017824
E-mail: presidentofindia@alpha.nic.in
presidentofindia@sansad.nic.in
Shri Navin Patnaik
Fax: 0674-2400100 / 2590833
E-mail: cmo@ori.nic.in
Shri Muralidhara CB
Fax: 0674-3536582
Phone: 0674-2536581 / 2536583 / 2536584 / 2536587
Phulbani Collector (Mr Manish Verma)
Mob.: (0)9437073200 / (0)9437299101
06842-253601 / 253602
Fax: 06842-253905
RDC Berhampur
(0)9437055455
SP Phulbani
Mobile: (0)9437323346
Phone: 06842-253611
DIG Cuttack
0674-2304451 / 2306501
Mobile: (0)9437310000
Fax: 0674-2304033
DSP Shri Praveen Kumar
Mobile: (0)9437216660
Fax: 0674-2304294
Shir Ajit Kumar Tripathi IAS (Chief Secretary CDO)
Fax: 0674-2536660 / 2532196
Visit
By Thomas Pallithanam
Hyderabad, Aug. 25. Hardily have the smouldering embers died down, fresh and wanton torching of churches and other Christian Institutions have begun all over again in Kandhamal and other districts of Orissa.Sequel to the assassination of Swami Lakshmanananda Swaraswati of Kandhamal by Naxalites there has been a violent uprising against the Christian Community in Orissa and particularly in Kandhamal district. The violence will continue to escalate fears every one who has some idea of the way Sangh Parivar works.
Those hands stretched out in loving embrance have been brutalised by the agents of hate and destruction.
View actual size
On the night of 24th August 2008 the Ashram of Swami Lakshmanandan, VHP Leader was bombed and attacked by Maoists. The Swami and 5 others were killed in the Maoist attack. Every one feared a violent reprisal against the Christian Community despite the fact it had nothing to do with the attack on the Ashram and it was the handiwork of Naxalites. Swami Lakshmanananda Swaraswati was the alleged instigator of all the violence that took place around Christmas 2007. In that violence - earlier reported from this news by-line - over 100 Christian churches, institutions were vandalised and burnt and over 800 Christian houses looted and destroyed. The state machinery then responded with deafening silence and fleeing feet. By the Director General of Police`s own admission the state knew that the Swami was behind the violence that was so cruelly unleashed against the Christian Community without any provocation. But they refused to act against him telling every one that Swami was the Thackeray of Kandhamal!!
News of violence is pouring in through private sources. Not only the state machinery but even the Oriya media has a very strong saffron hue. Even the blood of innocent victims spilled all over cannot hope to change that hue. So nothing much will be heard from the media information coming out of Orissa.
Ms Rama Hansraj, Deputy State Representative of CRS sent this news update over the internet ``According the primary information received, Jan vikas (Catholic Charities office in Phulbani), Pastoral centre and Baliguda church have been set ablaze. Missionaries of charity sisters were attacked and stones were pelted at them and one sister is badly hurt. Sr. Nirmala has already spoken to Government of India (details not known). Two jeeps were burnt in Sambalpur and one church in Raikia.
Tension is high across the state and is expected to worsen tomorrow. Stray incidents of attack on churches and institutions are being reported from some of the districts. Section 144 has been declared in many places including Kandhamal. Security has been tightened and prohibitory orders have been clamped in Kandhamal district ahead of the 12-hour bandh called tomorrow by the VHP and other affiliates of the Sangh Parivar to protest the killing (of the Swami)``
She has sent a second update just now ``situation in Bhubaneswar is getting a bit tense with many institutions and churches being attacked (as of now limited to mob breaking down the doors and windows and stone pelting). XIMB, Loyola school and SVD House in Kalinga Vihar have been attacked with damages to windows and walls - priests from SVD house moved to FORUM office but they are not sure if this will be left untouched. Stones were pelted in Archbishops house and mob was stopped from entering into the house and additional police were called for. Windows and walls of the guest house which can be reached from the road side were broken in the Archbishops house. Phulbani parish (district head quarters) and church has been attacked and burnt. All the fathers in the district had to move and are accommodated by some families. Few boys who were being helped by father for their studies in Phulbani were also attacked their houses were burnt. Sr. Suma and five her companions (MC Sisters) who were conducting health camps in Brahamanigoan (severely affected in the previous violence in December) were stuck for long in the village. Most of the sisters left convents are in different schools now``
And there is even more tragic news streaming in. Fr Ajay Singh, Director of Jan Vikas, Social Action Initiative of the Archdiocese of Bubhaneswar reports that Sr Meena has been allegedly raped at the Pastoral Centre by the arsonists. Pastoral Centre which had some how escaped vandalisation last time around now stands completely destroyed and the Director Fr.Thomas Chellan is hospitalised with serious head injury.
Christian homes, Christian headed NGOs and Community Based Organisations, businesses are all being systematically being attacked and destroyed. I had mentioned that there was a new churning in the hills of Kandhamal. The attacks have come even before our hapless Christians have had the time to gather their wits together. Everyone is wondering ``Where is He Our `Great Big Wonderful God` ``. We need to see His mighty deeds as of old. And Moses to hold up his hands as the battle rages. And all of us can lend the support of out little hands to His mighty arm. Sure we shall fold them in prayer but also raise them in protest, with those hands send our protest letters to the authorities, register our protest at the Indian Embassies (in your countries), the UN, UNCHR, EU and in whatever other ways the Spirit inspires us.
Here are some relevant fax numbers and e-mail ids:
Mr Manmohan Singh - Fax: 011-23019545 / 23016857
E-mail: manmohan@alpha.nic.in
pmosb@pmo.nic.in
Shri. Shivraj Patel
Fax: 011-23092979 / 23094221
E-mail: svpatil@sansad.nic.in
Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patel
Fax: 011-23017290 / 23017824
E-mail: presidentofindia@alpha.nic.in
presidentofindia@sansad.nic.in
Shri Navin Patnaik
Fax: 0674-2400100 / 2590833
E-mail: cmo@ori.nic.in
Shri Muralidhara CB
Fax: 0674-3536582
Phone: 0674-2536581 / 2536583 / 2536584 / 2536587
Phulbani Collector (Mr Manish Verma)
Mob.: (0)9437073200 / (0)9437299101
06842-253601 / 253602
Fax: 06842-253905
RDC Berhampur
(0)9437055455
SP Phulbani
Mobile: (0)9437323346
Phone: 06842-253611
DIG Cuttack
0674-2304451 / 2306501
Mobile: (0)9437310000
Fax: 0674-2304033
DSP Shri Praveen Kumar
Mobile: (0)9437216660
Fax: 0674-2304294
Shir Ajit Kumar Tripathi IAS (Chief Secretary CDO)
Fax: 0674-2536660 / 2532196
Visit
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
The Amarnath land transfer row, Intelligentia and BJP
Saffron brigade dividing Hindus, Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir (Commentary)
August 23rd, 2008 - 12:11 pm ICT by IANS - Email This Post Email This Post
The Amarnath land transfer row has come as a godsend to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was looking for an emotive issue after the Ayodhya temple movement fizzled out. The party now hopes to recapture the mood of the “awakening” of Hindus, which was associated with Ayodhya, to consolidate its position in the run-up to the next round of assembly elections.However, there is a catch. The BJP’s encouragement of the temple issue came to be associated with communal tension and riots in the early 1990s. That was why the party decided to shelve the matter in 1996 so as not to antagonise its “secular” allies like the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), the Telugu Desam and others.
...........
The matter has been further complicated by the call for Kashmir’s “azadi” (freedom) given not only by maverick leftist social activist and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy but also by well-known media personalities like Vir Sanghvi and Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar.
Read more
Rajamohan Gandhi also aired views similar to Roy and others
August 23rd, 2008 - 12:11 pm ICT by IANS - Email This Post Email This Post
The Amarnath land transfer row has come as a godsend to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was looking for an emotive issue after the Ayodhya temple movement fizzled out. The party now hopes to recapture the mood of the “awakening” of Hindus, which was associated with Ayodhya, to consolidate its position in the run-up to the next round of assembly elections.However, there is a catch. The BJP’s encouragement of the temple issue came to be associated with communal tension and riots in the early 1990s. That was why the party decided to shelve the matter in 1996 so as not to antagonise its “secular” allies like the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), the Telugu Desam and others.
...........
The matter has been further complicated by the call for Kashmir’s “azadi” (freedom) given not only by maverick leftist social activist and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy but also by well-known media personalities like Vir Sanghvi and Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar.
Read more
Rajamohan Gandhi also aired views similar to Roy and others
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Shabana Azmi : Indian democracy unfair to Muslims
'Indian democracy unfair to Muslims'
17 Aug 2008, 0804 hrs IST,TNN
New Delhi: Although Muslims are safer in this country than in other parts of the world because they have a stake and space in Indian democracy, Indian democracy is unfair to Muslims, says Shabana Azmi, actor and former MP.
In an interview to a private TV channel, Azmi said, "I think there is not enough understanding of the fact that in a democracy how you treat the security of the minority must be a very important part for the success of a democracy . You can't only make token gestures and actually let them be in the state that they are as the Rajinder Sachar Committee report shows. So what happened is token gestures are made but real issues are never addressed."
Read it all here
17 Aug 2008, 0804 hrs IST,TNN
New Delhi: Although Muslims are safer in this country than in other parts of the world because they have a stake and space in Indian democracy, Indian democracy is unfair to Muslims, says Shabana Azmi, actor and former MP.
In an interview to a private TV channel, Azmi said, "I think there is not enough understanding of the fact that in a democracy how you treat the security of the minority must be a very important part for the success of a democracy . You can't only make token gestures and actually let them be in the state that they are as the Rajinder Sachar Committee report shows. So what happened is token gestures are made but real issues are never addressed."
Read it all here
Monday, August 11, 2008
Cash-for-votes tapes ask more questions
Malayala Manorama Indian Newspaper of Malayalam Language from eight places in Kerela
Tuesday,12 August 2008 8:3 hrs IST
Cash-for-votes tapes ask more questions
New Delhi: Ending weeks of suspense over the contents of the cash-for-votes sting tape, the CNN-IBN news channel telecast the controversial tape. However, the contents left several questions unanswered and did not conclusively establish a case of an attempt to bribe three BJP MPs to make them abstain during the July 22 trust vote in parliament.
The tape showed Samajwadi Party MP Reoti Raman Singh meeting three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs and offering them a "deal" in return for their abstention during the crucial trust vote.
The channel decided to air the tapes after its representatives on Monday appeared before a parliamentary panel set up to investigate the MPs' allegations, Rajdeep Sardesai, editor-in-chief of CNN-IBN, said while introducing the show.
The tapes merely showed the meeting between the Samajwadi Party parliamentarian and the three BJP MPs - Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora. The contentious tapes, based on footage shot through secret cameras, show Reoti Raman Singh, MP from Allahabad, coming to the 4, Ferozeshah Road residence of BJP MP Ashok Argal on the midnight of July 21 and sweet-talking them into a cash-for-vote deal.
The two other BJP MPs were present at Argal's residence. The tapes show Raman Singh talking to the three BJP MPs and asking them to meet Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh "face to face" and sort out the "amount" and "deal" with him in return for their abstention.
When they demur saying it's too late in the night, Raman Singh is shown cajoling and persisting with his plea that the deal will be closed in "10 minutes".
The next morning, the tapes show a white Maruti Zen allegedly carrying two BJP MPs entering the Lodhi Road residence of Amar Singh. As the car had tinted glasses, the tapes were apparently not able to film those inside the car. Suhail, a middleman who allegedly fixed the meeting between the BJP MPs and Reoti Raman Singh is, however, seen getting out from the car and entering Amar Singh's residence.
The deal is struck, with Amar Singh allegedly promising that he will pay the three BJP MPs Rs.30 million for abstaining from the trust vote. Later in the day, a man goes to the residence of Argal with a bag carrying Rs.10 million as token amount.
The tapes have vivid footage of Sanjeev Saxena taking out bundles of currency notes and keeping them on the table with other BJP MPs confirming that it was the token amount of Rs.10 million. Saxena is also shown talking on his mobile phone, allegedly with Amar Singh (one can't hear the voice of Amar Singh on the tapes), who is often referred to as the "boss".
However, in an interview after the sting, BJP leader Arun Jaitley is shown by the news channel as saying that the party has provided enough evidence to establish the link between Saxena and Amar Singh.
Jaitley said that the BJP has provided records of Saxena's mobile phone calls on that day to Amar Singh to belie the latter's claim that he did not know Saxena well. Jaitley also claimed that Saxena was sending SMSes to journalists informing them of Singh's press conference days before the trust vote. The news channel tried to contact Saxena, but he has mysteriously disappeared after the July 22 trust vote.
There are many grey areas in the bribery scam that rocked parliament hours before the trust vote July 22 when the three BJP MPs started flashing wads of currency notes as proof that they had been bribed, but the quality of footage in tapes is not reasonably good and leaves viewers to construct their own story, raising more questions rather than answering them.
The news channel had defended its decision not to broadcast the tapes on the same day on the ground that it did not pass their in-house editorial screening and self-imposed code of sting operations. This fuelled speculation about the motives of the channel in not broadcasting it.
Sardesai has again defended his decision saying that "a journalist's timeline can't be influenced by a politician's timeline". The tapes needed further checking and cross-checking before they could be placed before the public, he said.
Amar Singh and Ahmed Patel, Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary, both Rajya Sabha members, have denied charges of being involved in the bribery scam.
The parliamentary committee, which was earlier asked to submit its report on Monday, has been given an extension till Aug 29.
The committee is also expected to watch two other CDs, which have come out on the incident. The second CD, which reportedly turned out to be a bogus one, was presented by former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti, who claimed the BJP had stage-managed the entire episode.
Three allies of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) - Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janashakti Party and Samajwadi Party - also released a fresh CD a few days back purportedly showing that the BJP had stage-managed the episode.
Tuesday,12 August 2008 8:3 hrs IST
Cash-for-votes tapes ask more questions
New Delhi: Ending weeks of suspense over the contents of the cash-for-votes sting tape, the CNN-IBN news channel telecast the controversial tape. However, the contents left several questions unanswered and did not conclusively establish a case of an attempt to bribe three BJP MPs to make them abstain during the July 22 trust vote in parliament.
The tape showed Samajwadi Party MP Reoti Raman Singh meeting three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs and offering them a "deal" in return for their abstention during the crucial trust vote.
The channel decided to air the tapes after its representatives on Monday appeared before a parliamentary panel set up to investigate the MPs' allegations, Rajdeep Sardesai, editor-in-chief of CNN-IBN, said while introducing the show.
The tapes merely showed the meeting between the Samajwadi Party parliamentarian and the three BJP MPs - Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora. The contentious tapes, based on footage shot through secret cameras, show Reoti Raman Singh, MP from Allahabad, coming to the 4, Ferozeshah Road residence of BJP MP Ashok Argal on the midnight of July 21 and sweet-talking them into a cash-for-vote deal.
The two other BJP MPs were present at Argal's residence. The tapes show Raman Singh talking to the three BJP MPs and asking them to meet Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh "face to face" and sort out the "amount" and "deal" with him in return for their abstention.
When they demur saying it's too late in the night, Raman Singh is shown cajoling and persisting with his plea that the deal will be closed in "10 minutes".
The next morning, the tapes show a white Maruti Zen allegedly carrying two BJP MPs entering the Lodhi Road residence of Amar Singh. As the car had tinted glasses, the tapes were apparently not able to film those inside the car. Suhail, a middleman who allegedly fixed the meeting between the BJP MPs and Reoti Raman Singh is, however, seen getting out from the car and entering Amar Singh's residence.
The deal is struck, with Amar Singh allegedly promising that he will pay the three BJP MPs Rs.30 million for abstaining from the trust vote. Later in the day, a man goes to the residence of Argal with a bag carrying Rs.10 million as token amount.
The tapes have vivid footage of Sanjeev Saxena taking out bundles of currency notes and keeping them on the table with other BJP MPs confirming that it was the token amount of Rs.10 million. Saxena is also shown talking on his mobile phone, allegedly with Amar Singh (one can't hear the voice of Amar Singh on the tapes), who is often referred to as the "boss".
However, in an interview after the sting, BJP leader Arun Jaitley is shown by the news channel as saying that the party has provided enough evidence to establish the link between Saxena and Amar Singh.
Jaitley said that the BJP has provided records of Saxena's mobile phone calls on that day to Amar Singh to belie the latter's claim that he did not know Saxena well. Jaitley also claimed that Saxena was sending SMSes to journalists informing them of Singh's press conference days before the trust vote. The news channel tried to contact Saxena, but he has mysteriously disappeared after the July 22 trust vote.
There are many grey areas in the bribery scam that rocked parliament hours before the trust vote July 22 when the three BJP MPs started flashing wads of currency notes as proof that they had been bribed, but the quality of footage in tapes is not reasonably good and leaves viewers to construct their own story, raising more questions rather than answering them.
The news channel had defended its decision not to broadcast the tapes on the same day on the ground that it did not pass their in-house editorial screening and self-imposed code of sting operations. This fuelled speculation about the motives of the channel in not broadcasting it.
Sardesai has again defended his decision saying that "a journalist's timeline can't be influenced by a politician's timeline". The tapes needed further checking and cross-checking before they could be placed before the public, he said.
Amar Singh and Ahmed Patel, Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary, both Rajya Sabha members, have denied charges of being involved in the bribery scam.
The parliamentary committee, which was earlier asked to submit its report on Monday, has been given an extension till Aug 29.
The committee is also expected to watch two other CDs, which have come out on the incident. The second CD, which reportedly turned out to be a bogus one, was presented by former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti, who claimed the BJP had stage-managed the entire episode.
Three allies of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) - Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janashakti Party and Samajwadi Party - also released a fresh CD a few days back purportedly showing that the BJP had stage-managed the episode.
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OPINION
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Time is only a pattern on the verities equated with India
Bishwadeep Moitra
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Special Issue: Independence Day Special
As our beloved India turns 61—in terms of significance an inconsequential double-digit before the sheer sweep of history—do we have much to cheer? We sit on the debris of bomb blasts that keep dismembering us with clockwork regularity. The 'cash for vote' scandal, and the insights it afforded into the collective conscience of our elected beacons of democracy, may not have jolted many of us, but since the world saw our naras hanging out of our pants, noises were made about the defiling of the sanctum sanctorum of our democracy. The chair of the House is more upset about the spectacle of wads of notes being bandied about inside the ring in which he was master, and that the whole world witnessed the circus.
How do we celebrate our birthday in the midst of such miserable climes? To liven up things and make the occasion seem momentous, let us begin with giving the do a sexy name. The latinised "India-LXI" sounds hip. It gives India the personality of an automobile on the fast track. Chrome-finish it to cover the rough edges. Position it at mid-market so that many can get on the curry train. The branding 'LXI' befits our old-country new-nation legacy because the acronym wears a gladiatorial crown forged in Augustan Rome. Let us clamber on to this wagon and look for 61 of India's most defining characteristics, without which our country would not have been half as desirable and alluring as she is.
1. A billion plus people—barring a fraction, simple and always smiling.
2. The mountains, the beaches, the desert, the snow...we have everything.
3. Lots of sunshine, lots of moonlit nights, lots of rain...we are an all-season country.
4. Tie & dye, block print, Bandhani, Kanjivaram, Ilkal...our pret-a-porter need not be cut and stitched to size.
5. Rasam, ghee bhaat, poha, nihari...even if you have one starter a day, by the time you sample them all it could take more than a year before you tried everything. And we have not even started laying out the main dishes and desserts on the table yet.
6. Chunaw (Elections)—despite our crooked politicians we still go out to vote and elect our representatives.
7. The chaos. It is ubiquitous—airports, railways, roads, schools, hospitals...we have learned to 'adjust' and carry on with cheer and equanimity.
8. Baksheesh. A small tip works the system like it does nowhere else.
9. Jugaad. We can even make a water-pumping machine double up as a multi-utility vehicle.
10. Padayatra. We still believe that by just walking endless miles we can bring about a revolution.
11. English. The many ways only we know how to speak it.
12. The vernacular—our very own 14 official languages, the verbs of which take care of the degree of politeness and respect you want to accord, making the use of thank you and sorry redundant.
13. Our cultural heritage. Though we do precious little to preserve it, we are extremely proud and sensitive of any criticism.
14. Debate. We are past masters in being argumentative.
15. Morning defecation. Which other country will have almost its entire population shit between 7 and 8 in the morning? You know when not to call.
16. Burp. An appreciation of food just consumed.
17. Breaking wind. Telling the world that your digestive system is kicking all right.
18. Camaraderie—often manifested in men holding hands as they walk on the street. You will completely be off the mark if you read any sexual overture in the bonding.
19. Shakti. Women in position of power.
20. Children. They are a divine blessing and we don't say no to the gods.
21. Servants.
We don't have a problem calling them so. Driver, maali, cook, malishwala, presswala. ..pay a pittance for their services and live like a royal. We are only generating employment for the dispossessed.
22. Jagte raho. Keep awake, that's what your nightwatchman is shouting when he is not blowing the whistle in the night.
23. Horn Please. You are telling the world that you too have arrived.
24. The loudspeakers of temple, mosques, gurudwaras...we actually give donations to make them going. To hell with our morning sleep.
25. Cows, buffaloes, dogs, cats, monkeys, elephants...we all cohabit with each other. Unity in biodiversity.
26. Common minimum programme. We are okay with the bare minimum our ruling masters deem fit for our prosperity.
27. Compromise formula. Gives us room to carry on with the dispute.
28. Homeopathy. A post-retirement employment guarantee option.
29. Ayurved and yoga. A cool way to earn foreign exchange.
30. Sadhus and mysticism. Some more ways to make moolah—desi or foreign.
31. Bollywood, Tollywood, Mollywood. Hollywood has failed to vanquish us.
32. Repair Man. Practically anything can be repaired. Any make, any model. For a pittance.
33. Bargaining. It's a national sport.
34. Laughing Clubs. What an idea, sirji.
35. Kumbh Mela, not just the world's largest human congregation.
36. Free Music Concerts. Where else in the world will you hear the world's greatest musicians perform without you having to spend a dime?
37. Flyovers. These elevated traffic intersections are found everywhere in world, but only we have given them a supersonic name, whereas all they do is to take you from one traffic snarl to the other, only a little bit faster.
38. Masala Curry. Irreplaceable.
39. Calendars & New Years. Each region has its own. Baisakhi, Ugadi, Poila Boishakh, Sankranthi, Vishu...so many parties if you want to make one.
40. Our Gods. We easily are ahead of the Greeks.
41. Spitting. No one will call you a 'bad boy' if you do that.
42. Nakhrewalis. (Naaka, Some more...). God, could there be a variant in any other culture?
43. Ladies queue. Chivalry is not dead yet.
44. Morning Walks. A practice reminiscent of Independence struggle—Prabhat Pheri, still popular, though for different reasons.
45. Vice-free. We take great pride in being teetotaler, vegetarian and celibate.
46. Comb in the hip-pocket. Indian male's vanity kit.
47. Talcum powder. We even don't spare our face from liberal application.
48. Fairness Creams. The whiter the better.
49. Gyms and Beauty Parlours. Even as we gorge butter-chicken, pakoras and desi-ghee, these one-stop shops are meant to fix all our ugliness.
50. Rahu-kalam. We know exactly when not to venture out.
51. God Promise. Kasam se. Get away with a white lie.
52. Exchange offer. Long before the West cracked this economic model, our grandmothers were exchanging old clothes for new utensils.
53. Kabariwala. Recycle. We beat the West at this one too. All your junk fetches a price right on your doorstep.
54. Parents' home. Will always be open for you.
55. Benaras. World's oldest extant city.
56. Cutting chai. Buy one get two.
57. Ambassador. A WWII relic, still a symbol of power.
58. Nodding. Yes or no, we nod our head in the same way, giving ourselves plenty of room to manoeuvre.
59. Spectator Sport.Not just cricket, we are equally passionate about the Brazilian soccer team.
60. Long tresses of the Bharatiya Nari.
61. Jai Hind. Should have been Jai Bharat, but we take immense pride in us being an ancient civilisation.
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20080818&fname=T61+Reasons+%28F%29&sid=1&pn=2
OPINION
61 candles
Time is only a pattern on the verities equated with India
Bishwadeep Moitra
| e-mail | one page format | feedback: send - read |
Special Issue: Independence Day Special
As our beloved India turns 61—in terms of significance an inconsequential double-digit before the sheer sweep of history—do we have much to cheer? We sit on the debris of bomb blasts that keep dismembering us with clockwork regularity. The 'cash for vote' scandal, and the insights it afforded into the collective conscience of our elected beacons of democracy, may not have jolted many of us, but since the world saw our naras hanging out of our pants, noises were made about the defiling of the sanctum sanctorum of our democracy. The chair of the House is more upset about the spectacle of wads of notes being bandied about inside the ring in which he was master, and that the whole world witnessed the circus.
How do we celebrate our birthday in the midst of such miserable climes? To liven up things and make the occasion seem momentous, let us begin with giving the do a sexy name. The latinised "India-LXI" sounds hip. It gives India the personality of an automobile on the fast track. Chrome-finish it to cover the rough edges. Position it at mid-market so that many can get on the curry train. The branding 'LXI' befits our old-country new-nation legacy because the acronym wears a gladiatorial crown forged in Augustan Rome. Let us clamber on to this wagon and look for 61 of India's most defining characteristics, without which our country would not have been half as desirable and alluring as she is.
1. A billion plus people—barring a fraction, simple and always smiling.
2. The mountains, the beaches, the desert, the snow...we have everything.
3. Lots of sunshine, lots of moonlit nights, lots of rain...we are an all-season country.
4. Tie & dye, block print, Bandhani, Kanjivaram, Ilkal...our pret-a-porter need not be cut and stitched to size.
5. Rasam, ghee bhaat, poha, nihari...even if you have one starter a day, by the time you sample them all it could take more than a year before you tried everything. And we have not even started laying out the main dishes and desserts on the table yet.
6. Chunaw (Elections)—despite our crooked politicians we still go out to vote and elect our representatives.
7. The chaos. It is ubiquitous—airports, railways, roads, schools, hospitals...we have learned to 'adjust' and carry on with cheer and equanimity.
8. Baksheesh. A small tip works the system like it does nowhere else.
9. Jugaad. We can even make a water-pumping machine double up as a multi-utility vehicle.
10. Padayatra. We still believe that by just walking endless miles we can bring about a revolution.
11. English. The many ways only we know how to speak it.
12. The vernacular—our very own 14 official languages, the verbs of which take care of the degree of politeness and respect you want to accord, making the use of thank you and sorry redundant.
13. Our cultural heritage. Though we do precious little to preserve it, we are extremely proud and sensitive of any criticism.
14. Debate. We are past masters in being argumentative.
15. Morning defecation. Which other country will have almost its entire population shit between 7 and 8 in the morning? You know when not to call.
16. Burp. An appreciation of food just consumed.
17. Breaking wind. Telling the world that your digestive system is kicking all right.
18. Camaraderie—often manifested in men holding hands as they walk on the street. You will completely be off the mark if you read any sexual overture in the bonding.
19. Shakti. Women in position of power.
20. Children. They are a divine blessing and we don't say no to the gods.
21. Servants.
We don't have a problem calling them so. Driver, maali, cook, malishwala, presswala. ..pay a pittance for their services and live like a royal. We are only generating employment for the dispossessed.
22. Jagte raho. Keep awake, that's what your nightwatchman is shouting when he is not blowing the whistle in the night.
23. Horn Please. You are telling the world that you too have arrived.
24. The loudspeakers of temple, mosques, gurudwaras...we actually give donations to make them going. To hell with our morning sleep.
25. Cows, buffaloes, dogs, cats, monkeys, elephants...we all cohabit with each other. Unity in biodiversity.
26. Common minimum programme. We are okay with the bare minimum our ruling masters deem fit for our prosperity.
27. Compromise formula. Gives us room to carry on with the dispute.
28. Homeopathy. A post-retirement employment guarantee option.
29. Ayurved and yoga. A cool way to earn foreign exchange.
30. Sadhus and mysticism. Some more ways to make moolah—desi or foreign.
31. Bollywood, Tollywood, Mollywood. Hollywood has failed to vanquish us.
32. Repair Man. Practically anything can be repaired. Any make, any model. For a pittance.
33. Bargaining. It's a national sport.
34. Laughing Clubs. What an idea, sirji.
35. Kumbh Mela, not just the world's largest human congregation.
36. Free Music Concerts. Where else in the world will you hear the world's greatest musicians perform without you having to spend a dime?
37. Flyovers. These elevated traffic intersections are found everywhere in world, but only we have given them a supersonic name, whereas all they do is to take you from one traffic snarl to the other, only a little bit faster.
38. Masala Curry. Irreplaceable.
39. Calendars & New Years. Each region has its own. Baisakhi, Ugadi, Poila Boishakh, Sankranthi, Vishu...so many parties if you want to make one.
40. Our Gods. We easily are ahead of the Greeks.
41. Spitting. No one will call you a 'bad boy' if you do that.
42. Nakhrewalis. (Naaka, Some more...). God, could there be a variant in any other culture?
43. Ladies queue. Chivalry is not dead yet.
44. Morning Walks. A practice reminiscent of Independence struggle—Prabhat Pheri, still popular, though for different reasons.
45. Vice-free. We take great pride in being teetotaler, vegetarian and celibate.
46. Comb in the hip-pocket. Indian male's vanity kit.
47. Talcum powder. We even don't spare our face from liberal application.
48. Fairness Creams. The whiter the better.
49. Gyms and Beauty Parlours. Even as we gorge butter-chicken, pakoras and desi-ghee, these one-stop shops are meant to fix all our ugliness.
50. Rahu-kalam. We know exactly when not to venture out.
51. God Promise. Kasam se. Get away with a white lie.
52. Exchange offer. Long before the West cracked this economic model, our grandmothers were exchanging old clothes for new utensils.
53. Kabariwala. Recycle. We beat the West at this one too. All your junk fetches a price right on your doorstep.
54. Parents' home. Will always be open for you.
55. Benaras. World's oldest extant city.
56. Cutting chai. Buy one get two.
57. Ambassador. A WWII relic, still a symbol of power.
58. Nodding. Yes or no, we nod our head in the same way, giving ourselves plenty of room to manoeuvre.
59. Spectator Sport.Not just cricket, we are equally passionate about the Brazilian soccer team.
60. Long tresses of the Bharatiya Nari.
61. Jai Hind. Should have been Jai Bharat, but we take immense pride in us being an ancient civilisation.
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20080818&fname=T61+Reasons+%28F%29&sid=1&pn=2
Friday, August 1, 2008
For Ahmedabad's Muslims, 2008 is not 2002
Malayala Manorama Indian Newspaper of Malayalam Language from eight places in Kerela
For Ahmedabad's Muslims, 2008 is not 2002
| Thursday,31 July 2008 16:54 hrs IST |  |  |
 |
Ahmedabad: Many of them fled from their homes six years ago but they are staying put now. Even as they recall the massacre of February 2002, Muslims living in Naroda Patiya here have not panicked in the aftermath of the serial bombings in the city Saturday.
"How long do we keep running? How and where can we flee? Now we are living here on the mercy of Allah. If we are destined to die here, we would die," said Naseema Banu, a resident of Hussain Nagar in Naroda Patiya on the outskirts of the city.
Naseema, in her early forties, works in an elastic manufacturing company while her aged mother Jameela Banu works for a Hindu family for past four decades.
"I came to this place from Lucknow with my parents when I was two months old, today my grandchildren are two years and four years old. This is my place where and why should I go anywhere from here," Naseema told IANS.
They as well as their neighbours look less scared and are not planning to shift away from their Muslim-dominated lower middle class locality after the bombings - which its alleged perpetrators Indian Mujahideen said in an email were in revenge of the 2002 violence.
It was not so six years ago.
A day after a bogey of the Sabarmati Express was set on fire Feb 27, 2002, a mob had attacked the locality, resulting in the worst massacre of the communal violence across Gujarat which went on for weeks.
Many women were gang-raped and at least 83 people were killed, forcing many to run away from their homes without a moment's delay.
Nazirbhai, 50, a scrap merchant of the same area, said: "However, this time the role of SRP (Special Reserve Police) was different. Last time they were helpful to the killers while this time they were guarding us."
Residents of different mohallas, or colonies, of Naroda Patiya including Noorani Masjid, Citizen Nagar and Hussain Nagar echo the same feelings.
They said there was initially lot of panic among them on that fateful Saturday evening when 21 bombs went off within a span of about 70 minutes, killing at least 50 people and injuring about 200.
The immediate reason for the scare was that landline telephones and mobiles had stopped working - just like it happened before the 2002 massacre.
Kauserjehan, a 28-year-old homemaker, said: "In any case, we were helpless and had no option but to just rely on god's mercy. There were news of bomb blasts at so many places including nearby Isanpur and Naroda."
Their confidence also comes from their faith in judiciary as they have seen justice being delivered in some of the high-profile cases of the 2002 violence.
"Law would take its own course, (Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra) Modi knows it very well. May be that is why he is talking of communal harmony while last time he didn't," said Sajid Hussain, a resident of Noorani Masjid area.
"This time there is pressure from UPA (United Progressive Alliance) chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," Hussain told IANS.
However, a few kilometres away in Gulbarg Society, which also saw one of the worst massacres in February 2002, the only family that continued to live there has decided to be cautious. In this colony in Chamanpura area of east Ahmedabad, over 250 people took refuge on the morning of Feb 28, 2002 in the home of Ehsan Jaffrey, a former MP. Little did they know that 39 of them would be killed in a matter of hours.
The survivors of the families from 19 bungalows and eight flats have left the place. But Qasim Mansuri, 60, and his young nephews and grandsons use the deserted place for their business - spinning cotton and making pillows and mattresses.
While the younger lot return home after working hours, Qasim, who lost 19 members of his family in that massacre, sleeps in the same place only.
However, for since the serial blasts Qasim has not slept at the Gulbarg house.
"Why should I not use my own place? I have lived here with my happy big family. We had two bungalows in this society - one this and one inside where my mother and my younger brother with his family lived. I have loads of memories attached with this place," Qasim said, pointing at a coloured photograph, of himself and his wife whom he lost in the massacre, hanging on the wall.
Asked how he felt when he heard the news of blasts, he said: "No innocent should be killed. Each son and daughter died in the Saturday blasts is a genuine loss for me as well.
"Such acts of killing take us nowhere. They only divide us and spread more hatred between the two communities. If it is the handiwork of Muslim fundamentalists is it any way going to get back my dear ones? Was it meant for us?" he said.
"How long do we keep running? How and where can we flee? Now we are living here on the mercy of Allah. If we are destined to die here, we would die," said Naseema Banu, a resident of Hussain Nagar in Naroda Patiya on the outskirts of the city.
Naseema, in her early forties, works in an elastic manufacturing company while her aged mother Jameela Banu works for a Hindu family for past four decades.
"I came to this place from Lucknow with my parents when I was two months old, today my grandchildren are two years and four years old. This is my place where and why should I go anywhere from here," Naseema told IANS.
They as well as their neighbours look less scared and are not planning to shift away from their Muslim-dominated lower middle class locality after the bombings - which its alleged perpetrators Indian Mujahideen said in an email were in revenge of the 2002 violence.
It was not so six years ago.
A day after a bogey of the Sabarmati Express was set on fire Feb 27, 2002, a mob had attacked the locality, resulting in the worst massacre of the communal violence across Gujarat which went on for weeks.
Many women were gang-raped and at least 83 people were killed, forcing many to run away from their homes without a moment's delay.
Nazirbhai, 50, a scrap merchant of the same area, said: "However, this time the role of SRP (Special Reserve Police) was different. Last time they were helpful to the killers while this time they were guarding us."
Residents of different mohallas, or colonies, of Naroda Patiya including Noorani Masjid, Citizen Nagar and Hussain Nagar echo the same feelings.
They said there was initially lot of panic among them on that fateful Saturday evening when 21 bombs went off within a span of about 70 minutes, killing at least 50 people and injuring about 200.
The immediate reason for the scare was that landline telephones and mobiles had stopped working - just like it happened before the 2002 massacre.
Kauserjehan, a 28-year-old homemaker, said: "In any case, we were helpless and had no option but to just rely on god's mercy. There were news of bomb blasts at so many places including nearby Isanpur and Naroda."
Their confidence also comes from their faith in judiciary as they have seen justice being delivered in some of the high-profile cases of the 2002 violence.
"Law would take its own course, (Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra) Modi knows it very well. May be that is why he is talking of communal harmony while last time he didn't," said Sajid Hussain, a resident of Noorani Masjid area.
"This time there is pressure from UPA (United Progressive Alliance) chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," Hussain told IANS.
However, a few kilometres away in Gulbarg Society, which also saw one of the worst massacres in February 2002, the only family that continued to live there has decided to be cautious. In this colony in Chamanpura area of east Ahmedabad, over 250 people took refuge on the morning of Feb 28, 2002 in the home of Ehsan Jaffrey, a former MP. Little did they know that 39 of them would be killed in a matter of hours.
The survivors of the families from 19 bungalows and eight flats have left the place. But Qasim Mansuri, 60, and his young nephews and grandsons use the deserted place for their business - spinning cotton and making pillows and mattresses.
While the younger lot return home after working hours, Qasim, who lost 19 members of his family in that massacre, sleeps in the same place only.
However, for since the serial blasts Qasim has not slept at the Gulbarg house.
"Why should I not use my own place? I have lived here with my happy big family. We had two bungalows in this society - one this and one inside where my mother and my younger brother with his family lived. I have loads of memories attached with this place," Qasim said, pointing at a coloured photograph, of himself and his wife whom he lost in the massacre, hanging on the wall.
Asked how he felt when he heard the news of blasts, he said: "No innocent should be killed. Each son and daughter died in the Saturday blasts is a genuine loss for me as well.
"Such acts of killing take us nowhere. They only divide us and spread more hatred between the two communities. If it is the handiwork of Muslim fundamentalists is it any way going to get back my dear ones? Was it meant for us?" he said.
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