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Indian TV feature: Destruction of Babari Masjid/Mosque: Ayodhya,
India, 1992 (India's Al Aqsa)
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Gadkari struggles to finalise state chiefs
2 Apr 2010, 0514 hrs IST,ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: Three months into his tenure as the BJP president, Mr Nitin
Gadkari has started realising that he has occupied a chair full of
thorns.
Severe infighting, pressure from rival factions and an acute talent
deficit have thwarted his plans to resolve the leadership tangle in
politically-crucial states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra.
The state units have remained headless for over a month now (in
Maharashtra’s case, it’s been over three months), but there no sign of
the leadership issue being resolved any time soon. Mr Gadkari has now
convened a meeting of senior party leaders from Uttar Pradesh on
Saturday to help him finalise the name of the next state unit chief.
The case of Bihar is even more telling. The state goes to polls in a
little over six months from now, but the state unit has been
functioning without a president for over a month now. The previous
incumbent, Radha Mohan Singh’s tenure came to end in December last,
and he has been made a member of the party’s national executive.
“The party should have been in a election mode by now, but have been
hamstrung by the fact that there is no one to lead the party at this
critical juncture,’’ a senior party leader from the state bemoaned.
The dilemma over who should head the party in an election year has
been compounded by a multiplicity of factors. The BJP brass has in
principle decided to install a Brahmin as the next state unit
president, but cannot zero down on a suitable candidate While the
front-runner in the race, Mangal Pandey is considered too much of a
lightweight, Mr Ashwini Choubey, who’s a senior minister in the state
government is considered to be too headstrong , and is unacceptable to
large sections of the party, and the coalition at large.
In Uttar Pradesh, Mr Gadkari is confronted with a different problem.
The current crop of leadership in the state has lost all semblance of
credibility, and the next generation presents a woeful picture in
terms of leadership abilities. Mr Gadkari’s hands have also been tied
by the vicious infighting among the state-level leaders.
For both Bihar and UP, the BJP president had hired the services of a
research organisation to conduct a survey on the popularity-ratings of
the claimants and the leader who was best suited to lead the party.
The results, it is learnt, have not been too encouraging, forcing Mr
Gadkari to hold another round of consultations. With the emphasis on
youth, the leadership wants a fresh face to lead the organisation in
these states.
Besides UP, Delhi too presents a grim picture Here too, Mr Gadkari’s
endeavour to select the most suitable person to lead the party has
been rendered difficult by a severe talent deficit and a debilitating
infighting. While Mr Vijay Goel has been retained as a general
secretary at the national level, former mayor Arti Mehra has been made
a secretary in Mr Gadkari’s team.
That means that the race has narrowed down to former state minister
Jagdish Mukhi, former MCD standing committee chief Vijender Gupta and
former Trinagar MLA Nand Kishore Garg. While the RSS is rooting for Mr
Garg, Mr Gadkari himself is said to be keen on a younger, relatively
untested leader who could lead the party out of the morass.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Gadkari-struggles-to-finalise-state-chiefs/articleshow/5753253.cms
Congress appeasing terrorists: Gadkari
Raktima Bose
Kolkata: Assailing the Congress for “appeasing terrorists in the name
of practising secularism,” BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday
said it did not have the ‘courage' to fight terrorism and was thus
exposing the country to security threats.
“It is unfortunate for our country that the United Progressive
Alliance government could not till now execute the death sentence
handed by the Supreme Court to Afzal Guru for attacking Parliament in
2006…Should terrorists be honoured in the country henceforth? Till now
the Congress was appeasing Muslims for vote-bank politics but now it
is appeasing terrorists too.”
Mr. Gadkari was addressing a Citizen's Convention organised here by
the West Bengal BJP to protest against price rise and the State
government's plan to implement job reservation for Muslims.
Mr. Gadkari clarified that the BJP was against terrorists and not
Muslims. “It is widely campaigned that if the BJP comes to power, then
great misery will befall Muslims. Had it been so, how was Abdul Kalam
Azad elected President during the National Democratic Alliance regime?
We are against the ISI, Al-Qaeda, the Lashkar-e-Taiba and other
terrorists but not against Muslims.”
As for the controversy, raised by Maharashtra Congress workers, over
the invitation extended to actor Amitabh Bachchan for the inauguration
of the Bandra-Worli sea link, Mr. Gadkari said: “Has Mr. Bachchan
become another Dawood Ibrahim or any anti-national force by becoming
the brand ambassador of Gujarat? What sort of democracy is this?”
He called Narendra Modi a “model Chief Minister” for ushering in
development.
Mr. Gadkari blamed the UPA government's “bad governance and wrong
economic policies” for the rising inflation and price of essential
commodities.
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/01/stories/2010040158710300.htm
Our main aim now is development: Gadkari
Staff Reporter
Kolkata: Underscoring the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) endeavour to
focus on the need for greater development and social reform under his
leadership, BJP's national president Nitin Gadkari also indicated here
on Thursday that the Ram Mandir issue was very much on the party's
agenda.
Addressing a press conference, Mr. Gadkari said: “I support the
politics of progress and development. The party's main aim currently
is to bring about economic development and social reform in the
country. A change of the party leadership does not necessarily mean
change of policies.” The statement was his reaction to the question if
under his leadership, the BJP's political focus had shifted to issues
such as price rise, inflation and ‘bad governance' of the United
Progressive Alliance government from the party's core agenda of
Hindutva and the Ram Mandir issue.
To a question on the reported resentment of some BJP stalwarts over
their non-inclusion in his new team of office-bearers, Mr. Gadkari
claimed the media was blowing it out of proportion.
“Whatever little grievances were there, have been solved out. There is
a good opportunity for the young generation to find a place in the new
team of office-bearers,” he said.
Highlighting the spiralling rise of prices of essential commodities
and the increasing number of farmer suicides, Mr. Gadkari blamed it on
the UPA regime's neglect of the agricultural sector.
“Factors like rural connectivity and irrigation which were given
importance by the National Democratic Alliance government were ignored
by the UPA government. Moreover, no priority has been given to the
agro-processing industry and the problems of power, storage and
capital also exist. This negligence and mismanagement has resulted in
an imbalance in agriculture,” he said.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/02/stories/2010040250600100.htm
Yeddyurappa woos investors to State
V. Sridhar
Road show held in Mumbai for Global Investors' Meet
Showcasing State:Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa addressing investors
Mumbai: Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa on Thursday kicked off a road
show in Mumbai for the Global Investors' Meet, which is to be held in
Bangalore on June 3 and 4.
Accompanied by Minister for Large and Medium Industries Murugesh
Nirani and top officials of the Department of Industries and Commerce,
he promised “attractive incentives” to investors heading for
Karnataka.
Mr. Yeddyurappa said the Government's “progressive and investor-
friendly policies” had attracted investments to the State. Addressing
about 400 industrialists from various business sectors, he said
approvals for investments in the State doubled in 2009-10, when
compared to a year earlier.
Mr. Yeddyurappa said the Government gave “top priority” to the power
sector because it recognised that the State was suffering a power
shortage. He said the Government was planning additional power
generation capacity of about 16,000 MW, apart from establishing a
power plant with a generating capacity of 1,600 MW in Chhattisgarh.
He said the “pre-project activities” related to National Thermal Power
Corporations Ltd.'s (NTPC) 4,000-MW facility in Bijapur would be
launched by Union Minister for Power Sushilkumar Shinde in a few days.
Focus
Mr. Yeddyurappa said the Global Investors' Meet was particularly
focussed on drawing investment in the aerospace, infrastructure,
tourism, information technology, automobiles, biotechnology, minerals,
power, textiles, healthcare and education sectors. The Government
would sign memorandums of understanding with investors during the two-
day event.
Meetings
Prior to the road show Mr. Yeddyurappa and Mr. Nirani held separate
meetings with senior executives of several industrial conglomerates.
They discussed proposals for investments made by B. Muthuraman, vice-
chairman, Tata Steel; Ashok P. Hinduja, chairman and managing
director, Hinduja Group; A.K. Chatwani, senior executive vice-
president, Larsen & Toubro; senior executives of Grasim Industries;
and Adi B. Godrej of Godrej Industries.
The Chief Minister assured potential investors that the Government
would provide single-window clearances and “quick” approvals for
projects. “I will also be monitoring the progress of the approved
projects on a regular basis,” he added.
Mr. Nirani said the Government “has realised the urgency of focussing
on infrastructural issues”. He said the Government was focusing on
public-private partnerships in infrastructure “to achieve the twin
objectives of high growth and equity”. Asked if the Government had set
any target for investments arising from the meet, Mr. Nirani said,
“Since discussions with industry leaders on their proposals are still
at an early stage, it will not be possible to say how much investment
the State can expect.”
Mr. Nirani said Larsen & Toubro had evinced interest in participating
with the Government on the nine railway projects earmarked in the last
Railway Budget. While the Aditya Birla Group was keen on expanding
cement capacity in the State, the Kalyani Group was exploring options
for expansion in Karnataka, he added.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/02/stories/2010040256600100.htm
Tension in Rajasthan town
Special Correspondent
JAIPUR: Tension prevailed in Rajasthan's Gangapur town in Bhilwara
district on Thursday after unruly mobs engaged the police in heavy
brick-batting. Over 100 persons, including some policemen, sustained
injuries in violence and the lathi-charge. Prohibitory orders have
been imposed in the town.
The day's developments were a sequel to the skirmishes witnessed in
the town between two communities during a Hanuman Jayanti procession
on Tuesday. The clashes broke out after someone allegedly cut the
wires of the generator used for lighting the tableaus of procession
when it was passing by a mosque. The town remained closed on Wednesday
after the VHP gave a bandh call in protest against the incident.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/02/stories/2010040256720100.htm
Volume 26 - Issue 21 :: Oct. 10-23, 2009
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS
Low national stakes
VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNAN
in New Delhi
The Congress seeks to check overconfidence in its ranks and the BJP
hopes to clear the “confusion” created by the Lok Sabha election
defeat.
SHIRISH SHETE/PTI
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and NCP president Sharad Pawar at the
first Congress-NCP rally at Sakoli in Bhandara district in Maharashtra
in April.
THERE is broad consensus among the political class in Delhi that the
October 13 round of Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and
Arunachal Pradesh are not going to have a dramatic impact on national
politics. The preparations of the two main parties – the Congress and
the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) – and of the non-Congress, non-BJP
forces, comprising the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) , the Left and other
regional parties, are all being carried out with this common premise.
Even so, the different groups have their distinctive priorities. The
central motif of the Congress party’s national leadership is to guard
against overconfidence, particularly in Maharashtra and Haryana. The
BJP’s efforts are essentially to get out of the confusion that has
overwhelmed the party after the Lok Sabha election defeat earlier this
year. For the non-Congress, non-BJP forces, which have much lesser
stakes in the states going to the polls, the attempt is to retain
whatever little relevance they have in these regions. In the early
stages of election campaign none of the three formulations has
succeeded in decisively taking forward its priorities.
According to a senior Congress leader, the party’s national leadership
including president Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi
have become all the more aware of the “overconfidence problem” after
the stunning reverses in the mid-September byelections in Gujarat,
Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh. In Gujarat, the party lost five seats
to the BJP, which also gained one seat each in Uttarakhand and Madhya
Pradesh. The “overconfidence problem” is most apparent, according to
several national-level Congress leaders, in Maharashtra, where the
party is in alliance with its United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
partner, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) . Sections of the
Congress were so confident that they held out even against an alliance
with the NCP. This delayed the firming up of the partnership and
contributed to the raising of organisational problems at the ground
level. The problem, said one senior leader, was also manifest in
Haryana, though organisationally the party was on a much better wicket
there.
In this context NCP chief Sharad Pawar and the Congress general
secretary in charge of Maharashtra had a one-to-one meeting in the
last week of September. The meeting was held, reportedly, to address
specifically the overconfidence issue.
According to highly placed sources in both parties, the two senior
leaders emphasised that the difference between the Congress-NCP
alliance and the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance was hardly 15 seats in terms
of an Assembly segment-wise analysis of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
“The Congress lost 4 per cent of its vote share in the 2009 Lok Sabha
polls compared with the earlier elections. Yet, it got more seats only
because the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) led by Raj Thackeray cut
into the BJP-Shiv Sena votes. The NCP leaders have highlighted this in
the discussions with the Congress,” said a senior NCP leader.
The mid-September byelection results did prove a morale booster for
the BJP, but that in itself has not helped the party get out of its
confusion. The list of main campaigners submitted by the party to the
Election Commission points to this. Heading the list is former Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who announced his retirement from
active politics in December 2005. The former Prime Minister has been
confined to his residence for over two years now. The BJP apparently
plans to use his recorded speeches in the campaign meetings. This
decision has been interpreted by political observers as an indictment
of the “ineffective campaign” of other leaders, including former
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, party president Rajnath
Singh and Rajya Sabha leader Arun Jaitley. They are also mentioned in
the list, albeit behind Vajpayee.
VIVEK BENDRE
Uddhav Thackeray (centre), Shiv Sena leader, with Nitin Gadkari (left)
and Gopinath Munde, BJP leaders, in Mumbai on September 19.
However, the BJP leadership argued that too much should not be read
into the list. According to BJP spokesperson Mukthar Abbas Naqvi, the
list is essentially to ensure that the helicopter expenses of the
leaders are recorded with the Election Commission and ought not to be
treated as evaluation reports of the campaign styles of various
leaders.
While this argument does have its merits, there is little doubt that
the BJP has been forced to resurrect Vajpayee’s non-sectarian mass
appeal, changing the system adopted in the Lok Sabha campaign.
Vajpayee was not present in that campaign, either physically or
through recorded speeches. In a sense, it is also an admission that
other BJP leaders lack Vajpayee’s mass appeal.
The BJP leadership has also not been able to come up with a clear
political slogan though it has sought to highlight the “misrule” of
the Congress and its allies in the poll-bound States. According to a
senior leader, it is not in a position to take up internal security as
a major plank since it failed to evoke a good response in at least
three previous elections. The party hopes to focus its campaign on
price rise, unemployment and governance problems, including those in
the setting up of special economic zones (SEZs). However, in the
context of the Lok Sabha election defeat and the organisational
problems that erupted soon after, sections of the party are not
confident this will happen.
The BSP, on its part, is driven by the realisation that it has
tremendous damage-potential in Maharashtra and Haryana. “In the Lok
Sabha polls, the votes we got were instrumental in the defeat of five
Congress-NCP candidates and an equal number of BJP-Shiv Sena
candidates. In Haryana, too, we came up with a good performance. When
translated into Assembly segments, this performance can throw up
winning candidates in both the States. That is what we are aiming at,”
said Ambeth Rajan, Rajya Sabha member of the BSP, to Frontline. The
BSP did not have any seat in Maharashtra in the last Assembly, though
the party garnered 4.14 per cent of the votes. In Haryana, it had one
seat and 3.44 per cent of the votes.
Other non-Congress, non-BJP forces, such as the Left parties, who have
struck an alliance with the Republican Party of India in Maharashtra,
and the Samajwadi Party (S.P.), which has some presence in pockets in
Maharashtra and Haryana, are trying to rebuild from the reverses that
they suffered in the Lok Sabha polls. These parties hope to play a
significant role in Maharashtra in the event of a hung Assembly. But
there are many ifs and buts attached to these expectations.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2621/stories/20091023262111300.htm
Volume 26 - Issue 20 :: Sep. 26-Oct. 09, 2009
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS
Shaky alliances
LYLA BAVADAM
Discord marks the NCP-Congress and Shiv Sena-BJP partnerships even
after seat-sharing pacts are made.
PTI
(From left) Union Minister for Heavy Industries Vilasrao Deshmukh,
State Congress president Manikrao Thackeray and Chief Minister Ashok
Chavan at a pre-poll alliance meeting with NCP leaders, in Mumbai on
September 15.
THE October 13 Assembly elections portend a make-or-break scenario for
parties and alliances in Maharashtra. This is especially true of the
Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Their uneasy partnership is
reflective of the state of Maharashtra’s politics in general.
The run-up to the elections has been a crucial period for the NCP. The
party has always expressed its discontent at being treated as the
lesser partner. After the creation of the NCP in 1999, it fought the
Assembly elections that followed on its own and won 54 seats. The
Congress and the NCP then joined hands to form the Democratic Front,
which has ruled Maharashtra ever since. In the 2004 Assembly polls,
the NCP emerged as the single largest party with 71 seats. It also
gained a hold on the Central government by securing prime portfolios
such as Agriculture and Civil Aviation.
But the NCP and the Congress have not really settled into a cohesive
relationship even after two terms in power. The NCP continues to play
second fiddle to its ally in the State despite its claim that it has a
superior electoral base. NCP leader and State Water Resources Minister
Ajit Pawar reiterated that rural Maharashtra was the party’s greatest
asset and that it had nurtured its constituencies conscientiously over
the past five years. The Minister claimed that had consolidated the
NCP’s position.
In the run-up to every round of elections, it has become almost
routine for both partners to say initially that they will fight the
elections alone. This time too, it has been no different.
The NCP, which put up candidates from 124 constituencies in 2004,
wanted the same number of seats this time. But it had to be satisfied
with 114 seats, while the Congress decided to fight the remaining 174
seats to the 288-member Assembly. Acrimonious parleys preceded the
seat-sharing agreement. A “further fine-tuning in New Delhi” may
result in some minor changes in the seat-sharing pact, according to a
Congressman.
Putting on a brave face, the NCP blamed the fall in the number of
seats it would contest on the delimitation of constituencies. But it
is more likely that the Congress had its way in the seat allotment,
given the NCP’s dismal performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress contested 25 of the 48 seats and won 17 while the NCP
contested 21 but won only eight.
Former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has for long been urging the
Congress high command to shed the NCP, and the parliamentary election
results have given it the right excuse to do so. So strong is the
antagonism between the two parties that their representatives met only
three days before the final date for nominations. The final
arrangement on seats was reached only after four meetings.
A decade of existence has not given the NCP any special identity. It
has not grown as a party either in numbers or in national profile. It
retains its Maratha hegemony. It is still identified with Sharad
Pawar. There is no solid second-rung of leadership. It continues to be
viewed as a breakaway group rather than as a separate party, and the
general impression is that it would at any point rejoin the parent
party. Voters view the two parties as one. Pawar also seems to have
taken a softer stance on the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origins.
Those who joined the NCP did so because they found it convenient to be
attached to Pawar’s coat-tails and because a newly created party
always offers more to its followers.
Yet, NCP cadre have always been hesitant about the split. Even Pawar
has been unable to withstand the pressure of staying away from the
Congress. In fact, the two parties’ post-poll alliance 10 years ago
was a result of the realisation that they needed each other. Though
they claimed that the alliance was necessary to keep the Shiv Sena-
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at bay, the truth was that both parties
were dependent on each other for survival.
The other side
VIVEK BENDRE
Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray, in front of a picture
of his father and Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.
The tensions between the Congress and the NCP can only benefit the
Shiv Sena and the BJP, which have agreed to maintain their earlier
seat-sharing ratio of 171-117. In its two decades as a team, the
saffron partnership has been comparatively stable. However, this time
around the turmoil in the BJP at the Centre has shaken the Maharashtra
unit, too, even though State BJP president Nitin Gadkari denies it.
Relations between the Shiv Sena and the BJP became strained after the
defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. The crisis in Delhi following the
publication of Jaswant Singh’s book also triggered fears that the
instability in the BJP will affect the Sena’s chances in the Assembly
polls. Ever since L.K. Advani’s remark about Jinnah’s secularism, the
Sena has been wary of the BJP. It believes that the BJP’s doubletalk
on Hindutva is damaging the alliance. A source in the Sena said:
“Saheb [Bal Thackeray] has always held fast to Hindutva. And he
believed that the BJP did too, otherwise he would not have agreed to a
partnership. Now they are talking this way and that way. It is
confusing the voters. First Advani said Jinnah was secular; now
Jaswant Singh is praising him. What is the real position? We are all
confused.”
The BJP said that the loss of the six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai was
the outcome of the conflict between Uddhav Thackeray and Raj
Thackeray, Bal Thackeray’s son and nephew respectively. Hitting back,
the Sena blamed the BJP for the alliance’s loss in the parliamentary
elections. In particular, it blamed the arrogant style of campaigning
of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. As a star campaigner for the
BJP, Modi held rallies in 20 constituencies in the State but delivered
only in three. A Sena source said: “Modi campaigned for the BJP and
for himself. He projected himself as the star of economic development
and made out as if Maharashtrians were useless at business.”
However, given the open discord between the Congress and the NCP as
well as the recent victory of the BJP in the Gujarat Assembly
byelections, where it won five out of seven seats, the Maharashtra
unit of the BJP may well rally around and hold its own.
The dark horse on the electoral scene is Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena (MNS). Though the party won no seats in the general
elections, it came a respectable second or third runner-up in many.
The MNS campaign was solely aimed at destabilising Sena candidates and
this inadvertently helped the Congress-NCP candidates. The BJP plans
to turn this around to its advantage by reminding voters that voting
for the MNS in the Assembly elections would be like casting a vote for
the Congress-NCP.
As far as issues are concerned, this election – like the ones before
it – should centre on drought, irrigation, price rise, terrorism and
security, urban housing, and infrastructure. But, for the time being,
the needs of the people and issues of governance have been relegated
to the background as the two alliances concentrate more on political
wrangling.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2620/stories/20091009262003100.htm
Volume 26 - Issue 26 :: Dec. 19, 2009-Jan. 01, 2010
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
COVER STORY
Echoes elsewhere
VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNAN
The Telangana promise has reactivated many dormant claims for
statehood, including those for Gorkhaland, Bodoland and Vidarbha.
MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP
Farmers and their families from the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra
protest against the lack of continuous electricity supply, outside the
Ministry of Social Justice in New Delhi on November 18.
THE December 9 adventurism of the Congress on Telangana promptly led
to the revival of many other demands for separate states across the
country and, consequently, to the renewal of the debate whether
smaller states by themselves facilitate improved socio-economic
development of neglected and backward regions.
The Gorkha Janmukthi Morcha (GJM), which has been demanding that a
separate state of Gorkhaland be carved out of the Darjeeling hills
region of West Bengal, was the first to announce a “fast unto death”
agitation to realise its dream. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati
soon followed, holding a press conference to affirm that the ruling
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by her, has consistently sought the
creation of two new states out of Uttar Pradesh – Harit Pradesh,
consisting of the majority of the districts in five administrative
divisions (Saharanpur, Meerut, Agra, Moradabad and Bareilly) of
western Uttar Pradesh, and Bundelkhand comprising seven districts of
Uttar Pradesh and six districts of Madhya Pradesh. Advocates of the
demand for new states such as Vidarbha followed suit.
The reasoning for most of these demands is that the region seeking
statehood is backward in socio-economic terms and that the creation of
a new state will help its development. In cases like the demand for
Gorkhaland, Bodoland, Dimaraji and Karbi homeland, ethnicity is raised
as a factor.
The case for reviewing the reorganisation of States on linguistic
lines by bringing in parameters such as socio-economic backwardness
and ethnicity had come to the fore even while the States
Reorganisation Commission (SRC) was at work from late 1953 to 1956 as
also in the decades following it, but the idea acquired legitimacy
only five decades later with the creation of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand
and Chhattisgarh in November 2000, during the time of the Atal Bihari
Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government. In fact, the
creation of these States was perceived by many as the beginning of a
process of reconfiguring political space, which was bound to transform
the entire federal polity of India. The argument was that the creation
of these States as well as the demands for new states on the basis of
development marked the evolution of the idea of federalism as it
existed in the Indian context.
However, nine years later, the expectations with which these States
were formed lies in a shambles. Enhancing socio-economic development
was the primary objective behind the formation of all these States,
but the records of the States are nothing to write home about. In the
case of Jharkhand, the past nine years have only produced one corrupt
government after another, leading to total disregard for the economic
and development concerns of the people. The successive governments
also failed to curb the Maoist menace in the State. Chhattisgarh’s
track record too is no different, with Maoist attacks and counter-
attacks by the State throwing people’s lives out of gear. Uttarakhand
has fared comparatively better, but here, too, there have been no
spectacular gains.
Commenting on the performance of the three States, veteran bureaucrat
Gopi Arora – who died recently – observed last year that regional and
developmental disparities needed to be addressed by taking special
measures to focus on regional planning and not by the creation of new
states. He specifically referred to the case for a further division of
Uttar Pradesh and pointed out that if new states were to be carved out
of a State, they would all start with multiple conflicts on sharing of
resources, including water resources.
It is in this context that the historian Gyanesh Kudaisya’s
observation about the need for new types of states becomes relevant.
He pointed out that the need was for states that did not carry forward
the administrative and ideological legacies of models that had failed.
In his view, the new type of states should be representative,
decentralised and inclusive, and this cannot simply happen by breaking
up States.
GORKHALAND MOVE
By Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay
THE Centre’s nod for a separate state of Telangana has come as a shot
in the arm for the GJM, which has been staging a persistent, and often
violent, agitation for a separate state of Gorkhaland comprising the
Darjeeling hills, contiguous areas in the Terai and the Dooars in the
foothills of West Bengal.
“We welcome the Central government’s decision to allow the creation of
a separate Telangana state, but at the same time we would like to
remind it that the creation of Gorkhaland should not be left out. It
is an old demand of the Indian Gorkha community, essential to preserve
its identity. If Telangana can be created, then why not Gorkhaland? We
urge the Centre to facilitate the process,” GJM general secretary
Roshan Giri told Frontline.
V. SUDERSHAN
Members of the Gulabi Gang (pink gang), a women’s vigilante group,
staging a protest demanding a separate Bundelkhand state, in New Delhi
on September 17.
As the news of Telangana reached the hills, the GJM immediately
announced a “fast unto death” programme in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and
Kurseong, the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, and also in
Siliguri and the Dooars in the plains from December 11. The GJM called
for a complete shutdown of the hills from December 14 to 17 and
announced that various agitation programmes had been planned in
Kolkata and New Delhi. A GJM team led by Roshan Giri rushed to New
Delhi on December 10 to garner support for Gorkhaland at the national
level.
The decision to step up its agitation and call for a bandh a week
before the fourth round of tripartite talks between the GJM, the
Centre and the Government of West Bengal, slated for December 21, was
clearly to put pressure on the State and Union governments.
Once again, the spectre of ethnic violence has surfaced in the plains,
with organisations such as the Amra Bangali and the Bangla Basha
Bachao Committee calling for a counter bandh in the plains on the same
days as the GJM bandh. However, Roshan Giri assured: “We are a
democratic movement. There is no question of violence, at least from
our side.”
But a doubt lingers despite such an assurance. Ever since the GJM
hijacked the Gorkhaland movement from the Gorkha National Liberation
Front (GNLF) in 2005 to wield undisputed power in the hills, ethnic
clashes have become common in the foothills and the plains. GNLF
supremo Subash Ghising, who initiated the Gorkhaland movement in 1986,
soon found himself alienated from his own movement; he was eventually
ousted from the hills by his former protege Bimal Gurung, who formed
the GJM. By then, the GNLF agitation, which marred the peace in the
hills in the late 1980s, had abated and Ghising and his followers had
practically lost touch with the masses. The GJM’s renewed call for
Gorkhaland, this time including parts of the Terai and the Dooars in
the foothills, has once again brought to the fore memories of the
terror that prevailed in the hills when the GNLF first began its
agitation.
Another cause of concern for the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-
led Left Front government of West Bengal in the wake of the apparent
success of the Telangana movement is the renewal of the Kamtapur
Progressive Party’s (KPP) demand for a separate Kamtapur state in
North Bengal. “We have a good understanding with the KPP and we
support their movement,” Roshan Giri told Frontline.
A fresh demand for a Greater Cooch Behar state in North Bengal, led by
the Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party (GCBDP), has also resurfaced.
In all, North Bengal seems to have become a hotbed of separatist
movements of all colours.
VIDARBHA’S CRY
By Anupama Katakam
FOR some reason, Vidarbha in the eastern region of Maharashtra is
never considered seriously when it cries for statehood. Although the
region’s politicians have repeatedly said that Vidarbha is a potential
candidate for statehood and the States Reorganisation Commission had
promised to grant it to the region, it never materialised.
Unlike in the case of the other States that were carved up in recent
times, Vidarbha’s calls to secede from Maharashtra have been only
sporadic. They never quite gained the momentum required for a major
movement. During the past two rounds of Lok Sabha and Assembly
elections, the issue was hardly touched upon.
But now, the promise of creating Telangana has given the Vidarbha
movement a new lease of life. Politicians, particularly those from the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra and those from districts
in the Vidarbha region, have decided that if Telangana can get
statehood, so can Vidarbha.
“We have been asking for this for the past 50 years. It is only fair
that our demand is met as well,” said Vilas Muttemwar, a Congress
leader and Member of Parliament from Nagpur.
Would the cry for statehood be valid? Yes, say the politicians. No,
say some local people.
Vidarbha consists of 11 districts in the eastern region of
Maharashtra. Many of them are tribal-dominated and therefore backward.
The region is completely neglected, unlike the western and some south-
western districts, which get the lion’s share of State funding and
attention.
Cotton is the main crop that sustains life in Vidarbha. Rain-
dependent, this crop suffers every time the monsoon fails. Consecutive
years of drought and repeated crop failures have driven the farmers
into deep debt and, consequently, suicide. From 1997 to 2006, the
region has witnessed 36,428 cases of suicide among cotton farmers
owing to debt, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. From
time to time, the Central government has doled out compensation
packages but nothing that is long-term.
Irrigation would solve much of their woes, said Vijay Jawandhia, a
farmer and a leader of the Shetkari Sanghatana in Wardha. But the
State government pays little attention. Almost 60 per cent of the
irrigation projects in the State cater to the sugar belt of western
Maharashtra, which yields 30 per cent of the agricultural produce in
the State. Vidarbha accounts for 20 per cent of the cotton production
in the country, thus giving Maharashtra the second position in cotton
production in India. “But irrigation is practically non-existent in
the districts,” said Jawandhia.
There is no industry and practically no development in the region.
There are few opportunities other than agriculture. Nagpur, owing to
the centrality of its location in the country, was meant to be
developed as a hub of transportation. Nothing much has materialised on
this plan.
Of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, 10 are in Vidarbha.
At the State level, 62 of the 288 Assembly constituencies are in this
region. Clearly, Vidarbha has some power, but whether its leaders can
use to bargain for a separate state is another matter.
The Shiv Sena has never agreed to a division of Maharashtra though its
ally, the BJP, has repeatedly asked for it. BJP leader Nitin Gadkari,
who hails from Vidarbha, said that every effort would be made to make
the Centre concede to this demand. He said: “If the state of Vidarbha
is created, lakhs of people from the region will benefit. We can
concentrate on development then.”
The ruling Congress, save for some leaders from Vidarbha, have kept a
studious silence on the issue.
“The solution does not lie in separation,” said Ashok Dhawale, a
leader of the All India Kisan Sabha. “What the leadership needs to do
is focus on fundamentals such as agricultural and industrial policy
towards areas like Vidarbha. Then the region may have some chance of
developing.”
It is usually lack of development that fuels a region’s demand for
statehood. But this is not an answer at all. If there is a sea change
in the government’s policy towards Vidarbha and if it distributes
resources more equitably, then this issue will cease to exist, said
Dhawale. “Furthermore, when a state is carved out of another, it will
be a small state that tends to be at the mercy of the Central
government. Therefore, what major difference will it make to the
region’s people? Once again, they will be dependent on policymakers.”
BODOLAND AGAIN
By Sushanta Talukdar in Guwahati
THE promise of statehood to Telangana has prompted various Bodo groups
in Assam to revive their demand for a separate Bodoland. The Bodoland
People’s Front (BPF), the coalition partner of the ruling Congress in
the State, has raised the demand in both Parliament and in the Assam
Assembly. The lone BPF member in the Rajya Sabha, Biswajit Daimary,
raised the demand in the Upper House. In the Assam Assembly, 11
legislators of the BPF, including three Ministers in the Tarun Gogoi
Cabinet, made the demand on December 11.
Chief Minister Gogoi clarified that his government did not favour a
further division of Assam and wanted all communities and tribes to
live in harmony to build a greater Assamese society. The opposition
Asom Gana Parishad has extended support to Gogoi on the issue.
Apart from the Bodo groups, various Karbi groups, including militant
outfits, are demanding the creation of an autonomous state within
Assam; Dimasa groups, including militant groups, are demanding the
creation of a separate Dimaraji state, while organisations
representing Koch-Rajbanghshi community have declared a “fast unto
death” agitation to hasten the creation of a Kamtapur state comprising
11 districts of Assam and five districts of north Bengal.
The Bodos are the largest plains tribe in Assam, and they enjoy
autonomy under the amended provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the
Constitution; administrative autonomy is provided through the Bodoland
Territorial Council (BTC). The jurisdiction of the BTC extends over
8,970 square kilometres and covers four districts – Kokrajhar,
Chirang, Udalguri and Baska, known as Bodoland Territorial Area
Districts (BTAD). The number of Bodo-speaking people in Assam
according to the 2001 Census was 1,296,162 in a population of
26,655,528. In the 1991 Census, the number of Bodos in Assam was shown
as 1,184,569.
The BTC came into existence in 2003 following the signing of the
second Bodo Accord between the erstwhile militant outfit, the Bodo
Liberation Tigers (BLT), and the Union and State governments. The
present chief executive member of the BTC, Hagrama Mahilary, was also
the chief of the now-disbanded BLT.
The BLT was formed in June 1996 and it launched an armed struggle for
statehood when the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU)-Bodo People’s
Action Committee (BPAC) revived the mass movement for a separate
Bodoland in 1997. The BLT suspended its armed activities in July 1999
to start a dialogue with the Central government. In the course of the
dialogue, the BLT gave up the demand for statehood and agreed to
settle for the BTC under amended provisions of the Sixth Schedule.
“We were told by the NDA government that the prevailing policy was
that no new smaller state would be created. So we agreed to settle for
the BTC. Now that the United Progressive Alliance government has
promised to create Telangana, we have every right to ask for a
separate state of Bodoland, which is our ultimate goal,” said senior
BPF leader and Transport Minister Chandan Brahma, who was also the
vice-chairman of the BLT.
The first Bodo Accord was signed by the ABSU-BPAC with the Centre and
the State government in February 1993. It brought the curtains down on
a six-year-old vigorous statehood movement in Assam, which was
launched in 1987 on the slogan “Divide Assam 50:50”. The accord paved
the way for the creation of the Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC).
However, the ABSU and the BPAC revived the statehood movement in 1997,
alleging that the BAC had failed to fulfil the aspirations of the
Bodos.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2626/stories/20100101262601700.htm
Special issue with the Sunday Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU
CITIES: AUGUST 12, 2001
Driving to nowhere
Darryl D'Monte
The writer is a senior journalist and environmental activist.
Since the 1990s, there has been a thrust in India's transport sector
towards increasing reliance on private investment. This can take many
forms: private entrepreneurs constructing roads and bridges, often on
a "build, operate and transfer" basis, the entry of many more
multinational car manufacturers, and the easing of restrictions in the
imports of components. Throughout urban India, which now accounts for
some 300 million people, the perception that the State is unwilling or
unable to provide quick and reliable transport is fast gaining ground.
There is increasing dependence on private modes of motorised
transport, whether it is automobiles, two-wheelers or buses.
K.R.Ganesh/Wilderfile
Middle-class citizens aspire to owning or using these vehicles and
believe that the State's responsibility is to provide the
infrastructure for this purpose. This has led to a situation where
private modes are swallowing the bulk of funds earmarked for transport
in cities and towns. Nowhere is this stark contrast more apparent than
in Mumbai, the country's commercial and industrial capital. There has
been heavy investment in a plethora of roadways and a near-total
neglect of public transport in a metropolis where the overwhelming
majority rely on this mode to commute to work.
Mumbai's peculiar geography has admittedly complicated the situation.
The north-south transport axis has been part of the city's life for so
many decades that it is difficult to think of changing it. The entire
concept of building a twin city across the harbour in the early 1970s
was meant to provide an east-west axis and alter the flow of traffic.
Unfortunately, the planners first built a road bridge over the Thane
creek to Vashi, which did not bring about a critical mass there. It
was only a couple of decades later, with the rail bridge alongside it,
that Navi Mumbai got the boost it badly needed.
However, the central business district (CBD) in the new city has not
really taken off, because managements have been reluctant to shift
across the harbour, given the inadequate transport links. Although the
Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has been
developing the Bandra-Kurla area as an alternative CBD within Greater
Mumbai, it is taking some time to grow into a full-fledged centre.
While areas in the suburbs like Andheri are attracting some new
sunrise service industries, South Mumbai retains its overwhelming
importance.
Manu Bahuguna/Fotomedia
While successive State governments have been guilty of neglecting
Mumbai's transport problems, it was the erstwhile Shiv Sena-BJP
government which drastically altered the course. By initiating a range
of road schemes, it unequivocally opted for private, motorised
transport in preference to public transport. This may be said to fall
in line with the economic liberalisation moves encouraged by
successive national governments, with the State gradually withdrawing
from area after area of public life. In Mumbai, this coalition
government took the drastic step of bypassing the apex planning body,
the MMRDA, as its transport expert, A. V. Ghangurde, publicly cited at
a seminar. Instead, it entrusted both the planning and execution of
the road projects to the Maharashtra State Road Development
Corporation (MSRDC), an engineering agency which has no expertise to
take an overall view of the merits of such schemes. The total cost of
all these schemes was over Rs. 8,000 crores, excluding the Eastern
Freeway Sea Link.
W. S. Atkins, consultants hired by MMRDA to advise on a comprehensive
transport plan for the metropolitan region in 1994, showed that Mumbai
was unique in that 83 per cent of the passenger trips in peak hours
were by public transport (train and bus), another eight per cent by
"intermediate public transport" (taxis and three-wheelers) and only
nine per cent by private transport (both cars and two-wheelers). This
is why critics castigate the overwhelming emphasis as the "nine per
cent solution" for a city which is poised to become the world's most
populous in two decades. One can also contrast the passenger carrying
capacities of different modes: cars carry only 4,000 passengers a
hour, versus 15,000 by bus, 45,000 by train and 75,000 if there were
an underground system.
There are three sets of road projects which the Shiv Sena-BJP
government initiated: fly-overs, sea-links and freeways. By far the
most controversial of these were the fly-overs. The government
appointed a committee to advise on the viability of fly-overs
controversially chaired by a builder, V. M. Jog, who obviously had no
expertise in this field. Mr. Jog dutifully obeyed his political
masters and recommended 50 fly-overs, for which pains he was awarded
an additional project at Andheri, the only one not to be constructed
by the MSRDC. The 50 fly-overs were to cost Rs. 1,500 crores and the
one at Andheri Rs. 110 crores. Mr. Jog's controversial fly-over was
the subject of a writ filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group
because he sought to cover the cost by selling commercial space
beneath it. In other words, whatever congestion was meant to have been
reduced by the fly-over was created beneath it! He was originally
permitted 9,000 sq m but was eventually given 45,000 sq m - five times
the area - to exploit on the market. After a delay of several months,
which caused interminable traffic jams, the court allowed him to
proceed with less space.
Ajay Lall
According to the MSRDC, the fly-overs were justified on the ground
that the four major expressways being constructed to take traffic in
and out of Greater Mumbai at a cost of another Rs. 10,000 crores would
not work unless there were fly-overs to carry the vehicles smoothly
through the city. These were to link the metropolis with Pune (this
expressway has been completed at Rs. 1,450 crores), Nashik, Talasari
and Sawantwadi. The MSRDC cited how the earliest consultant on
improving the city's transport links, Los Angeles-based firm, Wilbur
Smith, recommended fly-overs as early in 1962. The consultants also
mooted the highly debatable West and East Island Freeways along the
coasts of the island city, a scheme which the MSRDC is now reviving.
Needless to say, Los Angeles experts are hardly qualified to advise
Mumbai since the Californian city is notorious for sacrificing all
planning norms for the benefit of the all-powerful automobile lobby.
The MSRDC also argued, illogically, that the fly-overs would help
reduce air pollution. Maharashtra's Minister of Public Works, Nitin
Gadkari, to whom the flyovers were a pet project, argued that since
cars would move speedily, without being obstructed by traffic lights,
there would be less emissions. However, he was supremely indifferent
to the counter argument that by building fly-overs, there would be a
spurt in the number of vehicles and the total emissions from these
would surely increase the overall load of pollutants. Already,
vehicles account for 70 per cent of Mumbai's air pollution. Gadkari
also believed with the coastal freeways and sea links that the
pollutants would vanish into thin air along the ocean, not realising
that the prevalent wind currents are from the sea towards the land.
The World Bank, which had funded the first phase of the Mumbai Urban
Transport Project (MUTP) and wanted to initiate the second phase,
unequivocally came out against the fly-overs during the course of a
review of MUTP2 in October 1998. It pointed out that "there appears to
have been little traffic impact assessment" or financial evaluation of
the project. The fly-overs would increase road capacity and encourage
(and probably generate new) car use in the city. Some of them, notably
those in the island city like the Haji Ali-Wilson College viaduct,
would have "severe adverse environmental impact (noise, visual
intrusion etc)". There was no economic justification and the
estimation of recovery of costs through tolls was also inadequate.
As it happened, there were legal stays on the proposed tolls. The
state government eventually had to scrap the tolls on fly-overs within
the metropolis, including 14 within the island city, and only charge
those who were entering the city. It will thus fall far short on
recovery of costs. The Bank observed: "While there is no objection to
the tolls per se, this programme nevertheless subsidises and appears
to encourage car commuting and could actually generate additional
intra-Greater Mumbai, particularly in island city, traffic demand with
consequent congestion impacts." The Bank also criticised the neglect
of the bus system, since fly-overs span too long distances to
accommodate this form of public transport. Finally, it commented on
the lack of public consultation prior to the project.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) examined the traffic, economic and
environmental impact of fly-overs and also opposed them. In
particular, it cited those in congested areas as being undesirable. It
found that "construction of flyovers on the island will only increase
the usage of private vehicles . . . this would increase the congestion
levels and parking problems in the city". The investment in the island
city would not be justified, as the overall social benefits would be
lower than the cost. Dr. B. R. Patankar, a former head of the BEST and
now working with TCS, has stressed: "The automobile, born in the
beginning of the 20th century, can no longer remain the focus of the
urban transport infrastructure planning as was the case four-five
decades ago."
To add insult to injury, the tolls with which the MSRDC had proposed
to recover the cost of the fly-overs were the subject of a writ
petition in the High Court, which ruled against them. At present, only
vehicles which enter the city and use the Western and Eastern Express
Highways are liable to pay the tolls which is unfair and exempts the
regular users. This is a typical instance of the authorities
proceeding without doing their homework and in the process, imposing a
burden of Rs. 1,500 crores on the state government for a scheme that
benefits only a tiny minority of motorists.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/folio/fo0108/01080140.htm
Good roads needed for nation's progress: Vajpayee
By Our Special Correspondent
— Photo: Vivek Bendre
SHOWS CONCERN: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee with Shiv
Sena chief Bal Thackeray while releasing a book in Mumbai on
Wednesday.
MUMBAI, FEB. 23. The former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
today called for a national campaign for construction and maintenance
of roads, essential for the country's development and prosperity.
"Why aren't we getting angry at a pothole? Why don't we raise
questions about traffic jams?" Mr. Vajpayee asked. He stressed the
need to understand the high cost of bad roads to the economy in terms
of time, energy and opportunity losses. He was releasing a book, Path
to Progress, by the former Maharashtra PWD Minister, Nitin Gadkari.
Mr. Gadkari is credited with the laying of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway
for Rs. 1,800 crores against the lowest tender of Rs. 3,600 crores, in
record time and without any kind of foreign collaboration despite the
hilly terrain. The book discusses how he got the project implemented.
The Expressway became the forerunner of the Vajpayee Government's
quadrilateral highway project linking the country's four metros. Mr.
Vajpayee said his Government's road project was much admired in India
and abroad. He said that there was no substitute for good roads, which
were an investment in progress.
The Shiv Sena chief, Bal Thackeray, the former Lok Sabha Speaker,
Manohar Joshi, the BJP general secretary, Pramod Mahajan, and the
former Maharashtra Chief Minister, Narayan Rane, praised Mr. Gadkari.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/02/24/stories/2005022402901300.htm
Rajasthan to pass anti-conversion law
By Our Special Correspondent
JAIPUR, FEB. 23. Rajasthan will soon have a law against religious
conversions. A bill to this effect will be introduced in the Assembly,
according to the Home Minister, Gulab Chand Kataria.
"Nobody has a right to make conversions in this State," Mr. Kataria
said while making a statement in the Assembly today during a
discussion on the recent attack on Christians in Kota.
"There are no two opinions on everybody's right to practise his
religion, but when it comes to conversion of poor and illiterate
persons, carried out with the help of allurements and money, we will
not let it happen. There is resentment in the public here that poor
people are lured by money and other temptations to convert."
Mr. Kataria said the people who were sent back from the Kota railway
station last weekend were tribals brought for the purpose of
conversion.
"If they had been only Christians there was no problem with us," he
said. "It was our magnanimity that we let them go after
verification."
He said that 100 foreigners, of whom 95 were from the United States,
reached Kota to attend the programme. "We will not allow them to leave
their hotels as they have come on tourist visas."
Protesters lathicharged
Police resorted to lathicharge at Raipura area of Kota town to
disperse about 600 people who gathered in front of the Emmanuel
Mission Society campus to protest against the Bible graduation
programme which started here today. They were led by the local leaders
of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/02/24/stories/2005022402861300.htm
BJP's poverty posers for PM
Agencies
Posted: Thursday , Apr 01, 2010 at 1749 hrs
New Delhi:
Accusing the UPA government of failing to check price rise, BJP today
asked the Prime Minister whether those in power had "vested interests"
in making suggestive forecasts about shortages in food production to
create panic.
Party president Nitin Gadkari put forward 14 questions to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh relating to price rise, plight of the farmers
and 'aam admi' and reasons behind its failure in curbing inflationary
trends.
"Where have things gone wrong?" was Gadkari's first question. He said
though the Chinese GDP growth is 9.5 per cent as against India's 7.2
per cent, it had two per cent inflation as compared to India's 11 per
cent.
He asked if the PM could deny that inflation in India was much higher
at 11 per cent as against global inflation of 1 to 2 per cent. He
pointed out that sugar prices in India is more than double and price
of wheat was 80 per cent more than the price in other countries.
The BJP President also wanted to know whether cost of essential
commodities have "doubled during your regime?"
Seeking a reply from the PM on whether the downtrodden and the middle
class find it difficult to make ends meet, he said 48 lakh tonne sugar
was exported at Rs.12.50 and re-imported at Rs 22 to 32 per kg.
Gadkari sought an explanation on why the government failed to create a
buffer stock. "Don't you owe an explanation to the people?" he asked.
He asked the PM whether he pleaded "ignorance about your scandalous
export-import policies?"
Pointing out discrepancies in the statistics of poverty level issued
by different government bodies, he said "the Planning Commission put
the BPL population in its 2005 report at 31 crore. December, 2009
Tendulkar Committee puts it at 42 crore, and still You claim Garibi
Ghati Hai (poverty has declined)?
He said if poverty levels have fallen then "why 42 crore people of
rural India are still below poverty line? Are you really giving them
food?"
The BJP chief said while government godowns were overflowing and
foodgrains were rotting, "then why prices are skyrocketing, leaving
poor people half fed?"
"Is it not true that the government-appointed Saxena Committee pointed
out that 51 per cent poor have been denied BPL ration card and
deprived of food grains?" the BJP president sought to know from the
PM.
He said agriculture growth in December 2009 was recorded at minus 0.2
per cent. "In spite of this, the government has provided a meagre Rs
900 crore (0.075 per cent), for agriculture development out of total
budgetary allocation of Rs 12 lakh crore."
Gadkari asked Singh to explain "why farmers get the least and aam
aadmi pays the most?"
He said out of Rs 8,03,842 crore turnover of 2009 at National
Commodity Exchange, delivery was 0.28 per cent (Rs 2,243 crore).
Pointing out that manipulative turnover was pushing the prices, he
asked, "whom are you benefiting: Speculators, Manipulators or MNCs?."
Accusing ministers of making speculative statements about the food
shortages or less production, he sought to know, "What are the vested
interests of your government in making suggestive forecasts about
shortages in food production? Is it to check prices or to create
panic?"
7 Comments |
INFLATION
By: N.ASTI | Friday , 2 Apr '10 11:49:45 AM
All political parties in opposition should unite and take action
against the MMS/Sonia Govt which is totally deaf towards inflation/
Price rise in essential commodities.In order to divert the mind of the
public from the burning issues of Price-rise,terrorism,Pak
polcy,Kashmir selling, Injustice thro' highest communal policies;the
present GOI in collaboration with its managed Media is creating
worthless issues like Amitabh-Modi to divide Indians which Congress
has done right from 1947.MMS,Sonia,PC,Pawar do not bother for
inflation since they enjoy every amenitiy thro' public money.Instead
of mere words,public expects ACTION ON UNTOLERABLE PRICE-RISE.
Gadkaris flip flops
By: rajkumar | Friday , 2 Apr '10 8:31:12 AM
Gadkari what a shame. Yesterday you got embroiled in Bachans show. It
was not a great deal for us Indias. For us it is matter of cost,
standard of living and security so that we can bring up our children.
After being questioned now you are throwing few more questions. Well I
appreciate atleast you respond to the environment. I doubt whether you
are capble of leading BJP to victory.
Posers to the PM
By: Ratna Magotra | Friday , 2 Apr '10 7:14:49 AM
Where does the responsible media stand? The media stands fully
compromised having accepted the government sponsored awards, what
otherwise it fully deserved but by the readers and peers! The english
media at least now seem to represent the government and not the people
like earlier in British ruled period.
gadkari ask PM
By: saheb | Friday , 2 Apr '10 6:53:59 AM
food grains are rotting and the sardar is still gloating in self and
mamma`s praise forget about praised heaped on rajkumar by media,only
aaj tak is giving info about the wheat stock rotting everywhere.what a
criminal neglect,the media should advise this pathetic uncaring
foreign hopping pro USA MMS why he should not make a law to make the
dismanagement of food stalks a crime and punishable by jail terms of
rigoutous imprisonment upto ten yrs as many die of starvation and the
corrupt enjoys all perks,it should be made equivalent to culpable
homicide.
PM and corruption
By: Chandrakant Marathe | Thursday , 1 Apr '10 20:26:51
It is a known fact that the present Prime Minister is presiding over a
corrupt ruling dispensation. Let there be an audit of wealth holdings
of top congress and its allies politicians in power and you will
easily find out how rich they are. People who have been in social work
throughout their lives then how do they have so much of land and
property?? can Manmohan Singh as an economist answer??????
Indian people should start protest against govt every where in India
from city to village
By: sujan | Thursday , 1 Apr '10 20:22:33 PM
Thanks for BJP president to give knowledge about govt's bad plan. Pls
all Indian people should start revolution against UPA govt to give the
proper answer and give proper food to the poor people of India other
wise all congress people should go to Italy and pak and leave India
immediately.
INFLATION HAS HIT COMMON MAN'S BACK BONE
By: RAJAT KUMAR MOHINDRU .JALANDHAR CITY .PUNJAB | Thursday , 1 Apr
'10 19:44:59 PM
Bharatiya Janata Party National President Mr Nitin Gadkari has asked
Prime Minister of India S Manmohan Singh to clarify that what reasons
are responsible that has boosted Inflation ? as the Inflation has hit
the back bone of the common man , his homely budget has been upset ,
What policies or reasons are responsible that Why the Union Government
could not curb Inflation ? As no doubt the prices of Sugar witnessed
sharp increase and Gross Domestic Produce (GDP) target could not be
achieved What are the reasons ? The skyrocketing prices of essential
commodoties has upset the families living below the Poverty Line
homely budget making living miserable for them ..
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bjpspovertyposersforpm/598776/0
Have regained many Naxal areas in Lalgarh: MHA
Express news service
Posted: Friday , Apr 02, 2010 at 0135 hrs
New Delhi:
MHA has said a majority of areas that had become Maoist strongholds
over the past few months have been regained.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s proposed visit to Lalgarh in West
Bengal comes in the wake of the fact that security forces engaged in
battling the Naxals there have managed to regain control over large
areas dominated by Left-wing extremists and civil administration has
been restored in many of these reclaimed areas.
Officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said a majority of
areas that had become Maoist strongholds over the past few months have
been regained and development activities were being initiated there.
“Most of the police stations have reopened. Schools have also started
running although there is a severe shortage of teachers there,” an
official said.
Chidambaram’s visit was essentially aimed as an exercise to take first-
hand stock of the situation and to boost the morale of the forces ,
officials said.
On Maoist leader Kishenji, MHA sources said he was either recuperating
from an injury or had been asked to lie low. “Kishenji has been very
quiet. Whether it is for a tactical reason or because of differences
with Ganapathi, we don’t know,” a MHA source said, adding that the
government had credible intelligence to suggest a rift between between
the two over many issues, including over Kishenji's frequent
interaction with the media..
Comments (1) |
Have regained many Naxal areas in lalgarh...
By: D.A. Srinivasan | 02-Apr-2010
It is indeed a good devolopment for Govt of India and govt of WB.It is
time for the Govt to have introspection as to how the area in question
has become Naxal territory. It is clear that the people to whom the
benifits of Govts action should reach are not benifitted and the
corrupt machinery siphons off all the funds for personal gain.The
administrative machinery is not accessible to the common man.His
grievances are not heard.The police , revenue officials act in a
partisan manner.Common man has no where to go to redress his
grievances. For Naxals this is a God sent oppurtunity and they become
popular.As for the devolpoment activity the Govt should take a stock
of what has been allocated and spent and what benifits have accrued to
the benifiearies.Unless this is done prior to new devolopment schemes
and remedial measures are in place against the earlier failures no
positive benifites will accrue.Govt also should take action against
those who are responsible for misgovernance
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/haveregainedmanynaxalareasinlalgarhmha/599017/
Hindu Extremists To Target Shoaib Malik’s Family During Wedding
April 1, 2010
Lirpa Phool Chandrasekaran | Exclusive to PKKH
MUMBAI – Hindu extremists have a plan or two up their sleeve for Sania
Mirza and Shoaib Malik.
The Indian tennis star has decided to marry the ex Pakistan cricket
captain and this has not gone down well with Hindu extremists such as
Shiv Sena, which has organised protest rallies all over India in which
posters and effigies of the bride and groom were set alight.
Though the Sena does not have a good enough presence in Hyderabad it
is doing everything possible to make its presence felt on the D Day of
Sania’s marriage. It is believed that there would be a protest
organized by the Sena in conjunction with many other Hindu extremist
groups near the hotel where the marriage would take place.
Bal Thackeray is said to be fuming ever since the news of the marriage
broke in the media earlier this week.
‘They are attacking us with their terrorists, they are kicking us out
of Afghanistan, they are sidelining us at major global summits and
conferences, and now they are stealing our women? Is India a land of
neuters that she has to go find a man in Pakistan to marry? (India mai
kya hijray rehte hai jo woh mard dhoondne Pakistan gaee hai)’, Said
Bal Thackeray this morning.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) which is known for its violence
against North Indians in the state of Maharashtra has also joined in
the chorus.
The MNS is headed by Raj Thackeray, nephew of Bal Thackeray, who had
split from the Shiv Sena in 2006.
‘We’ll see how this Pakistani takes our girl. This is an insult and we
will not let this happen at any cost’, Raj Thackeray is reported to
have said.
It is believed that Sania and her family will be enhancing the
security arrangements of the marriage as Shoaib’s family from Pakistan
could be targeted.
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Hindu Extremists blame Pakistan for bombing in India Fearing Jihad,
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Posted in India, News, Pakistan, Politics, The Real India | Tagged Bal
Thackeray, Cricket, Cricketer, Hindu extremists, Indian, Maharashtra,
Marriage, MSN, Navnirman Sena, Pakistan, pakistani, Raj Thackeray,
RSS, Sania Mirza, Shiv Sena, Shoaib Malik, Tennis, Wedding |
15 comments
@ ALL bloddy hindus,
Now suddenly she became ur girl.Before her decision of marriage with
shoeb malik(though i dont like shoeb cuz he is supposed to be a
sattebaz) but now I respect this girl and her decision to marry a
muslim and had guts to marry with a pakistani guy.She is unlike other
so called muslim celebrities of India who married hindu or chrisitian
girls take for example all the khans in indian film industry they all
have hindu wife.azharuddin,pataudi and now irfan khan all with hindu
wives (irfan pathan soon to marry hindu girl and her mother said that
if her would be bahu do not want to become muslim she will have no
objection).Muslim Mps almost all of them have first or second wife a
hindu or xtian ones like salman khurshid who has xtian wife and his
sister married to a hindu guy,syed shahnawaz husain has hindu
wife,late sikandar bakht(kambakht) has hindu wife and hindu daughter
in law.Farooq abdullah’s son married to a hindu girl and his daughter
married to a hindu guy.Abbas naqvi married a hindu girl and the list
goes on.
Hats off to u sania My wishes n prayers r with u always.Inshallah
ALLAH will give hidaya to shoeb malik and u to be on imaan and work
for Islam instead of countries u belong to cuz Islam has no boundaries
no nationality no country.Islam is for the whole universe.
by Mu-salman Khan from India April 1, 2010 at 10:37 pm
@Muh-salman Khan ji, Those marriages u referred, are forced & feared,
to avoid being the victim of current Nazi Hindu India, commonly known
as automatic ” shuddhi”, but rest assured, Pakistanis also felt
necessary to have hindu wives, if u doubt me, ask the Governor of
Pakistani Punjab ! The only remaining obvious aspect workable of
failed secularism in S.E Asia.
Late Z.A Bhuttos mother was a hindu too, so why on earth are u
“shocked ” this is progressivism
by Rafay Kashmiri April 1, 2010 at 11:33 pm
hahahhahahahhaaa………
India ki bisteeeeee………..Wow!!!
by fatima April 1, 2010 at 10:53 pm
@ Do we really need such extravaganzaa ? giving it a false colour of
overexuberant mutual showbis promotional exibitions to “improve”
relationship between two neighbours, one, an adopted spoilt child of
the west, coming from a poverty stricken society, the other, forcibly
being brought at the brink of social & moral disaster by the west ?
As for Nazi Bal Thakuray, he & his party, alongwith other Indian
political terrorist parties must be brought before Inter. Penal
Tribunal for crimes
against humanity, including the Indian Govt.
perpetrating Genocide in Kashmir,with 700.000 army only inside the
valley, and training, financing & equipping terrorists in their 17
training camps in Afghanistan, e.g TTP American Talibans. Its funny,
organised terrorists are
trained by Indo-Israeli specialists, protected by INTERNATIONAL
CONSORTIUM OF GLOBAL TERRORISM run by CIA, MOSSAD, RAW & MI6.
by Rafay Kashmiri April 1, 2010 at 11:20 pm
@ May be somebody should make bal Thakuray
an april fool, we still have some hours left !!
I heard he loves National Socialist Fuhrer
Adolf Hitler !!
by Rafay Kashmiri April 1, 2010 at 11:37 pm
heyy m really intrested to have good relations with our neighbour and
wish for their improvement ….and luv is beyond boundries…and they both
are in luvv..so lets b happy in their happiness…….and should say sania
a very warm welcome in PAKISTAN.we luv u both….
sadaf pakistan
by sadaf April 2, 2010 at 12:58 am
• For marital affairs, Islam benchmarks very clear and well defined
set of laws, boundaries, rules and ordinances of “All Mighty Allah”
for all Muslims to follow.
• Islam does not permit Muslim men/women to marry with KUFARS (idol
worshipers)or with non believers (atheists). If Muslim man/woman
marries with such, they no longer are considered as Muslims.
• Islam permit Muslim men to marry women who are the beholders of the
Holy Books, i.e. Quran, Bible and Torah.
• Islam permits Muslim women to marry only Muslim men.
• Islam rejects non marital relationships of any kind between men and
women.
Pakistanis get side track as easy as with this hype of; Shoaib Malik
& Sania Mirza.
Pakistanis quickly lose sense of directions and aims and become
focused on non relevant issues like; Shoaib Malik & Sania Mirza.
Pakistanis don’t spare time and forget their tasks and adjectives
and starts devilling on non productive activates like; Shoaib Malik &
Sania Mirza.
Pakistanio; do you not feel shame when you live and act like your
enemies (hindoz)?
Indeed you know hindoz are KAFIRS and Pakistan’s historical enemies,
so then why do you do things that your enemy does?
Pakistanio do you not have any standards or motives other then
Shoaib Malik or Sania Mirza or Indian media or indian bollywood?
As Pakistanis if you think following lifestyles of your enemies or
playing sad and pathetic games of Shoaib Malik or Sania Mirza would
make you above and beyond than carry on with your patty little idol
worshiping games.
o All I can say for the likes of you; SHAME ON LOT OF YOU!
by Pakistani voice April 2, 2010 at 5:54 am
That’s what india is a true terrorist and the hindu extrmists are the
real threat to the world. These so called hindu superpower india
inside is just a piece of crap where there is no tolerance. These
hindus kill others just because they eat beef and chicken what a piece
of sh??? india is. Come on liberty lowers condemn indian terrorism the
mother of all terrorist country india. A lesson for india lovers
including our elite class. Our media should also control itself always
running indian news.
by Pakistani April 2, 2010 at 7:39 am
hehehehe…. looks like PKKH making up stuff again. And the dimwitted
Pakis buying this news without bothering to check facts…. amusing
indeed. Despite the Thakreys being completely useless, they haven’t
actually commented on anything – but then, since when has that stopped
you Pakis from making up stuff eh. Carry on boys…
by Amused April 2, 2010 at 8:43 am
This is fake news ., none of the Thakrey said this ., salutes to paki
media , have guts to lie openly
by harsha April 2, 2010 at 8:53 am
PKKH is such a Hypocritical website. i think i have to unsubscribe
from it on facebook.
by NA kar yaar April 2, 2010 at 9:41 am
@Amused Thakeray,
ha ha ha ha ha……..lolzzzzzzzz
Your Indian bluff not always works, for u, BJP,RSS
& 15 Nazi Shuddhi parties r “useless” (on surface)
but beneath they r part & parcel of Indian Genocidal
culture. Recently, Kashmir, Gujarat, Bombay, Ayudhia’s muslims are
very very recent mahabharat’s epochs, & Thakerays & Co were always
quite
” usefull “.
Sania / Shoeb wedding, goodluck for them,
but Indian Hindu Takfiri Taliban’s killer instinct & Bal Thakeray’s
wedding existed long long ago !
by Rafay Kashmiri April 2, 2010 at 10:02 am
Poor Indians…
by sohail April 2, 2010 at 10:15 am
@ NA kar yaar,
is that a new Indian shuddhi party ?
by Rafay Kashmiri April 2, 2010 at 10:16 am
happy ccouple inshalla.sania jee is now our expected babhi.shoib gi
kiya chakka lagyaaa hai.mazza agayaaaa.
by waqasayub22 April 2, 2010 at 12:11 pm
http://pakistankakhudahafiz.wordpress.com/2010/04/01/hindu-extremists-to-target-shoaib-maliks-family-during-wedding/
'Sania's heart not Indian as it beats for Pakistani'
Agencies
Posted: Friday , Apr 02, 2010 at 0954 hrs
Mumbai:
'More than victories on tennis court, Sania became famous for her
tight clothes, fashion and love affairs,' alleges Bal Thackeray.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Friday flayed tennis star Sania Mirza
for her decision to marry Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, saying
"had Sania's heart been Indian, it wouldn't have beaten for a
Pakistani."
"Henceforth, Sania will not remain an Indian. Had her heart been
Indian, it wouldn't have beaten for a Pakistani. If she wished to play
for India, she should have chosen an Indian life partner," 84-year-old
Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
"More than victories on tennis court, Sania became famous for her
tight clothes, fashion and love affairs," Thackeray alleged.
"More than her play, people's attention was on her mannerisms," he
claimed.
The Shiv Sena supremo alleged that "for Shoaib, India is an enemy, not
only in sports arena but also in the battlefield.
"We have heard that Shoaib has many affairs in India and has promised
many girls he will marry them," he said.
Thackeray also expressed surprise over the alacrity with which Sania's
family members were granted Pakistani visas.
"Getting a Pakistani visa is tough even for a singer like Lata
Mangeshkar," he said.
23-year-old Sania, who is the most successful woman tennis player from
the sub-continent, will settle down with 28-year-old Shoaib in Dubai
after their marriage on April 15 in Hyderabad.
17 Comments |
Trying times
By: Surjeet | Friday , 2 Apr '10 13:02:24 PM
Well, in trying times and war like situation, such as, terror attack
killing thousands, people who suffer will have this feeling where
loyalties could be questioned. Pakistani cricketers are also known for
indiscipline. We also talk of terror within, that is, hundreds of
Pakistani have come to India on tourist visa and are hiding in India.
What they are doing is anyone's guess. If anyone, or a family from the
nation of the victims questions his or her fellow citizens as to how
they wish to establish ties accross the border, where all the trouble
erupts, it certainly will be a logical question difficult to answer.
It is a war like situation when cowardly attacks are taking place. If
someone marries a french,english, italian, no question will arise. One
should not say this is an unreasonable question. Hydrabad is a place
where every year hundreds of girls are married into the Arab & Pak.
families. Questions are ofcourse askedabout these decisions as Indian
girls really suffer
This is Hilarious
By: Rahul | Friday , 2 Apr '10 13:01:42 PM
This is so hilarious...this isn't even a topic worth discussing...ha
ha ha ... lol...ROFL...idiots!
MASHPAUL GERMANY 02.04.2010
By: P.C.LUTHRA | Friday , 2 Apr '10 12:51:41 PM
PLEASE BE COSIDERATE IN YOUR LANGUAGE WHILE WRITING ABOUT SENIOR
CITIZENS AND LEADERS IN INDIA(SHRI BAL THACKEREY. YOUR WORDS "BARKING
DOGS SELDOM BITE" IS BELOW THE DIGNITY OF HUMANITY WHETHER IN INDIA OR
IN GERMANY.MAY GOD BLESS YOU. WITH WARM REGARDS
y make it a news?
By: ankur | Friday , 2 Apr '10 12:50:31 PM
Everyone of us is having our own views. Mr. Bal Thackerey is just
another Indian with his own views. I think he is doing no good to this
country. Will you be making a this a news tomorrow. Its time to tell
these kind of people that they can have their views but they are not
like any other Indian and no special column in papers should be given
to what they say and what they don't say. I think this encourages him
further. Thackerey Sahab try to be an indian first, then start having
views for other Indians and kindly don't try to impose your views on
others. Any ways Shoiab's decision is Sania's decision and her decsion
should be respected by all of us. Why still this narrow mindedness
that every Pakistani is a terrorist. We have better issues to debate
and work on. Let us just sideline whatever Baal Sahab says from now
on.
Sania Mirza must review her decision with maturity !!!
By: A K SAXENA | Friday , 2 Apr '10 12:32:28 PM
It is rightly said that the celebrities have no private lives.Sania is
a public figure.She was expected to decide about her marriage by full
application of her mind rather than heart.Did she know that Shoab
Malik was already married to one Ayesha Siddiqui of Hyderabad? And,
she has not been divorced yet by Shoab Malik!Why is Sania falling head
over heels over Pakistani players?Do Indian muslims not impress her?We
have scores of eligible bachelor from all communities including
muslims who could be good match for her.She was born and brought up in
a composite indian culture.India gave her love and affection that a
child so much deserved.Sania brought glory to India and became an
icon,a house-hold name,a role model to millions!Her assurance that she
would continue to play for India even after her marriage is a
farce.Time will prove her wrong. Our blessings are always with
her,destiny has ordained otherwise for her as her heart will always
remain indian A K SAXENA (A retd civil servant)
Gullible Sania
By: Ramachandra | Friday , 2 Apr '10 12:27:20 PM
Bala Saheb is 1 crore and 1 percent right here. Malik has just
ensnared this gullible female into his web of deception in order to
get into IPL...shame on Sania anyways. But as my late Grandma used to
say: The careless are often exploited by the shameless.
Hear is a Heart
By: Farooq Khan | Friday , 2 Apr '10 12:17:13 PM
Oh Wow, Sena Chief now uses the word 'Indian', ha!
Sania's heart
By: Roshan | Friday , 2 Apr '10 12:15:42 PM
On this issue, Shri Bal Thackeray has spoke right.Sania's heart had
never been to India. Else she wouldn't have likened a pakistani. Are
there shortage of Indian Muslims that she couldn't find one? Let her
go to pakistan and acquire a pakistani citizenship. Indian doesn't
need her. Furthermore,she's tired of nursing injuries time and again.
I dont think she would continue tennis anymore. Playing in or for
Pakistan is obsolete .
I agree to some parts of it.
By: deepak | Friday , 2 Apr '10 12:09:45 PM
I think Bala Sahab..is right in some areas.
He's not wrong
By: Yojimbo | Friday , 2 Apr '10 12:02:31 PM
Well, he is right.
SANIA DECISION
By: Jafar Raza | Friday , 2 Apr '10 12:01:21 PM
Indian Muslims all over the country expressed their displeasure for
Sina's decision. Now communal forces have come out to exploit and
commualise the issue. There are many Hindu girls married to Pakistani
Rajput Landlords in Sindh. Has HHS Bal Thakrey ever objected.
rightly said
By: iyer | Friday , 2 Apr '10 11:56:53 AM
But for the comment of Sania's tight clothes I fully agree with Mr.Bal
Thackery in this issue.At least She should have thought about the
hapless & innocent Indians who died in Mumbai on November 26th and
other pak sponsored terrorists activities.There are eligible-educated-
financially strong Muslim youths available in India.Really strange on
her part to choose a Pakistani as her husband.
Bala Saheb
By: jani | Friday , 2 Apr '10 11:54:53 AM
Bala Saheb is right on the spot this time.Sania has no business to
live in India. Entry of Malik should be banned in India. He may spoil
lives of other innocent Indian girls.Indian girls be aware and don't
fall prey to such thugs. Shoaib wants to enter IPL by marrying Sania
as he has no other revenue. What ever money he had earned from match
fixing has been wasted in casting web on such girls
No rules here!
By: Parag Ganguly | Friday , 2 Apr '10 11:42:43 AM
"The heart has its reasons",or does it?
Sania and Shoaib
By: Mashpaul Germany | Friday , 2 Apr '10 11:42:04 AM
Iam not a fan from both of them.But who the hell is Thackeray to tell
people what they have to do or who they have to marry.He should come
out of Maharashtra and see where the world is going.He can order his
family to do things he wants.I in sanias place would have draged
thackeray in court.But she is peaceful than me,maybe she thinks
BARKING DOGS SELDOM BITE.His own family is not under his control.Split
personality,he should see a psychaitrist.
Govt should make getting permission compusory
By: Ayyappa | Friday , 2 Apr '10 11:27:06 AM
Any one can marry any one. It is their wish and there are so many
inter racial marriages happening in this world. In this case one
fraudster is marrying an Indian girl. What is the gaurantee this
marriage is legal? Other than the country he originate from tere are
news of an earler marriage in India itself. Any more wives in Paki?
Govt should look at some countries in far east where it is compusory
to get govt clearence before any citizen can marry a foreigner. After
marrying they can claim for citizenship and other previlages. What
will we do then. We do not want undesirable elements from Paki here.
Sania should go and take Paki citizenship and settle any where.
since when have you started to care for india.........
By: Saket Ranjan | Friday , 2 Apr '10 11:24:49 AM
and since when you started caring for india............i heard your
heart beats only for the marathi manus!!!
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/saniasheartnotindianasitbeatsforpakistani/599144/
Two Lashkar militants killed in J-K encounter
Agencies
Posted: Friday , Apr 02, 2010 at 0934 hrs
Jammu:
Two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in a gunbattle with security
forces in Rajouri district on Friday.
Acting on a tip off about the movement of militants in Kanthole Gundi-
Darrutelna in Kalakote, 130 kms from here, police assisted by
Rashtriya Rifle and CRPF personnel launched a cordon operation.
An encounter soon broke out around 0830 hrs in which two militants
have been killed, police said.
Both of them are Pakistanis and believed to be a part of the group
that infiltrated from across the border in Akhnoor on March 23.
With today's killing, 14 militants have been killed in the past one
week in Rajouri district. All the slain militants belong to LeT.
Six LeT militants of Pakistani origin, who had escaped from Triyath
forest after a brief encounter three days ago, were killed by security
forces in Rajouri district yesterday.
A search team of police assisted by army, special operation group
(SoG) and CRPF tracked down the militants who had escaped from Triyath
forest on March 30 following a brief encounter with the security
personnel.
A jawan had been killed and Station House Officer of Daramshal Police
Station Inspector Showkat Ali was injured in that incident.
Two militants of this group were killed in Dharamshal area on Saturday
last while four were killed in Kandi Bhudal belt of Rajouri district
on Wednesday.
Comments (2) |
LeT Militant
By: Kumar | 02-Apr-2010
LeT is a Regiment of Pak Army, now the situation in Kashmir like of
Kargil. One full battalion or even a division of LeT regiment is
invading India. What is Indian Army's response, before being too late?
Congratulations Indian army
By: Indian | 02-Apr-2010 Rep
You have done an excellent job. Keep up the good work, kill as many
terrorist as possible. We are praying for the success of the Indian
army.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/twolashkarmilitantskilledinjkencounter/599140/
MBA graduate gangraped in share taxi
Agencies
Posted: Friday , Apr 02, 2010 at 1147 hrs
Pune:
A 25-year-old married woman was allegedly gang raped by occupants of a
share taxi in which she was travelling in Pune, police said o Friday.
The woman, an MBA in hospitality management, had gone out for an
interview in Wakad area, taking a lift in the vehicle when she was
abducted and allegedly raped by three persons, who too were seated in
the taxi along with her, last night, they said.
Two suspects had been detained for interrogation in the case, police
said.
The victim who originally hails from Nagpur was staying with her
relatives in the city, it was stated.
Medical report in the case is still awaited, police said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mbagraduategangrapedinsharetaxi/599172/
HM to review security situation in Arunacha
Agencies
Posted: Friday , Apr 02, 2010 at 1232 hrs
Itanagar:
P Chidambaram will hold a high level meeting with the Army and
security agencies during his visit to Arunachal Pradesh.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will review the security situation
in the state amid speculation that Myanmar may launch an operation
against Northeast militants having bases there, officials said.
Chidambaram, who arrived in Itanagar on Friday on a two-day visit,
will hold a high level meeting with the Army and security agencies.
He is also scheduled to visit Khonsha, headquarters of Tirap, a
district declared disturbed along with adjoining Changlang, under the
Armed Forces Special Power Act because of activities of militants from
neighbouring Nagaland and Assam.
The militants use the forests in the two districts sharing border with
Myanmar as corridor to their bases across the international border.
After being driven out from Bhutan and Bangladesh, the militants have
reportedly taken refuge in camps in Myanmar.
Union Home Secretary G K Pillai had visited Naypyidaw, the new
Myanmarese capital, in January.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hmtoreviewsecuritysituationinarunachal/599187/
Militants blow up Rly track in Pulwama
Agencies
Posted: Friday , Apr 02, 2010 at 0829 hrs
Srinagar:
Militants attacked the Kashmir rail network for the first time,
blowing up nearly two feet of track in Pulwama district, resulting in
suspension of rail service linking South Kashmir with North Kashmir.
The ultras detonated an IED at Galbug, 43.6 km from here, around 10 pm
last night, damaging two feet rail track, police said, adding there
were no casualties.
Rail service on the track has been suspended.
This is for the first time that militants have targeted the railway
service, started in the valley two years ago.
The attack comes at a time when senior railway officers are expected
to visit Kashmir to review progress of the ongoing work in the
railways.
The rail track connects Qazigund in South Kashmir to Baramulla in
North Kashmir.
SSP, Pulwama, Kifayat Haider, said, "It was probably an IED blast
because not much of damage has been done but we have recovered some
wires from the spot. Repair work is going on since this morning and
the track will be restored within a couple of hours."
Comments (1) |
Pak regiment LeT Sabotage Rail in J
By: Kumar | 02-Apr-2010
LeT is a Regiment of Pak Army, now the situation in Kashmir like of
Kargil. One full battalion or even a division of LeT regiment is
invading India. What is Indian Army's response, before being too late?
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/militantsblowuprlytrackinpulwama/599125/
HC stays suspension of AMU’s gay prof
Vijay Pratap Singh
Posted: Friday , Apr 02, 2010 at 0315 hrs
Allahabad:
The Allahabad High Court today stayed the suspension of Aligarh Muslim
University lecturer Srinivas Ramchandra Siras over charges of gay
sex.
The court also stayed the AMU order asking him to vacate his official
residence and restricting his movements. Siras was suspended on
February 9. The court, however, declined to stay the AMU inquiry
against him.
In an interim order, the division bench of Justices Sunil Ambwani and
K N Pandey directed AMU to allot Siras a residence on the campus. The
case will be heard next on May 4.
“The court agreed to our argument that it is constitutionally wrong to
intrude into anybody’s private life or action,” Siras’s counsel Anand
Grover told The Indian Express.
He said he had accepted in court that his client was homosexual. “But
it is none of the university’s business to peep into the private life
of any person. The court took cognisance of my argument and gave my
client relief.”
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hcstayssuspensionofamusgayprof/599106/
Back in UP politics, Rajnath woos backwards, Dalits
Tarannum Manjul
Posted: Friday , Apr 02, 2010 at 0255 hrs
Lucknow:
Rajnath Singh at his residence in Lucknow on Thursday.
Rajnath Singh has returned to Uttar Pradesh politics after his stint
as the national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the first
thing on his mind is to mobilise the members of backward communities
and Dalits all over the state behind the party.
After attending a programme for Kori community in Ghaziabad recently,
Singh was in Barabanki on Wednesday where he addressed members of Pasi
community.
Speaking about their welfare, Singh said Chief Minister Mayawati has
not taken any concrete steps for the welfare of Dalits.
“When I was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, I had introduced an
ordinance for the most backward castes, to ensure their share of
social justice,” Singh told The Indian Express.
“But today look what has happened to them. No one is thinking about
their welfare anymore. Whenever I am finding time, I am open to all
invitations to work for the welfare of most backward communities,” he
added.
Singh now spends more time at his Lucknow residence on Kalidas Marg
and says that he has started receiving invitations to attend several
sammelans. His next stop will be a Dalit welfare programme at Fatehpur
on April 23.
Rajnathspeak
We are not at all worried as we have a strong base in the western part
of Uttar Pradesh. In fact, two of the biggest seats in the area —
Ghaziabad and Meerut — have been won by BJP On Kalyan’s bid to expand
his party’s reach
Crores of rupees have been spent by the Centre on the Ganga Action
Plan but we can’t see any result so far. We have found that all the
money has been misused. The Centre should release a White Paper on the
utilisation of fund
On White Paper on Ganga Action Plan
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/backinuppolitics-rajnathwoosbackwards-dalits/599091/
To attract youth, Gadkari seeks new Hindutva idiom
Express News Service
Posted: Tuesday , Mar 23, 2010 at 0222 hrs
New Delhi:
BJP president Nitin Gadkari said: ' Hindutva cannot become any
political party's agenda.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Monday stressed on the need for a
modern idiom to articulate Hindutva for the youth, even as he said
that the Supreme Court’s 1995 description of Hindutva (wherein it
described it as “a way of life”) must be the touchstone while
explaining the idea.
“Hindutva cannot become any political party’s agenda,” Gadkari said by
way of explaining that it was “more of a way of life”. This was the
first time he spoke at length on Hindutva after taking over as party
president.
“From Vivekananda to the Supreme Court definition, the idea of
Hindutva has been variously discussed. Hindutva is not against any
religion. While Hindutva is our philosophy, there’s a need to employ a
new idiom to articulate it to connect with the youth,” Gadkari said
while speaking on “Hindutva and Politics” at a function to mark the
launch of an association of volunteers “that will promote the BJP
among the youth”.
“Our credo has always been ‘justice for all; appeasement of none’. A
true Hindu can never attack a Muslim, and a true Muslim can never
attack a Hindu. A terrorist, on the other hand, has no religion,
caste, or creed. It’s the pseudo-secular brigade that has unduly
highlighted the religion of terrorists who happened to be Muslims,”
said Gadkari.
The BJP president said that while a “democracy would always need truly
secular institutions”, individuals “can never become secular”. After
taking over as the party president, Gadkari has attempted to bring
about certain changes in the organisation, something that won the
approval of RSS ideologue M G Vaidya.
27 Comments |
Great "U" turn
By: Sai Ram Sathyam | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 17:12:44 PM
Wonderful, This leader seas a wider vision. What was turning into an
animal is again 2 legged and has become decent. How great it would be,
if Hindians and insulating bureaucrats realise that the danger is
"CHINA" not Taliban, for it has planned and equipped our Revenur Dept,
Rural Govt. handlers and the greedy to help create Moaists, Nuxalbari.
A Rich Andhra, Zamindar told me, if go to the interior villages and
listen to the suffering of the needy, you will buy an AK-47 and join
the urising. ! Indians dont know the silly-greedy petty minded
officers may get a salary but are destroying the foundation, and thus
helping CHINA & PAK plans. Even if ISI cannot see beyond their nose we
must, as we are broad minded. ! If their house is on fire, radiation
will hurt us. God Save Naya dhaur Hindia.
Religion has become useful tool for Indian politicians
By: hara | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 16:59:35 PM
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as
false, and by the rulers as useful. -- seneca, Roman philosopher This
kind of agenda will make Indian society weaker. Religion should be
separated from politics, that's secularism. Politicians who go with
religious propaganda end up in creating another religious war inside
India.
Hindutva
By: CPGoyal | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 16:25:41 PM
For sure Hindutva is not a religion. Its a way of life.Need proof?
Open any Hindu scripture. The Bhagwat-Gita,Ramayan the Vedas, Purans,
you name it and you will not find the word Hindu in any of them. One
reason probably is that at that time no other religion existed. So,
essencially, Hinduism is a way of life and nothing else.
Attract Youths
By: Dinesh | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 15:42:46 PM
Gadkari has to " KICK OUT " Advani first, to attract youths.
True Sculars and True Indians
By: amghavarsha.ii | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 15:19:03 PM
people supporting secular parties are always forward looking, always
tolerant. Never include religion in propagand. The very fact that
gadkari is saying that "....terrorists who happen to be muslims "
shows his bias towards which religion. After all the most secular and
true Indians are Secularists. Because they don't find natural
difference in the human who happens to be Indian. It is BJP which has
given India the VERTICAL DIVIDE accross sections of Indian Society.
who divided India in 1947
By: Anil Dutt | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 18:37:24 PM
You said "It is BJP which has given India the VERTICAL DIVIDE accross
sections of Indian Society" I just want to ask you who created
communal divide in India post independance in 1947. BJP didnt exist at
that time?? Communal friction existed since then.
Focus on Grassroot People
By: jk | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 15:07:23 PM
It is good that the new chief of BJP is focusing on youth. Please also
concentrate on the so called harijans i.e. SC/ST, adivasis and all
other socially & economically backward people. We cannot make any
progress and keep the integrity of the nation without the unity of the
backward and the so called savarna community. As everybody aware there
is a sinister attempt by the Semitics to tow away the national pride
of the people and inject imported faiths & ideals. If we are not able
to stop this menace the present India will not exist until end of this
century. So act now. Do not give any space in BJP for personal egoism
and infighting. Show the door to those who interested in these ugly
things irrespective of their stature. Do systematic works by taking
into confidence all spectrum of the socieity to achieve the target.
Wish you all the best.
Be agressive in highlighting the failures of UPA
By: R.C.Mohan | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 13:00:38 PM
BJP a party with great leaders at the top are still to win the
confidence of people in India although the party too advocate the
policy of secularism in its own way.Gadkari as president of the party
must come forward to highlight the failures of the present UPA
government in several areas. Manmohan Singh has failed in all fields
except in the economic arena thanks to his vast experience in the
affairs. In spite of a global recession, India could withstad the
melee because of Mr.Singh. But in all other fields he has miserably
failed and this fact should be highlighted by the BJP. In Law & Order,
Agricultural, Food Distribution,Controlling terrorism, external
affairs etc the present UPA Government has let down the people to a
pathetic state of affairs.Dividing the hindus and appeasing other
religions made them comfortable in hoodwinking the people to an
extend.Hence Gadkari has to be progressive by being agressive in
highlighting the failures of the UPA.All will get attracted naturally
Indian Prestorika for UPA
By: J.A. Mansuri | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 12:58:42 PM
Both UPA & NDA could reshape by learning for future strategies about
co-existence with & without difference in plural society. Observing
specific areas of SC and Constitution will lead to further polarize
society & national polity. Observing judiciary on Babri Masjid will
bring national integration. Vaccum in philosophy and cadre is on
surface amongst both groups.
Observing Judiciary
By: Ananth Seth | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 13:38:48 PM
Effective and just National Integration can only come after the
followers of Islam give up their false claim on Ayodhya and disown
pseudo-secularists and pseudo-intellectuals. Any other talk is nothing
but an "under cover" attack on the history and civilization of this
great country.
BJP back to winning trajectory
By: Chirag K. Shahc | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 12:58:34 PM
I sincerely wish that BJP wins next elections both in Banglore polls
and Bihar. It is high time a nationalist party gets its due.
BAD PERSONS
By: yusuf ahmed | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 12:39:36 PM
a bad person is a bad person - a thug is a thug - let us not brand him
- region religion have nothing to do with badness - the new BJP
President is right - his thought process his mind set is on target -
reflects a mental over haul
-
Gadkari seeks new Hindutva idiom
By: subramanian | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 12:05:50 PM
The party's Top leadership is making good and sincere attempts to
rejenuvate BJP. The party has to attract down trodden and weaker
sections of Hindus to retain BJP as the main opposition party. Involve
all Indians across religious lines to become the ruling party.
Kangress bhagaoe,desh bachaoe
By: birju | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 12:02:36 PM
Gadkariji,way to go! demolish the evil party ruling us and install the
patriots in power!
Hindutava
By: Parminder Singh | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 11:35:17 AM
My dear brothers and sisters. If a particular word creates
misunderstanding, notwithstanding the intentions behind it, we should
reconsider modifying it. Suppose Akalis say that in Punjab, Sikhutava
be practised or christians in NE States say Christianava be practised
and Muslims say in J&K, Muslimism be way of life, it would definately
not be acceptable to others. I would suggest to Mr Gadhkari that he
should use the word Bharatism as the slogan and moto. While one may
have reservations or objections to any word which in any way seem to
be linked to a particular community or religion, none can have
objection to the word reflecting the country in which he or she lives.
Objection for everything
By: Indian | Thursday , 25 Mar '10 14:27:30 PM
Parminder,first read the definition of Hindutva by Supreme court &
then make comment here.Minorities in India have reservation for
anything said & done by majority.They will not even like to call
bharath since we worship the same as our mata
Hinduvta
By: DRJ | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 11:57:24 AM
Can u advocate the same philosophy for Pakistan which is driving
hindus and sikhs out. India is perhaps the only country where
affiliations of Muslims and Christians are outside the country i.e
Mekka and Rome. Nothing wrong in beliefs. But the basic interest to
rest with the country which is missing and hels overseas interest to
destabilise the country.
Hindutva and Hinduism
By: soumik pal | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 10:52:50 AM
Nitin Gadkari's comments are better thought than the usual fare dished
out by the likes of Narendra Modi. But one should realize that
Hinduism, after all, is just a discursive field open to debate and
discussion. It is not monolithic. It is not a religion, it is a dharma
(there's a difference). And by all means is Hinduism inclusive unlike
the brand of Hindutva being promoted by BJP and it's more hardcore
allies like the RSS, VHP etc. Godhra riots and countless other events/
incidents bear testimony to that. And "Mantra", India is not a Hindu
nation.
What is the final solution
By: mun | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 10:13:58 AM
Whilst all these comments are true, there is still the real problem
India faces not now but about 100 years from now. By that time the
proportion of Hindus and others in particular Muslims will have
changed to a point that unrest becomes more frequent and violent. The
reason is Hindus might continue to say India is secular and indeed
practice religious tolerence, but unfotunately, Islam does not give
any choice to muslims. That is, there is only one way of being muslim,
which is the way quran preached originally. No muslim can accept a
State which is not based on quran. That means India can never enact a
law restricting muslims from marrying more than one wife, practice
family planning or any other practices even if they are archaic and
irrelevant to 22nd century. Is there a way out of this? If muslim
population is proportionately, more than Hindus will they allow Hindus
to live they want to live? No convincing answers to this yet.
Hindutva
By: MRR | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 10:01:19 AM
It is good start and it is upto verybody to ensure that they do not
elect the Pseudo secular's back to power in next election and give
this ideology a another chance to put in practise. Good luck
Let and Let live - Hindutva idiom
By: kulmohan | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 9:52:41 AM
Let and Let live - Hindutva idiom. Nothing else would define the
essence of hinduism better
Let and Let Live
By: Indian | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 10:20:14 AM
Yea that is exactly what is happening with terrorirsts. We are letting
them leave and forgetting ourselves to protect. We are letting
terrorirsts live by voting politicians who are very careful not to
hang them despite of SC judgement
Hindutva
By: Mantra | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 9:38:19 AM
While the Honorable Supreme Court is absolutely correct in defining
Hinduism as a way of life, Hindu's also have certain beliefs and value
systems, which are unique to them. Hindu's like any other religion
believe in the supremacy of god,life and worship. It is therefore a
way of life to practice the three epitomes of any religion. Now
Islamic and Christian nations do give Bonus points to people or
citizens who practice the religion as endorsed by the state. Prime
examples are Malaysia,Israel, France, Australia, whole of Middle East
and to a great extent US and UK too. Now, as a nation, what is wrong
being a Hindu nation? What is wrong in being a Hindu? At the end of
it, India and Nepal are the only two Hindu nations! The consitution
does not need to hurt the religious sentiments of others, nor should
it curtail the rights of other minorities, however, it should not also
give bonus points and additional privileges to citizens of India of
minority beliefs.
Right
By: India | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 10:00:06 AM
Very good. Very rightly said.
Hindus-Divided
By: DRJ | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 11:02:47 AM
Nitinji is making good and sincere attempts to rejenuvate BJP. The
main flaw in BJP's policy is that it recognises only certain sections
as Hindus and rest all as sub servers. This discrimination is being
exploited by Congress. BJP has to learn to recongnise all sections of
Hindus.
BJP most secular
By: Swan | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 13:54:39 PM
BJP does recognize all sections. 80% of BJP and RSS are from OBC or
Dalit communities. But the biased media and pseudo secular people do
not give that importance but do wrong publicity.
Thanks to Indian Express
By: Swanand Bodas | Tuesday , 23 Mar '10 9:35:52 AM
This has been BJP's agenda from JanSangh time. Hindutva by virtue is
comprehensive. The culture here is tolerent and harmonious but of
course is capable to teach a lesson to pseudo secularists who have
been dividing the country for their vote-bank politics. Whatever SC
had said was exactly stated by Veer Savarkar by defining Hindus as
those loving this country and being part of the culture of this
country. But due to Pseudo secular people and even worse media this
has always been prohibitted to come forward. So I must congratulate
Indian Express which at least has made it a news unlike almost other
media channels who are more worried about Rahul Gandhi's whereabouts,
where does he stay what does eat, whether Priyanka was with him or not
etc. than any other intellectual process. This country needs to bring
all religions, states on same level with no special religious laws to
Muslims and no special status to J&K. Only then the country becomes
united
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/to-attract-youth-gadkari-seeks-new-hindutva-idiom/594388/
Lalu attacks Ramdev, calls him 'senile'
Press Trust Of India
Posted on Apr 01, 2010 at 18:31
Patna: Once an admirer of Baba Ramdev, RJD chief Lalu Prasad went
hammer and tongs against the Yoga Guru for attacking politicians and
nurturing political ambitions and said he has gone 'senile'.
The former Bihar Chief Minister said it is not good for Ramdev, who
recently announced that he would float a political party, to criticise
every politician in the country.
"It is not good that Ramdev is criticising every politician in the
country to prove himself good," Prasad said at a function here
yesterday targeting the noted Yoga Guru.
"I have advised him against joining politics. In fact, Ramdevji bauwra
gaye hai (Ramdevji has gone senile)," he said.
Ramdev had blamed politicians for some of the problems facing the
country.
But Lalu's tirade against Ramdev did not go well with the BJP chief
Nitin Gadkari.
Gadakri came out in defence of Ramdev and ticked off Lalu saying his
language was inappropriate and that it was not warranted against such
a "veteran spiritual leader".
Initially telling he would not like to comment on the issue, Gadkari
later opened up saying Lalu should have "refrained from using such
language against Ramdev."
"His comments on such a respected person are disappointing," he added.
At the function, Lalu said "We once saved him (Ramdev) or else he
would have been beaten up."
Lalu was apparently referring to the strong support he had extended as
railway minister to the Yoga Guru when the latter was attacked by CPM
leader Brinda Karat who had alleged that animal bones were being mixed
with the ayurvedic medicine produced by an institution established by
Ramdev at Haridwar.
Lalu had stressed that even if human bones were mixed with medicines,
it was justified as they proved to be effective in curing people.
He also criticised Ramdev for claiming to cure cancer.
"In this research age, it is nothing but cheating and befooling
people," he said.
Lalu and Ramdev had been mutual admirers earlier. He praised the Yoga
Guru for teaching him `aasans' which cured his high blood pressure and
blood sugar. Ramdev had also praised Lalu for doing `hasya (laughing)
aasan' frequently and keeping himself healthy.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/lalu-attacks-ramdev-calls-him-senile/112519-37.html
Marry an Indian: Sena tells Sania
Watch Video
http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/112547/marry-an-indian-sena-tells-sania.html
Nitin Gadkari has failed his first test
March 25, 2010 14:32 IST
Nitin Gadkari [ Images ] had raised expectations as a no-nonsense man
who meant business. Even as he has tried to synchronise the pulls and
pressures within the BJP, the composition of his new team has been
disappointing. What is more, he has failed to come across as his own
man, writes Neerja Chowdhury.
Nitin Gadkari's new team last week was meant to show how the new
Bharatiya Janata Party [ Images ] chief planned to translate his
intentions into reality and move and shake the party. But it was a
case of khoda pahar nikli chuhiya (Dug up a mountain but only found a
mouse). Four months into the party presidency, Gadkari has a revolt
on his hands, and that too in Bihar, where critical state elections
are due in six months.
Considering Gadkari took three months to finalise his team, after
innumerable rounds of consultations with state units, the public
expression of unhappiness by party leaders has not done anything to
strengthen Gadkari's authority as BJP chief.
But first, let us consider the plus side of Team Gadkari. The average
age of the Gadkari team has come down, and that is a step forward. The
increasingly youthful face of the Congress, under Rahul Gandhi
[ Images ], had posed a challenge for the BJP and was a cause for
worry for the Sangh Parivar.
There are 12 women office-bearers and 40 women in the BJP's national
executive, and the party constitution has changed under Gandkari's
stewardship, and this will exert its own pressure on other parties.
But the question being asked is: Who are the youth and women -- and
indeed others -- the BJP president has chosen to bring to the fore to
lead the party? And in so doing, how far has he moved in the direction
of fulfilling the promises he made when he took over?
When he began his stint as the party chief, Gadkari had spoken about a
performance audit. He had said that BJP leaders will be judged by
their actions, and not by how many drawing rooms in Delhi [ Images ]
they frequented. The promotion of Hema Malini [ Images ] as BJP's vice
president -- she brings glamour to the party's campaign at election
time but is hardly visible otherwise -- or the appointment of
actresses Smriti Irani [ Images ] and Vani Tripathi has done little to
boost the morale of women slogging in the party's state units for
years, who had become hopeful that they will finally receive some
recognition.
The parity given to Vani Tripathi and Murlidhar Rao -- both were made
secretaries, when Rao had headed the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and has
given years of his life towards creating a movement for swadeshi in
extremely trying times -- is hardly a signal that the new leadership
intends to reward performance or commitment to the basic values of the
Parivar.
It can be argued, quite legitimately, that Gadkari had to work with
well-known faces, and new leaders were not going to drop from the
heavens. Any organisational reshuffle is after all a jiggling around
of known people. But the hallmark of an effective leader is, how he
utilises the existing material at hand to infuse the organisation with
new energy.
Gadkari had also set himself the goal of increasing the party's vote
bank by 10 per cent. Yet, southern India [ Images ] is virtually
unrepresented in the new team, and this 10 per cent increase cannot
come only from the northern states, where the BJP already has a
presence.
For the first time, no BJP general secretary hails from Uttar Pradesh
[ Images ], where important elections are due in 2012. The party has
to pull itself up by its bootstraps in the country's largest state if
it is to bid for power again. However, two out of the 10 general
secretaries are from Madhya Pradesh [ Images ], where elections are
not due any time soon.
In Bihar, where elections are due in October, and where the
established caste equations which brought the BJP-led National
Democratic Alliance to power last time have become skewed, the party
has a problem on its hands. Former Union minister C P Thakur has
publicly expressed his unhappiness; so has Shatrughan Sinha
[ Images ], though he is a perennial dissenter and is batting not only
for himself this time but also for senior leader Yashwant Sinha
[ Images ], who has been left out in the cold.
An unhappy Shahnawaz Hussain, who was made only a spokesman, chose to
boycott the first meeting of party spokespersons. Purnea Member of
Parliament Udai Singh has not spoken up, but is reportedly also
resentful at not being given his due.
Two leaders from Bihar have been promoted to important party posts,
but both happen to be Kayasthas, and this has fuelled a revolt in the
other communities. But these promotions have shown that the new party
chief is either unmindful of caste as a reality of Indian politics or
is deliberately not going to bother himself with it.
The exclusion of Hussain as a general secretary in the new Gadkari
team has ramifications that go beyond an individual. It is an open
secret that Hussain was tipped for a general secretary's post and it
seems that his name was dropped at the last moment at the insistence
of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
It goes without saying that Hussain's credentials for the job are
better than those of many others. This is not just because he is young
(41), has been a member of the Lok Sabha thrice and has served as the
youngest ever Cabinet minister during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's
[ Images ] premiership. It says something for his enterprising spirit
that he managed to win despite being a Muslim in a party like the BJP,
which is viewed with suspicion by the Muslim community. In the last
two elections, he won from Bhagalpur, which has a sizeable Muslim
population.
His promotion would have given the party a talking point that it is
serious about reaching out to the minority community. After all, soon
after he took over as the BJP chief, Gadkari had declared that he
wanted to build bridges with the Muslim community.
In some way, Hussain's exclusion comes as a real setback to the party
in its journey to become a mainstream organisation. It has also
underscored the party's bias against Muslims, even as other BJP
leaders like Mukhtar Abbbas Naqvi and Najma Heptullah were made vice
presidents. But that is not the same as being made a general
secretary. Hussain's exclusion shows that Muslims in the BJP can have
only a tokenistic role and rise up to a certain point, but not beyond
it
It goes without saying that the RSS has had a major say in fashioning
the new team. The three RSS pointspersons in the party have retained
their positions -- Ram Lal as general secretary and V Satish and
Saudan Singh as joint secretaries. Gadkari had reportedly elicited the
views of the organisational 'mantris' in the states on which leaders
to include in his new team.
However, the trio that essentially influenced Gadkari comprised Ram
Lal, former BJP president Rajnath Singh, and joint general secretary
of the RSS Suresh Soni, who was a powerful figure during Singh's
presidency. He continues to wield considerable clout, though many felt
that he might lose some of it, given Gadkari's direct access to RSS
chief Mohan Bhagwat.
The new team was reportedly finalised only at 3 am, on the day of the
actual announcement, at Gadkari's new flat at Ferozeshah Road.
Gadkari had raised expectations as a no-nonsense man who meant
business. Even as he has tried to synchronise the pulls and pressures
that any head of a political organisation would have to, the
composition of his new team, his first real test as party chief, has
been disappointing. What is more, he has failed to come across as his
own man.
Neerja Chowdhury
Discussion Board
Showing 1-10 of total 47 messages
http://news.rediff.com/column/2010/mar/25/nitin-gadkari-has-failed-his-first-test.htm
ndian Fake Encounters to Boost Hindutva Image (Who Controls Fanatic
India- XVI)- Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal
Submitted by abdul2028 on Thu, 01/04/2010 - 21:26
Dr. Abdul Ruff ColachalIndian Fake Encounters to Boost Hindutva Image
Indian Fake Encounters to Boost Hindutva Image
There is a very striking feature common between fascist Israel and
terror India in policies and actions. It is not just fanaticism and
terror instinct that bind them all. One main factor is inferiority
complexes they suffer that they cover up with heavy military build up.
Inferiority complex is inherited from former rulers as part of fear of
retaliation by the oppressed, suppressed people.
None needs any crash course to know Hindu India is a terror state and
its hates Muslims and Islam and therefore seeks strategic partnership
with Israel and USA-UK. Hyderabad, home town of tennis ace Sania Mirza
and conisdered as part of Pakistan by Hindu India, keeps burning
thanks to terror Indian anti-Islamic, divisive polices. In Muslim
dominated areas it is easy to instigate troubles by the Hindu
extremists by attacking mosques and Islamic symbols. Hindus know the
provocative tactics to make Muslims revolt even without any serious
cause and they don’t open their mouth even when there is serious
danger affecting their relgion and lives.
This has been happening in Hyderabad which perhaps has the largest
miltiary contonement in South India and which is literally under brute
Indian terror military control by increasingly employing numberless
terror force enforcements. Right from the day when the former
Hyderabad ruler Nizam was thrown out of Hyderabad by the Indian terror
forces, Hyderabad’s Islamic face is being tarnished by the Hindu
rulers. The anti-Muslim central regime is using the major political
outfit MIM in Hyderabad to outrage the Muslims in the town nation of
Hyderabad. India even invented a new phenomenon Cyvberabad inside
Hyderabad/Secunderabad to counter the image of Hyderabad and
Secunderabad twin towns. Obviously India suffers from huge inferiority
complex despite its imposing terror power.
Fake terror threat percetptions pointing an accusing poisonous finger
at Muslims are common in all anti-Islamc nations, from USA, UK, to
India and Israel. Latest terror gimmick from India was engineered in
the air by a mock scare in Kingfisher airplane from Bangalore to
Trivandrum with anti-Islamic band of intentions is yet another Indian
strategic ploy to keep alive the terrorism drama. Since media in India
are under the control of the intelligence outfits, it is easy to
create panic in the country by blasting such terror plot news.
Obviously, the Indian intelligence outfits in connivance with the
airliner has done the neat job of terrorizing the people around. The
terrorist media faithfully gave enough coverage as if they cannot
think properly as how the terror materials came inside the plane at
the last minute!
It has been a sheer habit in Hindustan for the Hindutva outfits, on
the strenghtof cnetral regime, to issue unsolicited certificates and
fatwas on Muslims and Islam and who is a true Indian and who is not
and get away with them. They insult Muslims in public meetings for the
sake of votes form Hindus who other wise prefer medium Hindutva
Congress party. A “non-terrorist” plus a leading Bharatratna, Shiv
Sena chief Bal Thackeray certified on 27 March that the big B Amitabh
Bachchan is not a thief, dacoit or a terrorist. He also said the actor
has done nothing wrong by attending the inauguration of the second
phase of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.
False accusations about Muslims and fake encounters are common in
India. In today’s terrorism era, the life of Muslims is complicated
mainly because of the hostile attitude of majority outs. Jammu Kahmir
is the hotbed of Indina state terorism and fake encounters to kill
Muslms who seek soveriegnty back from an arrogant India. Like Indian
cricket, every second military or police encounter in India is fake
and never the notorious public servants who provoke violence and
overact were found guilty. A reply the NHRC sent on 08/04/2009 to
Sahil, a Jamia Millia Islamia student who insisted on facts on state
sponsored violence and fake encounters, was revealing. Since October
1993 there were 1224 fake encounters in the country.
An interesting point the latest data reveals is that of 1224 fake
encounters, the NHRC ordered for compensation in only 16 cases. Since
October 1993, 2560 cases of police encounters have been brought into
the notice of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Of them,
according to the NHRC, 1224 cases have been found fake encounters. M.
A. Falahi reports while there is strong resistance by the government
and its agencies including police and even courts for a judicial probe
into the infamous Batla House encounter – ignoring persistent demand,
sharpened following the autopsy report, of the Muslim community and
human rights groups say every second police encounter that takes place
in the country is faked and falsified.
It means that roughly every second police encounter is fake in the
country. The information has been accessed by eminent RTI activist
Afroz Alam Sahil after several attempts. Sahil recently came into
limelight for securing the autopsy report of Batla House encounter
victims. This state terror scare is the latest fine showcase of its
terror intent and the close connections between state and private
intelligence as well as airliner networks and the related outfits.
There are always the political elelemnts in religious suits and even
big and samll political outfits in India who use religion to promote
themselves as spiritual leaders for their personal plus political
gains. In the backgrowndog double stnadards even by Arab antions on
globla Msulims, nexus between Islamic and non-Islamic (anti-Islamic)
nations with regard to genocides of Muslims.
Indian terror military minister Keral Malyali AK Anthony and Home
terror minsiter Thamil Chidambaram would pretend they are not aware of
any such state terror tactics to terorize the people, particularly
make Muslims feel more and more insecure and small. Generally bulk of
the majority people behave like jungle monkeys, even other wise! This
nasty bahviour has devestating negative impact on Muslims, too, in
their nutual behaviour.
Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal, Specialist on State Terrorism; Chronicler of
Freedom movements (Palestine, Kashmir, etc) ; Independent Columnist in
International Affairs; Research Scholar (JNU) & the only Indian to
have gone through entire India, a fraud and terror nation in South
Asia.
http://altnews.asia/content/2010/04/01/indian-fake-encounters-boost-hindutva-image-who-controls-fanatic-india-xvi-dr
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