Pakistan's coach dead

Wow - I hope India’s coach is paying attention. Either the sub-continent finds a worthwhile obsession, or the players are hung on rafters publicly - what comes first? I mean, I love the Mavs too - I cannot even imagine that Avery Johnson came close to being murdered by the Mavs for losing a series in the NBA Finals that his team should have won!

India doesn't need no help

I mean, if Indian activists have so much free time that they are fuming and suing at stupid starlets dancing half-naked at New Year’s Eve parties, then India has progressed way more than people like us realize….doncha think?

Activist seeks police action against Mallika

Activist Vinod Jain said he had approached the police after watching Sherawat’s performance on certain television channels.

Of course, the irony of the thing is that this dude didn’t even shell out the ticket money to see the “performance” in person.

Justice and the Criminal Lawyer

Dilip brought it to my attention as a comment to a post below, that the Jessica Lal case accused is now being represented by Ram Jethmalani - one of the most famous criminal defenders in India - Jethmalani wants Jessica case transferred to another court - News.Indlaw.com. I think my first reaction honestly, would have been an eye-roll saying, “here he goes again!”, referring to Jethmalani. He is of course, quite famous for taking up high profile cases - defending those who were undefendable if you take the media’s word for it.

I actually think it is awesome that there is someone who wants to make sure there is not a trial by media, but an actual serving of justice where even a criminal gets his day in court represented by a competent lawyer. There is always the problem that only the rich can pay for representation like this, which also leads to the notion that Mr. Jetmalani takes bug bucks to set criminals free. Considering the sensationalistic nature and coverage of the current media, I appreciate lawyers like Mr.Jethmalani who will make sure there is no pile-on and a decent trial that wouldn’t convict someone of things they haven’t committed just because the media might have found a convenient scapegoat to make their story.

You are Hindu, because I said so

Look at this - BBC NEWS | South Asia | Anger over Gujarat religion law - the morons in Gujarat are hell-bent on saving the poor downtrodden Dalits from themselves. Dude, if you guys really care about their plights so much, you give them stuff too. Don’t you think there is enough red-tape and delay in your courts without you making up more stupid laws to hold up the justice system?

Can you think of how many ways this law can be misused to harrass Christian and Muslim preachers? Now, I understand there are definitely problems about some of the methods being used by these preachers to earn converts. That doesn’t mean a law as stupid as this has to go into effect. What constitutes allurement? If a missionary helps a sick child and the family converts, is that allurement? What an insult it is for Buddhists and Jains to now label them simply Hindus? What about Sikhs? Why this? Why now?

I think the biggest problem is the politicos are more focused on dividing up an already divided electorate instead of working towards genuinely improving living conditions among the poor who are more likely to convert, allurement or not. If you treat someone as an outsider, why are you surprised when they choose to leave you? This law is particularly uncomfortable for me since it reminds me too much of the apostasy laws in Islamic countries. WTF, I thought we were supposed to be a “peaceful and enlightened” religion, unlike those “barbaric” Mussalmans! (that is sarcasm for the sarcastically-challenged)

Muslims and inclusion

Here is an interesting link I found via Desipundit - Shobak: Outsider Asians - I don’t know who wrote this and I am still in the process of reading through this paper that claims to investigate the depiction on Muslims in India via three blockbuster movie - Sarfarosh, Mission Kashmir and Fiza. For those who don’t realize it, one of the movies was directed by a Christian, one by a Muslim and the other by a Hindu. The main character in Sarfarosh is a Hindu played by a Muslim, in Fiza the main characters are two Muslims played by Hindus and in Mission Kashmir, they are a Muslim played by the son of a Hindu and Muslim and a Muslim played by a Hindu. Quite interesting when you put it that way isn’t it - the entire intermingling of cultures, relegions…

Anyways, here was a passage that stood out me as I was reading it -

As the police take their position against Amaan, he begs his sister to shoot him, saying, “I died a long time ago on the streets of Mumbai. Let me die with honor.” And Fiza pulls the trigger. In this complex and heart rending climax, Fiza stands for the assimilated Muslim and Amaan for that trajectory beyond the pale of normality. In their dialogue honor can be taken ironically to mean both living by the duties of the proper minority citizen and dying with the cry of those who will never be allowed into the nation.

Can you tell what is askew in the picture? What the heck is an “assimilated” Muslim in India? How can someone who can trace their origin in the country centuries back (I am talking about most Indian Muslims here) be anything but native? What kind of a mindset looks at them as some kind of other that needs to assimilate into the nation instead of implicitly being of the nation?

And then there is this doozy - “Similarly, in Mission Kashmir the drama centers on the possibility of Muslims being included in the nation.” Well, we want to include them in our nation and along with the Hindus and Budhhists who also call the region home. Kashmir is not all about Muslims, y’know!

Ok, I am done - I am not going to read any further - inspite of stuff like “In Mission Kashmir, Altaaf is that element of infection that challenges the fantasies of immunity that animate contemporary discourses of Indian nationalism.” (yeah, really! Indians feel very immune..from what?), I was willing to give this article a chance. I was willing to read with an open mind and try to understand the author’s perspective and where he was coming from - this made me stop - “(constellated around such bogeys as “jihadi terrorism,” the internal Muslim “threat,” cross-border infiltration, and global and Asian balance of power, etc.),” So, according to this guy, “Jihadi Terrorism” is just a made up thing - why don’t we tell that to the school teachers beheaded in Thailand, the clubbers blasted apart in Bali and numerous such instances where the only link seems to have been the belief in fanaticism. Before putting the internal Muslim “threat” in scare quotes, I invite the author to examine the speeches given by Islam’s luminaries in public places such as Delhi’s Jama Masjid against India. Of course, cross-border terrorism just never, ever happens in India - no one obviously crosses over to kill migrant Hindu workers in Kashmir - it is all just a bogey, you children!

It really bothers me when people still talk of accepting Muslims in India as if they were immigrants - people forget the shared history - the shared trauma - the not-so-distant past whose painful memories still have not completely faded from the Indian psyche. Why is it that there are only Hindu nationalists and not Muslim nationalists? Don’t Muslims feel proud of their India? Why is every single article aimed at pointing fingers at someone or the other while conveniently forgetting there is another side to every story? I am absolutely tired of this. In my opinion, not every Muslim in India is guilty until proven innocent the same way not every Hindu-oriented program considered somehow discriminating against Muslims.

The author also very conveniently glosses over the fact that each of the movies mentioned also feature nefarious Indian Hindu characters as well as virtuous Muslim characters. There is an incredible amout of effort dedicated to striking a balance between religious reality and religious frenzy in the movie that is sadly lacking in the author’s papers. It is almost like he had a set of ideologies and was trying to work backwards to prove them from movies, no less. Think about it - think about to my first paragraph that outlined the main characters and the actors and directors of the movies and it will be clear how the author could not have been any more wrong.

Indian cooking blog

Here is something good - thecookscottage (via Instapundit). Drop me links to more desi cooking blogs in the comments if you guys know of any.

Impressions of India - I

I know it has been a little over a week since I got back from India, but it did take me about this long to get non-jet-lagged and find enough time to actually think back and post a bit about my experiences. I left here with my son and flew into Mumbai via Amsterdam (Ravi’s dire predictions about NWA not-withstanding). I had landed in Mumbai on the 29th of October in the night and the first thing I notice… is the stifling heat! By the time I got my bags claimed, you might have mistaken me for someone who stepped out of the shower without wiping the water off, I was so dripping with sweat form every pore of my body. It was an experience I had to get used to after a long time (I had last been in India March 99, so it was quite a bit). Of course, the fun was only beginning.

First thing I did when I got settled in was to call Yaz - turned out he was happily enjoying dinner with Amit and Gaurav and others muching away delicious meat with no thoughts of trying to call a hungry freind over (sniff!). I had known Yaz for over three years now, but this was the first time I had ever heard him talk and it was a pretty strange feeling to finally put a voice to the person (I had already seen his pictures, I had an idea what he looked like).

Yaz being who he is, asked me to call Ravi - the shy, withdrawn person that he was sold to me as (I know, I actually fell for it). I am happy to certify to the world that Ravi is not shy! There! He is in fact a lot of fun to talk to and of the 15-20 minutes we probably talked that night, we spent about 10-minutes just laughing at each others’ PJs and convered such important topics as getting Ravi his own page at the Wikipedia (he didn’t sound the way I imagined him to sound either). We had all made plans to meet up for a little breakfast before my 11:00 AM flight to Vizag.

Amit was the first person to show up the next morning and kept me company till Yaz and Ravi showed up. Gaurav was also able to join us a little bit later (we were too happy a celebrity such as him actually sat there and ate with us to give him a hard time about coming in late :p). It was a great way to start my trip off really, since the meet could not have gone any better. It was a meeting of old friends, we had so much shared history - we had so much to talk about, the cartel quiz by MadMan, Ravi’s SARS jokes (joke being just a loose description here) and tons of other things we had been through together as bloggers. Before I knew it, I was anointed Godmother of the “cartel” and my son was drafted into it. I was actually quite sad when it was time to leave, but I had a wedding to attend to in Vizag and my sister would have buried me alive if I missed it. More on that coming a bit later.

Silliness about Swastika

Here is a post I found via the Desipundit about some using Google Earth to figure out that a “Sanskrit Studies” building at JNU is shaped like the Swastika - river’s blue elephants: The Swastika in JNU. So what? Why be all alarmist about it? A Swastika is a big component of Sanskrit and Hinduism (which are both very inter-related due to the long association). What next? Getting alarmed over Ganesh posters that depict him with a Swastika in his hand and those of other Indian gods?

update: The link for the post above was changed for some reason overnight, so I found the right link and updated the post this morning. FYI, the post’s author apparently doesn’t want anyone to link to the post so she has taken to changing the URLs every few hours too keep the linkers confused - how original! The post still remains on her blog, so just go to the main page and scroll down. As an aside, if you don’t want people to read or comment on something you have written, I think a good idea is to NOT post it online.

More IIPM "goodness"

Here is a good write-up on the recent IIPM dustup - DNA [Daily News & Analysis] - Evolutions - Can bloggers take on the role of public regulators?

Another blow to women's rights

In India, grown women are not allowed to be independent enough to live by themselves in 90% of the places, but apparently a 15-year-old can have a “free will” and get married. Wanna bet how many of the marriages are going to be between teenager kids and lech older men? Why is it that a 15-year-old is not considered wise enough to vote or inherit property, but old enough to get married and bear kids? What kind of an idiot judge was it who delivered this verdict? Why is it that as times change, we are trying to move back civilization-wise instead of progressing more?

Girls over 15 free to marry: Court

The marriage of a minor girl above 15 years of age is not illegal if it is her free will and she cannot be sent to Nari Niketan against her will, the Delhi high court has ruled.

[emphasis mine]

Stifling the freedom of speech

Here is a story of a blogger who was forced to resign from his job - all for the mistake of linking to a story that a sham business school didn’t like - Vantage point: An Update!

This sort of thing amazes me all the time. If someone is so sure of their righteousness, I would expect to them to be transparent to the public in their operations, put all facts forward and let the chips fall as they may. Instead of that, this sham business school (yeah, try suing me for that, morons!) just tries to cut off the voices of those who dare to speak against it. If I were a student, I would first be outraged at the management for successfully conning me (what kind of a businessperson would I be if I were so gullible!) and would stand for my fellow citizens’ right to free speech, especially when they are indirectly working on my behalf.

Here is a more full accounting of the story. Read it and decide for yourselves.

update: Check here for the wikipedia entry on IIPM.

Gandhi and the Holocaust

Here is an interesting perspective on Gandhi and his penchant for extreme pacifism. I agree with a lot of what the blogger says about Gandhi. I haev often wondered how can it be that a man who so completely believed in the Gita (which of course, says that to protect Dharma you are allowed to kill even your own leave alone those who are oppressing your kin) could have gone to such extremes in pacifism. I completely agree with the claims in the post linked above that he was an extremist in his beliefs and cause and had the luxury to be blind to everything else since he kept himself so far removed from the mainstream - not physically mind you, but mentally - he obviously thought he was so pure and beyond the regular human instincts that he kept preaching people that it was better for them to die than fight back even while they were being massacred.

It brings to my mind the story of the Budhhist monk and the snake - the monk asks the snake to be peaceful and to stop biting others. The next time he meets the snake, he sees it covered in bruises and near death. When he asks the snake what had happened, the snake replies that since he stopped biting people, they were no longer afraid of him and started throwing stones at him for fun. The monk then asked the snake that he needn’t have bitten the people but could have hissed at them as if to threaten a bite to protect himself - that way the snake would have remained peaceful and still could keep the people away from him.

I believe that a threat of violence, if not actual violence is extremely inportant to keep peace. Think about it - why do we punish criminals? Why is there a [metaphorical] “stick” that we use when the carrot doesn’t work? Not for the fun of violence, but so that the threat of violence further discourages crime and keeps peace among the citizenry. By openly and completely eschewing any violence and by ordering his people to do so, Gandhi took away any semblance of the stick from the opressed during the partition to the point violence flared out openly in the belief that some people could get away with whatever they wanted since the leader of those who opposed partition (Gandhi) would never allow his followers to fight back for what they believed in.

I think threats of “Satyagraha” work only as long as those you are trying to bend to your will are actually inerested in keeping up a good public face and care for good PR. The minute the mob psyche takes over, they call your bluff by taking up arms against you. What are you to do then, if all your life you have been moving more and more to the extremes of pacifism? What do you do when you are militantly against violence? I think Gandhi had no way to save face and his people paid the price.

This is too sad

This is what we do to sportspeople with real talent and then wonder why it is that a country with over a billion people sucks so bad at winning anything in the Olympics and other world arenas.

Penury makes player sell medals! : HTTabloid.com

Penury has driven a woman powerlifter from Orissa to sell all the medals she has won in national and international meets.

The 29-year-old Mandakini Mahanta, a resident of Goladihi village in Mayurbhanj district, won a gold medal in the Asian senior powerlifting championship in Kerala in May.

“I have no option but to sell my valuable medals,” Mandakini, who is single, said.

She was selected for an international meet in London that started on Monday. But due to lack of finances, she could not participate.

How sad is it that at a time when worthless, corrupt politicians hoard crores of rupees in their vaults, a talented woman has to sell her awards and medals to try to finance her trip to an international sports competetion? I cannot believe there wasn’t a single organization or sponsor to help the poor woman bring pride to the country. I am just flabbergasted.

update: Of course, we cannot be completely satisfied with just stopping aspiring athletes. We now have to issue a fatwa against rising tennis star Sania Mirza for the dastardly act of - get this - wearing short skirts while playing the game. Some parodies just write themselves I think - you just cannot makeup crap anymore when reality is so out there! They are even proposing an alternative to her dress…

The fatwa - in effect, a demand that she cover up - was issued by a senior cleric of the Sunni Ulema Board, a little-known group. Similar fatwas have been issued against Mirza, who comes from a devout Muslim family, but none has ever gained popular support among India’s 130 million Muslims.

“The dress she wears on the tennis courts…leaves nothing to the imagination,” Haseeb-ul-hasan Siddiqui told The Hindustan Times. “She will undoubtedly be a corrupting influence.”

He said she should follow the example of Iranian women who wore long tunics and headscarves to play in the Asian Badminton Championships.

[emphasis mine]

No Spin?

Here is an excellent column detailing the response from the Indian government to the media vs. the Pakistani government’s approach to media during the time right after India announced to the world that she had successfully conducted nuclear tests. You would think it was a rpoud moment for the country and people would be tripping over each other to relay the message to the world, but then you would be wrong as the column points out. It is amazing how clueless the Indian government still is when it comes to media management and public relations in an age where you are what the media makes you out to be!

Teacher, teacher!

I was hoping against all hopes that I could end the Friday on a good note, but here is the story of a certain Kalpana Kumari who was so enraged by a sleeping pupil in her class that she hit in the head with a pencil hard enough that a piece of lead got stuck in his scalp and had to be removed by a doctor. How old was the child? All of FOUR! This makes me furious and just takes me back to my childhood. My sister was a chubby little thing in nursery with really cute, chubby cheeks. Of course, her nursery teacher’s favorite punishment when my sister messed up…was to slap her hard on the cheeks. I remember when I went over to her nursery to eat lunch with her and I would see her getting slapped around. She would be so scared when I made any mess in the lunch area, since that would mean more slaps.

I myself went to a missionary school where a “sister” almost broke her cane beating me up since I had my hair open - I was in 4th grade. When my sister was in First grade, her new teacher’s favorite way to punish her was to pull on one cheek while slapping her hard on the other. Even when we were in eigth grade, I remember once that I could answer something in class that other students missed. My reward was that I could hit on the palms of the students who missed the answer with a scale. Since I didn’t hit them hard enough, the teacher hit me hard to show me how I should have hit them.

I cannot imagine how all the above abuse helped me or my sister in any possible way. I completely fail to see it. It actually messed our minds up in a way since I remember when we monitored younger students when their teachers were on break, we were as cruel to them as their teachers. We didn’t see anything wrong with that. It still breaks my heart to think of the horrid way were treated and we then treated the little kids. All this in the name of education! That’s surely what kids need - someone beating the living shit out of them in the name of teaching them good manners and a way to earn an honest livelihood.

1984

A bone-chilling account of those dark days in 1984 after Indira Gandhi’s assassination from the viewpoint of a Sikh child who witnesses the gruesome murder of Sikhs that followed. I was but a child too, just like Amit was - I was just 10 and barely remember anything beyond watching the Indira Gandhi’s funeral on TV. I have heard about the massacre, but was far enough to be shielded from such monstrosities. I had a happy childhood - unlike Amrit, whose psyche is forever scarred by the fear and rage within from what he went through. I am sorry, Amrit! I am sorry you had to go through this. I feel guilty that this was done to you and yours in the name of religion and revenge. I am ashamed that while living in the same country, I was untouched by anything while you were cowering in fear of your life. I am sorry that when I met Sikhs who had shaved their beards and hair off to save themselves during those days, I didn’t show more interest in their stories and listen them a little more. I wish justice would be done to your cause.

Silver Lining

I guess there is a silver lining to every gray cloud. This is an interesting bit of information about the devastating tsunami we have heard about all along.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Tsunami throws up India relics

The deadly tsunami could have uncovered the remains of an ancient port city off the coast in southern India.

Archaeologists say they have discovered some stone remains from the coast close to India’s famous beachfront Mahabalipuram temple in Tamil Nadu state following the 26 December tsunami.

They believe that the “structures” could be the remains of an ancient and once-flourishing port city in the area housing the famous 1200-year-old rock-hewn temple.

Three pieces of remains, which include a granite lion, were found buried in the sand after the coastline receded in the area after the tsunami struck.

Check out the picture accompanying the article. It is quite magnificent!

Gandhi (updated again)

I was talking to a friend this afternoon and she had mentioned reading Godse’s diaries, so I was vurious and tried to Google up to see if I could find any online. All I found was this website Nathuram Godse and Gandhism. It does contain some interesting information from Godse’s perspective (this is blasphemy for most Indian - we are brought up to think of Gandhi as a saint). Reading Godse’s thoughts and googling up information on some of the incidents mentioned has been informative to say the least.

How many of us really talk of NoaKhali and the Calcutta massacres? Can we really bring about healing of such deep wounds by simply repressing them? How do we solve the current communal crises whose root causes spread so deep into our history?

We call a warmongering person who lets others die for his principles evil - what about Gandhi? Wasn’t he on the other extreme of the spectrum where he let hundreds and thousands of innocent Hindus in India die and refused to sympathize just because of his principles? Again, this doesn’t mean I am saying Gandhi is responsible for all the bloodshed, but I am wondering if his response would have infuriated me if I were alive in those days. Can stubborn refusal to fight be as dangerous to a charismatic leader’s followers as the stubborn refusal to make peace? Discuss and debate…

I found this extract of Godse’s defense testimony in court very interesting -

…Gandhi had done very good in South Africa to uphold the rights and well-being of the Indian community there. But when he finally returned to India he developed a subjective mentality under which he alone was to be the final judge of what was right or wrong. If the country wanted his leadership, it had to accept his infallibility; if it did not, he would stand aloof from the Congress and carry on his own way. Against such an attitude there can be no halfway house. Either Congress had to surrender its will to his and had to be content with playing second fiddle to all his eccentricity, whimsicality, metaphysics and primitive vision, or it had to carry on without him. He alone was the Judge of everyone and every thing; he was the master brain guiding the civil disobedience movement; no other could know the technique of that movement. He alone knew when to begin and when to withdraw it. The movement might succeed or fail, it might bring untold disaster and political reverses but that could make no difference to the Mahatma’s infallibility. ‘A Satyagrahi can never fail’ was his formula for declaring his own infallibility and nobody except himself knew what a Satyagrahi is.

Thus, the Mahatma became the judge and jury in his own cause. These childish insanities and obstinacies, coupled with a most severe austerity of life, ceaseless work and lofty character made Gandhi formidable and irresistible. Many people thought that his politics were irrational but they had either to withdraw from the Congress or place their intelligence at his feet to do with as he liked. In a position of such absolute irresponsibility Gandhi was guilty of blunder after blunder, failure after failure, disaster after disaster.

Again, I am not saying any of this true or false, but just food for thought. It is one heck of a defense he presented to the court considering he didn’t want any mercy -

I now stand before the court to accept the full share of my responsibility for what I have done and the judge would, of course, pass against me such orders of sentence as may be considered proper. But I would like to add that I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me, nor do I wish that anyone else should beg for mercy on my behalf. My confidence about the moral side of my action has not been shaken even by the criticism levelled against it on all sides. I have no doubt that honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof some day in future.

Last update: For some weird reason, all this reminds me of the movie, “Hey Ram”. I don’t think I can bear to watch it again - I was simply devastated by the violence in Calcutta depicted in the movie. It left me extremely shaken.

Another update: Here is a link from uspeed in the comments that has another interesting perspective on Godse - that of the judges who reviewed his case.

update: I know I cannot leave this thing alone - from uspeed’s link -

Quote from the book The Tragic Story of Partition ” Bhajans were also not spared. The soul elevating chanting of ‘Raghupati Raja Rama patita pavana Sita Rama was intoned on the lips of millions of our countrymen for the last several centuries. A new line ‘Ishwar Allah tere nam, sab so sanmati de Bhagavan’ was added to the original”.

I was completely unaware of this.

Sankranthi Subhakankshalu

Racism?

Amit Varma writes about an article in TOI about some Americans calling call-center workers in India and harrassing systematically - Remote racism. I can see where those callers are abusive and wrong. Are they racist too as Amit and the article seem to think? I am not so sure of that. We have to understand these are people who have been told that there are these Indian people who are grabbing all their jobs for cheap and leaving them broke economically. Quite a few of them might have actually seen this in action up-close. It is easy to see why they could be pissed at this phenomenon and want to do something about it. Do I feel they shoiuld be doing this? No! I think this is perhaps the dumbest revenge idea I have ever seen. But racist? I don’t think so.

I think it is almost a reflexive reaction to think, “White Americans abusing Brown Indians”…lo, that is racist! In reality, if these guys could call up someone in China they would act the same way. Heck, if they thought someone from Ireland stole their job and they could call and abuse them for free, they would do it. This has more to do with frustration and helplessness than with racism. I think labeling anything and everything racism tends to take away from the seriousness of the real thing. It will only serve to raise the shock value while undermining any real discussion.

RIP Amrish Puri!

He was a fine actor who brought his own sense of power and awe to roles ranging from villains to caring fathers…

India through the lens

A beautiful gallery of pictures from India - - INDIA 2004 - another try - Photo Gallery by Maciek Da… at pbase.com. Check it out - these are not the usual dirt-grime-and-beggars pictures of India. There are beautiful women, children and life in general. Very moving!

Good riddance!

Of course, if there was ever someone who deserved to die an ignominous death, it was this fine specimen of manhood!

Veerappan lost his men, was cornered - The Times of India

Vijaykumar said the brigand had 106 cases filed against him in Tamil Nadu, 70 in Karnataka and allegedly killed 44 policemen. Asked who was entitled to the prize money of Rs 5 crore announced by the Karnataka government and Rs 50 lakh by Tamil Nadu for Veerappan’s capture, Vijaykumar said, “Our chief minister J Jayalalithaa wanted to enhance the prize money, but I asked her not to. Now she is ready to give any amount.”

India on my mind...

Sudan: The Passion of the Present: Eric Reeves in the Boston Globe today (Sunday, October 3)

One hesitation on the divestment campaign idea. Unles it focuses on Chinese, Indian, and Malaysian comanies, I’m not sure it can have much effect. Western companies such as Canada’s Talisman Energy have already pulled out of Sudan. It is really the Chinese, the Indians, and the Malaysians who are supporting the regime by helping build up the oil export business. And it is the Russians who are supplying the most high tech arms to Sudan’s military, including aircraft.

How does India end up on the wrong side of every bad thing that has happened in the world in the past two centuries? Siding with Russia under Stalin, Saddam in the first Gulf War and now Sudan while they are in the process of genocide?

What about Gujarat

This is in reply to Dilip D’Souza’s comment to the previous post and an effort to move the Gujarat discussion to an appropriate thread -

Dilip,

I am sincerely against anyone who wantonly unleash destruction on innocents - be it Hindus or Muslims or Christians or atheists. I agree it is easy to get defensive when fellow Hindus are accused of fanaticism. It is very easy to overlook in ourselves something that sticks to us when another group exhibits it. I was horrified when I heard of the pregnant women whose bellies were ripped and their fetuses murdered. I unequivocally condemn the acts - no ifs and buts.

That said, I think part of being defensive comes from the media frenzy that is quick to condemn any violence by Hindus while ignoring the Muslim provocation. At least some horror stories like the one Arundhati Roy had made up about the so-called murder of a Muslim politician’s family - when in fact nothing like that had happened - give people who are looking for excuses to defend their own, cover. If someone I like and admire is accused of something bad, I am going to try to look for loopholes in the argument. I am not going to admit they might have been wrong, especially when I already believe the world is against me.

Am I saying that kind of thinking is right? NO. I think all Hindus need to sit down and assess what they believe, just like all Muslims should or all other people. Like someone said in a comment on the previous post, everybody is afraid in India - everybody is also afraid of being first one to propose peace. Whenever there are traces of peace between the communities, idiots like Imam Bukhari and Bal Thackeray rush in stop the efforts. When these so-called Imams openly support Pakistanis and Jehadis, it is easy for the Hindu fanatics to point fingers and manipulate an already frightened and distrustful Hindu community to believe every Muslim amongst them is a Pakistani in disguise.

I have no solutions for the problem - I am just telling it that way I see it - here is what I wrote about the Gujarat riots and the communal problem in India in general, in previous posts - This is a sick attitude - Where is India going? - India and Islam - Hindus, Muslims and Patriotism.

Update: The murder Roy referred to was of minister Ehsan Jefri’s daughters - they were not murdered while the minister and a few from his family were. Arundhati Roy published a retraction of the fact. I want to add I was mistaken in assuming the minister’s murder didn’t happen - it did happen. The only thing that didn’t happen was the murder of Ehsan Jefri’s daughters.

India's allies

Vichaar has a very nice post called Do we have any military allies in the world ?, which discusses the various military allies India has in the current environment - unfortunately, not that many. While lesser countries like Pakistan haev been able to gamble on and latch onto strong allies like the US, India has traditionally been going after mirages in the Arab world that have never stood by us. Finally we got Israel to help us like in the Kargil war and guess what? Our self-destructive streak surfaces again, according to JK. Do these guys ever learn? Seriously, does Congress really think they are going to somehow benefit with these stupid plans or are they just doing the opposite of anything BJP did while in power?

and they keep coming...

so the Indian Government caves in to the initial demands of the terrorists and decides to keep citizens out of Iraq - so what do the terrorists reward the government with? More demands, of course!

Hostage crisis: A new demand now

Black Flags, the Iraqi group which set a deadline of 2030 IST on Friday for killing the first of the seven truck drivers — three of them Indians — they are holding hostage, have offered to put off the threat for a day. According to sources in New Delhi, Black Flags said on Friday afternoon that it wanted to the Indian embassy in Baghdad to post a clear message on local Arabic television channels that no Indian national would work for Kuwaiti firms that assist American and Coalition forces in Iraq.

Y’know, maybe they saw the video of Yashwant Sinha personally escorting Masood Azhar to get the hijacked passengers released in Khandahar and want something similar. Knowing the “tough spines” Indian politicos possess they might even agree to kneel in front of the terrorists and wash their feet to get their hostages released.

Why cannot they stand tough for once and not reward terrorist actions, for Heavens’ sake!

Horrible!

Oh my God! This is awful…just awful!

At Least 75 Children Die in Fire at School in India

MUMBAI, India, July 16th - More than 75 young school children were killed when a rampaging fire engulfed a private school in southern India this morning, Indian media reported. The children attending the school in the state of Tamil Nadu were reported to be from 6 to 13 years old.

More on outsourcing

Coming after the outsourcing-dominated Blog Mela for this month, here is another interesting post from Suruj Dutta detailing issues not being addressed in the blame-counter blame atmosphere. He lists a good number of ways to make the outsourcing work for India by offering long-term benefits and improving India’s fledgeling research arena.

Men strike back!

Padamsee pen(i)s Dialogues - The Times of India

Eve Ensler, the author of the much talked about Vagina Monologue , has declared Mumbai to be a ‘vagina city’, and now Alyque Padamsee wants people to hear the other side. “I loved Vagina Monologues but, I thought it was too one sided, with disparaging comments about the male organ and men. Men just didn’get to say anything in that play,” says Padamsee. As a ‘homage’ to the cult play, the advertising and theatre guru is busy with directing Penis Dialogues . Laced with humour, the play talks about the organ as an instrument of procreation, recreating and urination. “One vignette has four men in a urinal and one of them can’t pee. He has the shy bladder syndrome or paruresis,” informs Nitin Batra, one of the three playwrights of Penis Dialogues. Anish Trivedi and Pawan Kumar are the other two writers and the ensemble includes Gary Richardson, Bhairavi Goswami, Gaurav Sharma and Madhuri Bhatia.

This post and my comments in response illustrate my beef with “Vagina Monologues” - not only is the play disparaging towards men and discards them as nothing important in a fulfilling relationship, but ultimately it does reduce a woman’s self to identifying with her vagina - like I am not my brain or my heart, but my vagina, yeah riiight!

Not good!

MSNBC - At least 6 dead in blast at India space center

MADRAS, India - An explosion and fire in a research facility at India’s main space center Monday killed at least six people and seriously injured three others, police said. Flames erupted at the solid propellant fuel plant at the government’s Dhawan Space Center, on Sriharikota Island, just off India’s southeastern coast, the center’s spokesman, K. Ravindran, told The Associated Press.

I wonder what went wrong…

Free vs. Partly Free

I was reading my latest issue of Atlantic Monthly, when I cam across this interesting tidbit about India in the “World in Numbers” section - According to the organization Freedom House, India was moved from the classification of “free” to “partly free” in 1991 and was reclassified as “free” in 1998. The website has archives for only the last 3 years, so anyone have any idea why this was so? Was ‘91 the year of Babri Masjid riots?

Positive news of the day!

This kid wants to be the first on Mars

He dreams of being the first person to step on Mars and his inspiration is none other than President A P J Abdul Kalam. Meet 14-year-old Saatvik Agarwal, a Class X student at Amity International School in south Delhi’s Saket neighbourhood, who has been chosen to participate in NASA’s project on Mars exploration.

I know how he feels - I have always wanted to be an astronaut as a child - of course, then I wanted to become a doctor and so on and so forth till I dropped everything to get into computers…

Good job, Naxalite morons!

Trust a stupid Marxsist ideological group to blast a bomb in the midst of thousands of people milling around owing to the “Brahmotsav”, just so they can kill the one Chief Minister who has actually managed to put Andhra Pradesh’s name on the map. I guess we need to thank God these idiots didn’t manage to do this in the actual temple complex, where hundreds of people would have been injured or killed. I seriously think if these nutjobs are really so worried for the country that they kill, maybe they should actually come out in the open and work with the people instead of ruining their livelihoods by declaring stupid bandhs and inconveniencing them by hiding behind them from police and getting them caught in the cross-fire.

NDTV.com - Andhra CM Naidu injured

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had a miraculous escape today when a landmine explosion hit his convoy near the Tirumala temple complex in Andhra Pradesh. The attack, believed to be a possible assassination attempt on his life, is suspected to be the handiwork of Naxalite groups in the state.

Debasing the dead

Let me preface my comments by saying that first of all, I don’t know how credible this news is - a Google search turned up nothing, so take this with a huge grain of salt. IF TRUE though, this incident really stinks and I hope Chawla’s parents sue the perpetrators’ pants off and get them arrested for committing such fraud.

Funds for conversions in Kalpana’s name?

Kalpana Chawla, the Indian astronaut who died tragically in the Columbia spacecraft crash, may be a heroine for many in the country. But to a Christian group, operating a trust from Tamilnadu, her name is good enough to raise funds. Though the trust has not specified for what it is raising the funds, speculations are rife that it could be for conversion activities.

So much for freedom of speech

Prasenjeet Dutta has a good link-filled post on the Indian Government trying to censor and shutdown dissent on the internet, by blocking some of the Yahoo Groups - I guess it is freedom for only the government-approved groups on the internet and silence for the rest.

The ChaosZone! Blog

Dear Government of India, if you must censor the Internet, can you please do with a bit more style and technical savvy? Maybe by spending a bit of money asking Cisco to build you a decent firewall? Hamhanded efforts like these to censor Internet access kinda kill India’s rep as a “software superpower”. Maybe you can get cybersavvy folk like SM Krishna or Chandrababu Naidu to consult before writing dumb memos like these? Yours very sincerely, a scandalized Indian Internet User.

I wonder why!

There is a pretty interesting article in Rediff that talks about the views of a young, 22-year-old woman, who is a member of the banned SIMI. She is baffled at the government’s persecution of Muslims and SIMI and cannot understand why people look upon Muslims as terrorists. It is an interesting story and here are a few excerpts of her making her case that leapt out at me -

‘SIMI does not teach to kill innocents’

The government, she says, is blaming Muslim organisations and individuals to defame the community.

…

Why is the government targeting SIMI? “They [government] target all Muslim institutions because we are doing well. We have our reach in all sections of the society.

“They have read the Koran and it is written there that Islam will dominate and rule one day. So they are scared of Islam. There is an international conspiracy to suppress Islam,” she says.

…

She is upset many educated Muslims move away from Islam under the Western influence. But she firmly believes there will come a day when the world is one big Islamic state.

“This will happen sooner or later. Islam has to rule the entire world. We are fighting for this.

…

But why does she want an Islamic rule? “We don’t believe in democracy. Islam is the best way of living. Islam advocates justice and rule of law. We are upset by this democracy where we are suppressed.”

Well, now that we have heard her side of the story, do we all wonder why poor SIMI is banned and looked upon as a terrorist outfit?

Right up JK's alley

This is really interesting to think that people have been living in India since 2 million years ago…

Major anthropology find reported in India - The Washington Times: United Press International

CALCUTTA, India, Sept. 8 (UPI) — Scientists report they have found evidence of the oldest human habitation in India, dating to 2 million years, on the banks of the Subarnarekha River. The 30-mile stretch between Ghatshila in the province of Jharkhand and Mayurbhanj in Orissa has reportedly yielded tools that suggest the site could be unique in the world, with evidence of human habitation without a break from 2 million years ago to 5,000 B.C.

More interesting archeological stuff - Kansascity.com - Your Kansas City Everything Guide

A tunnel that snakes under the ancient walls of Jerusalem likely was built around 700 B.C. during the reign of King Hezekiah, as described in the Bible, a new study suggests. The tunnel’s age had been debated by biblical scholars, a few of whom had suggested it was built centuries later. The only surviving clue to its age had been an inscription discovered in 1880 on a tunnel wall, which supported the link to Hezekiah but did not specifically name him.

Is MSNBC AP on drugs?

Look at the title of the article and the content - how do they match?

India blames Muslims for bombing

BOMBAY, India, Aug. 26 - India’s government blamed Muslim militants Tuesday for explosions that shook Bombay a day earlier and accused rival Pakistan of trying to destabilize the country. The attacks killed 50 people and wounded 154, Muslims and Hindus alike. Indian officials stopped short of saying Pakistan had dispatched the bombers, but the comments appeared likely to undermine a fragile peace process between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. They have fought three wars, two over the divided Kashmir province.

and then, look at this piece of information that was completely new to me -

India constitutionally is a secular country that guarantees religious freedom. But in its 55-year history, the country has seen repeated incidents of religious strife that have cost thousands of lives. In the 1940s, riots between Hindus, who make up about 80 percent of the nation, and Muslims resulted in the country being divided into India and Pakistan. The bitterness bred in those times remains. Click a link above to explore some of the worst cases of this violence.

Say what? I thought it was the Partition that had created the riots in the country that lead to the deaths of hundreds and thousands and the displacement of millions. Revisionist history, anyone?
[all emphasis mine]

Update: More errors from MSNBC Reuters, via JK.

Interesting

How long before this degenerates into a “he said-she said” shouting match? Not that it isn’t there already…

VHP digs up proof of three temples at site - The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Pushed against the wall by reports that excavations undertaken at Ayodhya by the Archaeological Survey of India, at the behest of the Allahabad High Court, had shown no traces of any temple pre-dating the Babri Masjid, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Tuesday hit back at what it alleged was a misinformation campaign unleashed by vested interests. It fielded the Indian Archaeological Society to prove that the excavations undertaken by the ASI, which came to an end on August 7, had stumbled upon enough evidence to prove that there indeed existed not one but three temples at various periods at the disputed site. The last one, Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, built around 12th century AD, was razed to the ground by Babar sometime in 1528-29 and a mosque built at the site.

This is for JK

A fitting commentary on the farce that is the candle-light vigil at the Indo-Pak border - a lone candle fickering, because the organizers forgot getting candles to the vigil. Heh.

Lone candle flickers at Wagah - The Times of India

Parliamentarians Kuldip Nayyar and Raj Babbar were joined by 12 lawmakers from Pakistan to celebrate the 10th Midnight peace festival. They, however, forgot to take candles to the zero line from the venue of the function. One candle was hurriedly procured to light up the occasion.

Truth in journalism

Why would Rediff list the “Candlelight vigil on the border” in its movie section, unless they recognize the make-believe nature of the farce? Irony ain’t dead ;)

India, America and of course, Pakistan

A very clear-eyed and non-romanticizing piece about the current courtship between Pakistan’s mullahs and the Indian administration. I think our administration is really acting like this hopeless lover who is so enamored with this super beautiful and manipulative girl, that he keeps going back to her in hopes of being taken back, regardless of how many times she broke her heart before.

Neocon vs old con

So why did the Maulana say his conciliatory piece, make the sort of statements that had the Lahore Alumni Association dancing with joy in his host country? The logical conclusion would be that he - and his fellow travellers in Pakistan - perceive America as the more immediate threat.

America’s presence in Afghanistan means Islamabad can’t control Kabul. The Pashtun passions that have been unleashed threaten to completely destroy Islamabad’s hold over not just the NWFP but even areas of Baluchistan. While the jihad junta sorts this little problem out, it wants India to give it breathing space.

In its right mind, India wouldn’t even consider the offer. New Delhi’s waffling circuit is, however, not the appropriate exposition of India’s right mind. An argument that sees a temporary Indo-Pakistani truce to check American expansionism as a historical successor to Hindu-Muslim unity against the British empire is not just flawed, it is downright dangerous. In effect, India is being asked to choose between America and Pakistan, between the neocon man and, simply, the conman.

To take the analogy further, the amorous lover can see nothing but his beloved in everything he does and refuses to consider there might be more women around him - who might be more attractive and ultimately better for him than the one he is after. Isn’t that what is going on with India right now?

Vajpayee went there on a bus - Nawaz Sharief and Musharraf took the opportunity to shake his hands and stab his country in the back. Then he invited Musharraf to Agra - what came of that? Now everyone is getting all excited about the new overtures - does anyone really think anything is going to come out of this? Pardon me, but I am not getting excited yet.

Another bigger problem for India is that if she hopes to be a serious player in the world-politics, it doesn’t help that regardless of what song we sing, the chorus is always “Pakistan!”. We cannot pretend to be giants on the world stage when we allow ourselves to be dwarfed in our world vision by puny Pakistan. If we allow ourselves to be defined by Pakistan, we shouldn’t be surprised when the world treats us on par with Pakistan. I think it is time for the Indian administration to leave the little one behind and move on to bigger things and more important pursuits.

15 Days of Independence!

We are kicking off our Indian Independence Day Celebrations at this weblog today - we are going to celebrate for the 15 days from now to August 15th. We have a brand new theme to go with the festivities, so go to the skins gallery and check it out. In that spirit, we invite you to share with us, your favorite patriotic songs, freedom fighters, your thoughts on independence and your favorite Independence Day memories.

Come join the fun!

Update: Since we bloggers seem to be representing so many parts of India - I think it would be a really cool idea to unearth unknown or not-well-known freedom fighters from everybody’s native regions - see the trackback to the post above, where JK did something similar - this will help us compile a state-wise history of the freedom struggle. Ping this post, if you have something written about the Independence or the struggle for it - Let us make this a memorable celebration :)

I s'ppose this is good!

Muslim groups come out in support Mumbai bandh

Mumbai, July 30: Departing from the usual tradition of keeping away from Shiv Sena-BJP bandhs, Muslim organisations on Wednesday came forward to support the bandh called by the saffron parties to protest government’s “failure” to control the law and order situation and killing of three persons in Monday’s bomb blast in a bus in suburban Ghatkopar.

Raza Academy and Ulema Council were among the Muslim organisations that supported the bandh.

Samajwadi Party, which has a large following in the Muslim community, also declared support to the bandh called by Shiv Sena and BJP.

Yeah, right!

Great, now Pakistan has not one, but three countries to blame for everything that goes wrong within her borders, the “unholy” trinity being India, Israel and Afghanistan. Maybe the people and the leaders should think about it a bit before spouting this - why should Israel help India destabilize Pakistan when Pakistan is actually fiddling with the question of “recognizing” Israel? Why should Afghanistan hate Pakistan? Why does everyone seem to hate the poor, wittle country so much?

RAW, Mossad creating trouble, claims Pak

LAHORE: Indian and Israeli intelligence agencies have ganged up to stir trouble in Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, Pakistan’s intelligence agencies have alleged. The agencies, in a report to the government quoted by Online news agency, have asked it to take “ample measures” to combat terrorism allegedly linked to Indian diplomatic missions in Afghanistan and Indian and Israeli spy outfits.
…
“The sources revealed that RAW, Mossad and Khad (the former Afghan secret service) have regrouped after 23 years and are planning to launch terrorist activities in Pakistan,” it said.

A proud day

It must be a proud day indeed for cowardly eunuchs who displayed their courage to the world, when they planted a bomb in a civilian bus full of people carrying on with their lives, women and children. My! How can someone top this? Feel good about this, Brave Warriors from the “Land of the Pure”! Feel great about how many harmless and defenseless people you have killed and injured with this act of terrorism!

Blast in Ghatkopar in Mumbai, 4 dead

Four persons were killed and 31 injured in a blast in a BEST bus in Ghatkopar in northern Mumbai on Monday night. Quoting the police, a PTI report said the blast was the result of a bomb, planted underneath a seat of the bus (route number 340), exploding. Police also said that a dog squad and a bomb detection team had been rushed to the spot.

(Thanks for the link, Gaurav)

Very well said

Let me bring out my stock phrase and say - “We need more like this” - on all sides of the aisle.

Why I support the Uniform Civil Code

Let’s get some ridiculous myths out of the way first:

Myth 1: All Muslims are opposed to a Common Civil Code.

Clearly, this is not the case. I am one who is not, as are many others.

Myth 2: The Muslim Personal Law gives Muslims some great benefits that are being withheld from non-Muslims.

Nothing can be further from the truth. The personal law only gives Muslims the right to be governed by Shariah principles in the personal matters of marriage, inheritance, property rights and religious observance. Commercial and criminal law is the same for all Indians.

Hindu-Muslim Divide (India and Pakistan)

A pretty interesting article trying explore the beginnings of the Hindu-Muslim divide in India and attempts to tie it to the current situation. I also agree with the author’s point that it sounds extremely hypocritical of the Bush administration to be ostensibly fighting this “Global War of Terrorism”, while supporting and helping in every way, the one person who controls the biggest terrorist state in the world and the Islamic nuclear bomb, Pervez Musharraf.

It is extremely short-sighted American policy to be helping Pakistan and Musharraf, that is neither helping in the short term or in the long term, while doing a lot to ultimately hurt the credibility of a Government whose stated policy has been “you are either with us or against us” - what about those who pretend to be with you and help your attackers in every way possible? If I were of the tin-foil group, I might go as far as to suggest that America might be using India as a safety valve for the Jihadi terrorists, thinking that by diverting them to India via Pakistan, she can keep her people safe…One way or another, this is just a rotten deal, just as rotten as the cushy relationship between the administration and the billionaire Wahabi-backers from the land of Saud.

Pakistan’s anti-India pathology

What is the India Obsession? The political divide between Hindus and Muslims originally arose from the fact that for centuries a Muslim minority had enjoyed political hegemony over the subcontinent’s Hindu majority. Over the last century, as the power of the demographic majority ramified, the Muslim elites found their political dominance increasingly challenged. Many perceptive Muslims - such as Sir Syed Ahmad Khan - realised the importance of Muslims achieving a relationship with the emerging Hindu majority.

When Pakistanis talk of Indian Secularism...

Indians answer back thus - Indian gives Pak delegate a lesson in secularism

New Delhi: The leader of visiting Pakistani business delegation Ilyas Ahmed Bilour found himself on slippery ground at a function after he said “India was a secular country but not any more.” …
“How can you claim that India is not secular? I am a Muslim and have never faced any racial discrimination,” the man asked the Pakistani politician-cum-businessman.

Heh!

Wow!

I am still having trouble believing this bit of news, but apparently it has been verified by NASA. If true, I guess we have figured out the solution to world hunger and the obesity problems…

‘Solar-powered’ Indian invited to NASA for ‘food’ research : HindustanTimes.com

Hira Ratan Manek, aka Hirachand, has not eaten in eight years. He lives on sunlight. But skeptical (and perhaps long-suffering) Indians should read on a bit before going - bah, another scam. This 64-year-old mechanical engineer has been tried and tested by US space agency NASA. In June 2002, NASA verified his claims when he spent 130 days with its scientists drinking only water. They have even named such subsistence - water and solar energy - the ‘HRM (Hira Rattan Manek) phenomenon’.

Muslim Personal Law

Fatimah writing at Disaffected Muslim takes issue with the Muslim Personal Law in India, that as I completely agree with her, discriminates against Muslim women by applying the Sharia to them instead of the secular freedoms that other women in India enjoy. I see every single point she makes and I am on her side on all the issues - so what is the problem? The problem is the way Muslims act and secularists treat them in India.

Anyone who says anything remotely resembling Uniform Civil Code (which is supported by the Indian Constitution, of course) send most Muslims into a frenzied victim mode and the people who mentioned UCC are labeled Muslim-haters and Hindu-Fundamentalists. It isn’t like it is a small population - India has the world’s second largest Muslim population. How is anyone supposed to go against the majority of a 200-million-strong community?

Rajiv Gandhi tried that during the Shah Bano case - worked out real good, didn’t it? Of course, rest of the people in India are pissed about it, but what can they do? We have to pretend it only affects the Muslims and keep quiet if we want any peace. Isn’t it ironic that the so-called seculaist parties of India don’t like the UCC at all, but the only party that harps on it during every election is the “Hindu-fundamentalist” BJP?

Another point to think of is that change in a religion such as Islam in which religion is all-important and more important than even nationalistic feelings, has to come from within. No one can shove change down one’s throat. If the community and the Muslim women are not interested in change and like their lives as they are, isn’t it easy to ignore or be apathetic about their laws? Look here in the comments to see how strongly some Muslims feel about the UCC. For more fun news, here is a movement afoot to impose Sharia on Canadian Muslims and here is Sharia for South Africa.

(Thanks for the link, Mr.Anderson! ;))

More about Graham Staines

This can turn the trial into a big mud-flinging-fest if true. Take it with a huge grain of salt, but this does provide a more plausible motive for the murder (not that I would ever defend murdering anyone, let alone two innocent children) of Graham Staines.

Staines tried to outrage my modesty, says witness : HindustanTimes.com

A woman defence witness in the Graham Staines murder case on Thursday alleged before a trial court that the Australian missionary, under whose influence she had been converted to Christianity, had tried to outrage her modesty.

Kashmiri youth defy terror......

...by taking a trip down the catwalk ??! Read on for more....

Deccan Herald News page

For the first time in the last 13 years of turbulence, Kashmiri youth broke a taboo and organised a fashion show here thus setting new standards in the world of modelling and fashion.

Really!

ASI fabricating evidence in Ayodhya: WAQF Board : HindustanTimes.com

The Sunni Central WAQF Board (SCWB), one of the main plaintiffs in the Ram Janambhoomi -Babri Masjid title suit, and Muslim parties have accused the ASI team engaged in carrying out excavation work at the acquired land in Ayodhya of "fabricating" archaeological evidence there.

ASI finds no proof of structure below Babri: Report - The Times of India

LUCKNOW: The Archaeological Survey of India has submitted a progress report to the Lucknow High Court that so far it has found no concrete evidence of any structure below the disputed Babri Masjid site at Ayodhya.

So, ASI is "fabricating" evidence that no Ram Temple existed under Babri Masjid? Maybe the WAQF board should read a bit of news before making statements, what sez? ;)

Bravo!

Some very positive and encouraging news of Muslim activism in India via Varsha Bhosle!

Cure is possible only after detection

Now for the good news. And I mean, REALLY GOOD NEWS: A new organisation called the Muslim Youths of India is preaching to Muslims that it's time to break away and debunk the "anti-national" stereotype. Syed Khan, the 32-year-old convener of MY India, says, "What we are saying is that for long people have put religion over nation and it's time to change that... Community, whosever it is, should not come ahead of nation."

Khan says the organisation became a necessity after Mumbai police busted the 2 Mumbai jihad camps run by SIMI; word had spread that young Muslims attended the camps in large numbers. "What we are saying is that Muslims have for long been misled in the name of religion. These forces are destroying the very fabric of our community, which is lagging behind anyway." He plans to start the movement in Mumbai, taking it to other cities and then finally to the villages. The 250-odd members will intensively campaign to keep Muslims away from the "gun and religion trap."

"There are many who are asking me 'why are you conceding that Muslims have taken up the gun or are joining the SIMI -- it will only increase the atrocities against us.' But I tell them that this has to stop... I tell them that I offer namaaz five times a day. I love my religion but I will not let my country disintegrate... MY India will tackle the adversity because we are convinced this movement is for the good of everybody," Khan says.

Interesting!

I guess my blog-mommies (Diana and Meryl) and I are not that different anymore after all :) Now I just need to find something common with Susanna ;)

The New Republic Online: September's Children

Beyond the shared interests and fears, what energizes the new relationship is romance. As in the United States in the 1960s, a generation of young Israelis has fallen in love with India. Several times a year, tens of thousands of young Israelis gather in nature reserves for Indian-style festivals, with canvas-covered chai shops and stalls selling Indian clothes and music. Over the last decade, perhaps a quarter-million Israelis, most of them just out of the army, have visited India. When India's ambassador to Israel, Raminder S. Jassal, walks the streets in his Sikh turban, young Israelis often press their palms in the traditional greeting of Namaste; sometimes he is addressed by Israelis in Punjabi. "I haven't experienced this kind of love for India elsewhere," he says.

Back to form

Varsha Bhosle is back with a bang with an article that kind of explains why I am more sympathetic to Israel's cause as an Indian, not as a pro-America person as some would like to believe. Who could argue with her logic here?

The lamb that roared

Which sane Indian won't sympathise with the Israelis?

Tell me, do you see the Islamist-Pinko-"Secularist" axis demanding the return of the Northern Territories and PoK to mainly-Hindu India...? Why not? Because, even when grabbed illegally, it's irreversible, a fait accompli...?

In which case, Israel, too, is a fait accompli. Besides which, the Jews are a nation since Biblical times; for over 3,300 years, Jerusalem -- founded by King David -- has been their capital. Jews pray facing Jerusalem; Arabs pray with their backs to it. There was no such thing as "Palestinian" before 1967, when Syrians, Iraqis, Jordanians, Lebanese and Saudis living in Israel began identifying themselves as "Palestinian." Why should Indians -- if, indeed, they are only Indian -- seek Israel's destruction...?

Just read it!

A very good column by Rajeev Srinivasan in Rediff talking about a lot of stuff - covering a lot of ground, from NRIs vs. "RNIs", communism, communalism, Marxism and everything in between. Thanks for pointing this out, L. Good one!

Patriot Games and Resident Non Indians

Damn pinko!

The consequences of unilateral policing

Enough has been said on the obvious double standards in this war against terrorism. Post-World War II, the Americans have launched several such 'wars'. Like that against Communism, which led to the witchhunts of McCarthy and to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. The war to promote human rights, though certain nations which grant minimal political or civil rights to its citizens, like Saudi Arabia, still remain close American allies.

Looks like someone needs to get over the fall of the Soviet and communism. WTF is "war on communism"? The Cold War? If I remember it right, weren't the Russians as much to blame for it as the Americans? See, this is the thing about these guys - they pretend to be writing all objectively, but still manage to slip in tidbits like the one above, that give away their real agenda. They hate the US because the country was the main reason for the fall of their beloved ideology, communism.

It's a sign of the times

Good for you, Farzana! Nisha Sharma started the trend and more and more women are following it. Kick butt, ladies - marriage is a two-way deal, and you don't need to buy your way into it. If the men and their parents know what is good for them, they will start of their married life with understanding and goodwill, not the scorn and disgust a woman feels for in-laws who put her parents through so much to appease their greed for more money.

Girl rejects dowry demand : HindustanTimes.com

Farzana's marriage (nikah) was solemnised four years ago, but on Saturday she was to finally leave home to cohabit with her husband after the rukhsati ceremony.

Farzana was waiting to change into the red bridal attire her husband's family was to bring, when she heard they had demanded a flat, a scooter and cash. "They said the baraat wouldn't come unless the demands were met," said Farzana's elder sister Saira Bano.

The demands weren't met, and the baraat never came. Instead, the police arrived to record Farzana's statement. While her husband Nadim, a screen printer, is absconding, his father Mohammad Taqi has been arrested on dowry harassment charges.

Good

This case is essentially a novelist - Barbara Taylor Bradford suing an Indian TV company for developing a TV serial by "adapting/copying" her novel without first buying the copyrights. I say this is a very good thing for Indian media - TV/Movie/Music industries. The plagarization of Western movies and music especially has become so rampant in India that I have stopped watching Indian movies a while ago, preferring instead to enjoy the originals. This has come to a stage where creativity in Indian movie industry is basically how best to Indianize a foreign movie, so Indian audience will not reject it. All these movies are supposedly "inspired" by the original movie. Take the movie "Criminal" for instance - except for the extremely irritating second-heroine angle, every scene in the movie, including the dialogues, are an exact copy of the movie "Fugitive".

Artists have become so used to "adapting" things, there hardly any "Indian" flavor in the movies and the music. Forget these - when I was in India, there was this famous Telugu novelist I loved - once I started reading English novels, I realized his novels were exact copies of Robin Cook and Roald Dahl's stories. I hope more and more these plagiarists get called on this, so that they actually start using their brains to think up and come up with something original for a change.

Experts opine on Karishma controversy

Open Challenge to Resident Indians

Well, here is your chance to prove how much better you are than the NRIs

Beat us in Antyakshari :P

I will start -
Mera naam chin-chin-choo
chin-chin-choo baba chin-chin-choo
Raat chandni, main our tu
Hello Mister, How do you do?

Why the insecurity?

Ok, I just read the comment by Gaurav about the cow-slaughter issue and my patience has finally been breached. What is wrong with all these Indians trying to be all holier-than-thou and missing no opportunity to belittle NRIs - be it Varsha Bhosle, Praful Bidwai or "snide Singaporeans" (I guess living in Singapore doesn't count as being NRI - if India is that great, why don't they go Great India's Great Engineering Colleges?) or others. Please put the context in mind, for this rant in reply to Gaurav's comment.

Gaurav, why do you and everyone else feel this great need to vilify and slander Indians in America to make your point? You had provided a good argument, all of which was ruined by the attacks on Indian-Americans. What do they have anything to do with this issue?

FYI, Ravi, Kingsley, MadMan and Dina all live in India. you live there too - all that somehow makes your opinions more valid than mine, JK's or Ashwini's? We haven't run away to greener lands so we could eat beef or pay tips - we moved to wherever we could make a better life for ourselves. That doesn't somehow automatically corrupt our morality or our values.

Why cannot we talk about Indian issues anymore? We still have families there - God forbid, if we lose out H-1s, we are going to be back in India - we are still Indian citizens. What does that have to with our opinions? It really makes me mad when people make personal attacks instead of arguing ideas. And seriously, what does anything Bush does have to do with this? Are you that viscerally anti-American that you can only see everything through the eyes of how it relates to America?

WTF?

Laloo catches US diplomat on wrong foot

This is more than a reason to institute some sort of literacy limits on Indian politician-wannabes. Laloo, if you can rule by proxy by putting your wife in the CM's chair when you were actually convicted of the fodder scam, why can't President Bush continue in power, since he has actually never been convicted of anything? Oh, I know - you are a f***ing hypocrite - that's why! I feel nothing but contempt for the illiterates who keep the likes of you in power election after election.

''Remove Bush from power at the earliest opportunity,'' Yadav told US Consul General Richard Sibley on Wednesday when he called on the RJD president and his wife Chief Minister Rabri Devi to exchange views on development-related issues in the state.

Hmm...

Anil Athale: Dawn of a new imperial era
First of all, I have to take exception with the title of the column - I really don't understand how it relates to any of the content.

The much advertised 'shock and awe' did not take place at all. This concept is not new: an opening artillery barrage has been a tactic since the 15th century and was used in India by Babar in 1526. The shock effect of the initial air strikes failed primarily because the American bombing was selective. Despite all criticism about civilian casualties, Iraqis in Baghdad and elsewhere felt safe as long as they were not close to military targets. The Americans thus lost the element of fear and uncertainty that is necessary to create awe.

Compared to the Second World War bombing of Hamburg or Tokyo, the air attack on Iraq was 'humane'. Then how does one explain the lack of resistance?

And then there are these passages - is the Colonel disappointed that there was no "shock and awe"? Maybe that was the plan - maybe the US military hyped up the campaign so much that they scared the enemy into submission without having to resort to it - isn't that a better alternative?

And then he talks about how the Iraqi army could resort to guerilla-warfare, since it just melted away without putting up direct fight

The obvious explanation for this is that Saddam Hussein and his supporters have simply melted away into the population and may soon start an Algerian-type guerrilla war against the occupying American forces. The tactics would be to use individual snipers, landmines, and ambushes. The targets would be individual soldiers, one at a time.

And then he contradicts himself further down when he says -

But the penetration of special forces would not have been possible without local support, which puts a question mark on the possible Iraqi strategy of launching an Algerian-style insurrection.

And then he goes towards a non-conclusion talking about the rifts between America, Britain and the "Old Europe" - how about pointing out the TotalFinaElf scandal that put the French and the Canadian Prime Ministers' relatives in bed with the Saddam regime? How about mention of the sale of forbidden technology by Russia to Iraq? Seriously, what is the Colonel trying to say?

Thought provoking

Francois Gautier: The spirit of Natchiketa

But I am considered an outcast by the French embassy and my advice is never sought, though I have lived 34 years here and am probably the French journalist who knows India best. Forget about French Indologists, who are all pals of the JNU crowd and Romila Thapar: they hate my guts; many of my fellow Western correspondents also think I am either a crackpot or a traitor to my culture!

This raises an important question: why is it that amongst the 300-odd Western correspondents sitting in Delhi, there is nobody (that I know of) who comes to the same logical conclusion that Hinduism is what makes this country great and that an Indian Christian or an Indian Muslim are different because of the softening influence of Hinduism?

This is one of the least strident columns written by this man I have read recently. It is interesting and makes some good points - raises some good questions one way and the other. What do you guys think?

Shut up already!

Oh, but I am sure these dumbasses will be jumping up and down with joy if India allies with China (the people who massacred thousands of Tibetans and currently occupy their homeland), Cuba (where you are jailed for life if the maximum leader thinks you are not obedient enough) or Russia (see, Chechenya). Communism in India has turned into a hotbed of violence, be it the violence against Hindus in places like Kerala or the naxalism in places like Andhra Pradesh. Who votes for these dimwits again?

CPM opposes India allying with Israel

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today strongly opposed India allying with Israel which the party said has occupied Arab territories defying UN resolutions and grossly violated rights of Palestinian people.

"The speech made by Brajesh Mishra, National Security Advisor, in Washington advocating an alliance between the US, Israel and India to fight terrorism indicates how the Vajpayee government is moving towards a complete shift in foreign policy and strategic alliances," CPM said in a press statement here.

Grace marks!

Dilip D'Souza has a very good column in Rediff today about grace marks. It just makes so much sense and grace marks have always been a pet peeve of mine. First of all, the grade to pass is awfully low - then there is the issue of adding "grace marks" to bring the total of the failing student to the low passing grade - now apparently according to Dilip, we have grace marks being added to bring the student's score to a total where grace marks can be added yet again to make the student pass. Ridiculous, ain't it! Especially when this is the system that is used to grade doctors, who in their hands might hold your life some day. seriously, what is the point of grace marks? A student failed in a subject? tough luck - as it is, we have supplemental exams so that the student can make up for the exams without having to lose a year. But why add enough marks to make them pass? This is even worse than the self-esteem-based-grading here inthe US that many Indians are so quick to ridicule, while spouting about how great their own educational system is.

Grace At Birth, Too

This is so stupid!

This is irritating, since now there is no line between religion and the Indian Government - instead of trying to govern people by law and order, the administration is trying to rule by Hindu law, since Christians and Muslims don't have any problem with the killing of cows. Even if this is supposed to somehow safeguard the Hindu religion, what real Hindu Guru will tell you that Hinduism is all about respect for cows? Seriously, when you forget the culture and the reasoning behind your faith and reduce it to "cow-worship good! killing cow bad!", it is extreme simplification of the issue and it takes away from the greatness of thought and philosophy that forms the foundation of Hinduism.

Centre okays law to ban cow slaughter

Update: Sandeep weighs in on the debate - Thanks for the link, Ashwini!

Good one, but.....

India's Leader Gambles on Peace

The two nations - India is majority Hindu and Pakistan is majority Muslim - were carved from Britain's Indian empire in 1947 and have had troubled relations ever since. Kashmir, the predominantly Muslim border territory that is divided between them, has been at the heart of the trouble.

A pretty good article, that nonetheless left a bitter after taste in my mouth, owing to the quotes above. I know this is an almost standard disclaimer that you find in most non-Indian, non-Pakistani articles about the tensions in the sub-continent, but it doesn't make it right. I find it a bit simplistic to equate a country founded on secular principles and equality for all religions and a country that was supposed to be the homeland for the Muslims and in which preaching other religions is considered blasphemy and punishable by death.

Really, think about it - "America is a Christian-majority country that is engaged in a war with Syria, a Muslim-majority country" - see how ridiculous that sounds?

Help!

Someone explain to me what the heck is Dilip D'Souza's point in the whole article? Vajpayee is Hitler? Where are the concentration camps? Where are the gas chambers? Does Rediff do any background research on their columnists? Do these columnists get paid by the word? Does Rediff pay good money? If so, I can put together in two minutes every week, a silly column filled with veiled references and vague analogies and in cases like Mr. Bidwai's, outright lies. When will the madness end?

On a side note, JK and I have still not heard form the Rediff editors, regarding his letter to Ajith Balakrishnan or my letter to Rediff about Bidwai's column. So live journalists and so do journalists lose any semblance of cridibility they have left.

My country, right or wrong?

But let's make the questions a little harder to answer. Leave aside the hypocrisy Bush and his cronies have flaunted. Let's build a hypothesis instead: that, like Iraq, India is ruled by a despotic regime.

Suppose it has ignored -- and by ignoring, aggravated -- the suffering of millions of miserably poor Indians, many of whom go to sleep hungry and sick every single night. It has stoked hatreds among Indians, hatreds that have led to regular massacres all over the country. Too often, state machinery has participated in these great crimes. It has paid no attention to the need to punish the perpetrators of such massacres. Too often, it has rewarded them with power and protection, status and wealth. It has snuffed out any public faith in the rule of law -- not just by perverting the courts and police, but by installing criminals as the makers and keepers of the law. And, in this thought experiment, the greatest criminal of all heads the regime.

Remember: just a hypothesis.

But now, still in this hypothesis, how must a patriotic Indian react? Does she defend this ghastly junta to the world, because after all and always, it's 'my country, right or wrong'? Does he take up arms to fight its wars, to defend it to the death against foreign aggression, because of his love for India? (Does this love mean you must die for criminals?)

Logic?

The whole point of this article is that Bush and Co. are awarding most of the lucrative contracts in Iraq to their favorite companies - some of these contracts are dealing with oil - Iraq has oil - Unocal tried to deal with Taliban for a natural gas pipeline (didn't pan out) - ergo, the war in Iraq was for oil!

Reconstructing Iraq: Crony capitalism at its worst

Happy!

Hindus of the world, rejoice! Hold your breath too - the awesome Mayawati has threatened to leave Hinduism and join Buddhism if all "Hindu evils" are not removed, like right now - no excuses accepted! That's it! I really hope she keeps her word - On the other hand, I wouldn't wish this on our Buddhist brethren. Heh!

Fiery Mayawati talks tough on Hindu 'evils'

She warned Hindu pontiffs to remove the evils of Hindu religion, failing which she would leave the Hindu religion and become a Buddhist, like Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar.

Not an Indian!

My extremely apolitical husband (that's his story and he's sticking to it!) pointed to me this open letter written by an Indian-American physician, Durga Prasad Sunkara to a telugu movie star called Chiranjeevi, in response to the star's letter to President George Bush. I really liked Dr. Sunkara's letter to Chiranjeevi - it was very respectful in tone, logically argued and well put (no, I am not agreeing with it just because the letter is pro-war - me and biased? Nooo). And then I saw these responses to the response letter by people who I assume are die-hard fans of Chiranjeevi. I was shocked by some of the responses, to say the least.

It wasn't that I wasn't aware of how crazy some Indian fans (especially South-Indian) can be about their favorite stars. I have gone to Engineering College with a guy who was so crazy about this movie star that he wore the exact same clothes as him, wouldn't tolerate any criticism of him and almost worshipped him like a God. I never understood it then, I don't understand it now. The main thread you will see in the responses to Dr. Sunkara's letter is "How dare you question Chiranjeevi?". At some point, these people forget that teh star is another human being, not the superman he portrays on the screen.

But that didn't surprise me - as I said, I was already aware of the phenomenon. What surprised me were the accusations some letter-writers made about Dr. Sunkara, saying he was not Indian anymore. What was that supposed to mean? In the mildest interpretation, it could be taken as if they were saying the good doctor was an American citizen (though, no such thing is implied in his letter), so he is no longer an Indian citizen. But the more plausible and disturbing conclusion is that these people are saying one is not an Indian if one took a pro-America stand, questioned anything an "Indian" said or didn't reside in India anymore.

That to me, was extremely silly. I think it is a stupid way to prop up your argument by questioning the patriotism of the other party. This also reminded me of some pro-war Americans accusing anti-war people of being anti-American and some black people accusing other black people who don't think like them (think Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice) of not being black. At the core of this, I think lies the belief that if you belong to a certain community or group, you are supposed to think like them and act in sync, no individuality allowed. How sick!

Questions

Ravi has some pointed questions to ask of the anti-war Indians. These are very good questions that apply not just to the Indian crowd, but to any stridently anti-war person. I wish someone on the anti-war would come out and honestly answer these.

Questions for Anti-War Indians

The tale of two headlines

There are times when I want to scream at the top of my lungs at whoever it is who is advicing the Indian Government to follow such a bone-headed foreign policy.

Foreign troops should immediately withdraw from Iraq: India
India to lobby for Iraq's reconstruction

Is that the height of hypocrisy or what? On the one hand, India wants the US out of Iraq right now, without a single thought for the all those people who were partying just yesterday, who will now be slaughtered like sheep by Saddam or his remaining henchmen. On the other hand, they have the gall to lobby for a share in the reconstruction process? How utterly disgusting!

Of course, it all ties in very neatly with our past performance of sucking up to dictators and jerks in general, while accusing America of doing the same, as this article from TVR Shenoy makes clear - "Twelve years ago, in the wake of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, our then external affairs minister, Inder Kumar Gujral, was photographed hugging Saddam Hussein. When Kuwait was liberated a few months later, ‘Indian’ became a hissing-word in that part of the world. Billions were spent in the reconstruction of Kuwait; India didn’t get a cent. Thousands of Indians lost their jobs; we were considered untrustworthy employees who fled at the first sign of trouble and then collaborated with the enemy. Why, pray tell, are we set on repeating history?"

Isn't it time we stopped our own hypocritical relations with the world in general and face up to a little reality? Things will have to change and fast, if India truly wants to be a player on the global level. A myopic communist/socialist vision of the future doesn't serve us anymore, as should have been obvious to us from the fall of Russia. We should drop the blinkers, stop being pressured by the two-bit opposition parties, most of whose members are not able to write their own names, leave alone have any grasp of world affairs and take the initiative and make bold moves. If not, we will be right there in the line with the other failed states, wondering what went wrong with a country with a vibrant democracy teeming with intellectuals (the real ones) and a billion-plus people.

Update:

This was what I was talking about -

India's resolution on Iraq war hiccup in post-war pie

India's attempts to get a share of the pie in post-war Iraq have come up against a few hiccups. When the Ambassador to US, Lalit Mansingh, met State Department officials recently to convey New Delhi's eagerness to play an important role in reconstruction efforts in Iraq, the US communicated its displeasure at the unanimous resolution that Parliament has passed deploring the action in Iraq and seeking immediate withdrawal of forces.

US interlocutors also expressed concern at the timing of the resolution. India has tried to impress on US interlocutors that it values growing bilateral ties with Washington and that it held its ground despite Opposition pressure, but the government fears some damage. Besides, the government also fears that the anti-India lobby in Washington could play this up to deny India strategic leverage.

Yawn!

This has got to be the most cliche-ridden, inanity-filled article that I have seen in a long time. I really wouldn't be surprised if the editor who wrote this for the LATimes was desperate for a filler and just fed a couple of headlines into an AI program and out came this - Kashmir's Killing Season. Not a single original thought or analysis in the damn thing (link requires registration, don't bother).

London and, especially, Washington must keep bearing down on both countries, which have fought three wars since independence. Pakistan needs continual pressure to live up to its pledge to stop guerrillas from crossing into India. India needs reminding that war against a nuclear neighbor is not a formula for victory -- that the dispute over Kashmir requires a political solution.

Confused

Normally, you know that I love Varsha Bhosle to death - I like her spunk, her fearlessness and her tendency to call it like it is. I am totally confused by her recent column - Cherchez les bureaucrats. The column really lacks much focus and is rather incoherent and meanders on with no semblance of order - all forgivable, if only she hadn't been projecting so much her perceived failures of the Indians and their sense of patriotism to somehow impose them on the Iraqis and then there is something about the mental toughness of the Western armies. It doesn't make much sense really, but I hope she will be back to form soon :)

Indian interests in the war

TVR Shenoy has a very interesting take on the Iraqi war, as viewed solely from the Indian national interest perspective. It is pretty nice and sensible, how point-by-point, he makes a case for how much Indian interests are tied to the American interests and depend on America's victory in the war. Pretty good reading! A lot of it I agree with - my point for India always being, do what is good for the country and is in the citizens' interest. Nothing else matters!

On Iraq, be pro-Indian

Varsha's Baaack!

She is a breath of fresh air in the reeking confines of Rediff-these-days. She is back with plenty of thoughts on Rediff's ideology, the war on Iraq, Indian and other human shields, and a lot more. I might not agree with everything she says, but I admire her as a strong woman who is not afraid to say it like it.

Varsha Bhosle: Whaat "WMD," whaat "principle"...

India's. That's the only side I'm on.

If you press further, I'd say, yes, I absolutely want M/s Bush and Blair to win. For if they don't, there'll be a very different kind of blood raging through the veins of Al Qaeda -- which, for me, includes Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Al Barq, the ISI, SIMI and sundry sooar ki aulad. My rationale remains untouched by the bad vibes between Osama and Saddam, or the warmth between India and Iraq, or America's motives. It's more like, my worst enemy's worst enemy is my current friend. The defeat of the US-led coalition will mean the victory of Islamic terrorism -- everywhere.

Coupled with that is this conviction: Anything that the pinkos push must be very damaging for India. For instance, the call for a strong resolution condemning the US. I'm grateful that the government hasn't yet caved in to the dipweeds' demands. Arey, apun ko kya karnaay? Chup-chaap baitho, tamasha dekho...

Someone gets it!

Tavleen Singh puts into far more clearer and wise words, what I have been saying all along. It is time for India to rise up to the challenge of terrorism and face it. It is not enough to keep the fire burning and blaming everyone else for it, instead of being pro-active. It is also not enough to keep whining at everyone else and try to pull everyone else back, just because we Indians can't seem to be able to grow a backbone and fight our own good fight.

Is it any wonder that most in Pakistan still think that they won every single war with India including Kargil? When in history has the winner of a war ever ceded ground to the loser? The problem has been there since the beginning of India's modern history. Nehru allegedly lead India to victory in the first Pakistan war, but then landed the country in the mess that it is now, by taking the issue to the UN, that hasn't helped budge the issue one inch, but instead provided Pakistan more arms to propagandize with. If we took the whole thing to the UN, who is going to take us seriously when we whine about Kashmir being a bilateral issue?

Remember "Hindu, Chini, Bhai-Bhai"? And then China stabbed us in the back and beat us up till we ran with our tails between our legs and ceded territiry to them too. Our only seeming success has been the division of Pakistan into Bangladesh and Pakistan, which didn't really help us much, except to satisfy our ego.

And then the Sri Lanka Peace-keeping debacle and then more peace talk and then Kargil....Seriously, wasn't the Kargil war reason enough for the Indian Government to launch an attack on Pakistan and teach it a lesson to remember? Nooo, instead, we offered the surrendered enemy safe-passage, buried their unclaimed Pakistani soldiers according to the Muslim rites and then received tortured and mutilated bodies of captured Indian soldiers without a uttering a peep.

Where is the backbone? Where is the spirit? The public is absolutely right to feel disillusioned of such a government and look upon thugs as heroes. This is not something Tavleen is making up - check out the comments on this story by Shobha Warrior - almost all wonder where are the rallies supporting the murdered Kashmiri Pundits.

This is why it is totally laughable that Indian government and media are so obsessed with the war on Iraq. Yes, it is going to affect India - more than the slow-bleeding caused by Kashmir? More than the high cost of maintaining soldiers on the SiaChin glacier (the highest military post on earth)? More than the tens of thousands of people being murdered in cold blood over the decades and the hundreds of thousands being displaced from their ancestral homes? I don't think so. I really wish that the next time these people talk about those "poor Iraqis" and the "poor, poor Palestinians", they take off their ideological blinders and look around and see the state of the poor Indians in India sometime. Charity begins at home, you know - there is no credibility for someone crying rivers at a stranger's misfortune, while the someone's close relatives are being murdered in cold blood daily.

Why can’t we strike shock, awe?

It would not be untrue to say that there is widespread, silent support in India for the war on Iraq. Not only have there been fewer anti-war protests than in most other countries but, since the assault began, it is possible to meet in the Indian street an unusually large number of people who admit that they admire America for reacting forcefully to what happened on September 11.

It shames them, they add, that the Indian state is such a feeble creature that "anyone can come and slap us in the face and get away with it". They point out that it took less than 3,000 Americans to be killed in a terrorist attack for the US to take decisive action against its perceived enemies while we do nothing even after more than 30,000 Indians have died in terrorist violence in the past decade.

(link via UncleDuke)

Good first step!

I think it is a good thing that US and UK atleast publicly placed the onus of stopping terrorist infiltration into Kashmir on Pakistan. I really hope that behind hte scenes, there is a lot more going on - like threatening to cut off aid or openly support India's position - something more pro-active than empty words, that might make Musharraf actually get up off his butt and do something positive with his power.

US, UK ask Pakistan to eschew terrorism

The United States and Britain on Thursday strongly condemned the recent massacre of 24 Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir and asked Pakistan to stop infiltration across the Line of Control.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, in a joint statement in Washington, said Pakistan should also do its utmost to discourage any acts of violence in Kashmir.

Precendences and slippery slopes

Eugene Volokh of the "Volokh Conspiracy" blog has a very nice article in slate today. He is essentially arguing the case for America warring with Iraq, claiming how the precedent is not being set for other countries to use this as an excuse to go bomb other countries. He is making the point that it ia all about national interests more than a sense of justice or equality for most countries to decide to go to war against another country or not.

It caught my interest that he used India not invading Pakistan even after coming to the brink once too many and in spite of being seriously provoked by the latter. He seems to think it is because of Pakistan's army (a joke, really) and the nuclear weapons possessed (a likely reason). Is that it really? I wish it were, but I think it goes a lot deeper than that.

Let me explain - a populace living in fear follows any leader who seems to take charge. So, for the leader in power, it is more beneficial to keep the people afraid and in fear and pretend to be battling the big, bad demons than to really get rid of them. BJP and Congress have used the same issue in different ways. BJP used the Pakistani bogeyman to scare the average Hindus into believing that BJP is their sole protector. Congress on the other hand, did a similar thing to the Muslims, by making them feel like the Hindus are out to get them and that Pakistan is just an excuse.

All that wrangling led both the parties to strengthen their positions via their vote banks, but at what cost? Let's see - the BJP's campaign was run on the issues of solving the Kashmir crisis, dissolving article 370, putting forth the Uniform Civil Code, etc. How many of these have been achieved so far? Talking tough is different from acting tough. I have so far not seen a thng that would make Musharraf quake in his boots....That's the problem with India - politicians who would rather keep communal fires burning to stay in power instead of taking bold, risky steps to advance the nation's interests.

Unprecedented Logic - Why slippery-slope arguments against invading Iraq don't hold water. By Eugene Volokh

Others have suggested that India might pre-emptively attack Pakistan based on the alleged precedent of our attack on Iraq. India is a democracy, and its citizens may well care about consistency and respect America and its allies enough to be influenced by our judgment (especially if their own government ultimately endorses the allied attack). And India might have a plausible pre-emption argument against Pakistan.

But what is really stopping India from attacking Pakistan now, even though it feels that it's been seriously provoked? It's not concern about consistency or legalism—it's that Pakistan has a huge army and nuclear bombs and that India has little to gain from such a war. These factors will generally dictate national decision-making about war regardless of whether America sets a supposed precedent supporting pre-emptive attacks.

Good advice!

The more I read Shekhar gupta, the more I really like him. He speaks in sensible language and makes some really good points with all his focus being India's national interest and that alone, nothing else. We need more like him to offset the "Nehruvians" and the communists in the parliament.

UNshackle, seize the moment

Nobody should know better than us how unfair and ineffective the UN can be. In the past decade it has rubber-stamped every single thing the US has demanded of it and while it does enjoy the momentary glow of the latest French Resistance, it is unlikely that institutionally it will even be able to stand up to the powers that be. .......... Meanwhile, what has the UN done specifically for India besides providing lucrative secondments to so many in our very bored and underpaid bureaucracy and a plethora of do-nothing multilateral postings for our foreign service? In the Second World War, India raised the largest army in its history - with the possible exception of the Mahabharata.

Several times more Indians died fighting fascism than have died defending their own frontiers since. Yet India got nothing in that post-war carving up of the world. Not even the suggestion of a permanent seat at the Security Council. And what has India got since? Through the Cold War it was saved only by the Soviet veto.

Since that phase ended and the unipolar world was ushered in, we have profited from two factors: The increasing irrelevance of the UN and our own redefined relationship with the sole superpower.

It would be doubly dangerous now to be pushed, by entirely ignorant and non-serious politicians, and a public opinion determined by touching emotion rather than cold reason, to be committed to a process of strengthening the UN, introducing new stresses on our relations with the US.

IDRF is not hateful!

A very good article rebutting all the arguments that some organizations have been making against IDRF, calling it a hateful, Hindu-fundamentalist organiztion, leading to an investigation by the US. Of xourse, as far as the US is concerned, this could be one of those charades, to show that Muslim organizations are not the only ones being targeted for fundng hate around the world. Check the article out.

A Factual Response To The Hate Attack On IDRF by Ramesh N. Rao on Sulekha.com

Memories of the Bombay blasts

Easyguru reminisces on his blog about his experiences on the day the Bombay blasts occurred. He was there. Go check it out. (He doesn't have permalinks, so scroll down to "Memories Of Bombay Bomb Blast").

Madonna and Jaljeera

This is what it is about!

Think of this article as a follow-up to my previous post - That post was about people who are not the future - this article is about what to do and how to move forward as a country and as a united citizenry.

Puppets On A Chain

And if you really look at it, this kind of anger and hatred comes dominantly from men. Men of leisure, pampered by mothers, sisters and wives.

When it comes to the nation, we once again abdicate our own responsibilities. We want somebody else to make our nation great. We want somebody else to keep it clean, to govern it well, to take care of its problems and so on.

This is the crux of the problem. We have a dream, of being of top of the world, of thrashing Pakistan or whatever. Most of us don't have the passion or commitment and responsibility to do our part in making those dreams a reality. Our cricket players have to do it on the ground and our soldiers have to do it in the mountains. And while they live our dreams for us, we sit and pass judgement on all of them.

So the RTO chap can be rude and corrupt and doesn't think he has any contribution to make this country great. We litter the streets and break every rule we can because we do not think it is our individual responsibility to make India great as a society. That chore is left to others.

Come on India, you can do better. Ask of yourself in your daily little chores what you ask of the team.

Fanatics

It is disgusting to see the face of Pakistanis, even educated ones (the one quoted below is a doctor), talking about defeating the Kuffrs (Indians) in the game of cricket and in war. It is awful that the only reason he wants to win is because Indians are "kuffrs", not in the spirit of the sport. Fanatic creep!

Daily The Nation

"The Khilafah will channel the emotions of Muslims for productive victory" After the Pakistani cricket team lost to India in the World Cup, the emotions of the Pakistani public were provoked. Just as they are whenever Pakistan and India play. Such emotions arise from the deep desire within Muslims to be victorious over the kuffar, especially mushrikeen like the Hindus. The tragedy is that our rulers do not direct these pure emotions to achieve a true victory over the kuffar.

This emotion should be channelled to nurture love for Jihad so as to liberate the Islamic Lands under kuffar occupation. But our rulers use every opportunity to dampen these emotions and urge Muslims that Hindus can be their friends. So in Pakistan mujahideen groups are banned, while the government promotes calls for complete normalisation, which seduces Muslims with the false idea that all inhabitants of South Asia have a common culture. Despite strenuous efforts by the kuffar, the enemies of Muslims have failed to extinguish the basic Islamic emotions from their hearts. As for the Muslim rulers, they neither represent the emotions of the Muslims nor do they have inclinations themselves for Islam's dominance. Today the Ummah is in need of the Islamic leadership, the Khilafah, which will liberate it from kuffar occupation.-DR IFTEKHAR AHMED, Lahore

But then who said that fanaticism is something that is found only in Pakistan or among Muslims alone - read this letter advocating the Pakistanis to attack and destroy the homes of their cricketers the way the Indian "fans" did to theirs after India lost to Australia.

I'm a great fan of Pakistani fast bowlers, particularly Shohaib Akhtar. But looking at his performance against India, it seemed the Rawalpindi Express was out of gas. His story was no different than rest of the Pakistan team. The reason for such a pathetic performance by a world-class team is their total unprofessional attitude. The treatment required by this sick team is something like what Indian fans did, when India lost miserably against Australia. Don't let this bunch of jokers rest in peace. I'm sure my Pakistani friends would take care of those 11 zombies when they reach home, so best of luck.-BASABJIT BASU, New Dehli, India, via e-mail, March 5.

Disgusting!

Dalit, Harijan, SC/ST - whatever name you call them by and how much ever we want it all to go away, fact is, they are still being oppressed. This is one of those few moments when I am ashamed of being Indian and a Hindu. I will say though, that most of the caste system is now really based on economic and social structures than religion. It is time for the other Hindus to open up and condemn the brutalities and make these lowest of the low as viewed by the society feel as if they are not all alone. If they don't, then they have absolutely no right to whine when the poor people want to convert over to another religion in the hope of some equality and dignity.

Dalit woman burnt alive by her rapist's father

Bhopal, March 12: A young Dalit woman was set ablaze and burned to death on Wednesday by the angry upper-caste father of the man she accused of raping her, Madhya Pradesh police said.

The man forced his way into the home of the 16-year-old Dalit woman when her parents were away in their fields, poured kerosene on her and set it alight, a police official said.

For the bleeding hearts of the world!

Why do I have so less sympathy for the bleeding hearts of the world? Because all they can do is decry action. All they have are pet peeves of the month and they move on, the real oppressed, downtrodden, terrorized forgotten, since the cause is not fashionable any more. How many of the people who cry rivers over the "human rights violations" committed by India in Kashmir even are aware of what happened to the Kashmiri Hindus?

What about the home-grown crop of p-secs who convulse with hatred every time an RSS sevak looks cross-eyed at a Muslim? Where is Arundhati Roy and Amartya Sen? Of course, they are so busy fighting against America's war with Iraq - it is much more international and a bigger fund-raising opportunity - who cares about the unfashionable Hindus in India.

What about the CONgress party - the alleged party of the freedom fighters and the leaders of the downtrodden masses? Nehru himself was a Kashmiri - Oh, that's right - we are too busy reaping the Muslim and dalit vote bank now. We can't be seen siding with stinky Hindus and lose our Muslim vote.

Last but not the least, what is the BJP doing? Here they are - they are finally in power - remember all those things they said they would do for the country and its security if they ever came to power? They said they were sooo different from the CONgress party. It almost feels like all these different groups have so much vested insterest in letting the country and Kashmir burn that they plan to keep it that way forever.

Blaming the whole thing on Musharraf is bull-crap, IMO. What is stopping the government from relocating the dsiplaced people back in their homeland and providing them the security they desperately need? There aren't enough votes from them? It is highly frustrating that the "secular" leaders and the "defenders of Hindutva" are not to be bothered with the plight of this little segment of their population that is going through so much.

Daddy, why can't we go to Kashmir?

The question I have posed to you is the same one that we Kashmiri Hindus had to answer in 1989-1990. That was the time when we were peacefully living in our own homes in our own Kashmir. That was the time when we were peacefully raising our families in our own Kashmir. That was the time when we were living our great culture in the environs of our own Kashmir.

And that is when we were posed the question. We were given two choices: 1. either leave within 24 hours or 2. get killed within 24 hours. And we had to make a choice.

Which one did we choose?

The obvious one.

We made our choices that changed the whole world for us. But for the rest of the world, nothing changed. For the rest of the world, some 400,000 people from Kashmir valley had migrated to different parts of India. For the rest of the world, it was just another migration.
Let me try to clarify it for the rest of the world that it was NOT just a migration.

It was a mass exodus created and perpetuated by ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus at the hands of Islamic terrorists. Pure and Simple.

Now how hard is that to comprehend?

Ancient Jews in India

A very fascinating look into an extremely old Jewish community in India that once numbered to 80,000 people, but is now reduced to around 4000 because of people leaving to Israel in search of better life and for religious and other reasons.

Yahoo! News - Ancient Indian Jewish Community Faces Unclear Future

ALIBAG, India (Reuters) - The gentle chants from Friday Hebrew prayers rise from the synagogue into the afternoon heat, mingling with the call to prayer from a nearby mosque. But in the small seaside village of Alibag, where Judaism literally crashed into India 2,000 years ago, there are fewer and fewer voices in the synagogue every year as the members of one of the world's oldest Jewish communities return to Israel.

India's Bene Israelis, or Children of Israel, have dwindled to barely 4,000 from a peak of about 80,000 a few decades ago as thousands moved to Israel for a better life.

What is he smoking?

Arab editor compares Osama to Gandhi

An Arabic editor on Wednesday compared al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to the apostle of non-violence, Gandhi, during a meeting here of the Commonwealth Press Union.

Abdul Bari Atwan, the editor of the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi, who has met Osama bin Laden, said he regarded the al-Qaeda leader as a man of average intelligence and "not like the world's most wanted terrorist."

He has got to be smoking something definitely illegal if he thinks Gandhi deployed "suicide squads" to fly planes into buildings and kill thousands of people.

Biased, pseudo-secular moron alert!

Praful Bidwai: Historic Moment for Peace

There was drumming, singing (All You Need is Love being the favourite) whistle-blowing, and of course, speeches by political stalwarts, peace activists, citizens representatives, including Bruce Kent, Jesse Jackson, Tariq Ali, Mo Mowlam, Ahmed Ben Bella, Ken Livingstone, Jeremy Corbyn, Bianca Jagger. I have never seen so many different shades of the human rainbow in one place: Gentile and Jew, Black and White, Arab and African, Hindu and Muslim. The inspiration was not just opposition to a war on Iraq, but the goal of a just, peaceful world free of weapons of mass destruction and testosterone-driven bullies -- and poverty and want.

Let me see - how about Iraqis? How many Iraqis marched with you? Doesn't matter? OK!

The second course would mean the war lacks a moral and political basis. Such a war will be extremely unpopular even in the West, including the US -- where a majority of people wrongly believe that Iraq and Al Qaeda are linked. It will inflict terrible cruelties upon the Iraqi people, without necessarily unearthing and safely destroying such WMD as Mr Saddam Hussein may have stashed away in hard-to-find places.

But we will very conveniently forget about the cruelties that Saddam is inflicting daily on his people right now. Plus, we will worry about not finding the WMDs that we claim Saddam doesn't have. If he did, he is already in contempt of all the resolutions your almighty UN made against him, right? And we really don't want dictators to possess WMDs, right? right?

It is absurd to imagine that Mr Hussein is about to attack the US or even his neighbours. His air power is pretty much crippled, and his Al Samoud-2 missiles (range 150 km or so) have been proscribed. There is no casus belli or rationale for war. True, Iraq is no benign democracy. But it's not a recklessly expansionist power either. In 1980, Mr Hussein attacked Iran after its Islamic-fundamentalist government tried to assassinate Iraqi officials, conducted repeated border raids and tried to topple him. The 1990 Kuwait invasion was over a dispute over war debts and oil prices.

Nah, it is silly that just because he tried to invade two countries, he has expansionist ambitions. Would he be this complacent if India decided to invade just Pakistan to settle this little border dispute it has been having with the neighbor. I mean, if you can invade to settle oil prices and war debts, a border dispute is a very legitimate reason, no?

Even pragmatically, it makes more sense to disarm Iraq -- if that is indeed the objective -- via tougher inspections and continuous UN engagement. Some 150 inspectors will probably be more effective at a cost of $100 million than 250,000 soldiers at a cost of $200 billion-plus.

Yep, that's right. UN and its inspectors will disarm Saddam all by themselves the way they have been doing it for what - JUST THE LAST 12 YEARS! 150 inspectors to inspect a whole, big country - LMAO!!!

These US goals are parochial, self-serving and unworthy of support. Their pursuit will gravely destabilise the Middle East. An unjust war will be seen as vengefully anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim and will produce enormous resentment among South Asian, in particular Indian, Muslims, adding to communal tensions already aggravated by the Sangh Parivar. Neither political principle nor India's national interest is compatible with supporting an unjust war. The longer US troops stay in Iraq to supervise regime change -- and there are plans for 18 to 24 months -- the greater the damage.

Even by his moronic standards, isn't it an extremely big leap of faith to imagine that Indian Muslims will rise up against India if US invades Iraq. If his assertions are true, wouldn't that be the coming true of VHP/BJP/RSS's allegations that every Muslim is first a Muslim at heart and then an Indian and not vice versa? Is that the point you are trying to make, Mr. Bidwai - that Indian Muslims are traitors?

Yet, we must not allow Hindu or Muslim communalists to hijack the anti-war platform and convert it into an anti-Western or anti-Islamic plank. It is vital that the people are mobilised energetically on a rational, humane, and pacifist orientation. The demand for WMD disarmament must not be confined to Iraq. It must apply universally to all states, including the US. Employing double standards here means asking for trouble -- and compromising global security.

Uh-huh - if only there were no weapns in the world - no armies - no soldiers - no boundaries - nice day dream. If I didn't know that the purpose of your whole column was to take gratuitous pot-shots at Hindus, I would actually think that you were an 8-year-old.

A commenter on the column said it best - "Careful analysis of articles by praful bidwai, can indicate that he can be replaced by a good software program. It will start with some story, there will be many statemnets like citizens and peace, people have to come to streets etc. Sangh Parivar Bashing, carefully embaded with one word muslim fundamentalism, so as to give it a secular form as if he is against any sort of fundamentalism. "

Why do they hate you?

A very good article by V.Kamath, trying to explain the root causes of seeming Hindu hatred of the Muslims in India. I must say I agree with a lot of what he says. Even though they were a majority in the country, Hindus have always been treated as second-class citizens. The Hindu community has been asked to be the elder brother and be nice and tolerate the eternal pampering of the little brother (minorities), without any privileges of the majority. It is hard to be trampled upon so much and not speak up. "Secular" is defined as anything that is sensitive to the feelings of all except Hindus. When Salman Rushdie writes an anti-Muslim book, it is banned in India. When the Pope visits India and says that the Indian souls are ripe for harvest by Christians, we are supposed to keep quiet. Aren't Hindus supposed to feel bad about that?

Deepa Mehta makes the movie "Fire" based on a book in which the original characters are all Muslim - what does she do? She makes all the characters Hindu and then names them after revered Hindu goddesses. Why? Because the Muslims would have driven her out the country with a fatwa for portraying Muslim lesbians. M.F.Hussain gets off on his so-called art by painting nude Hindu goddesses. Every so-called "secularist" bashes the Hindus for reacting albeit extremely violently to the Godhra massacre of women and children by killing thousands of Muslims in Gujarat, but not one unkind word is spoken against the people who started it in the first place by setting the locked train compartment on fire.

If Imam Bukhari and organizations like SIMI give public speeches exhorting their fellow Muslims to rise up and help the Kashmiri "freedom-fighters" against India, they are just minorities voicing frustrations - if a Hindu said something similar, there would be war and the first people throwing the stones on the said Hindu would be fellow Hindus. After a while, the frustrations start taking toll and when a mass of people in the numbers as huge as the Hindus in India really rise up, the resulting civil war would be extremely catastrophic. The politicians should wise up to the situation and try to defuse it (both BJP and Congress) instead of stoking the fire up for their respective vote-bank potentials.

Wow!

Asia Times

LONDON - Indian Mahaveer Jain has made the record books by memorizing the entire Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary verbatim. Jain not only remembers each of the 80,000 individual entries but is also able to recollect their sequence and page numbers with pinpoint accuracy.

Another piece....

....of the puzzle fallas into place - there is a reason why Gujarat has a history of communal tensions, Godhra/Ram Temple/Ayodhya or not. Hyderabad (AP) used to be similar, again owing to its once being ruled by the Nizam and a lot of Muslim influence in the city. Now, it has emerged into one of the more competetive software centers vying for the establishment of idustries by prestigious companies like Microsoft, Oracle and IBM. I think it will help to study and learn what went right with Hyderabad and how that can be adapted and fitted to work with Gujarat.

India Today Group Online > Web Exclusive >Despatches

In January last year, Kashmiri terrorist Mohammed Ali surrendered to security forces in Sopore and admitted during interrogation that he had studied in the Deoband-Tableegh Jamaat madrasa at Bhavnagar between 1996 and 2,000.

During the post-Godhra Gujarat riots, Bhavnagar was the only city in Saurashtra which witnessed continuous Hindu-Muslim rioting. The skirmishes are still going on.

Awful!

It is extremely horrible that in this day and age, there are still parents who will stoop to marrying off their kids and worse, there are politicians mutely watching it. Actually, I take it back - I am only surprised and angered by the parents, not the politicians - what more would you expect from them anyway?

Deccan Herald News page

In blatant violation of law, child marriages were conducted in the presence of a number of elected representatives, including the District In-charge Minister Raja Amareshwara Nayak at Chagabhavi in Manvi taluk on Wednesday.

In the mass marriage, held according to the wishes of Venkatarayadu couple of the village, 139 couples tied the nuptial knot. Out of these, more than 60 couples were minors and 15 girls below 10 years of age entered the wedlock.

More on right and left in India

Ashwin Mahesh tries to make an interesting case for the Hindu right, claiming that the Hindu right is way different from the old, Marxsist left and even thought the goals of the two groups seem similar superficially, there is a lot more going on behind the scenes.

Hindu Right & New Left

There is a second line to Mr Sreenivasan's analysis, though, and here we are entirely on separate paths. The Hindu Right, he argues, is much the same as the New Left; he even calls for a coalition between the right-leaning neo-liberals and the progressive humanists. To make his case, he gives us a few organising principles that the New Left embraces -- the cause of native cultures and traditions, small-is-beautiful economics, eco-sensitivity, non-traditional science and medicine, and the rights of minorities and women -- and observes that in large part these are also the concerns of the Hindu Right. That's a fantastic spread of things to agree on, and if well-founded, would mark a great opportunity for nation-building that all classes of Indians can share in.

But alas, it fails an important test. To both the New Left and the Hindu Right, the causes he lists are not founding elements of their ideological politics, but merely a set of objectives fortunately aligned at this time with those of the other group. An alliance built around this will be one of political opportunism today for eventually divergent goals, and would be unsustainable.

Very Interesting!

There are some parallels between the scenarios in the article below and the current situation between US and Iraq. Even otherwise, the author makes some good points about the use of force vs Gandhian non-violence.

Might is often right

There is a theory that violence begets violence, since it leaves behind a rancour in the heart of the vanquished which sets off a chain reaction. This is not always the case. When violence is used for the good of the greatest number, and not as an instrument of an exaggerated sense of ego, there is no rancour and therefore no cause and effect. Lord Rama killed Bali and Ravana. He did not do so on account of territorial ambitions, but for the sake of a righteous order. Might did not rule over right; rather, right had might at its command, to relieve people from tyranny.

Use of force to rid society of subversive and anti-social elements acts like the surgeon's knife. So long as human nature is vulnerable to avarice and arrogance of power, so long as the strong forget the moral impulses of strength and oppress the weak, such elements will have to be subdued by the judicious and disinterested use of force. This is perhaps why non-violence is defined as the greatest love for the greatest number and not unconditional love for all people at all times.

Incredible!

Seriously, this is just so funny - how could a man fit into a suitcase in the first place and then how did this other guy carry hima around without knowing that? How can anyone mistake a real, live man for batteries? I don't even want to think about how the guy in the suitcase was going to handle his bodily functions.

Indian jailed for smuggling Pakistani in suitcase

Indian national Pardeep Singh, 22, was stopped on December 26 at the Lowu border crossing from Shenzhen when immigration officials became suspicious. His 54 by 80 centimetre suitcase was opened, revealing a Pakistani man hiding inside.

Singh claimed he had met an Indian friend at a duty-free shop who entrusted him to take the case to Hong Kong, which he claimed he believed only contained thousands of mobile phone batteries.

Hmm....

Why is Imam Bukhari still free after all those hateful remarks he had mae against Hindus so openly in Jama Masjid of all the places? Shouldn't he be prosecuted too?

Criminal case filed against Togadia

Police on Thursday filed a criminal case against Vishwa Hindu Parishad international general secretary Pravin Togadia for allegedly making some 'objectionable remarks' against Muslims at a public rally in Belgaum on February 16, police said.

Umm....

Seriously people, in case you have been hiding under a rock for the past 50+ years, there is already a Muslim electorate that was created expressly for people who didn't want to vote with India and its "damn Hindus" - I believe the land you are seeking is.... Pakistan!

Separate electorate, if VHP not restrained: Muslim body - The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Accusing the VHP of pursuing "divisive and vindictive" politics, a Muslim body on Wednesday threatened to launch an agitation for "separate electorate" for Muslims, if VHP did not stops its anti-Muslim tirade.

"VHP leaders like Praveen Togadia are spewing venom against Muslims and trying to marginalise them which we will never allow to happen and if this Muslim bashing continues, we will demand separate electorate for Muslims," Bashir Ahmad, president of the United Muslim Front said here.

Poor Show of the Indians in their first league match in SA Cricket World Cup.

I do not know how many of you have seen the game, but a team like India which everybody in the world expect them to beat Holland black and blue, we barely managed to win, though by 68 runs. This was a chance we could have built up a good run rate, but things never go as expected with the Indians.
- Kalyan

When it rains, it pours!

I said it was raining idiots, didn't I? More of them here - If Indian youths are stupid enough to be corrupted by a Valentine's card, they deserve to be corrupted. On a side note, guys, don't try to use this as an excuse to not buy your "special someone" gifts, cards and roses - I gave my husband hell, the one year he forgot - I am sure Indian girls are still as militant about the holiday ;-)

Sainiks burn Valentine cards; to disrupt revelries

Shiv Sainiks on Wednesday made a bonfire of Valentine's Day cards and threatened to disrupt the celebrations on Valentine's Day which they claimed was being used by multi-nationals to corrupt Indian youths.

"The Valentine cards sold at Archie's are an indecent depiction of love and and degrade women", Shiv Sena Delhi unit president Jai Bhagwan Goyal told reporters as Shiv Sainiks assembled at Jantar Mantar to protest against the celebrations.

Update: JK's take on the issue - Run for Your Life - it's Valentine's Day!.

Good one!

It is also pretty interesting how with a few changes, the first paragraph could be made to apply to the United States as much as it applies to India. Is it a change in the ideologies of people in general or a change in teh circumstances that is making the "Old Left" irrelevant? Is the change part of an evolution of the people in general and thus permanent, or will we turn right back as soon as it seems like relative peace is close at hand?

Rajeev Srinivasan on the eclipse of the Old Left

The last year turned out to be a landmark in India's political landscape; for it signalled the beginning of the end of the Old Left, those who have clung on to ideologies emphatically repudiated everywhere in the world. After all these years of thunder, this is their day of drums, we hear their threnody.

These people, who call themselves 'secular progressives' and whom I refer to as 'Nehruvian Stalinists,' have had a stranglehold on India's institutions, having secured for themselves comfortable sinecures in universities and think tanks. They are responsible for the Nehruvian Rate of Growth of 2 to 3% a year that has successfully prevented 800 million Indians from clawing their way out of poverty.

Guy behind Godhra?

Of course, I am going to be counting the seconds before somebody screams "it is a setup!", since it is justice only when the Hindus get convicted and everything else is a setup as far as some people are concerned.

Godhra tense after Maulana detained in carnage case

In a major breakthrough in the Sabarmati Express carnage case, Gujarat Police on Thursday morning detained a cleric at Godhra on charge of masterminding the ghastly crime a day before the incident on February 27, 2002.

As soon as the news about Maulana Hussain Umarji's detention spread, members of the minority community announced observance of a bandh in the town to register their protest. Godhra was scene of uneasy peace and tension as the authorities tightened security to avoid any untoward incident.

(Thanks Ashwini, for the tip!)

Hmmm....

And of course, poor, wittle Mushy has no idea some terrorists are building remote-controlled planes in his country, now - how can he? He is an ally of the "war on terror". Why would he support terrorists? Right?

LeT develops remote controlled planes

Monday, February 3, 2003 (New Delhi):
If information received from a captured Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist is correct then India could be facing one of the most lethal terrorist threats yet.

The terrorist group now reportedly has a sizeable arsenal of small remote controlled planes, which can drop improvised explosive devices.

These aircraft are being assembled in a factory at the Laskhar headquarters in Muridke near Lahore. The plant is managed by two Pakistanis, who were trained in Japan.

Lame, lame, lame

This has got to be the lamest anti-gay platform yet. I think that the Government will do a lot better when they start policing real issues and not sex. It is also really sad that they are propagating the gay-child-abuser myth at the Government level

‘Kids at risk if homosexuality is legalised’

New Delhi, February 2: INFORMATION and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said that homosexuality should not be legalised as it would increase the sexual abuse of street children.

Speaking at an open house discussion organised by NGO Prayas, Prasad said: ‘‘Unnatural carnal offences have no legitimacy on the grounds of fundamental liberties and human rights. Our individual behaviour is subjected to social morality, social conditions and social behaviour.’’

Prayas will be sending a plea to Law Minister Arun Jaitely ‘‘on behalf of the street children at risk’’.

Why India should be pro-war against Iraq.....

A very pragmatic and practical article by Shekhar Gupta about why India should be supporting America's war against Iraq instead of whining about "unilateralism". It is OK to talk all touchy-feely in most affairs, but when it comes to actions, I think it is in a nation's best interest to be cold-blooded to a fault and evaluate the pros and cons of everything with an objective eye. Individually people should be encouraged to be humane, but as a nation, we should also be willing and ready to make tough choices with no other motivation but self-interest. Ideologies are good for speeches. That doesn't mean they need to subvert actions.

Saddam, snookerÂ’s first frame

The larger point is, how do we see our own national interest in all this? Do we have the moral or political strength to influence the decision in DC? Will at least our Arab ‘‘friends’’ be grateful for our brave stance? Do we actually think Saddam will survive the war to pay us back in gratitude? And, finally, if the war happens and the Americans succeed, how will the game play out for us?

Also, if the Americans go ahead unilaterally, without the UN fig leaf, think of the openings it will create for us the next time Pakistani terrorism picks up and Colin Powell calls us to ask for restraint and counsels us against acting unilaterally. If we cannot see it, it only means we have abandoned the new imagination that brought us such stunning foreign policy successes over the past half-decade, successes that are real feathers in the Vajpayee governmentÂ’s cap and which it is now in danger of losing.

We err gravely in looking at this as a US-Iraq, superpower-underdog, first world-third world issue. The larger American game is not merely to thrash Saddam. This will be the first step in a lengthy, messy and probably bloody process of ‘‘fixing’’ the Islamic world. This time, the idea is to bring about fundamental changes in the Islamic world, its power equations and even political philosophy. It may or may not work and either way there will be implications for us. But we need to study these rather than pull out the creaky old bandwagon and jump on to it.

He ends the essay with a bang that makes me proud to be Indian -

Does that work to our benefit or detriment? Given a chance — and the power — wouldn’t we have liked to do just that? This war will not be about oil, but about militant Islam and everybody’s future. This is the big picture we must keep in mind before we rush for the pickets and the barricades, or we would look as silly as those anti-globalisation punks of Berlin, Rio, Seattle, Davos and so on.

(link via Madonna and Jaljeera)

Cool!

Dumping Burton a victory for Indian diplomacy

WASHINGTON: The dumping of India-baiter Dan Burton and appointment of James Leach as chairman of the House International Relations Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific reflects the success of Indian diplomacy and New Delhi's growing stature in Washington.

(link via JK)

Hmm.....

Where are the rallies and commissions and editorials about the oppression of poor Dalits by ...what do you mean the culprists are not Hindu?.........Kill the story!

Main accused in DalitÂ’s rape held - [01/02/2003] - HindustanTimes.com

The main accused, Bhutto, in the Uldhan gangrape case has been arrested and raids are on to arrest his four accomplices.

Julfikar alias Bhutto Bhutto and his absconding accomplices had raped a Dalit girl, Suneeta (14), and then murdered her on January 26 in Uldhan village of Kharkhauda area, the constituency of minister and BSP MLA Yakoob Kureshi.

Bravo!

The writer has excellent advice for BJP, Hindus and Muslims. A very well-written article that presents very balanced views without seeming to place the blame squarely on any one group's shoulders. We need more like this!

Sajid Bhombal on the fight against communalism

For too long the Muslim elite and those who have a voice have remained indifferent to the fate of the community, leaving the poor to find refuge in vote bank politics. They must now stand up and be counted. And they can do so only if they reclaim their right to represent their religion from the bigots who, it seems, are acting as the sole custodians of Islam.

In short, both Hindus and Muslims should get their basics right. Communalism only feeds communalism. India has to fight communalism -- whether Hindu or Muslim. Failure to do so will destroy the very concept of India.

Will the media aplogize?

Will the Indian media apologize for raking over coals, Bajrang Dal/RSS/VHP and by proxy BJP because of a crime that was committed by people who were not affilited to the organization in any way whatsoever?

Staines murder accused not Bajrang Dal activists: CBI

In a new twist to the Graham Staines murder case, a Central Bureau of Investigation officer on Monday told a court that none of the 18 persons chargesheeted in the case belonged to the Bajrang Dal.

Deposing before District and Sessions Judge M N Patnaik, investigating officer Joginder Nayak said he had found no link between the Bajrang Dal and the 18 persons chargesheeted in the case.

Indian village rejoices 'our' Carter's Nobel prize

This is India

CARTERPURI: “Our” Jimmy Carter winning the Nobel peace prize was an occasion to rejoice for this dusty village about 30 km from the Capital.

Indian villagers calling Jimmy Carter “our”? Global village indeed!

Muslims help make Durga Puja come alive

This is India

PATNA: Muslim artisans building a replica of a Parisian church for a Hindu festival? This can happen only in India. And no surprise that this heartening tale of religious amity comes from this capital of Bihar, a State that prides itself on remaining free of communal unrest for over a decade

It is stuff like this that keeps my faith in humanity alive!

Ancient Bridge story revisited

Working Link for Ancient Bridge story Ancient Bridge Found between India and Srilanka

Notes From India

Follow the link on this post at Webmink for a fascinating narration of the author’s travel to Mumbai and Delhi.

Is casteism behind conversions?

In his article http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/oct/11akd.htm, Amberish K Diwanji blames casteism in Hindus as the biggest reason behind all the Hindus converting to Islam and Christianity - I agree that it might play some part in the conversion process, but don’t see how the other religions offer any respite from casteism the way things happen back in India. Let me explain - I have seen up-close, Hindus of various castes who have converted to both Christianity and Islam, and the one thing that all of them have in common, is that they still have their old caste even while being part of supposedly “casteless” religions.

I have seen Hindus of the lowest castes, who pray in the churches every Sunday, use the “mangalsutra” along with the wedding ring for the marriage, give dowry and on top of everything, make use of the reservations (kinda like affirmative action) set aside for the lower caste people. There are Muslims who exchange dowry (an allegedly Hindu custom). Converts from both the religions still have caste barriers between them - I have heard about people referred to as “Brahmin” Christians, “Scheduled Caste” Muslims and so on. If these people were truly converting to escape the casteism inherent in Hinduism, why are they still hanging on to their castes? Why are they not giving them up along with their old religion?

Ancient Bridge found between India and Srilanka

NASA SHUTTLE IMAGES OF A MYSTERIOUS ANCIENT BRIDGE BETWEEN INDIA AND SRILANKA (note: link does not seem to be working anymore)

WASHINGTON (PTI) — The NASA Shuttle has imaged a mysterious ancient bridge between India and Sri Lanka, as mentioned in the Ramayana. The evidence, say experts matter-of-factly, is in the Digital Image Collection. The recently discovered bridge, currently named as Adam’s Bridge and made of a chain of shoals, 30 km long, in the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka, reveals a mystery behind it. The bridge’s unique curvature and composition by age reveals that it is man-made. Legend as well as archeological studies reveal that the first signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka date back to the primitive age, about 1,750,000 years ago and the bridge’s age is also almost equivalent.

The Ramayana was supposed to have taken place 1,700,000 years ago in the thretha yuga.

—Geetha

Two decades of Pakistan-sponsored terror

An excellent article chronicling almost two decades of Pakistan-sponsored terror in India from rediff - Detailing Pakistan’s direct and indirect involvement in terrorists activities in India. It is not just Jews, Christians or just Westerners who are facing terror backed by Islamic Fundamentalists. I think things can really work out only when every country that has been hit gets involved in the “War on Terrorism” and only when “every country” that has been known to and still is sponsoring terrorists is isolated and dealt with.

Why India needs a Uniform Civil Code

An argument for Uniform Civil Code in India - Uniform Civil Code- A Reflection

Muslim Personal Law in India

Or why some Indian citizens want to be treated different from other citizens - a Muslim perspective - MUSLIM PERSONAL LAW: OBSERVATIONS . Some of the "ineteresting observations" regarding women who have been divorced by their husbands and alimony (emphasis added by me) -

THE SHAH BANU CASE:

8. The much celebrated Shah Banu case in India is an apt instance of this fundamental clash brought into sharp focus. The Courts of India ruled in favour of Shah Banu against the tenets of MPL citing the above reasons for their judgment. It was only after much agitation, mass-scale demonstrations, and intensive negotiations at the highest levels (Maulana Ali Mia (R) met with PM, Rajiv Gandhi personally on this matter) that Muslims were able to get a reversal of the anti-MPL judgment of the Shah Banu case. This was however the beginning of their problems. The looming spectre of future interference by secular courts in MPL is a sobering and worrying possibility that can never be ruled out.

==========================
RECENT CASE OF SHAKILA PARVAIN:

9. Coincidentally, this week an article appeared in our local press (S.Times Extra, p.5, 9-7-2000) that stated that divorced Muslim women are now entitled to claim alimony until they remarry on the basis of a recent 'landmark' judgment of the Calcutta Court filed by a certain Shakila Parvain. This is a repeat performance of the Shah Banu case. It is another clear travesty of the MPL and constitutional rights of Muslims in India. There is predictably going to be a strong and sharp reaction from the Muslim minority in India. It should be deemed a binding duty of Muslims in this country and indeed globally to rally to the support of Indian Muslims in this hour of need. A humble appeal is being directed to the Ulama bodies and Muslim legal fraternity through this paper to respond accordingly. If MPL becomes a reality in this country, Muslims here maybe faced up with similar situations.

All about Godhra and Gujarat

Just came across a very objective and interesting essay detailing the root causes and immediate effects of the communal riots that happened recently in Godhra - India: Gujarat riots - communalization of state and civic society.

Is "Kashmiriyat" still alive?

A heart-warming story demonstrating that Kashmir is not a lost cause yet - Muslims perform last rites of Kashmiri Pandit

With friends like these...

Why would the indigenous Kashmiris need enemies when they have friends like these?

“We’ll punish those who participated in elections: Hizb ”

The above statement was issued by a Pakistan-based terrorist outfit and the elections that are being threatened are the ones being held by the Indian Government in Jammu & Kashmir to let the Kashmiri people exercise their right to vote and choose their representatives. How is Pakistan supposed to be helping the “War on Terrorism” again?

What about Kashmiri Hindus?

In all the discussions and noise accompanying any talk of Kashmir, one group certainly is never brought up and even when mentioned, is often marginalized in the discussion. Everyone keeps talking about how Kashmir is only the muslim-majority state in “Hindu-majority” India (like Christian-majority USA ?) and about how it is all about protecting the rights of Kashmiris - not let them be trampled all over by India and so on. No one pauses to think about the genocide that occurred and still continues of the Kashmiri Hindus in Kashmir. Hundreds and thousands of these people fled the state to save their lives and are now refugees in their own country. No one talks about their “right-to-return”. No one talks about how these people have been driven away from the land that has been theirs and their ancestors’ for centuries.

These people have been virtually voiceless. the Government will not support them because it does not want to offend the minorities and does not want to point out the atrocities committed by groups that the Government now wants to make peace with. HRW and Amnesty International will only make footnotes out of them, because they don’t want to give up the illusions of Kashmiris being no one else but Muslims and about them being downtrodden by the “imperious” Indian Government. It is just very convenient for everyone to overlook this huge group of people who were once the very embodiment of “Kashmiriyat” along with their Muslim neighbors, but are now ignored, side-lined and forced to live a refugee’s life in their own country.

Lalit Koul in Rediff has an open letter to the Indian President imploring him to acknowledge the pathetic situation of the Kashmiri Hindus and do something about it - Mr President, it is time to visit Mishriwalla.

Salman back in news....

Salman back in news….

Hooray for our cricket correspondent

That was the first dispatch from our cricket correspondent. Let us hope there will be many more like that in our future.

All you wanted to know

Ayodhya and After

Akshardham Temple

An excellent article about the Akshardham temple massacre by Varsha Bhosle - Passivity does not a nation protect. She might sound too “coulterish” for some, but I think she makes some excellent points with regards to the Indian Government’s response to various Pakistani-sponsored terror activities in India. The Gandhi-Nehru family (excluding Mohandas Gandhi, of course) screwed the country over with their over-reliance on UN resolutions and the lack of backbone to stand up to terrorists and thier concern for the Muslim “votebank”. The current administration of “Hindu Nationalists” as the media loves calling them are no better in this respect as she points out here —-

Then 9/11 happened, so did the attack on Parliament — and we stayed put… Despite urging from the Indian Army, we did not clean out the terror camps in the Indian territory usurped by the US’ vassal state. Instead, we simply mobilised the army at the frontiers; they’ve been there for nine months now. Result? “Stressed-out jawan kills CO after combat orders.” And, of course, after “India gives Pakistan two weeks to end terror,” we stopped train/bus services, overflights and the such. Last status of such threats:
4Opening of Pakistani airspace for India was not subject to the withdrawal of the forces, [Pakistan’s] secretary defence said. ‘It was a foolish act of India but a blessing in disguise for Pakistan. We will decide to open the airspace for India at our own schedule’… To correct its mistake, the Indian government announced on June 9 the restoration of airspace for the Pakistani planes. (Pak News.com, September 20)
4The Centre is no longer talking about the ‘list of 20’ to be returned, as one of the pre-conditions for talks. The Centre does not want to make this an issue right now, due to US pressure. Pakistan has reportedly convinced the US of the pitfalls of handing over Dawood Ibrahim, who figures in the list. (The Times of India, September 21)
4The Indian army has withdrawn three strike divisions from the Pakistan frontier, reducing its war readiness on the border as militant infiltrations decline, high-ranking army and government officials said on Tuesday. (Hindustan Times, July 16)

and here —

Next, we tried to send “secular” newspaper editors and a perpetually disgruntled former Union minister to talk to separatists in J&K and PoK. Last I heard about that:
4Srinagar observed a complete shutdown on Tuesday as the valley voted in the second phase of assembly election in J&K… the abysmally low voter turnout in Srinagar could easily be blamed on the Hurriyat Conference’s bandh call. (rediff.com, September 24)
4Soon after the Kashmir Committee proposed talks with Pakistan’s National Kashmir Committee, its leader [Abdul Qayyum] said time was not ‘conducive’ for dialogue. (The Pioneer, September 9)
4[Pakistan’s] Foreign Minister Innam-ul Haq and Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar have received instructions that no retired Indian army general, NGO activist or Indian intellectual will be entertained in future as the ‘messenger of peace.’ Only the Foreign Office will call the shots because of prevailing consensus that back-door diplomacy channels are always used to create misunderstanding between Pakistan and Kashmiris (The Weekly Independent, September 19)


What should be done to restore peace to the region? I don’t claim to know. This much I would say - India and Pakistan are two different countries and the Partition happened. You cannot reunite the land anymore than Pakistan and Bangladesh can be reunited. Each side bears scars of the Partition - some from personal experience and others from their relatives and close friends. Kashmir has already been divided into the Indian side, POK, and the Chinese-cotrolled area (Aksai Chin). Let the LOC become the border, and let every country keep whatever it already has and stop quibbling about more.

For this to work, though, it is very important that Pakistan reconsiders it’s raison d’etre. It cannot forever live as an anti-India. It needs to remake it’s identity as Pakistan and concentrate her energy on making her people better than on trying to one-up her neighbour. This all might seem too simplistic for some. But these are my thoughts and if anyone else has any other ideas, please email me and I promise to publish them here.