<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>EC's next battle </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
That democracy has prevailed in Bihar at the end of a bitter year of discord is more important than who won or lost after two rounds of elections and an interregnum marked by anarchy. The Election Commission deserves to be commended for preserving the Constitution's fundamental commitment to people's power.

The role played by the special election observer, Mr KJ Rao, must go down as one of the most glorious chapters in any democracy's struggle to assert the power of the ballot over forces of autocracy. But, in the long war against anti-democratic elements, Bihar was just a minor battle.

<b>A far bigger one lies six months later, when West Bengal goes to poll. Reports indicate that the morale of democratic forces in that State has been considerably bolstered by Mr Rao's success in ensuring free and fair election in Bihar. </b>

As this paper has asserted on various occasions over the past year, democracy is in serious trouble in the Marxist-ruled State. The "secret" behind the Left Front's unbroken stint in power since 1977 is out: Massive vote fraud marked by terrorisation of the electorate and manipulation of the voters' list.

To its credit, the Election Commission has already set the ball rolling by rejecting the panel of bureaucrats to fill the slot for the State's Chief Electoral Officer and choosing, instead, an official with an exemplary track record. <b>Meanwhile, a revision of the voters' list is underway in West Bengal and the last date for the conclusion of the exercise has already been extended twice</b>.

However, the distortions that are only to be expected in a State where the entire administration and police is politicised, are beginning to manifest themselves again. The Election Commission must take stock of these developments because "rigging at source" is a classic Marxist gameplan which decides the outcome of an election well before the D-Day.

It should make it abundantly clear to the Kolkata regime that no stone would be left unturned in ensuring the preservation of people's power - even if it means taking unprecedented steps like bringing in external officials, holding elections under President's rule and countermanding elections for entire constituencies if even one case of vote fraud is detected.

The Election Commission is one of the last Indian institutions left with a semblance of credibility. The people would like it to develop further. Indeed, it should immediately take steps to prevent freebooters from romping home. For instance, there is nothing to ensure that the agents of contending parties are not ejected from booths by musclemen of dominant parties. Then, the issue of reaching voter identity cards to all stakeholders in Indian democracy, too, is yet to be addressed.

The Election Commission must focus on these lacunae immediately instead of proposing "reforms" like banning history-sheeters from the electoral fray or forcing parties to maintain fiscal discipline. It should leave this to other institutions of the state. For, there are far too many mice to catch, and there is not enough time.
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Please post Ambedkar related posts here.


<!--QuoteBegin-Bharatvarsh+Nov 26 2005, 08:53 PM-->QUOTE(Bharatvarsh @ Nov 26 2005, 08:53 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Some info on Dalit Saviour Ambedkar:

<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->That he staunchly opposed the Congress requires no more proof than the fact that Ambedkar was Ambedkar...his vitriolic statements against Gandhi and Nehru in fact serve as the License for Kanshi Ram and Mayawati to do the same. His statements are sometimes too vitriolic for a man of his perceived stature... things like " The Soceity is ruled by the Brahmin and the Bania..." ostensibly referring to Nehru and Gandhi and goes on to proclaim that The Bania is like a blood sucking creature on the society.

Today Ambedkar is seen as a messiah of the Dalits but then he was nothing more than a stooge of the British... an instrument of the British Policy of divide and rule. All this so amply clear when Lithglow talks of 'Strengthening the hands of A so that it may be to our advantage'. Can you believe that this messiah was never an elected representative of the Dalits. He could win only one of the reserved seats(Leave alone the General Seats) in the Provincial elections when the Congress was repeatedly sweeping the polls before and after Independence. Ambedkar was appointed by only the British as a representative of the Dalits so that he could proclaim in the round table conferences that Gandhi and Nehru did not speak for the Dalits when Jinnah was proclaiming that Gandhi and Nehru did not speak for the Muslims. In fact Ambedkar joined Jinnah in his 'Deliverance Day' Celebrations when the Congress ministries resigned in 1939.

http://www.indolink.com/Book/book8.html<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"Right till 1946-that is, till just a year before India became independent--Ambedkar was a vehement opponent of the Freedom Movement, indeed of freedom being given to India at all. He claimed with pride that it is the people whom he said he represented who had conquered India for the British. He said that he was supporting the demand for Pakistan because this would mean that the British would continue to stay in India. The freedom movement is a sham, a ruse, he proclaimed, Gandhi an agent to perpetuate the Nazi-like suppression of the masses, and the British Viceroy the saviour of the depressed classes. The British put "suggestions" to him, and reported to each other how well he had acted in accordance with those "suggestions" they urged each other to strengthen-his hands, to put him in positions that would give greater weight to the theses and formulae he was putting forth, theses and formulae which served British imperial interests to the dot. It was because his association with the British was known to all that he and his party were wiped out in every single election he fought--in 1937, 1946, 1952. But today he is Bharat Ratna.

Whereas Gandhiji taught that the way to reform is for each individual, each group to make demands on itself, Ambedkar reared his followers into a demand-and-denounce brigade, he denounced "the cultivation of private virtues" as worse than useless. Whereas Narayan Guru, himself from an oppressed caste that was not just untouchable but unapproachable, attained the highest spiritual states, thereby acquired unquestioned authority, and transformed society from within the tradition. Ambedkar heaped calumny on that tradition, and eventually proclaimed a "Buddhism" that had nothing to do with the teachings or life of the Buddha. The legacy of one kind of reformer--of Narayan Guru, of Gandhiji-- is a people transformed and ennobled, the legacy of the other is a people embittered and wallowing in backwardness. The legacy of one is a society at peace and in harmony, that of the other is a society riven. The legacy of one is enlightened and serene discourse, the legacy of the other is intimidation as argument, assault as proof. But today scarcely anyone outside Kerala even knows about Narayan Guru, and Ambedkar's statues outnumber those of Gandhiji.

What are the consequences when a society repudiates its own Gods and idols and adopts instead those of the ones who would put it down, who would tear it up?

A major reconstruction of events in our freedom movement, an exhumation of startling facts--the stratagems of the British, and of their associates, the sacrifices of Gandhiji and the nationalists. A withering examination of the myth that Ambedkar wrote the constitution.

A must for understanding our times, for strengthening our country."

https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no12359.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
[right][snapback]42080[/snapback][/right]
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thanks to the dip$#!t commie govt that the bangladesh refugee problem (and b4 that the pom stronghold in bengal + division of bengal) spawned, no one seems to have a clue about the history of bengal.


i have travelled all over india, and thought that bengal started existing since calcutta... only to learn that plutarch wasnt unaware of the region and that it hasnt gone un-noticed in the mahabharat either (ved vyas being born in orissa could have something to do with it)


anyway here's a site that gave me something to smile about.


http://www.historyofbengal.com/



allied links (from aforementioned site)

http://www.historyofbengal.com/km_dhipi.html
http://www.historyofbengal.com/chandraketugarh_p1.html

I came across this news on rediff:
http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/nov/23mani.htm

In brief, Talibans kidnapped an Indian who was deployed in Afghanistan by BRO an Indian paramilitary group. His body was found with his throat slit. This brave Indian was Maniappan Raman Kutty.

I want to offer my condolences to his family for such a loss. It was not only the loss of Kutty family but it was loss of entire nation. I admire this man's courage, which enabled him to discharge his duties for his nation under extreme danger.

I offer a moment of silence to honor this brave Indian. May he rest in peace!

Jai Hind!!!!!!!!!!

<b>archive at</b>

http://indiaforumarchives.blogspot.com/2...ism-3.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"JIZYA AND THE SPREAD OF ISLAM BY HARSH NARAIN" has been updated at VOI website, here is the link:

http://voiceofdharma.com/books/jtsi/index.htm

Lets put the post Bihar election results news and analysis in this thread.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1051123/asp/...ory_5511131.asp

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Fatal shift for Congress
RASHEED KIDWAI

Nov. 22: The Congress has two private views on the Bihar result. One, which is possibly more public than private, holds that the defeat was a “blessing in disguise”. The truly private opinion — of senior leaders — is that it will have far-reaching consequences for the UPA’s longevity.

First, the Bihar outcome is a setback to Sonia Gandhi, the UPA chief, who failed to bring the warring alliance partners, Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan, together. Her strategy to shift — between February and November — from Paswan to Lalu Prasad, as the poll ally in Bihar, has proved to be a fatal error.

Other than keeping the Congress the minor player it has become in the state, it may have made it easier for the NDA to post a landslide victory. In retrospect, it would seem Sonia was right in going with Paswan in February as it helped divide the anti-incumbency, or anti-Lalu, votes. By tying up with Lalu, the Congress might have ensured consolidation of anti-Lalu votes.

Sonia was repeatedly advised to hold a meeting with Lalu and Paswan and do some plain-speaking. But she dithered. A section of her advisers told her that it was not prudent to “interfere” in the internal matters of other political parties.

Those favouring a stronger line had counselled her that she should stick to her position of presenting a united face of the UPA. Digvijay Singh, the AICC general secretary in charge of Bihar, twice suggested the exit of Paswan from the Union cabinet, but the proposal was summarily rejected.

The question is already being asked what she would do — turn a blind eye to or “interfere” — if her allies in Tamil Nadu, such as the DMK, PMK and MDMK, clash.

Sonia’s choice of point man for Bihar, too, showed a degree of uncertainty. She dropped the Arjun Singh-Makhan Lal Fotedar combine when middle-rung party leaders targeted the “old and jaded” faces of the party. Digvijay was repeatedly heard referring to the laws of nature: “Old leaves should pave the way for new ones.”

The result in Bihar has shown that in politics, younger age is neither a sufficient condition for success nor a proof of acumen.

Some Congress leaders were gloating over the verdict, claiming that the party had got rid of the “baggage of Lalu” and combining it with the bravado that the country’s oldest party would stand on its own to usher in a new era.

Judging by the experience of Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, Sonia knows it is nearly impossible to bounce back. She is also aware that similar words were pronounced about Uttar Pradesh when the Congress had gone alone in February 2002.

After those Assembly polls, she was going through the results and her reading glasses nearly dropped when she realised that as many as 335 out of 402 party nominees had forfeited deposits.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

http://www.pakhistory.com/ph/ref/aboutpakhistory.shtml



About us

About PakHistory - What is PakHistory.com?



First of all, welcome to Pakhistory.com and thank you for visiting. We've started this project in order to project true historical image of Pakistan, South Asia and the surrounding region with known historical facts, in-depth research and analysis as well as expanding our sources to an international level, where we will support our research with articles from international and regional news papers, magazines, periodicals and renowned authors.



It is also important to understand that our main goal is to inform the general population as well as educate the masses about the history of region which is a place of home for more than 1.3 billion people. Over time regional (rather extremists) governments as well media to some extent have played a large role in distorting history and presenting it in such a way that people have started believing the distorted and untrue version (see links below) of the history from the regional powers and their interests. Some extremists people believe they can change few words in their text books (see links below), change the wordings on online-wikis and all of the sudden history is in their favor. Not so. We believe, history is much more than that � something that needs far more respect than what the bigots and liars show they have for history (and their own for that matter).



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Pakhistory.com used to be hosted as "geocities sub domain" and now we've purchased this domain and any future updates will happen here. Much of the writings in the Pakistan History section are based on 'Historical Background of Pakistan and its People', is written by Ahmed Abdullah and edited by K. Hasan.

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These are just some of the links and sources that show how extremists and Brahmin extremists of South Asia have tried to distort South Asian history and mislead people of South Asia and the world with wrong and false information. Their lies have been exposed and now it's time for people to find out the truth.



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------------------





Changes in History teaching in Pakistan:



There is increasing evidence that changes in history teaching in Pakistan were being matched with changes inside India after 1971. The western institution and think tanks ; probably are involved in this change in both countries. University of Nebraska had a program to change the curriculum of Afghanistan text books after 1980 to make Russians as enemies during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Finally AH Nayyar a Pakistani commentator said 'The fact of the matter is that jihad by sword came into not only Pakistani textbooks but Afghan textbooks as well, only because the US wanted it so. He said the task of putting jihad into textbooks in Afghanistan(and prob. Pakistan) was given to a University of Nebraska department in the Cold War years'. He said 'the same University of Nebraska entity has now been instructed by the President Bush's wife to take charge of getting jihad OUT of Pakistani(actually Afghan-corrected) textbooks.' At least one education program the U.S. did sponsor probably did little to break the culture of violence that envelops children here from an early age.



The Agency for International Development paid the University of Nebraska $50 million over eight years, from 1986 to 1994, to produce educational materials for Afghan primary- and secondary-school students. But texts on a range of subjects were highly politicized and often had a militaristic overtone, Tom Gouttierre, director of the university’s Center for Afghan Studies in Omaha, now concede. Some questions prodded students to tackle basic math by counting dead Russians and Kalashnikov rifles. In addition to arming such groups for hitech jihad, the United States became directly involved in their indoctrination process. Between 1986 and 1992, USAID underwrote the printing of explicitly violent Islamist textbooks for elementary school children. The University of Nebraska, Omaha (UNO), oversaw this $50 million contract with the Education Center for Afghanistan (ECA), a group jointly appointed by the seven mujahideen organizations that the ISI and CIA had taken under their wing. With this money, the Peshawar-based ECA published a series of first- through sixth-grade textbooks whose recurrent theme was the promotion of Islam through violence.



The education changes in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1980 may considered as social engineering projects and may be one of largest ever done in history. This social engineering resulted in a steady stream of Islamic jihad militants for the next 25 years that it has changed the world as never before. India has been the biggest targeted country due to the effects of this social engineering.





Taking rather a different tack than Dr.Seuss, these USAID-funded books instructed children that, in the Persian alphabet, Alif is for Allah, Jim is for Jihad, and Shin is for Shakir, adding that “Shakir conducts jihad with the sword. God becomes happy with the defeat of the Russians.” Third- and fifth grade books depicted automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and tanks. A fourth grade mathematics text noted that “the speed of a Kalashnikov bullet is 800 meters per second,” and then asked students, If a Russian is at a distance of 3,200 meters from a mujahid, and that mujahid aims at the Russian’s head, calculate how many seconds it will take for the bullet to strike the Russian in the forehead.

One of the two official views of history also causes problems for the study of History in Pakistan. This view popularized by Dr Ahmad Dani locates Pakistan as part of a Central Asian historical and cultural entity, rather than within India/South Asia. In the first decade after Pakistan's independence, Pakistan considered its history to be part of a larger India's, a common history, a joint history, and in fact Indian textbooks were in use in the syllabus in Pakistan.



However, this changed in the early 1960s when Ayub Khan's government wanted to create a 'History of Pakistan' independent and separate from that of India's. The historians who were given this task attempted to 'take out' Pakistan from Indian history and just look at Pakistan without India. This gave rise to the writing of a Pakistani history disassociated from an Indian past and links were established with Central Asia. All the association with the Indian history has been negated or totally omitted.



It is very clear, that in Pakistan, it is 'Muslim history' that is being taught, and not 'Indian history'. In fact, this Muslim history, as we argue above, is perceived to be a Pakistani history dating from 712 AD. This has major repercussions on what is taught and the way it is taught. For example, since there is a Muslim history and there are courses and subjects called 'The Freedom Movement' which looks at the struggle for an independent Pakistan - the seeds of which according to some historians were sown in 712 AD, but for others in 1857 - seems to overlook the colonial period entirely and treats the Freedom Struggle as a struggle from Hindu domination, not colonial rule.



In none of the curricula studied, did we find a single course on British India, or on colonialism; the period after 1857 is seen as the beginning of the Pakistan Movement and of the Freedom Struggle. From the 'Muslim' period, we move on to the 'Struggle for Pakistan'. In essence, the Freedom Movement is shown to be a movement for the freedom of Muslims in India, but not of India from colonialism. What is interesting, though not at all surprising, is that post-independence modern India, is not taught as part of the history syllabus in Pakistan. For that matter, nor is there a course on the history of modern Pakistan, since both of these countries in this era, are treated under politics.



Interestingly enough, teachers at the University of Karachi's international relations department said that as late as 1989, the term 'South Asia' was "banned" in the department, since it was considered too 'pro-India' and was thought to be a part of an India-centric thinking. South Asia as a subject was introduced only after a democratic government took over in 1988-89 after the death of General Ziaul Haq.



One objective of change in Pakistani text book is to create an benign Islamic political history of the Mogul period in the sub-continent so that there is no antipathy towards the Muslim culture and Muslim people by the non-Muslims in the sub-continent. For the Muslims when a Islamic political history is glorified and is a continuum of the larger pan Islamic history; it energizes the Muslim community and unifies them over any political/ethnic differences. Pakistan after 1971 was rocked by decussating by Baloch and Sindh and unrest. The change in the education was to bring a common Muslim history to bind the provinces. This process was a way for creation of a sub-continent Muslim ruling class accepted by all the people in the sub-continent in the long run.



The assumption here is that non-Muslim population will loose their Hindu attributes and blend with the Muslims in the long run and accept their hegemony. For 30 years in its 55-year history, Pakistan has had governments that were run by the military or put into office and sustained by the military. It is not a matter of surprise that the government-textbook connection has developed into a military-textbook bond. This started in the 1970s when a former prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, introduced a full two-year course on the ‘Fundamentals of War’ and ‘Defense of Pakistan’ for Class XI and XII respectively.



In the twilight of the Cold War, the United States spent millions of dollars to supply Afghan schoolchildren with textbooks filled with violent images and militant Islamic teachings, part of covert attempts to spur resistance to the Soviet occupation. The primers, which were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of guns, bullets, soldiers and mines, have served since then as the Afghan school system's core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced books, though the radical movement scratched out human faces in keeping with its strict fundamentalist code. Published in the dominant Afghan languages of Dari and Pashtu, the textbooks were developed in the early 1980s under an AID grant to the University of Nebraska-Omaha and its Center for Afghanistan Studies. The agency spent $51 million on the university's education programs in Afghanistan from 1984 to 1994.



During that time of Soviet occupation, regional military leaders in Afghanistan helped the U.S. smuggle books into the country. They demanded that the primers contain anti-Soviet passages. Children were taught to count with illustrations showing tanks, missiles and land mines, agency officials said. They acknowledged that at the time it also suited U.S. interests to stoke hatred of foreign invaders. "I think we were perfectly happy to see these books trashing the Soviet Union," said Chris Brown, head of book revision for AID's Central Asia Task Force. AID dropped funding of Afghan programs in 1994. But the textbooks continued to circulate in various versions, even after the Taliban seized power in 1996.





In the ‘Fundamentals of War’ themes like objects and causes, conduct, nature, modern weapons, operations, ethics, war and modern warfare were thoroughly discussed. The ‘Defense of Pakistan’ dealt with Pakistan’s defense problems, economy and defense, foreign policy, military heritage, the role of its armed forces during peace and the qualities of military leadership. There was a military science group for intermediate students, which consisted of war, military history, economics of war, military geography, defense of Pakistan and special military studies as subjects.



General Ayub Khan abolished history from the school system, and got official textbooks prepared for history students at the university level. Between 1960 and 1980 the students read no history at all for the first 12 years of their studies.[ why from 1960 the year Indian movies were banned in Pakistan ] Instead, they were taught a newly invented subject called "Social Studies", which was an uneven and coarse amalgam of bits of civics, geography, religion, economics and history. During the 13th and 14th years (undergraduate period) they read a history book prepared by the government. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's regime did not make any change in this scheme.



General Ziaul Haq promoted the destruction of history with unswerving determination. In the name of a debatable patriotism and a supposititious ideology he made his control over history writing and teaching complete, arbitrary, coercive and totalitarian. He (1) subjected all textbooks of Social Studies to the scrutiny and approval of the Federal Ministry of Education, i.e., a group of civil servants, (2) created a new subject of "Pakistan Studies"; made it compulsory for all undergraduates in arts, sciences, medicine and engineering, and all graduates in law; and got a special textbook prepared for it by several committees and panels of experts working in close collaboration (the result was not even bad history), and (3) dictated that all these books must meet the requirements of an ideology (he did not call it Islam), of which he was the sole definer, judge and perpetrator.



Ahmed Salim and A.H. Nayyar have compiled a 140-page report on ‘The State of Curriculum and Textbooks in Pakistan’. The Report is nothing short of a sneak preview of how our Ministry of Education is preparing five and seventeen year old Pakistanis for ‘jihad’. To be certain, the ‘themes of ‘jihad’ and ‘shahadat’ clearly distinguish the pre- and post-1979 educational contents. There was no mention of these in the pre-Islamisation period curricula and textbooks, while the post-1979 curricula and textbooks openly eulogize ‘jihad’ and ‘shahadat’ and urge students to become ‘mujahids’ and martyrs. The official Curriculum Document, Primary Education, Class K-V specifically prescribes ‘simple stories to urge ‘jihad’.’ Under ‘Activity 4’, the prescription for three and eight-year old Pakistanis is: ‘To make speeches on ‘jihad’ and ‘shahadat’.’



Urdu Curriculum (First Language) for Classes IV and V, National Bureau of Curriculum and Textbooks, Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan sets the following objective: ‘Stories: eight lessons; folk tales, mythical, moral, Islamic, travel, adventure and ‘jihad’.’ Textbook writers are officially directed that ‘a feeling be created among students that they are the members of a Muslim nation. Therefore, in accordance with the Islamic tradition, they have to be truthful, honest, patriotic and life-sacrificing ‘mujahids’.’ A specific ‘suggestion on preparing textbooks’ for Class V is: ‘Simple stories to incite for ‘jihad’.’



Urdu Curriculum (first and second language) for Classes VI-VIII, National Bureau of Curriculum and Textbooks, Ministry of Education, instructs teachers that students ‘must be made aware of the blessings of ‘jihad’...’ and that teachers must ‘create yearning for ‘jihad’ in their hearts.’

The authors say :



Our curriculum still equates Islam, Pakistan and ‘jihad’. We are still ‘inspiring’ our children to become guerrilla fighters. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan still insists on making her children ‘aware of the blessings of ‘jihad’, to ‘make speeches on ‘jihad’ ‘, to ‘create a yearning for ‘jihad’ ‘, to ‘love and aspire for ‘jihad’.



Stephen Cohen ( Brookings Institution) Quote : By 2001 The Pakistan history and identity was being contested once again. Although Army had been able to impose its vision of the state other ideas exist for what Pakistan should be. The important clash inside Pakistan is not a civilization clash between Muslims and non-Muslims but a clash between different concepts of Islam, particularly how Pakistan should implement its Islamic identity.

Currently there is a movement to eulogize Allama Iqbal the poet during the pre-independence movement as the ideologue of Pakistan to replace Jinnah the Father of the nation. This clearly shows a deep search once again for a reason for the creation of Pakistan by the elite and they have been able to change the debate inside the country to suit their objective. There is a great debate on nationalism and Islamic ummah concept and what does Pakistan stands for.



Pakistan Studies, like most area studies, came into being at a time of crisis. The political and military upheavals of 1971 forced a rethinking of national life, which seems to have led to the conclusion that there was a need to study Pakistani society so as to contribute to our national cohesion.

In 1973, therefore, a university department of Pakistan Studies was established at the Islamabad (later Quaid-e-Azam) University. By 1976 a comprehensive programm for the promotion of the field was chalked out. Several centers were established, and curricula were developed for the secondary level. In 1978 Pakistan Studies was made compulsory up to the bachelor level. Since then knowledge of Pakistan affairs has been examined in tests and interviews for jobs in practically all government departments. The institutional framework for the growth and development of the discipline is furnished by a 1976 act under which was established the National Institute of Pakistan Studies at the Quaid-e-Azam University in 1983.



Pakistan Studies has its cognitive, practical and affective aspects. Cognitively, its main purpose is to promote knowledge of the individual about himself, his country, and the world around him. In its affective aspect, Pakistan Studies is intended to help socialize him to national life and inculcate patriotism and confidence in the future of Pakistan. The field is thus an instrument to create love and loyalty for Pakistan, and thus in the long run produce better policymakers and administrators.



The greatest threat to Pakistan’s future may be its abysmal education system. Pak¬istani schools—and not just madrassahs— are churning out fiery zealots, fueled with a passion for jihad and martyrdom. The obstacles to reform are great. For example, recent street rampages by Islamists forced Musharraf’s former minister of education, Zubaida Jalal, to declare herself a fundamentalist and denounce as unacceptable school text-books that do not include Quranic verses on jihad.



The United States, along with the United Kingdom and the European Union, has recently poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the Pakistani educational system but with minimal effect. US-AID officials in Pakistan have shown little inclination or desire to engage with the government on the issue of eliminating jihad and militarism from school books. Indeed, rather than calling Musharraf ’s government on the continuing espousal of jihadist doctrine, the White House, out of either ignorance or compromise, even praised former Education Minister Jalal for her “reforms.” Jalal’s successor, General Javed Ashraf Qazi, is a former intelligence chief known for his ruthless tactics. It therefore appears that Musharraf’s educational curriculum will go unchanged.



This difficulty, of course, reflects the underlying problems of Pakistan’s govern¬ment. Aware of its thin legitimacy and fearful of taking on powerful religious forces, no reigning government has made a serious attempt at curricular or educa¬tional reform, quietly allowing future minds to be molded by fanatics. But without such critical reforms, the long-¬term prospects for Pakistan are anything but comforting.



The social engineering started during the Zia rule has transformed the next generation of Pakistani. Dr Hoodbhoy says since Zia the Pakistani society had become more “Islamised”. The changes made in textbooks during his regime had taken effect and the young generation was extremely conservative. He said in his physics class there were 13 girls, seven of whom remained burqa-clad, three donned hijabs and only three retained a normal appearance. The change had been profound and it had penetrated to the roots, he added. The military had changed too and its slogan given by Zia and retained today was jihad in the cause of God. This social engineering done on the Pakistani society was initiated and influenced by the western think tanks and universities in a covert manner. The Indian elite and experts failed to comprehend the scope and breadth of the social engineering being done inside Pakistan for more than 30 years leading to a dangerous vacuum in understanding the threat to India and its society. From available information it is the RAND Corporation which has been the lead think tank in the social engineering project for the last 30 years primarily in Pakistan and Muslim world at large.

<b>In the last ten years there has been considerable growth in India in the Civil Aviation Sector. In the last one year itself a number of Private Airlines have started their operations. It has resulted in air travel becoming cheaper and also generation of employment not only for pilots but for all categories of staff. However, this has not kept pace with the development of facilities in the existing airports. This overcrowding is very much visible in both Mumbai and Delhi airports. This year, with the introduction of international flights by private airlines from India and the open air policy for foreign airlines to operate to India, the situation is going to be getting much worst as time passes.
It is good some of the new airlines are having international flights from Hyderabad and Bangalore. This has taken some load from the Mumbai airport but there is no such alternative in sight for the Delhi airport. Delhi being the capital of India has its ever increasing pressure from the domestic operators in addition to the ever increasing number of new foreign operators. According to media reports, on a particular night there were 6000 passengers chasing 2500 baggage trolleys. The ever increasing number of landings and take offs may cause a major accident any time and now delays are frequent due to congestions in the air corridors.
It is time that Government should seriously think of establishing a civil enclave at the airbase on the Eastern side of the capital so that some of the domestic flights can be operated from that airfield. To start with a limited start can be made in respect of low cost airlines to operate from here. Secondly, the airport at Jaipur needs to be upgraded for allowing international flights. A start was made in a small way but no major effort has been made in this direction. It is good that foreign charters are now being allowed to directly land at Agra. Such operations need to be encouraged so that the situation in Delhi airport can be kept under control.</b>

Left pressure prompted change in education policy, says Yechury

Special Correspondent

Left tells Government to maintain an independent foreign policy



RED SPIRIT: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (second from right), CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury, Left party leader B.V. Raghavulu and other delegates at the 12th All India SFI conference in Hyderabad on Thursday. — Photo: D. Gopalakrishnan

HYDERABAD: The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre has decided to bring in policy changes to make education affordable to the poor.

The Centre has promised to introduce a Bill to this effect in the winter session of Parliament, which is slated to start on November 23. It has also expressed its willingness to amend the Constitution to ensure that all sections of society can access education, CPI(M) MP and Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said. Addressing a public meeting to mark the commencement of the 12th all- India conference of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) here on Thursday, Mr. Yechury said the continuous pressure mounted by the Left., which was extending outside support to the UPA Government, had forced it to adopt a proactive approach towards the education sector. He said the sector was facing a crisis owing to privatisation and commercialisation and the Left had favoured a social or Government control over it.

The Left was watching UPA's activities to ensure that it did not violate the Common Minimum Programme. "There is no threat to the stability of the UPA Government as long as it abides by the CMP," he said. Mr. Yechury said the Left was asking the Government to maintain an independent foreign policy, which was not dictated by the United States.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said that his Government was trying to obtain loans from external agencies only if it did not involve any conditions. The Government was prepared to forego opportunities of securing loan rather than allowing external agencies such as the World Bank interfere in its fiscal, economic and budgetary matters, he said.

Blaming the Congress for ills such as poverty, unemployment and illiteracy, Mr. Bhattacharjee said the country could not achieve what China could as the Congress was giving relief to the rich who comprised only 12 per cent of the population at the expense of the poor. On the lines of the previous NDA regime, the UPA was adopting pro-US policies to become a "younger brother." CPI(M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu and SFI general secretary Kallol Roy were among those who spoke. SFI all-India president K.K. Raagesh presided over the meeting.

Pioneer.com
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>100 kids, 15 wives, one man </b>
Syed Zarir Hussain / Baktawng (Mizoram)
A tribal Christian cult leader in Mizoram could well claim a slot in the Guinness Book of World Records - 15 wives and more than 100 children staying together.

<b>"My father was married to 15 wives and we have more than 100 brothers and sisters although I am not sure about the exact number. Maybe it could more than a hundred but definitely not less,"</b> 45-year-old Nunparliana, the eldest of the siblings, said.

The head of the family, 70-year-old Zionnghaka, is in good health although he prefers to shy away from the outside world and leads a solitary life inside their hilltop commune of Baktawng, a tiny village 70 kilometres south of Mizoram's capital, Aizawl.

Three of Zionnghaka's wives deserted him and as many of them have died. The family practices a Christian cult called 'Channa' named after Zionnghaka's father, Challianchana, who died in 1997.

Challianchana was believed to have 50 wives with Zionnghaka being the eldest of his many children - there is no count available of the number of children Challianchana had.

The Channa cult founded by Challianchana sometime in the early 1930s is now spread over four generations and boasts of having some 1,600 members.

<b>"We are all happy and like any other churches we believe in the existence of God but the only distinctive difference is that our denomination allows us to marry more than one wife,"</b> Nunparliana said.

From a playground to a school and a church, the village of Baktawng resembles any other tribal village but for the fact that the community members belong to one single family. Most of the community members are today known across Mizoram for their skills in carving out wooden furniture and pottery items.

The circumstances leading to the establishment of the cult was as bizarre as the traditions and practices followed by the Channa sect whose ancestors worshipped a traditional drum called the 'Khuang' until the arrival of the Welsh missionaries.

<b>"The Welsh missionaries banned the worship of the Khuang and upset over this, my grandfather Challianchana and his brother severed ties and founded this sect whom we call either Channa or the Lalpa Kohhran," </b>another community member said.


But church leaders, Presbyterian being the dominant denomination, reject the cult's claims to be Christians.

"Christianity does not allow polygamy and hence accepting the cult as Christians does not arise at all. Polygamy is very rare in Mizoram," Reverend Lalvirinawma, moderator of the Presbyterian Synod in Aizawl, said.

<b>There are an estimated 95 different Christian cults in Mizoram with strange practices - some of them do not allow their children to mingle with others and attend schools, while some of the sect claims their members to be Gods.</b>
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Same in US.