Miscellaneous news and discussion - 2

05-25-2005, 12:26 PM

SUNIL DUTT MAR GAYA HEART ATTACK SE!!

[EDITED]

How many seats congress have in center?
How many seats BJP have in center?

ramana · 05-25-2005, 07:58 PM

I think above post is in bad taste. Sunil Dutt was a respected film actor who did a lot with his wife Nargis for the Indian soldiers after the 1962 war.

05-25-2005, 08:21 PM

With respect to Parliamentary proceedings, party strength count, what is the process/procedure if an sitting MP passes way?

Just last month, Nirupam (forget his last name) who contested against Sunil Dutt during last Lok Sabha elections defected from BJP to Congress. I know of people in Mumbai who voted for Nirupam (then in BJP) and now feel cheated. Sunil Dutt too was upset and had expressed is displeasure in public for which the sycophants in the inner coterie of Congress pounced on him like a pack of wolves. I believe Dutt had to fly to Delhi to offer an explanation!!

It'll be interesting to watch if there's a relection in Dutt's Mumbai (NW) constituency. Not sure if Cong will offer ticket to Nirupam a johnny-come-lately to Congress party and upset those in Cong camp who just about 13 months ago campaigned against him. Now if Nirupam is denied a ticket, it'll be interesting to see his reaction - will he curse himself for not being able to re-contest on BJP ticket since he's ditched BJP or will he lash out against 'high command'? Interesting times ahead - atleast for Nirupam.

05-29-2005, 01:04 AM

QUOTEK'taka hurling towards bypoll? 
P T Bopanna / Bangalore
Even as Karnataka's first coalition Government completed a year in office on Saturday, the count-down has begun for a mid-term election in the State. The purported strained relations between the chiefs of the coalition partners - Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister and President of the Janata Dal (Secular) H D Deve Gowda - is the primary reason.

While the Congress is waiting to see the outcome of the bypolls to the Shimoga Lok Sabha and Chamarajpet Assembly constituencies before pulling the rug, Mr Gowda has already begun preparations for the mid-term polls by going around the State to refurbish his party.

The lacklustre performance of Chief Minister N Dharam Singh, and the non-stop tirade between Mr Gowda and the State Congress chief Janardhana Poojary has contributed to a situation where a mid-term election later this year or early next year has become inevitable. The Congress sources opined the high command may favour a spell of President's rule to shore up the sagging image of the party before facing the electorate.

These sources confirmed that Mr Gowda and Ms Gandhi have strained relations which has come in the way of the smooth functioning of the coalition government. Though the Janata Dal (Secular) has hardly any presence in Shimoga Lok Sabha and Chamarajpet Assembly constituencies, Mr Gowda has fielded his party candidates for both the seats going to the by-polls, reportedly to sabotage the prospects of the Congress candidates.

Though the coalition government is headed by the Congress, the impression has gained that Mr Gowda is the boss and Chief Minister Dharam Singh is only playing a second-fiddle. Mr Gowda has lost no opportunity in attacking the Congress and has been openly critical of the Congress leaders in the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project by targeting former Chief Minister S M Krishna and his close associate and former minister D K Shivakumar.

The failure of the coalition government was in evidence on Friday when the entire civic infrastructure in the heart of the town collapsed in the hi-tech city of Bangalore following heavy downpour. Despite the hype about Bangalore being the Silicon Valley of India, there has been a total breakdown of the civic infrastructure which goes for a six too often. Friday evening's downpour, resulted in five-hour traffic jam in the city centre with most of the office-goers reaching home around midnight.

None other than the Congress heir-apparent Rahul Gandhi experienced the chaotic infrastructure during his visit to the city and heard complaints from the captains of industry.

Mr Gandhi left the city without meeting the Chief Minister, leading to speculation that the Gandhi scion was not happy with his party government in the State.

Law and order in the state has become a cause for concern. While Bangalore has been witnessing unprecedented growth in crime, the Naxalites have been active in the Western Ghats.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who was in the State on Friday to campaign for the BJP, hit out at the Congress for going soft on the Naxalites.

In a veiled attack on the Congress President, Mr Deve Gowda has expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance of the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre on the latter completing one year in office. The former Prime Minister noted that the UPA had failed on several counts despite the Government being headed by a person of the calibre of Dr Manmohan Singh.

"It is a fact that there are differences not only among the UPA partners but also among some of the Congress ministers. The UPA should work at evolving an independent economic policy rather than ape the United States economic model," Mr Gowda remarked. With the BJP in Karnataka failing to play an effective role as an opposition party, Mr Gowda has hijacked that role by targeting the Congress at every available opportunity.

05-31-2005, 07:53 PM

The Arif line
Muslims must exercise the power in their hands, not give it up to brokers
QUOTEThe second example concerns the demand by clerics under the umbrella of the Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind (JuH) of proportional representation of Muslims in legislatures. The demand made by the JuH in a rally in Delhiâs Ram Lila Grounds yesterday acquired salience because it was attended by the Congress party president, Sonia Gandhi. Since Sonia Gandhi will not understand the full implication of this demand, which no national party can accept, presumably her stalwart advisors will nudge her away from a commitment, which would be suicidal.

Nor is the JuH like SIMI, and its president, Maulana Syed Asad Madani, is a stout nationalist. But remains the fact that the mullahs are losing political control over their community, and these are devises to control them. Now, they act as powerbrokers. With proportional representation, direct power will flow to them, and their control of the community would be total. The integration of the community nationally will cease, and their mainstreamisation will come to a halt. Proportional representation is the worst form of communal politics.

The Muslim community has played no role in this destructive power game, and if anything, it has suffered in consequence. Votebank politics instead of making it forward and prosperous has kept it backward and penurious, and the direct consequence of votebank politics, Hindutva, has further worsened it for the Muslims. The only way ahead for common Muslims is to integrate fiercely, assimilate, and to alone trust their judgment, and the judgement of other local communities during decisive voting. Power lies in their hands, and they must exercise it.

06-07-2005, 02:28 AM

Priya to take over Sunil Duttâs seat

QUOTEPriya Dutt, daughter of former sports minister Sunil Dutt, will be the Congress candidate from north-west Mumbai parliamentary seat which fell vacant following the death of her father.

Ms Dutt had a detailed meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi last week and it is learnt that the question of the formerâs candidature for the seat was also discussed


<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' /> Great move Sanjay Nirupam <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' /> Na ghar ka na ghat ka <!--emo& Tongue

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />

06-07-2005, 02:30 AM

Die-nasty zindabad. <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

Sanjay Nirupam will join NCP. <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

**acharya** · 06-07-2005, 07:02 AM

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Poor show by Cong. in U.P. reveals waning popularity
Party candidates from all the four by-poll seats lost their deposits

LUCKNOW: Infighting and organisational weaknesses took its toll on the Congress Party in Uttar Pradesh as all the party candidates from the four seats which went to polls recently, lost their deposits.

The dismal performance has not only revealed the party's waning popularity among the masses, but given rise to bickerings in the party rank and file.

Congress candidate from Allahabad (West), once a Congress bastion owing to the Nehru-Gandhi family legacy, secured only 660 votes, much less than the votes secured by an independent candidate from the same constituency.

Although senior party functionaries alleged misuse of official machinery and large scale rigging responsible for the victory of ruling coalition candidates, none of them have an answer to the dismal performance of the Congress nominees.

The maximum votes polled for Congress was at Khairagarh assembly seat where it stood at 11,663, while in Varanasi (North) 9,207 votes and Haisner Bazar (reserved) seat the candidate polled 2,232 votes.

The low vote percentage has also laid bare the hollow claims of its membership drive that preceded the organisational elections.

Commenting on the poor performance in Allahabad seat, a senior Congress leader said, "If the party had constituted its units at even 200 polling booth in the constituency, there should have been at least 10,000 primary Congress members in Allahabad (West) and the party candidate would have stood third if only the primary members had voted."

Some Congressmen even assert the bypolls outcome speaks badly on the manner in which State party leaders handled the by-elections.

They maintain the Congress was the last to announce the names of its candidates, which was one of the reason for the debacle.

Other major political parties had completed their preliminary rounds of preparations when the Congress was conducting the exercise of selection of candidates. No serious efforts were made even after that.

"Senior party bosses were busy giving final touches to their nominees on the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) list when campaigning was at its peak," a party leader commented.

In May-end, when leaders of all the political parties were launching attacks on their political rivals while campaigning for their party candidates, the Congress leaders were targeting each other to settle scores during organisational elections, party leaders lamented.

A few days before the June 2 polling, although UPCC president Salman Khurshid announced he would not file his nomination papers to seek re-election and devote time to concentrate on the by-polls, it was probably too late, they said. -- UNI

Bharatvarsh · 06-07-2005, 05:14 PM

Interesting, can any1 explain why Congress always seems to win in the South (while it's popularity is going down in Northern states), I think this may be because the South does not have a strong Hindutva presence like in the North.

06-07-2005, 05:53 PM

QUOTE(Bharatvarsh @ Jun 7 2005, 05:14 PM) Interesting, can any1 explain why Congress always seems to win in the South (while it's popularity is going down in Northern states), I think this may be because the South does not have a strong Hindutva presence like in the North. 
In AP, there was never an oppostion party even after emergency. TDP occupied the opposition political space. BJP aligned with them and never seriuosly tried to develop a base because Venkaiah Naidu was in NTR's pocket (Same Caste link). TN was always DMK/AIADMK turf with 10-15% CONgress votes. They would tag along with some one or other. BJP never developed a base there. They developed a base in Karnataka but they are giving it away to Deve Gowda because of internal fights in BJP.

06-09-2005, 04:14 AM

sorry i do not know where to post this, please feel free to transfer it to appropriate place, if needed.

Gopal Godse the brother of nathuram vinayak godse gives an interview over why he and his bro decided to bump off gnadhi

Download the video here :
http://www.dailyherald.com/special/passage...video/godse.mov

06-09-2005, 04:29 AM

QUOTE(rama harish @ Jun 9 2005, 04:14 AM) sorry i do not know where to post this, please feel free to transfer it to appropriate place, if needed.

Gopal Godse the brother of nathuram vinayak godse gives an interview over why he and his bro decided to bump off gnadhi

Download the video here :
http://www.dailyherald.com/special/passage...video/godse.mov 
Link not workin

06-15-2005, 04:16 AM

India: A Failed State
by Ravi Shanker Kapoor
10 June 2005
Political commentators in India are fond of calling Pakistan a âfailed state,â but few Indians are willing to admit that their own country is hurtling towards anarchy.

06-19-2005, 08:18 PM

Sudarshan slams Nehru for India's ills, all praise for IndiraQUOTETraining his guns on India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, RSS chief KS Sudarshan on Sunday said the "English-minded" PM was responsible for the ills facing the country. He, however, had a word of praise for his daughter Indira Gandhi, calling her "lady of firm determination".

"If we go to the root of the problems being faced by the country, we find that Nehru is responsible," Sudarshan said while addressing the concluding ceremony of 'Sangh Shiksha Varg' on the banks of the river Gomti.

He said Nehru was "English-minded" and the erstwhile British Raj wanted their "own man" at the helm as Prime Minister so that their interests were protected.

**acharya** · 06-21-2005, 07:31 AM

We remain blind to reality
The Asian Age India | Govind Talwalkar

The propensity of our politicians, past and present, not to see and face the reality, is phenomenal although there were times when some of our leaders rose to the occasion to face the same. This refusal to come to terms with the reality is also true about several historians and commentators. The storm which BJP president L.K. Advani is facing because of some of his remarks is the latest instance of this tendency. Advani did not say that Jinnah was a secular leader. He said Jinnah wanted a secular Constitution. This is a matter of public record. So why the furore?

Nevertheless, by commending Jinnah's Constituent Assembly speech, Advani has indirectly admitted the desirability of such a Constitution in preference of the philosophy which he has been professing all his life. Though the Sangh Parivar might have felt betrayed because of this, Advani for a moment has admitted the reality. But this does not guarantee that he would stick to this position and would not revert to rousing the rabid communal elements, his mainstay in politics.

As Advani has declared, the partition of the country is a settled fact, and he might induce a renewed discussion of this phenomenon along with the Hindu-Muslim problem.

The Hindu-Muslim problem dogged our leaders from the inception of the Indian National Congress. They made it an inclusive organisation, and in spite of strong opposition from Sayyid Ahmed, scores of Muslim leaders joined this national endeavour. However, after two decades, as political reforms were in the offing, Muslims and other minorities staked their separate claims. The Muslim League was formed and when Gokhale was meeting John Morley, secretary of state for India, Amir Ali, a retired judge and a staunch Leaguer, was prevailing upon the bureaucrats in the secretary of state's office to concede special status to Muslims.

Gokhale had the courage to admit this reality, and so he accepted a separate electorate. His colleagues like Surendranath Banerjea initially endorsed the new scheme but at Congress sessions separate electorates were strongly denounced even by Banerjea.

As for Lokmanya Tilak, after his release from Mandalay prison, he did not oppose separate electorates but signed a pact in Lucknow with the Muslim leaders including Jinnah. This pact gave Muslims reserved seats in the provincial legislatures and also in the central legislative assembly. But within some months several leaders from both of the communities moved away from the Lucknow Pact. By this time Mahatma Gandhi had started playing a leading role in national politics.

Muslim leaders were agitated over the British treatment of the Sultan of Turkey who was also a Khalifa. Mahatma Gandhi joined them and started the Non-Cooperation Movement. Mahatma Gandhi's objective was noble. He thought that this movement would forge Hindu-Muslim unity. But Jinnah was not enthusiastic about Khilafat and was opposed to mass agitation and the total boycott of the government including courts and educational institutions. At Congress' Nagpur session, Jinnah was ridiculed which he could not forget for a long time.

It is noteworthy that though Hindu-Muslim unity and the removal of untouchability were the two main planks of the Mahatma, he failed to garner the support of the two most important Muslim and Dalit leaders â Jinnah and Dr B.R. Ambedkar.

While considering the political developments after the advent of Mahatma Gandhi, several factors are lost sight of, or not given proper importance, including the personal prejudices and predilections of the leaders and also their egos. Besides, though the Mahatma revolutionised politics, India did not follow the path of armed revolution. It was civil disobedience, and not revolution. Thus, the Satyagraha movements ended in a compromise and not the overthrow of the British government. The 1930 and 1932 movements resulted in the Round Table conferences and the Act of 1935, which brought in provincial autonomy.

While Gandhiji thought that his civil disobedience movements and emphasis on Hindu-Muslim unity would bring the two major communities together, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was quite certain that it was not religion but economic conditions and urges that would unite Hindus and Muslims. Both Gandhi and Nehru were inspired by noble vision, but the problem was that of a share in the power, which the constitutional reform measures offered. Since the ensuing negotiations had to involve several parties, including the British government and a compromise had to be arrived at, an ideal solution could not be found.

Elections to the provincial Assemblies under the 1935 Act brought in Congress ministries in several provinces and the League in none. In the United Province, the Congress and the League leaders had prolonged negotiations with a view to form a coalition government. The Congress agreed to include Khaliq-uz-Zaman but declined to accept Nawab Ismail Khan, who represented the zamindars. As the Congress was wedded to land reforms, it could not accommodate Ismail Khan. Besides, the League refused to abide by the principle of collective responsibility. Jinnah demanded 33 per cent of seats in the ministry. Afterwards Khaliq-uz-Zaman wrote to Nehru objecting to the Congress putting up Muslim candidates in the reserved constituencies. This resulted in the failure of the negotiations, and a coalition ministry could not be formed.

Nehru was blamed for this failure, which was totally wrong. Even Maulana Azad held Nehru responsible, forgetting that it was he and Govind Ballav Pant who held negotiations with the League. It was not that Nehru alone opposed the inclusion of Nawab Ismail Khan in the ministry; UP Congress was not so inclined either. Moreover, Congress did not want to concede the demand of giving up the principle of collective responsibility. As the League did not form a ministry in any province, Jinnah adopted an extremist position and started playing the communal card contrary to his politics of previous decades.

The Second World War came in 1940; and the League, under the leadership of Jinnah, demanded a separate state for the Muslims. This Pakistan resolution was vague but it evoked strong feelings among the Muslim masses. Nehru, under the influence of Marxism, dismissed the demand as reactionary and thought that the interests of the Muslim masses were economic. Later he predicted that even if Pakistan came into being, it would dissolve with the first touch of reality. But Nehru's socialist beliefs made him oblivious of the reality. He could not gauge the strength of the appeal of religion. Jinnah's position became unassailable because of the appeal to the religious feelings of the Muslim masses, being bolstered by the policies of the British government.

Nehru and Sardar Patel were mainly held responsible for the partition of the country. Dr Lohia branded them as the "guilty men" and Lohiaites to this day are carrying on that pathological legacy, being vengeful not only against Nehru but also against his family. But in reality, Nehru and Patel represented Congress' policies and accepted partition, as there was no alternative. Lohia wanted us to believe that Gandhiji was opposed to partition. Gandhiji, of course, tried his best to avoid partition but Jinnah was not willing to oblige. It should also be remembered that after the Pakistan resolution was adopted by the League, Gandhi declared that if Muslims were bent upon exercising the right of self-determination, he, as a democrat, would not oppose it.

The demand for partition was based on the right of self-determination. This same right was accepted ultimately by Nehru and Sardar Patel. Gandhiji's path was not that of Abraham Lincoln who waged a war against the secessionist Southerners. Gandhiji, therefore accepted the right of self-determination. This he did in 1940 and Jinnah had nothing more to do than keep insisting on the same right. Nehru and Patel reluctantly accepted the reality. Jinnah was confused by Gandhiji's statements about the demand for Pakistan and showed a file of such statements to a senior Congress leader (probably Rajaji) asking him to clarify them.

Both Nehru and Patel are unnecessarily blamed for the rejection of the Cabinet Mission Plan, which, critics say, might have maintained a united India. Some critics are indulging in idolatry of geography, while some Muslim commentators blamed Jinnah for leaving behind millions of Muslims in India without any safeguards in place. Jinnah would have replied that he did not claim to be a Muslim leader, but was an advocate of the Muslims. Besides, Muslims in the rest of India were free to migrate. He was not averse to the exchange of population. Of course, this was impractical.

The Cabinet Mission Plan was fraught with numerous handicaps. It would have made the Centre too weak and the states would have fallen apart. It is said that united Bengal and Punjab would have provided safeguards to the Muslims. But there was also a possibility of constant strife and communal riots. We have the example of the Bengali Muslims from East Bengal, who could not be accommodated by the Punjabi Muslims and therefore, broke away from Pakistan. Under the Cabinet Mission Plan there would have been many more divisions.

Several years ago, I had many discussions with H.V. Hodson, author of The Great Divide, and reforms commissioner under Lord Mountbatten. He agreed that the Cabinet Mission scheme was very complicated and thus was unworkable. It would have also created uncertainty, he felt.

As in the past, we are still blind to reality. Both the Kashmir problem and the border dispute with China need a bold and realistic approach. They should not be made the object of partisan politics. Even if Indian and Pakistani leaders talk of goodwill and improved relations, there is no let-up in the violence in Kashmir. There is no doubt that Pakistan is still a training ground for terrorists who cross over to Kashmir. Even American administrations friendly with Pakistan had to rein in the Pakistani authorities to curb such activities. Now Yasin Malik has also confirmed the existence of such terrorist training camps.

However, it has to be admitted that promises given to the Kashmiris have not been kept. They were promised a special status and autonomy in the Union. This was avoided on one pretext or the other. P.V. Narasimha Rao promised "more than azadi" to the Kashmiris. But no progress was achieved. The solution of the Kashmir problem lies with us, and all parties have displayed a lack of courage to face the reality.

With regard to China, much progress has been made since Indira Gandhi first initiated some moves, followed by successive governments. Under Atal Behari Vajpayee significant steps were taken and the present Manmohan Singh government has made further progress. By now it is clear that the Chinese are not keen about the border in the east and may accept the status quo. They, however, would not budge from the Aksai Chin area, as it is vital to them. It has not been under our command for half a century and we are not going to start a war for this area. There is much to be gained by such a move. Similarly, we expect Pakistan to accept the Line of Control as the international boundary.

It is high time that all political parties stopped the idolatry of geography and be bold enough to face reality. In the post Cold War era, there is no scope to play one power against the other; and with regard to both Kashmir and China, we are on our own.

http://www.asianage.com/?INA=2:175:175:164505

06-26-2005, 02:51 AM

http://hindustantimes.com/news/181_1411718,0008.htm

Ninety-two Indian women are in the race for a Nobel Prize in 2005, thanks to a unique bid: a collective nomination of a thousand women from around the world working on various aspects of peace.

The nomination is the result of an innovative project launched in 2003 called '1,000 Women for Nobel Peace Prize 2005'. "The first woman peace prize recipient was Austrian Betha von Suttner in 1905. This year is the centenary of her award. So, we believe it is appropriate to honour the millions of women who do peace work everyday all over the world," says Dr Ruth-Gaby Vermont Mangold, Member of Swiss Parliament and of the Council of Europe, whose brainchild the project is.

The 1,000 women were nominated through the efforts of 20 coordinators who collected nominations from 20 regions of the world. "The quota for each country or region is fixed based on population, problems and work. In India we have all three: population, problems and a lot of good work; so we have the largest quota," explains Kamal Bhasin, co-ordinator for the South Asia region. Names of the nominees are being closely-guarded till the embargo on June 29.

However, discussions about criteria and the kind of work that would qualify for nomination reveal a few probables: Irom Sharmila, on a fast unto death for over four years against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, in Manipur, Neidunho Angami, a social worker from Nagaland, Medha Patkar for her relentless campaign for the Narmada oustees, Teesta Setelvad for taking on communal forces and Aruna Roy for her outstanding work to empower the common person.

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

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/furious.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='furious.gif' /> Noble is being considered for crooks and scam artists also.. woow.. <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/furious.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='furious.gif' />

agnivayu · 06-26-2005, 06:28 AM

Not suprising, considering that the Nobel Prize is a run by a bunch of white liberals.
There seems to be an attempt to create a one world lefty government and culture. This is not in the interest of Hindu Civilization.

06-26-2005, 01:35 PM

C'mon guys she is one among 100 women nominated by some shady commie group. Please do not give the likes of Teesta free publicity.

narayanan · 06-26-2005, 08:46 PM

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' />

This is a ploy to get the sentence reduced.

QUOTEUr Honner, she is nominated for No_Bill Peess Price onlee saar, just like Eandry Kissmyassinger onlee. Same way, she cannot also speak truth onlee, saar - genetic trait onlee - her granddaddy was Dephenj lawyer onlee saar, u no lawyer'r prophejjun ij liar's prophejjun - Ooops! of course I didn't mean ur Honeer, Huzoor!

please please reduce sentence saar. 

BTW, how's the conviction coming along? From the long silence, it seems pretty clear that the Supreme Court's Panel is feeling the heat on their behinds, realizing that the simple Zaheera is telling the simple truth, and the sophisticated Teesta Setalwad is as honest as General Musharraf, and her funding sources are same as General Musharraf's and Lashkar-e-Toiba's - Habib Bank, La-Hore.

06-29-2005, 06:18 AM

Teesta Setalwad will go places, even beyond Tihar.

She may even become senior advisor for top leadership of BJP, just like her erstwhile co-founder of Sabrang, Sudheendra Kulkarni.

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