Congress Undemocratic Ideology - 2

08-15-2006, 08:10 AM

QUOTE(Mudy @ Aug 14 2006, 11:52 PM)<div class='quotetop'>QUOTECenter for the Study of Developing Societies. 
It is ruling party funded socialism project.
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<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' />

Now they declare 75% of India feels "terrorism free" or safe, and terrorism ought to be tackled by flooding Pakistan with pi$$ activists. <!--emo& Tongue

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08-15-2006, 08:26 AM

QUOTE(k.ram @ Aug 14 2006, 10:40 PM)<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mudy @ Aug 14 2006, 11:52 PM)<div class='quotetop'>QUOTECenter for the Study of Developing Societies. 
It is ruling party funded socialism project.
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<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' />

Now they declare 75% of India feels "terrorism free" or safe, and terrorism ought to be tackled by flooding Pakistan with pi$$ activists. <!--emo& Tongue

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If it was only so easy we can all raise some $ for AID, ASHA, Singh, Narmada something, Sabrang, vaghera vaghera.

There's a slang in Bambayia hindi - "khande pe bhitya to kan me m...ta hai" that is, put these peace activites on your shoulders and they'll pi$$ in your ears <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' />
Unfortunately their idea is to talk peace globally but pi$$ in India.

08-17-2006, 09:12 PM

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /> Natwar not allowed to speak in Rajya Sabha
Source: PTI. Image Source: AFP

New Delhi, Aug 17: Suspended Congress leader Natwar Singh was today not allowed to speak on the India-US nuclear deal in Rajya Sabha leading to vociferous protests from opposition BJP.

Midway through the discussion, Singh, who continues to occupy a front row seat in the House, rose to demand that be allowed to put across his view on the deal when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was present.

Deputy Chairman K Rehman Khan ruled he could not allow Singh to speak as his name was not in the list of speakers given by his Congress party.

Khan said if member wanted to speak he could go and seek premission of the Chairman.
Singh, however, said he had every right to speak on the issue as he was External Affairs Minister when the deal was signed.

The former minister said he had sought premission from Chairman but has not got any reply.

Opposition members supported Singh. Former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said the House wanted to hear him and as a member he has right to speak.

Intervening on Singh's behalf, BJP's Arun Shourie said the deal would impact the country for the next 50 years and the House could not be deprived of important information that Singh had to share.

08-18-2006, 06:14 AM

OOP issue --On backfoot, Govt sets up JPC on OoP 

With President APJ Abdul Kalam so far withholding his assent to the Office-of-Profit Bill, the Government on Thursday sprang a surprise in Lok Sabha by announcing the setting up of a joint parliamentary committee to examine the constitutional and legal position on offices of profit and suggest a comprehensive definition.

The move comes in the backdrop of increasing discomfiture in ruling circles about the likely course of action the President may take considering he had returned the Bill to Parliament for a re-look only to find it returned without any of his concerns addressed

the decision in a bid to mollify the President.

The Centre is anxious that the President expedites his assent to the Bill as disqualification petitions against many UPA MPs, including Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee are pending with the Election Commission 

They also took exception to the haste with which Law Minister Hansraj Bhardwaj read the announcement about the JPC and walked off. Terming this as an insult to the House, NDA members walked out in a huff, while the Left and Samajwadi MPs expressed resentment.

It had been decided that before JPC is constituted, every member would quit the office of profit he is currently holding," BJP's Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.

"The Government did not even announce the names of the members, and the Law Minister did not have time to address the queries of the members 

The BJP-led NDA had urged the President to seek legal advice from the Supreme Court on the OoP Bill being passed in its original form

08-18-2006, 11:21 AM

Minister used by job scamsters 
The team has documentary evidence and has met victims who paid up to Rs two lakh each for jobs they say that Selja Kumari urged them into taking up.

A local scamster P S Sandhu and a Congress MLA from Selja Kumari's Lok Sabha constituency Ambala, are also under scanner for setting up a fake Public Sector Undertaking called Agrofed and duping hundreds of youth across seven states.

"Give me a lakh and I will give you a government job" was Sandhu's mantra.
......
A newspaper ad of Agrofed features Union Minister Kumari Selja and Congress party hoardings sponsored by the fake PSU were all over Ambala two months ago. <!--emo& Big Grin

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âItâs true that there were certain people who came to me for instance there was this young helpless girl who was physically challenged and wanted a job,â Kumari Selja said

08-19-2006, 07:11 AM

<!--emo&

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /> Ministry hangs up on history remix

Team HT Saturday

New Delhi, August 19, 2006

Subhas Chandra Boseâs historic Dilli chalo speech, Rabindra Sangeet in Tagore's own voice and speeches by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru as mobile ringtones. Great marketing idea? Not as far as Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi is concerned.

When the minister discovered that the Films Division had sold the original recordings of these famous speeches to a reputed production house â which in turn intended to resell them to a telecom major â he threw a fit. He is prepared to hold his ground in court should the need arise, sources told HT.

It all started when the firm invited the minister to launch the ringtones, purchased from the government's own archives under a special MoU.

While the production house seemed to be in the clear since it had legitimately purchased the rights to resell the original recordings, the minister was horrified that priceless national heritage had been sold by a government department for commercial use.

An inquiry established that a committee of the Films Division â which is under the I&B Ministry and controls a repository of archival speeches â had decided to enter into a partnership with the production house. A commercial agreement sanctioning the use of archival matter as ringtones had also been entered into. The committee's tenure, meanwhile, lapsed and, for reasons not specified, was not renewed.

While the ministry did take action by suspending Films Division chief producer Raghu Krishna, it is now trying to wrap up an inquiry into the matter. The sources said Krishna could face action under procedural norms. He, however, could not be contacted.

The sources said since the archival speeches had not yet been handed over to the production house, the ministry had decided to cancel the agreement. Asked about the legal tenability of such a move, an official in the ministry retorted, "Let them go to court."

08-22-2006, 02:28 AM

QUOTEBJP seeks PM's clarification 
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
The BJP is planning to seek clarifications from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Parliament on Tuesday whether the national song Vande Mataram is of any importance for the current regime.

"The opposition to the recital of the national song on September 7 to mark the centenary of its adoption is rooted in the two-nation theory that is being propped up overtly and covertly by the Muslim fundamentalists. It is an act of sedition. Vande Mataram has nothing to do with any religion, but the religion of nationalism," deputy leader of BJP in the Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra said on Monday.

Seeking action against Members of Parliament opposed to reciting the national song, Malhotra said that their behaviour was an abetment to the anti-national forces. "How could a Member of Parliament say that he is against reciting the national song or anthem, when it is enshrined in the Constitution," he asked.

Asaduddin Owaisi of AIMIM and Iliyas Azmi of the Bahujan Samaj Party have reportedly opposed the imposition of Vande Mataram on schoolchildren on September 7, saying that the song has religious connotations that go against the tenets of Islam.

Approving party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi's assertion that those opposed to reciting the national song should leave the country, Malhotra said that such people were free to go anywhere or any country of their choice. "They cannot be allowed to humiliate the nation by being in India. As the citizens of a nation, they need to follow certain established norms, depicting the country's fervour of nationalism," he said.

In order to buttress his point, Malhotra said that Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana had been adopted by the Constitution as the national song and anthem respectively. "Vande Mataram has been recited at all Congress conventions during the freedom movement struggle. It is recited in Parliament too," Malhotra said.

The BJP has accused HRD Minister Arjun Singh of bending before the fundamentalists to humiliate the nation. "The nation and nationalism have to be placed above everything. By making the recital of the national song only voluntary on September 7, Singh has proved that he has softened his stand on such an important issue of nationalism," Malhotra said.

BJP leader said that Muslim intellectuals and nationalists should come forward and give a befitting reply to the fundamentalists bringing bad name to the community. "Ulemmas are out in the open to threaten the country's peace, prosperity and integrity. Instead of blaming the media for the negative image that Muslims have acquired in the country, the intellectuals in the community should rise to the occasion in the country's interests," Malhotra added.

08-22-2006, 03:18 AM

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/argue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='argue.gif' /> I don't know when people, most probably Mohd Rafi can sing a filmy song like:
e maan teri surat se barhkar Bhagwan ki surat kys hogi.
Then objection to this composition by Bankim Chander Chatterjee.
does not stand the scrutiny.

08-23-2006, 12:08 AM

QUOTE'An attempt by Centre to gain political mileage' 
Subrata Mukherjee, noted political scientist and professor of DU
An issue settled long back is unnecessarily being unsettled to score political gains. This is tragic.

Vande Mataram is the National Song of India and there is no dispute on this. The recent controversy is nothing but an attempt by the Central Government to gain political mileage. I wonder why there is a debate at all, as the matter has long been settled. Political parties and Islamic fundamentalists should try and brush up their understanding of history. Are they forgetting that the National Song was first sung in 1896, exactly 110 years ago?Â

The song had been an integral part of the Congress party since its formation and all the controversies related to a part of this song were first settled in the Congress Working Committee and later in the Constituent Assembly. The political parties and Islamic clerics have been raking up this controversy for no rhyme or reason.

During the Calcutta session of the party in 1938, the Congress Working Committee decided that henceforth only the two stanzas of the song would be sung. Top Congress leader like Mahatama Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Fazl-ul-Haque were party to the decision.

I wonder why Muslim clerics can't restrict themselves to this historical decision. This time they have come up with a weird argument that Islam does not allow the Muslims to revere anyone except Allah. This is an act of messing up the whole issue.

Iqbal who composed "Saare Jahan Se Achcha" had a notion of the two-nation theory but still we accepted it. There was no controversy over it. Unless and until we develop a sense of shared identity, India instead of becoming a developed nation will continue to be "a nation in making" as Surendra Nath Banerjea had said. Rather than get into such petty controversies, Government should work in areas where India is still lagging behind. It's high time our politicians stopped playing tricks with us by digging up issues that have been settled long back.

- As told to Praveen Kumar

ramana · 08-23-2006, 01:01 AM

From Pioneer, 23 Aug.2006

QUOTETiwari anoints Jairam Chidambaram's successor

PTI | Dehradun

Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh was taken by surprise on Tuesday when Uttaranchal Chief Minister ND Tiwari complimented him saying he is being tipped to become the next Finance Minister in place of P Chidambaram.

"Although Chidambaram is doing a good work, we understand that you (Ramesh) are the next Finance Minister," Tiwari said at a public function here in the presence of Union Communication Minister Dayanidhi Maran.Â
ND Tiwari and Jairam Ramesh

Visibly embarrassed by Tiwari's comments, Ramesh merely quipped "no comment".

But that was not the end of it. Tiwari further described Ramesh as a computer wizard much to his delight. "We will try to emulate your amazing memory power," Tiwari said.


I think Tiwari let the cat out of the bag. The reshuffle is underway or might be stalled now that it is reproted. PC might become the MEA?

08-23-2006, 01:36 AM

QUOTEI think Tiwari let the cat out of the bag. The reshuffle is underway or might be stalled now that it is reproted. PC might become the MEA?
Ofcourse, MMS khaas man will get special job. So that he can deliver what was expected from masters abroad.

08-24-2006, 01:31 AM

QUOTEUPA holds country to ransom 
Pioneer.com
Congress fails to realise that so far as appeasement is concerned, it's better to draw a line than to sign on the dotted line, says Anuradha Dutt

An oft-quoted adage states that the people deserve the Government they get. Holding this to be true, do Indians really deserve the present rag-tag coalition at the centre, which is bent on fragmenting the nation on the basis of caste and religion? The answer would be in the negative since they never voted the UPA to power.

The Congress, the coalition's biggest component with a tally of 145 Lok Sabha seats, surpassed the BJP's haul by a mere eight seats. Both fell short of a simple majority in the Lower House to be eligible to rule on its own. The alliance between the Congress and smaller parties was an outcome of political horse-trading rather than popular mandate. The principle of quid pro quo determined the formula for sharing power, with minor regional players such as TRS also eager to grab the loaves of office. Socialists, of varied nomenclatures, were easily netted.

The general election, held over two years ago, gave a splintered verdict. The NDA could as easily have staked its claim to govern had the Left parties, for reasons of political expediency, tendered outside support, as it has with the Manmohan Singh's Government. The Left cooperating with the Hindu right is not an impossible prospect. They have done so in the past, from 1977-1979, when they propped up the Janata Government, which encompassed Jana Sangh, the BJP's earlier avatar. Indira Gandhi was their common enemy. After the coalition was dislodged by some of its own worthies, BJP rose from the debris as a born-again Hindutva party. Again, VP Singh's short-lived Government survived with the assistance of the BJP and the Left. The latter tendered outside support, as is usual with it.

Compromise on ideology is routine for the Left. In the present case, supposedly hard-line Communists and Congress's free market proponents are kissing cousins. There is little to distinguish them except for the occasional squeak of dissent from holders of the red flag. It is just play-acting for the benefit of their cadres and supporters, Left confused by the equivocation of their leaders. Such chicanery becomes a veritable national threat when the ruling alliance initiates policies to create fissures among Hindus as well as fuel bitter differences between Muslims and Hindus. Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, a Congressman of the old school that engendered caste and communal politics, is reported to be the mastermind in both instances. The move to reserve 27 per cent seats in central educational institutions for OBCs, including the creamy layer, is ascribed to him. The backlash among the other castes - Dalits as much as the upper tiers - can only accentuate parochial feelings and further splinter vote banks. This is probably what the UPA intends.

Equally incendiary is the HRD minister's directive to educational institutions to make the rendition of Vande Mataram, the national song, voluntary on September 7, during the centenary celebrations of the song. The order was apparently prompted by protests against the song, made by Muslim clerics such as the Jama Masjid's Shahi Imam, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, who claimed that it was un-Islamic to worship the motherland. These very persons and their political patrons have obstructed an amicable resolution of the Ram Janmabhoomi issue. Bukhari and his ilk are known to thrive on stoking communal tensions. Mr Singh conceded and his capitulation triggered a sharp reaction from the BJP. It appeared to an act of treason to so denigrate the national song. They have demanded Mr Singh's ouster, which his critics feel is overdue.

Such kowtowing is not justifiable. The opinion of a few people, who do not like the idea of deifying Indian nationhood, cannot be made the benchmark for national mores. The Congress made the same mistake when it flouted the constitutional directive to implement a Uniform Civil Code, allowing Muslims to follow their personal laws.

This strengthened the bigoted clergy's stranglehold over its flock, compounding the error through the constitutional amendment bill in 1986, in order to revoke the Supreme Court judgement, granting the 70-year-old Shah Bano maintenance from her former husband. The present shenanigans indicate that the party continues to hold India to ransom in exchange for minority votes.

ramana · 08-25-2006, 12:33 AM

Is there an icon for self pat on the back?
PM hints at Cabinet reshuffle
QUOTEPM hints at Cabinet reshuffle
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunil Prabhu
Wednesday, August 23, 2006 (New Delhi):

There may be another Cabinet reshuffle by the end of this month.

At a dinner on Tuesday night, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that he would like a new foreign minister to go the United Nations General Assembly next month where General Pervez Mushaaraf will also be going.

Another cabinet vacancy was created on Tuesday when the TRS chief resigned as the labour minister.

With the resignation of the Labour Minister Chandrasekhar Rao , the Congress party seems keen on keeping the portfolio for itself and one of the likely candidates is Rajya Sabha MP Arjun Sengupta.

Both the Prime Minister and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi have not yet been able to decide on a suitable candidate for the post of foreign minister.

However, there are indications that the probable candidates are P Chidambaram, Karan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee.

If it is PC it will rub the Natwar Singh's supporters badly and could effect the poll alignments later.

08-26-2006, 09:22 AM

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/argue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='argue.gif' /> Haj ruling: BJP agrees, Congress squirms
[ 26 Aug, 2006 0311hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates

LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: The Allahabad HC verdict, barring financial support for Haj, has elicited contrasting responses from the political spectrum. Congress made plain its discomfort with the order even as senior government sources asserted that it would soon be challenged in the Supreme Court.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said: "There are sufficient grounds to challenge the court order, the last word on the verdict had not been heard."

BJP, however, appeared to have no quarrel with it, even though the party said it would come out with a detailed response only after it had gone through the court order. Its initial response, predictably, appeared to be in line with the spirit of the ruling.

"Though we will have to examine the judgement properly, as far as BJP's views are concerned, we always hold that state funds should be used on non-discriminatory basis," party spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said.

A division bench of Justices A K Yog and O N Khandelwal of Lucknow bench passed the order on a petition moved in 1995 by B N Shukla, a Shiv Sena activist, through his counsel H S Jain.

The petitioner had sought curbs on aid by central and state governments to pilgrims going on Haj or on any other pilgrimage by people of any religion.

Earlier this year, the Allahabad High Court had delivered another ruling impacting on minority affairs when it ruled that Aligarh Muslim University could not claim "minority" institution status.

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08-29-2006, 09:34 PM

Muslim discontent worries PM, Sonia QUOTE"The party leadership is concerned about the increasing unhappiness among the Muslims," said a senior Congress leader.

"We cannot afford to hurt the Muslim community," the leader said, referring to upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. "The Congress is secular and cannot afford an anti-Muslim image,"Â <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> he added.

The Muslim leaders pointed out that the Congress-led government in Maharashtra and the state police had "communalised" the July 11 Mumbai bombings that killed nearly 200 people and given a religious colour to the terrorist act.

The attempts by a section of central and Maharashtra state government functionaries to isolate the community could have grave "social and political consequences", they said.

"They sought to blame the entire Muslim community as supporters and collaborators of anti-national elements and tried to portray the areas inhabited by Muslims as havens of Islamic terrorists," one of the MPs said.

He said the Mumbai Police had arrested several "innocent, poor Muslims" and treated them "inhumanly" in custody during the hunt for those who masterminded the string of bombings in Mumbai trains and railway stations.

09-01-2006, 07:05 PM

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/argue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='argue.gif' /> 'Nepotism in the garb of social justice'

September 1, 2006
Related Stories [X] close

Quota bill for unaided bodies in winter session Â»

After 49 per cent quotas in government educational institutions, the government is now going to implement 27 per cent OBC quotas in unaided higher educational institutions. The matter is to come up for debate in the winter session of the Parliament.

Clearly the news hasn't been well received. The issue of whether the creamy layer in OBCs should have been kept out of reservation umbrella has been debated as well.

Here's how the responses went.

Varinder Sarin from Kuwait felt this government was least bothered about public opinion.

"Public opinion does not matter in current political situation. UPA is following dictatorship in the garb of democracy."

"When the UPA government does not care for the Supreme Court orders or President's opinion then where does public opinion matter? What happened to SC's order on demolition of unauthorised buildings in Delhi? What happened on OoP Bill? What happened on AIIMS doctors' salaries for the strike period? What happened when SC declared illegal, the dissolution of Bihar assembly? What happened when Jharkhand Governor could not see the difference between 41 and 38 before SC intervened?"

"The issue of reservation is a gift of Congress party to the nation - like the Kashmir issue - which will divide the nation on caste and religious lines."

Rajagopal from New Delhi, India felt nobody listens. All people care for is their political careers.

"The government is playing politics with caste to gain votes. It is time to end reservation in all spheres. But who will listen? All are mad about their political careers."

Anil K Kapoor of New Delhi, India reiterated that a blanket reservation policy (without checks and measures) would lead to fall in standards.

"Fixing quota in private institutions will pull down our education level to zero. The calibre of students coming in from OBC section is well-known."

Ramkrishnan felt the government was never serious about skimming of the creamy layer.

"Reservation is nepotism in the garb of 'social justice'. Otherwise why object to removal of 'creamy layer' from reservation quota?"

New Delhi's Deepti was certain government was harming India's future.

"Government is forging ahead with reservations to get votes from the quota category and is playing with the future of Indian students."

Akansha from Nagpur in India feels the government would do everything in its might to get its way.

"The quota bill is being brought into the Parliament on the last day, so that there's no space for any agitation against it. It's unfair for students like us who work hard only to find that they don't deserve their engineering seats because they're not OBCs."

"I strongly oppose it and even though I'm against brain drain, I (and indeed many more like me) would be forced to practice it."

"Introduction of increased reservations will only take the country backwards."

09-04-2006, 01:19 AM

QUOTENothing is fair in games & politics 
Arun Nehru
Pioneer.com
As for politics in India, the vendetta syndrome continues and Ms Maneka Gandhi is added to the list on rather irrelevant issues. And in Parliament it takes Mr Kapil Sibal, Mr P Chidambaram and Mr Priyaranjan Das Munshi to deal with her as she accuses Congress president Sonia Gandhi of vendetta. Clearly, whether it is Ms Jaya Bachchan (on the Office-of-Profit issue) and her family, Mr Mulayam Singh, Ms J Jayalalithaa, or for that matter, Mr Natwar Singh and his family, there is a growing feeling that they are being targeted.

There is no doubt that Ms Sonia Gandhi is making a big mistake. The hunters always become the hunted and few in the political game are worried about Government agencies, be that the CBI, Enforcement Directorate or Income-Tax Department. Nothing lasts forever, and it is not unusual for the same officials to be investigating both the "hunters and the hunted" for the same offence.

Ms Maneka Gandhi and her son will be formidable campaigners and public sympathy will be in their favour as personal vendettas are unleashed to frighten them. I think all concerned are aware that only insecure leaders threaten others with their own insecurity.

Mr Arun Shourie must be next on the list, and I pity those who have to confront him with corruption charges. There can be differing viewpoints, but to malign someone with Mr Shourie's integrity is sheer political stupidity. Politics is a hard game and those who throw punches must be prepared to receive a few in return. And in these cases, you may well receive 10 for each punch delivered. It is sad that better sense does not prevail.

There is no shortage of "eminent" lawyers in the Congress party, but not one of them had the time or the nerve to anticipate the future implications of the action initiated on Ms Jaya Bachchan. After many twists and turns the matter is still in the Supreme Court, and look at the political cost of this blunder. All these acts have very little political support and it would be wise to remember that leaks and spills always take place from the top. There are few secrets where the orders are coming from. And I think all this is unnecessary, as retribution will come sooner than later in one form or the other.

All Governments deny racial profiling. While the intent may not be there, the fact remains that daily activities are conducted by 'normal' human beings and after 9/11 there is a clear and visible bias. Former Australian cricketer Dean Jones may not have meant it when he called South African cricketer Hashim Amla a terrorist for sporting a beard. Similarly, events in Amsterdam, where 12 Indian Muslims were detained, jailed and later released, indicate that all is not well.

An apology in these matters is not enough. It needs to be understood without doubt that profiling on the basis of looks and name (religion) will only create further alienation. It will be fair to say that while the majority of Muslims are against terrorists and murderers, there is a growing feeling that the community in particular and Asians in general are subject to 'special treatment'.

Genuine mistakes will take place but a punitive gesture is necessary so that certain things are not taken for granted. There should be no doubt about the fact that Governments or security agencies are basically not 'racial'. This despite the fact that individuals can have extreme views and proper screening is necessary before staffs are deployed in sensitive areas. Security issues require intensive training over several years but the threat perception and attacks multiply by the day. So the Governments have little option but to deploy staff at all levels on an emergency basis.

I visited Guwahati, the capital of Assam, a few days ago. Having some experience of security systems I observe the quality of staff and I have little hesitation in saying that the security checks, procedures at the airport were outstanding and the best I have seen in many years. Firm, polite and very thorough and I watched the drill till the last passenger was cleared. There was no relaxation by the staff.

09-06-2006, 01:18 AM

QUOTEMid-term evaluation of UPA
PIoneer.com
Government has performed miserably on almost all fronts, the most glaring of them being its inability to tackle terrorism and crime, says Bulbul Roy Mishra

President APJ Abdul Kalam's call on India's 60th Independence Day for transforming India into a safe and economically developed nation before 2020 had a cynical undertone, considering the long time-frame he had set. The targets, as the President spelt out, were to enhance food grain output from the existing 200 million tones to 360 million tones annually, to realise nearly 100 per cent literacy, and to provide effective, affordable and quality healthcare services to all.

The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (EAC) predicts a growth of GDP in 2006-07 at 7.9 per cent, industry at 9.7 per cent, services at 9.5 per cent, but agriculture at meagre 1.5 per cent. Despite the current buoyancy in revenue collection that in all likelihood will leave a surplus in the hands of Finance Minister P Chidambaram to spare for promotion of education and healthcare over the budgeted allocation, the down-slide of agriculture is unmistakable.

It is unfortunate that despite being endowed with natural resources, India's annual agricultural growth rate has been showing a sharp decline under the UPA regime. As against 2.2 per cent growth rate in the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002), the annual average growth rate in the first three years of the 10th Five Year Plan has fallen below 1.5 per cent. This cannot be explained away by excuses such as failure of monsoon or occurrence of flood that, in any case, are recurring phenomena.

The failure lies in poor management of water resources. First, the elaborate action plan for river-linking that had received personal attention of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is apparently neglected in the UPA dispensation. Second, the UPA brought down the number of ongoing major irrigation projects from 173 to 157, medium projects from 235 to 212 and extension, renovation and modernisation projects from 86 to 83, owing to enormous cost escalation, amounting to about Rs 90,000 crore in view of the inordinate delay in completing those projects and total lack of accountability. Last, the Government under a Minister who gives more time to cricket than agriculture has done precious little to show that Rajiv Gandhi's observation that only 15 paisa out of a rupee spent on the poor actually reached them is no more valid. No wonder instances of farmers' suicides are on the rise.

The single most remarkable achievement of the UPA Government on the economic front was the implementation of VAT by 25 States last year, with a common tariff and an automated system for information sharing. VAT has enhanced the State coffers and is likely to remove resource-crunch. However, Mr Manmohan Singh ought to prioritise implementation of National E-governance Action Plan (NEGAP), as the delay in completing it will enhance the risk of corruption, fraud and tax evasion.

Another area of success is the Railways that has demonstrated how without raising the tariff, the revenue can be increased.

The single largest failure of the UPA is to tackle terrorism and crimes. It is ominous that in Congress-ruled Maharashtra and Jammu & Kashmir, terrorist attacks are on the rise, thanks to the lack of administrative firmness and a clear anti-terrorist strategy and motivation.

The lack of clarity was also writ large in the UPA's Kashmir policy. Mr Vajpayee could be credited with the understanding that cessation of Pakistan sponsored terrorism was governed by the twin pre-conditions: Build up international pressure to get Gen Musharraf into listening mode, and de-alienate Pakistani commoners from Indians by proffering friendly overtures. He accomplished both the tasks and came close to solving the Kashmir issue through negotiation around the time the BJP decided to prepone the general poll.

Disparate agenda of individual leaders in the coalition Government has left the Prime Minister with the Hobson's choice of spending crores of rupees for expansion of reservation in higher education, when millions have been languishing for want of minimum education and healthcare

09-09-2006, 03:11 PM

QUOTECongress Govt move to dismiss employees with RSS background in HP

SIMLA: Congress government in Himachal Pradesh had shown their height of intolerance by suspending a government Ayurvedic practitioner, stating that he had links with RSS. âHe was working for the RSS. That is why he has been placed under suspension,â told Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. He also warned that any employee having links with the RSS will be dismissed from service. âGovernment employees will not be allowed to take part in RSS activities. If any employee does so, he will be dismissed,â Singh said. Singhâs statement evoked a sharp reaction from the BJP which termed it as âundemocratic and dictatorialâ.

In a statement issued here, party spokesman Randhir Sharma said that the RSS was a ânationalist social organisation which works for inculcating moral values, honesty, dedication and selfless service.â He said it appeared that the Chief Minister had âno faith in democratic values and was trying to infringe upon the right to views and expression which was violation of the Constitutionâ. The BJP leader informed that Singh was trying to âbrowbeat the honest and dedicated employees and has asked him to quote the article of the Constitution under which government employees could not have links with RSSâ. Sharma dared the Chief Minister to take action against such employees and said that if needed, the BJP would not hesitate to launch an agitation on the issue.Â Â

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If employees with RSS affliation are to be dismissed, then Congress should also fire any employee who visits or has ties with any Masjid, because the masjids are known to be breeding grounds for terrorist activities. The same should hold for christian employees, who have affliation with some churches and christian organizations that propound and advocate intolerance against hinduism and other faiths, and engage actively in religious conversions and instigate anti-hindu sentiments.

RSS is a social service organization. The government should be challenged on its decision to fire employees, on the grounds of infringement of the basic rights of employees to associate with any organization.

The congress's heavy-handed approach towards the RSS has the strong backing of the church and christian evangelical organizations. Over the years, RSS's social services have been increasingly in many backward communities that were considered by christian evangelical organization as their own territory for conversion activities. The RSS is no doubt being viewed as the biggest threat to christian conversion activities in rural India.

09-16-2006, 05:39 PM

Has UPA become senile?
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QUOTEBy M.V. Kamath What on earth is the matter with the UPA Government? Has it turned senile? Why are we being nice to the point of subservience to Bangladesh? Has the government become totally stripped of its mental faculties? Consider this: Indiaâs Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran was on a visit to Dhaka. His visit was being covered by a correspondent of All India Radio, D.N. Mohanty who stayed in the Bangladesh capital. On July 31 Mohanty attended a briefing given by Shri Shyam Saran in Hotel Sherarton late in the evening. Following the briefing, Mohanty returned home in the Gulshan area of the city and entered the lift where two persons were waiting for him. Before he could comprehend their motive, he was mercilessly attacked and suffered multiple injuries on his face, chest and right arm. He was then thrown out of the lift on to the floor close to his apartment. He lay there until his neighborâs maid found him, unconscious.

The guards in the building where he was staying were unmoved by Mohantyâs condition and it was only after much persuasion that he was finally taken to a hospital where he remained in coma for the next two days before he showed signs of recovery. The doctors treating Mohanty, according to The Pioneer sought to mislead the local media by saying that the correspondent was down with food poisoning, an obvious lie, considering the wounds on his body. Says The Pioneer (August 7): âThis incident was brought to the knowledge of Saran who kept mum over this outrageous incidentâ and âthe issue was allowed to be buriedâ.

The attack on the AIR correspondent in Dhaka should not be allowed to go unnoticed whatever the attitude and approach of the Government of India is. Bangladesh is getting more and more aggressive and insouciant believing India will not reactâwhich is true. Delhi is showing that it has lost its backbone. On July 27 The Pioneer carried another story that should equally be cause for concern. According to the paper âin a sudden and daring move, Bangladeshis, backed by their countryâs army, have uprooted pillars demarcating the Indo-Bangladesh border along Dhubri and Karimganj districts of Assam and forcibly grabbed at least 500 acres (2.02 sq kms) of Indian territory.â

The paper reported that âby the time Assam government or its police could respond to the situation, swarms of Bangladeshis had taken possession of the land, ferociously pushing back Indians who dared to go beyond the surreptitiously shifted border postsâ. The land grab apparently came to light only recently when tea pickers at Pallatal and Pramodnagar plantations in southern Assamâs Karimganj district found a portion of the gardens being zealously guarded by Bangladeshis. When the Indian workers tried to enter those areas of the gardens, they were shoved back. Speaking on the issue, Assamâs revenue minister Bhumidhar Barman told stunned legislators that a total of about 499.83 acres of Indian territory has been encroached upon and occupied by Bangladeshis after removing boundary pillars.

He confirmed that Bangladeshi have taken over 299.04 acres of Pallatal Tea Estate smd 11.73 acres of Pramodnagar Tea Estate in Karimganj district. â In Dhubri district, 189.06 acres under Mancachar revenue circles has been encroachedâ, Barman said, adding: âEven though the administrative power of these areas lies within the Assam government, they are under the control of Bangladeshâ. The Assam Government has apparently alerted Delhi and reportedly the matter was âdiscussedâ at a recent meeting of the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Border Commission.

This information seems to have been pushed under the carpet by the government for reasons unknown. Assam shares a 272 km long border with Bangladesh of which only about 79 per cent has been fenced with barbed wire. Illegal Bangladeshi immigrants have nevertheless been crossing the international border with impudence with the Government doing very little about it.

Even the secular press seems to have gone into hibernation. The picture is frightening because Bangladeshis apparently have never been taken to task all these years. One remembers with shame how a member of the Indian Border Force was killed some months ago and his body returned to India tied to two poles like one does to a carcass. Bangladesh deserves one good slap on its face. It has become home for not only ISI to carry on its murderous activities against India, but also for shameless and traitorous ULFA terrorists. Saudi and Pakistani money is transmitted to India via Bangladesh.

According to Home Minister Shivraj Patilâs own admission terrorists have been taking advantage of buses and trains launched as part of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) to sneak in from both Pakistan and Bangladesh. Replying to an adjournment motion moved by the BJP in Lok Sabha, the Home Minister elaborated that terror has spread its tentacles not just in border towns but well into the interior. But there is no evidence that the UPA government is doing any thing to stop this. According to The Pioneer again (August 3) funds from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan come to NGOs in Bangladesh which are then routed to India. The paper quoted intelligence sources as saying that madrasas in India are in receipt of huge funds from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Pakistan and Bangladesh. What is bothering Indian security agencies is the unbridled growth of madrasas along the Indo-Bangladesh border which has 955 mosques and 445 madrasas in 22 bordering districts of West Bengal on the Indian
side and 976 mosques and 156 madrasas in 28 districts on Bangladesh side.

According to reports 57 mosques and 88 madrasas have been constructed on the Indian side in West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura during the last few years. According to reports, while the Assam Government is refusing to provide official estimates of illegal immigration, there could be as many as one crore Bangladeshis living in Assam alone. Indigenous Assamese fear that they will be reduced to a minority if unabated infiltration continues. This fear will be further heightened by Bangladeshis brazenly uprooting border posts, grabbing Indian land and colonising Indian territory openly without Delhi daring to lift its little finger, Instead of taking note of this, one Congress Minister in the UPA government has been giving a certificate of clearance to all madarassas when these schools have been rearing murderers and terrorists without the least fear.

The Prime Minister has said nothing about he statement made by Mr Arjun Singh that not Muslim terrorists but Hindutva Groups have been regularly faking attacks to malign Muslim organisations. One wonders whether the Prime Minister is in agreement with this observation. If he is, he must say so. If he is not he must summarily dismiss not only HRD Minister Arjun Singh but the Minister for Minority Affairs, Abdur Rehman Antulay who is supposed to have said that the Mumbai blasts could be the handiwork of RSS. We are living in dangerous times and the UPA government seems to be taking everything lightly. If Dr Manmohan Singh wants to know more about terrorism, let him just put in a friendly call to Tony Blair. He may learn a few things.

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