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| << July24, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net ]Tibet , holistic health ,nukes etc |
July26, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net]White flags,vaccines,CPP,World Trade talks etc >> |
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[1] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> Date: Mon Jul 24, 2006 Subject: Indian Left Champions Indian Nukes (as Does the Far Right)! http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1043455 Indo-US nuclear deal a trap for India, says CPM Kay Benedict Sunday, July 23, 2006 23:34 IST CPI(M) writes to scientific community, BJP and the Congress on the “dangerous” nuclear deal. ---------------- [2] From: "Ram Narayanan" <ramn_one@adelphia.net> Date: Mon Jul 24, 2006 Subject: Don't blame Pakistan, look within http://indianexpress.com/printerFriendly/9089.html THE INDIAN EXPRESS Don't blame Pakistan, look within Tavleen Singh Posted online: Sunday, July 23, 2006 at 0000 hrs IST Am I the only one disturbed by a minister in Mulayam Singh Yadav's government asking for a Muslim Pradesh in western Uttar Pradesh? Is there nobody in Dr Manmohan Singh's Cabinet who thinks this a worrying development? It seems that way. Two days after The Times of India reported Azam Khan's demand, Dr Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet met and discussed the following subjects. The Sixth Pay Commission, cultural cooperation with Ireland, ties with Fiji, the protection of tigers and amendments to the Right to Information Act. Not one word about the dangerously divisive demand by one of Mulayam's senior colleagues. Do we have a government in Delhi or not? Do we have a Prime Minister? As someone who was in Mumbai on the day the bombs went off and has been here ever since, I ask these questions not just on my own behalf but on behalf of the people I meet every day in this city. Like them I am beginning to worry about whether Dr Manmohan Singh's government is capable of defending us against the ''jehad'' that is being waged against us so successfully that if it continues unchecked, it could cause a civil war and worse. Nearly 200 people were killed in the carnage on Mumbai's trains and the only response we have seen from the Government of India is a ludicrous attempt to censor the Internet and vague allegations against Pakistan. For a start this has to stop. Next time an Indian government wants to blame Pakistan for terrorism it should do so when it can provide us with evidence. Or we end up helping Pakistan instead of nailing it and, more importantly, we mislead Indians into believing that the problem we face is entirely the creation of a ubiquitous ''foreign hand''. It is not. It is indigenous. It is a jehad being fought by homegrown terrorists and the sooner we come to terms with this the easier it will be to fight it. Having said this I have to sadly add that there is little chance of us winning if we continue to rely on governments in Delhi that have neither the understanding of how serious the problem is nor the courage to admit that Indian Muslims are becoming frighteningly influenced by the worldwide jehad and the sense that Islam has become the target of some international conspiracy. Let me give you an example from Mumbai. When President Bush came to India, thousands and thousands of Mumbai's Muslims took to the streets to protest against his visit. Now, whatever objections we might have to the American President's role in West Asia, from an Indian viewpoint he has been terrific. In any case, what is interesting is why it is so easy to get hundreds of thousands of Muslims on to the streets against cartoons they have never seen and an American president, and so hard to get them out when 200 citizens of their city are killed for nothing. Could it be an identification with the worldwide jehad? My fear is that it is and that it is being fuelled by our own politicians, who are mentally stuck in a time in which all that mattered was the Muslim vote. If they understood today's realities the Prime Minister would not have set up that commission under Justice Rajinder Sachar that is now asking courts to count the number of Muslim judges they have. It is the sort of commission that serves mainly to heighten the Muslim sense of alienation. Why is the Prime Minister so keen on this kind of exercise? We have a right to know. Just as we have a right to know why his government does not realise how much it weakens India to view it constantly as a collection of castes and creeds instead of as a nation. One of our greatest achievements has been that in the past 20 years or so we have softened the boundaries of caste and creed and come together strongly as one people, one country. Dr Manmohan Singh's government seems determined to undo this. The bombings in Mumbai are proof that we cannot any more run away from the reality of an indigenous jehad. At such a time, for a minister to demand a Muslim Pradesh is not just sick, it is an act of treason. What does the Prime Minister intend to do about this? ---------------- [3] From: "Ram Narayanan" <ramn_one@adelphia.net> Date: Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:23 pm Subject: Has US shifted N-deal goalposts? Dear Friends: Two articles in THE INDIAN EXPRESS dated July 24, 2006: 1) a reality check on the issue of US shifting the nuclear goalposts; and 2) an editorial which focuses on why India should not lose sight of what the nuclear deal brings to the country. Cheers, Ram Narayanan US-India Friendship http://www.usindiafriendship.net/ http://www.indianexpress.com/story/9190.html http://www.indianexpress.com/story/9164.html INDIAN EXPRESS EDITORIAL, JULY 24, 2006 United we debate Question nuclear deal specifics by all means but don't lose sight of what it brings to the country ------------------- [4] From: "P.J. Victor Raj" <pjvraj@yahoo.com> Date: Mon Jul 24, 2006 Subject: Ideological change can bring communal harmony: Ideological change can bring communal harmony: seminar By Indian Express Sunday July 23, 01:08 AM AN ideological change among people is what is needed to bring in communal harmony and peace in society, said speakers at a seminar held at Gujarat Vidyapeeth on Saturday. The seminar was organised by volunatry body ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony And Democracy) to observe the 60th year of martyrdom of Vasant-Rajab, the Hindu-Muslim duo. Vasant and Rajab were killed on July 1, 1946 in a communal riot that had flared up during that year's Rath Yatra. They were trying to save Hindu, Muslim and Dalit families when they lost their lives. ANHAD, which works to promote democracy, secularism, justice and peace, is also planning other programmes this year to commemorate the 60th year of the duo's martyrdom. At the seminar, the speakers spoke on topics like communalism, communal harmony, intolerance and secularism. Shabnam Hashmi, an activist with ANHAD, said: ''This programme is our effort to bring in an ideological change among people about not only what happened in 2002 but also about universal hatred and intolerance. There is no magic wand to do that; the change will come only over a period of time, say a decade or two.'' In his speech, Father Cedric Prakash, of NGO Prashant, said that people need to stop pestering each other over their religious identities and should instead recommit themselves to communal harmony. ''Reclamation and reforms should be demanded and protected from the fascist leaders,'' he said. Hiren Gandhi, another speaker, said that the fight was now not only against communalism but also against fascism. ''The freedom of expression has been literally snatched from us by government. If Aamir Khan says nothing about dam's height and only on rehabilitation of the villagers, what wrong is he doing? If a celebrity like him is tried by banning his film, a layman stands nowhere,'' said Rakesh Sharma, a film-maker. http://in.news.yahoo.com/060722/48/663d9.html ---------------- [5] From: "Viren" <vlobo_1@hotmail.com> Date: Mon Jul 24, 2006 Subject: Iraqi Prime Minister Denounces Isreal actions In different parts of India today ( 24th July) , strong protests at the dastardly attack that Zionist Isreal has inflicted on Lebanon, are being voiced at the call of All India Anti Imperialist Federation. The article below gives a peep into some of the contradictions that engulf the Middle East. Even while being subservient to America , differences over Iran and the Hezbollah have surfaced in the latest Statement of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al Maliki of Iraq . Viren July 20, 2006 International Relations Iraqi Prime Minister Denounces Israel's Actions By EDWARD WONG and MICHAEL SLACKMAN ------------ [6] From: Logically Genius <gurudatta_raut-socialengineer@yahoo.co.in> Date: Mon Jul 24, 2006 Subject: Re: [indiathinkersnet] Terrorist on Yahoo groups forget the terrorist, the politicians are a bigger threat to india. jitu11in@yahoo.com wrote: Hi friends, Below I am able to trace a few 'yahoo groups' which could have members-supporters of terrorism or terrorist as members. ------------- [7] Quit India: Hindutva Goons By Subhash Gatade http://www.countercurrents.org/ind-gatade240706.htm And now when life is becoming normal and people want to move ahead has come the news that Hindutva people won't let the people do so. Under a 'public awareness campaign: "Chhodo Hindustan ", a series of banners urging Muslims who are supporters of terrorism to leave the country. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad which has put these banners all over the city has also decided to 'urge our people to stop buying anything from Muslims.' ------------------------- [8] From: Atal Sharma <sharmatal@yahoo.co.in> Date: Mon Jul 24, 2006 Subject: When human touches the feet of God I am reminded of an SMS that is making rounds: When a woman touched the feet of Ayyappa, he has become impure; When a sinful woman touched the feet of Jesus, she had become pure. Let us think. Atal Sharma I. K. Shukla wrote: Hindu obscurantism and gender discrimination are older, hence holy. Muslim/Christian obscurantisms are far too junior, upstarts, hence are backward and objectionable. -------- [9] From: rkurian@bgl.vsnl.net.in Date: Mon Jul 24, 2006 Subject: Reinvention is the Mother of Necessity..MJ Akbar. M.J. Akbar's Blog - Editor in chief, The Asian Age & Deccan Chronicle & Author of Several Books. Sunday, July 23, 2006 Reinvention is the mother of necessity Byline by MJ Akbar: Reinvention is the mother of necessity Governments tend to begin to lose the plot in the third year of their terms. That is predictable and comes with the calendar. The trouble with Dr Manmohan Singh’s government is that more than one plot is meandering out of control. In fact, there are so many plots around, that Delhi is in danger of looking like a colony. The nuclear deal with America has been a principal focus of the Prime Minister. From 18 July last year, every step along the way has been greeted with relief and applause in Delhi, and all scepticism brushed aside as prejudice, every question dismissed as bias. When the committees of the American legislatures endorsed the enabling Bill in June, the reception in Delhi’s establishment was triumphant. If he has done it once, he has done it a dozen times, but foreign secretary Shyam Saran led the cheers. It was clear to the blind that new conditions had been imposed, but this was airily shrugged off as non-binding. This was the term used. What were the conditions? From 31 January next year, the President of the United States would provide the US Congress with a report on the rate of production of fissile material useable in nuclear weapons, the assembly of "nuclear-explosive devices" as well as the amount of uranium mined in India. Currently, these are secrets that the Prime Minister is not obliged to share with every member of the Indian Cabinet, and indeed does not. But from next year, we were ready to share it with every member of the US Congress! The deal needs annual approval, and that approval is dependent on Congress getting this report. I may be short of the kind of IQ required to run the Government of India, but one hopefully has basic common sense. What is non-binding about this condition? The American President also has to tell his legislatures what he has done to "encourage India to identify and declare a date by which India would be willing to stop production of fissile material". What could be more specific than this? Other voices, including that of secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, have confirmed that America does not recognise India as a nuclear-weapons state and that this deal is a process by which India’s nuclear capability can be monitored and kept under control. The exact phrase used by the US Congress is "reduction and eventual elimination". It soon became evident, that not only were the conditions binding, but the binding was going to begin pretty soon. According to a commitment given by Dr Manmohan Singh to Parliament, India would not accept inspections until all restrictions had been removed. That sequence has been turned upside down. The inspections come first. But the triumphalism of Delhi did not wane. Suddenly, on the eve of Dr Singh’s visit to St. Petersburg in late July, word was put out that he would express some reservations about the deal to President Bush when the two met. What happened in the three weeks between Delhi’s welcome to the House committee conditions and Dr Singh’s visit to St. Petersburg? In terms of public perception, the most important event was the anger of scientists who had fathered our nuclear programme, and the support they received from those who were still serving but could not, by the terms of their employment, speak out. Dr Homi Sethna cannot be accused of being partisan, or of bias, or ignorance. Ditto Dr P. K. Iyengar, another former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Suddenly, they were not alone. But the Prime Minister has ignored criticism before, unwavering in his conviction that this is the agreement that will protect the nation in the foreseeable future. He also surely sees it as a historical achievement (as probably does the Bush administration, although for entirely different reasons). The most credible assumption is that President Abdul Kalam has either written to or had a word with the Prime Minister, and that Dr Singh carried to Bush not his concerns but the President’s concerns. President Kalam has built up extraordinary credibility with the country, winning the affection of its children and the trust of its adults. There is nothing false about his humility, nothing artificial about his simplicity. If our presidential elections were direct, rather than indirect, President Kalam would be re-elected by a substantial margin. Add to this his professional reputation as a scientist and the leader of the team that gave us Pokhran 2 on 11 May 1998 (there are fascinating details in former foreign minister Jaswant Singh’s fascinating new book of memoirs, A Call to Honour, published by Rupa). Such stature is difficult to ignore. The President does not have executive powers in our polity, but he has every right to advise his government. President Kalam’s moral aut hority is his strongest weapon. It is bad news for a government when a President has to intervene. The Prime Minister clearly had to be convinced about the drawbacks, but the problem is elsewhere. Dr Singh has been very poorly served by his administration, and in particular the foreign office. It is India’s ambassador to Washington and the foreign secretary who should have flagged the problems, instead of placing their personal reputations above the common interest. Professionals lulled the Prime Minister, which is why the concerns took so long to reach him. We do not yet know what objections he has raised, but the need for vigilance has increased. The nuclear deal is the key element of a foreign policy that is drifting in the shallows. The government has lost the plot on economic policy and domestic security as well, as is apparent from any day’s headlines. The Natwar Singh episode indicates that the government even tends to lose its balance. After months of completely disproportionate harassment in the name of investigation, and more than one jolly trip abroad, the authorities have found nothing. It is probable that the Pathak enquiry commission will exonerate both Mr Singh and his son very soon. The Prime Minister still cannot find a replacement for a foreign minister who could hold his own, and has no response to faintly-disguised taunts from Islamabad on the subject. What should a government do when it has lost its way? Actually, the simplest solution is to stand still and ask for directions, but governments are terrified that they might be caught doing the obvious thing. Complication is more their style. A reshuffle is not the recipe. The UPA government has to reinvent itself. Two years in power have separated the theoretical from the possible, and the possible from the practical. The basic doctrine of the Manmohan Singh government is a common minimum programme full of good intentions that no one quite knew how to put into practice. The Prime Minister needs to reinvent the route map. We all want economic growth with a human face, as it was quaintly called. But more attention should have been paid to the contours of the human face. Words are used at the highest levels of government, with no effort to flesh them out. You get the sense that the partners in this coalition do not have a common agenda, but a dozen private ones — including saving up for that very rainy day called a sudden general election. The politics of options has begun two years before it should. posted by M.J. Akbar's Blog: Presented by ilaxi @ 01:01 ----- |
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| << July24, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net ]Tibet , holistic health ,nukes etc |
July26, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net]White flags,vaccines,CPP,World Trade talks etc >> |
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