PAKISTAN AT WAR WITH IT SELF

The professional Muslim Ulema of Pakistan have influenced our thinking so much that we see everything in religious terms. We keep a keen record of “atrocities against Muslims” but we ignore the enemy within who hides behind Islam. Earlier, we used to see two centres of evil: India and Israel but with time they have increased to include America and Europe. Iran is rapidly moving away because of our growing sectarianism and it is hard to name any real friend – Saudi Arabia and China are our ‘friends’ only in the sense that they are not enemies. They have excellent relations with our enemies and do not support us in our disputes with India and America, or in our red-hot anger against Israel.

We strongly believe that in our 65 years of national life, we have been attacked five times by India, once by Russia, that we are “spiritually” fighting America for the last 12 years, that we fought our East Wing and lost it because of Indian aggression which the world supported because of the bias established by Indian propaganda. We believe that we were always on the right side, that we were persecuted.

It was always hard for us to ask: are we really so innocent and so persecuted? Why does the world hate us? All these 65 years we have been teaching our students that one billion Hindus hate us because they are bigoted and jealous of our merit. It has been considered unpatriotic to ask why we failed to befriend them in 700 years.

War is a tragedy but we refuse to see that a society at war with itself is an abomination. We love to talk of “we”, but we are “we” only in hate against “others”; when it comes to sacrifice or service, everyone is an individual.

War is a tragedy because it tries to achieve an objective through use of force and destruction. Even when it ends in one’s victory, it does not end; it sows the seeds of future wars because those who are vanquished and disgraced never forget the wounds of defeat. Their collective memory passes to posterity generation after generation and nourishes the desire to avenge. Our subcontinent remained in a state of war for centuries between the Muslims kings and a resisting India. A narrow class of Muslim victors in India won prosperity and power but the large Indian population suffered the tragedy of defeat and suffering for all these centuries, while Muslim masses had no share of victory except vain pride and widespread ignorance. This history of war has left an aching scar on both sides of our people. It is partially, if not wholly, responsible for the lingering misery of our masses on both sides. Although for several reasons we in Pakistan refuse to see, the fact is that India started its recovery only after 1947, Bangladesh only after 1971 while we have yet to start.

As a result of this war, Muslims remained a medieval-minded crowd for centuries, taking pride in their ability to wield the sword, until the Aligarh University movement of modern learning started some change. But we, in Pakistan, never questioned our Civilizational Narcissism which keeps breeding new tragedies of paranoia and chaos. The legacy of centuries of war never leaves us. Both the nations have spent, since 1947, trillions annually on meaninglessly large armies and arms-building, keeping their masses in misery, stupor and barren hate. The total resources spent by both amount to a sum that could have brought us to modern European levels of life and learning, had we spent them productively.

War is a tragedy but a society at war with itself and everything around, with no objective and no remorse is more than a tragedy; it is a total disaster. Our society with its special mindset is at war with itself and the world, with other religions and its own religious diversity. It is in a state of schizophrenia passing into paranoia. The roots of this mindset lie in our narcissism, in our self image of righteousness. We do not take criticism and never feel sorry for our wrongs. A semi-educated boy can start yelling at you if you point out a mistake.

It is a depressing state of affairs. Many sensitive patriots have lost all hope that health can be restored. Ever since 1947, the nation has been moving down the slope. Each period has left us more frustrated and hopeless. Every time we discover that standards have fallen further. But that is not how human societies should move in this age of immense opportunity.

It is right to reject what was wrong in the past but it is not right to predict that the wrong will continue forever. Admitted that it is our special ability as humans that we conduct mass destruction; this special ability is a tragic aspect of our mind but that same mind is capable of science, wisdom, tolerance and inclusiveness. We can perhaps halt destruction by practicing and preaching critical thinking with humility. Human societies all around us are growing and developing. Why can’t our land of disaster outgrow its roots? And do we have an option other than trying?

India Reverses Gear, Puts Arjun Tank Back in Production

India’s indigenous Arjun tank project began in 1974, and originally aimed to replace the Russian T-54 and T-72 tanks which made up the bulk of that country’s armored firepower. As has often been the case in India, its DRDO government weapons development agency sought an entirely made in India solution, even though this would require major advances on a number of fronts for Indian industry. As has often been the case in India, the result was a long and checkered history filled with development delays, performance issues, mid-project specifications changes by India’s military, and the eventual purchase of both foreign substitutions within the project (now 58% of the tank’s cost) and foreign competitors from outside it (the T-90S).

The 58.5 tonne Arjun tank wasn’t fielded with the Indian Army until May 2009. In contrast, Pakistan’s much more time-limited, scope-limited, and budget conscious approach in developing and successfully fielding its T-80UD “Al-Khalid” tank is often cited by Arjun’s detractors.

The Russian T-90S will form the mainstay of India’s future force, despite that tank’s performance issues in hot weather. That won’t change, but after beating the T-90 in a number of trials, the Arjun now has a clear future in India…

The Arjun is an indigenous project, but not wholly so. Imported items such as the engine/ power pack, gunner’s main sight, and other components account for 58% of each tank’s cost. This is not uncommon around the world. Israel’s Merkava tank family also relies on a foreign-built engine, for instance, as does France’s Leclerc.

It is uncommon among Indian policy-makers, but the reality is that a series of project failures gave them little choice. The Arjun has been plagued with a mix of problems over its 36-year development history, including its fire control system, suspension issues, and poor mobility due to excessive weight. It has also grown from a 40-tonne tank with a 105mm gun, to a 62-67 tonne tank with a 120mm gun. Predictably, project costs spiraled up from Rs 15.5 crore in 1974 to Rs 306 crore (INR 3.06 trillion). The army was not pleased. In an unusual stance, they accepted the tank only after a third-party audit by an international tank manufacturer, and orders were strictly limited.

The Indian army didn’t even stand up its 1st Arjun armored regiment until May 2009, 35 years after the program began. To underscore the point, even that milestone followed a development that seemed to end the platform’s future. In July 2008, India had announced that production of the Arjun would be capped at the already-committed total of 124 vehicles. Instead, development would begin on a new next-generation tank, designed to survive and serve until 2040 or so.

That appeared to close the book on a failed project, but opinion in India was sharply split. Many observers cited this as the final failure. Other were noting the problems with the T-90s, and the Army’s refusal to conduct side-by-side tests, alongside recent test successes that began earning the Arun some military fans. In May 2010 desert trials alongside the T-90S, the Arjun did surprisingly well.

In response, the government and the Army changed course somewhat. Arjun production would double to 248. That’s an improvement, but DRDO insists that a 500 vehicle order is needed to give them the volume needed to iron out all production difficulties, and provide a platform for future development.

The Army’s plan still calls for 1,657 T-90S “Bhishma” tanks at about 12 crore (INR 120 million, about $2.78 million) each if prices remain stable. About 1,000 of those are slated to be built in India by Avadi Heavy Industries, the same firm that builds the Arjuns. They will be joined by just 248 Arjuns at about 16.8 crore (INR 168 million, about $3.92 million) each, as well as 692 older T-72 tanks upgraded to the T-72M1 “Ajeya” standard. This overall plan changes the force structure proposed in 2006, from 3,780 tanks (1,302 T-90s and 2,480 T-72s) to 2,597 higher-end tanks

In Praise of India: Top 10 Famous Quotations

In Praise of India: Top 10 Famous Quotations -

1. Will Durant [American historian] - "India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages: she was the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village community, of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all".
   
2. Mark Twain [American author] - "India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only."
   
3. Albert Einstein [American scientist] - "We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made."
   
4. Max Mueller [German scholar] - If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India.
   
5. Romain Rolland [French scholar] - "If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India."
   
6. Hu Shih [former Ambassador of China to USA] - "India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border."
   
7. Mark Twain - "So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked."
   
8. Keith Bellows [VP - National Geographic Society] - "There are some parts of the world that, once visited, get into your heart and won't go. For me, India is such a place. When I first visited, I was stunned by the richness of the land, by its lush beauty and exotic architecture, by its ability to overload the senses with the pure, concentrated intensity of its colors, smells, tastes, and sounds... I had been seeing the world in black & white and, when brought face-to-face with India, experienced everything re-rendered in brilliant technicolor."
   
9. Mark Twain - "India has two million gods, and worships them all. In religion all other countries are paupers; India is the only millionaire."
   
10. A Rough Guide to India - "It is impossible not to be astonished by India. Nowhere on Earth does humanity present itself in such a dizzying, creative burst of cultures and religions, races and tongues. Enriched by successive waves of migration and marauders from distant lands, every one of them left an indelible imprint which was absorbed into the Indian way of life. Every aspect of the country presents itself on a massive, exaggerated scale, worthy in comparison only to the superlative mountains that overshadow it. It is this variety which provides a breathtaking ensemble for experiences that is uniquely Indian. Perhaps the only thing more difficult than to be indifferent to India would be to describe or understand India completely. There are perhaps very few nations in the world with the enormous variety that India has to offer. Modern day India represents the largest democracy in the world with a seamless picture of unity in diversity unparalleled

PAKISTAN ONE VIEW ON KASHMIR

May Be we (Pak) Have Forgotten Kashmir

The writer is the Chairperson of the History Dept at Forman Christian College, Lahore. This article was published in The Express Tribune, Dec 11th, 2012.

Last year, I wrote an article in this newspaper arguing that Pakistan should change its stance on Kashmir, not only for the sake of Kashmiris — who have fared well compared to Pakistanis lately — but for the sake of Pakistan itself. Arguably, Pakistan would be a much secure, stable, democratic and developed country if it were not for the Kashmir issue.

Last week, in a series of ‘Conversations’ I arrange at Forman Christian College between faculty and students, I chose the topic of ‘Kashmir Banega Pakistan’ (Kashmir will become Pakistan). After packed sessions on Balochistan and the Taliban, I expected the same nature of heated debate. As an added incentive, I convinced a former Pakistan Army Captain, now a Professor at FC College, who had seen live action in Kashmir, to come and share his personal experiences and thoughts.

However, what happened at this interactive session was rather revealing. Granted that this was a self-selecting group and not something a statistician would be happy with, but there were students from all four provinces of Pakistan and Gilgit, a good mix of men and women, a majority from the rural areas and a range of social and economic classes present.

While the session began with a good number of students, I could immediately sense that there was some lack of interest in the subject. I asked thrice if anyone present wanted to argue the traditional stance of Pakistan and no one spoke up. When cajoled further, one student made a lukewarm effort and said “we should remember Kashmir since our waters flow from there.” Except for this, there was nothing argued for Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir: no mention of Indian atrocities, no mention of the ‘unfinished business of partition’ and no Muslim brotherhood claims, either. The charged atmosphere and excitement of the previous sessions were almost the opposite of the dullness of this session. As the students petered off, we even ended the session early as no one seemed interested.

Having been raised in the 1990s where watching the ‘news’ from the Kashmir Cell was staple on the state-run Pakistan Television, I had expected a heated debate. Perhaps, if this session had been held in, say, 1992, there would have been a passionate debate. So what is different now? First, it is clear that the Kashmir issue was kept alive in Pakistan mainly through state propaganda. The everyday stories, some true, others embellished, of Indian atrocities in Kashmir were meant to emotionally charge Pakistanis against India. With only one television channel and a controlled populace, it was easy for the government to shape public opinion. The liberalisation of the media and the improvement of the situation in Indian Kashmir have obviously changed the ground reality.

Secondly, almost 50% of Pakistan is under 30 years of age and has little connection to Kashmir. While for the first generation of Pakistanis it was ‘their’ issue and the second generation inherited it from their parents, this third generation has no ties to Kashmir. Where in 1947, Pakistan was trying to augment a ‘moth-eaten’ country, young Pakistanis know well that keeping the current boundaries of the country is proving to be hard now. Talking about taking over a region which has no direct connection to them, except for religion, is like talking about merging Egypt and Pakistan.

Thirdly, what this session showed was that young Pakistanis are primarily concerned about their own well-being and advancement — not some grand pious notions. Today, a typical young Pakistani would rather take a good job in India than maintain a belligerent attitude towards the country.

The best example of the lack of interest in Kashmir is the Difa-e-Pakistan Council itself. A motley of older gentlemen with extremist views on almost everything, the Council is a last ditch effort of a dying and increasingly irrelevant generation to keep issues of the past alive. Surely, if Pakistanis still passionately cared about Kashmir, the Council would not have to hold rallies to remind people to hate India.

Pakistan is finally making a break with the past, led by the younger generation where pragmatism, mutual cooperation and development, and peaceful coexistence can become the benchmarks of a future Pakistan. It is time that such an opportunity is seized and the Kashmir issue is resolved through a sensible solution and the agreement and mutual benefit of all parties, with old impractical and idealist postures abandoned

Shinde has weakened India’s security. by Venky Vembu Jan 22, 2013

There is a picture from the recent Congress chintan shivir strategy session that succinctly encapulates the tragedy of India in just one telling frame.

Rahul Gandhi, the yuvraj who is being primed for coronation for the top job, is seated centre-stage;  his regal gaze is directed at the assemblage of  courtiers seated on the dais, and his hand is raised in acknowledgement of their ritual show of propitiation. The attention of virtually everyone on stage is focussed on Rahul Gandhi, given that it was his ‘coming-out’ party worthy of a Lion King moment, and each of them in turn is performing bodily contortions and craning their necks to ensure that their show of wholesale deference doesn’t miss the yuvraj‘s  eye.

But the one whose head is bowed the lowest, the one whose callisthenic contortions have him virtually scraping the floor of the dais, is the man who is notionally India’s Home Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde. As in the comical scene from The King and I, where the King of Siam’s subject bows low to abide by courtly protocol that dictates that no head be held higher than the king’s, Shinde can be seen performing the nearest thing to a flat-out genuflection to someone who is about half his age, but who will preside over his political destiny.

 

Sushil Kumar Shinde deserves to be sacked. Agencies.

If Shinde, as a loyal party worker, wishes to make a public spectacle of his servitude to the de facto royalty that lords over the Congress, at what is after all a party event, who can stop him? After all, the man has in the past disgraced himself with comments suggesting that as party president Sonia Gandhi‘s “soldier”, he would “shoot to kill” if she directed him to.

But what Shinde said at the party platform – that the BJP and RSS were running terrorist training camps and sponsoring “Hindu terror” – is not just an affront to the BJP and the RSS, but a dangerous gambit in the politicisation of terrorism that has already profoundly embarrassed the country and made a mockery of our diligently built-up case in the court of public opinion that India is the victim of terrorism sponsored by Pakistani.

At one fell stroke, Shinde has scored a spectacular self-goal against India, creating the space for jihadi low-life terrorists such as Hafiz Saeed – and his sponsors within the Pakistani Army and ISI – to go on the offensive against India and clamour for India  to be declared a “terrorist state”.

Far more seriously, Shinde has provided jihadi terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and its front organisation, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa,  the propaganda platform from which they can use his comments as a hook to enlist and indoctrinate foolish minds in visceral anti-India hatred, in the way that they already do.

As the excerpts, published in The Hindu, of the book Headley and I (written by Hussain S Zaidi and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt’s son Rahul Bhatt) establish starkly,  there is a thriving hate industry in Pakistan that is directed at India and  flourishes with the active direction of the Pakistani Army and the ISI. As David Coleman Headley, the man who “recce-ed” Mumbai ahead of the November 2008 terror attack, narrates,  the ISI harnessed the indoctrinated jihadis, who had been trained in terrorism techniques by the LeT and primed to lay down their lives in the cause of Islam,  and channelled them in the cause of the ISI’s own agenda: the destabilisation of India.

All this was, of course, always known and has been sufficiently well-documented. Yet,  the Home Minister of India has never conveyed any sense of perturbation over the very serious threat to India posed by the jihadi hate industry across the border. For him now to pick on random acts of low-intensity terror allegedly perpetrated by breakaway renegades (whose trials have not even fully established their culpability)  from right-wing groups in India and project the BJP, a mainstream political party, and the RSS, the above-board mothership organisation, as the real existential threat to India, is perverse – and dangerous – in the extreme.

There is, of course, much that fringe far-right fundamentalist organisations even within India have to answer for for their role in creating an enabling atmosphere for random acts of terrorism to be perpetrated. But if Shinde had compelling information on any such terrorism activity, his first responsibility should have been to initiate action against them – rather than sound off on a party platform and inflame communal passions.

In any case, such ‘hate laboratories’ exist across all religious denominations, as the Owaisi brothers’ manifest attempt to feed Muslim victimhood – and radicalisation – establishes.

For the Home Minister of India to wilfully ignore these far more egregious examples of hate-mongering and jihadi indoctrination and instead pick on the anecdotally fewer instances of renegade acts of terror (that haven’t had their day in court) and blatantly politicise and communalise the debate on terrorism is lethal.

It isn’t often that it can be said that the Union Home Minister represents a clear and present danger to national security. But with his motormouth indiscretions and his blinkered and partisan worldview on terrorism, Shinde has established the validity of that statement.

It isn’t just enough for Shinde to apologise to the BJP or the RSS. For the grave damage he has inflicted on India’s case in the court of international opinion (vis-a-vis Pakistan-sponsored terrorism) and for the additional security threat that he has exposed Indians to (by providing the LeT and other terror groups the oxygen of propaganda to recruit more jihadists for their anti-India campaign), Shinde should resign as Home Minister  - and devote himself to a lifetime of  performing ritual genuflections before party royalty.

And the Congress owes the nation an apology for having inflicted such a demonstrably incompetent sycophant in so important a portfolio as the Home Ministry and for putting India’s security on the line and the lives of ordinary Indians in grave danger.

कमल हसन निर्मित विश्‍वरूपम

सांस्कृतिक दहशतवाद थांबवा!-शिवराय कुळकर्णी

दाक्षिणात्य आणि हिंदी चित्रपटातही स्वतःची आगळी वेगळी ओळख तयार करणार्‍या कमल हसन या अभिनेत्याला आज दुर्दैवाने हा देश सोडण्याची भाषा करावी लागली आहे. या देशातील सांस्कृतिक दहशतवादाने कमल हसन व्यथित झाला असून, असा सांस्कृतिक दहशतवाद थांबवण्याची मागणी कमल हसनने केली आहे.
कमल हसन निर्मित विश्‍वरूपम हा सर्वात महागडा चित्रपट आहे. हा चित्रपट बनवण्यासाठी ९५ कोटी रुपये खर्च आला आहे. हा चित्रपट दाखवू न दिल्यास आपल्याला सर्वस्व गमवावे लागणार, हे कमल हसनसमोर स्पष्ट आहे. त्याच्या महत्त्वाकांक्षी विश्‍वरूपम या चित्रपटात मुसलमानांविषयी आक्षेपार्ह संवाद असल्याचे काही मुस्लिम संघटनांचे म्हणणे आहे. या चित्रपटात मुसलमानांना चुकीच्या पद्धतीने दाखवण्यात आलं असल्याचाही काही मुस्लिमांचा दावा आहे. मुस्लिम संघटनांची ओरड सुरू झाल्यानंतर मुस्लिम समुदायातील काही जणांसाठी काही दिवसांपूर्वी एक स्पेशल स्क्रिनिंग करण्यात आली होती. त्यानंतरही विश्‍वरूपम चित्रपटाच्या विरोधात काही लोकांकडून निदर्शनं करण्यात आली. आमच्या धार्मिक भावना दुखावल्या जाणार असल्याचे आंदोलक मुस्लिमांचे म्हणणे आहे. या प्रकरणी चित्रपटातून कोणाच्याही भावना दुखावणार नाहीत, याची आपण पूर्ण काळजी घेतली असल्याचे कमल हसन यांनी वारंवार स्पष्ट केले आहे. मुस्लिम संघटनांनी आक्षेप घेताच तामिळनाडू, आंध्रप्रदेश आणि तत्सम कथित धर्मनिरपेक्ष सरकारांनी तत्काळ विश्‍वरूपमवर बंदी घातली. तामिळनाडूतील बंदीनंतर हैद्राबाद आणि बंगलोर शहरातही हा कथित वादग्रस्त चित्रपट प्रदर्शित करायचा नाही, असा निर्णय थिएटर मालकांनी घेतला. आपल्या चित्रपटाचे भवितव्य अधांतरी आहे, असे लक्षात येताच कमल हसनला स्वतःलाच न्यायालयात धाव घ्यावी लागली.
या देशातील कथित धर्मनिरपेक्ष राजकीय पक्ष मुस्लिमांनी आवाज उचलला की लगेच कान टवकारतात. त्यांच्या मागण्या आवश्यकतेपेक्षा जास्त पूर्ण केल्या तरच आपण आपले धर्मनिरपेक्षत्व सिद्ध करतो, असा या लोकांचा समज आहे. यापूर्वी अनेक चित्रपटांमधून हिंदू संस्कृतीवर जाणून हल्ला चढवण्यात आला. नेहमीच भगवी वस्त्रे धारण केलेला साधू-सन्यासी हा चित्रपटात ढोंगी दाखवला जातो. या उलट ख्रिश्‍चन पादरी असल्यास त्याची प्रतिमा अत्यंत सेवाभावी दाखवली जाते. एखादा फकीर नेहमीच उदात्त विचारसरणीचा दाखवला जातो. चित्रपटातील मुस्लिम किंवा ख्रिश्‍चन भूमिका थोडीही वादग्रस्त दाखवली गेली की लगेच ‘इस्लाम खतरे मे है’चा नारा दिला जातो. संकटात असलेल्या हिरोला वाचवण्यासाठी चित्रपटातील गरीब मुसलमान अल्लाकडे प्रार्थना करतो आणि ती तत्काळ फळते. त्याच वेळी मोठ्या मंदिरातील पुजारी खलनायक दाखवले जातात. दहशत पसरवणारे गुंड नेहमीच देवभक्त दाखवले जातात. सार्‍याच कुप्रथा हिंदू धर्माशी जोडलेल्या दाखवल्या जातात. कधी काळी हिंदू संस्कृती जपणार्‍या कार्यकर्त्यांनी आक्षेप घेतला, तर त्याला केराची टोपली दाखवली जाते. या देशात हिंदूंना झोडपण्याची पूर्ण मुभा आहे. हिंदूंनी आवाज उठवला, तर अभिव्यक्तिस्वातंत्र्याचे स्तोम माजवले जातात. एम. एफ. हुसैन या चित्रकाराची मती मारल्या गेल्यावर या देशातल्या धर्मनिरपेक्ष राजकारण्यांनी अभिव्यक्तिस्वातंत्र्याच्याच गप्पा केल्या. उंची मद्याचे घोट घेत पंचतारांकित हॉटेलांमध्ये बसून यांनी एम. एफ. हुसैनचे गोडवे गायले. थेट हिंदूंच्या देवी-देवतांचे विकृत चित्रीकरण केल्यावरही हिंदूंनी आवाज उठवला, तर ते प्रतिगामी! मात्र, मुस्लिमांनी थोडा आवाज काढताच सारेच धर्मनिरपेक्ष राजकारणी खडबडून जागे होतात. तुमच्यापेक्षाही तुमच्या मजहबची आम्हालाच किती काळजी आहे, हे दाखवण्यासाठी हे लोक त्यांच्याही पुढे धावतात.
स्वतःला धर्मनिरपेक्ष म्हणवून घेणार्‍या म्हणजेच केवळ व्होट बँकेचे राजकारण करणार्‍या या लोकांचा फटका आता कमल हसन यांना बसला आहे. मुस्लिमांंचा गैरसमज झाला असल्याचे त्याने वारंवार म्हटले. आपल्या चित्रपटाविषयी आक्षेप घेतला आहे, ते काही मूठभर लोक मुस्लिम समुदायाचं प्रतिनिधित्व करतात का, असा सवालही कमल हसनने उपस्थित केला. मात्र, ऐकणार कोण? कमल हसन युक्तिवाद करीत फिरला. विनवण्या केल्या. अनेकांना हा चित्रपट आवडला आणि त्यात मुस्लिमही आहेत. सेन्सॉर बोर्डातही अनेक मुस्लिम लोक आहेत. त्यांनी चित्रपट पाहिला आहे. त्यांना विश्‍वरूपम आवडला आहे. त्यांची कोणतीही तक्रार नसल्याचे कमल हसनने सांगितले. अखेर कमल हसनसारखा संवेदनशील कलावंत व्यथित झाला. त्याचे खरे दुखणे त्यालाचमाहीत. कारण, त्यानेे आपले सर्वस्व डावावर लावलेले आहे.
शेवटी कमल हसनने या घटनाक्रमाचे अतिशय योग्य विश्‍लेषण केले. भारतात मागील काही काळापासून सांस्कृतिक दहशतवाद सुरू आहे. सांस्कृतिक दहशतवाद्यांना यासाठी कोणत्याही हत्याराची, दारुगोळ्याची गरज नसते. दुसर्‍यांना धमकावणे, कलाकारांच्या भावनांना ठेच पोहोचवणे एवढेच त्यांचे काम असते. शेवटी ‘विश्‍वरूपम प्रकरणी आपल्याला न्याय मिळाला नाही, तर आपण देश सोडू’, अशी निर्वाणीची भाषाही त्याला बोलावी लागली. आपल्याला खर्‍या धर्मनिरपेक्ष देशात रहायचं आहे. एका चित्रपटाच्या निमित्ताने धार्मिक एकता कशी तोडली जाते, हे दिसले. आपण राजकीय बळी ठरल्याचेही त्याला समजले. चित्रपटासाठी आपली मालमत्ता गहाण ठेवली असलेल्या कमल हसनला असे उद्‌गार काढताना निश्‍चितच दुःख झाले असणार. धर्मनिरपेक्षतेच्या नावाखाली सांस्कृतिक दहशतवाद कसा राबवला जातो, याचे हे उत्तम उदाहरण आहे. हिंदू धर्मीयांचे विकृत चित्रण वारंवार दाखवणारे आणि त्याला खतपाणी घालणार्‍यांचेच हे सांस्कृतिक दहशतवादाचे नवे कृत्य आहे.

CHANGES IN PAN DATA      Dear All:   1.    A chance conversational interaction with one of our Veterans on Sunday, 20 Jan 2013 made me realise that there is a need to use this forum to spread the news about actions many of us do not give a thought to, and some (like me, assume as a given, or something that everybody would have done automatically, with there being no need to talk about it, so that others get to know!).   2.    All of us need to have Income Tax  PAN numbers, spouses included (please be disabused of the idea that acquiring a PAN will make you liable to file an IT return-nothing like that). If the spouse does not have a PAN card, life can be pretty difficult in terms of getting the family pension flowing smoothly when the time comes as also in other issues (property etc etc).   MOST IMPORTANT   3.    If you have ever changed your residence and hence your address anytime after you have got a PAN, please do understand that you need to apply  for incorporation of the new address in the records, by filling in a "changes in PAN data" form. The Veteran who interacted with me still had the black & white photo old PAN issued to all of us many, many years ago, in Service. All his IT advices and refunds/demands would have been going all these years to his recorded address at THAT time, years back!   4.    What if you keep quiet? You will have any notices/demands/refunds issued on your name by the IT Dept going to the earlier address, and there is NO way you will get to know.   5.     Kindly go to a TIN facilitation centre , fill up a change request form, submit with payment , photographs (colour), and necessary supporting proofs of ID and address. You will get  a NEW PAN card with the same old PAN number (and some recently introduced changes to PAN cards) by speed post within 10 days.    6.    If you are comfortable with computers and on-line work, you can apply  & pay on line sitting at home, and submit docs by speed post.   https://www.tin-nsdl.com/pan/correction.php   7.    Kindly take immediate action

True lies of Sushil Kumar Shinde - Article by S Gurumurthy

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1. True lies of Sushil Kumar Shinde - Article by S Gurumurthy
   Posted: 23 Jan 2013 06:15 PM PST
   
   True lies of Sushil Kumar Shinde
   By S Gurumurthy
   24th January 2013
   ... "The RSS and the BJP were behind the Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid and Malegaon blasts," declared Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on January 20, 2012, adding that the training camps run by the RSS and BJP were promoting 'Hindu terrorism'. A day after Shinde's declaration, Hafiz Saeed, leader of the LeT, the Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist outfit, called for a ban on the RSS. So Shinde is the witness for the LeT to accuse the RSS of terror. Now look at the evidence, first the blast onboard the Samjhauta Express from Pakistan in which 68 persons were killed.
   LeT Culprit, say UN, US
   "Qasmani Arif...chief coordinator of the relations of the [LeT] with other organisations...has worked with Lashkar-e-Tayyiba to facilitate terrorist attacks including...the bombing of February 2007 in the Samjhauta Express in Panipat (India)." This is what resolution [No 1267] of the Committee on Sanctions of the United Nations Security Council [UNSC] dated 29.6.2009 declares. Adding that Qasmani was funded by Dawood Ibrahim and he did the fundraising for the LeT and the al-Qaida, the UNSC said, "In exchange for their support, al-Qaida provided support staff for the February 2007 bombing of the Samjhauta Express in Panipat." This resolution is available on the UN site. Two days later, on July 1, 2009, the United States Treasury Department said in its press release: "Arif Qasmani has worked with the LeT to facilitate terrorist attacks, including...Samjota Express bombing." The US named four Pakistanis, including Arif Qasmani as terrorists, under Executive Order No 13224. This press release is still on the US Treasury site. The United Nations Security Council and the US Treasury Department thus named the LeT, Qasmani and Dawood Ibrahim as accused in Samjhauta terror. This is just the beginning of the torrent of evidence pointing to the LeT and Pakistan.
   Pakistan Minister's Confession
   Six months after the UN and US announced sanctions against the LeT and Qasmani, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Mallik himself admitted that Pakistani terrorists were involved in the Samjhauta blast, but with a rider that "some Pakistan-based Islamists had been hired by Lt Col Purohit to carry out the Samjhauta Express attack." [India Today Online 24.1.2010]
   Headley Involved in Samjhauta -- US Probe
   Not just the UN. Or the US Treasury. Or just the admission of Pakistan's Interior Minister. Independent investigation in the US revealed more. Some 10 months later, Sebastian Rotella, a US journalist, wrote in his investigative report titled 'U.S. agencies were forewarned about suspect in 2008 Mumbai bombings', that Faiza Outalha, the third wife of David Coleman Headley had confessed [in 2008, which was made public in 2010] that Headley was involved in the Samjhauta blast. Rotella added that Faiza felt that "she had been innocently used" in the Samjhauta terror. [The Washington Post 5.11.2010] A while later, in a follow up investigation, Sebastian Rotella disclosed in April 2008 that Faiza returned to the embassy in Islamabad with the tip about the 2008 Mumbai blast when she again linked him to the Samjhauta blast.
   Rotella commented that though India and the US blamed the attack on Lashkar, the US authorities had not implicated Headley in that still-unsolved attack, however.[The Washington Post 14.11.2010] So, independent, neutral probe in the US also pointed to Pakistan and the LeT in Samjhauta blast.
   Narco Test Pointed to SIMI Role
   Even at the start of the Samjhauta investigation in 2007, the evidence clearly pointed to the role of the Students Islamic Movement of India [SIMI] and the LeT. India Today [19.9.2008] in its report titled 'Pak hand in Mumbai train blasts, Samjhauta Express blasts, says Nagori' gave meticulous account of the involvement of the LeT and Pakistan in the Samjhauta terror. The report was based on narco test testimonies of SIMI leaders. India Today said that the narcotic tests were carried out on general secretary of SIMI, Safdar Nagori; his brother Kamruddin Nagori and Amil Parvez in Bangalore in April 2007, three months after the Samjhauta blast; the results of the narco test of the SIMI leaders were available with the magazine; it revealed that SIMI activists had executed the Samjhauta blast, with the help of the Pakistani nationals from across the border; while Nagori was not directly involved, two members of SIMI, Ehtesham Siddiqui and Nasir, were directly involved; SIMI members, including Nagori's brother Kamaruddin, were involved in the Samjhatua blast; for executing the Samjhauta blast, the Pakistanis had purchased the suitcase cover from Kataria Market in Indore and one of the members from SIMI had helped the Pakistanis to get the suitcase cover stitched. Investigation had established that in the Samjhauta blast, five bombs packed in suitcases and activated by timer switches were used.
   Conspiracy by Maharashtra Police?
   Why were these clinching pieces of evidence not pursued? How the blame shifted from the Islamists to the Hindus? Some elements in the Maharashtra Police appears to have colluded in linking the 2008 Malegaon blast to the Samjhauta blast. When leads were thus pointing to Pakistan and SIMI as partners in the Samjhauta blast in November 2008, as an anti-climax, the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad [ATS] shockingly told the Special Court through the public prosecutor that Col Purohit allegedly involved in the Malegaon blast in which RDX was used, had supplied RDX for the Samjhauta blast though one 'Bhagwan'. [The Indian Express 15.11.2008] Within the next 48 hours, [17.11.2009] India Today online refuted the ATS claim saying that Samjhauta investigators had told India Today that a study of the blast by the National Security Guard(NSG) said that no RDX, but Potassium Chlorate and Sulphur, had been used as explosives. The magazine also recalled that immediately after the blasts, then Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil told the media that not RDX, but, a 'new type of explosive' had been used to bomb the Samjhauta Express. On that very day [17.11.2009] the ATS counsel retracted the statement he had made earlier involving Col Purohit in the Samjhauta blast. [The Hindu dt19.11.2008]. But the damage was done in the 48 hours. Immediately, Pakistan said that it would raise the issue of Purohit's involvement in Samjhauta at the Secretary-level meeting on November 25, 2008. Finally on January 20, 2009, the Maharashtra ATS officially denied that Col Purohit had supplied RDX for Samjhauta. This was how the Samjhauta focus -- later the blame -- shifted from the LeT and the SIMI to Purohit and via Purohit on to Saffron. The Maharashtra ATS' attempt to link Malegaon 2008 to Samjhauta, which shifted the focus away from the LeT on to Purohit, needs to be probed particularly given Dawood Ibrahim's deep influence on Maharashtra Police.
   If Shinde is telling the truth, then the United Nations Security Council and the US Treasury Department are fabricating charges against Qasmani, Dawood and the LeT; Faiza Outallah and The Washington Post are telling lies to fix the LeT and Pakistan; the SIMI officials' narco evidence is fabricated; and Rehman Mallik's confession about Pakistani involvement is false. Can it be more ridiculous? It is clearly the lies of Shinde, the vote bank politician versus all neutral evidence. If this was how the Samjhauta probe was perverted, in the Malegaon 2006 blast the Maharashtra ATS has filed a chargesheet where the SIMI cadre had confessed to their role in the blast. But the CBI is procuring confessions to exonerate them and implicate others, Hindus in the case. So Malegaon 2006, is becoming a case of confession vs confession! In Malegaon 2008 blasts, Col Purohit and his associates have been charged and the evidence submitted in the Court shows that the accused in the Malegaon 2008 case were planning to assassinate RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Indresh Kumar for taking money from the ISI! [Outlook 19.7.2010] How could the RSS which is the target of the conspirator itself be the conspirator? Does Shinde know what he is talking?
   QED: Shinde now has a good companion in his mission against the RSS in Hafeez Saeed, boss of the global terror outfit LeT. Can a Home Minister tell more deadly lies against his own country's interests, all for just a few million votes?
   S Gurumurthy is a well-known commentator on political and economic issues

BRIG HEMANT MAHAJAN TALK ON NATIONAL SECURITY

BRIG HEMANT MAHAJAN TALK ON NATIONAL SECURITY

SHIVSAGAR CITY MAIDAN ,SUN CITY ROAD ,ANANAD NAGAR ,SINH GAD ROAD PUNE

FOLLOWING WILL BE COVERED

 INDIA’S INTERNAL SECURITY CHALLENGES : COMMONMANS SECURITY A DISTSNT DREAM .   FOLLOWING WILL BE COVERED:-

•          PRESENT STATE

•          STATE OF PROXY WAR IN J&K.

•          INSURGENCY IN THE NORTH-EAST.

•          MAOIST/ NAXALITE  THREATS.

•          EMERGING CHALLENGES.

•          POLICY OPTIONS.

•          INTERACTION / QUESTION ANSWER SESSION

FIGHTING NAXALISM IN INDIA :SHED FORTRESS MENTALITY & TAKE THEM HEAD ON  FOLLOWING WILL BE COVERED:-

Ø  GENESIS/ HISTORY OF NAXALISM

Ø     CURRENT STATUS

Ø     AIM

Ø     COUNTER NAXAL OPERATIONS STRATEGY

Ø     USE OF AIR FORCE

Ø     USE OF NAVY

Ø  SUPPORT  FROM PAKISTAN

Ø     RECOMMENDATIONS

Ø  INTERACTION / QUESTION ANSWER SESSION

 TERRORISM /INSURGENCY IN ASSAM.: TACKLE IT BEFORE ASSAM BECOMES BANLADESH     FOLLOWING WILL BE COVERED:-

Ø  PREAMBLE.

Ø  TERRAIN AND DEMOGRAPHIC IMPERATIVES.

Ø   VARIOUS INSURGENT GROUPS.

Ø   SHAPE OF PRESENT & LIKELY FUTURE EXTERNAL SUPPORT.

Ø   ASSESSMENT OF PREVAILING SITUTATION.

Ø   CONCEPT OF ARMY OPERATIONS.

Ø  EMERGING THREATS

Ø  INTERACTION / QUESTION ANSWER SESSION

TERRORISM IN J&K: ARMY OPERATIONS PUT TERRORIST ON DEFENSIVE

FOLLOWING WILL BE COVERED:-

             PREVIEW

•          GENESIS OF TERRORISM

•          MODUS OPERANDI OF THE TERRORISTS

•          COUNTER INFILTRATION  OPERATIONS

•          COUNTER TERRORIST OPERATIONS

•          WINNIG HEARTS AND MINDS

•          PRESENT STATUS

•          CONCLUSION

•          INTERACTION / QUESTION ANSWER SESSION

ISI BLEEDING INDIA BY 1000 CUTS:RECOMMENDED STRATEGY TO TACKLE ISI

FOLLOWING WILL BE COVERED:-

Ø  ORGANIZATION & CHARTER OF DUTY

Ø  FUNDING

Ø  SYNERGY WITH INDIAN MILITANT

Ø   GROUPS

Ø  FUELING JIHAD IN INDIA

Ø  PRESENT STATUS IN J& K,NORTH EAST& HINTERLAND

Ø  HELPING NAXALS

Ø  RECOMMENDED STRATEGY TO TACKLE ISI

Ø  INTERACTION / QUESTION ANSWER SESSION