There is a plotted conspiracy to alienate the Muslim community from rest of the society under the guise of so-called Love Jihad which the Hindu organizations allege is meant for converting Hindu girls into Muslims. If it is true why the parents are not coming forward in this regard asks Kerala DGP Jacob Punnoose.
Jihad is so prevalent in India that even schools and colleges are not safe from it. Some days ago jihad against kuffar (infidels) was fought merely by might but for quite some years softness and tenderness have become its crucial part. The Hindu organizations, especially in South India, have raised hue and cry that Muslim boys in the colleges trap Hindu girls in their love, persuade them to embrace Islam and then force them to indulge in jihadi activities. Is it so?
The term used by the organizations to describe the jihad is ‘Love Jihad’ (Romeo Jihad). The outfits, being Hindu Janajagruti in the forefront, allege that the newly formed Muslim organization Love Jihad is meant for luring non-Muslim girl students into marriage and subsequent conversion to Islam, by using smart and paid Muslim boys. They claim that during the past five years as many as 940 girls from Kerala and 4520 girls from Karnataka had gone missing. ‘On daily basis, three Hindu girls marginally disappear in south Kanada district of Karnataka,’ said Mohan Goda, a portfolio bearer in Hindu Janajagruti Samiti adding, ‘They are made disappear under a plotted conspiracy to make them Muslims.’ The Kerala BJP president Krishna Das also allege, ‘If the girls do not agree to accept Islam then they (Muslim youth) play with them sexually and black mail them.
On is amazed as to why and how the Hindus fundamentalist - who committed Gujarat Muslim Genocide behind the curtain that the Karsevaks killed in Godhra incident were actually burnt by Muslims- have adopted a criminal silence in other parts of India. Girls in such a huge number are disappearing and their parents are not lodging complaints at police stations! The severity, as claimed, of the matter suggests that it should have by now hit the headlines of the newspapers and become heated topic of debate on TV channels.
In contrast, it failed to concern even the parents of the girls allegedly missing. The Kerala DGP Jacob Punnoose recently said that one of the main problems facing the sleuths was that parents were not coming forward with their complaints. Except in few cases of this nature, parents (not even organizations) have approached neither the police stations nor the courts.
Perhaps to make the community, including parents, aware of disappearance of their daughters the Hindu Janajagruti (HJ) has announced to instigate an awareness movement in this regard. Mohan Goda addressing a press conference in Bangalore expressed his concern that Hindu girls on a large scale will be compelled to embrace Islam if awareness campaign is not started. ‘HJ has decided that its workers will visit colleges and create awareness against Love Jihad among Hindu youth.’
Recently, Sri Ram Sene (SRS), another Hindu extremist outfit, published against the organization and distributed in Hindu dominated areas and at academic institutions in Karnataka and Kerala. The posters caution the Hindu girls from Muslim boys and ask them to be aware of the Love Jihad. On October15, the Hindutva organizations protested at the offices of district commissioners in the whole Karnataka.
In this condemnable act of spreading hatred among Muslims and Hindus in the name of Love Jihad are involved Hindu Jan Jagran Samiti, Sanatan Sanstha, Sri Ram Sene, Dharam Shakti Sena, Hindu Yuva Sena and Yuva Shakti among other Hindu organizations.
While, the so-called Love Jihad has nothing to do with Muslims. The Muslim leaders and Urdu newspapers negate even the existence of such an organization. Being a Muslim, at least I can say there is nothing like Love Jihad in Islam. It is an effort of concoction by Hindus into Islamic teachings. Of course, jihad, with some certain conditions, is a sacred act in Islam but it never was, nor is, and never will be for making non-Muslims accept Islam. If someone becomes ready to be a Muslim for some time out of fear, the religious scholars say he will not be counted as a Muslim. Then why Muslims will carry out fruitless activities.
However, Kerala High Court has directed the union home ministry and state director-general of police to Love Jihad its spread, sources of funding and possible links with terror groups, smugglers and drug rackets. Earlier, a special police team was set up to probe charges that jihadis were luring girls on school and college campuses and converting them with the intention of using them for anti-national activities.
The order followed after the court dismissed the anticipatory bail pleas of Sirajuddeen and Shehenshah who are allegedly involved in forcing Hindu girls into conversion. Some weeks earlier, the parents of two girls, students at St Johns College, Pathanamthitta, reportedly approached the Kerala High Court and filed a habeas corpus petition. The girls- a Hindu and a Christian- told the court that they had been taken to a place in Kozhikode, where a group led by Campus Front activists Shehenshah and Sirajuddeen forced them to convert into Islam and sign marriage contracts.
It is said that the Hindu girl had fallen in love with Shehenshah who said to her that their relations will not remain if she remains to be a Hindu.
Meanwhile, a new Muslim girl of Bangalore has directed a strong blow to those defaming Muslim youth under the guise of Love Jihad. Shelja Raj of Chamarajnagar told a Bangalore court that she had accepted Islam out of her will. Earlier, her father Selvaraj had lodged an FIR with the Chamarajnagar police station that a Muslim youth Asghar had kidnapped her girl and that she was being exploited sexually. Nevertheless, after being traced from Kerala, when Shelja was produced before the court she had embraced Islam out of her will and that none had forced her to do so. ‘I became interested in Islam and started studying Islam. I travelled with Asghar to Kerala in order to learn more about Islam,’ she said to the court.
In fact, Love Jihad finds no space in Islamic terminology and, hence, no Muslims can indulge in such a shameful activity of loving Hindu girls for converting them to Islam. Thousands of Muslim youth have affairs with Hindu girls but none of them was heard as trying to force the girls for accepting Islam. If it is true, Hindu girls not in thousands but in lakhs will be Muslims.
By: A Hameed Yousuf
ahameed12@gmail.com
Thursday, November 12, 2009
News In Brief
U.S. Officer Protests America’s Strategy In Afghanistan, Resigns
Protesting to the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, a key U.S. officer in the war-torn country has resigned from his post, reported Washington Post.
Matthew Hoh- a political officer in the foreign service and a senior civilian officer in Zabul, Afghanistan- in a four-page letter to Ambassador Nancy Powell, director general of the foreign service at the State Department expressed his "doubts and reservations” about U.S. “current strategy and planned future strategy” in Afghanistan.
The smart civil-military Hoh had joined the Foreign Service early this year. A former Marine Corps captain with combat six-year experience in Iraq, Hoh had also served in uniform at the Pentagon, and as a civilian in Iraq and at the State Department. By July, he was the senior U.S. civilian in Zabul province, a Taliban hotbed.
Matthew, 36, submitted his letter of resignation on Sept. 10 because he doesn't agree with the U.S. mission in the country.
"I feel that our strategies in Afghanistan are not pursing goals that are worthy of sacrificing our young men and women or spending the billions we're doing there," Hoh said. "I believe that the people we are fighting there are fighting us because we are occupying them...not for any ideological reasons, not because of any links to al Qaeda, not because of any fundamental hatred toward the West. The only reason they're fighting us is because we are occupying them."
Hoh has become the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end," Hoh reportedly said.
According to Post the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl W. Eikenberry, and Richard Holbrooke, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, tried to talk Hoh out of resigning. The latter even offered him a job but Hoh declined.
Hoh wants people to know that stabilizing the Afghan government doesn't equate to defeating al Qaeda. He is reported to have said, "If that's our goal, to defeat al Qaeda, we need to change our strategy... We are still fighting them the way we would have fought in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, and we need to change. We need to evolve to actually fight this threat so that we can affect it."
Our Friend U.S. Says!
Pakistan not involved in 26/11
It has come as a shock to India as an expert of U.S.-the country in the fore front of the war against the so-called terrorism- has given clean chit to Pakistan as regards its involvement in 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
Speaking in a conference recently held in Bangalore, Dr. Rodney Jones, president, Policy Architects International (PAI), USA said, “Though there is evidence that Pakistanis are involved, the evidence of Pakistan government’s involvement in 26/11 is not strong enough.”
PAI is a private research, consulting and advisory services organization that concentrates on services needed in international policy areas, including international security, energy security and Asian development issues among others.
Nevertheless, Mr. S. Gopal, former special secretary to the Cabinet Secretariat who also spoke at the venue, countered this by saying “It is unbelievable that the Pakistan Intelligence was unaware of the plotting and training that went behind last year’s attack.”
Your Presence In Afghanistan Upsets Us
In an indication of how deep the US’ concerns run over the Indian presence in Afghanistan upsetting Pakistan, its key ally in the war on terror, the head of Policy Architects International, USA Dr. Rodney Jones said India was, “right to be in Afghanistan” but its presence was “upsetting Pakistan.”
Dr. Jones was speaking in a seminar on “The Taliban Resurgence and the Global Terror Overhang”. He added that Indian consulates were being used to “gather intelligence” and that in the aftermath of the suicide bomb attack on its embassy in Kabul, Delhi should step up security over its missions.
Gifts Worth Over Rs 50,000 In The Tax Net Now
The Central Board of Direct Tax (CBDT) has announced that all the gifts worth over Rs 50,000 in kind- like property, gold, diamond etc. - will be taxed effective from 1 October, 2009.
Making amendments to the Income Tax Act 1961 (the Act), the value of such gifts will now be added to the individual’s annual income and taxed as per the income tax slab rates.
Therefore, any such person who receives a gift of any such property on or after October 1, 2009 must pay the income tax due on the value of the gift and disclose the taxable value of such property in the return of income for assessment year 2010-11 and subsequent years.
However, certain categories of gifts have been exempted from the ambit of the gift tax. These include gifts from a person who is a relative, wedding gifts, gifts given under a will or by way of inheritance, gifts in contemplation of death of the donor, gifts from any local authority, those from any fund or trust, and gifts from registered trusts or institutions.
The act defines relative to include spouse, brother or sister, brother or sister of the spouse, brother or sister of either of the parents, any lineal ascendant or descendant and spouse of any of the relative of the individual.
Prior to this amendment, the government has been imposing tax on gifts exceeding Rs 25,000 since April 2004. Later, the Act was amended with effect from April 1, 2006 to tax all cash gifts having aggregate value exceeding Rs 50,000.
If There Is A Scam There Is ISKCON
ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) Bangalore has once again come in the limelight for its alleged involvement in an illegal sale of mid-day meal.
The recent trouble of the society started when the Food and Civil Supplies Department raided Kanyakumari Kalyana Mantapa at Kengunte Circle and ‘identified’ 4,000 quintals of rice stocked there.
D.K. Shivakumar, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Working President said that the rice supplied by the State Government and meant for mid-day meal scheme, was there for sale.
“One kg of rice costs between Rs. 25 and Rs. 35 in the market but we were told it was available for Rs. 15 a kg at the marriage hall. We went to check and found that rice provided by the State Government for the midday meal scheme was being illegally sold there,” Mr. Hanumanthappa, a local Congress leader alleged.
Hanumanthappa also attributed to the manager of the godown to have said that rice belonged to ISKCON and was offered to sell them.
However, ISKCON claimed that it had stored the rice procured from Food Corporation of India, and it was meant for feeding children under Akshaya Patra Foundation (APF) -run by ISKCON to provide mid-day meal in government schools. The society said that it had stored the rice in the rented godown due to the shortage of space and that it had submitted a letter to the chief executive officer, Zilla Parishad, Bangalore seeking permission to store the rice in the premises. However, it did not say whether it got permission from the government to ‘stock’ rice in its new godown.
APF’s trustee P V Mohandas termed all the allegations “a pack of lies” and said that every single grain is accounted for and all accounts are given scrutiny.
The government reportedly has set up a House panel, headed by BJP MLA Yogesh Bhat, to look into the charges by Congress workers.
Meanwhile, principal secretary (food and civil supplies) Madan Gopal assured of action as per the rules after an investigation. “The local deputy commissioner would take appropriate action after a probe,” said Minister for food and civil supplies H Halappa.
1,800 Jewish Maids In Kuwait
There are about 1,800 Jewish maids working in Kuwaiti households, reports Alam Alyawm daily quoting Interior Ministry sources.
The same sources said these maids are citizens of India, Bangladesh and Ethiopia. The sources also warned such maids practice black magic and may have allegiance to Israel.
They thoughts and opinions may also constitute a danger to Muslim families - either Kuwaiti or expatriate - and may have an ill effect on our children. The sources added the origin of most of these maids is believed to be Falasha (Falasha Mura are the descendants of Beta Israel who converted to Christianity.
Judiciary Not Free From Corruption: Former CJI
Terming charges against Karnataka high court chief justice PD Dinakaran as "very unfortunate", a former CJI today said the allegations will damage the image of entire judiciary but maintained that it was not free from corruption. Justice KN Singh said that as a member of judiciary and former chief justice of India, he felt sad to hear the allegations against Dinakaran.
The lawyers of Bangalore and Chennai started levelling charges against Dinakaran that he had grabbed land in Tamil Nadu in violation of the land ceiling laws, ever since the reports came of justice Dinakaran being elevated to the Supreme Court.
"....Higher judiciary does not suffer with that kind of corruption which is so prevalent in other departments of administration," Singh said on the debate on corruption in judiciary in general.
He added that there might be one or two incidents here and there but judiciary was not free from corruption, and one or two instances would not be sufficient to hold that judiciary is a corruption institution.
Justice Singh who did not know Dinakaran in person nor did he know the details of the allegations said that if media reports were true then, ‘it will certainly damage the constitutional office of chief justice as well as it will damage the image of the entire judiciary in the country," he said.
Veeraiah Arrested For Marrying Five Women
A 48-year old man who had married five women was arrested by Chickaballapur police on September 15.
According to a report appearing in daily “The Hindu” the police initiated legal action against Veeraiah, a resident of Manchanabele on the outskirts of Chickaballapur, after three of his five wives filed a complaint against him in the Chickaballapur Rural police station.
“As it was a non-cognisable case, the police have sought the permission of the jurisdictional court to register a case and proceed against Veeraiah,” the Chickaballapur Circle Police Inspector Shiva Kumar said.
The police along with questioning Veeraiah interrogated Nagaraj, a marriage broker, who had helped him find three brides.
According to the police, Veeraiah would approach middle aged women from poor families and claim he was a rich landlord, although he was jobless, and marry them.
“Around 20 years ago, he (Veeraiah) first married Anasuyamma of Vemagal in Kolar district and deserted her after a few years. Subsequently, he married Revamma of Kortagere, Lakshmamma of Kunigal and Mamatha of Gubbi, all in Tumkur district. Three months ago, he married Manjula of Doddaballapur in Bangalore Rural district. He has four children, two of whom are college students, from his three wives and the youngest child was three-months-old,” the police have been quoted as saying.
A few days ago, Veeraiah lodged a complaint with the Chickaballapur Rural police that his wife Lakshmamma had tortured him and thrown him out of house.
Later, Lakshmamma and Veeraiah’s two other wives lodged a complaint against him.
Taliban Are Paid To Not Attack NATO Forces!
In an astonishing revelation The Times newspaper has written that the Italian forces, once deployed in Afghanistan under NATO umbrella, had struck a secret deal with Taliban for peace.
According to The Times, the Italian secret service gave tens of thousands of dollars to Taliban commanders and local warlords to keep the peace in the Sarobi region, near Kabul.
The Italian government, however, has described the British newspaper's report as "totally baseless" and said it had "never authorised any kind of money payment to members of the Taliban insurrection in Afghanistan".
But a senior officer reportedly said that they were aware that Italian forces were paying the opposition in Sarobi not to attack them. “It's a deal: you don't attack me; I don't attack you," he said, adding the practice was passed on between foreign forces and it was likely that senior commanders were either involved or turned a blind eye to it. It is simply a matter of buying time and surviving."
NATO spokesman in Afghanistan, General Eric Tremblay, said he was "not aware" of such practices and had no information about the Italian case.
Italian forces are not alone. According to one Western military source, payments were made by Canadian soldiers stationed in the violent southern province of Kandahar, while another officer spoke of similar practices by the German army in northern Kunduz.
More than 50 per cent of NATO forces deployed in rural Afghanistan are believed to have such deals in order to ensure peace.
Saudi Arabia Plans Border Fence To Stem Flow Of Militants
Saudi Arabia plans to build a high-tech fence system costing billions of dollars with night cameras, heat sensors and air & sea surveillance to seal off the Kingdom’s border which reportedly have long been fertile ground for smugglers as well as militants.
“Smugglers know the region ... They try to exploit times such as night, rainfall or fog when visibility is low,” said a border guard.
In a three-month period last year, the Saudi newspaper Okaz said border police seized rocket-propelled grenades, more than 100 guns and nearly 100 sticks of dynamite. Saudi officials fear that many more weapons may be getting through.
A diplomat said smugglers have been trying to marry into families living in the border region, while some analysts believe Al-Qaeda uses the same strategy to form bonds with Yemeni tribes.
Analysts say that building such a border system will not only take years, require hundreds of contractors and advanced technology to cover remote caves and passes but conditions will also test equipment to limits.
Second Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Prince Naif said in November 2006 that building of the Iraqi fence would start in 2007, adding that the project would cost SR45 billion ($12 billion). He said the fence would have 135 gates with advanced monitoring systems. The construction would be completed in record time of less than three years. However, the proposed fence along the Kingdom’s southern border with Yemen was expected to take more time because of the difficult terrain.
While the Saudi side of the Alb crossing is well-organized with several lanes and check points for cars, the same cannot be expected from the Yemeni side which suffers from poor communications.
Parts of Saudi Arabia’s borders with Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates touch the Empty Quarter, a remote sand desert without major roads or towns. The northern border to Iraq, where Saudi Arabia hopes to have a first fence section in place by the end of the year, also lies in desert. It is hoped the high-tech offensive will end a long tradition of smuggling and illegal crossing by tribes.
Saving 'Gau Mata' Is Saving The Nation: MM Joshi
Senior BJP leader Dr Murli Manohar Joshi has called for the protection of the original breed of Indian cow and urged the entire country to ban cow-slaughter as did Gujarat.
He said this while releasing a special 'Vishwa Mangal Gau Gram Yatra' issue of the monthly magazine 'Hindu Samwad'. Adding, Joshi said that the ancient Hindu culture provided for not only the protection of the holy cow but also its worship.
Calling the saving of Gau Mata tantamount to ‘saving the nation’ Joshi said ‘In fact, saving the cow is saving the nation as not only its milk is important and useful for the human being but also its urine, which has medicinal value.’
The Varanasi MP asserted that it has been scientifically proved that cow is environmentally the most compatible animal.
He quipped, ‘When Gujarat government could ban the cow-slaughter then why can't the entire country do the same?’Joshi is reported to have said.
Iraq says 85,000 violently killed
Just over 85,000 Iraqis were killed in Iraq between 2004 and 2008, according to the first estimate from the Iraqi government since the war began.
The figure is based on death certificates issued by the ministry of health and included 15,000 unidentified bodies. It counts violent deaths of military, police and civilians, but does not include foreigners or insurgents.
Previous attempts to calculate the number of dead have been controversial. Past reports have used a number of different methods to produce estimates ranging from more than 100,000 to well over half a million deaths since 2003.
The Ministry of Human Rights included the figure in a larger report into human rights in the country.
It does not include the first months of the war after the 2003 US-led invasion, as there was no functioning Iraqi government at that time to keep track.
"Through the terrorist attacks like explosions, assassinations, kidnappings and forced displacements, the outlawed groups have created these terrible figures which represent a big challenge for the rule of law and for the Iraqi people," it said.
Among the deaths were 1,279 children, 2,334 women, 263 university professors, 21 judges, 95 lawyers and 269 journalists.
The data covers only violent deaths, such as people killed in shootings, bombings, mortar attacks and beheadings. It does not include indirect factors such as damage to infrastructure, health care and stress that contributed to more deaths. About 148,000 people were injured during the same period.
The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Baghdad says the numbers may be staggering but they are relatively conservative.
Advocates for and against the invasion have accused each other of manipulating the figures to suit their own political ends, our correspondent adds.
The reality is that, amid the chaos and violence that followed the invasion, the true number may never be known.
The most recent numbers from Iraq Body Count, a non-governmental organisation that has tracked civilian casualties since the war began, puts the number of fatalities at 93,540.
BB C
Indians Go On 'Gold-Buying Blitz'
Despite record prices of gold, Indians, during the week of Diwali, bought god worth 89 billion rupees ($2.08 billion), according to the World Gold Council (WGC) data.
WGC said gold sales rose 5.7 per cent to 56 tonnes from a year earlier in the week of October 12-19, which is considered the most auspicious period to buy gold according to Indian tradition.
Ajay Mitra, the WGC’s managing director in India said, ‘The festive season was very positive. This increased demand can be attributed to consumers' belief that gold is the only safe investment in the current global scenario."
Gold prices in India had hit a record high of over 16,000 rupees ($370) per ten grams, but have since fallen slightly.
Gold is of cultural and religious significance for Indians, considered an auspicious metal and a visible sign of wealth and prosperity.
India is the world's biggest consumer of gold importing between 700 and 800 tonnes of the metal every year or 20 per cent of global demand.
AIUDF Demands Diplomatic Pressure On China And Pakistan
All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) led by the Lok Sabha MP Maulana Badruddin Ajmal has condemned the recent aggressions by Pakistan and China and demanded the Indian government for stiff diplomatic pressure against them.
In a three-page memorandum handed over to the Maharashtra governor Mr. S.C. Jamir, AIUDF expressed its deep concern over Pakistani court acquitting the terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed. It urged India to immediately move to the International Court of Justice because the cases against Saeed and company are no way internal affairs of Pakistan alone; rather they are external security affairs of India and other peace loving countries. The party believes that the highly planned 26/11 Mumbai terror attack was the handiwork of one of its neighbours.
AIUDF also cautioned India’s Home and External affairs ministries against China and suggested to remain alert and ‘make no mistakes’. ‘China is highly aggressive and has a history of sudden attack on India,’ the memorandum reads adding that we should keep China away from Nepal and make India’s bond strong with friendly neighbouring countries.
US Working Women See Appearance As Key: Survey
Nearly all US working women believe that their professional appearance is crucial to success at work.
It was revealed during an online survey conducted by Atlanta-based PINK magazine- a publication for career women- and Minneapolis-based Corset Personal Styling- a service firm for women- from September 29 through October 11.
The survey which indulged 137 female business owners, chief executives, managers and professionals from PINK's readership found that 98 percent felt appearance affected their career, and just 2 percent disagreed.
A report in this regard published by Reuters read that fifty-five percent said they often think they have nothing to wear, and 40 percent said they tend to keep buying clothes that look the same.
Nearly half said they wear too much black, and a little more than half said they have difficulty finding trendy yet age-appropriate clothes.
Some 22 percent of the chief executives, top managers and business owners said they had withheld a promotion or rise because of how an employee dresses at work.
Of those, 36 were chief executives, business owners and top managers, it said. The poll did not include a margin of error.
Protesting to the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, a key U.S. officer in the war-torn country has resigned from his post, reported Washington Post.
Matthew Hoh- a political officer in the foreign service and a senior civilian officer in Zabul, Afghanistan- in a four-page letter to Ambassador Nancy Powell, director general of the foreign service at the State Department expressed his "doubts and reservations” about U.S. “current strategy and planned future strategy” in Afghanistan.
The smart civil-military Hoh had joined the Foreign Service early this year. A former Marine Corps captain with combat six-year experience in Iraq, Hoh had also served in uniform at the Pentagon, and as a civilian in Iraq and at the State Department. By July, he was the senior U.S. civilian in Zabul province, a Taliban hotbed.
Matthew, 36, submitted his letter of resignation on Sept. 10 because he doesn't agree with the U.S. mission in the country.
"I feel that our strategies in Afghanistan are not pursing goals that are worthy of sacrificing our young men and women or spending the billions we're doing there," Hoh said. "I believe that the people we are fighting there are fighting us because we are occupying them...not for any ideological reasons, not because of any links to al Qaeda, not because of any fundamental hatred toward the West. The only reason they're fighting us is because we are occupying them."
Hoh has become the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end," Hoh reportedly said.
According to Post the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl W. Eikenberry, and Richard Holbrooke, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, tried to talk Hoh out of resigning. The latter even offered him a job but Hoh declined.
Hoh wants people to know that stabilizing the Afghan government doesn't equate to defeating al Qaeda. He is reported to have said, "If that's our goal, to defeat al Qaeda, we need to change our strategy... We are still fighting them the way we would have fought in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, and we need to change. We need to evolve to actually fight this threat so that we can affect it."
Our Friend U.S. Says!
Pakistan not involved in 26/11
It has come as a shock to India as an expert of U.S.-the country in the fore front of the war against the so-called terrorism- has given clean chit to Pakistan as regards its involvement in 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
Speaking in a conference recently held in Bangalore, Dr. Rodney Jones, president, Policy Architects International (PAI), USA said, “Though there is evidence that Pakistanis are involved, the evidence of Pakistan government’s involvement in 26/11 is not strong enough.”
PAI is a private research, consulting and advisory services organization that concentrates on services needed in international policy areas, including international security, energy security and Asian development issues among others.
Nevertheless, Mr. S. Gopal, former special secretary to the Cabinet Secretariat who also spoke at the venue, countered this by saying “It is unbelievable that the Pakistan Intelligence was unaware of the plotting and training that went behind last year’s attack.”
Your Presence In Afghanistan Upsets Us
In an indication of how deep the US’ concerns run over the Indian presence in Afghanistan upsetting Pakistan, its key ally in the war on terror, the head of Policy Architects International, USA Dr. Rodney Jones said India was, “right to be in Afghanistan” but its presence was “upsetting Pakistan.”
Dr. Jones was speaking in a seminar on “The Taliban Resurgence and the Global Terror Overhang”. He added that Indian consulates were being used to “gather intelligence” and that in the aftermath of the suicide bomb attack on its embassy in Kabul, Delhi should step up security over its missions.
Gifts Worth Over Rs 50,000 In The Tax Net Now
The Central Board of Direct Tax (CBDT) has announced that all the gifts worth over Rs 50,000 in kind- like property, gold, diamond etc. - will be taxed effective from 1 October, 2009.
Making amendments to the Income Tax Act 1961 (the Act), the value of such gifts will now be added to the individual’s annual income and taxed as per the income tax slab rates.
Therefore, any such person who receives a gift of any such property on or after October 1, 2009 must pay the income tax due on the value of the gift and disclose the taxable value of such property in the return of income for assessment year 2010-11 and subsequent years.
However, certain categories of gifts have been exempted from the ambit of the gift tax. These include gifts from a person who is a relative, wedding gifts, gifts given under a will or by way of inheritance, gifts in contemplation of death of the donor, gifts from any local authority, those from any fund or trust, and gifts from registered trusts or institutions.
The act defines relative to include spouse, brother or sister, brother or sister of the spouse, brother or sister of either of the parents, any lineal ascendant or descendant and spouse of any of the relative of the individual.
Prior to this amendment, the government has been imposing tax on gifts exceeding Rs 25,000 since April 2004. Later, the Act was amended with effect from April 1, 2006 to tax all cash gifts having aggregate value exceeding Rs 50,000.
If There Is A Scam There Is ISKCON
ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) Bangalore has once again come in the limelight for its alleged involvement in an illegal sale of mid-day meal.
The recent trouble of the society started when the Food and Civil Supplies Department raided Kanyakumari Kalyana Mantapa at Kengunte Circle and ‘identified’ 4,000 quintals of rice stocked there.
D.K. Shivakumar, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Working President said that the rice supplied by the State Government and meant for mid-day meal scheme, was there for sale.
“One kg of rice costs between Rs. 25 and Rs. 35 in the market but we were told it was available for Rs. 15 a kg at the marriage hall. We went to check and found that rice provided by the State Government for the midday meal scheme was being illegally sold there,” Mr. Hanumanthappa, a local Congress leader alleged.
Hanumanthappa also attributed to the manager of the godown to have said that rice belonged to ISKCON and was offered to sell them.
However, ISKCON claimed that it had stored the rice procured from Food Corporation of India, and it was meant for feeding children under Akshaya Patra Foundation (APF) -run by ISKCON to provide mid-day meal in government schools. The society said that it had stored the rice in the rented godown due to the shortage of space and that it had submitted a letter to the chief executive officer, Zilla Parishad, Bangalore seeking permission to store the rice in the premises. However, it did not say whether it got permission from the government to ‘stock’ rice in its new godown.
APF’s trustee P V Mohandas termed all the allegations “a pack of lies” and said that every single grain is accounted for and all accounts are given scrutiny.
The government reportedly has set up a House panel, headed by BJP MLA Yogesh Bhat, to look into the charges by Congress workers.
Meanwhile, principal secretary (food and civil supplies) Madan Gopal assured of action as per the rules after an investigation. “The local deputy commissioner would take appropriate action after a probe,” said Minister for food and civil supplies H Halappa.
1,800 Jewish Maids In Kuwait
There are about 1,800 Jewish maids working in Kuwaiti households, reports Alam Alyawm daily quoting Interior Ministry sources.
The same sources said these maids are citizens of India, Bangladesh and Ethiopia. The sources also warned such maids practice black magic and may have allegiance to Israel.
They thoughts and opinions may also constitute a danger to Muslim families - either Kuwaiti or expatriate - and may have an ill effect on our children. The sources added the origin of most of these maids is believed to be Falasha (Falasha Mura are the descendants of Beta Israel who converted to Christianity.
Judiciary Not Free From Corruption: Former CJI
Terming charges against Karnataka high court chief justice PD Dinakaran as "very unfortunate", a former CJI today said the allegations will damage the image of entire judiciary but maintained that it was not free from corruption. Justice KN Singh said that as a member of judiciary and former chief justice of India, he felt sad to hear the allegations against Dinakaran.
The lawyers of Bangalore and Chennai started levelling charges against Dinakaran that he had grabbed land in Tamil Nadu in violation of the land ceiling laws, ever since the reports came of justice Dinakaran being elevated to the Supreme Court.
"....Higher judiciary does not suffer with that kind of corruption which is so prevalent in other departments of administration," Singh said on the debate on corruption in judiciary in general.
He added that there might be one or two incidents here and there but judiciary was not free from corruption, and one or two instances would not be sufficient to hold that judiciary is a corruption institution.
Justice Singh who did not know Dinakaran in person nor did he know the details of the allegations said that if media reports were true then, ‘it will certainly damage the constitutional office of chief justice as well as it will damage the image of the entire judiciary in the country," he said.
Veeraiah Arrested For Marrying Five Women
A 48-year old man who had married five women was arrested by Chickaballapur police on September 15.
According to a report appearing in daily “The Hindu” the police initiated legal action against Veeraiah, a resident of Manchanabele on the outskirts of Chickaballapur, after three of his five wives filed a complaint against him in the Chickaballapur Rural police station.
“As it was a non-cognisable case, the police have sought the permission of the jurisdictional court to register a case and proceed against Veeraiah,” the Chickaballapur Circle Police Inspector Shiva Kumar said.
The police along with questioning Veeraiah interrogated Nagaraj, a marriage broker, who had helped him find three brides.
According to the police, Veeraiah would approach middle aged women from poor families and claim he was a rich landlord, although he was jobless, and marry them.
“Around 20 years ago, he (Veeraiah) first married Anasuyamma of Vemagal in Kolar district and deserted her after a few years. Subsequently, he married Revamma of Kortagere, Lakshmamma of Kunigal and Mamatha of Gubbi, all in Tumkur district. Three months ago, he married Manjula of Doddaballapur in Bangalore Rural district. He has four children, two of whom are college students, from his three wives and the youngest child was three-months-old,” the police have been quoted as saying.
A few days ago, Veeraiah lodged a complaint with the Chickaballapur Rural police that his wife Lakshmamma had tortured him and thrown him out of house.
Later, Lakshmamma and Veeraiah’s two other wives lodged a complaint against him.
Taliban Are Paid To Not Attack NATO Forces!
In an astonishing revelation The Times newspaper has written that the Italian forces, once deployed in Afghanistan under NATO umbrella, had struck a secret deal with Taliban for peace.
According to The Times, the Italian secret service gave tens of thousands of dollars to Taliban commanders and local warlords to keep the peace in the Sarobi region, near Kabul.
The Italian government, however, has described the British newspaper's report as "totally baseless" and said it had "never authorised any kind of money payment to members of the Taliban insurrection in Afghanistan".
But a senior officer reportedly said that they were aware that Italian forces were paying the opposition in Sarobi not to attack them. “It's a deal: you don't attack me; I don't attack you," he said, adding the practice was passed on between foreign forces and it was likely that senior commanders were either involved or turned a blind eye to it. It is simply a matter of buying time and surviving."
NATO spokesman in Afghanistan, General Eric Tremblay, said he was "not aware" of such practices and had no information about the Italian case.
Italian forces are not alone. According to one Western military source, payments were made by Canadian soldiers stationed in the violent southern province of Kandahar, while another officer spoke of similar practices by the German army in northern Kunduz.
More than 50 per cent of NATO forces deployed in rural Afghanistan are believed to have such deals in order to ensure peace.
Saudi Arabia Plans Border Fence To Stem Flow Of Militants
Saudi Arabia plans to build a high-tech fence system costing billions of dollars with night cameras, heat sensors and air & sea surveillance to seal off the Kingdom’s border which reportedly have long been fertile ground for smugglers as well as militants.
“Smugglers know the region ... They try to exploit times such as night, rainfall or fog when visibility is low,” said a border guard.
In a three-month period last year, the Saudi newspaper Okaz said border police seized rocket-propelled grenades, more than 100 guns and nearly 100 sticks of dynamite. Saudi officials fear that many more weapons may be getting through.
A diplomat said smugglers have been trying to marry into families living in the border region, while some analysts believe Al-Qaeda uses the same strategy to form bonds with Yemeni tribes.
Analysts say that building such a border system will not only take years, require hundreds of contractors and advanced technology to cover remote caves and passes but conditions will also test equipment to limits.
Second Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Prince Naif said in November 2006 that building of the Iraqi fence would start in 2007, adding that the project would cost SR45 billion ($12 billion). He said the fence would have 135 gates with advanced monitoring systems. The construction would be completed in record time of less than three years. However, the proposed fence along the Kingdom’s southern border with Yemen was expected to take more time because of the difficult terrain.
While the Saudi side of the Alb crossing is well-organized with several lanes and check points for cars, the same cannot be expected from the Yemeni side which suffers from poor communications.
Parts of Saudi Arabia’s borders with Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates touch the Empty Quarter, a remote sand desert without major roads or towns. The northern border to Iraq, where Saudi Arabia hopes to have a first fence section in place by the end of the year, also lies in desert. It is hoped the high-tech offensive will end a long tradition of smuggling and illegal crossing by tribes.
Saving 'Gau Mata' Is Saving The Nation: MM Joshi
Senior BJP leader Dr Murli Manohar Joshi has called for the protection of the original breed of Indian cow and urged the entire country to ban cow-slaughter as did Gujarat.
He said this while releasing a special 'Vishwa Mangal Gau Gram Yatra' issue of the monthly magazine 'Hindu Samwad'. Adding, Joshi said that the ancient Hindu culture provided for not only the protection of the holy cow but also its worship.
Calling the saving of Gau Mata tantamount to ‘saving the nation’ Joshi said ‘In fact, saving the cow is saving the nation as not only its milk is important and useful for the human being but also its urine, which has medicinal value.’
The Varanasi MP asserted that it has been scientifically proved that cow is environmentally the most compatible animal.
He quipped, ‘When Gujarat government could ban the cow-slaughter then why can't the entire country do the same?’Joshi is reported to have said.
Iraq says 85,000 violently killed
Just over 85,000 Iraqis were killed in Iraq between 2004 and 2008, according to the first estimate from the Iraqi government since the war began.
The figure is based on death certificates issued by the ministry of health and included 15,000 unidentified bodies. It counts violent deaths of military, police and civilians, but does not include foreigners or insurgents.
Previous attempts to calculate the number of dead have been controversial. Past reports have used a number of different methods to produce estimates ranging from more than 100,000 to well over half a million deaths since 2003.
The Ministry of Human Rights included the figure in a larger report into human rights in the country.
It does not include the first months of the war after the 2003 US-led invasion, as there was no functioning Iraqi government at that time to keep track.
"Through the terrorist attacks like explosions, assassinations, kidnappings and forced displacements, the outlawed groups have created these terrible figures which represent a big challenge for the rule of law and for the Iraqi people," it said.
Among the deaths were 1,279 children, 2,334 women, 263 university professors, 21 judges, 95 lawyers and 269 journalists.
The data covers only violent deaths, such as people killed in shootings, bombings, mortar attacks and beheadings. It does not include indirect factors such as damage to infrastructure, health care and stress that contributed to more deaths. About 148,000 people were injured during the same period.
The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Baghdad says the numbers may be staggering but they are relatively conservative.
Advocates for and against the invasion have accused each other of manipulating the figures to suit their own political ends, our correspondent adds.
The reality is that, amid the chaos and violence that followed the invasion, the true number may never be known.
The most recent numbers from Iraq Body Count, a non-governmental organisation that has tracked civilian casualties since the war began, puts the number of fatalities at 93,540.
BB C
Indians Go On 'Gold-Buying Blitz'
Despite record prices of gold, Indians, during the week of Diwali, bought god worth 89 billion rupees ($2.08 billion), according to the World Gold Council (WGC) data.
WGC said gold sales rose 5.7 per cent to 56 tonnes from a year earlier in the week of October 12-19, which is considered the most auspicious period to buy gold according to Indian tradition.
Ajay Mitra, the WGC’s managing director in India said, ‘The festive season was very positive. This increased demand can be attributed to consumers' belief that gold is the only safe investment in the current global scenario."
Gold prices in India had hit a record high of over 16,000 rupees ($370) per ten grams, but have since fallen slightly.
Gold is of cultural and religious significance for Indians, considered an auspicious metal and a visible sign of wealth and prosperity.
India is the world's biggest consumer of gold importing between 700 and 800 tonnes of the metal every year or 20 per cent of global demand.
AIUDF Demands Diplomatic Pressure On China And Pakistan
All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) led by the Lok Sabha MP Maulana Badruddin Ajmal has condemned the recent aggressions by Pakistan and China and demanded the Indian government for stiff diplomatic pressure against them.
In a three-page memorandum handed over to the Maharashtra governor Mr. S.C. Jamir, AIUDF expressed its deep concern over Pakistani court acquitting the terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed. It urged India to immediately move to the International Court of Justice because the cases against Saeed and company are no way internal affairs of Pakistan alone; rather they are external security affairs of India and other peace loving countries. The party believes that the highly planned 26/11 Mumbai terror attack was the handiwork of one of its neighbours.
AIUDF also cautioned India’s Home and External affairs ministries against China and suggested to remain alert and ‘make no mistakes’. ‘China is highly aggressive and has a history of sudden attack on India,’ the memorandum reads adding that we should keep China away from Nepal and make India’s bond strong with friendly neighbouring countries.
US Working Women See Appearance As Key: Survey
Nearly all US working women believe that their professional appearance is crucial to success at work.
It was revealed during an online survey conducted by Atlanta-based PINK magazine- a publication for career women- and Minneapolis-based Corset Personal Styling- a service firm for women- from September 29 through October 11.
The survey which indulged 137 female business owners, chief executives, managers and professionals from PINK's readership found that 98 percent felt appearance affected their career, and just 2 percent disagreed.
A report in this regard published by Reuters read that fifty-five percent said they often think they have nothing to wear, and 40 percent said they tend to keep buying clothes that look the same.
Nearly half said they wear too much black, and a little more than half said they have difficulty finding trendy yet age-appropriate clothes.
Some 22 percent of the chief executives, top managers and business owners said they had withheld a promotion or rise because of how an employee dresses at work.
Of those, 36 were chief executives, business owners and top managers, it said. The poll did not include a margin of error.
On The Way To Naxal Free India!
Both Congress and BJP governments at centre underestimated Naxals for the last 10 to 13 years.” P Chidambaram
In the latest aggressions the Maoist held hostage 12,000 passengers of New Delhi-Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani Express at Banshotla station near West Midnapore, West Bengal. Their demand was simple; to release the maoist leader Chhatrdhar Mahato, something that was rejected earlier by the West Bengal Chief Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
This incident constitutes only one link of the series of anti-nation activities carried out by the Maoists/Naxals. From blowing up railway stations and transmission towers to uprooting railway lines to the killing of policemen and even innocent citizens, are continually performed by Maoists.
Prime minister dr. Manmohan Singh has once again reiterated that the naxals are the single largest threat to the internal security of the country. Thanks to his statement. But the question what practical measures the centre or the state governments are going to take for curbing the menace remains unanswered. In 2006 too, PM had called the Naxalites ‘the single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country’ and in September 2009 he said in a meeting of police chiefs from different states that India was losing the battle against the Maoists rebels.
So far, a soft attitude to the Naxals allowed them flourish to an extent that in some regions they established parallel governments to that of the state. In the guise of struggling against poverty, Naxals managed to achieve a commanding position in the tribal regions of India. Today, they are said to be present in 231 of the country's 626 districts while the strength of their armed cadres has doubled to 20,000 men and women in the last five years.
The history of Naxalism dates back to an agitation staged on May 25, 1967, against police atrocities meted out on Naxalbari- a small village in West Bengal villagers. On the forefront of the agitation were the extremist cadres of Marxwadi Communist Party led by comrades Charu Majumdar and Khanai Chatterjee. Now, they are not confined only to West Bengal, rather they have spread in around 20 states-especially Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and, Andhra Pradesh- as the union minister of home P Chidambaram reportedly said. Around 2,000 police stations of 223 districts are affected by Naxal violence either completely or partially.
The Maoists in the majority of the states conduct operations according to a well planned strategy reportedly designed by sharp military mind. They have demarked the responsibilities much like the Chinese Military Regions (MR). Five to six villages are grouped together under a range committee; several range committees make up an area committee, which make a division. Divisions are commanded by zonal committees under which the Maoists have special formations. Naxalites have now become better equipped than they were in the late 1960s and early 70s when home-made pipe guns and improvised bombs were their main weapons.
While Maoists/Naxalites posed a great threat since their very existence the policymaking establishment and the government soft-pedalled the menace while raising the bugaboo of Muslim terror. According to confirmed statistics more innocent people were killed in Naxal-Mao-Ulfa related violence in the North-Eastern states and the rest of India than the number of people killed in terrorist violence in Kashmir or any terror attacks in India.
During the past three years the Naxalites have killed 2600 people especially in the states of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand. The states witnessed 2212 deaths from January 2006 to August 2009. A senior officer of the interior ministry said that during these years around 5800 Naxal related violent incidents were reported.
Through the slogan of standing for the cause of poor and dehumanized sections of the society, the Naxalites killed two birds with one stone; they managed to gain local support against the government and escaped from being tagged as enemy to the country. Nevertheless, the fact is not hidden that many innocent citizens too have been killed by their violence.
Yet, the locals support them. In Lalgarh, it were tribal men and women who with bamboos and axes helped Maoists control the area for a long time. Gour Chakrabarty, the spokesperson of the CPI (Maoists) in an interview to an English daily newspaper had called it “people’s uprising against the oppressive government”. The claim of Naxals fighting for the poor is still effective.
Reports appearing in the media show that pro-Naxals/Maoists citizens are those whose villages lack basic amenities. If Naxals provide locals with quick justice through the courts they have set up and they cater to people’s daily needs, whatever extent it may be, there remains no reason that locals will not support them.
A story appeared in Hindustan Times, Mumbai when the Lalgarh issue was on works as an eye-opener in this regard. Comrade Manoj, a prominent CPI (Maoist) leader in Lalgarh while relating his story told that his village Bamundanga in Shalboni had been a stronghold of CPI (M) for the last 30 years. Despite the party being in rule, neither the state government nor the Panchayat and Zilla Parishad took any interest in developing the area. He told that absence of employment opportunities and lack of basic infrastructure like roads, electricity and clean water are rife in the area. Of being tired treated like rodents; the villagers demanded the development of the area, which infuriated the local CPI (M) ‘bosses’. The police and Marxists slapped false cases on them, accusing them of working for the People’s War Group (PWG). The police branded them Maoists. ‘So we began to think we might as well join the Maoists.’
It is an enough reason for the tribals to turn against the government that it hands over their lands to the big companies for industrial purpose. They resorted to even violent protests once the government tired to approve the Special Economic Zones in Nandigram and Tata Nano Plant in Singur. All India Trinamool Congress raised the same voice as that of the adivasis and they supported her in the next general election in which it bagged with 19 of the 42 seats compared to the only one in 2004 general elections. In other states too i.e. Jharkhand and Orissa where village are constantly under the fear of displacement and loss of livelihood sources if government gives their lands to the companies to set up plants; a move that will push them even deeper into poverty.
Of course, the government had announced many schemes for the welfare of the tribals but the corrupt system does not let the schemes benefit in its true meaning. According to a media report appearing in the beginning of 2008, the Centre had approved a plan to bring 33 Naxal-affected districts and 22 districts near Naxal areas to the level of development mandated by the national development index by 2012. So far, we have nothing but hope that work in this direction already has started.
However, the Centre is poised to initiate, anytime in this month, a coordinated seven-phase offensive to take on Maoists in their core areas. For the first time, the ground is being laid for involving the Indian army and air force in operation against Maoists. At this point it will be important to the government to ensure minimum citizen causalities or the operation can give a reason to them for supporting Maoists.
Congress general secretary and former chief minister of undivided Madhya Pradesh Digvijay Singh said, “The three reasons why Maoist influence is growing is poor governance, non-implementation of the Tribal Bill and the fact that the tribals don’t have rights to natural resources. They should have rights not just over minor forest produce but also major forest produce and that includes the mineral wealth in these areas”.
More focus should be given taking the tribals driven from poverty and absence of basic amenities into confidence by assuring them complete protection and providing with necessities of life including employment, clean water, roads, electricity and land reforms. The government should wage a campaign to recruit the maximum number of security officers from among the tribals. In many states, tribals have been reported to be surrendering following the government’s assurance of their rehabilitation and welfare. Might can conquer heads but it cannot change mentality and direction of thought.
Statistics by Union Home Ministry on causalities caused by Maoists/Naxalites
Year Causalities
1996 156
1997 428
1998 270
1999 363
2000 50
2001 100+
2002 140
2003 451
2004 500
2005 892
2006 794
2007 384
2008 938
2009 (till May) 39
Source: Dawat Sehroza
In the latest aggressions the Maoist held hostage 12,000 passengers of New Delhi-Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani Express at Banshotla station near West Midnapore, West Bengal. Their demand was simple; to release the maoist leader Chhatrdhar Mahato, something that was rejected earlier by the West Bengal Chief Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
This incident constitutes only one link of the series of anti-nation activities carried out by the Maoists/Naxals. From blowing up railway stations and transmission towers to uprooting railway lines to the killing of policemen and even innocent citizens, are continually performed by Maoists.
Prime minister dr. Manmohan Singh has once again reiterated that the naxals are the single largest threat to the internal security of the country. Thanks to his statement. But the question what practical measures the centre or the state governments are going to take for curbing the menace remains unanswered. In 2006 too, PM had called the Naxalites ‘the single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country’ and in September 2009 he said in a meeting of police chiefs from different states that India was losing the battle against the Maoists rebels.
So far, a soft attitude to the Naxals allowed them flourish to an extent that in some regions they established parallel governments to that of the state. In the guise of struggling against poverty, Naxals managed to achieve a commanding position in the tribal regions of India. Today, they are said to be present in 231 of the country's 626 districts while the strength of their armed cadres has doubled to 20,000 men and women in the last five years.
The history of Naxalism dates back to an agitation staged on May 25, 1967, against police atrocities meted out on Naxalbari- a small village in West Bengal villagers. On the forefront of the agitation were the extremist cadres of Marxwadi Communist Party led by comrades Charu Majumdar and Khanai Chatterjee. Now, they are not confined only to West Bengal, rather they have spread in around 20 states-especially Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and, Andhra Pradesh- as the union minister of home P Chidambaram reportedly said. Around 2,000 police stations of 223 districts are affected by Naxal violence either completely or partially.
The Maoists in the majority of the states conduct operations according to a well planned strategy reportedly designed by sharp military mind. They have demarked the responsibilities much like the Chinese Military Regions (MR). Five to six villages are grouped together under a range committee; several range committees make up an area committee, which make a division. Divisions are commanded by zonal committees under which the Maoists have special formations. Naxalites have now become better equipped than they were in the late 1960s and early 70s when home-made pipe guns and improvised bombs were their main weapons.
While Maoists/Naxalites posed a great threat since their very existence the policymaking establishment and the government soft-pedalled the menace while raising the bugaboo of Muslim terror. According to confirmed statistics more innocent people were killed in Naxal-Mao-Ulfa related violence in the North-Eastern states and the rest of India than the number of people killed in terrorist violence in Kashmir or any terror attacks in India.
During the past three years the Naxalites have killed 2600 people especially in the states of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand. The states witnessed 2212 deaths from January 2006 to August 2009. A senior officer of the interior ministry said that during these years around 5800 Naxal related violent incidents were reported.
Through the slogan of standing for the cause of poor and dehumanized sections of the society, the Naxalites killed two birds with one stone; they managed to gain local support against the government and escaped from being tagged as enemy to the country. Nevertheless, the fact is not hidden that many innocent citizens too have been killed by their violence.
Yet, the locals support them. In Lalgarh, it were tribal men and women who with bamboos and axes helped Maoists control the area for a long time. Gour Chakrabarty, the spokesperson of the CPI (Maoists) in an interview to an English daily newspaper had called it “people’s uprising against the oppressive government”. The claim of Naxals fighting for the poor is still effective.
Reports appearing in the media show that pro-Naxals/Maoists citizens are those whose villages lack basic amenities. If Naxals provide locals with quick justice through the courts they have set up and they cater to people’s daily needs, whatever extent it may be, there remains no reason that locals will not support them.
A story appeared in Hindustan Times, Mumbai when the Lalgarh issue was on works as an eye-opener in this regard. Comrade Manoj, a prominent CPI (Maoist) leader in Lalgarh while relating his story told that his village Bamundanga in Shalboni had been a stronghold of CPI (M) for the last 30 years. Despite the party being in rule, neither the state government nor the Panchayat and Zilla Parishad took any interest in developing the area. He told that absence of employment opportunities and lack of basic infrastructure like roads, electricity and clean water are rife in the area. Of being tired treated like rodents; the villagers demanded the development of the area, which infuriated the local CPI (M) ‘bosses’. The police and Marxists slapped false cases on them, accusing them of working for the People’s War Group (PWG). The police branded them Maoists. ‘So we began to think we might as well join the Maoists.’
It is an enough reason for the tribals to turn against the government that it hands over their lands to the big companies for industrial purpose. They resorted to even violent protests once the government tired to approve the Special Economic Zones in Nandigram and Tata Nano Plant in Singur. All India Trinamool Congress raised the same voice as that of the adivasis and they supported her in the next general election in which it bagged with 19 of the 42 seats compared to the only one in 2004 general elections. In other states too i.e. Jharkhand and Orissa where village are constantly under the fear of displacement and loss of livelihood sources if government gives their lands to the companies to set up plants; a move that will push them even deeper into poverty.
Of course, the government had announced many schemes for the welfare of the tribals but the corrupt system does not let the schemes benefit in its true meaning. According to a media report appearing in the beginning of 2008, the Centre had approved a plan to bring 33 Naxal-affected districts and 22 districts near Naxal areas to the level of development mandated by the national development index by 2012. So far, we have nothing but hope that work in this direction already has started.
However, the Centre is poised to initiate, anytime in this month, a coordinated seven-phase offensive to take on Maoists in their core areas. For the first time, the ground is being laid for involving the Indian army and air force in operation against Maoists. At this point it will be important to the government to ensure minimum citizen causalities or the operation can give a reason to them for supporting Maoists.
Congress general secretary and former chief minister of undivided Madhya Pradesh Digvijay Singh said, “The three reasons why Maoist influence is growing is poor governance, non-implementation of the Tribal Bill and the fact that the tribals don’t have rights to natural resources. They should have rights not just over minor forest produce but also major forest produce and that includes the mineral wealth in these areas”.
More focus should be given taking the tribals driven from poverty and absence of basic amenities into confidence by assuring them complete protection and providing with necessities of life including employment, clean water, roads, electricity and land reforms. The government should wage a campaign to recruit the maximum number of security officers from among the tribals. In many states, tribals have been reported to be surrendering following the government’s assurance of their rehabilitation and welfare. Might can conquer heads but it cannot change mentality and direction of thought.
Statistics by Union Home Ministry on causalities caused by Maoists/Naxalites
Year Causalities
1996 156
1997 428
1998 270
1999 363
2000 50
2001 100+
2002 140
2003 451
2004 500
2005 892
2006 794
2007 384
2008 938
2009 (till May) 39
Source: Dawat Sehroza
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