Who Killed Karkare? The Real Face Of Terrorism In India
By M Zeyaul Haque
26 October, 2009
The Milli Gazette
Who Killed Karkare? The Real Face Of Terrorism In India
Author: SM Mushrif
Price: Rs 300/ USD 25
Pages: 319
Publisher: Pharos Media (www.pharosmedia.com), New Delhi
A new book curiously titled Who Killed Karkare? says a nationwide network of Hindutva terror that has its tentacles spread up to Nepal and Israel is out to destroy the India most Indians have known for ages and to remould it into some kind of Afghanistan under the Taliban.
The writer, a former IG Police of Maharashtra, SM Mushrif, has reconstructed a fearsome picture out of former Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare’s chargesheet against alleged Hindutva terrorists like Lt. Col. Purohit, Sadhvi Pragyasingh Thakur and others.
The chargesheet pointed towards a mind-boggling nationwide conspiracy with international support to destabilise the constitutional order and the secular democratic Indian state that upholds it, to be replaced by a Hindutva state run according to a new Constitution. For that the conspirators were prepared for a massive bloodbath, using bomb attacks on religious places to trigger an anti-Muslim holocaust.
Mushrif, who has over three decades of diligent policing behind him and whose feats include exposing the Telgi scam, has made an elaborate case out of nearly a dozen blasts over a large area of the country conducted by Hindutva terror groups of different stripes. His case: a section of India’s intelligence services, a miniscule group in the armed forces and a section of different state police forces have been compromised and infiltrated by these elements, a development that bodes ill for the future of the country.
In Hemant Karkare’s net (of investigations, of course) many big and small fishes of VHP, RSS, Bajrang Dal and Sanatan Sanstha (which has been found to be involved in Diwali-eve blasts in Goa last week) had been trapped. Serving and retired army officers, academics, serving and retired officials of India’s premier intelligence service were ensnared in Karkare’s fishing net. The menacing power of the latter groups, inspired by sustained anti-Muslim hate campaigns of the last six decades, gave the plot a sinister and highly destructive character.
Among the plans unearthed by Karkare was a blueprint for the assassination of 70 prominent Indians who could by a hindrance to the project of Hindutva. Interestingly, most of the persons marked for elimination would, naturally, be Hindus because it is they who primarily run the dispensation. The conspirators were also unhappy with organisations whose Hindutva they suspected to be less virulent than desired.
Mushrif, who very well knows the power of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to make or mar lives and careers, says he is prepared to face the consequences of hostility of this power hub. He musters “evidence” to show that the IB has regularly been interfering with regular police investigations to let Hindutva terrorists slip out of the net and replace them with random Muslim youth. To fudge the issues further obliging police officers in the states would not mind exterminating a few Muslim youth to be branded posthumously as “terrorists”.
There are quite a few number of such cases where such extra-judicial killing of Muslim youth has turned out to be false police encounters. All this is done to cover tracks of Hindutva terror. Mushrif says a “Brahminist” network that has its origins in Maharashtra, and is closely knit across political parties, government services, including IB, and other vital sectors of life is behind the terror that seeks to destroy the secular, democratic state. He hastens to clarify that very few Brahminists are Brahmins. Many are from other high Hindu castes, some from middle and lower castes.
Most Brahmins are fair-minded and would not like to associate themselves with hate ideologies. Hemant Karkare, too, was a Brahmin, Mushrif says. So is Mushrif’s son-in-law.
It is pertinent to note that “Brahminism” and “Brahminical order” first appeared in Dalit protest vocabulary in the Dalit uprising movement in Maharashtra towards the turn of the 20th century. Mushrif, who appropriates part of this vocabulary for the present discourse, says that Maharashtra still remains the centre of this ideology that, among other things, has the dubious distinction of killing the Father of the Nation.
The power establishment that really runs the affairs of this country (Mushrif says it is not Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh or Rahul Gandhi) does not want to expose the Hindutva terrorists. One example is the blasts in Samjhauta Express, which the IB said was carried out by Pakistan’s ISI. Mushrif quotes a report in The Times of India that said, “the Centre had blamed the ISI on the basis of the IB’s findings.” However, during a narco-analysis test under Karkare, Lt. Col. Purohit had admitted having supplied the RDX used in the blast. The IB, which draws its power from its proximity to the Prime Minister (its director briefs the PM every morning for half an hour), did not want Karkare’s investigation that blew the cover off the IB’s shenanigans, to continue.
Once Karkare was removed from the scene, the IB moved in to fill his position with KP Raghuvanshi, a pliant police officer with extremely low credibility among Muslims for his record of letting off known Hindutva terrorists and implicating innocent Muslim youth even in bomb attack cases on mosques.
There are quite a few interesting vignettes here, like Raghuvanshi and Col. Purohit’s association with Abhinav Bharat in Maharashtra, whose hand was evident in a series of blasts across the country. It has old connections with men like Veer Damodar Savarkar (whose relative Himani Savarkar leads the Abhinav Bharat movement), Dr Munje, who led the Hindu Mahasabha, and other Hindutva luminaries. It is at the Bhonsala Military Academy run by these groups that Purohit trained police officers, including Raghuvanshi. Mushrif asks a pertinent question: Will Raghuvanshi pursue the investigation against Purohit, his guru? A plausible answer is, perhaps no. Already charges have been dropped by a special court under MCOCA against 11 accused, including Purohit, on the grounds of insufficient evidence produced in the court by the prosecution.
This was just the beginning of the undoing of Karkare’s painstaking investigation. Mushrif says slowly the system is working to undo all of Karkare’s work and let off the terrorists who over the years destroyed scores of lives and wreaked irreparable economic damage. The ATS team under Karkare had pointed out VHP leader Praveen Togadia’s role in the blasts. The ATS under Raghuvanshi dropped the investigation against him saying (please hold your laughter) they do not know who Togadia is!
A number of investigations have been thus sabotaged by the powers that be and the tracks of the Hinduta terrorists duly covered. The 319-page book is crammed with such information.
But what about who killed Karkare? Mushrif says two teams were at work on 26/11 – one which did the maximum damage, and was from outside. The smaller team took advantage of the confusion of the moment and acted only on the relatively small CST-CAMA-Rangbhavan stretch that killed Karkare. It was a desi unit that wanted Karkare and his men out of the way.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Caste abuse in Indian schools: UNESCO
Who Killed Savita (11), Kavita Motiram (13), Rita (11) and Saraswati (9)
By subhash gatade
NEW DELHI , Higher caste teachers in India have physically and verbally abused lower caste students and India will not be able to achieve the literacy goals set for 2015, says a UNESCO-commissioned report on the Education For All (EFA) programme. Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) is the Indian version of EFA. India is among 30 countries that the UNESCO feels will not make the target.
Caste abuse in Indian schools: UNESCO
Education for all: Report lists India among 30 countries that will miss 2015 goals, VARGHESE K GEORGE
I Few years back a study commissioned by Ken Livingstone, the then Mayor of London had discovered how ‘Black teachers face bullying and racism' in the school and had linked the plight of the black teachers to the ‘continuing problem of underachievement among black pupils'. The landmark report had called for a formal investigation - akin to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry into policing - to address concerns that black teachers are isolated, maligned and robbed of proper pay and status. (Hugh Muir, Friday September 8, 2006 , The Guardian). There were also calls for a public inquiry into racism in schools.
One is yet to come across a comprehensive study of a similar nature to know how ‘apartheid of different kinds' unfolds itself in schools in this part of the earth and whether teachers coming from - socially oppressed communities- are similarly ‘.isloated, maligned and robbed of proper pay and status..' and how does it impact the performance of the students coming from similar sections of society. Of course, one does get an inkling of the state of affairs through related studies, reports and investigations.
As of now we have before us plethora of sample studies/enquiry reports occasioned by specific complaints lodged mainly by students to protest discrimination faced inside particular institutions. It is widely known that in recent times, a few premier institutions of the country reached headlines for following policies, adopting mechanisms, continuing processes which put students coming from socially oppressed communities in disadvantageous position and denying them their constitutional rights.
The treatment meted out the scheduled category students in the premier institute reminds one of a three year old report of the Parliamentary committee wherein it had expressed concern over the ‘abysmally low' participation of SC and ST students, ‘as compared to their percentage in total population.' It divulged that ‘ the enrollment of SCs in higher education has ranged between 8.6 per cent in 1990-91 to 11.3 percent in 2002-2003.' (Parliament of India , 172 nd Report on Higher Education, presented on 22 nd May 2006)
If students from socially oppressed communities going for higher education find it difficult to wage a consistent struggle against exclusions, discriminations and are condemned to face it, one can just imagine the plight of students coming from similar background who go for school education.
There is no doubt that the most vulnerable among the lot seems to be those who are admitted in the scores of ‘Ashram Schools' - residential schools - where they are at the completemercy of teachers and non-teaching staff.
Perhaps few recent news clippings from such residential schools can give an idea about the gravity of the situation
II Nobody would have imagined in their wildest dreams that 66 girls studying in N Jhalarsingh Kanyashram, a government-run school for SC/ST girls in Gajapati district, (Orissa) would walk a distance of 25 kms from their hostel unannounced, to protest the behaviour of three teachers who allegedly made casteist taunts to them.Altogether there are 250 girls studying in the institution. Of them 238 live in the hostel.
It is learnt that the triad would "always keep telling" them that "You all belong to lower castes,"
"They have inflicted unbearable torture and trauma on us. Even over a trifle thing, they make fun and remind us of our so-called low-caste background. It's very very cruel. For long, we put up with the trauma, hoping things will improve someday. But nothing of that sort happened," one of the girls said on condition of anonymity,
Of course, it was not for the first time that SC/ST students studying in Gajapati district had undertaken such an action. Earlier, a group of students of Ekalabya Abasika Bidyalaya at Chandragiri and Laxmipur Abasika Bidyalaya near Koinpur in Gajapati district walked out to protest against alleged mismanagement and misbehaviour of teaching staff.
(Caste taunts by teachers drive 66 SC/ST girls run away from Orissa school, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/
city/bhubaneswar/articleshow/4874588.cms, Sunil Mohan Patnaik, TNN 9 August 2009, 11:31pm IST)
Another news report which appeared in ‘The Statesman' which covered the incident tells us : More than 70 residential schools are run by SC/ST welfare department, ITDA and the mass education department in Gajapati. The students are given stipend ranging between Rs 400 and Rs 500 per month for their education and this is utilised for their food and accommodation.
It is difficult to imagine the situation in which large number grown-up girls from underpriveledged backgrounds, studying in various government schools, are condemned to live where they have limited protection in their own premises. Male teachers are put in charge of the girls and outsiders have free access to the girls' hostels. They stay in badly maintained accommodations and are prone to diseases due to congestion.
While the students of Gajapati could unitedly protest the humiliation heaped on them, for students of Kasturba Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in Barwani district, (MP), where around 1,071 girls are studying at present, things unfolded themselves in such a rapid manner that they could not even get a chance to say anything.
For Savita Gangaram Barela (11), Kavita Motiram (13), Rita Hawaldar (11) and Saraswati (9) the ‘Khichdi' and ‘Halwa' they consumed a day before independence day (14 August) - when they were getting ready to participate in the celebrations - proved fatal. They died within few hours after consuming this contaminated food in a hostel at the tribal dominated Niwali village in Madhya Pradesh.
Around 92 girls had to be admitted to different hospitals after they developed symptoms of food poisioning.
(Hindustan Times, 19 th August 2009, Fourth victim dies of food poisoining in MP School)
If the girls from Barwani had to pay with their lives for the acts of omission and commission on part of the management, an altogether different story unfolded itself in Gulabrao Ukey Adivasi Ashramshala in Wardha district, 150 km from Nagpur, which was started with the ‘noble aim of providing quality education to the tribal population.' The Maharashtra government also promptly provided aid for its work. Little could have anyone the premonition that the Ashramshala would metamorphose into a torture chamber for the tribal children and a day would arrive when the proprietor and peon of this residential school would be sent behind bars for allegedly raping minor girl students over the past three years. It is learnt that at least five minor girls were found to be sexually exploited by the duo.
( Aug 20, 2009 , Hindustan Times).
It is ‘normal' to find staff working in similar Ashramshalas wanting on many occasions, the management also seems to condone caste apartheid getting practised before their own eyes, but the apathy on part of the government seems to be the key factor in worsening the situation. The manner in which a fifty year old school established with the purpose to rehabilitate children of “denotified criminal tribes”, Vikas Vidyalaya — the oldest boarding school for Dalits in Allahabad — finds itself lying in shambles just goes to vindicate this. It happens to be the only school in eastern UP where Dalit children belonging to the denotified tribes category from Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Allahabad , Pratapgarh, Mirzapur, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Ghazipur and Sant Ravidas Nagar are admitted and can study upto class X.
One of the two hostels has not been used for long after its roof had collapsed. “In the space meant for two students, eight students live in each room in the hostel,” said Joshi.
“The school gets Rs 18 per day per child for food as opposed to Rs 40 given to other government-aided schools. Only Rs 150 per year per student is given for books and Rs 300 annually for clothes,” added Joshi.
There are no teachers for maths and science,” added Joshi. The teachers and staff are yet to receive the benefits of the Fifth Pay Commission. (School for Dalits running on its ruins, Vijay Pratap Singh, Posted: Aug 21, 2009 at 0246 hrs IST, INDIAN EXPRESS)
III. Definitely one can go on narrating instances of institutionalized discrimination getting practiced at various levels inside these schools.
Any close watcher of the situation would vouch that there is nothing ‘surprising' about the situation. Few years back hundreds of students from a Ashram School in Thane ( Maharashtra ) had undertaken similar ‘long march' a la the students of Gajapati district, to protest the inhuman treatment meted out to them inside the school where they were even not properly fed.
It was only last year that few students from a government run residential school for tribal students in Jharkhand died when they supposedly consumed contaminated milk.
Madhya Pradesh, which tops the list of states in ‘atrocities on tribals' witnessed deaths of few students in a Ashram Shala because of snakebites last year. The school which had been built in marshy area had no provisions for protection from such poisonous reptiles.
Last year a two member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice Aftab Alam had issued a notice to the central and state governments ( 24 th Oct 2008) over a petition filed by a students organisation about the inhuman conditions existing in 1,130 hostels meant for SC-ST students spread in 240 districts of the country. The said organisation had undertaken a study in 2006-2007 of such hostels and made it a basis of their petition. Their survey had pointed out that many such hostels have been built in jungles where students have to study in candlelight and are compelled to consume impure water.
IV. The plight of the SC-ST students inside such Ashram Schools is a marker of the situation, which exists at the grassroot level. One can see it as a deeper malaise of our society where we are ready to protest the ‘racial attacks on Indian students in Australia ' but are not ready to look inward and see for ourselves what we are doing to our own people.
Looking at the overall situation it does not appear surprising that despite 60 plus years of independence and all talk of affirmative action programmes, till today for majority of SC-ST boys and girls, getting education still happens to be a game of hurdles.
A close look at the recent changes in economy and polity in our country makes it clear that the situation is getting worse for them. Unless urgent steps are not taken to ameliorate the situation there is going to be further shrinkage of avenues of education as well as employment within educational institutions. First and foremost, the economic reforms of the 90s and the consequent process of privatisation and commercialisation of education and the abandonment of affirmative action in these sectors, has further marginalised these sections. Secondly, the technological changes signified by the ‘information technology' revolution has given birth to a new ‘digital divide' wherein the dalits and tribals are finding themselves at the receiving end.
Question naturally arises about apportioning the blame for the state of affairs, as it exists today.
It is true that the state itself comes out in rather unflattering terms when one takes up the issue. But the key point worth emphasising is that caste discrimination much like gender discrimination or racial discrimination has a specificity which transcends the binary of ‘state as perpetrator' and ‘people as victims' . In fact it implicates the partisan role played by the people themselves.
In fact in this case a section of civil society itself becomes a distinct beneficiary of caste based order and it helps perpetuate the existing unequal social reactions and frustrates attempts to democratize the society because through the customary arrangements the dominant classes are assured of social control over people who can continue to abide by their commands without any protest.
The founding fathers of the Constitution had solemnly resolved to secure to all citizens Justice: Social, Economic and Political, Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. And equality of status and of opportunity, and to promote among them all fraternity, assuring the dignity of individual and unity. It also emphasised that : The state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, place and birth or any form. The Directive Principles of the Constitution underlined The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interest of the scheduled castes/tribes and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.
SUBHASH GATADE,
H 4 Pusa Apts, Rohini Sector 15,
Delhi 110089
Ph : 011-27876523
email : subhash.gatade@gmail.com
By subhash gatade
NEW DELHI , Higher caste teachers in India have physically and verbally abused lower caste students and India will not be able to achieve the literacy goals set for 2015, says a UNESCO-commissioned report on the Education For All (EFA) programme. Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) is the Indian version of EFA. India is among 30 countries that the UNESCO feels will not make the target.
Caste abuse in Indian schools: UNESCO
Education for all: Report lists India among 30 countries that will miss 2015 goals, VARGHESE K GEORGE
I Few years back a study commissioned by Ken Livingstone, the then Mayor of London had discovered how ‘Black teachers face bullying and racism' in the school and had linked the plight of the black teachers to the ‘continuing problem of underachievement among black pupils'. The landmark report had called for a formal investigation - akin to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry into policing - to address concerns that black teachers are isolated, maligned and robbed of proper pay and status. (Hugh Muir, Friday September 8, 2006 , The Guardian). There were also calls for a public inquiry into racism in schools.
One is yet to come across a comprehensive study of a similar nature to know how ‘apartheid of different kinds' unfolds itself in schools in this part of the earth and whether teachers coming from - socially oppressed communities- are similarly ‘.isloated, maligned and robbed of proper pay and status..' and how does it impact the performance of the students coming from similar sections of society. Of course, one does get an inkling of the state of affairs through related studies, reports and investigations.
As of now we have before us plethora of sample studies/enquiry reports occasioned by specific complaints lodged mainly by students to protest discrimination faced inside particular institutions. It is widely known that in recent times, a few premier institutions of the country reached headlines for following policies, adopting mechanisms, continuing processes which put students coming from socially oppressed communities in disadvantageous position and denying them their constitutional rights.
The treatment meted out the scheduled category students in the premier institute reminds one of a three year old report of the Parliamentary committee wherein it had expressed concern over the ‘abysmally low' participation of SC and ST students, ‘as compared to their percentage in total population.' It divulged that ‘ the enrollment of SCs in higher education has ranged between 8.6 per cent in 1990-91 to 11.3 percent in 2002-2003.' (Parliament of India , 172 nd Report on Higher Education, presented on 22 nd May 2006)
If students from socially oppressed communities going for higher education find it difficult to wage a consistent struggle against exclusions, discriminations and are condemned to face it, one can just imagine the plight of students coming from similar background who go for school education.
There is no doubt that the most vulnerable among the lot seems to be those who are admitted in the scores of ‘Ashram Schools' - residential schools - where they are at the completemercy of teachers and non-teaching staff.
Perhaps few recent news clippings from such residential schools can give an idea about the gravity of the situation
II Nobody would have imagined in their wildest dreams that 66 girls studying in N Jhalarsingh Kanyashram, a government-run school for SC/ST girls in Gajapati district, (Orissa) would walk a distance of 25 kms from their hostel unannounced, to protest the behaviour of three teachers who allegedly made casteist taunts to them.Altogether there are 250 girls studying in the institution. Of them 238 live in the hostel.
It is learnt that the triad would "always keep telling" them that "You all belong to lower castes,"
"They have inflicted unbearable torture and trauma on us. Even over a trifle thing, they make fun and remind us of our so-called low-caste background. It's very very cruel. For long, we put up with the trauma, hoping things will improve someday. But nothing of that sort happened," one of the girls said on condition of anonymity,
Of course, it was not for the first time that SC/ST students studying in Gajapati district had undertaken such an action. Earlier, a group of students of Ekalabya Abasika Bidyalaya at Chandragiri and Laxmipur Abasika Bidyalaya near Koinpur in Gajapati district walked out to protest against alleged mismanagement and misbehaviour of teaching staff.
(Caste taunts by teachers drive 66 SC/ST girls run away from Orissa school, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/
city/bhubaneswar/articleshow/4874588.cms, Sunil Mohan Patnaik, TNN 9 August 2009, 11:31pm IST)
Another news report which appeared in ‘The Statesman' which covered the incident tells us : More than 70 residential schools are run by SC/ST welfare department, ITDA and the mass education department in Gajapati. The students are given stipend ranging between Rs 400 and Rs 500 per month for their education and this is utilised for their food and accommodation.
It is difficult to imagine the situation in which large number grown-up girls from underpriveledged backgrounds, studying in various government schools, are condemned to live where they have limited protection in their own premises. Male teachers are put in charge of the girls and outsiders have free access to the girls' hostels. They stay in badly maintained accommodations and are prone to diseases due to congestion.
While the students of Gajapati could unitedly protest the humiliation heaped on them, for students of Kasturba Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in Barwani district, (MP), where around 1,071 girls are studying at present, things unfolded themselves in such a rapid manner that they could not even get a chance to say anything.
For Savita Gangaram Barela (11), Kavita Motiram (13), Rita Hawaldar (11) and Saraswati (9) the ‘Khichdi' and ‘Halwa' they consumed a day before independence day (14 August) - when they were getting ready to participate in the celebrations - proved fatal. They died within few hours after consuming this contaminated food in a hostel at the tribal dominated Niwali village in Madhya Pradesh.
Around 92 girls had to be admitted to different hospitals after they developed symptoms of food poisioning.
(Hindustan Times, 19 th August 2009, Fourth victim dies of food poisoining in MP School)
If the girls from Barwani had to pay with their lives for the acts of omission and commission on part of the management, an altogether different story unfolded itself in Gulabrao Ukey Adivasi Ashramshala in Wardha district, 150 km from Nagpur, which was started with the ‘noble aim of providing quality education to the tribal population.' The Maharashtra government also promptly provided aid for its work. Little could have anyone the premonition that the Ashramshala would metamorphose into a torture chamber for the tribal children and a day would arrive when the proprietor and peon of this residential school would be sent behind bars for allegedly raping minor girl students over the past three years. It is learnt that at least five minor girls were found to be sexually exploited by the duo.
( Aug 20, 2009 , Hindustan Times).
It is ‘normal' to find staff working in similar Ashramshalas wanting on many occasions, the management also seems to condone caste apartheid getting practised before their own eyes, but the apathy on part of the government seems to be the key factor in worsening the situation. The manner in which a fifty year old school established with the purpose to rehabilitate children of “denotified criminal tribes”, Vikas Vidyalaya — the oldest boarding school for Dalits in Allahabad — finds itself lying in shambles just goes to vindicate this. It happens to be the only school in eastern UP where Dalit children belonging to the denotified tribes category from Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Allahabad , Pratapgarh, Mirzapur, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Ghazipur and Sant Ravidas Nagar are admitted and can study upto class X.
One of the two hostels has not been used for long after its roof had collapsed. “In the space meant for two students, eight students live in each room in the hostel,” said Joshi.
“The school gets Rs 18 per day per child for food as opposed to Rs 40 given to other government-aided schools. Only Rs 150 per year per student is given for books and Rs 300 annually for clothes,” added Joshi.
There are no teachers for maths and science,” added Joshi. The teachers and staff are yet to receive the benefits of the Fifth Pay Commission. (School for Dalits running on its ruins, Vijay Pratap Singh, Posted: Aug 21, 2009 at 0246 hrs IST, INDIAN EXPRESS)
III. Definitely one can go on narrating instances of institutionalized discrimination getting practiced at various levels inside these schools.
Any close watcher of the situation would vouch that there is nothing ‘surprising' about the situation. Few years back hundreds of students from a Ashram School in Thane ( Maharashtra ) had undertaken similar ‘long march' a la the students of Gajapati district, to protest the inhuman treatment meted out to them inside the school where they were even not properly fed.
It was only last year that few students from a government run residential school for tribal students in Jharkhand died when they supposedly consumed contaminated milk.
Madhya Pradesh, which tops the list of states in ‘atrocities on tribals' witnessed deaths of few students in a Ashram Shala because of snakebites last year. The school which had been built in marshy area had no provisions for protection from such poisonous reptiles.
Last year a two member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice Aftab Alam had issued a notice to the central and state governments ( 24 th Oct 2008) over a petition filed by a students organisation about the inhuman conditions existing in 1,130 hostels meant for SC-ST students spread in 240 districts of the country. The said organisation had undertaken a study in 2006-2007 of such hostels and made it a basis of their petition. Their survey had pointed out that many such hostels have been built in jungles where students have to study in candlelight and are compelled to consume impure water.
IV. The plight of the SC-ST students inside such Ashram Schools is a marker of the situation, which exists at the grassroot level. One can see it as a deeper malaise of our society where we are ready to protest the ‘racial attacks on Indian students in Australia ' but are not ready to look inward and see for ourselves what we are doing to our own people.
Looking at the overall situation it does not appear surprising that despite 60 plus years of independence and all talk of affirmative action programmes, till today for majority of SC-ST boys and girls, getting education still happens to be a game of hurdles.
A close look at the recent changes in economy and polity in our country makes it clear that the situation is getting worse for them. Unless urgent steps are not taken to ameliorate the situation there is going to be further shrinkage of avenues of education as well as employment within educational institutions. First and foremost, the economic reforms of the 90s and the consequent process of privatisation and commercialisation of education and the abandonment of affirmative action in these sectors, has further marginalised these sections. Secondly, the technological changes signified by the ‘information technology' revolution has given birth to a new ‘digital divide' wherein the dalits and tribals are finding themselves at the receiving end.
Question naturally arises about apportioning the blame for the state of affairs, as it exists today.
It is true that the state itself comes out in rather unflattering terms when one takes up the issue. But the key point worth emphasising is that caste discrimination much like gender discrimination or racial discrimination has a specificity which transcends the binary of ‘state as perpetrator' and ‘people as victims' . In fact it implicates the partisan role played by the people themselves.
In fact in this case a section of civil society itself becomes a distinct beneficiary of caste based order and it helps perpetuate the existing unequal social reactions and frustrates attempts to democratize the society because through the customary arrangements the dominant classes are assured of social control over people who can continue to abide by their commands without any protest.
The founding fathers of the Constitution had solemnly resolved to secure to all citizens Justice: Social, Economic and Political, Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. And equality of status and of opportunity, and to promote among them all fraternity, assuring the dignity of individual and unity. It also emphasised that : The state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, place and birth or any form. The Directive Principles of the Constitution underlined The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interest of the scheduled castes/tribes and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.
SUBHASH GATADE,
H 4 Pusa Apts, Rohini Sector 15,
Delhi 110089
Ph : 011-27876523
email : subhash.gatade@gmail.com
Modi Denied Visa By Oman
Modi Denied Visa By Oman -
News Reverberates In India
By Mirza A. Beg
Some times good guys also win. It happens only once in a while, but when it does, it gives hope to many who struggle against the evil perpetrated by the powerful, the rich and the connected.
Such is the case when some decent ordinary people with the support of many other decent people were able to convince the Government of Oman to deny Mr. Modi a visa. It thwarted, Gujarat’s Chief Minister Mr. Modi from falsely projecting himself as a world trotting statesman and camouflaging his evil deeds.
Mr. Modi was elected the Chief Minister of Gujarat State in the western part of India, on the platform of a fascistic leaning Indian Peoples Party (Hindi initials BJP). It came to power in late1990s. It got that chance because the Congress party that had governed India since independence from Britain in 1947, with only one break of four years, had become stale and the populace was tired. In that vacuum stepped in the rightwing BJP. It cashed in on its years of devious hard work, promoting sectarian riots and fear mongering in the well trodden footsteps of demagogues, albeit with an Indian patina. For years the BJP had engineered riots against the Muslim minorities, Christian evangelism and lower cast Indians. Finally it was able cash in on the fear it had planted among decent ordinary Hindus.
Mr. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat in February 2002, when a train carriage in which the BJP goons were travelling and harassing people on the railway station, was burnet at Godhra in Gujarat. To this day it has not been conclusively proven as to who did it. Instead of arresting those responsible for the event and bringing them to justice, he blamed Muslims, whom his party has been killing for years in contrived riots. The next day in the manner of Nazi “Krstallnacht” he unleashed a reign of terror and mayhem, by the goons of his party under the protection of his chosen police force, in the manner of Nazi SS.
As Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Modi presided over and orchestrated widespread riots in which about 2000 hapless Muslims were massacred and more than 200,000 were rendered homeless. It was internationally reported as a pogrom against the Muslim minority in Gujarat.
International human rights organizations, including the Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the National Human Rights Commission of India held Mr. Modi directly responsible for orchestrating that gory mob violence in which innocent Muslims were butchered, burnt alive and women gang raped.
Mr. Modi has also succeeded in corrupting and intimidating most of the judiciary in Gujarat. The criminals are protected by Mr. Modi’s police, while thousands of displaced Muslims are unable to return to their homes. The same gangsters also harass Christians and have burned their Churches.
The Supreme Court of India felt compelled to step in. It compared Mr. Modi with the infamous Roman Emperor Nero and ordered an especially constituted team from the Federal (Central) Government to investigate Mr. Modi’s crimes.
Though his party has lost national power in two successive national elections of 2004 and 2009; unfortunately in the federal structure of India, states have power over law and order, just as the federal US government was hampered in the American South of1960s. Mr. Modi has succeeded in polarizing the normally decent people of Gujarat and has won elections to remain the Chief Minister in Gujarat. And because as often happens, fascistic demagogues are efficient, Mr. Modi is indeed efficient and has brought businesses to Gujarat supported by some among the rich diaspora of Guajaratis from the US.
Now that his party is in decline in the rest of India, he has been trying mightily to project himself as a world class leader with an eye on gaining national leadership. With a well-deserved harvest of global condemnation haunting him, Mr. Modi is desperately courting foreign collaboration to mend his image to achieve political restitution in India.
Fortunately because of the efforts of those who value the Gandhian tradition of India, Indians from all religions and ethnic groups came together, petitioned and convinced the US State department to deny Mr. Modi the coveted visa, not only once but twice in three years.
Spurned by the US and some Western countries, he aimed at developing contacts with the rich Gulf Emirates. Mr. Modi nefariously planted stories of being invited by the Sultanate of Oman. Again some concerned people took it upon themselves to circulate a petition on line. Again many human rights organizations all over the world, but most importantly from India extended their full support. Many wrote personal letters to the Ambassador and the government of Oman.
In response, not only the Ambassador of Oman in India refused the visa, but took out an advertisement in a well respected national newspaper, Indian Express, stating that the Sultanate of Oman had not invited Mr. Modi to Oman.
To Mr. Modi’s discomfort the news is reverberating though the Indian press and has even been picked up by the international web based media. (It can easily be searched on Google, “Modi denied Visa to Oman”). It puts his efforts towards gaining coveted visas from Indonesia that he has been working on, and visa from many other countries in jeopardy.
Though it is only a small victory for decency, and not much help to those who perished in the Mayhem engineered by Mr. Modi in Gujarat, but it does give incentive to average people. They can make a difference. All they have to do is, try.
Mirza A. Beg can be contacted at mab64@yahoo.com or Mirzasmusings@blogspot.com
News Reverberates In India
By Mirza A. Beg
Some times good guys also win. It happens only once in a while, but when it does, it gives hope to many who struggle against the evil perpetrated by the powerful, the rich and the connected.
Such is the case when some decent ordinary people with the support of many other decent people were able to convince the Government of Oman to deny Mr. Modi a visa. It thwarted, Gujarat’s Chief Minister Mr. Modi from falsely projecting himself as a world trotting statesman and camouflaging his evil deeds.
Mr. Modi was elected the Chief Minister of Gujarat State in the western part of India, on the platform of a fascistic leaning Indian Peoples Party (Hindi initials BJP). It came to power in late1990s. It got that chance because the Congress party that had governed India since independence from Britain in 1947, with only one break of four years, had become stale and the populace was tired. In that vacuum stepped in the rightwing BJP. It cashed in on its years of devious hard work, promoting sectarian riots and fear mongering in the well trodden footsteps of demagogues, albeit with an Indian patina. For years the BJP had engineered riots against the Muslim minorities, Christian evangelism and lower cast Indians. Finally it was able cash in on the fear it had planted among decent ordinary Hindus.
Mr. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat in February 2002, when a train carriage in which the BJP goons were travelling and harassing people on the railway station, was burnet at Godhra in Gujarat. To this day it has not been conclusively proven as to who did it. Instead of arresting those responsible for the event and bringing them to justice, he blamed Muslims, whom his party has been killing for years in contrived riots. The next day in the manner of Nazi “Krstallnacht” he unleashed a reign of terror and mayhem, by the goons of his party under the protection of his chosen police force, in the manner of Nazi SS.
As Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Modi presided over and orchestrated widespread riots in which about 2000 hapless Muslims were massacred and more than 200,000 were rendered homeless. It was internationally reported as a pogrom against the Muslim minority in Gujarat.
International human rights organizations, including the Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the National Human Rights Commission of India held Mr. Modi directly responsible for orchestrating that gory mob violence in which innocent Muslims were butchered, burnt alive and women gang raped.
Mr. Modi has also succeeded in corrupting and intimidating most of the judiciary in Gujarat. The criminals are protected by Mr. Modi’s police, while thousands of displaced Muslims are unable to return to their homes. The same gangsters also harass Christians and have burned their Churches.
The Supreme Court of India felt compelled to step in. It compared Mr. Modi with the infamous Roman Emperor Nero and ordered an especially constituted team from the Federal (Central) Government to investigate Mr. Modi’s crimes.
Though his party has lost national power in two successive national elections of 2004 and 2009; unfortunately in the federal structure of India, states have power over law and order, just as the federal US government was hampered in the American South of1960s. Mr. Modi has succeeded in polarizing the normally decent people of Gujarat and has won elections to remain the Chief Minister in Gujarat. And because as often happens, fascistic demagogues are efficient, Mr. Modi is indeed efficient and has brought businesses to Gujarat supported by some among the rich diaspora of Guajaratis from the US.
Now that his party is in decline in the rest of India, he has been trying mightily to project himself as a world class leader with an eye on gaining national leadership. With a well-deserved harvest of global condemnation haunting him, Mr. Modi is desperately courting foreign collaboration to mend his image to achieve political restitution in India.
Fortunately because of the efforts of those who value the Gandhian tradition of India, Indians from all religions and ethnic groups came together, petitioned and convinced the US State department to deny Mr. Modi the coveted visa, not only once but twice in three years.
Spurned by the US and some Western countries, he aimed at developing contacts with the rich Gulf Emirates. Mr. Modi nefariously planted stories of being invited by the Sultanate of Oman. Again some concerned people took it upon themselves to circulate a petition on line. Again many human rights organizations all over the world, but most importantly from India extended their full support. Many wrote personal letters to the Ambassador and the government of Oman.
In response, not only the Ambassador of Oman in India refused the visa, but took out an advertisement in a well respected national newspaper, Indian Express, stating that the Sultanate of Oman had not invited Mr. Modi to Oman.
To Mr. Modi’s discomfort the news is reverberating though the Indian press and has even been picked up by the international web based media. (It can easily be searched on Google, “Modi denied Visa to Oman”). It puts his efforts towards gaining coveted visas from Indonesia that he has been working on, and visa from many other countries in jeopardy.
Though it is only a small victory for decency, and not much help to those who perished in the Mayhem engineered by Mr. Modi in Gujarat, but it does give incentive to average people. They can make a difference. All they have to do is, try.
Mirza A. Beg can be contacted at mab64@yahoo.com or Mirzasmusings@blogspot.com
DIVERGENCES - Spearhead Analysis
Spearhead Analysis
DIVERGENCES
Yesterdays New York Times has a story that hints at divergences between the US and Pakistan in the war on terror in Afghanistan. Unnamed Pakistani intelligence officials are reported as having said that Pakistan had concerns that the US operational surge in Afghanistan could raise the pressures on Pakistan—particularly in the Baluchistan area where the troop strength was nowhere near what it was in FATA. They are also quoted as saying that perceptions differed over the threat from India and therefore Pakistan could not move troops from the east to the west. Pakistan has often indicated that the subversive activity in Baluchistan is from Afghanistan and that India is involved because it wants to create leverage in Kashmir. Lately Indians have been saying that activity in Kashmir is picking up again.
The US thinks that a body called the ‘Quetta Shura’ runs the Taliban operations in Afghanistan from Baluchistan and this ‘shura’ is tolerated by Pakistan as it poses no threat to Pakistan unlike the local Taliban in FATA and Swat. The US Secretary of State said in India that the ‘perpetrators of 9/11 were in Pakistan’. This was countered officially in Pakistan by a Foreign Office spokesman who said that they were in Afghanistan. The perception in Pakistan is that the US operations in Southern Afghanistan are not achieving success and now that sanctuaries in FATA cannot be blamed for the lack of success because of Pakistan military operations the US is talking of the ‘shura’ in Baluchistan. Over the last two weeks casualties have been high in Afghanistan and four aircraft have been lost raising the specter of ground to air weapons in Taliban hands. If true this could increase the scale of operations significantly.
Implicit in these perceptions is the idea that Pakistan is carrying out counter insurgency operations in FATA and Swat areas because the local or ‘Pakistani’ Taliban had challenged the writ of the state but it is not doing anything against the Taliban fighting US/NATO in Afghanistan and in fact tolerates their presence. There is even the unspoken thought that Pakistani intelligence is in contact with the Taliban commanders operating in Afghanistan---this ‘contact’ is never fully explained because Pakistani intelligence is the best bet for influencing the Taliban to negotiate if that ever became an option. Pakistan understands that the insurgency in its FATA area springs from Southern Afghanistan and is supported by the Taliban/Al Qaeda there---it is therefore unlikely that Pakistan would be so moronic as to fight the Afghan supported insurgents in one sector and support people behind them in another sector. It does make sense however, that Pakistan would keep all options open to bring the insurgency to an end---something that can happen only with an end to the violence in Afghanistan.
There is a fringe in Pakistan that believes that the entire situation in FATA, Swat and Baluchistan is being manipulated by the US to involve Pakistan’s military fully on the entire border with Afghanistan because that suits US, Indian and Afghan government interests. Yet another thought is the fear of violence marring the Presidential elections in Afghanistan and that this is behind the pressure on Pakistan to ‘do more’. A failed election would signal overall failure in Afghanistan.
It is vitally important that the US and Pakistan have a bilateral discussion to remove the doubts, concerns and fears on both sides. The US strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan was discussed before it began to be implemented. Pakistan has been and continues to be cooperative. Pakistan is making enormous sacrifices while fighting the insurgency in FATA. If these efforts remain unappreciated and in fact if Pakistan begins to be doubted then a reappraisal of exactly how much Pakistan should be doing would be warranted. There should never be a feeling in Pakistan that Washington and Delhi putting their heads together translates into targeting Pakistan. The need of the hour is not Af-Pak’, whatever that means, but US- Pakistan and US- Afghanistan and US-India---three separate tracks with convergence only where it is possible and required. There is enormous appreciation for US support of Pakistan---this opportunity should not be lost. Impatience with Pakistan should not drive US policy---it should lead to serious thinking on how Pakistan can be supported to act urgently in its own interest and how the capability to do so can be built up.
www.spearheadresearch.org
DIVERGENCES
Yesterdays New York Times has a story that hints at divergences between the US and Pakistan in the war on terror in Afghanistan. Unnamed Pakistani intelligence officials are reported as having said that Pakistan had concerns that the US operational surge in Afghanistan could raise the pressures on Pakistan—particularly in the Baluchistan area where the troop strength was nowhere near what it was in FATA. They are also quoted as saying that perceptions differed over the threat from India and therefore Pakistan could not move troops from the east to the west. Pakistan has often indicated that the subversive activity in Baluchistan is from Afghanistan and that India is involved because it wants to create leverage in Kashmir. Lately Indians have been saying that activity in Kashmir is picking up again.
The US thinks that a body called the ‘Quetta Shura’ runs the Taliban operations in Afghanistan from Baluchistan and this ‘shura’ is tolerated by Pakistan as it poses no threat to Pakistan unlike the local Taliban in FATA and Swat. The US Secretary of State said in India that the ‘perpetrators of 9/11 were in Pakistan’. This was countered officially in Pakistan by a Foreign Office spokesman who said that they were in Afghanistan. The perception in Pakistan is that the US operations in Southern Afghanistan are not achieving success and now that sanctuaries in FATA cannot be blamed for the lack of success because of Pakistan military operations the US is talking of the ‘shura’ in Baluchistan. Over the last two weeks casualties have been high in Afghanistan and four aircraft have been lost raising the specter of ground to air weapons in Taliban hands. If true this could increase the scale of operations significantly.
Implicit in these perceptions is the idea that Pakistan is carrying out counter insurgency operations in FATA and Swat areas because the local or ‘Pakistani’ Taliban had challenged the writ of the state but it is not doing anything against the Taliban fighting US/NATO in Afghanistan and in fact tolerates their presence. There is even the unspoken thought that Pakistani intelligence is in contact with the Taliban commanders operating in Afghanistan---this ‘contact’ is never fully explained because Pakistani intelligence is the best bet for influencing the Taliban to negotiate if that ever became an option. Pakistan understands that the insurgency in its FATA area springs from Southern Afghanistan and is supported by the Taliban/Al Qaeda there---it is therefore unlikely that Pakistan would be so moronic as to fight the Afghan supported insurgents in one sector and support people behind them in another sector. It does make sense however, that Pakistan would keep all options open to bring the insurgency to an end---something that can happen only with an end to the violence in Afghanistan.
There is a fringe in Pakistan that believes that the entire situation in FATA, Swat and Baluchistan is being manipulated by the US to involve Pakistan’s military fully on the entire border with Afghanistan because that suits US, Indian and Afghan government interests. Yet another thought is the fear of violence marring the Presidential elections in Afghanistan and that this is behind the pressure on Pakistan to ‘do more’. A failed election would signal overall failure in Afghanistan.
It is vitally important that the US and Pakistan have a bilateral discussion to remove the doubts, concerns and fears on both sides. The US strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan was discussed before it began to be implemented. Pakistan has been and continues to be cooperative. Pakistan is making enormous sacrifices while fighting the insurgency in FATA. If these efforts remain unappreciated and in fact if Pakistan begins to be doubted then a reappraisal of exactly how much Pakistan should be doing would be warranted. There should never be a feeling in Pakistan that Washington and Delhi putting their heads together translates into targeting Pakistan. The need of the hour is not Af-Pak’, whatever that means, but US- Pakistan and US- Afghanistan and US-India---three separate tracks with convergence only where it is possible and required. There is enormous appreciation for US support of Pakistan---this opportunity should not be lost. Impatience with Pakistan should not drive US policy---it should lead to serious thinking on how Pakistan can be supported to act urgently in its own interest and how the capability to do so can be built up.
www.spearheadresearch.org
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Independence Day: Some obligations as a nation
During the crucial struggle for a separate homeland for the Muslims of Subcontinent from the yoke of British elites and dominant Hindu class, the Father of the Nation, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, once said that, “I have no illusions in the matter and let me say again that India is not a nation nor a country. It is Subcontinent composed of nationalities with Hindus and Muslims being the major nations”. Once the destination was achieved, the great leader emphasized on good governance, by setting high goals and said: “I shall always be guided by the principles of justice and fair play, without any prejudice or ill-will, in other words partiality or favouritism. My guiding principle will be justice and complete impartiality and I am sure that with your support and cooperation, I can look forward to Pakistan becoming one of the greatest nations of the World”. With these towering envisioned determinants, the first ideological Muslim state of the world took a formal start having Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah; a dedicated leader at its driving seat on August 14, 1947. Regretfully, the indomitable founding fathers of the country could not continue for a long and met the fate first, Quaid-i-Azam died in September 1948 and then Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951. T hereafter, Pakistan; the great gift of God, has been at the mercy of the dwindling leadership which continues even to date in one or the other form. Thus, there remains a lack of good governance in the country, which could not be addressed by successive rulers. In the process, the country was confronted with the greatest turn of the history, once in the efforts of undoing it, its crucial adversary; India disintegrated it in 1971. Thereafter, this great nation, although could not gulp down the loss of its eastern half, but progressively acquiescent and recovered from the shock to re-adjust itself in order to meet challenges at the global level as a living nation. Therefore, in a very short span of time, it did not only convalesced alone, but also attained the status of a nuclear power. However, owing to the ill-timed Russian invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, Pakistan once again became a battleground of major powers of the cold war. The upshots of the war left a horrific future for Pakistan, mainly the militancy which gave way to a new form of war, the global war on terror, following the inexplicable incident of 9/11. This western sponsored form of civilizational clash is gaining popularity in the world as an age of “long war”, as the interlude from 1945 to 2001 is being considered as the period of “long peace”. These global transformations badly affected the environment of Pakistan both at domestic and external level. Currently, the country is facing a gruesome level of militancy conspired by a host of anti-state forces. Indeed the multiplicity of threat perceptions has put the independence of the state at stake. Conservation followed by preservation of the independence has thus become a real challenge for the Pakistani nation as a whole. In order to meet these challenges the nation perhaps would be required to work harder than what our forefathers did in attaining the independence for us in 1947. While analyzing the challenges being faced to protect and safeguard the independence, two striking parallels are being identified: first; in the historical perspective, there was no infrastructure and institutional setup in the newly independent state in the beginning as everything was in the areas becoming part of India. And secondly; the current collapse of most of its institutions and organisations throughout in the country at the critical stage of its history. In the initial days, the nation had to build anew, all the infrastructure, institutions and organisations and now we need to re-orientate and put-right all of them. To begin with let us start from the two glaring problems facing the society side by side. These are; the lack of justice at all levels and extraordinarily low ratio and abhorrent standard of education. As also adequately highlighted by the Quaid in his above mentioned excerpt of the speech, denial or delayed justice creates most of the ills in society. According to a survey, over 80% crimes in society are the result of direct or indirect denial or delay in the provision of justice. In the absence of justice grieved people take the law in their hands, thus promoting violence and “violence begets violence”. The element of violence has a major contribution in the ongoing militancy in Pakistan, which can be accredited to the non-availability of justice. At the political level, Pakistan is a federation where all provinces have grievances against the Centre or differences among each other, mainly against the larger one. This factor is major hurdle in the national integration. There is an immediate need to realise the mistakes of past with the motives to rectify them at three levels; provision of basic justice at the level of social setup, provision of justice through unbiased judiciary to every citizen and giving an equal treatment, including awards and provincial shares to the provinces by the federal government. This essentially important step would reduce the grievances of masses and provinces alike, subsequently enhancing the national integration; a gateway for the conservation of independence. Listing education after the justice system never meant to lessen its priority. Indeed, both have to be dealt simultaneously or in most of the cases, education takes the lead role. Education is the basic media for awareness among the masses, without which all other aspects of a society and a state would cease to exist. Even provision of justice owes a lot to the quality education. Over the years, there has either been absolutely low intake of the children in the existing educational institutions or the dreadful decline in the standard of the educational output. This trend has been at the peak in rural areas, but even at the level of cities, there has been far less than what was to be desired. Apart from the multiple educational systems and syllabi prevalent in the country, the educational institutions under the government have been much below the required standard; both intakes wise as well as the output is concerned. An educated lot of masses would better understand the price of independence in its true perspective, rather an illiterate mind. For this purpose, there is a need that government should ensure steps like: one; adoption of uniform system of education throughout the country without any discrimination. Two; educational system must have elements of nationalism, national interest and national integration inbuilt in syllabi at all levels. Three; among the educated lot, the best one should be selected as teachers, keeping merit as the yardstick without any political or bureaucratic influence. Four; strict enforcement of the compulsory education at the level of secondary school by everyone in the country on tangible terms instead of being a paper plan only. The educated youth would get motivation by reading the past history of Pakistan and sacrifices made by our forefathers for attaining the independence for us, therefore would make all out efforts to preserve it for the sake of their own future. Poverty and unemployment are yet other impediments, which restrict the national thinking. Over 40 per cent population of Pakistan suffers from these two very serious issues since the last almost two decades. There is no letup in the social cost of the life; rather, it is becoming costlier day by day. Since a common man cannot think beyond his bread, how would we expect him to preserve the independence, which in practical terms is not available to him? The government therefore should take concrete steps to address these real issues amounting to lives and deaths of the bulk of the masses of Pakistan. Human resource development coupled with the establishment of the resources bases would prove a key to resolve the issues on priority. Only the financially freed masses would be able to concentrate on the issue of securing the independence in true perspective. As immediate measures, there is a need that government machinery, the elected representatives at federal and provincial levels and above all the media should launch a massive campaign for creating awareness among the general masses, highlighting the significance of the independence. The students of higher educational institutions may be grouped in the campaign for immediate and long lasting results. The masses be educated of the conspiracies cropping up against the integrity of Pakistan both within as well as across the borders. Sovereignty is always a blessing, therefore must be respected. Today Pakistan is at the cross roads of its history. The nation has always stood by the challenges posed by circumstances ever since the first ideological Islamic state came into being in August 1947. The current challenges facing the country in the form of militancy and threat to its basic ideology are to be dealt on multiple fronts by every Pakistani. We have to identify the root causes and then address them in their entirety. Good governance, awareness through education, unprejudiced justice and addressing the basic needs of deprived masses would pay a rich dividend in this regard.
Dr. Raja Muhammad Khan
Email: drmk_edu@yahoo.com
Dr. Raja Muhammad Khan
Email: drmk_edu@yahoo.com
India, Afghanistan Supporting Terror in Pakistan
India, Afghanistan Supporting Terror in Pakistan
Major General Salim Nawaz
QUETTA: India and Afghanistan are supporting an insurgency in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, trying to bolster the leadership of separatists fighting the Pakistani government, a top security commander said on Saturday.
Baloch nationalists have for decades campaigned for greater autonomy and control of the province’s abundant natural gas and mineral resources, which they say are unfairly exploited to the benefit of other parts of the country. Separatist guerrillas have also been fighting a low-level insurgency for decades.
‘A lot of evidence of Indian involvement through Afghanistan is there, supporting the separatist movement,’ Major General Salim Nawaz, inspector general of the Frontier Corps paramilitary force in Balochistan, told Reuters in an interview at his headquarters in the provincial capital, Quetta.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence in 1947 and accuse each other of supporting militant groups in each other’s countries.
Pakistan has been accused of backing militants fighting Indian security forces in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. India has been accused of backing the Baloch militants.
Nawaz said the separatists were not very strong as they did not have enough foot soldiers or a proper command.
‘The foreign element, especially the element there in Afghanistan, is trying hard to create more leadership,’ he said.
Brahamdagh Bugti, the grandson of a Baloch militant leader killed in late 2006, is said to be hiding in Afghanistan and is regarded as one of the main Baloch separatist leaders.
Nawaz said proof of Indian involvement had been provided.
‘The proof has been given at various levels…photographs have been provided,’ he said. He did not elaborate.
Pakistan and India compete for influence in Afghanistan where India is one of the main backers of President Hamid Karzai and his US-backed government.
Pakistan has been accused of being the main backer of the Taliban until the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
While Pakistan officially stopped supporting the Taliban at that time, US and Afghan officials suspect some elements of the Pakistani security agencies are still helping the Taliban, the main Afghan faction opposed to Indian involvement there.
On Thursday, a bomb attack on the India embassy in the Afghan capital killed 17 people. The Taliban claimed responsibility but many in India also see the hand of Pakistan, which considers Afghanistan a fall-back position in the event of war with India.
The Indian government has not blamed Pakistan which condemned the attack.
No Quetta shura
Nawaz denied US accusations that the Taliban leadership was based in and around Quetta, saying the United States was looking for an excuse for the difficulty it was facing with an intensifying Taliban insurgency.
‘These allegations have been levelled in the past,’ he said.
‘They had been dying a death but lately they have started again. In my view, whatever is happening in Afghanistan, if they are not succeeding, there has to be some escape route.’
The United States had handed over no information to back up its assertion regarding the Taliban ‘Quetta shura’, or leadership council, he said.
‘If they have any evidence — which they have not given us a bit of until this moment — they should share it with us. Pakistani forces are quite capable of sorting them out,’ he said.
Nawaz said it was impossible for Taliban leaders such as Mullah Omar to go unnoticed.
‘If he has to move, or if their leadership has to move, they have to move with some paraphernalia, they need to make some arrangements,’ he said.
Major General Salim Nawaz
QUETTA: India and Afghanistan are supporting an insurgency in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, trying to bolster the leadership of separatists fighting the Pakistani government, a top security commander said on Saturday.
Baloch nationalists have for decades campaigned for greater autonomy and control of the province’s abundant natural gas and mineral resources, which they say are unfairly exploited to the benefit of other parts of the country. Separatist guerrillas have also been fighting a low-level insurgency for decades.
‘A lot of evidence of Indian involvement through Afghanistan is there, supporting the separatist movement,’ Major General Salim Nawaz, inspector general of the Frontier Corps paramilitary force in Balochistan, told Reuters in an interview at his headquarters in the provincial capital, Quetta.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence in 1947 and accuse each other of supporting militant groups in each other’s countries.
Pakistan has been accused of backing militants fighting Indian security forces in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. India has been accused of backing the Baloch militants.
Nawaz said the separatists were not very strong as they did not have enough foot soldiers or a proper command.
‘The foreign element, especially the element there in Afghanistan, is trying hard to create more leadership,’ he said.
Brahamdagh Bugti, the grandson of a Baloch militant leader killed in late 2006, is said to be hiding in Afghanistan and is regarded as one of the main Baloch separatist leaders.
Nawaz said proof of Indian involvement had been provided.
‘The proof has been given at various levels…photographs have been provided,’ he said. He did not elaborate.
Pakistan and India compete for influence in Afghanistan where India is one of the main backers of President Hamid Karzai and his US-backed government.
Pakistan has been accused of being the main backer of the Taliban until the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
While Pakistan officially stopped supporting the Taliban at that time, US and Afghan officials suspect some elements of the Pakistani security agencies are still helping the Taliban, the main Afghan faction opposed to Indian involvement there.
On Thursday, a bomb attack on the India embassy in the Afghan capital killed 17 people. The Taliban claimed responsibility but many in India also see the hand of Pakistan, which considers Afghanistan a fall-back position in the event of war with India.
The Indian government has not blamed Pakistan which condemned the attack.
No Quetta shura
Nawaz denied US accusations that the Taliban leadership was based in and around Quetta, saying the United States was looking for an excuse for the difficulty it was facing with an intensifying Taliban insurgency.
‘These allegations have been levelled in the past,’ he said.
‘They had been dying a death but lately they have started again. In my view, whatever is happening in Afghanistan, if they are not succeeding, there has to be some escape route.’
The United States had handed over no information to back up its assertion regarding the Taliban ‘Quetta shura’, or leadership council, he said.
‘If they have any evidence — which they have not given us a bit of until this moment — they should share it with us. Pakistani forces are quite capable of sorting them out,’ he said.
Nawaz said it was impossible for Taliban leaders such as Mullah Omar to go unnoticed.
‘If he has to move, or if their leadership has to move, they have to move with some paraphernalia, they need to make some arrangements,’ he said.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Arms race in South Asia
In 1993, more than five years before India and Pakistan came out of nuclear closet, director of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had said: “The arms race between India and Pakistan poses perhaps the most probable prospect for future use of weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons”. One could not visualize then that the US and India would one day become strategic partners, though the US had always espoused ambitions to have India on board right from 1950s yet India always looked the other side ie the former USSR. Former president Bill Clinton, at the fag end of his tenure had visited India and promised to make it not only a regional but a world power. The die was cast during his tour when he stayed in India for three days and with a lot of persuasion by former president Pervez Musharraf he agreed for a stop-over in Pakistan. Since then the US and India have come closer to the detriment of countries of South Asia who are already wary of India’s attitude and hegemonic designs. Despite the sane voices opposing the Indo-US nuclear agreement and also some US lawmakers’ questioning the wisdom of providing atomic fuel and technology to India that always refused to sign NPT, the US administration had gone ahead with the programme.
This agreement had created asymmetry in South Asia by enabling India to enhance the production capacity of nuclear bombs from 6 to 10 a year to several dozen per year. India is also on a shopping spree for sophisticated and lethal weapons’ systems and has also allocated $30 billion for purchase of tanks and planes. In addition to that, India has planned $100 billion worth nuclear installations. As recently as in May 2009, Israel has supplied the first Indian Air Force AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) platform, which is set to alter the dimension of the see-through capability of the IAF beyond conventional visions of ground-based and tethered electromagnetic sensors.
Now with the induction of India’s nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant, imbalance in South Asia has been exacerbated. This will enhance offensive operational capability of India and there is a perception that it would jeopardize the security paradigm of the entire Indian Ocean region and threaten Indonesia, Malaysia and other countries of the region. Pakistan’s Foreign Office statement said: “The continued induction of new lethal weapon systems by India was detrimental to regional peace and stability. Without entering into an arms race with India, Pakistan will take all appropriate steps to safeguard its security and maintain strategic balance in South Asia in the interests of peace and security in the region”. This nuclear-powered submarine is fitted with India’s K-15 ballistic missiles that can be launched from under water with the capacity to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads.
According to defence experts, a distinct advantage of a nuclear-powered submarine is that while it can remain under water for a long duration, a diesel-fired submarine has to rise to the surface every day for ejecting the carbon-dioxide produced by the diesel-generator to avoid problems to the crew. With the Indo-US nuclear deal and AWACS deal with Israel, Indo-US-Israel nexus is obvious. Last year, Israeli Army Chief Avi Mizrahi was in New Delhi with a view to enhancing cooperation in training of Indian forces in anti-insurgency operations. Both sides had also discussed holding joint exercises and mulled measures to boost defence cooperation. Mizrahi had also visited Indian Held Kashmir and met top army officers deployed there. He also met Indian Naval Chief and the Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Admiral Suresh Mehta. According to press reports, both countries had clandestine relations much before that, as India did not like to annoy Muslim countries especially Arab countries and Iran because it benefited immensely from bilateral trade relations with them.
In 2007, India had bought the USS Trenton - the giant American landing platform dock - for about Rs 215 crores and had been re-christened as INS Jalashwa. It was originally commissioned into the US Navy in 1971. It is equipped with four landing mechanised craft and can carry up to 1,000 troops along with vehicles, tanks, artillery, ammunition and tracked landing vehicles. Pakistan may not be able to match this heavy spending on nuclear installations but Pakistan would definitely maintain minimum deterrence, come what may. But India’s arming to the teeth has purpose and that is to extend its hegemony over the neigbouring countries. India has dispute with China, as the latter claims that India has occupied its large swathes of land in Aruna Chal. India has dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir. India’s attitude and behaviour with other small neighbouring countries has persistently tended to violate the norms of peaceful co-existence. Instead of recognizing their equal status and sovereignty, India’s domineering attitude demands of her neighbouring countries to act according to her dictates.
India’s neighbours like Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan are expected to formulate their external and internal and even defence policies according to its wishes, as India arrogates to herself the role of determining the extent of sovereignty its neighbours will enjoy. India considering Pakistan as an obstacle in its insidious designs has been trying to destabilize it through organizing and coordinating the activities of saboteurs in Balochistan from consulates in Afghanistan’s provinces adjacent to Pakistan’s provinces. Recently, President Karzai is reported to have acknowledged the existence of training camps in Afghanistan and promised to see to it that they are closed. Pakistan has however taken measures to counter India’s machinations, and has already proved that it has the will and determination to take militants, extremists and saboteurs head on.
There is a perception that the US wanted to use India as a countervailing force against China. In view of China’s economic and military might, India would never try to flex muscles with China. However, India would increase its military strength to bully its smaller neighbours. Some analysts are of the opinion that if the US faces any obstacle in advancing its global interests or feels threatened from any emerging force or group of nations, it would go up to any extent. It is however imperative to undertake a major review of our foreign policy and reassess our national interest in the drastically changed post-cold war scenario, as the US continues with its policy that has led to asymmetry in the subcontinent by providing India with latest equipment. And this policy is bound to make the Kashmir issue more complicated. Already on 9th October 2000, the US Ambassador to India Richard Celeste had said; “We anticipate India as a true global leader looking down the road 10 to 20 years”.
In order to implement that vision, a 10-year defence pact between India and the US was signed that had paved the way for joint weapons production, cooperation on missile defence, and more recently cooperation in nuclear field. As regards relationship with Pakistan, the US needs Pakistan’s cooperation till situation is brought under control in Afghanistan.
The US leadership must be remembering that despite its best efforts, it had failed to bring India on board during Cold War era. The US should have realized that since 1950s Pakistan has been an ally of the West intertwined in various pacts; in 1980s it was a frontline state against the former USSR when it invaded Afghanistan posing threat to US interests in the region, and even now Pakistan is a key partner in war on terror.
Mohammad Jamil
Email: mjamil1938@yahoo.com
This agreement had created asymmetry in South Asia by enabling India to enhance the production capacity of nuclear bombs from 6 to 10 a year to several dozen per year. India is also on a shopping spree for sophisticated and lethal weapons’ systems and has also allocated $30 billion for purchase of tanks and planes. In addition to that, India has planned $100 billion worth nuclear installations. As recently as in May 2009, Israel has supplied the first Indian Air Force AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) platform, which is set to alter the dimension of the see-through capability of the IAF beyond conventional visions of ground-based and tethered electromagnetic sensors.
Now with the induction of India’s nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant, imbalance in South Asia has been exacerbated. This will enhance offensive operational capability of India and there is a perception that it would jeopardize the security paradigm of the entire Indian Ocean region and threaten Indonesia, Malaysia and other countries of the region. Pakistan’s Foreign Office statement said: “The continued induction of new lethal weapon systems by India was detrimental to regional peace and stability. Without entering into an arms race with India, Pakistan will take all appropriate steps to safeguard its security and maintain strategic balance in South Asia in the interests of peace and security in the region”. This nuclear-powered submarine is fitted with India’s K-15 ballistic missiles that can be launched from under water with the capacity to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads.
According to defence experts, a distinct advantage of a nuclear-powered submarine is that while it can remain under water for a long duration, a diesel-fired submarine has to rise to the surface every day for ejecting the carbon-dioxide produced by the diesel-generator to avoid problems to the crew. With the Indo-US nuclear deal and AWACS deal with Israel, Indo-US-Israel nexus is obvious. Last year, Israeli Army Chief Avi Mizrahi was in New Delhi with a view to enhancing cooperation in training of Indian forces in anti-insurgency operations. Both sides had also discussed holding joint exercises and mulled measures to boost defence cooperation. Mizrahi had also visited Indian Held Kashmir and met top army officers deployed there. He also met Indian Naval Chief and the Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Admiral Suresh Mehta. According to press reports, both countries had clandestine relations much before that, as India did not like to annoy Muslim countries especially Arab countries and Iran because it benefited immensely from bilateral trade relations with them.
In 2007, India had bought the USS Trenton - the giant American landing platform dock - for about Rs 215 crores and had been re-christened as INS Jalashwa. It was originally commissioned into the US Navy in 1971. It is equipped with four landing mechanised craft and can carry up to 1,000 troops along with vehicles, tanks, artillery, ammunition and tracked landing vehicles. Pakistan may not be able to match this heavy spending on nuclear installations but Pakistan would definitely maintain minimum deterrence, come what may. But India’s arming to the teeth has purpose and that is to extend its hegemony over the neigbouring countries. India has dispute with China, as the latter claims that India has occupied its large swathes of land in Aruna Chal. India has dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir. India’s attitude and behaviour with other small neighbouring countries has persistently tended to violate the norms of peaceful co-existence. Instead of recognizing their equal status and sovereignty, India’s domineering attitude demands of her neighbouring countries to act according to her dictates.
India’s neighbours like Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan are expected to formulate their external and internal and even defence policies according to its wishes, as India arrogates to herself the role of determining the extent of sovereignty its neighbours will enjoy. India considering Pakistan as an obstacle in its insidious designs has been trying to destabilize it through organizing and coordinating the activities of saboteurs in Balochistan from consulates in Afghanistan’s provinces adjacent to Pakistan’s provinces. Recently, President Karzai is reported to have acknowledged the existence of training camps in Afghanistan and promised to see to it that they are closed. Pakistan has however taken measures to counter India’s machinations, and has already proved that it has the will and determination to take militants, extremists and saboteurs head on.
There is a perception that the US wanted to use India as a countervailing force against China. In view of China’s economic and military might, India would never try to flex muscles with China. However, India would increase its military strength to bully its smaller neighbours. Some analysts are of the opinion that if the US faces any obstacle in advancing its global interests or feels threatened from any emerging force or group of nations, it would go up to any extent. It is however imperative to undertake a major review of our foreign policy and reassess our national interest in the drastically changed post-cold war scenario, as the US continues with its policy that has led to asymmetry in the subcontinent by providing India with latest equipment. And this policy is bound to make the Kashmir issue more complicated. Already on 9th October 2000, the US Ambassador to India Richard Celeste had said; “We anticipate India as a true global leader looking down the road 10 to 20 years”.
In order to implement that vision, a 10-year defence pact between India and the US was signed that had paved the way for joint weapons production, cooperation on missile defence, and more recently cooperation in nuclear field. As regards relationship with Pakistan, the US needs Pakistan’s cooperation till situation is brought under control in Afghanistan.
The US leadership must be remembering that despite its best efforts, it had failed to bring India on board during Cold War era. The US should have realized that since 1950s Pakistan has been an ally of the West intertwined in various pacts; in 1980s it was a frontline state against the former USSR when it invaded Afghanistan posing threat to US interests in the region, and even now Pakistan is a key partner in war on terror.
Mohammad Jamil
Email: mjamil1938@yahoo.com
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
India – a safe haven for terrorists
Beauty needs admiration; skills need recognition; talent needs appreciation. All these desires reach the climax if the desirer is sagacious educated and sensible. But there is always a very obvious difference between recognition and separatism. For the last few months the people of the southern Punjab in Pakistan have been raising their voices for the division of Punjab on administrative grounds. They claim that they have to face a lot of difficulties while seeking for the solution of their problems. People from the far-flung areas like Rajanpur and Bahawalpur have to travel a long distance to reach the provincial headquarter Lahore. They say that by this division the newly established province would be in a better position to take care of the financial matters of this area.
As per tradition, the Indian media men have started portraying this movement as a separatist movement but still they have got no valid argument to support their misconception. The fact is that not even a single fraction in Pakistan is striving for independence from the federation. Be it the Balochistan or the southern Punjab, the demand is purely on administrative grounds confining to the federation. At the time of independence India had 12 provinces from which it moved to 28 states. But Pakistan remained a composite of four. In fact, Pakistan is one of the very few federations of the world in which such a big population is represented by mere four entities. This has created numerous problems over the last 60 years; as a result few have been proposing the idea of creation of newer provinces. Further division and sub-division of Punjab would never be an unwise decision if it is taken at a proper time. Smaller administrative units are always easier to handle with. But a division on the basis of ethnic or racial grounds must never be appreciated.
When we look at India we find a lot of racial and ethnic groups striving for a separate identity. Usually these groups belong to the crushed segments of society and mostly they are the outcome of the horrible caste-system of Indian society. Naxalites, Maoists, Salwa Judum, ULFA, NSCN and so many other separatist are operating successfully in the region. According to the reports some groups like Salwa Judum are state-sponsored. They were created to counter some rival groups but with the passage of time such groups got out of the government control and started operating at their own. Asian Centre for Human Rights on India reported that Indian Security Forces and state-sponsored civilian militia Salwa Judum cadres were involved in gross human rights violations in the name of counter insurgency operations.
The growing influence of all these terrorist groups has prompted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to declare them as the most serious threat to India’s national security According to India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), 20,000 insurgents are currently in operation. The area of northeast is considered the most troubled one with respect to these separatist groups. The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) NSCN [-IM] are the most active among such groups. They are striving for the independence of Assam and Nagaland respectively. These two organisations have been continuously trying to extend the spheres of their influence in the northeast region through violence as well as by training and arming a large number of other terrorist and proxy groups. According to the reports the Naxal Movement is the most horrible of all terrorist groups in India. Naxalite or Naxalism is an informal name given to communist groups that were born out of the Sino-Soviet split in the communist movement in India. Ideologically they belong to various trends of Maoism. Initially, the movement had its centre in West Bengal. In recent years, they have spread to less developed areas of rural central and eastern India, such as Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh through the activities of underground groups like the Communist Party of India. They are conducting an insurgency, typically called the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. They now have a presence in 40 percent of India’s geographical area and are especially concentrated in an area known as the “Naxal Belt,” comprising 92,000 square kilometers. The Naxal insurgency has become the biggest threat to India, surpassing Indian Held Kashmir and insurgency-hit northeastern states. Out of 630 districts the Indian government has declared 220 districts as Maoist affected areas.
India is facing a high casualty rate of security personnel in Naxal affected states. According to government sources in the past five months more than 181 Security Personnel have been killed. On June 16, 2009 about 400 Maoist guerrillas entered Lalgarh in Medinapore district of West Bengal and captured it including Police Station, destroying all symbols of administrative authority. The state government ordered security forces to control the situation. The security forces launched a full scale military operation using two companies of BSF, one company from CRPF, a platoon of Kolkatta Police Rapid Action Battalion, a company from west Bengal Armed Police and a platoon of Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB). The Maoists enjoy considerable influence in Lalgarh and are still in control of the district. The Maoist leaders say that their movement is a protest against oppression and exploitation of neglected tribes and landless farmers. They claim to fight for India’s poorest. The Naxalites now operate in at least 11 of the country’s 28 states and are thought to boast some 22,000 fighters.
It is nothing but an irony that a country like India who is bringing up so many terrorist and separatist groups is worried about the movements like the Saraiki movement in the Southern Punjab of Pakistan. India must pay attention to its own society where life has become a blob of pain and agony for the untouchables. The Saraiki movement is not a separatist movement. It is a struggle for the division of Punjab simply on administrative grounds. Our neighbours must not waste their time in curdling over the internal matters of Pakistan. They have already been doing a lot of ‘favours’ to us and they should give us time to pay back first for these ‘blessings.’
Ali Sukhanver
Email: alisukhanver@hotmail.com
As per tradition, the Indian media men have started portraying this movement as a separatist movement but still they have got no valid argument to support their misconception. The fact is that not even a single fraction in Pakistan is striving for independence from the federation. Be it the Balochistan or the southern Punjab, the demand is purely on administrative grounds confining to the federation. At the time of independence India had 12 provinces from which it moved to 28 states. But Pakistan remained a composite of four. In fact, Pakistan is one of the very few federations of the world in which such a big population is represented by mere four entities. This has created numerous problems over the last 60 years; as a result few have been proposing the idea of creation of newer provinces. Further division and sub-division of Punjab would never be an unwise decision if it is taken at a proper time. Smaller administrative units are always easier to handle with. But a division on the basis of ethnic or racial grounds must never be appreciated.
When we look at India we find a lot of racial and ethnic groups striving for a separate identity. Usually these groups belong to the crushed segments of society and mostly they are the outcome of the horrible caste-system of Indian society. Naxalites, Maoists, Salwa Judum, ULFA, NSCN and so many other separatist are operating successfully in the region. According to the reports some groups like Salwa Judum are state-sponsored. They were created to counter some rival groups but with the passage of time such groups got out of the government control and started operating at their own. Asian Centre for Human Rights on India reported that Indian Security Forces and state-sponsored civilian militia Salwa Judum cadres were involved in gross human rights violations in the name of counter insurgency operations.
The growing influence of all these terrorist groups has prompted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to declare them as the most serious threat to India’s national security According to India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), 20,000 insurgents are currently in operation. The area of northeast is considered the most troubled one with respect to these separatist groups. The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) NSCN [-IM] are the most active among such groups. They are striving for the independence of Assam and Nagaland respectively. These two organisations have been continuously trying to extend the spheres of their influence in the northeast region through violence as well as by training and arming a large number of other terrorist and proxy groups. According to the reports the Naxal Movement is the most horrible of all terrorist groups in India. Naxalite or Naxalism is an informal name given to communist groups that were born out of the Sino-Soviet split in the communist movement in India. Ideologically they belong to various trends of Maoism. Initially, the movement had its centre in West Bengal. In recent years, they have spread to less developed areas of rural central and eastern India, such as Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh through the activities of underground groups like the Communist Party of India. They are conducting an insurgency, typically called the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. They now have a presence in 40 percent of India’s geographical area and are especially concentrated in an area known as the “Naxal Belt,” comprising 92,000 square kilometers. The Naxal insurgency has become the biggest threat to India, surpassing Indian Held Kashmir and insurgency-hit northeastern states. Out of 630 districts the Indian government has declared 220 districts as Maoist affected areas.
India is facing a high casualty rate of security personnel in Naxal affected states. According to government sources in the past five months more than 181 Security Personnel have been killed. On June 16, 2009 about 400 Maoist guerrillas entered Lalgarh in Medinapore district of West Bengal and captured it including Police Station, destroying all symbols of administrative authority. The state government ordered security forces to control the situation. The security forces launched a full scale military operation using two companies of BSF, one company from CRPF, a platoon of Kolkatta Police Rapid Action Battalion, a company from west Bengal Armed Police and a platoon of Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB). The Maoists enjoy considerable influence in Lalgarh and are still in control of the district. The Maoist leaders say that their movement is a protest against oppression and exploitation of neglected tribes and landless farmers. They claim to fight for India’s poorest. The Naxalites now operate in at least 11 of the country’s 28 states and are thought to boast some 22,000 fighters.
It is nothing but an irony that a country like India who is bringing up so many terrorist and separatist groups is worried about the movements like the Saraiki movement in the Southern Punjab of Pakistan. India must pay attention to its own society where life has become a blob of pain and agony for the untouchables. The Saraiki movement is not a separatist movement. It is a struggle for the division of Punjab simply on administrative grounds. Our neighbours must not waste their time in curdling over the internal matters of Pakistan. They have already been doing a lot of ‘favours’ to us and they should give us time to pay back first for these ‘blessings.’
Ali Sukhanver
Email: alisukhanver@hotmail.com
Monday, October 26, 2009
Indian Gujarat Sabarmati Jail beatings and torture
Human Rights Watch researchers interact with the families of July 26 serial bomb blast accused; trying to find out why the accused were severely beaten up inside the Sabarmati Jail.
Vadodra: A team of two researchers from Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international non- governmental organization to protect the human rights of the citizens all over the world, is currently on an assignment in Gujarat.
It was the revelations by HRW about the inhuman torture of the inmates in Guantanamo prison became the ground for closure of the infamous cell and release of the prisoners.
In the last one week since they have landed in Gujarat, infamous for its statewide anti-Muslim carnage in 2002 in alleged collusion with the state machinery, the two researchers have been able to meet several rights activists, police and government officials, lawyers defending civil rights and families of the accused facing trial for their alleged involvement in July 26, 2008, serial bomb blasts that left 56 people dead in Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of this Western Indian state.
According to rights activists and lawyers, who interacted with the two researchers, say that HRW representatives are mainly focusing on the misuse of administrative powers and legal provisions on the pretext of fighting terror.
Those who interacted with the researchers-Letta Taylor and Meenakshi Ganguly-say that they were very critical of violation of human rights of citizens on the pretext of fighting terror. The researchers said that their organization had exposed the human rights violations by the official machinery in several parts of the globe and successfully brought international pressure on the respective governments to end rights violations.
In their interactions, advocate Hashim Qureshi and other advocates told the group about the misuse of administrative and legal provisions, particularly with regard to filing 19 different cases against the accused in July 26 serial bomb blasts aimed at prolonging their police remand for about six months. According to them, all the blast incidents should have been covered in a single FIR.
Other advocates including I M Munshi and Khalid Sheikh also briefed the researchers about the human rights violation of the accused in police as well as judicial custody. They also submitted the team several documents pertaining to rights violations including a court report on the injuries suffered by the inmates when they were assaulted by prison and police personnel in Sabarmati jail in the last week of March.
Though more than a year has passed since the blast took place and chargesheets were filed, the advocates informed the team that trial had yet not begun in the blast case reflecting on the slow judicial process, resulting into harassment of the accused.
Stating that if the police could infringe on the human rights of the people under ordinary provisions of Indian Penal Code, the advocates told HRW team that the draconian provisions of the of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2008, passed by the UPA government could give immense leverage to the police to further harass any one they suspect to be an accused in an act of terror. The advocates said that as far as human rights were concerned, UAPA was the worst legislation anywhere in the world, passed by the Indian federal government after Mumbai terror attack in November 2008.
The researchers are also probing why only the accused involved in July 26 serial blasts were singled out and brutally tortured by prison staff and cops while other Muslim prisoners, including POTA accused from Godhra as also Ahmedabad, were not even touched. In fact, all other Muslim prisoners were allegedly separated before blast accused were assaulted.
The researchers were officially told that the accused had dealt with severely because they resorted to hunger strike, which amounts to mutiny under the archaic Bombay Prison Manual prepared by the Britishers to suppress freedom fighters, the family members of the accused informed that the prison officials were hostile to them particularly because they were more strict in adherence of religious tenets like praying regularly five times a day and propagating Islam among the non-Muslim prisoners.
According to family members of the accused, as many as 10 Hindu prisoners have so far embraced Islam.
The researchers also visited families of the accused in Vadodara. Raees Agarbattiwala, brother of accused Usman Agarbattiwala, told them that while the four accused were picked up on August 8, they were officially shown arrested on August 14 only. According to Raees, they were kept under illegal detention for six days.
Hameeda Bano, mother Imran Sheikh, another blast accused, alleged that her son was tortured by the police during interrogation and then brutally beaten up in Sabarmati jail.
Imran’s father Ibrahim suffering from cardiac problem, passed away a week ago, with the jail authorities not allowing Imran to attend the burial of his father.
Well-known human rights activist Yusuf Sheikh based at Vadodara told the researchers about the mental torture he was subjected to by the police and intelligence agencies after July 26 blasts.
During her interactions, Sumaiya, wife of blast accused Ashok alias Umar, narrated how her husband was allegedly forced by the sleuths to reconvert and booked in the blast case after he refused to surrender to their wishes. Sumaiya is also a neo-convert.
Qutbuddin Sheikh, father of accused Zahid Sheikh, told HRW representatives that he had no money to arrange for the legal assistance for his son.
Ganguly and Taylor are expected to visit other places including Delhi, UP, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and other state to prepare their report on India.
Vadodra: A team of two researchers from Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international non- governmental organization to protect the human rights of the citizens all over the world, is currently on an assignment in Gujarat.
It was the revelations by HRW about the inhuman torture of the inmates in Guantanamo prison became the ground for closure of the infamous cell and release of the prisoners.
In the last one week since they have landed in Gujarat, infamous for its statewide anti-Muslim carnage in 2002 in alleged collusion with the state machinery, the two researchers have been able to meet several rights activists, police and government officials, lawyers defending civil rights and families of the accused facing trial for their alleged involvement in July 26, 2008, serial bomb blasts that left 56 people dead in Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of this Western Indian state.
According to rights activists and lawyers, who interacted with the two researchers, say that HRW representatives are mainly focusing on the misuse of administrative powers and legal provisions on the pretext of fighting terror.
Those who interacted with the researchers-Letta Taylor and Meenakshi Ganguly-say that they were very critical of violation of human rights of citizens on the pretext of fighting terror. The researchers said that their organization had exposed the human rights violations by the official machinery in several parts of the globe and successfully brought international pressure on the respective governments to end rights violations.
In their interactions, advocate Hashim Qureshi and other advocates told the group about the misuse of administrative and legal provisions, particularly with regard to filing 19 different cases against the accused in July 26 serial bomb blasts aimed at prolonging their police remand for about six months. According to them, all the blast incidents should have been covered in a single FIR.
Other advocates including I M Munshi and Khalid Sheikh also briefed the researchers about the human rights violation of the accused in police as well as judicial custody. They also submitted the team several documents pertaining to rights violations including a court report on the injuries suffered by the inmates when they were assaulted by prison and police personnel in Sabarmati jail in the last week of March.
Though more than a year has passed since the blast took place and chargesheets were filed, the advocates informed the team that trial had yet not begun in the blast case reflecting on the slow judicial process, resulting into harassment of the accused.
Stating that if the police could infringe on the human rights of the people under ordinary provisions of Indian Penal Code, the advocates told HRW team that the draconian provisions of the of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2008, passed by the UPA government could give immense leverage to the police to further harass any one they suspect to be an accused in an act of terror. The advocates said that as far as human rights were concerned, UAPA was the worst legislation anywhere in the world, passed by the Indian federal government after Mumbai terror attack in November 2008.
The researchers are also probing why only the accused involved in July 26 serial blasts were singled out and brutally tortured by prison staff and cops while other Muslim prisoners, including POTA accused from Godhra as also Ahmedabad, were not even touched. In fact, all other Muslim prisoners were allegedly separated before blast accused were assaulted.
The researchers were officially told that the accused had dealt with severely because they resorted to hunger strike, which amounts to mutiny under the archaic Bombay Prison Manual prepared by the Britishers to suppress freedom fighters, the family members of the accused informed that the prison officials were hostile to them particularly because they were more strict in adherence of religious tenets like praying regularly five times a day and propagating Islam among the non-Muslim prisoners.
According to family members of the accused, as many as 10 Hindu prisoners have so far embraced Islam.
The researchers also visited families of the accused in Vadodara. Raees Agarbattiwala, brother of accused Usman Agarbattiwala, told them that while the four accused were picked up on August 8, they were officially shown arrested on August 14 only. According to Raees, they were kept under illegal detention for six days.
Hameeda Bano, mother Imran Sheikh, another blast accused, alleged that her son was tortured by the police during interrogation and then brutally beaten up in Sabarmati jail.
Imran’s father Ibrahim suffering from cardiac problem, passed away a week ago, with the jail authorities not allowing Imran to attend the burial of his father.
Well-known human rights activist Yusuf Sheikh based at Vadodara told the researchers about the mental torture he was subjected to by the police and intelligence agencies after July 26 blasts.
During her interactions, Sumaiya, wife of blast accused Ashok alias Umar, narrated how her husband was allegedly forced by the sleuths to reconvert and booked in the blast case after he refused to surrender to their wishes. Sumaiya is also a neo-convert.
Qutbuddin Sheikh, father of accused Zahid Sheikh, told HRW representatives that he had no money to arrange for the legal assistance for his son.
Ganguly and Taylor are expected to visit other places including Delhi, UP, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and other state to prepare their report on India.
400-year-old historic ‘Dibiya Wali Mosque’ demolished in Delhi
By RINA
New Delhi: The Delhi Development Authority has demolished some parts of the four hundred year old historic Dibiya wali Mosque located at the Andheria Mor just opposite the Kisan Haat in the Mahrauli area of the city here yesterday. This has hurt the sentiments of Muslims of the area. During this condemnable act the protestors pelted stones at the police as well as the officials of the Delhi Development Authority. Sensing trouble the Stationed House Officer of the Mahrauli Police Station along with other police officials reached the spot.
According to the reports available with the RINA at around four in the evening yesterday a team of nearly half a dozen officials of the Delhi Development Authority carrying a JCB machine and other instruments reached the Dibiya Wali Mosque. A huge contingent of Delhi Police also came along with the team of Delhi Development Authority. As soon as the team reached the Dibiya Wali Mosque it began demolishing the main ceiling and walls of the Mosque. Some of respected members of the society requested the DDA to stop the demolition which was started without notice. However, the DDA Staff paid no heed to it.
A mosque in Delhi [TCN photo]
The protestors started pelting stones at the staff of the Delhi Development Authority as well as the Delhi Police. In retaliation the police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the mob. This led to tension in the area. In the meanwhile traffic jam occurred on both sides. It must be recalled that during the reign of former Prime Minister late Vishwanath Pratap Singh also the move to offer prayers at the Dibiya Wali Mosque was opposed. Afterwards this case reached the Delhi High Court. At that point of time the Court ordered to maintain the status quo of Mosque. The Chairman of Delhi Wakf Board Chaudhary Mateen Ahmad told RINA that he would soon speak to the officers of Delhi Development Authority on this issue.
Mr. Mateen Ahmad revealed that it is an ancient Mosque whose records are mentioned in the Board Gazette. Therefore, the DDA need not interfere in its affairs. According to the Imam of the Dibiya Wali Mosque Maulana Tahir Qasmi when the local people resisted the move by the DDA to demolish the Mosque they roughed up by the police. The President of the Supervisory Committee of Mosque Maulana Mohammad Talha has termed this demolition by the DDA absolutely illegal. One of the officials of the Delhi Development Authority Neemudhar maintains that this demolition derive was conducted to remove the illegal encroachment in the Mosque and it is absolutely wrong to give it a communal colour.
New Delhi: The Delhi Development Authority has demolished some parts of the four hundred year old historic Dibiya wali Mosque located at the Andheria Mor just opposite the Kisan Haat in the Mahrauli area of the city here yesterday. This has hurt the sentiments of Muslims of the area. During this condemnable act the protestors pelted stones at the police as well as the officials of the Delhi Development Authority. Sensing trouble the Stationed House Officer of the Mahrauli Police Station along with other police officials reached the spot.
According to the reports available with the RINA at around four in the evening yesterday a team of nearly half a dozen officials of the Delhi Development Authority carrying a JCB machine and other instruments reached the Dibiya Wali Mosque. A huge contingent of Delhi Police also came along with the team of Delhi Development Authority. As soon as the team reached the Dibiya Wali Mosque it began demolishing the main ceiling and walls of the Mosque. Some of respected members of the society requested the DDA to stop the demolition which was started without notice. However, the DDA Staff paid no heed to it.
A mosque in Delhi [TCN photo]
The protestors started pelting stones at the staff of the Delhi Development Authority as well as the Delhi Police. In retaliation the police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the mob. This led to tension in the area. In the meanwhile traffic jam occurred on both sides. It must be recalled that during the reign of former Prime Minister late Vishwanath Pratap Singh also the move to offer prayers at the Dibiya Wali Mosque was opposed. Afterwards this case reached the Delhi High Court. At that point of time the Court ordered to maintain the status quo of Mosque. The Chairman of Delhi Wakf Board Chaudhary Mateen Ahmad told RINA that he would soon speak to the officers of Delhi Development Authority on this issue.
Mr. Mateen Ahmad revealed that it is an ancient Mosque whose records are mentioned in the Board Gazette. Therefore, the DDA need not interfere in its affairs. According to the Imam of the Dibiya Wali Mosque Maulana Tahir Qasmi when the local people resisted the move by the DDA to demolish the Mosque they roughed up by the police. The President of the Supervisory Committee of Mosque Maulana Mohammad Talha has termed this demolition by the DDA absolutely illegal. One of the officials of the Delhi Development Authority Neemudhar maintains that this demolition derive was conducted to remove the illegal encroachment in the Mosque and it is absolutely wrong to give it a communal colour.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Kashmir tragedy: The Martyrs’ Day
The Kashmir Martyrs’ Day, popularly known as Youme Shuhada-e-Kashmir is observed on July 13 every year not only on both sides of the Line of Control but also all over the world by the Kashmiris to pay homage to 22 Kashmiris who were martyred in 1931 to free Kashmir from the brutalities of despotic Dogra rulers. The tragic day is the milestone in the history of Kashmiri struggle against foreign occupation which still continues under the Indian alien rule.
The history of Dogra rule (1846-1947) in
Sufferings of the Kashmiri people could be judged from the observation of Yousaf Saraf who in his book, ‘Kashmiris fight for freedom’ calls it “free forced labour” and he writes: “instead of donkeys and horses, Kashmiri Muslims were used for transportation of goods across the far-flung areas”. While describing the atrocities of the Dogra regime and pathetic picture of the Kashmiris, Sir Walter Lawrence in his renowned book, ‘The India we served’, wrote: “army was employed in forcing the villagers to plough and sow, and worse still…the soldiers came at harvest time and when the share of the state had been seized” and “there was very little grain to tide the unfortunate peasants over the cruel winter.” However, under the tyrannical regime, political rights had no place; even the religious rights had been denied to the Muslims of the state.
In
On July 13, 1931, thousands of people crowded the Central Jail,
The people carried the dead and paraded through the streets of
The atrocities against the Kashmiri Muslims did not stop even after the partition of
Since 1989 when liberation of
Today’s
The current phase of Kashmir struggle began on August 12, 2008 when Indian forces killed Hurriyat Conference leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz along with five other persons who were protesting against the government decision to give land to the trust that runs Amarnath, a shrine of Hindus. On the same day, more than 200,000 Kashmiris marched towards the Martyrs Graveyard to participate in the funeral of Abdul Aziz. The police killed 18 innocent Muslims by firing. While extremist Hindus who favoured the decision of the government, but due to its revocation, started violent protests and economic blockade of the Muslims, emulating the Israeli siege of Gaza which resulted in starvation of thousands of innocent Palestinians.
Unlike the past, this time Indian-held Kashmir has become a special focus of world’s attention including
In this regard, The Washington Post wrote on August 28, 2008, “Despite the government’s use of force, many Muslims in Indian controlled
It is mentionable that ‘composite dialogue’ between
Nonetheless, observance of Kashmiris’ freedom struggle on the Kashmir Martyrs’ Day on July 13, every year is reaffirmation of the fact that Kashmiris will continue to fight against Indian illegitimate occupation. In this connection, Youme Shuhada-e-Kashmir is an ideal day for Kashmiri people to seek inspiration to carry their struggle for freedom to its logical end. At this time of distress, the people of
Sajjad Shaukat
Email: Sajjad_logic@yahoo.com
Malicious propaganda against Pak
The Guardian’ in its issue of 14 June 2009 has published an extremely damaging story against Pakistan. In this account, Kapil Kamireddis, an Indian journalist assets that Pakistan’s fight against the Taliban is just an illusion. To him, the world might think that it is a battle for Pakistan’s soul, but, according to his assessment, this is far from reality and the generals in Rawalpindi are not very sure for victory.” A little short of using provocative language against Pakistan, the writer makes his readers believe that nothing could deter Islamabad from continuing with its policy of patronizing Islamic extremists.
To substantiate his argument, he mentions about the release of Hafiz Saeed, who is allegedly determined to destroy India. He said Maulana was detained after last Mumbai’s incident and has recently been released under orders of Lahore High Court. Kapil, in the article under review, clearly misinterprets the Two-Nation Theory as the basis of Pakistan. In the process, he distorts historical facts about Kashmir and East Pakistan and elaborates his point by declaring that the Pakistan, that was created in 1947, had ceased to exist in 1971, with the emergence of Bangladesh. He makes us believe that seven million East Pakistanis were mercilessly slaughtered by the Pakistan Army in 1971. To bag all credit for India, he claimed that it was secular India, with its forces led by Non-Hindus, which timely intervened to liberate East Pakistan from the clutches of West Pakistan. To cause greater damage to Pakistan, Kapil indicates division among Pakistan’s provinces from Karachi to Peshawar and concludes that within the near twenty years, Pakistan will no longer exist.
The author now focuses his attention on public support behind Pak Army and the subsequent rejection of the Taliban style of Shariah. He concedes that this view is amply expressed by the leaders of various political and civil societies, especially religious scholars. This gives ample proof that majority of Pakistanis are moderate and they stand for moderation instead of extremism. The Taliban, by and large, lost their public support, in view of their anti-social activities such a beheading, kidnapping, burning of girls schools etc. It is primarily due to such ill-conceived, dastardly acts that even tribal peoples have now started realizing that these militants Taliban wanted to impose rule of terror under the cover of Shariah.
It was primarily due to these high handed activities of Taliban that people of Swat, Dir, Buner had refused to accept their version of Islam and they preferred to support the Pakistan Army. These even preferred to live in camps rather than following the dictates of the Taliban. By and large, people of these areas have shown unity in backing the on-going military operation.
From the one-sided prejudiced account of Kapil’s narrative, one can very easily make out that after the lapse of much than six decades, India has not whole-heartedly recognized the existence of Pakistan and anti-Pakistan elements have been making overt and covert efforts in destabilizing the country since 1947. In the process, three full-fledged wars have been imposed on Pakistan.
To worsen matters, in violation of Indus Basin Treaty of 1947, India has caused suspension of rivers’ water to Pakistan. To display extreme high-handedness, India has annexed Kashmir illegitimately and has refused to hold plebiscite in the valley. By doing this, she has denied the right of self-determination to the Kashmiris. These are some glaring examples of India’s hostile attitude towards Pakistan. It is a matter of great concern that India’s secret agency “RAW” has unashamedly placed Pakistan on its hit list. In 1971, in response of Indira Gandhi’s orders, RAW mobilized all its resources by exploiting political turmoil of East Pakistan, which RAW had created through its agents. These agents had provided Bengalis, arms and ammunition for carrying out guerilla activities against Pakistan’s defence forces. This agency had played a very dirty role in the dismemberment of Pakistan.
Viewing Pakistan’s predicaments from another angle, it is sad to note that India has been consistently fanning flames of insurgency in the Frontier Province and Balochistan. In these areas, ‘RAW’ has planted its own agents and also it has established a number of terrorist training camps. Armed insurgents are ‘posted’ to these places to create lawlessness. Of late, these terrorist activities are now taken a very serious turn. Pakistan has now virtually plunged into total anarchy and it finds itself in the total grip of lawlessness. In the recent past, the country was seen in the severe grip of suicide attacks. By all calculations, India’s secret agency “RAW” is responsible for all these terror activities. Pakistan must remain in a state of complete alertness to guard against nefarious designs of its awed enemy – India.
Col Ghulam Sarwar (R)
Email: colghulamsarwar@hotmail.com
To substantiate his argument, he mentions about the release of Hafiz Saeed, who is allegedly determined to destroy India. He said Maulana was detained after last Mumbai’s incident and has recently been released under orders of Lahore High Court. Kapil, in the article under review, clearly misinterprets the Two-Nation Theory as the basis of Pakistan. In the process, he distorts historical facts about Kashmir and East Pakistan and elaborates his point by declaring that the Pakistan, that was created in 1947, had ceased to exist in 1971, with the emergence of Bangladesh. He makes us believe that seven million East Pakistanis were mercilessly slaughtered by the Pakistan Army in 1971. To bag all credit for India, he claimed that it was secular India, with its forces led by Non-Hindus, which timely intervened to liberate East Pakistan from the clutches of West Pakistan. To cause greater damage to Pakistan, Kapil indicates division among Pakistan’s provinces from Karachi to Peshawar and concludes that within the near twenty years, Pakistan will no longer exist.
The author now focuses his attention on public support behind Pak Army and the subsequent rejection of the Taliban style of Shariah. He concedes that this view is amply expressed by the leaders of various political and civil societies, especially religious scholars. This gives ample proof that majority of Pakistanis are moderate and they stand for moderation instead of extremism. The Taliban, by and large, lost their public support, in view of their anti-social activities such a beheading, kidnapping, burning of girls schools etc. It is primarily due to such ill-conceived, dastardly acts that even tribal peoples have now started realizing that these militants Taliban wanted to impose rule of terror under the cover of Shariah.
It was primarily due to these high handed activities of Taliban that people of Swat, Dir, Buner had refused to accept their version of Islam and they preferred to support the Pakistan Army. These even preferred to live in camps rather than following the dictates of the Taliban. By and large, people of these areas have shown unity in backing the on-going military operation.
From the one-sided prejudiced account of Kapil’s narrative, one can very easily make out that after the lapse of much than six decades, India has not whole-heartedly recognized the existence of Pakistan and anti-Pakistan elements have been making overt and covert efforts in destabilizing the country since 1947. In the process, three full-fledged wars have been imposed on Pakistan.
To worsen matters, in violation of Indus Basin Treaty of 1947, India has caused suspension of rivers’ water to Pakistan. To display extreme high-handedness, India has annexed Kashmir illegitimately and has refused to hold plebiscite in the valley. By doing this, she has denied the right of self-determination to the Kashmiris. These are some glaring examples of India’s hostile attitude towards Pakistan. It is a matter of great concern that India’s secret agency “RAW” has unashamedly placed Pakistan on its hit list. In 1971, in response of Indira Gandhi’s orders, RAW mobilized all its resources by exploiting political turmoil of East Pakistan, which RAW had created through its agents. These agents had provided Bengalis, arms and ammunition for carrying out guerilla activities against Pakistan’s defence forces. This agency had played a very dirty role in the dismemberment of Pakistan.
Viewing Pakistan’s predicaments from another angle, it is sad to note that India has been consistently fanning flames of insurgency in the Frontier Province and Balochistan. In these areas, ‘RAW’ has planted its own agents and also it has established a number of terrorist training camps. Armed insurgents are ‘posted’ to these places to create lawlessness. Of late, these terrorist activities are now taken a very serious turn. Pakistan has now virtually plunged into total anarchy and it finds itself in the total grip of lawlessness. In the recent past, the country was seen in the severe grip of suicide attacks. By all calculations, India’s secret agency “RAW” is responsible for all these terror activities. Pakistan must remain in a state of complete alertness to guard against nefarious designs of its awed enemy – India.
Col Ghulam Sarwar (R)
Email: colghulamsarwar@hotmail.com
Friday, October 23, 2009
India’s growing defence spending and poor masses
India is one of the most populated countries in the world and looking towards becoming a global superpower in the presence of millions of poor people and poor social infrastructure.
The country is under the grip of severe poverty and almost half of its population is underweight, many of them in the more serious categories of wasting and stunting. The country is badly facing the challenge of poverty which is one of the fundamental problems in relation to different socio-economic groups, geographic regions and rural and urban areas. The World Bank estimates that more than 40 per cent people of India are living below the poverty line and countless people fail to maintain a living standard adequate for their physical and mental efficiency. India still has the world' largest number of poor people and millions are living in slums and has also higher rate of malnutrition among children under the age of three as compared to any other country in the world. So, the global challenge of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is disproportionately dependent on the fight against poverty in India. Food insecurity is also a major factor in India and investment is far away because there is no electricity available to the 220,000 villages. Irrigation infrastructure has not been maintained and poor controls over industrialisation have also contributed to the collapse of groundwater levels and the loss of cultivable land. On the other hand, India's health and education system has also deteriorated and poor standards of nutrition undermine all health indicators. Almost half of Indian babies are born underweight and rates of infant and child mortality are falling too slowly to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) targets to reduce poverty and hunger, and to tackle ill-health, gender inequality, lack of education, lack of access to clean water and environmental degradation. Moreover, rural population has also no access to improved sanitation, hopelessly behind MDG targets. In this bleak background, it seems that Indian elites have no grand strategy to handle poverty and poor economy rather than they are ambitious to become a military power and swing state in the international system. The world started to take notice of India's desire to becoming a great power when New Delhi signed a nuclear pact with the United States in July 2005 and this breakthrough is only one dimension of the dramatic transformation of Indian foreign policy that has taken place since the end of the Cold War. After more than half a century of false assumptions and unrealised potentials, Indian elites are thinking to match the global balance of power. In fact, the power hungry elites have deliberately shut their eyes from the economic poverty and are not willing to face the most critical issues of society and blindly moving towards the so-called destination of great power status at the cost of economic well-being. It is also a reality that to rise as a great power, India needs more than economic assets and indigenous sophisticated infrastructure to obtain economic, technological and military power rapidly which is hard to achieve in the near future. So, it is a difficult task to "become a major global player" even though New Delhi had signed 10-year defence agreement with Washington on June 29, 2007 and both has engaged in strategic partnership but still India's strategy is contradictory. Moreover, India's increasing power is also a part in the process of a major shift occurring in international relations, from US-based uni-polarity to a "multifaceted multi-polarity," which could be the prelude of a new multi-polar order. It is surprising that India is facing worst type of economic crisis and poverty but its elites steeply hiked the budgetary allocation for defence to Rs 141,703 crore, a 34 per cent increase over the previous fiscal. The increase in real terms amounted to Rs 36,103 crore over last year's (2008-2009) allocation of Rs 105,600 crore, and is apparently intended to speed up procurement of defence equipment and plug the security gaps exposed by the Mumbai carnage. Moreover, the 34 per cent increase is substantial compared to the increase of only 10 per cent affected in last year's budget over Rs 96,000 crore allocated in 2007-08. In fact, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had allocated the same amount for defence in his interim budget presented in Parliament on February 16, 2009 before the Lok Sabha polls. Although in past years (2007-2009), the 1.1 million strong Indian Army has received the lion's share of 41 per cent or Rs 58,648 crore, with the Indian Navy being allocated Rs 8,322 crore and the Indian Air Force Rs 14,318 crore. Furthermore, the allocation for the fiscal that began April 1, 2009 plan expenditure for defence has been pegged at Rs 86,879 crore against Rs 73,600 crore for the financial year just ended March 31, 2009. This includes Rs 54,824 crore for capital expenditure as against Rs 41,000 crore in the revised estimates for 2008-09. In fact, India has embarked upon a multi-billion dollars ambitious programme of modernization of its armed forces by acquiring advanced weapons from different countries, including Britain, France, Israel, Russia, and the United States. Indian government also allocated huge amount around Rs 45b for Paramilitary Forces, which is world's largest paramilitary organisation. They have also given lion's share of Rs 17b to Central Police Organisations (CPO) which is the umbrella institution of CRPF and it is playing a key role in assisting state governments to tackle insurgency, naxalism, terrorism besides internal security duties. The BSF, entrusted task of keeping vigil along LoC in Jammu & Kashmir and the country's 6,622 kms borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh & Myanmar, got Rs 11.56b more compared to last year's Rs 53.77b. In this regard, the CISF which is on threshold of a massive expansion programme and the institution will receive Rs 4.8b more than last year's Rs 20.01b and the forces has recently been given additional responsibilities of guarding private and joint venture installations and maintenance of Indian foreign missions. Interestingly, the lion's share would be spent on modernizing the world's 4th largest military (1.23 million), which is scouting global arms bazaars for helicopters, artillery, armour and infantry gear, received the largest share of the cash, with an allocation of 11.79 billion dollars in the budget. The Indian Air Force (IAF), which is on the verge of handing out a 126-warjet contract worth almost 12 billion dollars and the government allotted 2.86 billion dollars. The reports are available that six global aerospace firms are competing to grab the rich fighter jet deal which stipulates India will buy outright 18 planes by 2012 and locally assemble the remaining units under licence at a state-run facility. In the same way, the Indian Navy, embroiled in a squabble with Russia over an aircraft carrier contract and allocated 1.66$ billion. According to IISS (London) and SPIRI (Stockholm) India is one of the biggest weapons buyer among emerging countries and it has imported military hardware worth 28 billion dollars since 2000. The defence establishment has also allocated another 30 billion dollars which will be spent by 2010 and it has included 3.5 billion dollars for 700 helicopters, 1.5 billion dollars for AWACS and an unspecified amount for drones, mainly from Israeli arms firms. In the circumstance, Pakistan has logical justification to react against India's military spending because they are gradually increasing their defence budget which is clear indication of India's hegemonic ambitions. Since 1950s, India has dramatically improved its military capabilities on land and sea, in the air, and in space. It has begun to project its military power beyond the borders and small neighbours are feeling insecure from its acquiring advanced weapons systems from foreign suppliers as well as trying to develop its own. Pakistan's defence planners have greatest concern with the development of cyber and anti-satellite warfare, anti-air and anti-ship weaponry, submarines, and ballistic missiles. The modernization in these areas would certainly disturb the balance of power of South Asian region. The strategists agreed that India's military modernization makes perfect sense of Islamabad concerns to India's longer-term evil motives. Nonetheless, India's economic and social disparity is alarming because of poor healthcare and education system. The civil society in India always forced Indian elites that money spent on arms not only fuelled tensions in the region but also diverted crucial funds meant for socio-economic development. Increasing more money for defence means that there will be no allocations for welfare schemes and infrastructure, while assuring high growth for the 1.2 trillion dollars economy once again. The economists argued that more allocation to defence will certainly affect India's flagship rural reconstruction programme, urban development and energy sector. In addition, if India wishes to become an economic superpower then they have to tackle its worst economic problems and must address directly and earnestly and until these problems will settle down India will be domestically weak and insecure.
A Z Hilali
Email: hilali007@yahoo.com
The country is under the grip of severe poverty and almost half of its population is underweight, many of them in the more serious categories of wasting and stunting. The country is badly facing the challenge of poverty which is one of the fundamental problems in relation to different socio-economic groups, geographic regions and rural and urban areas. The World Bank estimates that more than 40 per cent people of India are living below the poverty line and countless people fail to maintain a living standard adequate for their physical and mental efficiency. India still has the world' largest number of poor people and millions are living in slums and has also higher rate of malnutrition among children under the age of three as compared to any other country in the world. So, the global challenge of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is disproportionately dependent on the fight against poverty in India. Food insecurity is also a major factor in India and investment is far away because there is no electricity available to the 220,000 villages. Irrigation infrastructure has not been maintained and poor controls over industrialisation have also contributed to the collapse of groundwater levels and the loss of cultivable land. On the other hand, India's health and education system has also deteriorated and poor standards of nutrition undermine all health indicators. Almost half of Indian babies are born underweight and rates of infant and child mortality are falling too slowly to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) targets to reduce poverty and hunger, and to tackle ill-health, gender inequality, lack of education, lack of access to clean water and environmental degradation. Moreover, rural population has also no access to improved sanitation, hopelessly behind MDG targets. In this bleak background, it seems that Indian elites have no grand strategy to handle poverty and poor economy rather than they are ambitious to become a military power and swing state in the international system. The world started to take notice of India's desire to becoming a great power when New Delhi signed a nuclear pact with the United States in July 2005 and this breakthrough is only one dimension of the dramatic transformation of Indian foreign policy that has taken place since the end of the Cold War. After more than half a century of false assumptions and unrealised potentials, Indian elites are thinking to match the global balance of power. In fact, the power hungry elites have deliberately shut their eyes from the economic poverty and are not willing to face the most critical issues of society and blindly moving towards the so-called destination of great power status at the cost of economic well-being. It is also a reality that to rise as a great power, India needs more than economic assets and indigenous sophisticated infrastructure to obtain economic, technological and military power rapidly which is hard to achieve in the near future. So, it is a difficult task to "become a major global player" even though New Delhi had signed 10-year defence agreement with Washington on June 29, 2007 and both has engaged in strategic partnership but still India's strategy is contradictory. Moreover, India's increasing power is also a part in the process of a major shift occurring in international relations, from US-based uni-polarity to a "multifaceted multi-polarity," which could be the prelude of a new multi-polar order. It is surprising that India is facing worst type of economic crisis and poverty but its elites steeply hiked the budgetary allocation for defence to Rs 141,703 crore, a 34 per cent increase over the previous fiscal. The increase in real terms amounted to Rs 36,103 crore over last year's (2008-2009) allocation of Rs 105,600 crore, and is apparently intended to speed up procurement of defence equipment and plug the security gaps exposed by the Mumbai carnage. Moreover, the 34 per cent increase is substantial compared to the increase of only 10 per cent affected in last year's budget over Rs 96,000 crore allocated in 2007-08. In fact, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had allocated the same amount for defence in his interim budget presented in Parliament on February 16, 2009 before the Lok Sabha polls. Although in past years (2007-2009), the 1.1 million strong Indian Army has received the lion's share of 41 per cent or Rs 58,648 crore, with the Indian Navy being allocated Rs 8,322 crore and the Indian Air Force Rs 14,318 crore. Furthermore, the allocation for the fiscal that began April 1, 2009 plan expenditure for defence has been pegged at Rs 86,879 crore against Rs 73,600 crore for the financial year just ended March 31, 2009. This includes Rs 54,824 crore for capital expenditure as against Rs 41,000 crore in the revised estimates for 2008-09. In fact, India has embarked upon a multi-billion dollars ambitious programme of modernization of its armed forces by acquiring advanced weapons from different countries, including Britain, France, Israel, Russia, and the United States. Indian government also allocated huge amount around Rs 45b for Paramilitary Forces, which is world's largest paramilitary organisation. They have also given lion's share of Rs 17b to Central Police Organisations (CPO) which is the umbrella institution of CRPF and it is playing a key role in assisting state governments to tackle insurgency, naxalism, terrorism besides internal security duties. The BSF, entrusted task of keeping vigil along LoC in Jammu & Kashmir and the country's 6,622 kms borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh & Myanmar, got Rs 11.56b more compared to last year's Rs 53.77b. In this regard, the CISF which is on threshold of a massive expansion programme and the institution will receive Rs 4.8b more than last year's Rs 20.01b and the forces has recently been given additional responsibilities of guarding private and joint venture installations and maintenance of Indian foreign missions. Interestingly, the lion's share would be spent on modernizing the world's 4th largest military (1.23 million), which is scouting global arms bazaars for helicopters, artillery, armour and infantry gear, received the largest share of the cash, with an allocation of 11.79 billion dollars in the budget. The Indian Air Force (IAF), which is on the verge of handing out a 126-warjet contract worth almost 12 billion dollars and the government allotted 2.86 billion dollars. The reports are available that six global aerospace firms are competing to grab the rich fighter jet deal which stipulates India will buy outright 18 planes by 2012 and locally assemble the remaining units under licence at a state-run facility. In the same way, the Indian Navy, embroiled in a squabble with Russia over an aircraft carrier contract and allocated 1.66$ billion. According to IISS (London) and SPIRI (Stockholm) India is one of the biggest weapons buyer among emerging countries and it has imported military hardware worth 28 billion dollars since 2000. The defence establishment has also allocated another 30 billion dollars which will be spent by 2010 and it has included 3.5 billion dollars for 700 helicopters, 1.5 billion dollars for AWACS and an unspecified amount for drones, mainly from Israeli arms firms. In the circumstance, Pakistan has logical justification to react against India's military spending because they are gradually increasing their defence budget which is clear indication of India's hegemonic ambitions. Since 1950s, India has dramatically improved its military capabilities on land and sea, in the air, and in space. It has begun to project its military power beyond the borders and small neighbours are feeling insecure from its acquiring advanced weapons systems from foreign suppliers as well as trying to develop its own. Pakistan's defence planners have greatest concern with the development of cyber and anti-satellite warfare, anti-air and anti-ship weaponry, submarines, and ballistic missiles. The modernization in these areas would certainly disturb the balance of power of South Asian region. The strategists agreed that India's military modernization makes perfect sense of Islamabad concerns to India's longer-term evil motives. Nonetheless, India's economic and social disparity is alarming because of poor healthcare and education system. The civil society in India always forced Indian elites that money spent on arms not only fuelled tensions in the region but also diverted crucial funds meant for socio-economic development. Increasing more money for defence means that there will be no allocations for welfare schemes and infrastructure, while assuring high growth for the 1.2 trillion dollars economy once again. The economists argued that more allocation to defence will certainly affect India's flagship rural reconstruction programme, urban development and energy sector. In addition, if India wishes to become an economic superpower then they have to tackle its worst economic problems and must address directly and earnestly and until these problems will settle down India will be domestically weak and insecure.
A Z Hilali
Email: hilali007@yahoo.com
Defeating the Taliban’s Ideology
Over the years, the Taliban have polluted the minds of their incarcerated people to an extent that they feel pride to explode themselves for the anonymous remuneration, promised to them by their gurus.
Taliban get hold of three categories of the people. The first group comprises children from 8 to 12 years. Being soft targets and easy to be motivated, Taliban initially brain wash them and then use them for their nefarious designs like suicide attacks, bombing and for fighting against security forces. In term of finances, they spend very less on them and can easily get them either from Madrassas , in the attire of Islamic teaching or failure to these, through abduction or forceful snatching from their helpless parents in their areas of influence. Another group is of the youth over 1 years of age bracket, mostly who have neither resources enough to continue their studies nor could get any employment. And the third group is of the grown up people having over 25 years of age. They are either religiously motivated or being jobless, thus lured in by the Taliban. These two groups are offered good pay packages by the Taliban and in return are used the way desired by them (Taliban). Either under the erroneous motivation in the garb of religion or else because of the financial benefits, they are used for terrorism of all sort by the Taliban. With the passage of time the thought process of these militants become so harder that they cannot be reverted back to their normal lives and even if they desire, would be eliminated by the Taliban. They adopt tone and texture as per their trainers with the determination to achieve the objective desired by Taliban, following their ideology. They are being taught that, Taliban are the true Muslims and very soon there would a Taliban government in Pakistan and elsewhere in other Muslim countries. The bottom line of the Taliban ideology is that; every act of the Government of Pakistan, starting from its constitution, judicial system institutions, Armed Forces and other organisations are un-Islamic and whatever Taliban are doing is the true Islam. With this theme, they publicize their ideology through repeated brain washing of the youth. In 99 % cases the implementers (suicide bombers and other militant fighters) do not even know the real clout at their back and that what they really yearning for while using them for various terrorist activities. These brain-washed people blindly follow their gurus' whose teachings are absolutely contrary to the philosophy of Islam. As far as teaching of Islam is concerned, it is a religion of peace and love for human beings. Indeed this great religion teaches harmony and forbearance and orders its believers for a compassion and justice; thus "Islam and terrorism cannot stand side by side". Islam forbids terrorism and aims to bring peace and security to the world. Not only Islam, but as a matter of fact, no divine religion permits terrorism and violence if interpreted in its essence. The Holy Quran says: "If someone kills another person - unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth - it is as if he had killed all mankind". Thus, the teaching of Islam is that, 'a person who kills even a single man indeed commits a crime as if he had murdered all mankind on earth and such people will have a painful punishment' by Almighty. In no part of the Qur'an does Allah command believers to "respond to violence with violence", but commands Muslims to "respond to evil with goodness". The question arises who are these belligerent perpetrators, who in the guise of Islam undertake these un-Islamic activities. This is for sure, that they are not Muslims. And the logics for this statement are: first; no Muslim would ever kill any other human being, as directed by Holy Quran in clear wordings as quoted above. Secondly; no Muslim would ever attack other Muslims once they are offering prayers in the mosques, Eid gatherings or during any other religious congregation and during national ceremonies. Thirdly; in the areas of their sway, they brutally treat locals, men and women, which is an act against Islam. Even as per the directive of Islam, security and protection of the non-Muslims in an Islamic state is the responsibility of that state administration. Fourthly; they have been and are still razing all the educational institutions, especially of women; a practice in complete violation of Islamic teachings. As the Holy Prophet (PBUH) said; "seeking the knowledge is must for every Muslim man and woman. Fifthly; all their activities are directed against a state whose bases are on Islamic ideology. It is an Islamic state, whose constitution has nothing un-Islamic. For the bulk of Pakistani masses, until the beginning of 2009, there have been a lot of misperceptions about the true motives and ideology of the Taliban. Ill-informed masses, goaded with the spirit of Islam, perhaps thought that Taliban are fighting for the cause of Islam. But actually it was a misconception among the innocent masses of Pakistan. Thanks to media, the security forces, and the intellectuals who over the period of time unmasked their true faces, which has nothing else but anti Pakistan campaign, being played on behest of anti Pakistan forces and states. These states and forces pay huge sums of the uninterrupted financial support to the militants and also provide them with the latest weaponry and equipment. All that they intend is to internally knock Pakistan off balance and attrite its security forces through so-called religious and sectarian moves or through promotion of various sub-nationalistic sentiments all over the country, while maintaining the pressure at the international level. With all these intents of militants and anti-Pakistan forces in mind, what should be the response at the national level? Over the past few months, there is a great change in the perception of masses, which previously were under the grip of the Taliban ideology. The nation indeed has understood the true motives of these fissiparous forces desirous of disintegrating Pakistan, an objective of all those having historical enmity with Pakistan. There is an immediate need to mobilize the masses for ensuring steps like: one; creation of national integration among the rank and file of Pakistan under the auspices of the basic ideology, which provided the very basis of its creation. Two; a dedicated media campaign is needed to give true picture of the activities of the militants with documentary proofs. This would clarify the doubts of masses, if still persisting in their minds about the Taliban and their ideology. Three; an awareness should be created among the masses through elected representatives and government officials as well as through media to, "look for intruders; both locals, having militant's ideology and outsiders, who had entered or trying to enter the society" down to village or Mohallah level. This should be reinforced and reacted by instantaneous response as per the law, by the masses or at the level of local administration to get their area clear of the miscreants. Four; People especially the youth of the militancy-hit areas should be provided with employment opportunities on emergency basis. This would save them from drifting into the hands of the militants. As a corollary to that all religious Madarass be kept under strict vigilance for securing the youth studying there from falling into militants hands. Five; in all insurgency hit areas, there is a need to make available a potent quick reaction group of security forces for a rapid response against any likely militancy. Seven; considerably there is a need for an effective intelligence setup in the militancy hit areas and all around the infiltration routes. This dedicated intelligence setup should provide timely information to deal with the militants before they could be effective in the areas or grip the society with their ideology. The military operations in Malakand, Swat, Waziristan and elsewhere in the tribal region have created serious dents among the rank and file of the militants by bursting their bases and strongholds. There is growing demoralization and distrust in various groups of the militants. Taliban leaders are making serious efforts to motivate their hired people for continuation of their brutal mission of killing the innocent people of Pakistan, but facing difficulties in doing so. In a number of cases, the terrorists are voluntarily handing themselves over to the security forces. The time is ripe and the ongoing military operations against the wrongdoers must continue without any compromise until the militants are completely purged away. As in the past, the political leadership must not go for any compromise or agreement with Taliban, even if compelled by their coalition partners. Let there be an end to these anti-Pakistan forces once and for all. Furthermore, these operations must have whole hearted support of the people of Pakistan, without whom, there cannot be a success. For the purpose, people must be mobilized to stand against the Taliban ideology. After all the persons of security forces are sacrificing their lives for the comfort of the masses and Military Operations alone would not be enough to defeat the militant's ideology. In order to do away with the militancy of Taliban, a dedicated follow up is required at the joint level of; masses, media, government functionaries, elected representatives, intellectuals and Islamic philosophers to purify the minds of all those who have been infested with this anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan ideology.
Dr. Raja Muhammad Khan
Email: drmk_edu@yahoo.com
Taliban get hold of three categories of the people. The first group comprises children from 8 to 12 years. Being soft targets and easy to be motivated, Taliban initially brain wash them and then use them for their nefarious designs like suicide attacks, bombing and for fighting against security forces. In term of finances, they spend very less on them and can easily get them either from Madrassas , in the attire of Islamic teaching or failure to these, through abduction or forceful snatching from their helpless parents in their areas of influence. Another group is of the youth over 1 years of age bracket, mostly who have neither resources enough to continue their studies nor could get any employment. And the third group is of the grown up people having over 25 years of age. They are either religiously motivated or being jobless, thus lured in by the Taliban. These two groups are offered good pay packages by the Taliban and in return are used the way desired by them (Taliban). Either under the erroneous motivation in the garb of religion or else because of the financial benefits, they are used for terrorism of all sort by the Taliban. With the passage of time the thought process of these militants become so harder that they cannot be reverted back to their normal lives and even if they desire, would be eliminated by the Taliban. They adopt tone and texture as per their trainers with the determination to achieve the objective desired by Taliban, following their ideology. They are being taught that, Taliban are the true Muslims and very soon there would a Taliban government in Pakistan and elsewhere in other Muslim countries. The bottom line of the Taliban ideology is that; every act of the Government of Pakistan, starting from its constitution, judicial system institutions, Armed Forces and other organisations are un-Islamic and whatever Taliban are doing is the true Islam. With this theme, they publicize their ideology through repeated brain washing of the youth. In 99 % cases the implementers (suicide bombers and other militant fighters) do not even know the real clout at their back and that what they really yearning for while using them for various terrorist activities. These brain-washed people blindly follow their gurus' whose teachings are absolutely contrary to the philosophy of Islam. As far as teaching of Islam is concerned, it is a religion of peace and love for human beings. Indeed this great religion teaches harmony and forbearance and orders its believers for a compassion and justice; thus "Islam and terrorism cannot stand side by side". Islam forbids terrorism and aims to bring peace and security to the world. Not only Islam, but as a matter of fact, no divine religion permits terrorism and violence if interpreted in its essence. The Holy Quran says: "If someone kills another person - unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth - it is as if he had killed all mankind". Thus, the teaching of Islam is that, 'a person who kills even a single man indeed commits a crime as if he had murdered all mankind on earth and such people will have a painful punishment' by Almighty. In no part of the Qur'an does Allah command believers to "respond to violence with violence", but commands Muslims to "respond to evil with goodness". The question arises who are these belligerent perpetrators, who in the guise of Islam undertake these un-Islamic activities. This is for sure, that they are not Muslims. And the logics for this statement are: first; no Muslim would ever kill any other human being, as directed by Holy Quran in clear wordings as quoted above. Secondly; no Muslim would ever attack other Muslims once they are offering prayers in the mosques, Eid gatherings or during any other religious congregation and during national ceremonies. Thirdly; in the areas of their sway, they brutally treat locals, men and women, which is an act against Islam. Even as per the directive of Islam, security and protection of the non-Muslims in an Islamic state is the responsibility of that state administration. Fourthly; they have been and are still razing all the educational institutions, especially of women; a practice in complete violation of Islamic teachings. As the Holy Prophet (PBUH) said; "seeking the knowledge is must for every Muslim man and woman. Fifthly; all their activities are directed against a state whose bases are on Islamic ideology. It is an Islamic state, whose constitution has nothing un-Islamic. For the bulk of Pakistani masses, until the beginning of 2009, there have been a lot of misperceptions about the true motives and ideology of the Taliban. Ill-informed masses, goaded with the spirit of Islam, perhaps thought that Taliban are fighting for the cause of Islam. But actually it was a misconception among the innocent masses of Pakistan. Thanks to media, the security forces, and the intellectuals who over the period of time unmasked their true faces, which has nothing else but anti Pakistan campaign, being played on behest of anti Pakistan forces and states. These states and forces pay huge sums of the uninterrupted financial support to the militants and also provide them with the latest weaponry and equipment. All that they intend is to internally knock Pakistan off balance and attrite its security forces through so-called religious and sectarian moves or through promotion of various sub-nationalistic sentiments all over the country, while maintaining the pressure at the international level. With all these intents of militants and anti-Pakistan forces in mind, what should be the response at the national level? Over the past few months, there is a great change in the perception of masses, which previously were under the grip of the Taliban ideology. The nation indeed has understood the true motives of these fissiparous forces desirous of disintegrating Pakistan, an objective of all those having historical enmity with Pakistan. There is an immediate need to mobilize the masses for ensuring steps like: one; creation of national integration among the rank and file of Pakistan under the auspices of the basic ideology, which provided the very basis of its creation. Two; a dedicated media campaign is needed to give true picture of the activities of the militants with documentary proofs. This would clarify the doubts of masses, if still persisting in their minds about the Taliban and their ideology. Three; an awareness should be created among the masses through elected representatives and government officials as well as through media to, "look for intruders; both locals, having militant's ideology and outsiders, who had entered or trying to enter the society" down to village or Mohallah level. This should be reinforced and reacted by instantaneous response as per the law, by the masses or at the level of local administration to get their area clear of the miscreants. Four; People especially the youth of the militancy-hit areas should be provided with employment opportunities on emergency basis. This would save them from drifting into the hands of the militants. As a corollary to that all religious Madarass be kept under strict vigilance for securing the youth studying there from falling into militants hands. Five; in all insurgency hit areas, there is a need to make available a potent quick reaction group of security forces for a rapid response against any likely militancy. Seven; considerably there is a need for an effective intelligence setup in the militancy hit areas and all around the infiltration routes. This dedicated intelligence setup should provide timely information to deal with the militants before they could be effective in the areas or grip the society with their ideology. The military operations in Malakand, Swat, Waziristan and elsewhere in the tribal region have created serious dents among the rank and file of the militants by bursting their bases and strongholds. There is growing demoralization and distrust in various groups of the militants. Taliban leaders are making serious efforts to motivate their hired people for continuation of their brutal mission of killing the innocent people of Pakistan, but facing difficulties in doing so. In a number of cases, the terrorists are voluntarily handing themselves over to the security forces. The time is ripe and the ongoing military operations against the wrongdoers must continue without any compromise until the militants are completely purged away. As in the past, the political leadership must not go for any compromise or agreement with Taliban, even if compelled by their coalition partners. Let there be an end to these anti-Pakistan forces once and for all. Furthermore, these operations must have whole hearted support of the people of Pakistan, without whom, there cannot be a success. For the purpose, people must be mobilized to stand against the Taliban ideology. After all the persons of security forces are sacrificing their lives for the comfort of the masses and Military Operations alone would not be enough to defeat the militant's ideology. In order to do away with the militancy of Taliban, a dedicated follow up is required at the joint level of; masses, media, government functionaries, elected representatives, intellectuals and Islamic philosophers to purify the minds of all those who have been infested with this anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan ideology.
Dr. Raja Muhammad Khan
Email: drmk_edu@yahoo.com
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