Ishrat Jahan was an LeT fidayeen: Headley
By Vishwa Mohan & Dhananjay Mahapatra
Headley's statement that Ishrat was recruited to be a fidayeen undercuts Lashkar's attempt to disown her, though it may not settle doubts about the genuineness of the encounter in which she was killed.
NEW DELHI: Pakistani American terrorist David Headley has said that Ishrat Jahan, the Mumbai girl who was killed along with three alleged terrorists in 2004 in a police encounter, was indeed a Lashkar-e-Taiba fidayeen.
Sources said Headley told interrogators from the National Investigation Agency that Ishrat, a resident of Mumbra in Thane, was recruited by top Lashkar commander Muzammil who was in-charge of LeT's operations in India till 2007.
The statement, while confirming that Headley is a trove of information on Lashkar's plans against India, corroborates the version of Gujarat police as well as the Centre in what has turned into a controversial case because of doubts about the veracity of the police version.
Importantly, Headley's statement tallies with claim of Gujarat cops and the Centre that Muzammil had sent Ishrat and her accomplices to Gujarat on a terror mission as part of Lashkar's plan to attack the Indian hinterland and target VIPs.
Headley's visits to India for reconaissance missions for Lashkar started in 2006, sources said, when Muzammil was Lashkar's chief commander in India.
Lashkar had owned up Ishrat immediately after the encounter, with its Lahore-based mouthpiece ‘Ghazwa Times’ describing her as an LeT activist and taking umbrage at the action of Indian cops in removing her veil. In 2007, however, Lashkar, in its fresh incarnation as Jamaat-ud-Dawa, disowned her, by issuing an apology to Ishrat's family for calling her an LeT cadre.
The timing of the apology was significant. It came just before Gopinath Pillai, father of Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai who was killed along with Ishrat, filed a petition in the Supreme Court, demanding a CBI probe into the encounter.
Headley's statement that Ishrat was recruited to be a fidayeen undercuts Lashkar's attempt to disown her, though it may not settle doubts about the genuineness of the encounter in which she was killed.
Ishrat and Javed were killed along with two Pakistani nationals-Amjad Ali and Jishan Johar Abdul Ghani-both alleged LeT terrorists, on June 15, 2004. According to the police version, they were intercepted on the outskirts of Ahmedabad when they were about to enter the city in a blue INDICA on a mission to eliminate chief minister Narendra Modi.
In her petition to the Gujarat High Court, Ishrat's mother Shamima Kausar had disputed the version of the Gujarat police as well as the Centre, claiming that her daughter was a saleswoman working for Javed Sheikh who dealt in perfumes. Javed's father told the SC that his son was innocent and sought a central probe.
Both Gujarat police and Centre pointed to infirmities in their version. Centre told Gujarat HC that Javed had been recruited by LeT when he was in Dubai. Gopinath Pillai had not disclosed criminal cases pending against his son, or the fact that he had obtained a different passport using his original name even though the one issued to him was still valid.
The Centre also disputed the claim of Gopinath Pillai, supported by Ishrat's mother, that he was in the business of perfumes and that this required him and Ishrat to travel across the country.
The Gujarat HC had set deadline for all parties concerned to submit their replies to the petitions from the parents of Ishrat and Javed, seeking a CBI probe into the alleged encounter.
Headley's account underlines his importance as a repository of crucial information on Lashkar and its plans on India. His statement to the NIA team that LeT founder Hafiz Saeed was engaged with the 26/11 attackers all through the plot has reinforced India's demand that Pakistan take action against the Lashkar chief. Sources described the information given by the Pakistani American terrorist as "vital inputs". (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
Monday, July 19, 2010
Patanjali in Pakistan
Sanskrit and Indian ethos
Patanjali in Pakistan
By KS Iyer
Inspite of the fact that foreign marauders have been systematically resorting to murder, rape, loot, arson, forced conversions and destruction of values cherished and nourished by the native Indians, the Indian ethos survived the onslaughts of barbarians with a remarkable tenacity.
FEW years ago, Pakistan celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of Panini, the great Sanskrit grammarian. At that time, the Islamic state of Pakistan boasted that they were the ones to gift the world, the science of grammar as well as Rig Veda, the earliest literature produced by man! Thus, they have tacitly owned a common culture and a common heritage with the rest of Hindustan. On this score, neither Pakistan nor any of their protégés be apologetic or ashamed of historical truths. No wonder, history repeats itself in articulating its aspirations from time to time. It is clear, that Sanskrit is the soul of Indian culture and, indeed this soul is indestructible!
Inspite of the fact that foreign marauders have been systematically resorting to murder, rape, loot, arson, forced conversions and destruction of values cherished and nourished by the native Indians, the Indian ethos survived the onslaughts of barbarians with a remarkable tenacity. When the British arrived in India as traders, India was a country where gold was flowing into the Indian coffers! While the British were amazed at the opulence of Indians, this wonder expressed itself in their textbooks as a nursery rhyme which in later years was incorporated in the Indian textbooks. The nursery rhyme reads as under:
Sindbad, Sindbad!
Where are you going?
I am off to Hindustan!
What have you got?
I have a pot of honey
And a pot of gold!
If the India of yesteryears was a rich and prosperous country, it was because of the then prevailing system of education that provided not merely the skill required for the various trades but also the required high moral and spiritual values that contributed to cohesion and harmony in society. It is needless to point out here that the native pattern of education through Sanskrit in Patashalas was mainly responsible for such a stable society, nurtured by self esteem and native culture of the native Indians.
The cohesion and harmony in Indian society that contributed to its stability, despite its perplexing diversities and made possible because of its spiritual and cultural ethos was sought to be destroyed by Lord Thomas Bobbington Macaulay (during the period 1800 AD-1859 AD) by fostering the English system of education to Indians in general, and particularly to Brahmins who were considered the root of Hindu society and win them over to Christian faith! In this regard, it is worth quoting Navarathna S Rajaram, as under:
"In effect his (Lord Macaulay’s) plan was to turn the strength of the Brahmins against them, by using their commitment to scholarship in uprooting their own tradition." Though this British conspiracy has produced the desired effect to a certain extent, it is our fortune that the Indian ethos continues to assert itself in defeating the nefarious designs of anti-national elements. As a sequel to the efforts of such defenders and protectors of Indian ethos, Sanskrit, the backbone of our spiritual and cultural heritage, is emerging once again as the language of day to day transactions.
The story of how we are coming out of the rut caused to Sanskrit, due to the efforts of Sanskrit Bharati, and their dedicated workers endowed with a vision and mission in their life, may serve as an eye opener to many who are still under the spell of English education.
Patanjali in Pakistan
By KS Iyer
Inspite of the fact that foreign marauders have been systematically resorting to murder, rape, loot, arson, forced conversions and destruction of values cherished and nourished by the native Indians, the Indian ethos survived the onslaughts of barbarians with a remarkable tenacity.
FEW years ago, Pakistan celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of Panini, the great Sanskrit grammarian. At that time, the Islamic state of Pakistan boasted that they were the ones to gift the world, the science of grammar as well as Rig Veda, the earliest literature produced by man! Thus, they have tacitly owned a common culture and a common heritage with the rest of Hindustan. On this score, neither Pakistan nor any of their protégés be apologetic or ashamed of historical truths. No wonder, history repeats itself in articulating its aspirations from time to time. It is clear, that Sanskrit is the soul of Indian culture and, indeed this soul is indestructible!
Inspite of the fact that foreign marauders have been systematically resorting to murder, rape, loot, arson, forced conversions and destruction of values cherished and nourished by the native Indians, the Indian ethos survived the onslaughts of barbarians with a remarkable tenacity. When the British arrived in India as traders, India was a country where gold was flowing into the Indian coffers! While the British were amazed at the opulence of Indians, this wonder expressed itself in their textbooks as a nursery rhyme which in later years was incorporated in the Indian textbooks. The nursery rhyme reads as under:
Sindbad, Sindbad!
Where are you going?
I am off to Hindustan!
What have you got?
I have a pot of honey
And a pot of gold!
If the India of yesteryears was a rich and prosperous country, it was because of the then prevailing system of education that provided not merely the skill required for the various trades but also the required high moral and spiritual values that contributed to cohesion and harmony in society. It is needless to point out here that the native pattern of education through Sanskrit in Patashalas was mainly responsible for such a stable society, nurtured by self esteem and native culture of the native Indians.
The cohesion and harmony in Indian society that contributed to its stability, despite its perplexing diversities and made possible because of its spiritual and cultural ethos was sought to be destroyed by Lord Thomas Bobbington Macaulay (during the period 1800 AD-1859 AD) by fostering the English system of education to Indians in general, and particularly to Brahmins who were considered the root of Hindu society and win them over to Christian faith! In this regard, it is worth quoting Navarathna S Rajaram, as under:
"In effect his (Lord Macaulay’s) plan was to turn the strength of the Brahmins against them, by using their commitment to scholarship in uprooting their own tradition." Though this British conspiracy has produced the desired effect to a certain extent, it is our fortune that the Indian ethos continues to assert itself in defeating the nefarious designs of anti-national elements. As a sequel to the efforts of such defenders and protectors of Indian ethos, Sanskrit, the backbone of our spiritual and cultural heritage, is emerging once again as the language of day to day transactions.
The story of how we are coming out of the rut caused to Sanskrit, due to the efforts of Sanskrit Bharati, and their dedicated workers endowed with a vision and mission in their life, may serve as an eye opener to many who are still under the spell of English education.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
New Face of Terror
Six ‘P’s: New Face of Terror
By Dr Pravin Togadia
Those who weep about fake encounters all the time did not utter a single word on that actual encounter by jehadis of a young Colonel - again - away from his home doing his utmost duty. Many Neerajs died this way there so far! The horror does not stop here! After attacking many CRPF and police men the same brutal way, the terror-mobs in Kashmir have the audacity to cry foul projecting CRPF as the killers of a nine-year old boy!
THE nation was shocked recently to watch in horror the way a CRPF jawan was lynched in Sopore Kashmir. Armed yet helpless, the young CRPF jawan’s photo made front page news in many newspapers - except a few so-called pseudo-secular TV channels, most channels too showed his ordeal. Those who keep shouting about human rights, kept conspicuously mum. My heart went out to that CRPF jawan’s family, who must have watched their near and dear young boy being thrashed by jehadis. He was so away from home doing his utmost duty for the nation and for no fault of his he was lynched! In the same Kashmir few days back Col Neeraj Sood was killed by jehadis in an encounter. Those who weep about fake encounters all the time did not utter a single word on that actual encounter by jehadis of a young Colonel - again - away from his home doing his utmost duty. Many Neerajs died this way there so far! The horror does not stop here! After attacking many CRPF and police men the same brutal way, the terror-mobs in Kashmir have audacity to cry foul projecting CRPF as the killers of a nine-year old boy! It is worldwide known as ‘Palestine Pattern’ where children are used as weapons and for pelting stones. Their own MP categorically said that those little boys are trained in stone-pelting, they remained absent from schools on Fridays and Saturdays when there are protests (!) and that those boys were paid Rs 200 per day for stone-pelting. Our erudite Home Minister’s office - Home Secretary-too confirmed this. And here is the hitch. Knowing fully well what is happening by whom, how and the danger of such protest jehad, if the consecutive governments have been turning blind eye to it, then in simple legal terms even the governments become a party to the horror that CRPF man went through. It has become a practice in Kashmir to blame army, police and CRPF, implicate them in false cases-the nation has not yet forgotten Shopiyan false allegations of rape and murder- and term them as human rights violators. This is Protest Jehad and from Kashmir to Assam, UP, Bihar, Maharashtra and so to say in entire Bharat, it is being used against our army, police and CRPF effectively because the governments crawl for votes. Protests like these is the 1st ‘P’ of the new face of terror. Not only in Bharat, but they follow the same pattern in Palestine - Gaza border to terrorise Israel and also from Netherlands to UK. Everywhere they hold violent protests keeping women and their umpteen number of children in the front row to show to the world that all others are the tyrants and they (poor they!) are victims!
The second ‘P’ of new jehadi terror these days is Property. How? Very systematically, the so-called minority groups (for common people the word for them is Muslim) have been grabbing large lands and old buildings in Bharat in almost all states. It has a peculiar pattern. Generally a dilapidated building or an old temple with some land around is located. Paying much higher than the market rate, it is purchased by some simple looking Muslim family. Then they start terrorising people around in that area so that other residents automatically run away either selling their properties there at a very low rate or mostly just abandon it. During my visit to Kashi recently I came across many such cases and despite Supreme Court judgements in some cases (like in the famous Teelbhandeshwar Shani temple area case, Mukteshwar case near Kashi Vishwanath temple, Laat Bhairav area case etc) they simply stay put there demanding that they even do their prayers on the road blocking aartis.
In Karimganj or in Naugao Assam they have literally blocked the entry doors of many houses and built their houses using existing houses so that the earlier Hindu residents there can’t even get out. If they have to survive, then they have to beg and run away from there. When the same people chased away Kashmiri pundits and Sikhs-killing many before that-the nation was similarly shocked and governments inactive, but even now it has been happening and now is wide-spread all over Bharat. There is no state where such Property Jehad is not taking place. At almost every village and town entry and exit all over Bharat, there is a spanking new mosque as if it has been their birth right! There are no rules for them. For votes every illegal occupation (including that of infiltrating Bangladeshis!) and every snatched property are being regularised. This is Property Jehad.
The 3rd is Pollution Jehad. Especially in Punjab Faridkot, Bhatinda, Muktsar, Jalalabad and Fajilka areas, River Sutluj is totally contaminated by killingly toxic effluent dumped in the river by Pakistan’s tanneries. Children in these areas have become spastic, blind and unable to live a normal life. This is not today; this has been happening for the past 12 years! Again, knowing fully well, governments ignored this dangerous erosion of the living human beings. Without any obvious weapon or war, Pakistan has destroyed almost two generations of young budding lives in that huge area on the banks of Sutluj. No cattle survives, no land can grow crops, no child can lead a normal life - so is the damage caused by Pakistan’s toxic waste purposely dumped. Anywhere one goes where Pakistan’s ‘brothers’ have factories and industries like in Kanpur, Aurangabad, Kerala and Maharashtra coast... all over this Pollution Jehad is going on.
The 4th is Petrol Jehad. We all know that most nations source petroleum from Middle East. After 9/11 when America attacked Afghanistan and later Iraq, very systematically these Petro-nations started playing mischief about petro-production and pricing. America to Europe-petro-products prices played havoc and most economies almost collapsed. Bharat was steady for some time but then these petro-nations used their petro-dollars to crash Bharat’s stock market and the same time the global slump too worsened due to further hike in petro-prices. Some other countries might have been able to slowly stand up after initial stumbling, but our great government has not been able to put its act together on petro-pricing. Suddenly some sitting in the government have also seen a carrot of private funding for the up coming big elections in north. So they have started warming up for opening petro-market and de-controlling the prices of petro-products. For this, they give America’s example where there is open market. But our brilliant finance man PM does not realise that American food prices usually do not go up drastically as in Bharat when gas price there goes up. Inflation there has been steady despite petrol prices. In Bharat, petrol prices were up due to $ 110 a barrel from $ 80 and food prices shot up. But when these prices came down to $ 65 a barrel, our brilliant finance man PM never sat up to reduce the increased food prices and now this government is speaking of open markets! This is playing in the hands of petro-jehadis. Some local industrialists may benefit shortly due to this but then soon the Middle Eastern petro-jehadis would grab their businesses.
Two more dangerous new ‘P’s have emerged as the new faces of Jehad these days. So in the line of the above four, the 5th and one of the most dangerous ones is Politics Jehad. We don’t have to re-learn the pattern of Islamic invasions globally from Mecca to Persia and from Sayam to Kazakhstan and in Bharat.
The second phase in the modern world of this invasion is Politics Jehad manipulating democracy. In Bharat Politics Jehad had been there much before partition. But from 1947, it took a shape of a methodical activity. First, they become a part of a leading and a local political party. For a bunch of Muslim votes, that party has to depend on these people and we know such examples in each state and in each party. Ideology of that pary has nothing to do with them and for votes even the party keeps on pampering them. They grow in that party in ranks and in numbers. Then they start ruling the roost and for a large area they become the sole representatives because using the power they manage all earlier four jehads-Protests, Property, Pollution and Petrol. Politics in those areas (e.g. Assam, Kashmir, North 24 Pargana Bengal, Marad in Keral, most of Andhra, Bhatkal in Karnataka... we all know many such examples) mostly is manipulated by them and now they have started claiming that they are not the minority in this country but are the second largest majority. I have not even mentioned Population jehad because it is now known and clichéd. Some thinkers in almost all political parties think that if they appease these few then they would get the Muslim votes through their representatives who are being pampered or at least at the time when they would give a final call for jehad, at least the appeasers would be spared for helping them earlier. They forget that they are expecting gratitude from those who are taught not to spare even their fathers if they are ‘not like them’. This politics jehad is the most dangerous at this stage because as a corollary to being nice with these politics-jehadis and their voters, most political parties are becoming anti Hindu, anti Sikh, anti Jain, Anti Bauddh, anti tribals (who are not forcibly converted!) without realising that by doing this, one day Bharat would seize to exist as a sovereign nation as it would be forcibly made into an Islamic nation as they did in Indonesia and Malaysia using Politics Jehad!
The 6th is PR Jehad (Public Relations). Realising that after 9/11 the entire world perceives Islam as a potential threat, they have started a systematic professional Image Building for themselves saying that they are not anti-world, but only a few extremists are. Pakistan types go a step ahead and even after instigating and sponsoring Jehad against Bharat, claim that even they are victims of terror! So worldwide there are websites, network groups, media people on many TV channels (their number in media has increased over past five years so that they run only pro-Muslim and anti-Hindu -in other countries - anti Christian or anti-Bauddha- stories!) and conferences to project the peace loving (?) image of Islam. It gets exposed in places like Kashmir, Gaza, UK, US, France and so on but they keep on doing PR using leading media and money in each country-like ‘Aman ki Aasha’ type campaigns. Their PR has so affected adolescent white American youths that some like Brian (or many more) have even become suicide bombers against their own nation US! Intelligence agencies globally have warned about all this seriously.
But our political parties and governments are yet to acknowledge the danger. They are enjoying Hindu bashing and making all possible laws against Hindus so that more and more Hindus can be put in jail. They are busy planting stories in media against Hindus so that judiciaries may get influenced sometime. But they themselves are now sitting on a total jehad volcano. Kashmir is just a small glimpse of things to come where there is a clear war - jehad-against Bharat, Bharat’s army and Bharat’s people!
By Dr Pravin Togadia
Those who weep about fake encounters all the time did not utter a single word on that actual encounter by jehadis of a young Colonel - again - away from his home doing his utmost duty. Many Neerajs died this way there so far! The horror does not stop here! After attacking many CRPF and police men the same brutal way, the terror-mobs in Kashmir have the audacity to cry foul projecting CRPF as the killers of a nine-year old boy!
THE nation was shocked recently to watch in horror the way a CRPF jawan was lynched in Sopore Kashmir. Armed yet helpless, the young CRPF jawan’s photo made front page news in many newspapers - except a few so-called pseudo-secular TV channels, most channels too showed his ordeal. Those who keep shouting about human rights, kept conspicuously mum. My heart went out to that CRPF jawan’s family, who must have watched their near and dear young boy being thrashed by jehadis. He was so away from home doing his utmost duty for the nation and for no fault of his he was lynched! In the same Kashmir few days back Col Neeraj Sood was killed by jehadis in an encounter. Those who weep about fake encounters all the time did not utter a single word on that actual encounter by jehadis of a young Colonel - again - away from his home doing his utmost duty. Many Neerajs died this way there so far! The horror does not stop here! After attacking many CRPF and police men the same brutal way, the terror-mobs in Kashmir have audacity to cry foul projecting CRPF as the killers of a nine-year old boy! It is worldwide known as ‘Palestine Pattern’ where children are used as weapons and for pelting stones. Their own MP categorically said that those little boys are trained in stone-pelting, they remained absent from schools on Fridays and Saturdays when there are protests (!) and that those boys were paid Rs 200 per day for stone-pelting. Our erudite Home Minister’s office - Home Secretary-too confirmed this. And here is the hitch. Knowing fully well what is happening by whom, how and the danger of such protest jehad, if the consecutive governments have been turning blind eye to it, then in simple legal terms even the governments become a party to the horror that CRPF man went through. It has become a practice in Kashmir to blame army, police and CRPF, implicate them in false cases-the nation has not yet forgotten Shopiyan false allegations of rape and murder- and term them as human rights violators. This is Protest Jehad and from Kashmir to Assam, UP, Bihar, Maharashtra and so to say in entire Bharat, it is being used against our army, police and CRPF effectively because the governments crawl for votes. Protests like these is the 1st ‘P’ of the new face of terror. Not only in Bharat, but they follow the same pattern in Palestine - Gaza border to terrorise Israel and also from Netherlands to UK. Everywhere they hold violent protests keeping women and their umpteen number of children in the front row to show to the world that all others are the tyrants and they (poor they!) are victims!
The second ‘P’ of new jehadi terror these days is Property. How? Very systematically, the so-called minority groups (for common people the word for them is Muslim) have been grabbing large lands and old buildings in Bharat in almost all states. It has a peculiar pattern. Generally a dilapidated building or an old temple with some land around is located. Paying much higher than the market rate, it is purchased by some simple looking Muslim family. Then they start terrorising people around in that area so that other residents automatically run away either selling their properties there at a very low rate or mostly just abandon it. During my visit to Kashi recently I came across many such cases and despite Supreme Court judgements in some cases (like in the famous Teelbhandeshwar Shani temple area case, Mukteshwar case near Kashi Vishwanath temple, Laat Bhairav area case etc) they simply stay put there demanding that they even do their prayers on the road blocking aartis.
In Karimganj or in Naugao Assam they have literally blocked the entry doors of many houses and built their houses using existing houses so that the earlier Hindu residents there can’t even get out. If they have to survive, then they have to beg and run away from there. When the same people chased away Kashmiri pundits and Sikhs-killing many before that-the nation was similarly shocked and governments inactive, but even now it has been happening and now is wide-spread all over Bharat. There is no state where such Property Jehad is not taking place. At almost every village and town entry and exit all over Bharat, there is a spanking new mosque as if it has been their birth right! There are no rules for them. For votes every illegal occupation (including that of infiltrating Bangladeshis!) and every snatched property are being regularised. This is Property Jehad.
The 3rd is Pollution Jehad. Especially in Punjab Faridkot, Bhatinda, Muktsar, Jalalabad and Fajilka areas, River Sutluj is totally contaminated by killingly toxic effluent dumped in the river by Pakistan’s tanneries. Children in these areas have become spastic, blind and unable to live a normal life. This is not today; this has been happening for the past 12 years! Again, knowing fully well, governments ignored this dangerous erosion of the living human beings. Without any obvious weapon or war, Pakistan has destroyed almost two generations of young budding lives in that huge area on the banks of Sutluj. No cattle survives, no land can grow crops, no child can lead a normal life - so is the damage caused by Pakistan’s toxic waste purposely dumped. Anywhere one goes where Pakistan’s ‘brothers’ have factories and industries like in Kanpur, Aurangabad, Kerala and Maharashtra coast... all over this Pollution Jehad is going on.
The 4th is Petrol Jehad. We all know that most nations source petroleum from Middle East. After 9/11 when America attacked Afghanistan and later Iraq, very systematically these Petro-nations started playing mischief about petro-production and pricing. America to Europe-petro-products prices played havoc and most economies almost collapsed. Bharat was steady for some time but then these petro-nations used their petro-dollars to crash Bharat’s stock market and the same time the global slump too worsened due to further hike in petro-prices. Some other countries might have been able to slowly stand up after initial stumbling, but our great government has not been able to put its act together on petro-pricing. Suddenly some sitting in the government have also seen a carrot of private funding for the up coming big elections in north. So they have started warming up for opening petro-market and de-controlling the prices of petro-products. For this, they give America’s example where there is open market. But our brilliant finance man PM does not realise that American food prices usually do not go up drastically as in Bharat when gas price there goes up. Inflation there has been steady despite petrol prices. In Bharat, petrol prices were up due to $ 110 a barrel from $ 80 and food prices shot up. But when these prices came down to $ 65 a barrel, our brilliant finance man PM never sat up to reduce the increased food prices and now this government is speaking of open markets! This is playing in the hands of petro-jehadis. Some local industrialists may benefit shortly due to this but then soon the Middle Eastern petro-jehadis would grab their businesses.
Two more dangerous new ‘P’s have emerged as the new faces of Jehad these days. So in the line of the above four, the 5th and one of the most dangerous ones is Politics Jehad. We don’t have to re-learn the pattern of Islamic invasions globally from Mecca to Persia and from Sayam to Kazakhstan and in Bharat.
The second phase in the modern world of this invasion is Politics Jehad manipulating democracy. In Bharat Politics Jehad had been there much before partition. But from 1947, it took a shape of a methodical activity. First, they become a part of a leading and a local political party. For a bunch of Muslim votes, that party has to depend on these people and we know such examples in each state and in each party. Ideology of that pary has nothing to do with them and for votes even the party keeps on pampering them. They grow in that party in ranks and in numbers. Then they start ruling the roost and for a large area they become the sole representatives because using the power they manage all earlier four jehads-Protests, Property, Pollution and Petrol. Politics in those areas (e.g. Assam, Kashmir, North 24 Pargana Bengal, Marad in Keral, most of Andhra, Bhatkal in Karnataka... we all know many such examples) mostly is manipulated by them and now they have started claiming that they are not the minority in this country but are the second largest majority. I have not even mentioned Population jehad because it is now known and clichéd. Some thinkers in almost all political parties think that if they appease these few then they would get the Muslim votes through their representatives who are being pampered or at least at the time when they would give a final call for jehad, at least the appeasers would be spared for helping them earlier. They forget that they are expecting gratitude from those who are taught not to spare even their fathers if they are ‘not like them’. This politics jehad is the most dangerous at this stage because as a corollary to being nice with these politics-jehadis and their voters, most political parties are becoming anti Hindu, anti Sikh, anti Jain, Anti Bauddh, anti tribals (who are not forcibly converted!) without realising that by doing this, one day Bharat would seize to exist as a sovereign nation as it would be forcibly made into an Islamic nation as they did in Indonesia and Malaysia using Politics Jehad!
The 6th is PR Jehad (Public Relations). Realising that after 9/11 the entire world perceives Islam as a potential threat, they have started a systematic professional Image Building for themselves saying that they are not anti-world, but only a few extremists are. Pakistan types go a step ahead and even after instigating and sponsoring Jehad against Bharat, claim that even they are victims of terror! So worldwide there are websites, network groups, media people on many TV channels (their number in media has increased over past five years so that they run only pro-Muslim and anti-Hindu -in other countries - anti Christian or anti-Bauddha- stories!) and conferences to project the peace loving (?) image of Islam. It gets exposed in places like Kashmir, Gaza, UK, US, France and so on but they keep on doing PR using leading media and money in each country-like ‘Aman ki Aasha’ type campaigns. Their PR has so affected adolescent white American youths that some like Brian (or many more) have even become suicide bombers against their own nation US! Intelligence agencies globally have warned about all this seriously.
But our political parties and governments are yet to acknowledge the danger. They are enjoying Hindu bashing and making all possible laws against Hindus so that more and more Hindus can be put in jail. They are busy planting stories in media against Hindus so that judiciaries may get influenced sometime. But they themselves are now sitting on a total jehad volcano. Kashmir is just a small glimpse of things to come where there is a clear war - jehad-against Bharat, Bharat’s army and Bharat’s people!
World Tamil Conference
World Tamil Conference brings Sangam classic alive
By V Shanmuganathan
President, Pratibha Devi Singh Patil hailed Tamil which has the oldest literature among the living languages of the World. She said Tirukkural written by Thiruvalluvar was a remarkable treatise on ethics. Silapathikaram and Manimekalai were works of excellence as were the epics of Kamba Ramayanam and Jeevaka Chintamani.
FIRST world Classical Tamil Conference held in Coimbatore from June 23 to 27, 2010 in a grand manner. 3000 delegates from 50 countries presented their research papers about the uniqueness and antiquity of the Tamil language, culture, art and society. More than 2.4 lakhs people visited the venue on the concluding day. Exhibition hall, Tamil Internet IT Hall, Conference main pandal and food courts remained jam-packed.
There was a grand pageantry at World Tamil Meet. An eight-kilometer stretch of the pageant was titled as "Iniyavai Naarpathu" or "Sweet Forty". The three-hour procession of tableaux was part of the inauguration of the conference. The floats provided vivid images of the achievements of the Tamil people, right from literary excellence, to economic strength, love, friendship, devotion, valour, love for nature, unity, architecture, pioneering in the shipping trade, the bravery of the women, the sacrifice of revolutionary warriors, the contribution of farmers and an emphasis on environment protection were among the 40 themes presented by the floats. The aim is to highlight the greatness and special features of Tamil Language. In terms of sheer numbers of participants and papers, this meet exceeded the eight world Tamil conferences held between 1966 to 1995.
The World Classicism in literature refers to those elements of universality, harmony, art of antiquity, style or content such as reason, clarity, order, restrain, humanitarian outlook. The language Tamil has high antiquity of about 3000 years for its literature. Second, it has a body of ancient literature meeting the core attributes of classicism and is held as a valuable heritage bequeathed to humanity. Third, the literary tradition is original and not borrowed from another speech community. Forth, the classical language and literature being distinct and modern and it has its own glammer values. So there was a world wide consensus that Tamil possessed greater merits for declaring a language classical.
President, Pratibha Devi Singh Patil hailed Tamil which has the oldest literature among the living languages of the world. She said Tirukkural written by "Thiruvalluvar was a remarkable treatise on ethics. Silapathikaram and Manimekalai were works of excellence as were the epics of Kamba Ramayanam and Jeevaka Chintamani. The soul - stirring hymns of Nayanmars and Alvars.
The poems and songs of Subramanya Bharati evoked in the minds of the people "Deep feelings of patriotism during our freedom struggle". She emphasized a point that the history of the Tamils is our nation’s pride. Tamils have contributed in a big way to India’s progress and in shaping its identity as a nation that is rich in art, music, architecture and literature. The next generation of Tamils must anchor as well as ‘equip themselves with knowledge of Tamil culture, literature and values.
Iravatham Mahadevan, an IAS Officer (Retd), an Epigraphist, Tamil scholar says that "The legend that Sanskrit and Tamil emerged from the two sides of the damaru (drum) of Shiva says it all - the immemorial antiquity and the equal divine status accord in our tradition to the two languages recognised as classical.
M. Karunanidhi delivered the valedictory address of the five day conference. He said Rs. 100 crore fund would be established for Tamil Development. The CM said efforts would be taken for translating wellknown Tamil works into other languages. Significant works of other languages would also be translated into Tamil. Pranab Mukherjee who presided over the valedictory function expressed the hope that the conference would inspire many more accomplishments in future.
Fortunately DMK and its leaders have kept their atheism and anti-god feelings away from the conference hall. Real Tamil language is full of patriotism, national, culture and spiritual feelings.
By V Shanmuganathan
President, Pratibha Devi Singh Patil hailed Tamil which has the oldest literature among the living languages of the World. She said Tirukkural written by Thiruvalluvar was a remarkable treatise on ethics. Silapathikaram and Manimekalai were works of excellence as were the epics of Kamba Ramayanam and Jeevaka Chintamani.
FIRST world Classical Tamil Conference held in Coimbatore from June 23 to 27, 2010 in a grand manner. 3000 delegates from 50 countries presented their research papers about the uniqueness and antiquity of the Tamil language, culture, art and society. More than 2.4 lakhs people visited the venue on the concluding day. Exhibition hall, Tamil Internet IT Hall, Conference main pandal and food courts remained jam-packed.
There was a grand pageantry at World Tamil Meet. An eight-kilometer stretch of the pageant was titled as "Iniyavai Naarpathu" or "Sweet Forty". The three-hour procession of tableaux was part of the inauguration of the conference. The floats provided vivid images of the achievements of the Tamil people, right from literary excellence, to economic strength, love, friendship, devotion, valour, love for nature, unity, architecture, pioneering in the shipping trade, the bravery of the women, the sacrifice of revolutionary warriors, the contribution of farmers and an emphasis on environment protection were among the 40 themes presented by the floats. The aim is to highlight the greatness and special features of Tamil Language. In terms of sheer numbers of participants and papers, this meet exceeded the eight world Tamil conferences held between 1966 to 1995.
The World Classicism in literature refers to those elements of universality, harmony, art of antiquity, style or content such as reason, clarity, order, restrain, humanitarian outlook. The language Tamil has high antiquity of about 3000 years for its literature. Second, it has a body of ancient literature meeting the core attributes of classicism and is held as a valuable heritage bequeathed to humanity. Third, the literary tradition is original and not borrowed from another speech community. Forth, the classical language and literature being distinct and modern and it has its own glammer values. So there was a world wide consensus that Tamil possessed greater merits for declaring a language classical.
President, Pratibha Devi Singh Patil hailed Tamil which has the oldest literature among the living languages of the world. She said Tirukkural written by "Thiruvalluvar was a remarkable treatise on ethics. Silapathikaram and Manimekalai were works of excellence as were the epics of Kamba Ramayanam and Jeevaka Chintamani. The soul - stirring hymns of Nayanmars and Alvars.
The poems and songs of Subramanya Bharati evoked in the minds of the people "Deep feelings of patriotism during our freedom struggle". She emphasized a point that the history of the Tamils is our nation’s pride. Tamils have contributed in a big way to India’s progress and in shaping its identity as a nation that is rich in art, music, architecture and literature. The next generation of Tamils must anchor as well as ‘equip themselves with knowledge of Tamil culture, literature and values.
Iravatham Mahadevan, an IAS Officer (Retd), an Epigraphist, Tamil scholar says that "The legend that Sanskrit and Tamil emerged from the two sides of the damaru (drum) of Shiva says it all - the immemorial antiquity and the equal divine status accord in our tradition to the two languages recognised as classical.
M. Karunanidhi delivered the valedictory address of the five day conference. He said Rs. 100 crore fund would be established for Tamil Development. The CM said efforts would be taken for translating wellknown Tamil works into other languages. Significant works of other languages would also be translated into Tamil. Pranab Mukherjee who presided over the valedictory function expressed the hope that the conference would inspire many more accomplishments in future.
Fortunately DMK and its leaders have kept their atheism and anti-god feelings away from the conference hall. Real Tamil language is full of patriotism, national, culture and spiritual feelings.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Buddhists under threat to embrace
Buddhists under threat to embrace Christianity in Arunachal Pradesh
From Jyoti Lal Chowdhury, Silchar
ARUNACHAL PRADESH in north east region of the country is a home to 20 major and about 100 sub tribes. They have been living peacefully for centuries. But, they are now in perpetual fear, particularly after the Chinese aggression of 1962, of extinction of their distinct culture and tribal faiths at the hands of Christian missionaries. In fact, this oasis of peace in the turbulent frontier region has also come under the impact of feverish proselytisation design. Although there was not a single Christian in 1951, their number rose to 1438 in 1961, 2,593 in 1971 and in 2001, the trend is quite alarming.
This is clear from the census report of 2001. Of the total population of 10,97,968, 7,05,158 are schedule tribes, constituting 64.2 per cent of total population. Of the total population of ST, 47.2 per cent has been returned as "other religion followers", besides 26.5 per cent of STs are Christians, 13.1 per cent Hindus and 11.7 per cent Buddhists. Sizeable population among Adi, Nishi, Nocte and Wancho have been converted to Christianity. Khampti, Monpa, Momba, Sherdukpen and Singpho are mostly followers of Buddhism.
Foreseeing the alarming trend of conversion activities of the missionaries, it is to be recalled, all the tribal organisations started mass movement against it and ultimately the territorial Assembly passed the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Indigenous Faith Bill 1978 providing legal and constitutional protection from conversion to other faiths alien to Arunachal Pradesh, "by force, fraud, inducement and allurement."
But despite the Act and the inner line restrictions on movement of non-tribals, missionaries could make considerable headway in bringing a sizeable number of tribals into Christian fold, particularly in Lohit and Subansiri district. Arunachalees still recall with gratitude the fold stand taken by Lt. Governor K A A Raja and the then Chief Minister Prem Khandu Thangon for the enactment of the Religious Freedom Bill in the face of stiff opposition by the Christian political leaders of Meghalaya and Nagaland and the influential ‘Shillong Churches Committee’.
The dreaded terrorist outfit National Socialist Council of Nagaland led by Isac Chish Swu, chairman, and Thuingalem Muivah, general secretary, better known as NSCN (IM) and regarded as the fountain-head of insurgency in north east region, which is claiming and campaigning for the inclusion of Naga inhabited areas of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh in greater Nagaland, has hidden its design to convert the people of these contiguous areas into Christianity.
After Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh is now the soft target of the missionaries with enormous funds from Uncle Sam’s country. It was not long ago that a group of 11 American and Canadian missionaries in the name of four-day harvest and healing festival near Itanagar induced the innocent people of the state for religious conversion. They not only camouflaged their identity but also their intent and purpose, besides four if them could make their entry in the state on the strengthen of two visas and two passports.
The Buddhists monks said that in the last days, of May 22 NSCN (IM) rebels armed with AK 47 and SLRs warned the villagers to convert to Christianity by June 4 or else face dire consequences. They have identified the militant commander leader Mitchel Lingam Tangkhul. Both the Buddhists monks have drawn the attention of the government, security forces and international Buddhists Forum towards the NSCN (IM) threat.
He threatened them to embrace Christianity and cautioned them not to celebrate any festival in glory of Buddha. The role of catholic priests of Miao Bishop’s is also reported by the Forum.
From Jyoti Lal Chowdhury, Silchar
ARUNACHAL PRADESH in north east region of the country is a home to 20 major and about 100 sub tribes. They have been living peacefully for centuries. But, they are now in perpetual fear, particularly after the Chinese aggression of 1962, of extinction of their distinct culture and tribal faiths at the hands of Christian missionaries. In fact, this oasis of peace in the turbulent frontier region has also come under the impact of feverish proselytisation design. Although there was not a single Christian in 1951, their number rose to 1438 in 1961, 2,593 in 1971 and in 2001, the trend is quite alarming.
This is clear from the census report of 2001. Of the total population of 10,97,968, 7,05,158 are schedule tribes, constituting 64.2 per cent of total population. Of the total population of ST, 47.2 per cent has been returned as "other religion followers", besides 26.5 per cent of STs are Christians, 13.1 per cent Hindus and 11.7 per cent Buddhists. Sizeable population among Adi, Nishi, Nocte and Wancho have been converted to Christianity. Khampti, Monpa, Momba, Sherdukpen and Singpho are mostly followers of Buddhism.
Foreseeing the alarming trend of conversion activities of the missionaries, it is to be recalled, all the tribal organisations started mass movement against it and ultimately the territorial Assembly passed the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Indigenous Faith Bill 1978 providing legal and constitutional protection from conversion to other faiths alien to Arunachal Pradesh, "by force, fraud, inducement and allurement."
But despite the Act and the inner line restrictions on movement of non-tribals, missionaries could make considerable headway in bringing a sizeable number of tribals into Christian fold, particularly in Lohit and Subansiri district. Arunachalees still recall with gratitude the fold stand taken by Lt. Governor K A A Raja and the then Chief Minister Prem Khandu Thangon for the enactment of the Religious Freedom Bill in the face of stiff opposition by the Christian political leaders of Meghalaya and Nagaland and the influential ‘Shillong Churches Committee’.
The dreaded terrorist outfit National Socialist Council of Nagaland led by Isac Chish Swu, chairman, and Thuingalem Muivah, general secretary, better known as NSCN (IM) and regarded as the fountain-head of insurgency in north east region, which is claiming and campaigning for the inclusion of Naga inhabited areas of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh in greater Nagaland, has hidden its design to convert the people of these contiguous areas into Christianity.
After Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh is now the soft target of the missionaries with enormous funds from Uncle Sam’s country. It was not long ago that a group of 11 American and Canadian missionaries in the name of four-day harvest and healing festival near Itanagar induced the innocent people of the state for religious conversion. They not only camouflaged their identity but also their intent and purpose, besides four if them could make their entry in the state on the strengthen of two visas and two passports.
The Buddhists monks said that in the last days, of May 22 NSCN (IM) rebels armed with AK 47 and SLRs warned the villagers to convert to Christianity by June 4 or else face dire consequences. They have identified the militant commander leader Mitchel Lingam Tangkhul. Both the Buddhists monks have drawn the attention of the government, security forces and international Buddhists Forum towards the NSCN (IM) threat.
He threatened them to embrace Christianity and cautioned them not to celebrate any festival in glory of Buddha. The role of catholic priests of Miao Bishop’s is also reported by the Forum.
Kashmir’s date with Stone Age
Kashmir is slipping into the stone age, literally and metaphorically. Literally because the terrorists and their hired goons have taken to stone as the easiest weapon to fight the security forces. Metaphorically because their lack of sensitivity is exposed in the fact that the terrorists are pushing children and teenagers to the forefront to fight their messy fight against India.
Earlier the Kashmiri terrorists used to post women in the front, and attack from behind, thereby tying the hands of the security forces. Women have probably become wiser. Now they are pushing children to the front.Teenagers, kids who should be in schools, not in the streets are the latest victims of their so-called holy war. These children are let loose on the security forces. The picture of one policeman surrounded and being beaten by six-seven lathi wielding, masked teenagers, published in all the national dailies on June 29, 2010 explains a lot about these hot-heads of what is going on. The protesters take to the street, provoke the police and security men. When they retaliate, and if any of the protester is killed, it sets the stage for the demonstration the next day. The out-of-power politicians cheer the teenagers from the fringe, blame the security forces and demand their withdrawal.
If the government and the politicians are interested in the safety and welfare of the people of Kashmir and want to protect the so-called local identity then they should appeal to the terrorists not to stoop so low and throw the future generations into the mouth of the cannons. Which is what Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister has done now. There was a phase when the terrorists used the mosques as their base and attacked the security forces. In one such incident, one of the holiest mosques Char-e-Sharif was partially burnt and was restored by the security forces.
What is more appalling is the huge price the security forces are paying in this. According to the CRPF, 1600 men have been injured and grounded in the past two years in different parts of the valley because of stone pelting. Imagine the enormity, 1600 men, equivalent of 20 companies, injured in about 700 days. Over 200 vehicles have been damaged. According to reports, 52 personnel have been injured in the last one week. If one person is killed in police firing, the valley erupts as if on cue. But when the security forces are maimed or killed in dozens by the terrorist attacks, the government and the society do not even murmer.
We have said it in these columns before and we repeat: What is lacking in Kashmir is the political will. The security measures need to be supported by actions by the governments at the state and the centre. The political forces out of power in the state and inimical to the interest of the nation should be marginalised. There is hardly anything called functioning economy in the valley. The local elected bodies are defunct. People who have visited Kashmir before and recently speak of the huge ecological degradation that has taken place there, Dal Lake being the biggest example. Once the pride of Kashmir, it is now plagued by weeds and stinking water. The Rs 300 crore loan sanctioned by the World Bank for clean-up was spent on it, but with little result.
Omar Abdullah made a warming gesture in inviting the Kashmiri Pandits to worship at the Kheer Bhawani temple. Over 40,000 Kashmiris worshipped there on June 18, 2010. The state ensured their safety. Let this be a beginning. Such measures should be repeated oftener, which would send out a strong message of India’s determination to restore the valley to the Kashmiris.
Every time there is violence, the PDP led by Mehbooba Mufti raise the bogey of excesses by the security forces. Her party has a myopic view, it does not wish to see the stress under which the security forces are. The Army Chief Y K Singh has categorically stated that time was not ripe to reduce forces in the valley as terrorists continue to operate from several hideouts. He is also of the opinion that political steps are needed in Kashmir.
Calming Kashmir is not an impossible task. After decades of violence that has taken them nowhere, the ordinary Kashmiri must be wanting to get on with life. People like Shah Faesal, who topped the IAS this year should be inspiration enough in the political, social and administrative processes to restore the system of local governance in the state. We have powerful instruments in our Constitution like the Panchayati Raj that can go miles in healing the situation there. The major stumbling block is the monetary and military help that the extremists and their hangers on receive from across the Western border, which needs to be addressed by Delhi. Pakistan has been following the diabolic Afzal Khan policy. The answer should be Shivaji’s.
Earlier the Kashmiri terrorists used to post women in the front, and attack from behind, thereby tying the hands of the security forces. Women have probably become wiser. Now they are pushing children to the front.Teenagers, kids who should be in schools, not in the streets are the latest victims of their so-called holy war. These children are let loose on the security forces. The picture of one policeman surrounded and being beaten by six-seven lathi wielding, masked teenagers, published in all the national dailies on June 29, 2010 explains a lot about these hot-heads of what is going on. The protesters take to the street, provoke the police and security men. When they retaliate, and if any of the protester is killed, it sets the stage for the demonstration the next day. The out-of-power politicians cheer the teenagers from the fringe, blame the security forces and demand their withdrawal.
If the government and the politicians are interested in the safety and welfare of the people of Kashmir and want to protect the so-called local identity then they should appeal to the terrorists not to stoop so low and throw the future generations into the mouth of the cannons. Which is what Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister has done now. There was a phase when the terrorists used the mosques as their base and attacked the security forces. In one such incident, one of the holiest mosques Char-e-Sharif was partially burnt and was restored by the security forces.
What is more appalling is the huge price the security forces are paying in this. According to the CRPF, 1600 men have been injured and grounded in the past two years in different parts of the valley because of stone pelting. Imagine the enormity, 1600 men, equivalent of 20 companies, injured in about 700 days. Over 200 vehicles have been damaged. According to reports, 52 personnel have been injured in the last one week. If one person is killed in police firing, the valley erupts as if on cue. But when the security forces are maimed or killed in dozens by the terrorist attacks, the government and the society do not even murmer.
We have said it in these columns before and we repeat: What is lacking in Kashmir is the political will. The security measures need to be supported by actions by the governments at the state and the centre. The political forces out of power in the state and inimical to the interest of the nation should be marginalised. There is hardly anything called functioning economy in the valley. The local elected bodies are defunct. People who have visited Kashmir before and recently speak of the huge ecological degradation that has taken place there, Dal Lake being the biggest example. Once the pride of Kashmir, it is now plagued by weeds and stinking water. The Rs 300 crore loan sanctioned by the World Bank for clean-up was spent on it, but with little result.
Omar Abdullah made a warming gesture in inviting the Kashmiri Pandits to worship at the Kheer Bhawani temple. Over 40,000 Kashmiris worshipped there on June 18, 2010. The state ensured their safety. Let this be a beginning. Such measures should be repeated oftener, which would send out a strong message of India’s determination to restore the valley to the Kashmiris.
Every time there is violence, the PDP led by Mehbooba Mufti raise the bogey of excesses by the security forces. Her party has a myopic view, it does not wish to see the stress under which the security forces are. The Army Chief Y K Singh has categorically stated that time was not ripe to reduce forces in the valley as terrorists continue to operate from several hideouts. He is also of the opinion that political steps are needed in Kashmir.
Calming Kashmir is not an impossible task. After decades of violence that has taken them nowhere, the ordinary Kashmiri must be wanting to get on with life. People like Shah Faesal, who topped the IAS this year should be inspiration enough in the political, social and administrative processes to restore the system of local governance in the state. We have powerful instruments in our Constitution like the Panchayati Raj that can go miles in healing the situation there. The major stumbling block is the monetary and military help that the extremists and their hangers on receive from across the Western border, which needs to be addressed by Delhi. Pakistan has been following the diabolic Afzal Khan policy. The answer should be Shivaji’s.
Economic blockade cost Manipur two billion rupees a day
IMPHAL: The economic blockade may have ended in Manipur, but the loss that the State has suffered due to the 66-day long blockade is enormous.
Manipur State suffered a loss of about two billion rupees per day due to the economic blockade.
N Mohendro Singh, an economist said that during the blockade petrol was not merely scarce, but its price in black market had gone up to 140 rupees a litre.
For five litres of petrol one had to wait for about 10-15 hours before the petrol pump starts delivering it.
As far as the economic calculation is concerned we lose about 132- 200 crore a day on account of the economic blockade. In 2004-2005, Manipur suffered the setback of economic blockade for about 60 days and daily loss was about 2.32 crore with the result that in 2004-2005 Manipur suffered the loss of 139.20 crore ," said Singh.
The economic blockade he says has not only brought the State to a standstill but it created a space for black marketing.
Singh said that the blockade has dehumanised the people of Manipur on all fronts from educational sector to the industrial sector.
He said that the people have started questioning the existence of the government and its functioning and that the blockade created a gap between the government and the people.
"It (economic blockade) has made a loss of around two billion rupees per day, and we the common mass have suffered the most. How should we describe the situation to our children, said Tharosangbi Devi, a vendor.
Singh added that all the private schools including the government schools stopped functioning because petrol was not available and vans could not ply. The blockade, he says, of such a long period can produce a generation gap in education, in human capital formation and in human resource mobilisation.
Singh says that the government of India and Manipur should apply all rules and regulations to prevent such a situation because it is against the humanity and mankind.
In 2005 and 2006 Manipur suffered a loss of about 2.5 billion rupees per day and in 2006-2007 it suffered a loss of 2.31 billion rupees, said Singh.
Manipur State suffered a loss of about two billion rupees per day due to the economic blockade.
N Mohendro Singh, an economist said that during the blockade petrol was not merely scarce, but its price in black market had gone up to 140 rupees a litre.
For five litres of petrol one had to wait for about 10-15 hours before the petrol pump starts delivering it.
As far as the economic calculation is concerned we lose about 132- 200 crore a day on account of the economic blockade. In 2004-2005, Manipur suffered the setback of economic blockade for about 60 days and daily loss was about 2.32 crore with the result that in 2004-2005 Manipur suffered the loss of 139.20 crore ," said Singh.
The economic blockade he says has not only brought the State to a standstill but it created a space for black marketing.
Singh said that the blockade has dehumanised the people of Manipur on all fronts from educational sector to the industrial sector.
He said that the people have started questioning the existence of the government and its functioning and that the blockade created a gap between the government and the people.
"It (economic blockade) has made a loss of around two billion rupees per day, and we the common mass have suffered the most. How should we describe the situation to our children, said Tharosangbi Devi, a vendor.
Singh added that all the private schools including the government schools stopped functioning because petrol was not available and vans could not ply. The blockade, he says, of such a long period can produce a generation gap in education, in human capital formation and in human resource mobilisation.
Singh says that the government of India and Manipur should apply all rules and regulations to prevent such a situation because it is against the humanity and mankind.
In 2005 and 2006 Manipur suffered a loss of about 2.5 billion rupees per day and in 2006-2007 it suffered a loss of 2.31 billion rupees, said Singh.
A professor’s palm chopped off, leg mutilated
Boors have a field day in Kerala
A professor’s palm chopped off, leg mutilated
By Arun Lakshman Thiruvananthapuram
Taliban court orders chopping off the right hand of Malayalam professor in Kerala
The police on further investigation found that there were Islamic courts which were modelled in Taliban style in different parts of the state and one Eaasa Moulavi who was once a close associate of the PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani was the person behind this Islamic court or Darul Khada.
PROF TD Joseph who is the head of the department of Malayalam in Newman’s College, Thodupuzha in Idukki district was attacked on July 4, 2010 after, he was returning home, attending the Sunday mass at Nirmala church near his home along with his eighty eight-year old mother and his sister who is a nun in Newzealand.
A group of Islamic fundamentalists who are the cadres and leaders of the Islamic fundamentalist organisation Popular Front of India chopped off his right hand after dragging him out of his car in front of his ailing old mother and elder sister. The reason for this action on Prof Joseph was that he had prepared a question paper for the internal exams of Malayalam paper for the second year BCom students of his college and which contained certain references which were considered blasphemous to Prophet Mohammed and thereby Islamic faith.
This question paper incident occurred on March 26, 2010 and after the state Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan ordering a criminal inquiry into the incident the Professor was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. The police had also tortured his son Mithun who was doing his Engineering course as Prof Joseph was absconding for some days in the fear of arrest.
There were protest marches in Thodupuzha by the Islamic groups and even Congress and Muslim League joined in it .The college management and the Christian diocese also apologised on behalf of the teacher to people if their faith was insulted as alleged by the Popular Front activists.
The judicial enquiry against the issue is still on
Meanwhile the Popular Front of India, which is fast emerging as the terror link in Kerala issued open threats against the teacher and openly asserted that the right hand of Prof Joseph would be chopped off. There were three or four attempts earlier on this but the police even after being informed did not provide him any security.
After the chopping incident, Police swung into action and arrested two Popular Front activists, Ashraf and Jaffer. Ashraf is considered to be the brain behind this action. However on interrogation Ashraf told police that an Islamic Court Darul Khada (God’s court or Gods abode), which is functioning in Erattuepetta in Kottayam district had sentenced to chop off the right hand of Prof Joseph and that he and his group had only implemented the fatwa or the sentence of the Islamic court.
The police on further investigation found that there were Islamic courts which were modelled in Taliban style in different parts of the state and one Eaasa Moulavi who was once a close associate of the PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani was the person behind this Islamic court or Darul Khada.
However highly placed sources in the state police told Organiser that the police has not opened about this Darul Khada for fear of creating a major issue in the state and society as such. Sources in the police also said that the Islamic court was trying to interfere in all issues concerning the Muslim community in the state and that the Popular Front was behind this. The Islamic court or Darul Khada was trying to interfere in even family disputes and divorce cases in the Muslim community and is also campaigning among the Muslims in the state to reduce their dependence on the state police and the court of law as in Islam it is the religion and the religious court which is the foremost.
Another interesting aspect to the fundamentalist nature shown by the Popular Front is the storm created at the Sacret Heart Higher Secondary School in Malappuram district over the issue of an Arabic lady teacher wearing mafta( veil).
The Popular Front activists with the support of the Edarikkode Panchayath president and the local police officers have staged dharna and protest marches in front of the school and has issued a fatwa against the Principal to leave the school for good or would otherwise be burnt to death. The issue was a rather innocent comment made by the Principal on the mafta worn by the then Arabic teacher Rasiya. The Principal had joked that if the scarf was on both sides of the shoulder it would look more beautiful. The teacher did not like it and had made small issues in the staff room on this. When she came to know that the Arabic teacher did not liked her comment, the Principal had apologised and settled the issue.The Arabic teacher later left the school for getting a better placement and was accorded a warm send off at the behest of the Principal. However several months after she left the school, Rasiya, the Arabic teacher complained to local authorities that she was insulted by Sister Tessy Anto, the Principal of Sacred Heart school on wearing of mafta. This was taken up by the Popular Front activists who have now issued a fatwa on the Principal to quit the school.
Sources in the police and district administration told Organiser that there were certain schools in the area controlled by Islamists who wants to somehow close the Sacred Heart school for non issues as there were less students in schools controlled by the Islamists. The sources said that this was the actual issue rather than any major one. However the Popular Front activists created a situation of fear and dread in the school by barging into the Principal’s room and to threatening her with dire consequences if she did not quit the school.
Of late several schools run by Non Muslim managements are facing this predicament with the Popular Front creating noisy scenes throughout the state on non issues like wearing mafta and threatening the school managements and the teachers with dire consequences including threat to their lives. This is slowly creating a fear psychosis in the state which is exactly what the Islamists wanted to do for their own ulterior motives.
The silence of several human rights activists on the chopping off hand of Prof Joseph and the death threat on Sister Tessy Anto including noted journalist BRP Bhaskar and Gro Vasu chopping of hand of Prof Joseph and the death threat on Sister Tessy Anton is being hotly discussed in the intellectual circles of the state.
A professor’s palm chopped off, leg mutilated
By Arun Lakshman Thiruvananthapuram
Taliban court orders chopping off the right hand of Malayalam professor in Kerala
The police on further investigation found that there were Islamic courts which were modelled in Taliban style in different parts of the state and one Eaasa Moulavi who was once a close associate of the PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani was the person behind this Islamic court or Darul Khada.
PROF TD Joseph who is the head of the department of Malayalam in Newman’s College, Thodupuzha in Idukki district was attacked on July 4, 2010 after, he was returning home, attending the Sunday mass at Nirmala church near his home along with his eighty eight-year old mother and his sister who is a nun in Newzealand.
A group of Islamic fundamentalists who are the cadres and leaders of the Islamic fundamentalist organisation Popular Front of India chopped off his right hand after dragging him out of his car in front of his ailing old mother and elder sister. The reason for this action on Prof Joseph was that he had prepared a question paper for the internal exams of Malayalam paper for the second year BCom students of his college and which contained certain references which were considered blasphemous to Prophet Mohammed and thereby Islamic faith.
This question paper incident occurred on March 26, 2010 and after the state Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan ordering a criminal inquiry into the incident the Professor was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. The police had also tortured his son Mithun who was doing his Engineering course as Prof Joseph was absconding for some days in the fear of arrest.
There were protest marches in Thodupuzha by the Islamic groups and even Congress and Muslim League joined in it .The college management and the Christian diocese also apologised on behalf of the teacher to people if their faith was insulted as alleged by the Popular Front activists.
The judicial enquiry against the issue is still on
Meanwhile the Popular Front of India, which is fast emerging as the terror link in Kerala issued open threats against the teacher and openly asserted that the right hand of Prof Joseph would be chopped off. There were three or four attempts earlier on this but the police even after being informed did not provide him any security.
After the chopping incident, Police swung into action and arrested two Popular Front activists, Ashraf and Jaffer. Ashraf is considered to be the brain behind this action. However on interrogation Ashraf told police that an Islamic Court Darul Khada (God’s court or Gods abode), which is functioning in Erattuepetta in Kottayam district had sentenced to chop off the right hand of Prof Joseph and that he and his group had only implemented the fatwa or the sentence of the Islamic court.
The police on further investigation found that there were Islamic courts which were modelled in Taliban style in different parts of the state and one Eaasa Moulavi who was once a close associate of the PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani was the person behind this Islamic court or Darul Khada.
However highly placed sources in the state police told Organiser that the police has not opened about this Darul Khada for fear of creating a major issue in the state and society as such. Sources in the police also said that the Islamic court was trying to interfere in all issues concerning the Muslim community in the state and that the Popular Front was behind this. The Islamic court or Darul Khada was trying to interfere in even family disputes and divorce cases in the Muslim community and is also campaigning among the Muslims in the state to reduce their dependence on the state police and the court of law as in Islam it is the religion and the religious court which is the foremost.
Another interesting aspect to the fundamentalist nature shown by the Popular Front is the storm created at the Sacret Heart Higher Secondary School in Malappuram district over the issue of an Arabic lady teacher wearing mafta( veil).
The Popular Front activists with the support of the Edarikkode Panchayath president and the local police officers have staged dharna and protest marches in front of the school and has issued a fatwa against the Principal to leave the school for good or would otherwise be burnt to death. The issue was a rather innocent comment made by the Principal on the mafta worn by the then Arabic teacher Rasiya. The Principal had joked that if the scarf was on both sides of the shoulder it would look more beautiful. The teacher did not like it and had made small issues in the staff room on this. When she came to know that the Arabic teacher did not liked her comment, the Principal had apologised and settled the issue.The Arabic teacher later left the school for getting a better placement and was accorded a warm send off at the behest of the Principal. However several months after she left the school, Rasiya, the Arabic teacher complained to local authorities that she was insulted by Sister Tessy Anto, the Principal of Sacred Heart school on wearing of mafta. This was taken up by the Popular Front activists who have now issued a fatwa on the Principal to quit the school.
Sources in the police and district administration told Organiser that there were certain schools in the area controlled by Islamists who wants to somehow close the Sacred Heart school for non issues as there were less students in schools controlled by the Islamists. The sources said that this was the actual issue rather than any major one. However the Popular Front activists created a situation of fear and dread in the school by barging into the Principal’s room and to threatening her with dire consequences if she did not quit the school.
Of late several schools run by Non Muslim managements are facing this predicament with the Popular Front creating noisy scenes throughout the state on non issues like wearing mafta and threatening the school managements and the teachers with dire consequences including threat to their lives. This is slowly creating a fear psychosis in the state which is exactly what the Islamists wanted to do for their own ulterior motives.
The silence of several human rights activists on the chopping off hand of Prof Joseph and the death threat on Sister Tessy Anto including noted journalist BRP Bhaskar and Gro Vasu chopping of hand of Prof Joseph and the death threat on Sister Tessy Anton is being hotly discussed in the intellectual circles of the state.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
A study on the mullah demand for Islamic banking in India
EVER since the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation decided to join hands with some groups from the Middle East to launch Islamic banking in the State, the question whether Islamic banking is good for the country or not has attracted animated discussion in different circles-from bankers to financial experts and from vote-bank politicians to patriotic forces.
Islamic Banking, published by India Foundation, New Delhi, discusses Islamic banking threadbare, explains what it is and how it functions and also discusses the global experience with Islamic banking and projects implications for India.
The theoretical part of the book has been done by Shri Amit Malviya, a finance professional in Mumbai. Former Union Minister and expert on economic matters Dr Subramanian Swamy is the moving spirit behind the legal battle against Islamic banking in Kerala. He has given his views on the issue. The petition filed by him in Kerala High Court and the stay order issued by the High Court on the matter have also been included in the book.
Highlighting the truth of Islamic banking the book says that Islamic or sharia banks differ from regular banks in two major ways. One, as commanded in the Koran, the charging to interest is prohibited in all monetary transactions. Two, the Islamic banks are supervised by a board of Islamic scholars and clerics whose job is to ensure that the banks�s activities comply with sharia law. "The truth, however, is that like all banks, sharia banks do charge interest-they just give another name-and that the clerics supervising the banks have ties to extremist, even terrorist groups, which work towards the Islamisation and world dominance."
The author makes a point that those who support the plea for an alternate financing channel to support the Muslim community need to realise that India�s banking is �inclusive� and the reluctance of some Muslims to use banks is a case of self-exclusion, not discrimination. "Islamic banking is not what is needed to help Muslims. When Below Poverty Line (BPL) families can be helped without communal identification and state benefits can be given on socio-economic grounds, why are Muslims being treated any differently, the book asks.
"The sharia is the cannon law of Muslims. A financial services company set up with government participation which would follow the cannon law of a particular religion is a clear instance of the state favouring a particular religion. This violates Article 27 of the Constitution," says Dr Subramanian Swamy further adding that the government order issued in this regard also violates Article 14, 15 and Article 25 of the Constitution also.
Dr Swamy further says that the unwritten and unstated danger from the Islamic institution would be that when thousands of crore rupees arrive in Kerala, Muslim youth would get loan, while the Hindus would be denied on one technicality or another. "Word will be spread that if the Hindu converts to Islam he or she will get the loan easily. Given the high unemployment of educated youth in Kerala, and that Hindus are just 52 per cent of the State population it will be in no time that economic pressures will force the State to become Hindu minority. Then the State will drift quickly to Dar-ul-Islam and like in Kashmir, soon the Hindus will have to migrate out or be driven out, or convert to Islam," Dr Swamy adds.
Islamic Banking, published by India Foundation, New Delhi, discusses Islamic banking threadbare, explains what it is and how it functions and also discusses the global experience with Islamic banking and projects implications for India.
The theoretical part of the book has been done by Shri Amit Malviya, a finance professional in Mumbai. Former Union Minister and expert on economic matters Dr Subramanian Swamy is the moving spirit behind the legal battle against Islamic banking in Kerala. He has given his views on the issue. The petition filed by him in Kerala High Court and the stay order issued by the High Court on the matter have also been included in the book.
Highlighting the truth of Islamic banking the book says that Islamic or sharia banks differ from regular banks in two major ways. One, as commanded in the Koran, the charging to interest is prohibited in all monetary transactions. Two, the Islamic banks are supervised by a board of Islamic scholars and clerics whose job is to ensure that the banks�s activities comply with sharia law. "The truth, however, is that like all banks, sharia banks do charge interest-they just give another name-and that the clerics supervising the banks have ties to extremist, even terrorist groups, which work towards the Islamisation and world dominance."
The author makes a point that those who support the plea for an alternate financing channel to support the Muslim community need to realise that India�s banking is �inclusive� and the reluctance of some Muslims to use banks is a case of self-exclusion, not discrimination. "Islamic banking is not what is needed to help Muslims. When Below Poverty Line (BPL) families can be helped without communal identification and state benefits can be given on socio-economic grounds, why are Muslims being treated any differently, the book asks.
"The sharia is the cannon law of Muslims. A financial services company set up with government participation which would follow the cannon law of a particular religion is a clear instance of the state favouring a particular religion. This violates Article 27 of the Constitution," says Dr Subramanian Swamy further adding that the government order issued in this regard also violates Article 14, 15 and Article 25 of the Constitution also.
Dr Swamy further says that the unwritten and unstated danger from the Islamic institution would be that when thousands of crore rupees arrive in Kerala, Muslim youth would get loan, while the Hindus would be denied on one technicality or another. "Word will be spread that if the Hindu converts to Islam he or she will get the loan easily. Given the high unemployment of educated youth in Kerala, and that Hindus are just 52 per cent of the State population it will be in no time that economic pressures will force the State to become Hindu minority. Then the State will drift quickly to Dar-ul-Islam and like in Kashmir, soon the Hindus will have to migrate out or be driven out, or convert to Islam," Dr Swamy adds.
American Stooges All
The Union Carbide tragedy and the Congress conspiracy
We reproduce without comment some revealing reports that appeared in The Times of India and The Pioneer because of their significance in the wake of local court verdict on Bhopal gas tragedy.
Members of GoM on Bhopal pleaded Dow case in UPA-I
TNN, Jun 11, 2010, 03.25am IST
NEW DELHI: The uproar over the Bhopal gas-leak judgment has put the role of several UPA ministers and functionaries, including those in the newly reconstituted group of ministers (GoM), under scrutiny yet again.
While the UPA might have decided to set up the GoM as a facesaver in the midst of public outcry, making Home Minister P Chidambaram the head of the group and including Minister of Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath as member, could lead to controversy since both have drawn flak for advocating along with others that Dow Chemicals, the American giant that bought Union Carbide in 2001, be spared the task of cleaning up the 1984 gas-leak site and the contaminated ground water.
In June 2007, TOI had reported how key officials and ministers in the first term of UPA pushed for absolving Dow Chemicals of any legal and compensation liabilities after the multinational showed reluctance to invest in India unless the Rs 100 crore notice slapped by the fertilizers and chemicals ministry for clean up of the industrial site against it was withdrawn.
Those who supported the US company included then Finance Minister P Chidambaram, then Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, then cabinet secretary, B K Chaturvedi and India’s then envoy to US Ronen Sen. Prime Minister’s principal secretary T K A Nair was also involved in the discussions.
All these Congress luminaries and senior officials recommended that Dow’s liability be resolved outside the courts after business tycoon Ratan Tata suggested that instead of asking Dow to cough up the money to clean the site, the private sector in India, led by Tatas, could set up a fund to do the same.
Tata had pointed out in a letter to Ahluwalia and Chidambaram that Dow would not invest in India unless Rs 100-crore notice slapped on it by chemicals and fertilizers ministry was withdrawn. Chidambaram and Ahluwalia concurred with Tata and recommended to PMO that the Tata offer be accepted. This would have ensured an out-of-court settlement, paving the way for Dow’s investments in a petrochemical hub in India.
But an obstacle was put in their path after activists, citing the TOI report, resorted to protests, saying that the move would absolve Dow of any responsibility to compensate those who were affected by the contamination of groundwater in the aftermath of the gas leak.
Pursuing its case, Dow also got in touch with the principal secretary to the PM, T K A Nair. Significantly, the correspondence between Dow and Nair also suggests that the US company discussed its plan to engage Congress spokesman, senior SC lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
Singhvi’s advice tracked the position taken by ministers, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission and the cabinet secretary that Dow could not be held responsible for the disaster or was liable for any contamination and consequent cleaning up of the Bhopal site. This advice found its way into the PMO file on the issue later.
Under renewed attack from activists, Singhvi on June 10 reacted claiming his advice had "nothing to do either with Warren Anderson’s criminal conviction or with Bhopal gas tragedy".
(Courtesy: ToI)
Arjun Singh let honcho flee Bhopal
IN the midst of countrywide outrage against the Bhopal gas tragedy verdict, the Madhya Pradesh Government has decided to appeal against the judgement even as the then Bhopal Collector, Moti Singh, has revealed that he was told by the then State Chief Secretary to bail out Union Carbide Corporation chairman Warren Anderson, who was arrested in Bhopal four days after the tragedy.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the way the CBI handled the case, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told mediapersons that his Government would challenge the Bhopal court verdict in the high court. A committee of legal experts has been constituted to go into the issue, he said.
Chouhan wondered why the CBI did not file a review petition in the Supreme Court when it diluted the charges from 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) to Section 304-A (causing death by negligence). The Chief Minister accused the CBI of being not serious in pursuing the case of Anderson’s extradition. Senior advocate Shantilal Lodha, who is also one of the members of the legal team formed to review the case, told The Pioneer that the State Government being the representative of the people, it can file an appeal against any judgement. He clarified that even an individual can appeal in the higher court. He stated that almost all the aspects of the tragedy and what were the mistakes made earlier would be reviewed.
But the story of the day was the revelation by Moti Singh who made a sensational disclosure that he was asked by the Chief Secretary to release Anderson and help him leave Bhopal.
Singh admitted that the Arjun Singh Government had actively helped Anderson to escape law. He said, "I was summoned by Chief Minister Arjun Singh to his residence at 8 am that day. The CM told me that Warren Anderson would be arriving shortly at the airport; however, the airport officials have been instructed not to let his plane land till the District Collector is present. On this, I immediately rushed to the airport, but by the time I arrived the plane had already landed but its door was yet to be opened. I was told that Anderson was being accompanied by the Union Carbide’s chief of India operations Keshub Mahindra and managing director Vijay Gokhale."
Singh said that they were arrested as soon as they set foot in Bhopal. All the three were then taken to the Shyamala Hills guest house of Union Carbide; Anderson was wearing a mask, Singh remembered adding, subsequently the Bhopal police filed a criminal case against him under Section 304 of the IPC at Hanumangunj police station.
"Then at 2 pm, the then Chief Secretary Brahmswaroop called me and SP Swaraj Puri to his office. He told us to release Anderson and put him in the same plane waiting at the airport to go to Delhi. Accordingly, we went to the place where he was lodged. We completed the formalities of granting him bail. "We quickly arranged for a Union Carbide employee to secure his bail for a surety of Rs 25,000. Later, we put him on the same plane at the airport," he added.
Singh said Anderson was not willing to leave Bhopal. Instead, he wanted to visit the affected areas. "I told him repeatedly, you are not welcome, you have to leave Bhopal." The former Collector said during his short stay, Anderson seemed casual and showed ‘symptoms of arrogance’ but toned down when he was told that he was being released.
(The Pioneer)
Anderson blame game begins: It’s Cong vs Cong
TNN, Jun 11, 2010, 01.34am IST
THE dramatic release of former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson just hours after his arrest has roiled Congress, sparking a bitter factional war which threatens to claim former PM Rajiv Gandhi as its collateral victim.
AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh on June 10, stunned party circles by virtually holding the Centre responsible for the controversial decision to let off Anderson, soon after he was arrested for the death of thousands from the poisonous gas leak from Union Carbide’s Bhopal plant.
"The whole case was dealt with by the Government of India and the Supreme Court. State government hardly had any role to play in this case," Singh said in a text message he sent to reporters here from the US. In another text message to reporters, he desisted from fixing the blame. Singh wrote, "I was campaigning during that period therefore I don’t know. But I am sure it must have been under US pressure."
However, read along with his other message, even the second message appeared to point the finger towards the Centre. More so, because with a strong PM like Rajiv Gandhi around, Americans could not have dealt directly with the state government.
Singh’s remarks were seen as rebutting the statement of CWC member Satyavrat Chaturvedi on June 9, that Arjun Singh, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh at the time of the leak, needed to explain Anderson’s abrupt release. Rajiv Gandhi was the PM at the time of the Bhopal tragedy.
A gleeful BJP pounced on the fratricidal slugfest, demanding an apology from Congress for giving "safe passage" to Anderson.
The unrolling episode also dragged Arjun Singh into the spotlight after a long spell on the sidelines. The ailing leader, who was passed over by the leadership for important positions, met Sonia Gandhi on June 10, evening. This was his second meeting with the Congress chief since a court verdict handed paltry punishments to those held guilty for the gas leak.
The bickering has factional dyanmics. Like Arjun and Digvijay, Chaturvedi is also from Madhya Pradesh and has a long history of strained equations with the two Thakurs. Unlike Digvijay and Arjun, whose ties have ebbed and flowed, Chaturvedi has been consistent about his feelings.
(ToI)
We reproduce without comment some revealing reports that appeared in The Times of India and The Pioneer because of their significance in the wake of local court verdict on Bhopal gas tragedy.
Members of GoM on Bhopal pleaded Dow case in UPA-I
TNN, Jun 11, 2010, 03.25am IST
NEW DELHI: The uproar over the Bhopal gas-leak judgment has put the role of several UPA ministers and functionaries, including those in the newly reconstituted group of ministers (GoM), under scrutiny yet again.
While the UPA might have decided to set up the GoM as a facesaver in the midst of public outcry, making Home Minister P Chidambaram the head of the group and including Minister of Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath as member, could lead to controversy since both have drawn flak for advocating along with others that Dow Chemicals, the American giant that bought Union Carbide in 2001, be spared the task of cleaning up the 1984 gas-leak site and the contaminated ground water.
In June 2007, TOI had reported how key officials and ministers in the first term of UPA pushed for absolving Dow Chemicals of any legal and compensation liabilities after the multinational showed reluctance to invest in India unless the Rs 100 crore notice slapped by the fertilizers and chemicals ministry for clean up of the industrial site against it was withdrawn.
Those who supported the US company included then Finance Minister P Chidambaram, then Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, then cabinet secretary, B K Chaturvedi and India’s then envoy to US Ronen Sen. Prime Minister’s principal secretary T K A Nair was also involved in the discussions.
All these Congress luminaries and senior officials recommended that Dow’s liability be resolved outside the courts after business tycoon Ratan Tata suggested that instead of asking Dow to cough up the money to clean the site, the private sector in India, led by Tatas, could set up a fund to do the same.
Tata had pointed out in a letter to Ahluwalia and Chidambaram that Dow would not invest in India unless Rs 100-crore notice slapped on it by chemicals and fertilizers ministry was withdrawn. Chidambaram and Ahluwalia concurred with Tata and recommended to PMO that the Tata offer be accepted. This would have ensured an out-of-court settlement, paving the way for Dow’s investments in a petrochemical hub in India.
But an obstacle was put in their path after activists, citing the TOI report, resorted to protests, saying that the move would absolve Dow of any responsibility to compensate those who were affected by the contamination of groundwater in the aftermath of the gas leak.
Pursuing its case, Dow also got in touch with the principal secretary to the PM, T K A Nair. Significantly, the correspondence between Dow and Nair also suggests that the US company discussed its plan to engage Congress spokesman, senior SC lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
Singhvi’s advice tracked the position taken by ministers, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission and the cabinet secretary that Dow could not be held responsible for the disaster or was liable for any contamination and consequent cleaning up of the Bhopal site. This advice found its way into the PMO file on the issue later.
Under renewed attack from activists, Singhvi on June 10 reacted claiming his advice had "nothing to do either with Warren Anderson’s criminal conviction or with Bhopal gas tragedy".
(Courtesy: ToI)
Arjun Singh let honcho flee Bhopal
IN the midst of countrywide outrage against the Bhopal gas tragedy verdict, the Madhya Pradesh Government has decided to appeal against the judgement even as the then Bhopal Collector, Moti Singh, has revealed that he was told by the then State Chief Secretary to bail out Union Carbide Corporation chairman Warren Anderson, who was arrested in Bhopal four days after the tragedy.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the way the CBI handled the case, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told mediapersons that his Government would challenge the Bhopal court verdict in the high court. A committee of legal experts has been constituted to go into the issue, he said.
Chouhan wondered why the CBI did not file a review petition in the Supreme Court when it diluted the charges from 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) to Section 304-A (causing death by negligence). The Chief Minister accused the CBI of being not serious in pursuing the case of Anderson’s extradition. Senior advocate Shantilal Lodha, who is also one of the members of the legal team formed to review the case, told The Pioneer that the State Government being the representative of the people, it can file an appeal against any judgement. He clarified that even an individual can appeal in the higher court. He stated that almost all the aspects of the tragedy and what were the mistakes made earlier would be reviewed.
But the story of the day was the revelation by Moti Singh who made a sensational disclosure that he was asked by the Chief Secretary to release Anderson and help him leave Bhopal.
Singh admitted that the Arjun Singh Government had actively helped Anderson to escape law. He said, "I was summoned by Chief Minister Arjun Singh to his residence at 8 am that day. The CM told me that Warren Anderson would be arriving shortly at the airport; however, the airport officials have been instructed not to let his plane land till the District Collector is present. On this, I immediately rushed to the airport, but by the time I arrived the plane had already landed but its door was yet to be opened. I was told that Anderson was being accompanied by the Union Carbide’s chief of India operations Keshub Mahindra and managing director Vijay Gokhale."
Singh said that they were arrested as soon as they set foot in Bhopal. All the three were then taken to the Shyamala Hills guest house of Union Carbide; Anderson was wearing a mask, Singh remembered adding, subsequently the Bhopal police filed a criminal case against him under Section 304 of the IPC at Hanumangunj police station.
"Then at 2 pm, the then Chief Secretary Brahmswaroop called me and SP Swaraj Puri to his office. He told us to release Anderson and put him in the same plane waiting at the airport to go to Delhi. Accordingly, we went to the place where he was lodged. We completed the formalities of granting him bail. "We quickly arranged for a Union Carbide employee to secure his bail for a surety of Rs 25,000. Later, we put him on the same plane at the airport," he added.
Singh said Anderson was not willing to leave Bhopal. Instead, he wanted to visit the affected areas. "I told him repeatedly, you are not welcome, you have to leave Bhopal." The former Collector said during his short stay, Anderson seemed casual and showed ‘symptoms of arrogance’ but toned down when he was told that he was being released.
(The Pioneer)
Anderson blame game begins: It’s Cong vs Cong
TNN, Jun 11, 2010, 01.34am IST
THE dramatic release of former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson just hours after his arrest has roiled Congress, sparking a bitter factional war which threatens to claim former PM Rajiv Gandhi as its collateral victim.
AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh on June 10, stunned party circles by virtually holding the Centre responsible for the controversial decision to let off Anderson, soon after he was arrested for the death of thousands from the poisonous gas leak from Union Carbide’s Bhopal plant.
"The whole case was dealt with by the Government of India and the Supreme Court. State government hardly had any role to play in this case," Singh said in a text message he sent to reporters here from the US. In another text message to reporters, he desisted from fixing the blame. Singh wrote, "I was campaigning during that period therefore I don’t know. But I am sure it must have been under US pressure."
However, read along with his other message, even the second message appeared to point the finger towards the Centre. More so, because with a strong PM like Rajiv Gandhi around, Americans could not have dealt directly with the state government.
Singh’s remarks were seen as rebutting the statement of CWC member Satyavrat Chaturvedi on June 9, that Arjun Singh, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh at the time of the leak, needed to explain Anderson’s abrupt release. Rajiv Gandhi was the PM at the time of the Bhopal tragedy.
A gleeful BJP pounced on the fratricidal slugfest, demanding an apology from Congress for giving "safe passage" to Anderson.
The unrolling episode also dragged Arjun Singh into the spotlight after a long spell on the sidelines. The ailing leader, who was passed over by the leadership for important positions, met Sonia Gandhi on June 10, evening. This was his second meeting with the Congress chief since a court verdict handed paltry punishments to those held guilty for the gas leak.
The bickering has factional dyanmics. Like Arjun and Digvijay, Chaturvedi is also from Madhya Pradesh and has a long history of strained equations with the two Thakurs. Unlike Digvijay and Arjun, whose ties have ebbed and flowed, Chaturvedi has been consistent about his feelings.
(ToI)
Maoist and Islamist tie - up
Interrogation of a senior Maoist reveals startling facts
Maoist plan to take mayhem to South India and tie-up with Islamists
By Arun Lakshman /Thiruvananthapuram
The Maoists were using the sea network of LTTE for shipment of arms and ammunitions and some foreign countries, including the erstwhile Soviet block countries were involved in providing the much required arms and ammunitions to the outfit. However with the LTTE crushed, the Maoists are now getting in touch with the LeT for their arms needs which, according to intelligence sources is being gleefully accepted by the LeT.
THE Maoists which is facing some man power crunch in the Northern Indian states is now in the process of increasing and consolidating their presence in the South India. The Andhra police has recently arrested a top operative of the Maoist movement , Nandakumar alias Ranganna alias Pramod from Kannur district in Kerala and on interrogation he has told that he was a top leader in the movement and was deputed to increase his organisational presence in South India with special emphasis on Kerala , Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. He was arrested by the Hyderabad police while he was meeting top Maoist leaders there. Police sources told Organiser that he is a tough nut to crack and that he is giving information only in tits and bits and that he has mastered the art of diverting the interrogation process.
The Maoist leader said that as there is a basic presence in Andhra at the moment, the outfit is planning to increase its presence felt in the other South Indian states to broaden and widen its red corridor.
It may be recalled that the state police had arrested another top leader of the movement Malla Raja Reddy was arrested from Angamaly in Kerala in December 2007. He was also a top functionary of the organisation and was in charge of the South Indian states while operating from Kerala.
A former leader of the Naxalite movement Ramprakash (name changed) while speaking to Organiser said that the Maoist movement in Kerala is gaining momentum as more and more highly educated youths are loosing their trust in the democratic process in the country and at the massive corruption of senior leaders of political parties of all hue and cry. He further said that the Maoist movement will also be not able to solve the issues faced by the country but added that except for the killing and dacoitary conducted by the Maoist’s, he is in support of the rest of the operations of the organisation.
Sources in the central intelligence agencies while speaking to Organiser also said that the Maoist movement is getting physical training from even foreigners in the dense forest lands of Kerala in Idukki and Palakkad districts. He also said that the Maoist movement is also trying to employ extortion tactics in the state to fund its operations.
There are also indications of the involvement of certain Islamic groups with the Maoists for the supply of arms and ammunition to both the fragments and according to reports from the state special branch police and central intelligence agencies, there is a mutual arrangement taking place between the two outfits .
Sources in the RAW indicated that the Lashkar movement in Pakistan has given a green signal to the Indian operatives to have a strategic tie up with the Maoists in India. The idea behind this move is to destabilise India from within as according to another report Lashkar feels that if there is an attack by a foreigner there are all chances of the spirit of India rising and for this they have evolved the scheme of home grown terrorists. However with the Intelligence net work in the country getting some stupendous success in recent times by breaking the terror or jihadi network based in the middle east and in some parts of India, the Lashkar is trying to piggy ride on the infrastructure created by other organisations who are in a fight with the state of India. Here, according to central agencies fits in the Maoist who has a good infrastructure and with the romance of equality being their motto, the Maoists can engage in more youths for their struggle.
There are also reports that the Maoists were using the sea network of LTTE for shipment of arms and ammunitions and some foreign countries, including the erstwhile Soviet block countries were involved in providing the much required arms and ammunitions to the outfit. However with the LTTE crushed, the Maoists are now getting in touch with the LeT for their arms needs which, according to intelligence sources is being gleefully accepted by the LeT.
Sources in the Central intelligence agencies also revealed that the Maoists had in the past year tried to evolve a major network of intelligentsia in the state with the senior Maoist leader Kobad Ghandi being in charge of the operations. However sources told Organiser that this strategy did not work out to the expected levels of the organisation mainly owing to the reluctance of the intelligentsia to quit their comfort zones and to enter into a purely uncertain fight with the government machinery. Sources in the intelligence indicated that even though the game plan of the Maoists and their intelligentsia head, Khobad Ghandi could not rope in the intelligentsia as expected, they had got some highly motivated youngsters with good professional qualifications into the organisational fold.
Sources in the central agencies also told Organiser that the Maoists had conducted a highly confidential meeting in Palakkad district during December 2009 in which representatives of SIMI and groups like Porattam and Ayyankali Pada took part. There were also some sympathisers of the LTTE movement drawn from the border district of Idukki. A former leader of the Naxalite movement from Kerala was instrumental in organising this meeting which had made a blue print of increasing the presence of the Maoists in all districts of the state.
According to information available, the Maoists and the SIMI leadership had chalked out a game plan by which these organisations would jointly support each other in mass movements and had decided to interfere in all issues which would attract the attention of the common man with special emphasis on the middle class and the landless.
The Maoist’s are also trying to increase their influence among the unorganised workers in the state who are mostly from other states and working in Brick Kilns and in the construction industry. Highly placed sources told Organiser that there are several Maoist workers from different parts of the country who are camping in the state as ordinary workers in the construction industry. Their role is to try and educate other workers and to make them aware of their rights and slowly inject the Maoist ideology in these people. The attempt by Khobad Ghandi to rope in the intelligentsia was to educate these transformed youths on the finer points of Maoism and the fight against the Indian state.
The presence of Malla Raja Reddy in Angamaly near Aluva, which is a hot bed of Islamic terrorism and the arrest of a Maoist leader from Kannur district, which is the home district of Islamist terrorist Thadiyantavida Naseer has ,according to central agencies ,some direct links on the modus operandi of the Maoist groups and Islamic terrorists.
Maoist plan to take mayhem to South India and tie-up with Islamists
By Arun Lakshman /Thiruvananthapuram
The Maoists were using the sea network of LTTE for shipment of arms and ammunitions and some foreign countries, including the erstwhile Soviet block countries were involved in providing the much required arms and ammunitions to the outfit. However with the LTTE crushed, the Maoists are now getting in touch with the LeT for their arms needs which, according to intelligence sources is being gleefully accepted by the LeT.
THE Maoists which is facing some man power crunch in the Northern Indian states is now in the process of increasing and consolidating their presence in the South India. The Andhra police has recently arrested a top operative of the Maoist movement , Nandakumar alias Ranganna alias Pramod from Kannur district in Kerala and on interrogation he has told that he was a top leader in the movement and was deputed to increase his organisational presence in South India with special emphasis on Kerala , Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. He was arrested by the Hyderabad police while he was meeting top Maoist leaders there. Police sources told Organiser that he is a tough nut to crack and that he is giving information only in tits and bits and that he has mastered the art of diverting the interrogation process.
The Maoist leader said that as there is a basic presence in Andhra at the moment, the outfit is planning to increase its presence felt in the other South Indian states to broaden and widen its red corridor.
It may be recalled that the state police had arrested another top leader of the movement Malla Raja Reddy was arrested from Angamaly in Kerala in December 2007. He was also a top functionary of the organisation and was in charge of the South Indian states while operating from Kerala.
A former leader of the Naxalite movement Ramprakash (name changed) while speaking to Organiser said that the Maoist movement in Kerala is gaining momentum as more and more highly educated youths are loosing their trust in the democratic process in the country and at the massive corruption of senior leaders of political parties of all hue and cry. He further said that the Maoist movement will also be not able to solve the issues faced by the country but added that except for the killing and dacoitary conducted by the Maoist’s, he is in support of the rest of the operations of the organisation.
Sources in the central intelligence agencies while speaking to Organiser also said that the Maoist movement is getting physical training from even foreigners in the dense forest lands of Kerala in Idukki and Palakkad districts. He also said that the Maoist movement is also trying to employ extortion tactics in the state to fund its operations.
There are also indications of the involvement of certain Islamic groups with the Maoists for the supply of arms and ammunition to both the fragments and according to reports from the state special branch police and central intelligence agencies, there is a mutual arrangement taking place between the two outfits .
Sources in the RAW indicated that the Lashkar movement in Pakistan has given a green signal to the Indian operatives to have a strategic tie up with the Maoists in India. The idea behind this move is to destabilise India from within as according to another report Lashkar feels that if there is an attack by a foreigner there are all chances of the spirit of India rising and for this they have evolved the scheme of home grown terrorists. However with the Intelligence net work in the country getting some stupendous success in recent times by breaking the terror or jihadi network based in the middle east and in some parts of India, the Lashkar is trying to piggy ride on the infrastructure created by other organisations who are in a fight with the state of India. Here, according to central agencies fits in the Maoist who has a good infrastructure and with the romance of equality being their motto, the Maoists can engage in more youths for their struggle.
There are also reports that the Maoists were using the sea network of LTTE for shipment of arms and ammunitions and some foreign countries, including the erstwhile Soviet block countries were involved in providing the much required arms and ammunitions to the outfit. However with the LTTE crushed, the Maoists are now getting in touch with the LeT for their arms needs which, according to intelligence sources is being gleefully accepted by the LeT.
Sources in the Central intelligence agencies also revealed that the Maoists had in the past year tried to evolve a major network of intelligentsia in the state with the senior Maoist leader Kobad Ghandi being in charge of the operations. However sources told Organiser that this strategy did not work out to the expected levels of the organisation mainly owing to the reluctance of the intelligentsia to quit their comfort zones and to enter into a purely uncertain fight with the government machinery. Sources in the intelligence indicated that even though the game plan of the Maoists and their intelligentsia head, Khobad Ghandi could not rope in the intelligentsia as expected, they had got some highly motivated youngsters with good professional qualifications into the organisational fold.
Sources in the central agencies also told Organiser that the Maoists had conducted a highly confidential meeting in Palakkad district during December 2009 in which representatives of SIMI and groups like Porattam and Ayyankali Pada took part. There were also some sympathisers of the LTTE movement drawn from the border district of Idukki. A former leader of the Naxalite movement from Kerala was instrumental in organising this meeting which had made a blue print of increasing the presence of the Maoists in all districts of the state.
According to information available, the Maoists and the SIMI leadership had chalked out a game plan by which these organisations would jointly support each other in mass movements and had decided to interfere in all issues which would attract the attention of the common man with special emphasis on the middle class and the landless.
The Maoist’s are also trying to increase their influence among the unorganised workers in the state who are mostly from other states and working in Brick Kilns and in the construction industry. Highly placed sources told Organiser that there are several Maoist workers from different parts of the country who are camping in the state as ordinary workers in the construction industry. Their role is to try and educate other workers and to make them aware of their rights and slowly inject the Maoist ideology in these people. The attempt by Khobad Ghandi to rope in the intelligentsia was to educate these transformed youths on the finer points of Maoism and the fight against the Indian state.
The presence of Malla Raja Reddy in Angamaly near Aluva, which is a hot bed of Islamic terrorism and the arrest of a Maoist leader from Kannur district, which is the home district of Islamist terrorist Thadiyantavida Naseer has ,according to central agencies ,some direct links on the modus operandi of the Maoist groups and Islamic terrorists.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Mystery of our origins
India has one of the largest human biodiversity pools
By Dr Lalji Singh
India represents one of the largest human biodiversity pool in the world. There are 532 tribes, 72 primitive tribes and 36 hunters and gatherers. Although the genome sequences of any two unrelated people differ by just 0.1 per cent, that tiny slice of genetic material is a rich source of information. It provides clues that can help reconstruct the historical origins of modern populations.
The kings of South India, like the Chola and the Pandya dynasties, relate their lineages back to Manu. The Matsya Purana moreover makes Manu, the progenitor of all the Aryans, originally a south Indian king, Satyavrata. Hence these are not only traditions that make the Dravidian descendants of Vedic rishis and kings, but those that make the Aryans of North India descendants of Dravidian kings.
Dr Lalji Singh, former Director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, delivered the seventeenth Bhaorao Deoras Memorial Lecture in Lucknow on May 12. This article is based on that lecture.
SINCE the dawn of civilisation, man has been asking questions such as ‘who are we?’ and ‘where have we come from?’ Until 1858 it was universal belief that man is special creation of God. In 1858, based on phenotypic transition of various organisms including plant and animal species, Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution and wrote a book The Origin of Species. Eight years later in 1871, he wrote a book The Descent of Man. Based on the anatomical similarities, he declared that the chimpanzee and the gorilla are our closest living relatives and predicted that the earliest ancestors of humans would turn up in Africa, where our ape kins live today. Now it is widely accepted view that modern human diverged from a common ancestor of chimpanzee and human nearly 6-7 million years ago. Based on fossil records found in Africa, it is now believed that modern human originated from a single mother about 160,000 years ago in East Africa. East-African mega-droughts between 135 and 75 thousand years ago, when the water volume of the lake Malawi was reduced by at least 95 per cent, could have caused their migration out of Africa. The obvious question to ask is which route did they take? Our study of the tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands using complete mitochondrial DNA sequences, and its comparison with the mitochondrial DNA sequences of the world populations available in the database, led to the theory of southern coastal route of migration through India, against the prevailing view of northern route of migration via Middle East, Europe, south-east Asia, Australia and then to India. Our earlier study revealed that Negrito tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, such as Onge, Jarawa, Great Andamanese and Sentinelese, are probably the descendants of the first man who moved out of Africa.
This raised many questions such as: (i) what is the origin of mainland tribal and caste populations?; (ii) are there any population(s) in mainland India, which are close to Andamanese?; (iii) how much affinities the Indian populations have with Andamanese?; (iv) did the Indians contribute to the early human spread?
In order to answer these questions and to explore the ancient history of India we have harnessed genomic technology.
Ancient roots for India’s rich diversity
India represents one of the largest human biodiversity pool in the world. There are 532 tribes, 72 primitive tribes and 36 hunters and gatherers. Although the genome sequences of any two unrelated people differ by just 0.1 per cent, that tiny slice of genetic material is a rich source of information. It provides clues that can help reconstruct the historical origins of modern populations. It also points to genetic variations that heighten the risk of certain diseases. In recent years, maps of human genetic variation have opened a window onto the diversity of populations across the world, yet India has been largely unrepresented until now.
To shed light on the genetic variability across the Indian subcontinent, we analysed 132 Indian samples from 25 groups on an Affymetrix 6.0 array, yielding data for 587,753 SNPs after restricting to markers with good completeness. To span the widest range of ancestry in India, we sampled tribal groups from 13 states and 6 language families (Indo-European, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Great Andamanese and Jarawa-Onge). We also sampled caste groups mostly from Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh to permit comparison of traditionally "upper" and "lower" caste groups after controlling for geography. With tens of thousands of independent loci, we could estimate Fst (F-statistics) - accurately with just 2-9 samples per groups (with average standard error of + 0.0011). We also merged our data with 155 European (CEU), Chinese (CHB), and West African (YRI) samples from HapMap, and 938 samples from the Human Genome Diversity Panel (HGDP).
We analysed these data to address five questions about Indian genetics and history. Does the Indian subcontinent harbour more structure than Europe? Has strong endogamy been a long-standing feature of Indian groups? Do nearly all Indians descend from a mixture of populations, one of which was related to Central Asians, Middle Easterners and Europeans and probably lived in north India? Are tribal groups systematically different from castes, and do some tribal groups provide a good approximation for the ancestral populations of India? What is the origin of the indigenous Andaman Islanders?
All mainland Indian groups have inherited a mixture of ancestries
We provide strong evidence for two ancient and genetically divergent populations that are ancestral to most Indian groups today. One, the "Ancestral North Indians" (ANI), is genetically close to Middle Easterners, Central Asians, and Europeans, while the other, the "Ancestral South Indians" (ASI), is not close to any group outside the subcontinent. By introducing methods that can estimate ancestry without accurate ancestral populations, we show that ANI ancestry ranges from 39-71 per cent, and is higher in traditionally upper caste groups and Indo-European speakers. Groups with only ASI ancestry may no longer exist in mainland India.
The finding that nearly all Indian groups descend from mixtures of two ancestral populations applies to traditional "tribes" as well as "castes". It is impossible to distinguish castes from tribes using the data. The genetics prove that they are not systematically different. This supports the view that castes grew directly out of tribal-like organisations during the formation of Indian society. The one exception to the finding, that all Indian groups are mixed, is the indigenous people of the Andaman Islands, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean with a census of only a few hundred today. The Andamanese appear to be related exclusively to the Ancestral South Indian lineage and therefore lack Ancestral North Indian ancestry. In this sense, they are unique. Understanding their origins provides a window to look into the history of the Ancestral South Indians, and the period of tens of thousands years ago when they diverged from other Eurasians. Our project to sample the disappearing tribes of the Andaman Islands has been more successful than we hoped, as the Andamanese are the only surviving remnant of the ancient colonisers of South Asia.
Medical Implications
Our findings revealed that many groups in modern India descend from a small number of founding individuals, and have since been genetically isolated from other groups. In scientific parlance, this is called a "founder event". It has medical implications for Indian populations. Recessive hereditary diseases - single gene disorders that occur only when an individual carries two malfunctioning copies of the relevant gene - are likely to be common in populations descended from so few ‘founder’ individuals. Mapping the causal genes will help to address this problem. The widespread history of founder events in Indian populations helps to explain why the incidence of genetic diseases among Indians is different from the rest of the world. For example, an ancient deletion of 25 bp in the cardiac myosin-binding proteins-C gene (MYBPC3) is associated with heritable cardiomyopathies as well as with an increased risk of heart failure. Its prevalence is high (~4 per cent) in the general populations from the Indian subcontinent. However, this mutation is completely absent among the people from the rest of the world.
The finding that a large proportion of modern Indians descended from founder events means that India is genetically not a single large population; instead it is best described as many smaller isolated populations. Founder events in other groups, such as Finns and Ashkenazi Jews, are well-known to increase the incidence of recessive genetic diseases; and our study predicts that the same will be true for many groups in India. It is important to carry out a systematic survey of Indian groups to identify which ones descend from the strongest founder events. Further studies of these groups should lead to the rapid discovery of genes that cause devastating diseases, and thus will help in the clinical care of individuals and their families who are at risk.
Indo-European family of language and the concept of Aryan and Dravidian
The story of Indo-European family of languages was proposed by Sir William Jones before the Asiatic Society at Calcutta in 1786 (Jones, 1786). The Indo-European concept was a real breakthrough of scientific linguistics, linking languages widely separated in space, forming two blocks - an eastern one of Persian and Indic languages and a western European block, separated from one another by Semitic and Turkic languages. The Indo-European concept was anything but obvious - the idea, that is, that the two blocks of languages, so distant from one another, are nevertheless related to one another. Its discovery by Jones and others not only created a new science of language but it radically recorded existing ideas about the relations among different natives or races of people. Jones (1746-1794) was an employee of the East India Company who developed the Indo-European concept. He also made important identifications of words in the Romanic or Gypsy languages with Sanskrit (Jones, 1786). Marsdens’ (William Marsdens 1754-1836) early paper, comparing the Gypsy language with Hindustani, makes him one of the co-discoverers of its Indian origins.
Max Muller, who was one of the first to apply the Aryan name to the Indo-European concept identified the racial-linguistic entity as racially white and was instrumental in the formation of the racial theory of Indian civilisation.
The kings of South India, like the Chola and the Pandya dynasties, relate their lineages back to Manu. The Matsya Purana moreover makes Manu, the progenitor of all the Aryans, originally a south Indian king, Satyavrata. Hence these are not only traditions that make the Dravidian descendants of Vedic rishis and kings, but those that make the Aryans of North India descendants of Dravidian kings. The two cultures are so intimately related that it is difficult to say which came first.
The present research findings are consistent with the view of one school of thoughts that the Aryans and Dravidians are part of the same culture and we need not speak of them as separate. However, it contradicts the second school of historians such as Max Muller who for the first time applied the Aryan name to the Indo-European concept. It strongly suggests that dividing them and placing them at odds with each other serves the interest of neither but only serves to damage their common culture.
Our study is important in highlighting important questions still open for future research. One priority is to estimate a date for the ANI-ASI mixture; this may be possible by studying the length of stretches of ANI ancestry in modern Indian samples. Inferring a date is important, as we expect that it would shed light on the historical process leading to the present day structure of Indian groups. A second priority would be to follow up on the observation that many Indian descended from a small number of founders. The groups with the strongest founder effects can then be analysed to identify genetic variants that we predict will account for substantial rates of recessive disease in these groups. Have Eurasians descended from the Ancestral North Indians? This is the question we would like to address in our future research activities.
By Dr Lalji Singh
India represents one of the largest human biodiversity pool in the world. There are 532 tribes, 72 primitive tribes and 36 hunters and gatherers. Although the genome sequences of any two unrelated people differ by just 0.1 per cent, that tiny slice of genetic material is a rich source of information. It provides clues that can help reconstruct the historical origins of modern populations.
The kings of South India, like the Chola and the Pandya dynasties, relate their lineages back to Manu. The Matsya Purana moreover makes Manu, the progenitor of all the Aryans, originally a south Indian king, Satyavrata. Hence these are not only traditions that make the Dravidian descendants of Vedic rishis and kings, but those that make the Aryans of North India descendants of Dravidian kings.
Dr Lalji Singh, former Director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, delivered the seventeenth Bhaorao Deoras Memorial Lecture in Lucknow on May 12. This article is based on that lecture.
SINCE the dawn of civilisation, man has been asking questions such as ‘who are we?’ and ‘where have we come from?’ Until 1858 it was universal belief that man is special creation of God. In 1858, based on phenotypic transition of various organisms including plant and animal species, Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution and wrote a book The Origin of Species. Eight years later in 1871, he wrote a book The Descent of Man. Based on the anatomical similarities, he declared that the chimpanzee and the gorilla are our closest living relatives and predicted that the earliest ancestors of humans would turn up in Africa, where our ape kins live today. Now it is widely accepted view that modern human diverged from a common ancestor of chimpanzee and human nearly 6-7 million years ago. Based on fossil records found in Africa, it is now believed that modern human originated from a single mother about 160,000 years ago in East Africa. East-African mega-droughts between 135 and 75 thousand years ago, when the water volume of the lake Malawi was reduced by at least 95 per cent, could have caused their migration out of Africa. The obvious question to ask is which route did they take? Our study of the tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands using complete mitochondrial DNA sequences, and its comparison with the mitochondrial DNA sequences of the world populations available in the database, led to the theory of southern coastal route of migration through India, against the prevailing view of northern route of migration via Middle East, Europe, south-east Asia, Australia and then to India. Our earlier study revealed that Negrito tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, such as Onge, Jarawa, Great Andamanese and Sentinelese, are probably the descendants of the first man who moved out of Africa.
This raised many questions such as: (i) what is the origin of mainland tribal and caste populations?; (ii) are there any population(s) in mainland India, which are close to Andamanese?; (iii) how much affinities the Indian populations have with Andamanese?; (iv) did the Indians contribute to the early human spread?
In order to answer these questions and to explore the ancient history of India we have harnessed genomic technology.
Ancient roots for India’s rich diversity
India represents one of the largest human biodiversity pool in the world. There are 532 tribes, 72 primitive tribes and 36 hunters and gatherers. Although the genome sequences of any two unrelated people differ by just 0.1 per cent, that tiny slice of genetic material is a rich source of information. It provides clues that can help reconstruct the historical origins of modern populations. It also points to genetic variations that heighten the risk of certain diseases. In recent years, maps of human genetic variation have opened a window onto the diversity of populations across the world, yet India has been largely unrepresented until now.
To shed light on the genetic variability across the Indian subcontinent, we analysed 132 Indian samples from 25 groups on an Affymetrix 6.0 array, yielding data for 587,753 SNPs after restricting to markers with good completeness. To span the widest range of ancestry in India, we sampled tribal groups from 13 states and 6 language families (Indo-European, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Great Andamanese and Jarawa-Onge). We also sampled caste groups mostly from Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh to permit comparison of traditionally "upper" and "lower" caste groups after controlling for geography. With tens of thousands of independent loci, we could estimate Fst (F-statistics) - accurately with just 2-9 samples per groups (with average standard error of + 0.0011). We also merged our data with 155 European (CEU), Chinese (CHB), and West African (YRI) samples from HapMap, and 938 samples from the Human Genome Diversity Panel (HGDP).
We analysed these data to address five questions about Indian genetics and history. Does the Indian subcontinent harbour more structure than Europe? Has strong endogamy been a long-standing feature of Indian groups? Do nearly all Indians descend from a mixture of populations, one of which was related to Central Asians, Middle Easterners and Europeans and probably lived in north India? Are tribal groups systematically different from castes, and do some tribal groups provide a good approximation for the ancestral populations of India? What is the origin of the indigenous Andaman Islanders?
All mainland Indian groups have inherited a mixture of ancestries
We provide strong evidence for two ancient and genetically divergent populations that are ancestral to most Indian groups today. One, the "Ancestral North Indians" (ANI), is genetically close to Middle Easterners, Central Asians, and Europeans, while the other, the "Ancestral South Indians" (ASI), is not close to any group outside the subcontinent. By introducing methods that can estimate ancestry without accurate ancestral populations, we show that ANI ancestry ranges from 39-71 per cent, and is higher in traditionally upper caste groups and Indo-European speakers. Groups with only ASI ancestry may no longer exist in mainland India.
The finding that nearly all Indian groups descend from mixtures of two ancestral populations applies to traditional "tribes" as well as "castes". It is impossible to distinguish castes from tribes using the data. The genetics prove that they are not systematically different. This supports the view that castes grew directly out of tribal-like organisations during the formation of Indian society. The one exception to the finding, that all Indian groups are mixed, is the indigenous people of the Andaman Islands, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean with a census of only a few hundred today. The Andamanese appear to be related exclusively to the Ancestral South Indian lineage and therefore lack Ancestral North Indian ancestry. In this sense, they are unique. Understanding their origins provides a window to look into the history of the Ancestral South Indians, and the period of tens of thousands years ago when they diverged from other Eurasians. Our project to sample the disappearing tribes of the Andaman Islands has been more successful than we hoped, as the Andamanese are the only surviving remnant of the ancient colonisers of South Asia.
Medical Implications
Our findings revealed that many groups in modern India descend from a small number of founding individuals, and have since been genetically isolated from other groups. In scientific parlance, this is called a "founder event". It has medical implications for Indian populations. Recessive hereditary diseases - single gene disorders that occur only when an individual carries two malfunctioning copies of the relevant gene - are likely to be common in populations descended from so few ‘founder’ individuals. Mapping the causal genes will help to address this problem. The widespread history of founder events in Indian populations helps to explain why the incidence of genetic diseases among Indians is different from the rest of the world. For example, an ancient deletion of 25 bp in the cardiac myosin-binding proteins-C gene (MYBPC3) is associated with heritable cardiomyopathies as well as with an increased risk of heart failure. Its prevalence is high (~4 per cent) in the general populations from the Indian subcontinent. However, this mutation is completely absent among the people from the rest of the world.
The finding that a large proportion of modern Indians descended from founder events means that India is genetically not a single large population; instead it is best described as many smaller isolated populations. Founder events in other groups, such as Finns and Ashkenazi Jews, are well-known to increase the incidence of recessive genetic diseases; and our study predicts that the same will be true for many groups in India. It is important to carry out a systematic survey of Indian groups to identify which ones descend from the strongest founder events. Further studies of these groups should lead to the rapid discovery of genes that cause devastating diseases, and thus will help in the clinical care of individuals and their families who are at risk.
Indo-European family of language and the concept of Aryan and Dravidian
The story of Indo-European family of languages was proposed by Sir William Jones before the Asiatic Society at Calcutta in 1786 (Jones, 1786). The Indo-European concept was a real breakthrough of scientific linguistics, linking languages widely separated in space, forming two blocks - an eastern one of Persian and Indic languages and a western European block, separated from one another by Semitic and Turkic languages. The Indo-European concept was anything but obvious - the idea, that is, that the two blocks of languages, so distant from one another, are nevertheless related to one another. Its discovery by Jones and others not only created a new science of language but it radically recorded existing ideas about the relations among different natives or races of people. Jones (1746-1794) was an employee of the East India Company who developed the Indo-European concept. He also made important identifications of words in the Romanic or Gypsy languages with Sanskrit (Jones, 1786). Marsdens’ (William Marsdens 1754-1836) early paper, comparing the Gypsy language with Hindustani, makes him one of the co-discoverers of its Indian origins.
Max Muller, who was one of the first to apply the Aryan name to the Indo-European concept identified the racial-linguistic entity as racially white and was instrumental in the formation of the racial theory of Indian civilisation.
The kings of South India, like the Chola and the Pandya dynasties, relate their lineages back to Manu. The Matsya Purana moreover makes Manu, the progenitor of all the Aryans, originally a south Indian king, Satyavrata. Hence these are not only traditions that make the Dravidian descendants of Vedic rishis and kings, but those that make the Aryans of North India descendants of Dravidian kings. The two cultures are so intimately related that it is difficult to say which came first.
The present research findings are consistent with the view of one school of thoughts that the Aryans and Dravidians are part of the same culture and we need not speak of them as separate. However, it contradicts the second school of historians such as Max Muller who for the first time applied the Aryan name to the Indo-European concept. It strongly suggests that dividing them and placing them at odds with each other serves the interest of neither but only serves to damage their common culture.
Our study is important in highlighting important questions still open for future research. One priority is to estimate a date for the ANI-ASI mixture; this may be possible by studying the length of stretches of ANI ancestry in modern Indian samples. Inferring a date is important, as we expect that it would shed light on the historical process leading to the present day structure of Indian groups. A second priority would be to follow up on the observation that many Indian descended from a small number of founders. The groups with the strongest founder effects can then be analysed to identify genetic variants that we predict will account for substantial rates of recessive disease in these groups. Have Eurasians descended from the Ancestral North Indians? This is the question we would like to address in our future research activities.
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