HVK Archives by Publication
Starting: Sat 01 Feb 1997 - 06:30:53 EDT
Ending: Fri 28 Feb 1997 - 06:57:07 EDT
Messages: 223
- Afternoon Despatch & Courier
- BJP Today
- From the BJP party president L K Advani
- 16-28 February 1997
>>>Dear friend,
This incident occurred ten years back, that is, in 1987. State
Assembly Elections were being held in Kerala. In the course of my
campaigning I ran into three Sikh youths who told me that they were
dealers in automobile spare parts, that they had come that very
...
- Communalism Combat
- Culture vultures Vijay Prashad
- 1997 February
>>>On 11 June 1995, at a Satyanarayan temple in New York City, the New
York shakha of the Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh held a Hindu Sangathan
Diwas (Hindu Unity day). Dr.Yash Pal Lakra, president of the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), was the keynote speaker.
The Sangh advertised the event with a quotation from Swami
...
- Daily Telegraph (London)
- Frontline
- Hindu Heritage
- HINDU JAGRITI KENDRA
- Hindustan Times
- SC defines ambit of State's role in religion Bal Krishna
- 20 January 1997
>>>The verdict of the Supreme Court in Vaishno Devi shrine case holding that the
service of the priest is a secular activity and that it may he regulated by
the State clearly defines the role of the State in the matter of religion.
Making a distinction between religious service and the person who performs
the service, the court says that performance of the religious service
...
- India Today
- In search of God G C Shekhar
- 28 February 1997
>>>To Believe or not to believe in God is the question in Tamil Nadu,
the state where politics has been shaped by the anti-religion
ideology of the Dravida movement. Elsewhere in India, nobody would
bat an eyelid if a chief minister's son visited a temple: but in
Tamil Nadu, the simple act of paying obeisance to God gets noticed.
...
- Manushi
- Mid-Day
- Epic lessons T V R Shenoy
- 21 February 1997
>>>That which is not contained within it does not exist elsewhere."
That is how the ancients described the greatest of all epics, the
Mahabharata.
"Oh yes?!" sneer the sceptics of our 'secular' age. "If it really
has everything, how come it doesn't name those whom Bofors bribed?"
...
- Caste-away Rajinder Puri
- 31 January 1997
>>>If From India Gate we take a taxi to Parliament House and pass
Qutub Minar, won't we check if we're going the right way?
Then why not check the path we've taken on reservation? On our
journey towards social justice we've passed some odd sights related
to caste and class.
- Newsweek
- Organiser
- The mystery of wailing Muslim, ailing Hindu Ram Gopal
- 16 February 1997
>>>Sometime in the first week of August 1996, Shri Atal Behari
Vajpayee, former prime .minister and a prominent leader of the BJP,
said at a meeting of the BJP's Minorities Morcha in New Delhi, that
the real issue before the Indian Muslim was "not Baburi, meaning,
the Baburi. mosque, but barabari (equality)". A few days later,
...
- A move against the missionaries' menace G. Shreedathan
- 16 February 1997
>>>"The Communist Party in Kerala is now-a-days grappling with a new
problem," says Shri Kummanam Rajasekharan the Kerala State Vishva
Hindu Parishad Organising Secretary who was in Delhi recently,
Talking to G. Shreedathan of Organiser about the recent political
and social developments in the State Shri Rajasekharan said : "Of
...
- Mewat Jogis return to Hindu fold Pramod Kumar
- 19 January 1997
>>>Amidst slogans like Garva se kaho ham Hindu hain, Guru Goraksha
Nath maharaj ki jai, over 2500 Muslim jogis of Mewat region
(Rajasthan) returned to their original roots, i.e., the Hindu fold,
on January 5. An impressive public function was held at Nagar town
of Bharatpur district to welcome them back to the community from
...
- Outlook
- Sunday
- Making sense of Bofors Vir Sanghvi
- 2-8 February 1997
>>>Who took the Bofors money?
We still don't know. That is to say, we now have the names of one
set of beneficiaries but we don't know who the payments were
finally intended for, or even what the beneficiaries did in return
for the money.
- Sunday Observer
- Look back with pride, not anger Arun Nehru
- 23-March February 1
>>>A midst the confusion prevailing in the country, political trends
are becoming clear. The Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have
recovered from its 13 day government, the debacle in Gujarat, and
the electoral setback in Uttar Pradesh.
Is this going to last? Can the BJP govern over a period of time?
...
- Telegraph
- The Afternoon Despatch and Courier
- The Asian Age
- In December '92 Rao had his own agenda Seema Mustafa
- 14 February 1997
>>>By the first week of December, all sources of information,
intelligence reports, police surveillance and political assessment,
had a common message for the then Prime Minister, Mr P.V. Narsimha
Rao: only urgent pre-emptive action could prevent the demolition of
the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1996.
- `Rape, torture rampant in Pakistan' UNI
- 7 February 1997
>>> Extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest and detention,
torture or abuse of prisoners and detainees and rape of
women by security forces were widely reported in Pakistan
during 1996 with the overall human rights situation
remaining poor.
- BJP marries SAD in Punjab with an eye on Delhi Parwez Hafeez
- 5 February 1997
>>>The stridency with which everyone from the incumbent Prime Minister
Mr H.D. Deve Gowda to the aspiring Prime Minister Mr Sitaram Kesri
have been lashing out against what they dub as "an unholy alliance"
between the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal group) and the Bharatiya
Janata Party, it is becoming increasingly clear that the alliance
...
- Shekhawat's Jaipur Arthashastra Milap Chand Dandia
- 26 January 1997
>>>"It takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you to the
heart," goes a famous line, "the one to slander you and the other to get the
news to you." Rajasthan chief minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was battling
for life in a US hospital when he heard the news of his adversaries' plans to
dislodge him from the chief minister's chair. Doctors had suggested
...
- Pak-India forum treats Kashmir as 3rd entity Seema Mustafa
- 26 January 1997
>>>Leading intellectuals who attended a convention of the Pakistan-Indian
People's Forum for Peace and Democracy in Calcutta recently, have endorsed a
resolution that clearly puts Kashmir in the category of a third country,
after India and Pakistan.
The convention, which was attended by 164 journalists, academics, trade
...
- Karan tells minorities to end protests in Kashmir Posted By Ashok V Chowgule - 25 January 1997
>>>Dr Karan Singh on Friday asked minorities in Jammu and Kashmir give up
sit-ins and demonstrations and instead voice their views in a proper way.
In a statement here, Dr Karan Singh, who was recently elected to the Rahjya
Sabha after the ruling National Conference supported his candidature, said
the minorities should air their views on autonomy and other related issues
...
- Shekhawat's Jaipur Arthashastra Milap Chand Dandia
- 26 January 1997
>>>"It takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you to the
heart," goes a famous line, "the one to slander you and the other to get the
news to you." Rajasthan chief minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was battling
for life in a US hospital when he heard the news of his adversaries' plans to
dislodge him from the chief minister's chair. Doctors had suggested
...
- Two Yadavs and misplaced sense of importance Seema Mustafa
- 1 February 1997
>>>There is, a four leaf clover in each Yadav's hand. He keeps
plucking out the leaves chanting "he loves me, he loves me not" and
according to the answer the two get together, or stay apart. The
"two" are also the Yadav's who have this peculiar relationship
where they do not hesitate to embrace no sooner than they have
...
- The Bombay Times
- The Economic Times
- Ram, deliver us from Sitarams T V R Shenoy
- 26 February 1997
>>>I can fight you," Narasimha Rao wailed, "but I can't fight Lord
Rama." It was nice of the Congress to admit that the Lord is on the
side of the BJP, but that is not what I wish to talk about now.
No, today we should discuss the forces backing the United Front.
On the principle that 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em' the United
...
- The QRS triangle T V R Shenoy
- 19 February 1997
>>>Ottavio Quattrocchi has asked everyone to stop linking him with the
'B' word. So have Snamprogetti, his former employer.
Let us accept these disclaimers at face value. After all, the
letter 'B' is a long way off from the letters 'Q' and 'S' in the
alphabetic run. But both are very close to the letter 'R' as in
...
- Artistic freedom never crosses our borders Kumaran Suresh
- 17 February 1997
>>>Sir: Mr. Narcor Balachandran's letter (ET 5 February) raises
certain pertinent points which need to be addressed squarely.
To start with, Goddess Saraswathi has never been portrayed nude m
any of the Hindu sculptures or paintings, even ancient ones. She is
always referred to as wearing a white sari with a swan in
...
- Kamadeva who? Editorial
- 17 February 1997
>>>Seventeen centuries ago, Vatsyayana described 64 different ways of
making love in his Kamasutra. Thus, long before Gutenberg's
discovery of the printing press, India led the world in publishing
sex manuals. Today, the title of the book has been turned into a
condom brand name, and Indians get more thrills from drippy,
...
- Fate of UF government uncertain, says Paswan Gaya
- 17 February 1997
>>>The Union railway minister, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, today said he as
not sure how long the United Front government would last while
conceding that the alliance was facing "difficulties" in taking
policy decisions.
"I am unable to say how long the 13-party coalition will remain In
...
- From victims to equals Diwakar
- 9 February 1997
>>>The Unrelenting competition for power and societal resources and,
above all, the unhappiness of individuals and classes with their
present lot, is proving to he a major catalyst for re-evaluating
the role of heroes, and for re-appraising the relevance of ideas
and ideologies. The knocking down of statues of Marx and Lenin from
...
- Lessons from Punjab Editorial
- 11 February 1997
>>>The election results from Punjab puncture a few myths and reinforce
democracy. The turnout of 65-70 per cent shows that these elections
were a genuine exercise in democracy. Ironically, it also
vindicates the Congress claim that they had, indeed, restored
normalcy to the state. Things had become so normal that who
...
- The Kesri bubble T V R Shenoy
- 5 February 1997
>>>What is common to Sitaram Kesri and a soap bubble? Both are
transparent, contain nothing substantial, and burst when they reach
the top.
Two months ago, Kesri was the rising hope of all true Congressmen.
He had wormed his way into the Congress presidency, and then
...
- An open letter to the finance minister Surjit S Bhalla
- 31 January 1997
>>>Dear Sir, you are about to proceed to the World Economic Forum in
Davos and meet like-minded reformers there. The greeting is
inevitably going to be: What have you done for reforms lately? To
which your reply will be: "Not much,' but then I had to make the
budget within days of assuming office". So far so good the
...
- An open letter to the finance minister Surjit S Bhalla
- 31 January 1997
>>>Dear Sir, you are about to proceed to the World Economic Forum in
Davos and meet like-minded reformers there. The greeting is
inevitably going to be: What have you done for reforms lately? To
which your reply will be: "Not much,' but then I had to make the
budget within days of assuming office". So far so good the
...
- The Economist
- Indonesia's latest uprising Kalimantan
- 15 February 1997
>>>Driving inland from the west coast of Kalimantan, the
Indonesian-controlled part of the island of Borneo, is like
entering a war zone. The road stretches ahead to the forested hills
in the distance without a car in sight. The only visible movement
is from the heavily-armed troops patrolling the road, or speeding
...
- China's rebellious west Posted By Ashok V Chowgule - 15 February 1997
>>>China and Indonesia, the two most populous countries in East Asia,
are both struggling to contain outbreaks of ethnic conflict. We
report first on the problems in China's Xinjiang province
Those who speculate that China might one day split up like the old
Soviet Union are often reminded that China is much more ethnically
...
- The Economist, London
- How to cut the cost of politics Editorial
- 8 Feb 1997
>>>"LET us commit ourselves tonight, before the eyes of America, to finally
enacting campaign-finance reform." Thus Bill Clinton, in what he clearly
saw as the bravest bit of his state-of-the-union message after balancing
the budget. Virtuous stuff, indeed; but hardly credible. For a start, Mr
Clinton was elected on a tidal wave of money. Second, most politicians
...
- The Economist, London.
- Politicians for rent Posted By Ashok V Chowgule - 8 Feb 1996.
>>>Campaigns and money are inextricably linked, nowhere more notoriously
than in the United States. Is this pernicious? And has any country found
a formula to keep campaign spending under control?
EVER since partisan appeals were chiselled into the walls of ancient
Greece, election campaigns have cost money. And ever since the first
...
- The Examiner
- Indonesia Muslims scholar praised; and a comment UCAN
- 22 February 1997
>>>NOTE: The Examiner is a Catholic Church weekly from Mumbai, India,
and claims to be the oldest Christian publication in India.
A Catholic politician has commended a Muslim psychologist for his
article that places the onus on Islamic fanaticism as the main
cause of recent anti-Christian riots in two predominantly Muslim
...
- The Financial Express
- Two mutually exclusive questions K Govindam Kutty
- 3 February 1997
>>>Two old questions animate the current political gossip. Will the
Congress pull down the Gowda government? Is it going to ask for a
share in power? The questions are contradictory. If Gowda's
government falls, Congressmen can't join it. They will not by
themselves pull it down if they choose to join it. Yet both these
...
- The Free Press Journal
- The Communist Party of India: A national joke M V Kamath
- 16 January 1997
>>>Poor Jyoti Basu. He thinks that it was a "historic blunder" on the
part of the CPI (M) not to join the kichidi government a.k.a. the
United Front in Delhi. He had been offered the Prime Ministership
but the hotheads in the party would not let him accept the honour.
It had to be turned down. That, according to Jyoti Basu, was the
...
- The Hindu
- Rightwing wrests one more French town Vaiju Naravane
- 11 February 1997
>>>France's extreme right wing party, the National Front, won a
crucial election in the southern town of Vitrolles, wresting it
from the Socialist Party. The National Front, which has made
anti-immigrant rhetoric its principal electoral platform, now
controls four cities in France, including Toulon, base of the
...
- Women priests overtaken male counterparts in Maharashtra PTI
- 5 February 1997
>>>With an increasing number of men of religion taking up other more
lucrative vocations, women are now stepping into the gap to
actually outnumber male priests in Maharashtra.
Dr. V L. Manjul, a research scholar and chief librarian at Pune's
Bhandarkar Oriental Re. search Institute, says "between 1986 and
...
- Sahmat sore with CPI(M) Hasan Suroor
- 1 January 1997
>>>Either glasnost has finally arrived in the CPI(M) or the right hand of the
party does not know what the left is doing, judging from its free-wheeling
approach to the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (Sahmat), an organisation of
left-wing artists and writers which commemorates the death anniversary of
Safdar Hashmi tomorrow amid a controversy over its aim and some of the means
...
- U.S. report on rights: How objective? Sridhar Krishnaswami
- 1 February 1997
>>>The "much awaited" report of the United ' States on Human Rights is
now out; and if the recent past is any indication it will be time
to "look forward" to the next report around the same time next
year. Some will make the point that the positive aspect of the
State Department notings on the rights' record of nations, both
...
- The Hindustan Times
- A New exodus? Editorial
- 21 February 1997
>>>Reports that many Muslim families had been forced to leave their
homes in the Valley in recent weeks is particularly disturbing when
a popular government had been in place. The story of the exodus
from the Valley has been one uninterrupted saga of suffering since
the militants first struck in the Valley over eight years ago. Even
...
- Detecting illegal migrants not EC's job Darshan Balwally
- 16 February 1997
>>>Election Commissioner G. V. G. Krishnamurthy today distanced -the
Commission from the job of detecting illegal migrants whose names
are reportedly appearing in the electoral rolls.
Admitting that names of illegal migrants had been included in the
Assam electoral rolls, Mr Krishnamurthy said that detection as also
...
- Harappan-Vedic links of Dholavira possible Kumkum Chadha
- 1 February 1997
>>>Dholavira is a village with a population of 1200 odd people, which
has experienced intermittent drought for over 30 years and a
successive one for the last seven years now.
Situated in the isolated region in Khadir in Gujarat's Great Rann
of Kutch, it has, since January 1990, been "invaded: by the
...
- 1,100 Jamait activists teaching in schools Arun Joshi
- 12 February 1997
>>>The Jammu and Kashmir Government had absorbed 1, 100 hard-core
Jamait-e-Islami activists as teachers in the Government schools
during the past seven years of militancy in the State.
These activists who were teaching in the Jamait-e-Islami run
schools or 'Madrassas' till 1990 were absorbed into the Government
...
- Jinnah film stokes fire again Vijay Dutta
- 12 February 1997
>>>An overt and pernicious attempt is obviously being made to
denigrate India and drag down its stature internationally by
attacking and defaming Jawaharlal Nehru in a film on Mohammed Ali
Jinnah. The shooting of the film is slated to start in a few weeks
under the supervision of Prof Akbar Ahmed, a former Pakistan Civil
...
- Case of minorities Editorial
- 8 February 1997
>>>Given the traumatic circumstances in which the Indian State was
formed, it is not surprising that the founding fathers of the
Constitution dealt with the question of minorities in considerable
detail. After all, the country was partitioned something which was
inconceivable even two or three years before the fateful event -
...
- Stop the HuT? Posted By Ashok V Chowgule - Mon, 10 Feb 97 15:21:11 EST
>>>Extremists launch Hindu-Sikh hate campaign
Hizb-ut-Tahrir(HuT) is an ultra fundamentalist terrorist group.
HuT, and other similar outfits, call for a JIHAD (Holy War) against
Hindus, Sikhs, Jews and all those who do not submit to their
intolerant ideology. These groups are now active in over 50 UK
...
- Marxist blunderbuss Amulya Ganguli
- 24 January 1997
>>>Since communism itself is a historical blunder, whose dreadful
mistakes are only now being slowly corrected in the unhappy
countries where the doctrine was first tried out, it is not
surprising that its practitioners occasionally find the iron
discipline too much to bear and blurt out the truth about its many
...
- Pandits rap J&K panel on autonomy Anil Anand
- 5 February 1997
>>>The Kashmiri Pandits settled abroad have questioned the logic
behind the claim for more autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir. 'Me
State Government has already constituted a committee headed by Dr
Karan Singh to look into this issue. Autonomy was an important
promise made by the ruling National Conference during the recent
...
- A Goebbels in DD? Editorial
- 25 January 1997
>>>The crude manner in which Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee's views
expressed on the Netaji's centenary function on Thursday
were blacked out by Doordarshan ominously points to the
presence of a Goebbels at eh head of the Information and
Broadcasting Ministry. Of course, Mr C.M. Ibrahim nowhere
...
- Vajpayee's speech censored? HTC
- 24 January 1997
>>>Thousands of TV viewers watching the live telecast of the
Subhas Chandra Bose birth centenary function at Red Fort
were jolted into rude silence on Thursday when the
transmission suddenly went off. At that point, leader of
the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and former Prime Minister
...
- The Indian Express
- It's not good we're feeling Editorial
- 27 February 1997
>>>The purpose of the pre-Budget Economic Survey is to give an
overview of past and present economic performance as well as a
sense of what is to come. Together with the Budget, it constitutes
a basis for economic expectations, which have a way of fulfilling
themselves by influencing the mood of business and capital markets.
...
- Sena-BJP prevails Editorial
- 26 February 1997
>>>The results of polls in nine municipalities, which account for most
of Maharashtra's industry and commerce, confirm major trends in the
Assembly and Lok Sabha elections of 1995 and 1996. This Shiv Sena
and BJP held on to their constituencies and continued their
demolition job on the Congress in others. Once again the Congress
...
- Blot on the landscape Editorial
- 26 February 1997
>>>Home Minister Indrajit Gupta has shown characteristic candour in
revealing to Parliament what is hardly the best kept national
secret: that "the largest State in the country is heading towards
anarchy, chaos and destruction". Simultaneously, Gupta has admitted
the Centre's helplessness in coping with the prevailing state of
...
- The Hindutva rate of duplicity Sunil Jain
- 25 February 1997
>>>Fortunately, for the economy, the BJP is not close to coming to
power in the near future. Whatever one's view of the party's stand
on Hindutva (I personally endorse part of it), its vision of the
economy is confused or duplicitous, depending on whether one wants
to be charitable or not. A view best expressed by the German
...
- Delights of counter-revolution Swapan Dasgupta
- 22 February 1997
>>>A part from a slightly battered copy of Chairman Mao's infamous Red
Book, my most treasured possession of communist memorabilia is a
transcript of the Moscow trials of the 1930s which resulted in
Stalin eliminating the cream of the Bolshevik leadership. The
three-volume collection was purchased sometime in 1975 from a
...
- Define minorities correctly Krishan Mahajan
- 24 February 1997
>>>The meaning to be given to the fundamental right of religious and
linguistic minorities to have educational institutions of their
choice is now before an 11-judge bench of the apex court. It is a
political issue with a troublesome and emotive history on which the
court is asked to deliberate. Under the Constitution the
...
- Of ignoramus eager beavers Jagmohan
- 21 February 1997
>>>It speaks volumes about Indian 'intellectuals' of the genre who
gathered in Calcutta recently for a meeting with their Pakistani
counterparts that they spoke of the 'people of Kashmir' as if they
were a different entity to the people of India. As reported by a
national daily, "Not a single Indian, senior politician or
...
- Aurobindo Ashram in knots T Manivannan
- 16 February 1997
>>>Long simmering internal problems in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, a
spiritual institution teaching integral yoga, have now spilled over
to the public arena with matters being brought to court by a
section of its inmates.
The Ashram - a revered institution with a large following of
...
- We have friends, you know Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
- 14 February 1997
>>>The first aspect of Ottavio Quattrocchi's personality that strikes
anyone who has met him is his constant endeavour to be affable. He
would often bend over backwards when asked to nod his head. Some of
the sweetness was obviously put on, one later realised. For, when
the occasion arose, he could be rude and brusque. And patronising
...
- BJP's gamble pays off, boosts morale Arati R Jerath
- 14 February 1997
>>>The Bharatiya Janata Party's mood pendulum has swung the other way.
From being down m the dumps after the recent setbacks in Gujarat
and Uttar Pradesh, the party is now up, ironically as stunned by
its unexpected victories in Nagaur and Chhindwada as the Congress
is by the defeat in the two constituencies, traditionally regarded
...
- Why is the UF celebrating Congress' defeat? Vijay Simha
- 12 February 1997
>>>Ironically, the 1997 Punjab Assembly elections, in which the United
Front (UF) and its biggest ally, the Congress, received a drubbing,
couldn't have come at a better time for the 13-party ruling
coalition. Though the performance at the hustings should be cause
for concern, it should surprise no one if the UF leaders are
...
- Akali hero, Surjeet zero Editorial
- 12 February 1997
>>>The most charitable explanation for the pitiful performance of the
two Communist parties in the Punjab Assembly elections is that the
electorate was able to successfully distinguish between true Akalis
and counterfeit ones. This belated recognition will, of course, not
make the slightest impression on CPI(M) general secretary,
...
- Return to popular rule Editorial
- 11 February 1997
>>>The victory of the Akali Dal (Badal)-BJP combine in Punjab is
nothing short of spectacular. It re-establishes the fact that the
Congress victory in the previous election was an aberration and a
miscarriage of democracy. From the electorate's point of view the
Akali-BJP Government will be the first real popular Government
...
- Triumph of the outsider Gautam Sen
- 10 February 1997
>>>The chequered history of the Bengali babu is evidently coming to a
close. The slender political hold over Calcutta and the aesthetic
pretensions of the babu are succumbing to the inexorabic forces of
the marketplace.
Much of the modern history of the Bengali babu and Calcutta has
...
- Violence again in Talasari Express News Service
- 7 February 1997
>>>Talasari, the predominantly tribal taluka in the Thane district of
Maharashtra, which was once a bastion of the Communist Party
Marxist (CPM), is once again tense following renewed violence.
After the violence inflicted by CPM activists on rival Bharatiya
Janata Party members on January 26, that caused the death of two
...
- Inching forward, despite boredom Swapan Dasgupta
- 8 February 1997
>>>Traditionally, or at any rate since 1988, the BJP beat has been
regarded as a prize assignment in Delhi's journalistic circles.
Apart from the obvious fact that the BJP was a party constantly on
the move, the utterances and statements of the party leadership
offered ample scope for what may loosely be called ideological
...
- Minority issue referred to 11-judge bench Express News Service
- 7 February 1997
>>>The seven-judge Constitution bench, looking into the question of
definition of 'minority' - religious and linguistic - and the
contentious issue of minority education, including access to
technical education, has referred the matter to a larger bench.
While referring the matter to a 1l-judge bench, the court which has
...
- The ghettoised Muslim stereotype Seema Alavi
- 7 February 1997
>>>During a recent visit to Germany I was struck by the squalor of
what constituted the "Turkish Quarters" in that country. These
were enclaves of the predominantly Muslim Turkish people located in
most of the sanitised "high tech" towns like Bonn, Dusseldorf and
Kolon. In these Turkish ghettos the local population lives seeking
...
- RSS chief warns against communal tension in TN ENS & UNI
- 5 February 1997
>>>Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) leader Prof Rajinder Singh today
Warned that the situation in Tamil Nadu which is witnessing a spate
of communal killings, would go out of control unless strong action
was taken without pressure or favour.
Addressing a press conference here after touring the state, Singh
...
- Vaghela to contest from Radhanpur Deepal Trivedi
- 5 February 1997
>>>Ending speculations about where he would contest from, Gujarat
Chief Minister Shankersinh Vaghela has finally decided to contest
from Radhanpur in Banaskantha district.
According to reliable sources, Independent candidate Lavingji
Solanki has decided to vacate his seat for the Chief Minister.
...
- A question of national paternity Sultan Shahin
- 30 January 1997
>>>It takes the a audacity of, a Thackeray or a Mayavati to question
the integrity of the father of a nation. But once the lions have
roared even lesser mortals can chip in. I cannot think of the
Mahatma as a fraud or a sexual pervert. I do, however. hesitate to
label him as the father of the nation. The 50th year of our
...
- Target : India Chidanand Rajghatta
- 26 January 1997
>>>The United States' highest ranking woman government executive in 220 years
straight away defined her priorities on Day One of her tenure at the State
Department, in the process identifying the Indian subcontinent as one of the
neglected regions of the world and promising it increased attention.
In her first pow-wow with the media at the State Department on Friday. after
...
- Why is this man smiling? Kaveree Bamzai
- 4 February 1997
>>>It's ironic that the two prime movers of the Broadcast Bill are now
connected with Star TV, the network whose plans it may hurt most.
While former Doordarshan Director-General Rathikant Basu heads
Start TV, India, the other, former Information and Broadcasting
Secretary Bhaskar Ghose, has just premiered an eponymous show on
...
- Combat in Coimbatore Editorial
- 4 February 1997
>>>The communal violence that has rocked Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu is
familiar insofar as the pattern is concerned - a murder sparking
off retributive stab-and-run killings. Seven people have already
fallen prey to the mindless violence let loose in what was once
known as the Manchester of the South. But to dismiss the whole
...
- Why is this man smiling? Kaveree Bamzai
- 4 February 1997
>>>It's ironic that the two prime movers of the Broadcast Bill are now connected
with Star TV, the network whose plans it may hurt most. While former
Doordarshan Director-General Rathikant Basu heads Start TV, India, the other,
former Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bhaskar Ghose, has just
premiered an eponymous show on Star Movies.
- Combat in Coimbatore Editorial
- 4 February 1997
>>>The communal violence that has rocked Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu is familiar
insofar as the pattern is concerned - a murder sparking off retributive
stab-and-run killings. Seven people have already fallen prey to the mindless
violence let loose in what was once known as the Manchester of the South.
But to dismiss the whole incident as sporadic and unplanned is to gloss over
...
- A question of national paternity Sultan Shahin
- 30 January 1997
>>>It takes the a audacity of, a Thackeray or a Mayavati to question
the integrity of the father of a nation. But once the lions have
roared even lesser mortals can chip in. I cannot think of the
Mahatma as a fraud or a sexual pervert. I do, however. hesitate to
label him as the father of the nation. The 50th year of our
...
- The Observer
- BJP should look beyond the heartland Prafull Goradia
- 27 February 1997
>>>The Bharatiya Janata P" (BJP) has four electoral adversaries: One,
parties which exploit casteism; two, similar parties that also
pamper minorities; three, the communists; and four, the
sub-nationalists or regional parties.
With tile help of its Hindutva platform, the BJP has been able to
...
- Defining religion Sita Ram Goel
- 22 February 1997
>>>Who are you? How do you define yourself?
I am a Hindu, which to me means the inheritor of the oldest and the
highest spiritual culture known to human history. Although I have
been in service and business to earn my living, I define myself as
a writer. I started as a poet, became a novelist, and have ended as
...
- Misleading stance - a letter L T Sippy
- 23-March February 1
>>>In our country, we have often witnessed a slanging match between
the "secularists" and "saffronites", leaving the common man to
analyse the nationalistic credentials of these outfits. Compare,
for example, the last general election held in India with the
recently concluded one in Pakistan.
- Byelection readings Dina Nath Mishra
- 20 February 1997
>>>United Front government led by Deve Gowda had come into being after
President Dr S D Sharma received a letter from the then Congress
President Narasimha Rao conveying unconditional support of his
party. The Congress had explained its support to the nation that
it had done it to keep the communal forces out of power and
...
- Polity's downward plunge Inder Malhotra
- 19 February 1997
>>>Eight months after the country was supposed to have entered the
brave new era of coalition politics with all the "secular" forces
having united to keep the "communal" BJP at bay - Indian polity not
only continues to slide downwards but also its plunge is becoming
speedier and more dismal. The Congress party's change of stance
...
- Right to Pray T K Devasia
- 15 February 1997
>>>The raging debate over the entry of women in mosques has sharpened
the divisions in the Muslim community in Kerala. Palayam Imam P K
Ahmedkutty Moulavi who stired the debate by allowing women for the
first time inside a south Kerala mosque for Ramazan prayers, is not
only sticking to his ground, but has also given a call for opening
...
- Lesson from the byelections Editorial
- 14 February 1997
>>>The unwashed voter of the world's largest democracy has once again
lived up to his reputation as its most dependable sentinel. He has
done it this time, through the recent byelections, by punishing
those who dared take liberties with him and, at the same time,
rewarding those who have shown a genuine earnestness to serve him.
...
- No brief for nationalism Prafull Goradia
- 13 February 1997
>>>The Fourth International was called by the exiled Russian leader,
and the erstwhile right hand man of Lenin, Leon Trotsky. He stood
for what he called a permanent or a world revolution as the top
priority. National boundaries were irrelevant and a proletarian
revolution was not secure until all countries underwent Such a
...
- Christians driven from homes in Pak Reuter
- 13 February 1997
>>>Nearly 1,000 Pakistani Christian families are living in tents after
being driven from their Punjab homes by Muslim rioters, a bishop
said on Wednesday.
Alexander John Malik, the bishop of Lahore, said after visiting the
Christian-populated village of Shantinagar that the whole village,
...
- A wise decision Editorial
- 12 February 1997
>>>President Shankar Dayal Sharma should be congratulated for
upholding the standards of parliamentary democracy by his
well-considered decision not to approve the latest government list
of nominees to the Rajya Sabha. Going by the reports he has
declined to approve the file as he has not satisfied with some of
...
- 'It is a vicious circle Posted By Ashok V Chowgule - 9-15 February 1995
>>>Many of the guests at the Second Global Conference 1997, organized
in January by the All-India Association of Industries in Mumbai,
were surprised to see Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla there.
Rare indeed is the sight in these parts of a VIP from the
North-East. And Thanhawla (pronounced than 'haula) was no less
...
- Traitors to the nation Prafull Goradia
- 11 February 1997
>>>Apropos Dina Nath Mishra's article entitled 'Bleary-eyed
communists' (The Observer of Business and Politics, February 6). It
is indeed true that the communists are communalists. To illustrate.
early in 1942, the Communist Party of India showed an 'increasing
warmth towards the Muslim League'. The party declared its approval
...
- Fizz going out of Congress Inder Malhotra
- 5 February 1997
>>>Until only the other day Congressmen were in a buoyant mood
bordering on the cocky. P V Narasimha Rao had, at last, been
ousted from both the presidentship of the Congress and leadership
of the Congress Parliamentary Party. This was supposed to have
washed away the stigma of corruption from the party's face. And
...
- 'BJP should decide on purge in party' Press Trust of India
- 5 February 1997
>>>Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Prof Rojendra Singh on Tuesday
said that it was for the BJP to decide whether the party needed to
purge the organisation of elements lacking discipline and nurturing
perverse ambitions. "However, I think such a situation has not
arisen, even though there has been some indiscipline among those
...
- Bleary-eyed communists Dina Nath Mishra
- 6 February 1997
>>>'I don't know how the BJP and the Akalis can adjust together. What
combination can arise out of their association? One is advocating
Hindutva and the other the Sikh cause! They have issued a white
paper which the BJP leadership should read. The BJP has been
accused by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. They have
...
- Martyrs' Day revisited Varsha Bhosle
- 26-February January 1
>>>Rashtrapita, Rashtrapurush, portraits, grandsons, ashes, Bharat Yatras, high
courts... I'm up to my ears with the business. And with Martyrs' Day being
just round the corner, there's no hope of it abating. For the next two weeks
(or as long as Mr Bal Thackeray does not grasp the virtues in a political
maun-vrat), we're in for a diet of editorials titled "Recalling Gandhiji's
...
- Martyrs' Day revisited Varsha Bhosle
- 26-February January 1
>>>Rashtrapita, Rashtrapurush, portraits, grandsons, ashes, Bharat Yatras, high
courts... I'm up to my ears with the business. And with Martyrs' Day being
just round the corner, there's no hope of it abating. For the next two weeks
(or as long as Mr Bal Thackeray does not grasp the virtues in a political
maun-vrat), we're in for a diet of editorials titled "Recalling Gandhiji's
...
- The Organiser
- Minorities in Bangladesh Raman Bando
- 16 February 1997
>>>I am mentioning just one case out of an unending list of continuing
atrocities. persecution and victimisation of religious minorities
in Islamic Bangladesh under successive governments and the
fundamentalist non-government organisations.
Lalit Kumar Ghose fiat the owner of property comprising a land area
...
- The Pioneer
- The explosive mix in Tamil Nadu T N Gopalan
- 7 February 1997
>>>Communal violence is a relatively new phenomenon in Tamil Nadu. It
is not as if the State is some kind of an Arcadia. Caste-related
violence, attacks on the Dalits especially, has been a. regular
feature since Independence, and even before that. There has also
been occasional religious brawls, turning murderous sometimes,
...
- Muslim leaders promote paranoia Sultan Shahin
- 31 January 1997
>>>Well-versed in the law of the land and trained by the Indian
Foreign Service, Syed Shahabuddin has perhaps never said or done
anything anti-national or unconstitutional. Even his threat to
boycott the official Republic Day functions that became such a big
issue was in no way an unconstitutional method of protest.
- We were wrong on Netaji admits Basu Pioneer News Service
- 24 January 1997
>>>Chief Minister Jyoti Basu on Thursday publicly admitted that the
Communists had made a "wrong assessment" of Netaji Subhas Chandra
Bose and called him a "traitor."
Addressing a huge rally at the Netaji statue near the Brigade
Parade grounds on the occasion of the freedom fighter's birth
...
- Did CM's family blow the conchshell? Abhijit Dasgupta
- 24 January 1997
>>>Chief Minister Jyoti Basu might have exhorted all "right thinking
citizens" of Calcutta to blow conchshells for a minute from 12.15
pm on Thursday to commemorate Netaji's birth centenary, but his son
Chandan's household seemed wary of answering a simple question: Was
the request followed in his own backward.
- Sacrilege ! Editorial
- 28 January 1997
>>>>From Robert Clive and Thomas Babington Macaulay to Louis Malle,
Steven Spielberg and Stanley Wolpert, India has been fair game as
far as perceptionally disadvantaged sections of the Western mind
are concerned. Whether in pursuit of the fabled wealth of the
Nabobs or the "civilising mission" that was seen as the white man's
...
- The Statesman
- Indian secularism - Place of religion in human life S K Chaube
- 21 January 1997
>>>If knowledge is power, ignorance is a sure way to slavery - of the
body and the mind. One sure way to ignorance is belief in myths.
In the great debate on secularism in India a number of cultivated
myths abound even among well intentioned people bearing no malice
against other communities. "Indian society is secular", "Hindu
...
- The Sunday Observer
- Even PM isn't above their dress code Sunil K Poolani
- 23 February 1997
>>>First, M F Husain was not allowed to enter the Willingdon Catholic
Gymkhana in Bombay because he was barefoot. Then West Bengal Chief
Minister Jyoti Basu was denied entry to the Calcutta Swimming Club
because he was wearing a dhoti-kurta. Celebrated choreographer
Ananda Shankar was similarly humiliated at the same club.
- The Telegraph
- Witness for the persecution Dileep Padgaonkar
- 16 February 1997
>>>``It is unadulterated Hinduism that must rule India with its
gentleness and wisdom free of the muck accreted over the
centuries in holding out against foreign domination.. The content
of `Secularism' vaunted in opposition to Hindutva- is general,
weak and has no apparent foundation in the spirit of the Indian
...
- China Muslims riot, 10 die John Leicester
- 11 February 1997
>>>Chinese police fired warning shots over crowds of young Muslims who
beat people to death and torched cars during pro-independence riots
in far west China, a police official said today.
The riots last Wednesday and Thursday were the worst to hit Yining,
in the restive province of Xinjiang, since the 1949 Communist
...
- Minor Deficiency Editorial
- 10 February 1997
>>>History tends to show up inadequacies in social and political
blueprints. That the Indian Constitution has neglected to define
the term "minorities" while defending their right to establish and
administer educational institutions in Article 30 can only become a
problem in the present time. Issues concerning minority groups -
...
- Hotline to heaven Samita Bhatia
- 9 February 1997
>>>Salvation seems to be just a mouse-click away. For now if you
browse the Internet for "God", you hit as many as 25,15,438
occurrences. Or if you seek "Christ", you come up with 7,09,268.
And if you are among those who think the cyber church phenomenon is
peculiar to the West, surf the Net to find Krishna and Buddha and
...
- Flowering Janus Rupa Sengupta
- 10 February 1997
>>>The Congress's inability to sell "stability" - be it in Punjab,
Kashmir or Uttar Pradesh - is perhaps linked with what Jurgen
Habermas called "the crisis of legitimation". In Punjab's case,
that the party can console itself by referring to the inherent
instability of the Akali-saffron alliance does not erase the
...
- Fatwas out on political iftars Rasheed Kidwai
- 5 February 1997
>>>Three prominent imams in the city have issued fatwas to the Muslim
community against ,attending iftar parties hosted by politicians.
Mufti Mohammad Mukkaram, Mufti Razzak and Mufti Ata-ur Rahman have
termed these iftar parties anti-Islamic. They urged the minority
community to avoid breaking fast at such political gatherings.
- Trinidad PM may set off rush to discover roots Sujay Gupta
- 30 January 1997
>>>Vasudeo Pandey's journey from Port of Spain to Azamgarh in search
of his roots will not remain an isolated incident.
If Shamsuddin, a research scholar based in Trinidad, is to be
believed, "countless Indians occupying significant positions in the
government and the bureaucracy there are looking forward to
...
- Goodies, Badal, the ugly Kulwinder Sandhu
- 29 January 1997
>>>A close contest is expected in the February 6 Punjab assembly
polls. The two main contenders are the Congress and Prakash Singh
Badal's Shiromani Akali Dal. Badal was tricked into dropping out
of the running in the February 1992 assembly elections. He is now
back with a bang, the challenge he poses is enhanced by the Akali's
...
- Halo goodbye Sunandra K. Datta-Ray
- 1 February 1997
>>>For the Missionaries of Charity this should be a time of renewal.
For Calcutta, a time of sober stocktaking. Indissoluble though the
bond between the two might seem, it must be forged again so that
the city can derive more visibly tangible benefits from the driving
zeal and firm global reach of the stooped Albanian born woman in
...
- US hails India's rights record Seema Sirohi
- 1 February 1997
>>>In a significant nod to India, the US government's annual human
rights report praised the restoration of a popular government in
Kashmir for the first time in six years despite the militants'
efforts to disrupt and wreck the election process.
The report, while detailing and condemning the widespread abuses by
...
- Muslims riot in Jakarta Posted By Ashok V Chowgule - 31 January 1997
>>>Thousands of Muslims took to the streets today, ransacking
churches, banks, shops and cars after a Chinese Christian trader
reportedly insulted Islam, the police and witnesses said.
The police reported no casualties and said the violence was brought
under control after three truckloads of troops armed with automatic
...
- The Times of India
- Cong. stand on Bofors issue shocks BJP Inder Sawhney
- 24 February 1997
>>>If one is looking for any significant outcome of the first two
sittings of the budget session of Parliament held last week, it
might be that the Congress, by taking an aggressive posture on the
sensitive issue of Bofors pay-offs, has succeeded in taking the
wind out of the sails of the BJP, the main opposition party.
- Minorities panel was a stunt by Pawar : Joshi Mahmood Raza
- 24 February 1997
>>>Chief minister Manohar Joshi has stated that setting up of the
minorities commission was a political stunt by former chief
minister Sharad Pawar, aimed at appeasing the minorities.
"But we are not deceptive politicians," he asserted.
In an exclusive interview to The Tim- Of India, Mr Joshi expressed
...
- Mumbai's red herring; and a comment Editorial
- 21 February 1997
>>>Perhaps it is no accident that the controversy over the Centre's
alleged decision to restore the old name of Maharashtra's capital,
Bombay, should have been re-kindled on the eve of the Brihanmumbai
municipal corporation (BMC) elections. It has been speculated in
the state's political circles that the rumour was put into
...
- Gowda's options : Catch the crooks or lose your job M D Nalapat
- 20 February 1997
>>>Sunday's resolution of Congress Working Committee changing the
nature of support to the United Front from "unconditional" to
"issue-based" is a reflection of the Congress Party's frustration
at its current plight. While the United Front is enjoying the
benefits of being in government, the BJP is garnering the harvest
...
- Crying wolf Editorial
- 19 February 1997
>>>The Congress is once again in muscle-flexing mode, though this time
around its battle-scarred veterans are volleying and thundering a
little too loudly for comfort. The behave-or-else routine the party
had adopted with the United Front has now formally been put on
paper with the Congress Working Committee resolving it will offer
...
- A Vote for Status Quo Editorial
- 14 February 1997
>>>Looks like Mr Deve Gowda can forget all about returning home to
Hardanahalli. Going by the drubbing the Congress has received in
Punjab and in the current round of by-elections, it should be a
long, long while before it can even dream of dislodging Mr Gowda
from South Block, let alone occupy it itself. As for the doomsday
...
- Nobel's Nemesis Posted By Ashok V Chowgule - 13 February 1997
>>>The political literacy of the British Labour Party has attained
staggering heights if the case made out by one of its MPs, Ms
Mildred Gordon, for Ms Phoolan Devi to be awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize indicates the prevalent wisdom in the island. Ms Gordon, who
has sent the nomination for the former bandit to the Norwegian
...
- Homely Discomforts Editorial
- 13 February 1997
>>>A setback to his image in his home state was about the last thing
Prime Minister Deve Gowda needed at this stage. Indeed, the defeat
of the Janata Dal in the byelections to two assembly and one
council constituencies from Karnataka is more than a mere statement
on the health of the state unit of the party as the Prime
...
- Set a Benchmark Editorial
- 12 February 1997
>>>Bal Thackeray's often ill-considered pronouncements have in the
past raised many hackles and bruised public sensibilities. Not
long ago his remarks regarding Mahatma Gandhi led to a widespread
debate on the historical role and legacy of what many in this
country continue to revere as the moral Father of the Nation, and
...
- Balle, Balle Badal Editorial
- 11 February 1997
>>>Punjab is today celebrating its moment of pride. Nearly two decades
after its first brush with terrorism, democracy has made a robust
return in the state. Indeed, there cannot have been a more
overwhelming demonstration of the people's mandate than the triumph
of the Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal after a gap of 12 years in an
...
- We could have won more seats: Tohra Surinder Awasthi
- 11 February 1997
>>>Akali leader Gur charan Singh Tohra, one of the main architects Of
the landslide win of the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) combine in the Punjab assembly election, feels that the
Akalis could have won more seats, but for the infighting in the
party, especially in Sangrur.
- Two rivers that spring from a common source Rajesh Kochhar
- 8 February 1997
>>>The Parsis arrived in India in the 8th century AD as refugees from
Iran. Folk memory has it that they were offered asylum in Gujarat
on condition that they adopted the local language, certain local
modes of dress and observances. These stipulations apart, the
refugees had the freedom to practise their religion,
...
- Changes in capitalism render one-earner families extinct Lester C. Thurow
- 4 February 1997
>>>The traditional family is disappearing almost everywhere.
Worldwide from 1960 to 1992, births among unmarried mothers doubled for those
20 to 24 years of age and quadrupled for those 15 to 19 years of age. The
United States is far from being the world's leader in this category, ranking
sixth. Divorce rates are rising in the developed and underdeveloped world,
...
- Time
- The great pleader for a Muslim state Carl Posey
- 23 December 1997
>>>When the stood up in court, slowly looking toward the judge,
placing his monocle in his eye-with the sense of timing you would
expect from an actor-he became omnipotent. Yes, that is the word
omnipotent." Thus an Indian barrister upon his remarkable and
enigmatic subject, Mohammed All Jinnah. Courtroom omnipotence may
...
- Times
- A tigerish man, atop a sectarian tiger Carl Posey
- 23 December 1996
>>>Delhi in the spring heat of 1946 was not relaxed," TIME reported
that April. "It was taut with waiting, gravid with conflict and
suspense. Two socialist lawyers and a former Baptist lay preacher
from Britain had sat for 25 days in the southeast wing of the
viceregal palace, preparing to liquidate the richest portion of
...
- Yuva Bharat
- Arunachal Pradesh - an ornament of Bharat Editorial
- 1997 January
>>>Arunachal Pradesh is a beautiful ornament of Bharat. This gifted
State is a land of lofty mountains, green valleys, murmuring rivers
and of gentle and peace-loving people, who traditionally worship
Surya (DONYI) and Chandra (POLO), the Devatas that the rest of
Bharat irrespective of what faith the people profess, also accepts
...
Last message date: Fri 28 Feb 1997 - 06:57:07 EDT
Archived on: Sat Jun 14 1997 - 11:35:22 EDT
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