In a country where individual worth
is often measured against the proximity to power, it is difficult for Opposition
stalwarts to grab headlines. .....
To our eternal lajja, Taslima Nasreen
recently left Kolkata for Europe after being refused the citizenship of
India. The intrepid writer who, in 1993, shook the conscience of humanity
with her novel, Lajja, earned the ire of Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh.
.....
Setting aside the death penalty
given to Dara Singh in the case of killing of Australian missionary Graham
Staines and his two sons, the Orissa High Court on Thursday said: "There
is absolutely no evidence on record that due to the individual act of Dara
Singh alone the three or any of them died. .....
It is truly amazing, this staggering
decision of the United Progressive Alliance government to dissolve the
Bihar assembly on the specious plea, to quote Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
of preventing 'horse-trading of the worst type.' .....
The Department of Personnel has
written to CBI Director US Mishra asking him to clarify whether the views
attributed to him in an interview to a Delhi Newspaper last month were,
in fact, his own. .....
Be it Pyrduwah in Meghalaya, Manchachar
in Assam or Lankamura in triputra, recent, incidents on the Indo-Bangla
border betray an aggressive stance on the part of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR)
Senior Border Security Force (BSF) officials say that BDR is trying to
prevent completiuon of fencing on the border. .....
The sole purpose in attacking the
prime witness in the gruesome Nanoor massacre of July 2000 in which 11
Trinamul Congress supporters were slaughtered by armed CPI-M cadres was
to shield those responsible and abort their trial, by hook or by crook.
The irony is that although five years have elapsed since the occurrence
of the horrendous killings by the Marxists, the trial of their 79 accused
comrades has not yet begun. .....
A U.S.-based think tank critical
of the Saudi government has added its voice to allegations that authorities
in the kingdom routinely destroy Bibles. .....
Handpicked by the Election Commission
to go after political goon squads in two of Bihar's most troubled districts
ahead of the Assembly elections, the District Magistrates of Siwan and
Gopalganj were today shunted out on the orders of Governor Buta Singh.
.....
Nair Service Society (NSS) will
oppose any move to rake up the Narendran Commission report because such
actions, under political compulsions, will result in the revival of divisive
and communal tendencies in society. We strongly suspect that the current
move is enacted under the pressure of the Muslim League. .....
Experience says the logic in planning,
commensurate policymaking and committed implementation has typically tended
to fail in our power sector. Are other states close to doing a Maharashtra?
Do inadequate resources and myopic vision plague most? FE takes a look.
.....
The Gujarat administration has
a reason to cheer. The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation report attests that the
state is truly Vibrant Gujarat. The state topped the list in a report card
on Economic Freedom Index, a nationwide report card of on economic governance
conducted by economists. .....
This refers to Mr Khalid Hasan's
letter (May 16) in reply to mine (May 10). The gravamen of Mr Hasan's charge
is that President Musharraf has conceded "on essentials to India on Kashmir
without receiving any reciprocating gesture". Let us first examine this
charge on legal merits. .....
In a candid, off the record, conversation
with rediff.com, he said, "As soon as the news of a possible claim to form
the government by (Janata Dal-United leader) Nitish Kumar came in, (CPI-M
General Secretary) Prakash Karat and (CPI-M Poliburo member) Sitaram Yechuri
insisted that the state assembly be dissolved." .....
Thomas Babington Maculae, in Feb.
1855, had said that a single shelf of a good European library was worth
the whole native literature of India. He wished that the Hindus forget
their past and get familiar with the English by means of literature and
as a result cease to regard them as foreigners, speak of their great men
with the same enthusiasm as the English do. .....
First the Pentagon energetically
disputed it, now the magazine itself has issued an apology for the story
that touched off a deadly storm across Afghanistan, Pakistan and other
countries. .....
To our eternal lajja, Taslima Nasreen
recently left Kolkata for Europe after being refused the citizenship of
India. The intrepid writer who, in 1993, shook the conscience of humanity
with her novel, Lajja, earned the ire of Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh.
She had been "politically incorrect" in highlighting the plight of the
Hindu minority in Islamic Bangladesh. .....
After packing off Anupam Kher from
the chairmanship of the Censor Board, the UPA government removed three
members of the National Commission for Women (NCW), also appointees of
the NDA government. It reconstituted the commission with five new members.
.....
As the Kerala government investigates
links between local militant groups and the ISI, Anil Nair reports on a
hard Islamic identity that is beginning to take root in the state. And
is inspiring religious violence that spills across Kerala's borders .....
The head of Iraq's largest Christian
community denounced American evangelical missionaries in his country on
Thursday for what he said were attempts to convert poor Muslims by flashing
money and smart cars. .....
The Narendra Modi brand of governance
has got an unexpected endorsement. The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, headed
by Sonia Gandhi, has adjudged Modi's Gujarat as the Number 1 state in economic
freedom index. .....
Set your sights low enough, and
any progress made looks meaningful. And so it is with the score of six
out of 10 that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given the UPA government
on its completion of a year in office. Use any other criterion, certainly
by the standards set by Singh himself, and the performance is well below
even a passing grade. .....
Every child in West Bengal, aged
over 10, has immediate perception of vote fraud. Come an election, the
CPI-M's "motorbike brigade" patrols the countryside, their leaders send
tatters of white linen, symbol of Hindu widowhood, to the contestants'
wives with the tag: "Stop your husband from submitting the nomination paper,
or prepare to be his widow". .....
When you call the mobile telephone
of Satyapal Singh, special inspector general (Konkan range) of the Maharashtra
police, the caller tune you hear is the Gayatri mantra. Not quite what
one expects from the police? In a similar vein, next month Singh is organizing
a one-month trial of Yoga designed for police officers in Thane. .....
The President, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam,
has, once again, demonstrated his eagerness for justice to the aggrieved
or affected sections of society across the country. And latest instance,
in this regard, is the passage of a couple of documents concerning the
displaced community of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) to the Ministry of Home Affairs
from the Rashtrapati Bhavan. .....
After a 50 per cent score in Class
X, Manoj Kumar thought of quitting studies, to support his family. Today,
the 28-year-old, son of a vegetable vendor, is glad he didn't quit. Manoj
completed his MA in economics and also cleared the civil services exam
this year. His rank: 393. .....
If Finance Minister P Chidambaram
today announced a probe into the Centaur sale saying its "nature and scope"
would come later, it was for a good reason. .....
CAG: No competition as there was
only one bidder.
Shourie: Decision of each bidderto
continue or not is a commercial one. CCD had then decided that the process
must proceed even if there is only one bidder. .....
He carries four Nokia mobile phones
with him. One he uses for checking e-mails and another to watch news broadcasts.
The other two are either prototypes or fairly new. And the first thing
he asks is, "Do you use our Nokia phones?". If you don't and try to be
polite, and say that you're planning to buy one, his prompt reply is, "Good.
Good planning is the basis for everything." .....
With over two dozen cases of loot,
murder and extortion registered against him, Hidayat Khan was the "terror"
of Jamshedpur in the early 1990s. Now, his appointment last month as an
"adviser" to the, Union Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers, headed by
Ramvilas Paswan, has raised many a eyebrow in the political circles. .....
The media and government machinery
in the state have been fully infiltrated by the CPI(M) cadre. Whether it
is the Departments of Police or Social Welfare, it is the Marxists who
call the shots in the state. .....
Even as the state government promises
migrant pandits safe shelter if they return to the Valley, the Estates
Department has ordered that pandits be evicted from government accomodation
provided to them 15 years ago. .....
A few days ago, when I was standing
in line at an airline counter, I was rudely shoved aside by two men checking
in an absentee dignitary. Not wishing to make a scene, I urged the flight
attendant to intervene. Amazingly, she told them to queue up. In that simple
statement, she challenged the feudal culture of privilege that has sapped
this nation's spirit for five decades. .....
On the issue of the Centaur hotel
disinvestment, the CPM swears by the CAG's report, saying it should be
the basis for a government probe into the sale of the hotel. But in West
Bengal, the CPM's home turf, their own governments have been consigning
to the bin reports by the same CAG, year after year. .....
The VHP yesterday asked the Tamil
Nadu government to immediately withdraw the cases against the Kanchi Sankaracharyas
and pave the way for their release, before the issue 'boomeranged' on it.
.....
As leaders of all Western nations
descended upon Vatican City early last month, there was little doubt they
had come as much to pay respects to the departed Pope as to ensure that
a White European succeeded as Bishop of Rome. In the weeks preceding Joseph
Ratzinger's elevation, some Cardinals hinted to religious correspondents
of Western news agencies that they were under pressure. .....
Which is "the federal government's
greatest court victory against terrorism"? According to an article by Debra
Erdley in yesterday's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, that would be the conviction
on April 26, 2005, of Ali al-Timimi. .....
A prominent Hindu leader has been
shot dead in south-western Nepal. Narayan Pokharel, president of the Nepal
branch of the World Hindu Council, died when six gunmen opened fire in
the district of Rupandehi. .....
"UN special envoy Asma Jahangir
(Pakistan) representing United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR)
is visiting Sri Lanka to analyse of freedom of religion in Sri Lanka and
will submit a report to the UNCHR. She arrived in Sri Lanka on 3rd May."
.....
It is time the Indian state and
its home minister stopped fabricating excuses for those who use violence
against the state and its vulnerable citizens, and fulfilled their fundamental
obligation to their people. .....
The minister of a Haywood County
Baptist church is telling members of his congregation that if they're Democrats,
they either need to find another place of worship or support President
Bush. .....
Religious minorities are allegedly
facing threats and intimidation by the ruling four-party alliance men ahead
of the May 9 Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) polls. .....
In an earlier paper (Is America
undermining religious freedom abroad?) I had discussed how some groups
belonging to proselytizing religions such as Christianity or Islam are
using blatant discrimination to garner wealth unfairly from majority community
in India. .....
Serious patients of slip disc,
spondylitis and cervical can get cured in 10 minutes during a yoga shivir,
by an expert," read the pamphlet, circulated a few days ago in the capital.
A usual stuff except for the fact that the treatment boasted of a scientific
approach to be practiced by a trained doctor. .....
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
leader Pramod Mahajan on Sunday alleged that there was a "method in the
madness" of the United Progressive Alliance Government to discredit Justice
S.N. Phukan Commission of Inquiry. The report was not what the Congress
wanted, he said. .....
In a way, 1857 is even more significant
for Indian nationhood and history than 1947. The spirit of the "First Indian
War of Independence" stood the country in good stead during the freedom
struggle. The framework and spirit of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood exemplified
by 1857 must be revived. .....
It is a dream come true for Jagannath
Patel. And practically so for all the 2,500-odd villagers in this non-descript
hamlet of Kashipur situated in Kunda tehsil of Pratapgarh. For, Jagannath's
unusual dream in January led them to dig out idols of a goddess coupled
with the remains of a temple structure, dating back to the Rajput era.
.....
Known as Naga Hindu leader, Haipau
N.C. Zelian, passed away in Guwahati on April 23. He was 69. He is survived
by his wife and six sons. Zeliang had been undergoing treatment at down
town hospital in Guwahati since April 4. .....
"The Rashtriya Swayam-sevak Sangh
(RSS) has gained a foothold at the tsunami-hit villages in Kollam district
of Kerala by outpacing the rest of the non-governmental agencies in relief
and rehabilitation work. Arattupuzha and Alappad Panchayats, which bore
the brunt of tsunami, though ruled by the Marxists and Congressmen respectively,
are looking to the RSS for help. .....
The intense bitterness generated
by the attitude of the UPA government and the Speaker towards the Opposition
has led to a deadlock. There is hardly any communication between the Treasury
Benches and the Opposition. NDA's three-day boycott of not only the proceedings
of the two Houses but also of all the committees is unprecedented in the
parliamentary history of the country. .....
Aggressive evangelisation and that
too at an alarming rate is jolting Kerala state. Gospel and evangelisation
teams are storming the length and breadth of the state on a war footing.
A Christian Chief Minister whose hatred for the Hindus is quite 'well known'
and a pliable administration make the operations easy for the proselytisers.
.....
At a function in New Delhi last
week, to release a book on Netaji, a journalist asked George Fernandes:
"Do you think that just like Netaji, you too have been wronged by the Nehrus?"
To this, the former Defence Minister in the Vajpayee government only gave
a sad smile. Nobody, who attended that book release function, failed to
gauge the significance of the question. .....
General Pervez Musharraf has declared
that extremism is the biggest challenge being faced by Pakistan. Pakistan's
''development and dignity in the comity of nations'' is threatened by extremism,
he recently told the Baluchistan cabinet. .....
There are no Kashmiri Pandits in
Srinagar, or, for that matter, anywhere else in the Kashmir valley; they
don't live here anymore. You can find them in squalid refugee camps in
Jammu and Delhi. As many as 300,000 Kashmiri Pandits have fled their home
and hearth and been reduced to living the lives of refugees in their own
country. .....
Saudi Arabia has detained 40 Pakistani
Christians for holding prayers at a house in the kingdom, where practicising
any religion other than Islam is illegal, newspapers said on Saturday.
A group of men, women and children were attending the service in the capital
Riyadh when police raided the house, Al Jazirah newspaper said. .....
It is time that Pakistani schools
stopped pumping their pupils full to bursting point with narrow, blinkered
history that leaves these young people open to superstitious, illiterate
rubbish purveyed by hate-mongering ignoramuses .....
Dalit Christians of Thatchur village,
led by the Catholic Bishop of Chengalpattu, Neethinathan, presented a memorandum
to Collector R. Venkatesan on Monday seeking his intervention in a church
dispute between Dalit and Reddiyar Christians in Thatchur. .....
Every time secular India has demanded
that the system of personal laws based on religious injunctions should
be done away with, that Article 44 of the Constitution which enjoins upon
the Government to adopt a Uniform Civil Code should be taken for what it
was meant to be, a cornerstone of state policy in a modern nation state,
a countervailing cry has gone up, alleging that it is an assault on the
identity of minority communities. .....
"It's not like a stupid Hollywood
movie," said French actress Eva Green about the English director Sir Ridley
Scott's Crusades flick, Kingdom of Heaven. .....
It is not that Indian people-legislators,
political leaders, journalists, writers or other groups of professionals
or individual intellectuals have not known, more or less, about the endlessly
raging State-sponsored campaign of religious and ethnic cleansing or genocide
against Bangladesh's minorities. .....
In a major setback to Tamil Nadu
Government, Madras High Court today set aside the detention of 11 Sankararaman
murder case accused, including junior Seer Vijayendra Saraswathi's brother
Raghu and Kanchi mutt manager Sundaresa Iyer, under the Goondas Act. .....
It was unseemly to look at the
Indian media frenzy over Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf when he
visited New Delhi. Our journalists were tripping over themselves trying
to laud the General during his breakfast press conference on April 18th.
.....
"The dance bars should be shut,"
says 17-year-old Reshma Gaikwad, without blinking an eyelid "There is no
doubt about it," she adds. Reshma has reasons to say so. She
was around 14 years when she was rescued from a dance bar in south Mumbai
by the Social Service Branch (SSB) of the Mumbai Police in the year 2003.
.....
The honour of the Himalayas is
at stake. Just four years after Pakistan's ignominious defeat at Kargil,
its military oligarchy appears set to achieve its goals by other means.
The UPA's 'Open Borders' policy is creating an untenable situation in the
country and in the absence of a sharply articulated opposition to Islamabad's
'walk-in' infiltration policy, there is a real danger that our national
security and territorial integrity may be seriously compromised. .....
What we urgently need in India
today is a rebirth of satire, of dissent, of irreverence, of an uncompromising
insistence that phoniness is phony and platitudes are platitudinous. Amongst
all Indian politicians the esteem of religion is profitable; the principles
of it are troublesome both 'secular' and 'saffron' included. .....
Now that the hullabaloo over the
US denial of a visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has died down,
it would be worth our while to scrutinise the actions and motivations of
Narendra Modi's tormentors, which resulted in this denouement. .....
Speaking to Karan Thapar in HARDtalk
India about the position reached at the end of 41 rounds of dialogue with
the Indian Government, which started in 1997 when the NSCN (I-M), the biggest
and best known outfit fighting for Naga independence, declared a ceasefire,
he said .....
India has said that it remains
unimpressed by Pakistan's public postures on global terrorism since the
terror infrastructure created by the latter's ISI remains in tact. .....
The BJP is a scabbard carrying
two swords, one of Hindu nationalism and the other of Gandhian socialism,
an euphemism for a Nehruvian programme. The two are unable to combine with
each other; they are contradictions. Unless the two separate, the party
is likely to suffer from a chakkajaam. .....
Exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima
Nasreen had to cancel her visit to West Bengal's Midnapore district owing
to protests from Muslim groups there. .....
They may clamour for independence
and think the Indian state draconian, one that controls Kashmir through
military might . But when it comes to availing of resources of that state
for their personal security and convenience, separatist leaders in Kashmir
are very much Indian subjects, that too chosen ones who feel they even
have a right to its misuse. .....
Over 150 people from nearly as
many villages recently got together at Tarun Bharat Sangh near Alwar to
decide their future course of action and build on the success of 20 years'
work. After the usual speeches and ''charcha'' (a ubiquitous term for seemingly
endless discussions) they got down to business. .....
Apart from Italy, India was the
only country which mourned the Pope's demise for three days. There are
over 100 Christian-dominated States in the world, yet only around a dozen
countries held State mourning. .....
A senior functionary of the Hizbul
Mujahidden, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation, preached the students
of the Punjab University to carry out jihad in Jammu and Kashmir. .....
Despite fall in militancy-related
violence and winds of Indo-Pak peace process blowing in Jammu and Kashmir,
nearly 2000 armed militants were still operating in the State, a top Army
official claimed today. .....
At a time when it is fashionable
to repose confidence in inter-faith dialogue, it is not easy to prick the
feel-good factor this evokes and question the utility of such an enterprise.
Peaceful coexistence between different faiths, howsoever large or small
the number of their adherents may be, can never be a national or world
reality until hitherto unaccommodating creeds incorporate mutual respect
for other traditions as part of their cultural norms. .....
The only thing that comes closer
to a Hindu in General Pervez Musharraf's India visit is his jiyarat (pilgrimage)
to Ajmer to pay obeisance at Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti's dargah. Radical
Islam prohibits such expressions of faith which Maulana Maududi said are
a la Hindus. This is a Hindu tradition to pray at samadhis, which has been
followed by Muslims of the subcontinent, nowhere else. .....
