by Prof. Koenraad Elst
In an inter-faith debate, most Hindus can easily be put on the defensive
with a single word-caste. Any anti-Hindu polemist can be counted on to
allege that "the typically Hindu caste system is the most cruel apartheid,
imposed by the barbaric white Aryan invaders on the gentle dark-skinned
natives." Here's a more balanced and historical account of this controversial
institution. .....
by Amitabh Tripathi
Few days back just before Mumbai blasts I got a chance to see a recording
of interview of C.M.Ibrahim chair person of supreme council of newly formed
United democratic front led by Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, this interview
was done by renowned TV journalist Manoj Raghuvanshi for his programme
'Bebak' in S1 channel. .....
by The Pioneer
The bomb explosion in Imphal, Manipur, on Janmashtami at the ISKCON temple,
which killed four people and injured 40 others including the international
director of the religious society Damodar Swami, was the first of its
kind and, therefore, holds grave portents. Manipur is no stranger to strife;
indeed, in 2004-05 it reported the second highest number of insurgency
related fatalities in the country, a total of 331, which included the
killing of Inspector General of Police (Intelligence) T Thangathuam in
Bishnupur in December last. .....
by The New Indian Express
As a Muslim, my head goes down in shame each time I find a Muslim name
attached to insane acts of terror. I feel let down by such Muslims. It
agonises me when I hear that Muslim tenants are refused accommodation
in many cities. Recently, in London, a Muslim of Indian origin was arrested
for suspected links to the terror plot aimed at blowing up planes flying
from Britain to the US. .....
by Ashok Chowgule
India Today is the largest circulating weekly English magazine that is
published in India that deals with the socio-political issues relating
to current affairs. The title of the cover story in its August 14, 2006,
issue is: "Muslim Education Levels: A Shocking Divide". The
magazine says that it has done an analysis of the data compiled in the
census taken in 2001. .....
by Irshad Manji
Last week, the luminaries of the British Muslim mainstream - lobbyists,
lords and members of Parliament - published an open letter to Prime Minister
Tony Blair, telling him that the "debacle" of both Iraq and
Lebanon provides "ammunition to extremists who threaten us all."
In increasingly antiwar America, a similar argument is gaining traction:
The United States brutalizes Muslims, which in turn foments Islamist terror.
.....
by Sentinel
A documentary by Mayank Jain on ISI and Madrasa design and infiltration
from Bangladesh showed the gravity of the situation prevailing in Asom,
Tripura and West Bengal because of influx from the neighbouring country.
.....
by Tim Butcher and David Blair
The president of Lebanon ruled out disarming Hizbollah yesterday, rejecting
a central element of the United Nations plan for peace on the frontier
with Israel. Disarming the guerrilla group is required under UN Resolution
1701, which was passed last Friday. .....
by WorldNetDaily.com
The Department of Homeland Security took a Muslim group with known past
ties to terror organizations on a VIP tour of security operations at the
nation's busiest airport at the same time British authorities were working
to break up a plot to blow up U.S. airlines. .....
by IBNlive.com
Police have ordered an enquiry into 'searches' carried out by some of
its personnel at Jama Masjid on Friday afternoon following a call of a
bomb being planted there. .....
by Khwaja Ekhram
India, home to the world's second highest Muslim population, may not have
produced any Al Qaeda operative yet, but the rank-and-file of the minority
community is slowly finding itself sucked into the vortex of pan-Islamic
movements sponsored from beyond India's borders. The secular character
of the Constitution has ensured equal treatment for members of all communities
- majority or minority - and India's progress has been shared by Hindus
and Muslims alike. .....
by Firoz Bakht Ahmed
While witnessing the history of Vande Mataram in a ballet celebrating
India's 59th Independence Day at Modern School, Barakhamba Road, my body,
mind and soul vouched in unison that this was the song of each Indian
irrespective of religion, caste, colour, status or creed. The melody,
the thought content and the ambience of patriotism of Vande Mataram is
unmatchable. .....
by The Pioneer
Founder of the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taibba (LeT) Hafiz Saeed,
who has been kept in house detention since August 10, was today shifted
to an unknown place, a spokesman for the charity headed by him said. .....
by The Pioneer
The brouhaha over Dutch authorities taking 12 Indian Muslims in custody
for questioning is totally uncalled for. The facts of the incident, if
separated from the lib-left chaff that threatens to swamp the truth, make
it abundantly clear that the fault lies entirely with the Indians who,
despite being frequent air travellers - as claimed by their families in
maudlin testimonials telecast by news channels - chose to behave in a
suspicious, if not obnoxious, manner while travelling by a Northwest Airlines
flight from Amsterdam to Mumbai on Wednesday. .....
by ABC 7 News
A former third-grade teacher at a Muslim school was sentenced to 15 years
in prison Friday for providing support to a Pakistani terrorist organization.
.....
by Ashok Sharma
India on Friday lodged a strong protest with the Netherlands at the way
it handled Indian passengers from a Bombay-bound flight that returned
to Amsterdam shortly after takeoff, a foreign ministry spokesman said.
.....
by Vipin Vijayan
Nineteen-year-old Karan Singh landed in Mumbai more than 24 hours behind
schedule. But he wasn't peeved at the delay. Instead, he was relieved.
For Singh, a passenger in the Northwest Airlines flight NW042, a 48-hour
ordeal had come to an end. .....
by Kanchan Gupta
The two of them walked into the moonlit night. Mahendra was grieving,
but also strangely curious. Suddenly Bhabananda became a different person.
He was no longer a calm and patient sanyasi; nor did he look like a bloodthirsty
warrior. In the stillness of this full moon night, amid the verdant forest
and its rippling brooks, he became joyous. .....
by Frank Devine
It's a pity US President George W. Bush spoke of Islamic fascists in connection
with the failed plot to booby-trap passenger aircraft heading for the
US from London. .....
by Zee News
Indian astrologers today said the announcement about dropping Pluto as
a planet had endorsed the mathematical and astrological treatises written
by Aryabhatta and Varahamihira centuries ago. .....
by Irish Independent
Having returned to Denmark after 20 years in Ireland, I was shocked to
find that most attempts to integrate the large Muslim population in Denmark
has failed miserably. Therefore, it is extremely worrying that Ireland
and especially the RTE/Irish Times liberal brigade refuse to discuss this
problem which will hit these shores eventually. .....
by The Middle East Media Research
Institute
On August 4, 2006, the Al-Hesbah website published instructions on "How
to Kill a Crusader in the Arabian Peninsula." The document was signed
by Amer Al-Najdi, and dated June 15, 2006. .....
by The Free Press Journal
It is a mockery of parliamentary democracy, and even oldfashioned commonsense
( which seems to be rather uncommon in the Government of gentleman Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh).The insistence to first enact a law and almost
simultaneously have the same re-examined afresh by a joint parliamentary
committee reverses the normal order of conducting legislative business.
.....
by Sarat Chandra Mallick
The ongoing controversy over Vande Mataram is an insult to our freedom
movement and the nation as a whole. History is replete with instances
when the song enthused our freedom fighters besides providing a common
ground for equality of religions in our national life. .....
by Jihad Watch
A U.S. citizen currently residing in India, N.S. Rajaram, has kindly allowed
us to reprint a most revealing exchange he had with the editor of "Span"
magazine, a publication of the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai, India. .....
by NewKerala.com
Jharkhand tribal leaders and priests want immediate stripping of reservation
facilities of past members of their community who are now converted Christians
.....
by The Times of India
As part of the tough counter-terrorism measures and Independence Day security
alert, the Navi Mumbai police have arrested a record 264 illegal Bangladeshi
immigrants within 10 days. This includes 225 immigrants nabbed in the
last two days. .....
by Khwaja Ekhram
India, home to the world's second highest Muslim population, may not have
produced any Al Qaeda operative yet, but the rank-and-file of the minority
community is slowly finding itself sucked into the vortex of pan-Islamic
movements sponsored from beyond India's borders. The secular character
of the Constitution has ensured equal treatment for members of all communities
- majority or minority - and India's progress has been shared by Hindus
and Muslims alike. .....
by N. Kunju
Our so-called secularists have been proudly shouting from housetops that
when Muslims in other countries were attracted to terrorism to vent their
anger, the 150 million Indian Muslims were patriotic and had nothing to
do with terrorist activities. The maximum they would concede is that some
disgruntled Kashmiri youth might be playing a part in the militancy in
the state, but then Kashmir's was a unique case. .....
by Sheela Bhatt
Leaders of India's Muslim community will make a presentation to top intelligence
officers, officials of the home ministry and powerful political leaders,
including the prime minister, in New Delhi at a two-day conference on
August 20-21. .....
by Expressindia.com
Muslim leaders and clerics reacted sharply to a reported decision by the
Centre asking all schools to make their students recite the first two
stanzas of Vande Mataram as part of the centenary celebrations of the
National Song on September 7. .....
by Praveen Swami
Police Officials are confronting the prospect that investigations into
last month's serial bombings in Mumbai might end in a replay of the murderous
1993 terror strikes in the city: a wealth of detail has emerged on just
who carried out the operation and why, but the perpetrators themselves
are out of reach - perhaps forever. .....
by Outlook
Over 83,000 pilgrims performed the Haj last year for which the government
spent nearly Rs 180 crore as subsidy, Rajya Sabha was informed today.
.....
by Swapan Dasgupta
For the past week, the Government and intelligentsia of India have been
wallowing in an unseemly bout of self-congratulation. The much-feared
terrorist attacks on Independence Day and Janmasthami did not materialise;
the US and British advisory to its citizens in India turned out to be
misplaced; and there was no visible backlash after the terrible Mumbai
blasts of July 11. .....
by Udayan Namboodiri
After the Mumbai blasts and the uncovering of the conspiracy to blow up
10 aircraft over the Atlantic, the situation is vastly different. The
anti-Iraq war lobby, the defenders of Iran and the root cause wallahs,
who on past occasions have displayed remarkable dexterity at propping
up barricades against the forces of anti-terror, do appear a little shell
shocked by the latest round of jihadi violence .....
by The Asian Age
The BJP on Sunday condemned the refusal by some Muslim clerics to abide
by a Central directive on compulsory singing of Vande Mataram in schools
on September 7, saying those who oppose the national song should "leave
the country". "Those who oppose our national song should better
leave the country. .....
by Amita Verma
The year-long centenary celebrations of Vande Mataram may end on a discordant
note, with a section of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh objecting to the Union
government's directive to ensure recitation of the song in all schools
on September 7. .....
by The Australian
A Lebanese student suspected of helping to plant two bombs that failed
to explode on German trains last month has been arrested. The 21-year-old
was detained yesterday, a day after investigators released surveillance
footage from July 31, the day of the bombing attempt, showing two men
with heavy luggage believed to be the bombs. .....
by Yashwant Sinha
For some of us who have been striving to ensure that the one-sided India-US
nuclear deal does not pass muster in Indian Parliament, August 17, 2006
when the Rajya Sabha debated the issue, was a day of partial satisfaction,
of partial victory. I have no doubt in my mind that if we, in the various
political parties, other writers, commentators and editors, and the nuclear
scientists had not expressed our reservations against the deal, the Prime
Minister would not have been compelled to offer the clarifications he
offered in Rajya Sabha on that day. .....
by Richard M Bennett
The tortured land of Kashmir has been the source of political strife and
military conflict between Pakistan and India for the best part of six
decades, but only Pakistan can genuinely stand accused of using this as
an excuse for both supporting terrorism and exporting it abroad. .....
by The Hindustan Times
The Kashmir war saved the Indian Army from being scrapped, seems strange?
Well, a biography of Major General AA "Jick" Rudra of the Indian
Army by Major General DK "Monty" Palit claims so. .....
by Karl Hanlon
The mother of two Catholic pupils refused permission to use aState-funded
school bus has stepped up her fight ahead of her children'sreturn to school
next week. .....
by Haindava Keralam
SFI's intolerance towards Hinduism reached its zenith today, when a Muslim
SFI thug dare to attack a college professor for tying a Rakhi. .....
by The Bahá'ís
Suffering for their commitment to an international vision, Bahá'ís
demonstrate the courage of their convictions. Throughout the history of
the Faith, the Bahá'ís of Iran have been persecuted. In
the mid-1800s, some 20,000 followers were killed by the authorities or
by mobs, who viewed the infant movement has heretical to Islam. .....
by S Gurumurthy
Last week, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board vowed not to allow
Muslim children to sing the National Song Vande Mataram as required by
none other than the 'secular' UPA Government's most 'secular' Minister,
Mr Arjun Singh. But the AIMPLB made a generous concession in favour of
Jana Gana Mana saying Muslims had "no problem" in singing the
National Anthem. .....
by Haindava Keralam
Police recovered arms and ammunitions in huge quantity from Thane.It included
more than 30 Missiles and Rocket launchers. These deadly ammunitions were
hided out in a unused pond. This arms cache confirms the intelligence
reports on plans about a bigger attack on the country by home grown terrorists.
.....
by Ajit Ranade
Maharashtra has a twin. The same day that our state was born, another
also took birth - Gujarat. And it has always had the status of a
junior sibling. .....
by S Gurumurthy
Last week the All India Muslim Personal Law Board vowed not to allow Muslim
children sing the National Song 'Vande Mataram' as required by none other
than the 'secular' UPA government's most 'secular' Minister, Arjun Singh.
.....
by Pudhari
Sometimes, we do not see what we are watching and sometimes, we do not
have the capacity of understanding what we are seeing. This very sloppy
carelessness has caused the bomb explosions, which took place in Mumbai
in the last month and caused loss of a number of innocent lives. And the
proof of alertness is the taking into of custody of two terrorists by
Police on Monday night at late hours. .....
by The Times of India
With President A P J Abdul Kalam giving no indication that he would give
his assent to the office of prof- it bill before August 24-by which time
the Election Commission could start disqualification proceedings against
45 MPs supporting the ruling coalition-the UPA government blinked on Thursday,
signalling its readiness to consider incorporating his suggestions in
the proposed law. .....
by Madhavi Rajadhyaksha
It's a two-floor structure that stands apart for more than one reason.
Not only is it the only concrete construction amid destroyed mud houses
and narrow stone strewn roads in Dhangar Takli village in Poorna taluka,
but it also houses a Sanskrit gurukul, the only such residential centre
imparting Vedic teachings in the entire district. .....
by The Indian Express
Accused in a multi-crore bank fraud seam, former Nashik MP and Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP) leader Madhavrao Balwant Patil has been kept out
of the probe on the "recommendation" of State Cooperative Minister
Jaiprakash Dandegaonkar. .....
by Spiegel Online
A leak from the investigation into a pair of unexploded bombs found on
trains in Germany this week has produced a strange detail -- a bag printed
in Arabic. German officials won't confirm anything, but the case has ignited
a national debate about rail security. .....
by Bani Duggal
Respect for human rights is a clear indication of a nation's commitment
to the rule of law, to humanitarian principles and to honesty in its public
affairs. And there is no better measure of Iran's genuine commitment to
human rights than the way it treats its largest religious minority, the
300,000-member Baha'is community of Iran, who are by their religious principles
committed to non-violence and non-involvement in politics. .....
by Pradeep Thakur
Bangladesh is fast emerging as the hub of all anti-India operations -
from training of terrorists and pushing them in to smuggling of arms and
narcotics, but the most preferred item seems to be counterfeit currency.
.....
by Rajesh N Singh
Mulayam's efforts to be in the good books of the minority community might
receive a blow with the controversial minister for minority welfare Haji
Yaqub Qureshi openly stating that the Samajwadi Party would have to pay
a heavy price in the next Assembly elections for deceiving the minorities.
.....
by
"He has hit the nail right on the head!! We Australians suddenly
found we had 10,000 Lebanese who had come to Australia and when they got
Australian citizenship, and our Social Welfare benefits went straight
back to Lebanon to live!! When the war broke out a few weeks ago, guess
what - "We want to come back to Australia now where it is safe and
we expect you to get us out of here, immediately if not sooner!!"
.....
by Dr. Brooks A. Mick
There was a book published twenty years ago which still holds much relevance
for today. Gayle Rivers, a counterterrorism expert, member of the British
SAS, wrote from first-hand experience about what was necessary to defeat
terrorism. .....
by Sourav Sanyal
Kargil Divas is one official day when we remember the martyrs of 1999.
A Kolkata school decided to step out of the boundaries of official observations
to commemorate the ultimate sacrifice of one of its own students of the
class of 1991. .....
by Vikram Sood
Nearly sixty years of uninterrupted Pakistani interference in India's
internal affairs, from the time of infiltrating Afridi tribesmen into
Kashmir accompanied by Pak troops, assistance to Phizo, assistance to
Sikh terrorists and down to Kashmir today, nearly 40,000 killed, innumerable
assassinations, 70,000 wounded, 25,000 AK-47/56/74s, 50,000 grenades,
4,000 rockets and 5,000 kg of RDX captured, and much more, yet the US
asks India for evidence about Pak complicity. .....
by M Ismail Khan
It is not quite clear under what law the 1.5 million people of the Northern
Areas (Gilgit-Baltistan), a region of 72,496 sq km, are ruled by Pakistan
as a federal territory for 58 years. The ambiguous status of the Northern
Areas is not only a diplomatic and political embarrassment; the issue
also poses a major legal challenge for Pakistan's judicial system and
the legal community. .....
by Dr. David Frawley
The Hindu Gods and Goddesses, more properly called Devatas or Divine principles,
are usually treated by modern scholars in a superficial senses as distinct
powers of nature or worse as just various imaginary spirits of the primitive
mind. .....
by Shafqat Ali
Pakistan arrested Matee-ur-Rehman, leader of a banned outfit alleged for
his involvement in the airliner plot in the UK, from his residence in
Bhattai colony near Korangi Crossing, Karachi, sources said. Matee carried
a prize of Rs 10 million on his arrest. .....
by M.V.Kamath
British Prime Minister Tony Blair who, one understands, is on his way
out, gave an important talk on the country's future foreign policy at,
of all places, the Los Angeles World Affairs Council on 1 August 2006.
It is important in many ways. Perhaps Mr Blair, realising that his days
as Prime Minister are numbered, felt free to pour out his heart. .....
by Samuel Shahid
Recently a few books have been written about the rights of non-Muslims
who are subjugated to the rule of the Islamic law. Most of these books
presented the Islamic view in a favorable fashion, without unveiling the
negative facet inherited in these laws. .....
by CBS News
A terminal at the Tri-State Airport was evacuated Thursday morning after
two containers in a female passenger's bag tested positive for liquid
explosives, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said.
.....
by Ian Morgan
Police investigating the alleged airliner bomb plot have found a suitcase
containing components needed to make an explosive device, it was reported.
.....
by The Times of India
Pakistan's government said a senior al-Qaida leader based in Afghanistan
masterminded the London terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic jetliners.
.....
by Acharya Sudhanshu Maharaj
The whole world is getting caught in the terrible web of terror and violence.
It has assumed the proportion of the most monstrous problem of this century.
I feel the objective of terrorism is to gain more power, wealth and, with
the help of instigating communal frenzy, to rule over a large part of
the world, though it directly does not appear to be so. It seems that
some misguided people are involved in terrorism, but this is not the fact.
.....
by Charti Lal Goel
The monster of terrorism and its menace has grown terribly out of proportion
in the whole country and has become quite unbearable. This terrorism has
already struck our places of national pride, religious pride and places
of military, civil and social importance, killing hundreds of military
personnel, innocent men, women and children and has caused tremendous
damage to the national property. .....
by Chandan Mitra
Probably because politicians rarely read history - leave alone learn from
it - they are obsessed with revising it. At least since the mid-70s, India's
history is being tossed around by Governments of different hues because
they aspire to condition impressionable minds to their version of our
past. With equal zeal, successor Governments have spent much of their
time "righting the wrongs" only to have one version supplanted
by another a few years down the line. .....
by Dr. Koenraad Elst
After the timely folding of yet another Islamic terror plot, the public's
attention is focused once more on the "Paki problem". Over twenty
Muslims have been arrested in connection with the alleged discovery of
preparations to blow up a set of airplanes on trans-Atlantic flights starting
from London Heathrow. .....
by Alyssa Ayres
More than a week after the arrest of 23 would-be airline bombers in Britain,
information about their background, networks and training continues to
emerge. The common thread appears to link the plot to Pakistan's Jama'at
ud-Dawa (JUD), previously known as the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET). The New
York Times reports that investigators are focusing on the group's role
in funding the bombers. .....
by Jonah Goldberg
The Jews everywhere are the Muslims' bitter enemies, said a prominent
Islamic leader. Throughout history, the irreconcilable enemy of Islam
has conspired and schemed and oppressed and persecuted 40 million Muslims,
he said. In Palestine, the Jews are establishing a base from which to
extend their power over neighboring Islamic countries. And, he proclaimed,
this war, which was unleashed by the world Jewry, provided Muslims the
best opportunity to free themselves from these instances of persecution
and oppression. .....
by Sandhya Jain
Archbishop Mar Varkey Vithayathil recently startled India's intellectual
elite with his call for more babies to arrest the decline of Kerala's
Catholic community. Perturbed at the toll taken by abortion and the small
family norm on the Syro-Malabar Church, he insisted the burgeoning national
population is no problem and that the State should not try to curb family
size. .....
by The Indian Express
A suitcase filled with bomb-making material has been found by British
police officers investigating an alleged terrorist plot to blow up US-bound
passenger jets using liquid explosives. .....
by Saikat Datta
In April 2006, officials from the Intelligence Bureau and RAW, the pillars
of India's security apparatus, held several meetings to dissect the latest
dictats from Al Qaeda's Osama bin Laden. .....
by V. Sudarshan
Contrary to popular belief, the Indian government has reliably learnt
from Western interlocutors that Pakistan didn't tip off British intelligence
agencies about the plot to simultaneously blow up planes over the Atlantic.
.....
by Rohit Parihar
Ghanshyam Das Nimbark is a miniature artist whose work has appeared in
Naveen Patnaik's book The Garden of Life. He switched to wall paintings
when the Oberoi Group hired him in 1998 to paint its heritage hotels like
Rajvilas and Trident at Jaipur, Amarvilas at Agra, Udaivilas at Udaipur,
and Vanyavilas at Ranthambore. .....
by Saurabh Shukla
Britain may have had some valid reasons to thank Pakistan for its role
in foiling the terror plot but in official circles in India, it was yet
another example of General Pervez Musharraf's devious double-game, of
promoting and abetting terror while convincing the West he was actually
combating it. .....
by Jason Burke
They had been watching for weeks, months, possibly years. When the British
police and agents from MI5, the United Kingdom's domestic security service,
finally launched the series of raids on suspected Islamic militants last
week, they were sure it was time to move. Plain-clothed officers slipped
down quiet roads in the leafy country town of High Wycombe and in the
city of Birmingham, vans with darkened windows parked to block off streets.
.....
by The Times of India
British authorities on Friday identified 19 of the 24 suspected terrorists
who allegedly plotted to destroy US-bound commercial jetliners and froze
their assets, while investigators probed their movements, backgrounds
and finances. .....
by Indrani Bagchi
With investigations into the air terror plot ripping apart the charity
cover of Lashkar-e-Taiba's front, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Pakistan Is being shorn
of its last major argument to defend the outfit. .....
by Archana Sharma
"I am not angry with the people who want to finish Mumbai. I am angry
with the people who are supposed to save Mumbai," says Vinayak Devrukhakar,
who lost his sister and a brother in the 1993 blasts. The lives of the
Devrukhakars changed after March 12, 1993 yet Vinayak is not looking forward
to the final verdict in September. "I know what will happen. Out
of the 123 accused, 100 will be acquitted and 23 will be convicted. I
am not even sure if they are the real culprits," says this unemployed
27-year-old. .....
by Pradeep Thakur
Tayib Rauf, one of the key accused in the UK terror plot, paid $189,000
in cash for a house in Birmingham on his 20th birthday in March 2004.
Two months later, another accused, 24-yearold Khuram Shazad Ali, bought
a house in High Wycombe for $378,000 and another one in the same neighbourhood
for $359,000, all paid for in cash. .....
by The Indian Express
As buglers sounded the Last Post at an emotional wreath-laying ceremony,
President A P J Abdul Kalam today dedicated the Chandigarh War Memorial
to the nation and promised to lend his support for another one in the
national capital. .....
by The Indian Express
Saying he was ''extremely cold-blooded and a staunch religious fanatic'',
the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Thursday sought police custody for 7/11
blasts accused Dr Tanveer Ansari, this time for his alleged involvement
in the Bandra blast. .....
by Tim Butcher and David Blair
The president of Lebanon ruled out disarming Hizbollah yesterday, rejecting
a central element of the United Nations plan for peace on the frontier
with Israel. Disarming the guerrilla group is required under UN Resolution
1701, which was passed last Friday. .....
by The Indian Express
Investigators probing July 11's serial blasts are now looking for possible
links between absconding Lashkar-e-Toiba operative Raheel Abdul Rehman
Sheikh, wanted in the Aurangabad arms haul case, and Mohammed Najeeb Abdul
Rasheed Bakali and Irfan Anjum Ali, arrested by the Crime Branch on Monday.
.....
by Husain Haqqani
The Bush administration has justified its decision to sell 36 F-16 Falcon
fighter jets to Pakistan on grounds that it would increase US "access
and influence" in Islamabad. .....
by Anand K. Sahay
This is not apocryphal. General Zia-ul-Haq's coup of July 5, 1977 that
overthrew the civilian regime of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Pakistan was codenamed
"Operation Fairplay"! .....
by Brigadier Arun Sahgal
Although India's decision-making apparatus will not admit this, it is
quite evident that New Delhi's threshold of tolerance for the proxy war
waged by Pakistan remains a bottomless pit. The July 11 multiple bombings
in Mumbai were the latest in a series of terrorist attacks aimed at provoking
communal riots and demoralising the Indian State and its overall security
apparatus. .....
by Ajai Sahni
Indians often wonder at how the good will for their role in Bangladesh's
war of Independence in 1971 could so quickly have turned into relentless
animosity and campaigns of terrorism against India from Bangladeshi soil.
They wonder, again, at how the Pakistani military junta, the architects
of the genocide of 1971 in which over three million were slaughtered,
could have, so quickly, regained influence through the Inter Services
Intelligence (ISI) .....
by Najam Sethi
Former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif once vowed to chop
each other up and throw the pieces into the sea. Now they are best friends,
having just signed a pact in exile to overthrow the "tyrannical regime
of General Pervez Musharraf". And why ever not? They have much in
common. Both have been spawned and spurned in turns by the Pakistani military.
.....
by Vineet Khare
Q.: Mr Natwar Singh, in his earlier interviews has been denying having
written the letters of introduction.
A.: He couldn't remember to whom he gave letters six years ago. Who remembers?
When you are in the job of giving 20-40 letters a day, who remembers.
You weren't a minister, you weren't an MP, you didn't have staff. You
wrote a letter and you forgot about it. Woh to har roz dete the chittiyaan
(He used to give letters everyday). He didn't remember that he had given
any letters to Andy (Andaleeb Sehgal). .....
by The Indian Express
A 23-year-old employee of Jet Airways at Heathrow is one of the 24 people
arrested in connection with the planned air terror attack which was foiled
on Thursday. .....
by Tavleen Singh
It made an interesting contrast. On the day last week that British police
foiled a terrorist plot to commit ''mass murder on an unimaginable scale'',
judgement in the 1993 Bombay bombings was delayed yet again. As someone
who believes that we will not win the war against terrorism until the
Indian justice system is dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century,
I saw the contrast as an example of why the West is winning its war and
we are losing ours. .....
by Jaya Menon
As the world celebrates the 250th birth anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart, Chennai, known for its tradition of Carnatic music, has come up
with its own tribute to the 18th century Austrian composer. A composition,
titled Mozart meets India, which blends Western orchestra with Carnatic
ragas, is set to hit the world market on August 25. .....
by Sreenivas Janyala
When the weatherman predicted more rain for Gujarat in the coming days,
BS Rathwa, the mamlatdar of Talaja taluka in Bhavnagar district, couldn't
brush off a feeling of complacence. He took off in his jeep to witness
a rare sight in these otherwise parched parts - check dams brimming over
under a still promising grey sky. .....
by Sharmi Adhikary
The way to the catwalk and Fashion Street lies through these dingy bylanes.
Eight months ago, 22-year-old Joanna Barua, a school dropout had no job
and a daughter and parents to look after. Krishna Ghosh, another school
dropout made barely Rs 20 a day sewing blouses. But that's all in the
past now. .....
by Expressindia.com
Youths from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and
West Bengal have been lured by Pakistan's ISI to carry out violent and
subversive activities in India, Lok Sabha was told on Tuesday. .....
by Bindu D Menon And V Hemamalini
'Incredible India' it is. Sanskrit is being touted as the next big thing
to solve crises ranging from stress, complex equations to human resource
development. Sanskrit, termed as 'god's own language,' is slowly getting
well-entrenched into the global cultural melting pot. .....
by Haindava Keralam
Islamic terrorists today raped and beheaded two Hindu children and their
mother in Hara Village, Udhampur district, 200 Kms away from Jammu. .....
by The Sydney Morning Herald
Prominent Jewish MP Michael Danby has accused two well-known academics
of being one-sided over the Middle East conflict. .....
by Al Jacinto
But Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty has backed away from tougher
security measures at airports, saying the idea of testing infant's milk
before air travel should be left up to regulators. .....
by News.com.au
But Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty has backed away from tougher
security measures at airports, saying the idea of testing infant's milk
before air travel should be left up to regulators. .....
by Prakash Singh
A debate is currently raging within the country on the need and desirability
of having a permanent anti-terror law. The National Security Advisor recently
said that one of our nuclear installations is under terrorist threat.
The Defence Minister said that the infrastructure of the country and the
religious establishments are among the likely targets. .....
by Nathan Bevan
Young Welsh Muslims have accused the Government of master-minding this
week's plot to blow up transatlantic jets mid-air to justify Tony Blair's
war on terror. .....
by N Madhavan Kutty
Eight senior nuclear scientists in the country led by Dr H N Sethna, Dr
M R Srinivasan and Dr P K Iyengar, all former chairmen of the Atomic Energy
Commission, have in a joint statement warned that US law-makers in the
Congress have modified in letter .....
by Kanchan Gupta
It's difficult to fault US President George Bush for being obnoxiously
upfront and brutally honest while describing the jihadis and their cohorts
who planned "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" by blowing
up 10, probably more, trans-Atlantic passenger jets taking off from Heathrow
as "Islamic fascists". .....
by Investor's Business Daily
Islamabad was quick to trumpet its help in foiling the sky terror plot.
And by all accounts, it deserves some praise. But such cooperation seems
to occur only when the West gets wind of another Pakistan-based plot.
.....
by The Pioneer
Arrested by Delhi Police on August 10 from Ajmeri Gate, Lashkar terrorists
Abu Anas and Abrar Ahmad are busy spilling the beans. They claim that
they were in the Capital to execute a nefarious module and were directly
monitored by Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). .....
by K.P.S. Gill
It is interesting to note the giddy veering of India's political rhetoric
from belligerence in the immediate wake of the Mumbai blasts, to conciliation
just a couple of weeks later. Interesting, but not surprising. This has
long been the pattern of political postures under successive regimes in
Delhi, and it reflects a high measure of political indifference to the
course of terrorism and the continuous loss of life in terrorist and insurgent
strife in the country. .....
by The Hindu
At least five persons were killed and 28 others, including a foreigner,
injured when a powerful bomb exploded in the complex of International
Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) here this evening when the
shrine was teeming with Janmasthami devotees. .....
by Ashutosh Sheshabalaya
Selective amnesia is the theme of several Hollywood B-movies. It is also
a disorder to which American newspapers and their fellow travellers sometimes
succumb. A good example is the late July revelation in the US media about
the 'new' Pakistani nuclear reactor at Khushab, and the dangers this poses
for the world -for the US and the 'world' mind you, rather than India.
.....
by Sandhya Jain
If I were Prime Minister of Hindu-majority India, I would discard without
delay the debilitating missionary propaganda about turning the other cheek
(interestingly never followed in western Christian nations), and respond
to the grave national challenges with manly valour and statesmanship.
In the penumbra of the approaching Krishna Janmasthami, this would be
the most appropriate message to our pusillanimous national leadership.
.....
by Rediff.com
Stung by his suspension from the Congress party, former external affairs
minister Natwar Singh launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh and his Ministerial council late Tuesday night and declared that
he was ready for a 'decisive battle.' .....
by Rafia Zakaria
On June 27, 2006, the two murderers of a 19-year-old honour killing victim,
Ghazala Khan, were sentenced to life in prison by a Danish court. On September
23, 2005, Ghazala Khan, a Danish Pakistani, was gunned down by her own
brother at a suburban Danish railway station Her crime was marrying a
man of her own choice. Her husband Emal Khan survived the attack despite
being shot in the abdomen. .....
by Sheela Bhatt
Even as Mumbai anxiously awaits the verdict in the March 12, 1993 serial
blasts case, which Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act
Special Court Judge Pramod Kode has said he will deliver on August 10,
it is likely that the historic judgment will be delayed. .....
by Nanditha Krishna
Ayodhya is in the headlines every day. One would have to be an ostrich
to avoid the subject. Was there a temple before the mosque? Archaeologists
would have to answer that. Was Rama born there? The answer is a matter
of belief. Did Rama exist? Yes, I am quite sure he did. Rama's life was
a fact. His divinity is a matter of faith. .....
by M. V. Kamath
Just think of this: Reports from Dhaka that the Khaleda Zia Government
is considering relocating the Dhakeshwari Kali Temple the millennium-old
shrine in the heart of the Bangladesh capital that gives the city its
very name, has been conveniently suppressed by the English media. The
Pioneer (June 9) alone had the courage to write an editorial on the subject.
.....
by The Pioneer
In a hurry to indict former external affairs minister Natwar Singh and
exonerate the Congress, Justice RS Pathak Authority report conveniently
overlooked its own findings on the involvement of another Congress functionary
Aneil Mathrani. The report noted that Mathrani was present when the Iraqi
Oil Ministry discussed the contracts, but failed to explain his role in
the scam. .....
by R. Sridharan
During his visit to India a few years back Pope John Paul II had exhorted
his followers that Asia , particularly Bharat was ripe for harvesting
souls for Christianity. As a result of that increased efforts are on to
Convert the Poor and gullible Hindus using different ploys. Especially
in Tamilnadu it has assumed alarming proportions. .....
by Jenny Booth and Stewart Tendler
A major terrorist plot to commit mass murder on an unimaginable scaleby
exploding up to nine aircraft in mid-flight between Britain andAmerica
has been thwarted, Scotland Yard announced this morning. .....
by Charles Krauthammer
What other country, when attacked in an unprovoked aggression across a
recognized international frontier, is then put on a countdown clock by
the world, given a limited time window in which to fight back, regardless
of whether it has restored its own security? .....
by Sarfaraz Ahmed and Maqbool Ahmed
A UK-based Islamic charity organisation remitted a huge amount of money
to three individuals in three different bank accounts in Mirpur, Azad
Kashmir, in December last year with the sole purpose of helping its recipients
and their organisations carry out the aircraft bombing plan in the UK,
insider sources told Daily Times yesterday. .....
by Paul Richter
Detentions in the alleged British plot provide a reminder that a key Asian
ally is home to many of America's foes in the war on terrorism. .....
by Pudhari
If there is a most censured and condemned Chief Minister during the last
four and half years, he is Narendra Modi of Gujarat. If there is a most
denounced state, it is Gujarat. If we trust intellectuals, politicians
and media, then Gujarat would be the most unsafe and bankrupt state. But
is it the reality? If the news we hear, the discussions on news channels
that we listen and also the accusations and counter arguments reach our
ears are true, then we should have witnessed Gujarat as a most devastated
state. .....
by Peter Goodspeed
Once again, the road to terror runs through Pakistan. Despite Islamabad's
claims to have played a crucial role helping Britain uncover a plan to
blow up airliners flying to the United States, Pakistan remains a breeding
ground for terror and is the most likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden.
.....
by Swapan Dasgupta
It would, perhaps, not be outrageous to suggest that had the authorities
in Pakistan been as forthcoming with information to India as they were
to the British Intelligence, the July 11 carnage in Mumbai may have been
averted. The heinous plot unearthed last Thursday to cause mid-air explosions
on trans-Atlantic flights from London was to have been executed by middle-class
Britons of Pakistani origin. .....
by Nabanita Sircar
Once again the word 'discrimination' sounds like a demand for appeasement.
This week Britain's most senior Muslim police officer blamed tougher anti-terrorist
laws for causing discrimination against Muslims. .....
by S Gurumurthy
"The Congress party's views on this are well known," Sonia says.
'This' means laws banning forcible religious conversions. She goes on:
"They are enactments passed by state legislatures where the Congress
is in opposition." She adds, "The Congress party has opposed
(them) strongly in the assembly and through demonstrations." She
made these profound remarks in a letter she wrote to Dr John Dayal. .....
by Subramanian Swamy
Make no mistake about it: all terror attacks since 1945 in India have
been carried out to demoralise the Hindus, to undermine and ultimately
dismantle the Hindu foundation of India. In fact, the earlier terror tactics
in India were deployed in Bengal, in 1946, by Suhrawady and Jinnah to
terrorise Hindus to give in on the demand for Pakistan. .....
by The New Indian Express
The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has received an intelligence report that
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) plans to spread HIV among
personnel of the Indian army and para-military forces. .....
by Malini Bhupta
Next time you go shopping for your home at Christy in London, stop a while
and take pride in the fact that one of the oldest home linen brands in
the UK-and official supplier to Wimbledon Championship-is now the subsidiary
of Welspun India. .....
by Rohit Parihar
Faith, they say, can move mountains. In Rajasthan's Chittorgarh district,
it has found its moorings in a temple believed to be submerged under a
lake. On every religious and social occasion, be it Akha Teej or a wedding,
worshippers from the village of Pangarh, bordering Madhya Pradesh, head
for the Joonji Bauji temple and wade into the water to perform a puja.
.....
by Kanchan Gupta
The UPA Government is reported to have submitted a 'non-paper' for Gen
Musharraf's consideration, offering to roll back Jammu & Kashmir's
integration with India ---- The Nation of Pakistan carried an interesting
story on its front page on Monday, August 7, whose astonishing contents,
based on a 'non-paper' reportedly submitted by New Delhi to Islamabad,
have gone unnoticed in the brouhaha over the Justice RS Pathak Authority's
non-report. .....
by KR Phanda
Prafull Goradia's article, "Big nation, timid response" (July
22), highlights the differences between the response of Hindus and Jews
to acts of Islamist terrorism. What lies beneath these differences needs
to be noted. .....
by Indiatimes.com
Its a month since the serial commuter train blasts in Mumbai struck terror
in the heart of its residents and took more than 200 lives. On the eve
of this first monthly anniversary of this ghastly terrorist act it is
imperative that Indians at large reflect on how New Yok, London and Madrid
fared in the first 30 days following the serial terrorist strikes on those
cities and contrast it with how we are faring on Mumbai. The stark reality
of the facts says it all. .....
by Premendra Agrawal
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna-Terrorism appeaser UPA? Plotters are British-born
with ties to Pakistan? But Mush's ISI works with British anti-terror police.
Why Mush helps to India? .....
by Deccan Chronicle
Intelligence agencies have foiled the attempts of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba
(LeT) which was planning "spectacular strikes" in Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Maharashtra on August 15, mid-September and October 15.
Police in all these States have been put on high alert after intelligence
sleuths intercepted crucial messages between LeT operatives and their
handlers across the border in July and August. .....
by Reuters
Pakistani authorities have put the founder and former head of the Lashkar-e-Taiba
militant group under house arrest in the eastern city of Lahore, a spokesman
for the Islamic charity he now runs, said on Thursday. .....
by Madhuri Santanam Sondhi
The West Asian conflict over half a century has a chequered history leading
to a complexity often submerged in instant media reportage. The original
cause of contention was the establishment of the Israeli state in the
Palestine area by a UN decree in 1948. .....
by B. Raman
Operation Bojinka (meaning explosion or big bang) refers to a thwarted
plot of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM) and Ramzi Yousef, in association
with other members of Al Qaeda, to blow up 11 passenger aircraft flying
from East and South-East Asia to the US on January 21 and 22, 1995.They
reportedly intended causing the explosions by smuggling into the aircraft
liquid explosives concealed in bottles which are used for carrying contact
lens cleaning solution. .....
by The Telegreph
John Reid rounded on judges, politicians and commentators yesterday for
failing to grasp that today's terrorists pose the greatest threat to the
civilised world since Adolf Hitler. .....
by Archana Sharma
In an age where microchips and megabucks make the man, corporate caliphs
are turning to ancient wisdom to navigate the future. Enter the urban
gurukul, where the Upanishads replace Gatesian philosophy, and serenity
and "pure knowledge" edge out competitive classroom curricula.
.....
by M Saleem Pandit
Unlike the ragtag forces that fight the naxals, the Jammu and Kashmir
police are logistically well-equipped to take on terrorists. But arms,
jammers and bullet-proof vehicles are not enough when terror strikes home.
Sons killed, women raped and houses burnt: the price of maintaining peace
is often impossibly high. .....
by The Times of India
The Delhi high court showed no mercy to a man who allegedly planted a
bomb in a bus in 1997 during the serial blasts which shocked the capital.
.....
by MSNBC.com
British authorities said Thursday they thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously
blow up 10 aircraft heading to the U.S. using explosives smuggled in hand
luggage, averting what police described as "mass murder on an unimaginable
scale." .....
by The Indian Express
The political gulf between the Congress and its ally in the Democratic
Front government, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), widened further
on Saturday with Maharahstra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president
Prabha Rau intensifying her attacks on Sharad Pawar's party. .....
by Tavleen Singh
How ironic that Tony Blair should be the first major political leader
to point out that the nature of our Kashmir problem has changed. In a
speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council last week the British
PM said, ''Whatever the outward manifestation at any one time-in Lebanon,
in Gaza, in Iraq and add to that in Afghanistan, in Kashmir, in a host
of other nations including now some in Africa-it is a global fight about
global values .....
by S Balakrishnan
Kamal Ahmed, one of the main accused in the 7/11 serial blasts case, has
stunned interrogators with disclosures that a terror module, which has
already slipped into the city, is planning a "big hit." .....
by B Shantanu
"Kuch nahin kar sakte - yeh to hota hi rahega" - I have been
hearing this in various conversations all around me for the last two days.
.....
by Dina Nath Mishra
Home Minister Shivraj Patil has recently certified that "we believe
that Islamic madarsas are seats of social service. They are not centres
of terrorism". The Minster said, "madarsas, where knowledge
of humanism is being imparted and human values are taught, could only
be termed as servants of humanity...we are not ready to accept that they
are breeding ground of terrorists". These certificates were given
for obvious reasons. .....
by B Shantanu
Post the bombing in a calm moment, I came across this email, "Dear
terrorist…", it began, "…you cannot defeat us…we
are Mumbai-kers…(our) spirit is very strong and cannot be harmed…"
.....
by The New India Express
Chennai girls and Thavani? Seems to be a rare combo, but those at MGR-Janaki
College thought it was time this combo was made into a dress code, at
least on the occasion of Aadi perukku. .....
by The Times of India
National security advisor M K Narayanan's warning against possible infiltration
of the Indian Air Force by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists prompted BJP on
Friday to ask the government to change its mindset. .....
by The Times of India
Sharpening its attack on Pakistan and Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, India
on Friday upped the ante by asking Pakistan to arrest and deport top criminal-terrorist
Dawood Ibrahim and the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin. .....
by The Times of India
The grand reception thrown by railway minister Lalu Prasad on his daughter's
marriage at five-star Hotel Ashok on April 30 has so far been a matter
of discussion in the capital. .....
by Afternoon Despatch & Courier
M F Hussain is not in the country but police at crime branch has already
recorded a case against the painter for alleged deliberate and malicious
acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting
its religion or religious beliefs. The law says that the one guilty of
the cognisable offence can face imprisonment for a term which may extend
to three years. .....
by Afternoon Despatch & Courier
Crime Branch claims that the Unani doctor arrested in Mominpura, Byculla,
was part of the terrorist group that actually planned the July 11 bomb
blasts. If true, he will be the first of the lot to have been arrested
for conspiracy behind the blast. The police says that Interrogation of
the doctor reveals that the railways was not the only target, the terrorists
had planned to blast many important installations as well. .....
by The Indian Express
Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal on Sunday came out
strongly in support of 'salwa judum', an anti-Naxal campaign in Chhattisgarh,
which was drawing flak from political parties of late following increasing
incidents of killing of ordinary citizens. .....
by The Indian Express
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has written a letter to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh urging him to secure the President's consent at the earliest
for the tough Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Bill which has been pending
with the Centre for more than two years, a senior official said today.
.....
by Lakshmi Iyer
Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz may have received a resounding
slap in the face from the VK Shunglu Committee--the special panel appointed
by the Prime Minister to examine the status of rehabilitation of projected
affected people (PAP) of the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Madhya Pradesh. .....
by Adity Sharma
In academia, when a myth is punctured through empirical analysis, credited
scholars are allowed to come on stage to propound their contradiction
and alternatives to the evidence that has been disproved. Well, not according
to the Indian secularists and apologists for Christian missionaries and
the quotidian disquisitions dished out as absolute truth even though it
has been confounded again and again. .....
by Sandhya Jain
It would be in the fitness of things for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
to disband the Sachar Committee on Minorities without further delay. This
is an urgent imperative because Justice Sachar, whatever his mandate may
be, has been raising hackles with his reckless attempts to divide every
security agency and national institution on communal lines, with his determination
to have a communal headcount everywhere. .....
by R.C. Ganjoo
It is indeed ironic that the tragedy of the miniscule population of this
country the Kashmiri Pundits is remembered by the high and mighty of this
country only when it suits them. Reams have been written and millions
of words said about the on-going Indo-Pak CBMs (Confidence Building Measures).
Money is being literally poured into Jammu and Kashmir to assuage the
feelings of the majority community. All these are very welcome steps,
and more needs to be done to bring peace and normalcy to the trouble-torn
state. .....
by Shyam Khosla
The Islamist People's Democratic Party's Supremo-Abdul Nasser Mahdani-has
emerged as the "secularists" icon in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
And who is Mahdani? He is the notorious terrorist that preached fanaticism
of the worst kind and is charged with masterminding 1998 Coimbatore serial
blasts that targeted Lal Krishan Advani and claimed 58 lives and maimed
around 100 innocent citizens. As of now, he is lodged in the high-security
prison in Coimbatore with 166 co-accused almost of all whom are Jehadis
belonging to Al Umma. .....
by Organiser
Call it CPM pressure, cynical political opportunism or a total abdication
of its primary duty, the UPA is talking with a forked tongue on the raging
Maoist menace in the country. Not that the centre is unaware of the gravity
of the situation. Maoist terrorists are proving a greater threat to the
country's sovereignty than even the jehadi terrorists. .....
by Webindia123.com
Pakistan-based banned terrorist outfit Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HUJI)
has warned Panun Kashmir, a Kashmiri Pandits' organisation, against organising
'Maha Shraadh' (funeral rites of Hindus) in Anantnag district in Jammu
and Kashmir on August 6. .....
by John Perazzo
During these tense times in the Middle East, at least Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can have a good laugh over the pathetic July 26 letter
addressed to him by the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch's Middle
East and North Africa Division, Sarah Leah Whitson. .....
by T V R Shenoy
Can two swords live comfortably in a single scabbard? Can two armies coexist
in a single nation-state? And what happens if that clash of rival swords
takes place across the Indian border? .....
by G Parthasarathy
If there is one thing that is clear about the policies and strategies
of our present Government, it is that this Government has no clearly defined
policies or strategies to deal with terrorism sponsored by Pakistan and
Bangladesh. On January 6, 2004 Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf assured
Prime Minister A B Vajpayee that he would not allow territory under Pakistan's
control to be used for terrorist activities. .....
by The Times of India
I grew up in a small town in Mayurbhanj district of Orissa. After completing
my school and college education there, I moved to Delhi. Mine was a typically
apolitical, middle-class family. .....
by Keshav Pradhan
Malaya is a tiny frontier village, about 145 km north-east of Agartala,
in West Tripura district. It overlooks the expanse of paddy fields in
Bangladesh's Moulvibazar district, which is a stronghold of jailed terror
kingpin Aziz-ur-Rahman alias Banglabhai. .....
by Balbir K. Punj
'Jehad' as M.J. Akbar says in the prologue of his book, The Shade of Swords
is the signature tune of Islam. Islam's quest for re-domination of India
found a milestone with attainment of Pakistan in West and East of India
on August 15, 1947. So it is hardly surprising that Pakistan would give
up transmission the raison d'etre to its future generation. .....
by S. Chandrasekhar
In a continuing exposure of the CPM's links with the illicit liquor trade
in the state, 10,500 litres of spirit valued at over one crore of rupees
was seized by an excise team from the residence of Sreekumari, wife of
Bhaskaran, Alapuzha CPM district committee member and president of Pathiyoor
Panchayat. .....
by Haindava Keralam
Thiruvananthapuram:In the name of Christian charity orphanages are mushrooming
all over Kerala.The only evil motive behind this charity is to grab Foreign
funds coming from USA and European countries. .....
by Samuel Baid
In a puppet show, called elections in occupied Kashmir, the Pakistan Army
pulled the strings to declare its favourite party, the Muslim Conference,
the winner. This show was staged after General Pervez Musharraf had repeatedly
talked of self-governance for Kashmiris and promised that his Government
would be a neutral observer of the election process. .....
by Sidharth Mishra/Rajesh Kumar
The Union of India and the Prime Minister of India do not have concurring
views on matters of internal security. The documents available with The
Pioneer suggest that the two have different opinions on the effectiveness
of the anti-terror Prevention of Terrorist Activities (POTA) Act. .....
by The Pioneer
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday sent confusing signals about
the UPA Government's response to terrorism in the wake of the Mumbai blasts
by lacing her call for "tough measures" with considerations
of vote bank politics. .....
by Mayank Jain
"Religion has not created any Pol Pot, Joseph Stalin or Anwar Hoja,they
were produced in the 'kitchen' of communism.The CPI(M) has beenintolerant
even to their left allies. CPI (M) is the most intolerantpolitical party
in the country." .....
by Madhu Purnima Kishwar
The current simplistic debate over reservations as a key remedy for inequality,
injustice and backwardness has been reduced to a single point - should
educational reservations be caste-based or include economic criteria as
well? The underlying mistaken assumption behind both these alternatives
is that deprivation has only two facets in India - being born in a caste
or tribe listed in government records as backward or depressed, and/or
being born in a poor family. .....
by Selig S. Harrison
While the United States dithers, a growing Islamic fundamentalist movement
linked to al-Qaeda and Pakistani intelligence agencies is steadily converting
the strategically located nation of Bangladesh into a new regional hub
for terrorist operations that reach into India and Southeast Asia. .....
by Zorawar Singh Jamwal
In what could be a problem for Indian security agencies, militants have
set up a parallel communication network in the border districts of Poonch
and Rajouri. To hoodwink the security forces, which regularly monitor
communication on wireless sets and Indian cellular services, the terrorists
use Pakistani cell-phone networks to talk to top guns across the Line
of Control (LoC). Aiding this are mobile-phone towers shifted near the
LoC. .....
by The Hindu
The Justice Pathak Inquiry Authority today indicted former External Affairs
Minister K Natwar Singh and his MLA son Jagat Singh for procurement of
contracts in the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq during Saddam Hussain's
regime but no money has been traced to them. .....
by Selig S. Harrison
While the United States dithers, a growing Islamic fundamentalist movement
linked to al-Qaeda and Pakistani intelligence agencies is steadily converting
the strategically located nation of Bangladesh into a new regional hub
for terrorist operations that reach into India and Southeast Asia. .....
by Bulbul Roy Mishra
It is well known that Indian civilization survived ravages of foreign
aggressions and occupations from ancient time till recent past owing to
its extraordinary resilience. And this, according to eminent historians
like Sir Arnold Toynbee, originated from its rich tradition of acceptance
and innate superiority. .....
by Shyam Khosla
The Islamist People's Democratic Party's Supremo-Abdul Nasser Mahdani-has
emerged as the "secularists" icon in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
And who is Mahdani? He is the notorious terrorist that preached fanaticism
of the worst kind and is charged with masterminding 1998 Coimbatore serial
blasts that targeted Lal Krishan Advani and claimed 58 lives and maimed
around 100 innocent citizens. .....
by Amitabh Tripathi
Before blasts took place in Mumbai commuters,formation of new Muslim political
groups in most populated state was centre of curiosity and apprehension.
When gruesome attack on innocent civilians occurred and various Muslim
organizations were found actively involved with this operation for providing
logistic support to terrorists to executing it, role of Muslim political
parties came under scanner. Now it is high time to decipher the mind of
Muslim leadership. .....
by John Mary
The predominant Catholic church in Kerala has expressed dismay at the
declining numbers of the community and has urged the faithful to stick
to the Christian concept of sexuality that blends love and procreation.
.....
by Pramod Kumar Singh
For Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, madarsas are seats of learning
and scholarly pursuit. In a speech at the Ahle-Hadeeth complex in Jamia
Nagar on July 24, he merrily gave a clean chit to madarsas saying, "We
believe that Islamic madarsas are seats of social service. They are not
the centres of terrorism." .....
by Webindia123.com
In a special drive against organized trafficking of arms, ammunition and
fake currency, BSF South Bengal Frontier sleuths have unearthed a major
racket in North 24 Parganas district. .....
by The Economic Times
The arrest of prime Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) suspects Rahil Sheikh in April
and Zabiuddin Ansari in May during police raids this year could have averted
the July 11 blasts, police sources said. .....
by The New Indian Express
For a man who'd just engineered one big victory, signing a deal to set
up West Bengal's biggest-ever infrastructure project, you'd have expected
him to show a bit more grace in defeat. Yet the reaction from Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee to Jagmohan Dalmiya's re-election as president of the Cricket
Association of Bengal (CAB) was to call it a "victory of evil over
good" and a vow to "continue the fight". .....
by Tehelka
Only the pursuit of Islam can lead to true justice, real liberty, lasting
peace and success in life hereafter and liberate man from the slavery
of his own kind. .....
by Free Press Journal
Before he heaps further ignominy on the Government, the least that is
expected of the Prime Minister is to move the Health and Family Welfare
Minister Anbumani Ramadoss to another department. By mulishly carrying
on a personal vendetta against Dr. P. Venugopal, the well-respected head
of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the minister has forfeited
any right to continue in his present charge. .....
by Duncan Gardham
The radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza was given leave to appeal yesterday
against his conviction for soliciting to murder on the grounds of the
bad publicity he had received before and during the trial. .....
by Amit Mehta
To the vast majority of Hindus in the UK, who are also vociferously proud
of their Indian roots, the answer to the question of whether the British
Raj was good for India would be an immediate and resounding 'NO'. British
rule is irrevocably associated with brutality, economic exploitation and
a 'divide and rule' policy that caused lasting schisms between sections
of Indian society that continue to haunt India today. .....
by Ay?e Özgün
All we know about her is that her name is Malak Ghorbany. She was born
in the city of Nagadeh in eastern Iran. She was married. She committed
adultery. She is presently serving time in Iran's Urmia Prison. According
to the Sharia law in effect in Iran, she will be stoned to death after
being buried in the ground up to her breasts. .....
by Zaffar Iqbal/Ramesh Bali
There is a new disturbing trend emerging among militant groups, as they
enlist children to carry out terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. .....
by Michael Sheridan
The venerable preacher named as a terrorist leader by the United States
had a twinkle in his eye as he talked of his new mission to convert Indonesia,
the world's biggest Muslim nation, into what he calls an "Allahcracy".
.....
by Swapan Dasgupta
If public memory is woefully short, the recollections of politicians tend
to be conveniently expedient. Those of us who remember the heady days
of May 1998 when India exploded its nuclear devices in Pokhran will recall
that the national celebratory mood did not always cut across party lines.
The two Communist parties - which had, in earlier decades, celebrated
the "worker's bomb" of the Soviet Union and China - were incensed.
.....
by The Pioneer
Christian leaders in Kerala are foreseeing the possibility of Muslims
becoming the majority community in the State in the near future. .....
by Santosh Mishra
The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) sleuths say they have found 'vital information'
from the seized computer of Muzammil Ataur Rehman Sheikh, the suspected
terrorist arrested from Bangalore last week. Following the discovery of
'important data' from Sheikh's computer hard disk, a team of senior ATS
sleuths has reportedly left for Delhi in its ongoing hunt for the bombers
linked with the 7/11 train blasts in Mumbai. .....
by Viju B
He battled serious injuries for 19 days raising hopes of a recovery, but
on Sunday morning Vikrant Khanvilkar, 18, the youngest of the 7/11 blast
victims, finally succumbed to his injuries. The toll has now gone up to
201, and number of people who have died in various hospitals since June
11 has risen to nine. .....
by The Pioneer
Five cadres of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) were
arrested from Jabalpur on Sunday evening. The police were tightlipped
about the arrests and have not disclosed the identity of the arrested
cadres. .....
by Biswajit Jha
Does the religious preaching improve moral values in us? The question
may trigger conflicting views among the scholars. But if we go by a recent
research it certainly assists in improving moral values and characters,
especially among the students. Neelav Tiwari, a teacher at the Regional
School of Bhopal in his MEd thesis has claimed that reading of verses
of Ramayana certainly helps the students in improving ethics. .....
by Jyoti Lal Chowdhury
Ever widening terrorist network across the country with gaping holes in
the national security cover has once again been exposed with the arrest
of 11 Maharashtrian youths based at Thane from the remote border village
of Malai in Tripura, close to the hotbed of fundamentalist forces of Sylhet
in Bangladesh. .....
by The Financial Express
Spiderman and Batman are in for stiff competition from Indian mythological
characters, whose supernatural powers are drawing attention of American
and European kids, long used to the antics of the western superheroes.
.....
by Ashish Khatan
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress have added considerable
muscle to their party-organisation in Mumbai since they first formed an
alliance government seven years ago. .....
by Aditi Tandon
About 85 per cent of the NGOs functioning in India lack vision and mandate.
Although a few NGOs have made an outstanding contribution to community
welfare, many have only pulled wool over the eyes of funding agencies
to get sanction for finances .....
by Ashok Malik
The Prime Minister's Office argues that Jaswant Singh's communication
reveals no names of "moles" or "informants" in the
PV Narasimha Rao PMO. .....
by The Hindu
In the first indication that the July 11 serial blasts in trains here
could be foreign funded, police today claimed it has seized 37,000 riyals
(about Rs 4.4 lakhs) sent from Saudi Arabia through hawala to Faizal Sheikh,
a key Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative, arrested last week in the case.
.....
by Mumbai Mirror
India's critical infrastructure, military bases, nuclear installations
and religious places are targets for attack by Pakistan-based terror outfit
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Parliament
on Monday, adding the government had taken measures to foil such plans.
.....
by Maloy Krishna Dhar
The 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, the attack on Parliament, the hijacking
of IC-814 and the latest but not the last devastating serial bomb blasts
on the Mumbai suburban railway system generated media fever, crocodile
tears from politicians, motivated leakages by police and intelligence
agencies, communal cleavage and erosion of faith in the political system.
.....
by Rediff.com
A journalist of a vernacular daily was arrested in Mumbai on Monday for
his alleged role in the July 11 blasts in the city, police said. .....
by Nandu R Kulkarni
The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and other Central investigating agencies
are alarmed by startling details revealed by the alleged LeT-Simi suspects
like the Unani doctor Tanvir Ansari or the regional commander of these
terrorist groups, Faizal Sheikh, and his brother the tech-savvy Muzammil
Shaikh who gave away information about proliferating modules latent in
Maharashtra with hundreds of educated youths taking oath of allegiance
to Lashkar-e-Toiba and being specially trained and brain-washed in the
hilly border areas of Pakistan to unleash terrorism in Mumbai and elsewhere.
.....
by The Statesman
An opposition parliamentarian in Pakistan has urged the government to
inquire why the minority population in the country was dwindling while
it was thriving in India and took exception to the omission of reference
of Jesus Christ in school textbooks. .....
by Islamic Republic News Agency
Terror training camps exist alongside the Pakistani Army regiments across
the border and traces of Al-Qaeda's presence in Jammu and Kashmir have
been found in communication intercepted over the last two months. .....
by Chidanand Rajghatta
After reviewing satellite imagery - which the US used last year to prove
the existence of jehadi camps in Pakistan in connection with a case involving
a Pakistani father-and-son duo - for the jury, US government expert Eric
Benn had said the mountainous location and description of the camp near
Balakot in northeast Pakistan are consistent with statements made by accused
Hamir Hayat. .....
by Chidanand Rajghatta
When India's national security establishment and foreign office mandarins
meet with interlocutors from Islamabad and Washington over the next few
days amid a spat over sponsorship of terrorism in the neighbourhood, they
could draw upon court proceedings in Lodi, California, to make their case
if their own material is considered suspect. .....
by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti
The state of Maharashtra has drafted what is known as the Maharashtra
Eradication of Black Magic and Evil and Aghori Practices Bill, 2005. According
to Minister for Social Justice, Chandrakant Handore, the Bill is to bring
social awakening and awareness in society and to create a healthy and
safe social environment, with a view to protecting the common people against
the evil and sinister practices and customs, thriving on ignorance and
to combat and eradicate the same. .....
by Somit Sen
More than nine lakh riyals - nearly Rs 1.2 crore - were transferred from
Saudi Arabia to Mumbai in the past one year for the 7/11 blasts, said
anti-Terrorists squad sources on Tuesday. .....
by The Pioneer
PM's silence is intriguing ---- Key aides of the Prime Minister are expected
to be discrete and maintain a low profile. Not so National Security Adviser
MK Narayanan who appears to be increasingly unmindful about the imprudence
and impropriety of making public statements that convey the impression
that India is a nation under jihadi siege with an indolent Government
failing to rise to the occasion. .....
by Arun Shourie
By the end of 2003, we were being told that our agencies had neutralised
over 160 ISI modules - counting only those outside Jammu and Kashmir and
the Northeast. Since then, up to July 11, 2006, again counting only those
outside Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast, another 75 modules are reported
to have been neutralized. .....
by Arun Shourie
''This has not happened in six months' time. In 2001, it was 131 districts;
in 2003, it had gone up to 143, and in 2004, this number had gone up to
157. I would say that the number has gone up, but it has not gone up only
in six months time; it has gone up in three years' time. That has to be
borne in mind.'' .....
by Tanu Sharma
The Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi), which was banned for the
first time in 2001, has managed to keep its network alive through clandestine
activities and is regrouping cadres and reviving the organisation. Its
tentacles have spread across the globe from Bangladesh to Riyadh and Chicago.
.....
by The Times of India
With the upcoming polls in UP in mind, Samajwadi Party on Wednesday fired
fresh salvos against Congress in and outside Parliament. .....
by Mateen Hafeez
Sajid Ahmed is now employed with a garments outlet. He used to be a member
of the Students' Islamic Movement of India but quit the organisation even
before the government banned it. He has already submitted documentary
evidence of his resignation to the local police station. But, try as he
might, he just cannot shake off the "SIMI" tag; he is called
by the police for "probes" whenever something untoward happens
anywhere in the country. .....
by The Times of India
The Centre has turned down the demand for a separate job quota for Muslims
on the ground that it would be antithetical to the Constitution. .....
by Pradeep Kaushal
Faulting the Centre for not doing enough to tackle Naxalism, Chhattisgarh
Chief Minister Raman Singh has said the Centre was washing its hands of
the issue by only providing funds and additional forces. Even as he appreciated
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's understanding of the problem, he added
that the Home Minister was indifferent. .....
by Mumbai Mirror
More trouble may be in store for jailed RJD MP from Siwan Mohammed Shahabuddin
after a lawyer close to him allegedly threatened a judge with dire consequences
if he did not deliver judgements in his favour. .....
by Abhay Vaidya & Siddhartha D
Kashyap
A striking instance of the changing face of terrorism in Maharashtra came
to the fore in Pune in May 2003 when Anwar Ali, an Urdu lecturer at the
National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, was arrested in connection
with the 2003 Mulund blast in a Mumbai local train. .....
by Sourav Mukherjee
Ashraf Kashmiri, the man credited with setting up the Aurangabad module
of Lashkar-e-Taiba that is believed to have played a key role in the Mumbai
serial blasts, had been hiding in a Surat madrasa for at least five years
till 2005. .....
by Ramesh Vinayak
For the past six years, Jasbir Singh had been reaping rich benefits from
saathi-a fast maturing and therefore lucrative variety of common paddy
sown after the wheat harvest at the end of April. Then, three weeks ago,
onlookers watched aghast as the 33-year-old ploughed a tractor through
his fields in Akkanwali of Haryana's Fatehabad district and mowed down
10 acres of standing saathi crop. .....
by Uday Mahurkar
In the Banni region of Kutch, western Gujarat, there is a move to turn
back the ecological clock. It will take unusual means and Banni, a 2,900-sq-km
area, which once epitomised greenery, may never be the same. But, there
is hope still that the damage done to what once claimed to be Asia's largest
pasture can be redressed, even if to a small degree. .....
by Neeraj Mishra
In a place like Bhopal, where infrastructure is in a shambles and where
there is no planning in the name of development, a state-of-the-art 150-acre
campus with a 750-bed hospital, two dental colleges, one medical college,
one management institute, one paramedical college and one school, is sure
a novelty. The brainchild of an NGO People's Group, this campus is a one-stop
shop for all the educational requirements of a child-from kindergarten
to class 12 and beyond. .....
by The Times of India
Union home minister Shivraj Patil confirmed the worst suspicions of security
agencies on Tuesday when he said that terrorists had taken advantage of
buses and trains launched as part of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs)
to sneak in from Pakistan and Bangladesh. .....
by Jadunath Sarkar
Shivaji's private life was marked by a high standard of morality. He was
a devoted son, a loving father and an attentive husband. Intensely religious
from his very boyhood, by instinct and training alike, he remained all
through his life abstemious, free from vice, respectful to holy men, and
passionately fond of hearing scripture readings and sacred stories and
songs. But religion remained with him an ever-fresh fountain of right
conduct and generosity; it did not obsess his mind nor harden him into
a bigot. .....
by M.V. Kamath
The July 11 bomb blasts in suburban passenger trains in Mumbai significantly
enough did not end up in communal riots, especially considering that someone
- everyone is free to guess who - sought to deface the bust of the late
Mrs. Thackeray. It may be taken for granted that there is a clear connection
between the two acts though the Shiv Sena wisely did not take the second
opportunity to initiate a communal riot. .....
by Vijaita Singh
A day after, Delhi Police is still puzzling over the incident when two
girls in a Hyundai Sonata accompanied by an AC mechanic in designer clothes
breezed through the security cordon and reached the alignment point of
the Prime Minister's residence on Thursday night. .....
by M Saleem Pandit
The Indian Army late on Friday disclosed that a terrorist killed in a
gun battle with soldiers two days ago was a Pakistan Army Major. .....
by Ramesh N. Rao
Last week I pondered the question of who could enter Hindu temples. But
I had not thought of a situation where that question would be moot because
there would be no Hindu temples to enter. .....
by Baba Prem
So we feel secure in the realization that Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) is
the oldest and purist of the worlds major religions. Not to mention our
strength in numbers, being that Hinduism is over 1 billion strong. Why
should we be concerned? After all, didn't we teach our children that Brahman
has manifest in all? And didn't we teach that all religions are basically
the same? Did we shortchange our children with this view and belief, and
has this lead to rather easy "pickens" for groups that are oriented
towards conversion. .....
by Free Press Journal
Is President Musharraf being encircled? As he is expressing word sympathy
with the next of kin of the 200 killed and about the 1000 injured in Mumbai
bomb blasts, he is somewhat aware that he is not taken seriously in this
country when he talks about the peace process. He is repeatedly asking
for proof that terrorists operating from Pakistan are behind train blasts
in Mumbai. .....
by Free Press Journal
Democracy has its downside, specially in underdeveloped countries like
India. Rampant poverty, widespread illiteracy and, consequently, ignorance
make for an imperfect democracy. Only informed people can make informed
choices. Populism of the bank nationalisation variety did succeed in its
immediate purpose of getting Mrs Indira Gandhi a huge number of votes.
But, as by now everyone knows, it, and other so-called socialistic measures
came in its wake, ended up inflicting huge costs on the economy. .....
by PVRK Prasad I.A.S (Retd)
We celebrated the birth centenary year of my late grand father, Sriman
Kalyanam Iyengar last year. I am sure you continue to remember him as
"Laddu Iyengar", for you have served as the Executive Officer
of the TTD in the late seventies and my grand father had an active role
to play in the introduction of Laddu as Srivari Prasadam, a few decades
earlier, in addition to managing the affairs of the entire manufacture
and marketing of the Srivari Prasadams at Tirumala Mandir on behalf of
the Gamekars and Archaka Mirasdars, before the Mirasi system was abolished
in the early 80's. .....
by MA Khan
In recent times, overshadowing the relative calm of the past few decades,
there has been a sudden surge in violence and terrorist activities by
the Islamic zealots and fanatics. Hence, there is a debate as to why Muslims
did not indulge in terror and violence during the past decades and centuries.
There might be some consolation in the thought that Islamic violence was
not so evident during the early 20th century. .....
by Aziz Haniffa
Remarks of Congressman Gary Ackerman, made on the floor of the House of
Representatives on July 26 in support of the Indo-US nuclear agreement:
'Mr Chairman, I rise in strong support of HR 5682, the US-India Nuclear
Cooperation Promotion Act of 2006. .....
by S.R. Ramanujan
There are 3000 madrasas in Maharashtra with a strength of 200,000 students.
500 madrasas are in Mumbai alone, and it is believed they are the potential
breeding grounds for SIMI's activities. .....
by Yahoo News
Jamait Ulama-a-Hind leader and Vice President of Uttaranchal's 15 Points
Implementation Programme Maulana Masood Madani today said that Shahi Imam
Ahmed Bukhari was the "biggest terrorist of India". .....
by S V Badri
Samuel Rajasekhar is our Desi Uncle Sam(uel). And his Bua Ka Ladka is
Christopher. Samuel loves his nephew, Christopher. Nothing wrong with
that. He will go all out to help him. Nothing wrong with that either.
And each time, bending every rule in the book to help him. Everything
is wrong with that. This narration traces to what extent Desi Uncle Sam(uel)
goes to help Chris. .....
by Balbir K Punj
It might appear preposterous to the rest of the country, but two Ministers
from the Congress, a CPI(M) top brass and one Muslim maulana distinguished
themselves by offering alternate theories on 7/11. .....
by Rediff.com
Lieutenant General Muhammad Nasir Akhtar (retd) served in the Pakistan
army for 36 years and took part in two wars against India. He was corps
commandant, Karachi, before he was assigned a senior post at army headquarters
in Rawalpindi. After retirement he settled in Lahore to run a business
and tour the seminar circuit, one of which brought him to India as part
of a delegation of retired military officers led by Zafar Chaudhry, former
air chief marshal, Pakistan Air Force. .....
by M Saleem Pandit
The Army on Wednesday said it had arrested another soldier of J&K
Light Infantry (JAKLI) for his alleged links with terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
.....
by The Indian Express
Pakistan army has failed to rein in radicals in the country's restive
tribal belt and Islamic clerics throughout the region continue to give
'jehadi' sermons asking people to live by the Islamic Sharia. .....
by Sagnik Chowdhury & Stavan Desai
The crime branch of the Mumbai Police on Monday handed over Dr Tanvir
Ahmed Mohammed Ibrabim Ansari, one of the five persons detained on Friday
for questioning in connection with the July 11 serial blasts, to the Anti-Terrorist
Squad (ATS). Although his role in the blasts has not been established
yet, crime branch officials believe him to be part of a sophisticated
LeT module in the city. .....
by Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
Recognition of Islamophobia as the irrational and unwarranted fear of
Muslims and Is-lam lingers in lexical incubation. Some accept the term
fully while others discount its validity. Whether this neologism will
gain currency as a bona fide social pathology or be viewed simply as a
marginally legitimate term, moonlighting as a public relations tool, remains
to be seen. Phobias, according to the American Psychiatric Association,
are mental disorders characterised by persistent and irrational fear of
a particular thing, situation or animal. .....
by Swapan Dasgupta
Let me make yet another horrible confession of political incorrectness.
I happen to be among the minuscule die-hards who are instinctively at
ease with Bombay, rather than Mumbai. Perish the thought that this has
anything to do with any aesthetic repugnance for the Shiv Sena-bjp government
that effected the change in the mid-1990s. .....
by The Times of India
Union home minister Shivraj Patil confirmed the worst suspicions of security
agencies on Tuesday when he said that terrorists had taken advantage of
buses and trains launched as part of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs)
to sneak in from Pakistan and Bangladesh. .....
by The Pioneer
Notwithstanding its decision to pursue the policy of "enlightened
moderation" to stem the growth of fundamentalism, Pakistan government
has said the concept of 'jihad' would not be deleted from the new school
curriculum as it is an integral part of Islamic teachings. .....
by Irfan Ghauri
Jihad is not being deleted from the new curriculum because it is an integral
part of Islamic teachings and Muslim beliefs, said Education Minister
Lt Gen (r) Javed Ashraf Qazi on Monday. .....
by Syed Zarir Hussain
Assam Minister says Bangladeshis have moved border posts ---- In a sudden
and daring move, Bangladeshis, backed by their country's Army, have uprooted
pillars demarcating the Indo-Bangla border along Dhubri and Karimganj
districts of Assam, and forcibly grabbed at least 500 acres (2.02 sq km)
of Indian territory. The land grab has taken place under the very nose
of the Border Security Force. .....
by Mohit Kandhari
Following detention of three jawans of Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry
(JAKLI) for their suspected links with field commanders of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba
in Jammu and Kashmir, security forces have been asked to launch intensive
screening of jawans hailing from border districts of Poonch and Rajouri
to weed out those involved in militant activities in the region. .....
by S Gurumurthy
It was founded in the year 1977. Not by a religious leader, but by an
English-educated academic, Mohammed Ahamadullah Siddiqui. He was a professor
not at some Alighar University in India, or in Islamabad, but at Western
Illinois University in the US, a country of free thought that claims to
melt people of diverse ideas into a wholesome one. .....
by Dr M S Jillani
Like most Muslims around the world, one, after 9/11, had become convinced
of the existence of a well-conceived international conspiracy to destroy
Muslim states, subjugate Muslim populations mentally and economically,
poison Muslim youth by injections of depraved cultural practices, rob
Muslim nations of their possessions, especially oil, and exploit their
physical assets to benefit the west. .....
