BJP’s Charter of Rights for the farmers and Its Priorities for Farmers

1. Loans of all farmers to be waived off under the principle of equality.
2. Agricultural loans to be provided at the rate of four per cent Interest.
3. Provision of subsidy directly to farmers
4. Adequate Power, Water & Work
5. Farm income guarantee insurance scheme for small farmers
6. Pension for old age farmers
7. Minimum Support Price for all crops after adding 50% over production cost
8. Implementation of the recommendations of the Agricultural Commission.
9. Strengthening rural infrastructure by providing electricity to each village and connecting it with all weather road.
10. Strengthening agriculture across India and improving farmers’ economic livelihoods through remunerative prices, right decisions on crop management, the best agricultural technology, adequate water supplies, clear property rights, the necessary rural infrastructure that will allow them to operate as efficiently as possible and a comprehensive income insurance scheme.

11. Implementation of the Ladli Lakshmi Scheme for girls to enable them to complete their education and become a lakh pati at age of 21. This scheme is implemented in M.P by our C.M Sri Shivraj Singh Chauhan


Summary of BJP’s IT Vision Document –Benefitting Rural India

 

 

Following steps would be taken by the BJP led NDA government at centre  :

 

 

1.        Will generate 1.20 Crore new IT-enabled jobs in rural areas. This will be achieved by way of at least 20 jobs in each of the aprox 600000 villages in the country. A series of initiatives have been devised to make this a realty.

2.        Raise farm productivity, bring cost of cultivation down and increase Kisans’ income using IT for water conservation, soil enrichment, procurement, marketing, credit needs of Kisans, waste elimination and taking R&D from ‘lab to land’.

3.        Internet in every town and village – with unlimited upload and download data transfer limits

4.        Every BPL (Below Poverty Line) family to be given free smart mobile phone – Free of cost.

5.        100% financial inclusion through Bank accounts, with eBanking facilities for all Indian Citizens. Direct transfer of welfare funds.

6.        Providing highest standard Medical Services under eHealthcare initiative – using video conferencing facilities, without the need to travel to Big cities for medical treatment. This is known asTelemedicine. The BJP led government will use IT to provide best medical services to Rural India.

7.        Land and property records to be computerized to reduce the number of disputes / litigation due to non-clarity of land records in rural areas.

8.        Panchayats will be able to communicate between themselves,free of cost!

9.       Purchase of Railway and Bus tickets from the Internet in their own villages!

10.     All courts to be computerized for faster decision on cases and clearing of back log..

11.     All Citizen to have free call facility to call their areas M.P.. This will be a 24 Hours facility. This will be helpful in their discussing the problems with their elected representative.

12.     Under eGovernance for Good Governance – Making available government services online and in local languages in every village & town.

13.     Implementing ‘E Gram Vishwa Gram’ : Gujrat’s pioneering project that BJP ledges to implement nationwide – This project aims at providing broadband connectivity to all gram panchayats. Video conferencing facilities at all the villages. Gram Panchayat to issue citizen related documents and certificates, application forms including 7 / 12 certificates to farmers from Panchayats.

14.     The use of IT will help in better communication from Rural areas to City Government, State Government and even the centre government. This will reduce corruption ,since all transactions between government and citizens will be computerized.

15.     Under eDevelopment for all – To provide Information required by Farmers (About markets, inputs, farm operations, government schemes etc) to be provided through digital platforms – at Panchayat level only.

16.     National skill development mission to increase the number ofskilled workers from 8% currently to 20% in five years of BJP led NDA rule. Climate change also to be addressed with green technologies.

17.     A great initiative planned by BJP led NDA government – eBhasha – National Mission for promotion of IT in Indian Languages– All softwares sold in India would have to be compatible with all 22official languages. This will go a long way in e-enabling our rural India and ensure deeper penetration of IT / Internet which will help in much faster development of the Rural India

 

The BJP & NDA seek the support of India & Bharat in the coming elections. We assure you a future NDA Government will implement this IT vision with the speed, vigour, ambition and determination to uplift the rural economy for asustainable growth of Bharat.

Bjp Views on the Failure of the congress Govt.

Congress and Prime Minister must first explain, why it allowed economy to deteriorate for 1826 days before making false promise of reviving economy in 100 days. Slogan of 100 days is an admission of utter failure of the UPA Govt., on the economic front. The Govt. touted itself as having three economic wizards in Dr. Manmohan Singh, Dr. Chidambaram and Dr. Ahluwalia. Country witnessed all out failure of this economic trio. Congress and the PM fooled the people for five years but people have realised that the Govt. has betrayed them and hence are not going to fall pray to their 100 days slogan.

BJP wants to remind five cardinal sins of the UPA Govt., which made life of the common man miserable. First, its failure to tame the inflation on ground level is irritating the masses. Govt. figures of 0% inflation has become irrelevant and subject of ridicule as the prices of all essential commodities like rice, wheat, atta, pulses, edible oil, sugar, tea, cement are going up. Figures based on WPI have no connection to the ground reality. This Govt. allowed the situation to drift. There is cartelization in cement and the sugar prices are going up because of Govt’s wrong decisions. It allowed exports of sugar at 18 rupees per kg and even paid export subsidy. Within three months Govt. is now importing the sugar at 23 rupees per kg. This sugar scam will blow up in the face of UPA. Sweet sugar will become sour for Congress. In the first place Govt. could not hold the price line because of its utter failure in ensuring food security, streamlining PDS and monitoring the movement of prices in time.

Second, UPA precipitated the economic crisis by squeezing the liquidity out of market in face of evolving economic crisis globally. The credit crunch resulted in high interest rate regime, making Indian industries uncompetitive. Undeclared devaluation of rupee wiped out any possible profit for exporters. High interest rates and falling rupee hampered exports adversely and resulted in loss of jobs for millions. Govt. did not help the workers who lost jobs and made them fend for themselves.

Third, it did not keep the momentum in infrastructure development initiated by the NDA Govt. roads, irrigation, power generation and river linking suffered the most. Govt. engaged itself with cosmetic makeover and lost the opportunity to carry forward the momentum in development of infrastructure, which only ensures long term development.

Fourth, UPA made farmer suffer and never made any effort to correct the unfavorable balance of trade in face of steep rise in input prices of agriculture. PM’s package to heal the farmers, who were committing suicides failed miserably and suicides continued all over. Loan waiver scheme failed because it did not offer any benefit to 80% farmers and worst was that the scheme punished the honest. Anybody who has repaid even a single installment did not get any benefit from the scheme.

Fifth, the Govt. did away with fiscal discipline. The 2% target of fiscal deficit has gone awry. The unbudgeted items and the scale rose continuously making it the worst deficit regime. The total deficit is hovering around 15% and is much worse than 1991 financial crisis.

Congress and the Prime Minister have failed the nation and cannot expect people to forgive them. We once again challenge them for open debate on the state of economy.

Who owns the media in India ?

Gujarat election have witnessed unaccountable money paid to media persons of both, print and electronic by Saudi Arabia to discredit Modi and the Hindutva forces, which Media did very faithfully without success.

There are several major publishing groups in India , the most prominent among them being the Times of India Group, the Indian Express Group, the Hindustan Times Group, The Hindu group, the Anandabazar Patrika Group, the Eenadu Group, the Malayalam Manorama Group, the Mathrubhumi group, the Sahara group, the Bhaskar group,and the Dainik Jagran group.

Let us see the ownership of different media agencies.

NDTV: A very popular TV news media is funded by Gospels of Charity in Spain Supports Communism. Recently it has developed a soft corner towards Pakistan because Pakistan President has allowed only this channel to be aired in Pakistan .

Indian CEO Prannoy Roy is co-brother of Prakash Karat, General Secretary of the Communist party of India . His wife and Brinda Karat are sisters.

India Today which used to be the only national weekly who supported BJP is now bought by NDTV!! Since then the tone has changed drastically and turned into Hindu bashing.

CNN-IBN: This is 100 percent funded by Southern Baptist Church with its branches in all over the world with HQ in US. The Church annually allocates $800 million for promotion of its channel. Its Indian head is Rajdeep Sardesai and his wife Sagarika Ghosh.

Times group list:
Times Of India , Mid-Day, Nav-Bharth Times, Stardust, Femina, Vijay Times, Vijaya Karnataka, Times now (24- hour news channel) and many more.. Times Group is owned by Bennet & Coleman. 'World Christian Council¢ does 80 percent of the Funding, and an Englishman and an Italian equally share balance 20 percent. The Italian Robertio Mindo is a close relative of Sonia Gandhi.

Star TV: It is run by an Australian, who is supported by St. Peters Pontifical Church Melbourne

Hindustan Times: Owned by Birla Group, but hands have changed since Shobana Bhartiya took over. Presently it is working in Collaboration with Times Group.

The Hindu: English daily, started over 125 years has been recently taken over by Joshua Society, Berne , Switzerland . N.Ram's wife is a Swiss national.

Indian Express: Divided into two groups.The Indian Express and new Indian Express (southern edition) ACTS Christian Ministries have major stake in the Indian Express and latter is still with the Indian counterpart.

Eeenadu: Still to date controlled by an Indian named Ramoji Rao.Ramoji Rao is connected with film industry and owns a huge studio in Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Jyothi: The Muslim party of Hyderabad known as MIM along with aCongress Minister has purchased this Telugu daily very recently.

The Statesman: It is controlled by Communist Party of India .

Kairali TV: It is controlled by Communist party of India (Marxist)

Mathrubhoomi: Leaders of Muslim League and Communist leaders have major investment.

Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle: Is owned by a Saudi Arabian Company with its chief Editor M.J. Akbar.

Gujrat riots which took place in 2002 where Hindus were burnt alive,Rajdeep Sardesai and Bharkha Dutt working for NDTV at that time got around 5 Million Dollars from Saudi Arabia to cover only Muslim victims which they did very faithfully. Not a single Hindu family was interviewed or shown on TV whose near and dear ones had been burnt alive, it is reported.

Tarun Tejpal of Tehelka.com regularly gets flat check from Arab countries to target BJP and Hindus only, it is said.The ownership explains the control of media in India by foreigners. The result is obvious.

PONDER OVER THIS. NOW YOU KNOW WHY EVERY ONE IS AGAINST TRUTH, HOW VERY SAD.

COMPILED BY MRS. IRMA RAZDAN... A victim of Kashmiri Islamist violence

Manifesto of BJP for Progress of India, Plz Read & Forward

Following are the Key Points of BJP's Manifesto for the ongoing General Elections to make India a Prosperous, Developed & a Stronger Nation.

PUTTING POOR FIRST:

1. All BPL families to get 35kg of rice or wheat every month at Rs 2 per kg.
2. Ensure farm loans at a maximum interest rate of 4 percent.
3. Initiate special schemes for the urban poor, such as loans at 4 percent interest to poor vendors.

ECONOMY GROWS, INDIA PROSPERS:

1. Generate employment through massive public spending on infrastructure projects. Complete the implementation of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s dream projects: National Highway Development Project by building 15-20 km of new highways every day; and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, to link all villages with over 500 people by all-weather road.
2. Exempt personal Income Tax for those earning up to Rs 3 lakh per annumFor women and Senior Citizens, the exemption will be Rs 3.5 lakh per annum. This will benefit over 3.5 crorepeople.

3. Take firm steps to identify and retrieve Indian money stashed away in foreign banks. Estimated at Rs. 25 lakh crore- getting this amount back through international cooperation will be enough to complete road and power connectivity throughout the country; ensure setting up of quality schools in all villages. 

WAR AGAINST ENEMIES WITHIN AND WITHOUT:

1.BJP commits to introduce improved POTA type law to counter Terrorism & Insurgency. India’s 4000-km long coastline will be fully protected by enhanced naval security.
2. We will systematically detect, detain and deport illegal immigrants who have emerged as a major source of homegrown terror. Fencing of the India-Bangladesh border, deliberately neglected by the UPA in pursuit of vote bank politics, will be speedily completed.
3. Introduce a comprehensive Multi Purpose National Identity Card for all citizens of India.

 JAI JAWAN IN ACTION:

1. All members of the armed forces and the para-military shall be exempted from payment of Income Tax. This will benefit nearly 20 lakh Jawans who guard our Nation.
2. Implement one-rank-one-pension.

ENERGY SAVED, ENERGY GAINED:

1. Generate an additional 120,000 MW of electricity in 5 years through speedy conclusion of ongoing projects while sanctioning new power plants. 20% of this will be through harnessing non-conventional energy sources.

WOMEN EMPOWERED, NATION STRENGTHENED:

1. Introduce the Madhya Pradesh BJP Government’s highly successful ‘Ladli Lakshmi’ Scheme throughout India to directly transfer funds to the school going girl child to encourage education and secure economic self-sufficiency for young women. Rs. 1.18 lakh after completion of 12th standard.
2. Pave the way for nationwide implementation of the Bhamashah Scheme proposed by the erstwhile BJP Government in Rajasthan to directly pay Rs 1,500 to open a bank account for every adult woman.
3. Provide bicycles to every school going girl child from BPL families throughout India.
4. Salaries of 28 lakh Anganwadi workers and helpers, who are the backbone of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) will be doubled.
5. BJP believes all sections of Indian women cannot be fully empowered without the enactment of a Uniform Civil Code d emphasized repeatedly by the Supreme Court..

YOUNG INDIA, NATION’S PILLAR:

1. A network of National Knowledge Incubation Centres will be set up throughout the country to identify and groom young talent for every sector of the economy.
2. Study loans will be made cheaper and more accessible by fixing student loan interest at 4%.
3. BJP will create 12 million IT-enabled jobs in rural areas. Computer prices will be drastically cut to make it affordable to every section. All educational institutions will have internet facilities within 5 years. Broadband connectivity to every village.
4. Launch an aggressive project to groom young sporting talent by allocating Rs 5,000 crore for creation of sports infrastructure especially in educational institutions Appoint trained coaches; secure employment for international medal winners. Sport will be a compulsory subject in school curricula.


NATION’S WEALTH, PEOPLE’S HEALTH:

1.BJP is committed to making the right to clean water a fundamental right. A massive programme will be launched to provide clean, drinking water to every citizen.
2. A regulatory authority to be set up for private hospitals and nursing homes to monitor unfair practices.
3. A comprehensive project to bring health-for-all by 2014.
4. Introduce a mandatory ‘Dial 108 for ambulance at your doorstep’ scheme throughout the country.
5. Revive the creation of new AIIMS, originally initiated by the NDA Government but neglected by UPA. All six state-of-the-art hospitals will be rapidly constructed over the next 5 years.
6. Janani Suraksha Yojana to care for delivering mothers and infants will be strengthened.

SENIOR CITIZENS:

1. Recognising the importance of Senior Citizens in nation-building and inculcating civilisational values, BJP commits itself to reducing the age for receiving travel benefits from 65 to 60 years. 
2. Complete tax exemption to senior citizens in respect of pension income.

CREATING THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT:

1. Combating climate change and global warming through non-polluting technologies will be prioritized.
2. Importance given to programmes to arrest the melting of Himalayan glaciers from which most major rivers in North India originate.
3. Take all appropriate steps to save Tiger, the National Animal, and safeguard critical habitants of all wildlife. Emphasis to be laid on protecting India’s resplendent but endangered bio-diversity.

DEFENDING THE CIVILISATION:

1. The BJP remains committed to the construction of a grand Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.
2. BJP will not allow anybody to touch the revered Ram Setu. We will evolve a new route for Sethu Samudram bypassing Ram Setu.
3. Cleaning the revered Ganga and other major rivers will be a priority. Local communities will be enrolled in this gigantic task.
4. Cow protection is an article of faith with BJP. This will be pursued relentlessly.
5. Full integration of the nation is not possible as long as Article 370 stays on the statute books. BJP remains steadfast in its belief that the provision must be removed to ensure Indian unity.

Cong not doing enough, deflecting black money issue, says Arun Shourie

Accusing the Congress of trying to deflect the issue of bringing back illegal money stashed in Swiss banks, the BJP on Sunday gave a point-by-point rebuttal to the Congress’ charges against the party on the issue and blamed it for not doing enough despite the emergence of a national consensus on the matter.

Responding to Congress’ charge that BJP prime ministerial candidate LK Advani was taking up the issue on the eve of elections to gain electoral benefit, the BJP said the former Deputy Prime Minister raised the issue in April last year by writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. 

Addressing a media conference here on Sunday, BJP MP and former Union Minister Arun Shourie said, “The reply that the then Finance Minister (P Chidambaram) sent to him (Advani) showed that the Government intended to do little except keep going through the pretence of taking some steps.” 

Shourie further charged the Congress with not doing enough to bring back illegal money from the tax havens and said, “We were alarmed to learn that a senior official of the Finance Ministry had written to the then Indian Ambassador in Germany to not press the Germans for release of the names of Indians in the list that they had obtained from Liechtenstein….lest the Germans take offence and conclude that they were being pressurised and their bona fides were being questioned.”

Adding on to the question of why raising the issue now, he said that a “unique” opportunity had arisen only now, after Western economies found themselves in a severe economic crisis. 

The crisis has forced countries like Germany, France, USA and the UK to take the leadership role in G-20 and pledge to get their stolen wealth back from tax havens. 

“The BJP believes that this is the right time for India to join the global effort to get its own stolen wealth back.”

On the Congress' claim that G-20 meeting was not the proper forum for taking up the issue of illegal money in tax havens, the BJP leader said, if that was not the right forum how come the communiqué issued by the G-20 leaders on April 2 this year pledged "to take action against non-cooperative jurisdictions, including tax havens. 

We stand ready to deploy sanctions to protect our public finances and financial systems. The era of banking secrecy is over."

"Can the Government which allowed Ottavio Quattrochhi, the Italian power broker who is the main accused in the Bofors scam, to take his money out of banks after it had been frozen be trusted to bring back the loot that is lying in Swiss banks and other tax havens? Can the Government which prostituted the CBI so that he (Quattrochhi) may get away from Argentina be trusted to bring the loot back?'' he said in response to the Congress' latest "cover up" of the issue by disputing the figures of deposits in the Swiss banks and other tax havens. 

Accusing the Congress of replacing the harsh provisions of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act through Foreign Exchange Management Act, the BJP said that FEMA as approved in July 1998 was on the lines of a draft prepared under the leadership of preceding Finance Minister P Chidambaram. 

Shourie also quoted an article contributed by Chidambaram in a national daily on August 25, 2002 to further prove the charge against Congress. 

"FERA also became a tool of oppression. Successive Governments persisted with FERA and added COFEPOSA and SAFEMA. International markets do not respect draconian laws that run counter to common sense. India's reserves, far from being augmented, dwindled at an alarming rate….Mercifully, FERA was buried finally on May 31, 2000," Chidambaram had said in the August 2002 article. 

On the Congress' claim that Advani was alerting those with illegal money abroad to take it away from Switzerland to other tax havens, Shourie asked, "Would the looters who've stashed away money in tax havens from India still need to be alerted after Germany got the names from Liechtenstein as long ago as last year?''

He further sought an answer from the Congress saying, "Would they still need to be alerted after Germany offered to furnish the names to Governments that asked for the names? 

NDA's future strategy on getting black money from swiss..

On 29 March 2009, I had addressed a press conference in New Delhi and raised the important issue of vast amounts of Indian wealth stashed away in secret Swiss bank accounts and other tax havens around the world. The press conference was held against the backdrop of the G-20 Summit in London on 2 April, where the issue of illicit funds parked in tax havens was scheduled to be discussed. The country expected Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who represented India at the G-20 Summit, to put across India’s concerns and expectation forcefully at this global forum. Disappointingly, he only paid lip service to the issue. In contrast, it was the OECD (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development) group of rich nations that were most vociferous in demanding an end to banking secrecy in countries like Switzerland.

At my New Delhi press conference, I had stated that a future BJP-led government at the Centre, if elected, would bring India’s sovereign wealth back from foreign shores and use it for various ambitious developmental projects. I had also announced the formation of a Task Force to recommend specific steps that a future government may take to translate our promise into reality.

I am pleased to announce that the Task Force has submitted its recommendations in the enclosed interim report. I sincerely thank members of the Task Force — Shri S. Gurumurthy (Chartered Accountant and investigative writer, Chennai); Shri Ajit Doval (Security expert, New Delhi); Dr. R. Vaidyanathan (Professor of Finance, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore); and Shri Mahesh Jethmalani (Senior lawyer, Mumbai) — for the outstanding work they have done.

The interim report of the Task Force is useful for four important reasons. Firstly, it has placed the problem of India’s wealth hoarded in secret bank accounts abroad in the context of a larger global menace, which western nations have now resolved to fight due to their own internal compulsions. Hence, it has rightly pointed out that India should become an active player in the global crusade against banking secrecy and tax havens.

Secondly, the Task Force has correctly asserted that the “fact of the loot” cannot be questioned although there may be debate on the “maths of the loot”. Based on studies conducted abroad, the Task Force has mentioned that the Indian wealth in Swiss bank accounts and other tax haven may be in the range of $500 billions [Rs 25 lakh crores] and $1.4 trillions [Rs 70 lakh crores]. The credibility of these estimates is reinforced by the figure of $11.5 trillions (Rs. 575 lakh crore) officially given by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), a group of rich countries, at the G-20 Summit in London early this month as the amount of global wealth parked in various tax havens.

Thirdly, the Task Force has highlighted the casual approach of the Congress-led UPA government in taking up this important issue at appropriate international fora. Spokesmen of the Congress party have even mocked at the BJP’s effort in this regard. My appeal to voters is simple: Punish the Congress that has no political will to fight corruption and crime money. The word “corruption” does not even figure in the Congress party’s manifesto!

Fourthly, the Task Force has recommended specific measures as part of the Global and National Strategies to bring back Indian money from tax havens abroad.

The important recommendations made by the Task Force are:

Global Strategy

Step I: Creating a powerful public opinion in India is a pre-requisite for global response to India's requirements in regard to unveiling banking secrecy. The world respects powerful domestic opinion on global issues. India must first realize that this is the ideal time to act and join the global crusade against secret banks and tax havens. In the absence of a broad national consensus on the issue, only a determined leader with a committed team can create the strong national will needed for undertaking this serious agenda overcoming all attempts to impede the effort. Those who do not support the move should be seen as supporters of black economy.

Step II: India should stop being a silent spectator to the G-20 efforts against secret banking and tax havens. It must become an active player and forthwith change the perception that it is not against secret banking and tax havens.

Step III: India must immediately and effectively urge the German government to provide the details of the Indian names from the LGT bank’s secret records. The BJP, if voted to power, must send a special emissary to Germany, which is willing to give the details of Indian names in the LGT bank’s secret records.

Step IV: India must strive for a coordinated global and multilateral effort, which is the only solution to undo the regime of banking secrecy.

Step V: India has special needs beyond what the West is seeking to break banking secrecy. India should work with the West to get the OECD rules on internationally agreed tax standards. That global coercive action is working is seen from that fact that the G-20 threat to blacklist Switzerland and other tax havens is already beginning to yield results.

Step VI: We recommend that India appoint a special ambassador with adequate knowledge of tax havens and secret banking issues to work with the G-20 specifically for framing India-friendly rules.

National Strategy

Collection of travel information about persons visiting Switzerland and other tax havens. This should start with cabinet ministers and other high-profile political personalities.

Monitoring tax havens that have high transaction frequency with India.

India to become a full-fledged member of the Financial Action Task Force.

Use of financial intelligence sharing for security purposes. Illegal money is a potential source of undermining national security. Therefore, we recommend that Indian intelligence agencies should be specifically tasked to collect intelligence on this count.

Legislative support: Just as the Obama Administration is planning specific anti-tax haven laws, India should also target tax havens and secret destinations like Switzerland operating in India.  

We recommend that stricter laws should place the onus of proving their innocence on the accused if a prima facie case is made out.

High Level Task Force: We recommend that the Government of India should constitute a high level Task Force with representatives from Finance Ministry, National Intelligence Agencies, Ministry of Law, RBI, SEBI, Economic Intelligence Units, Central Vigilance Commission, CBI and other experts to collect and process the information and start legal action wherever feasible. As large-scale kickbacks are reported from purchases made by some of the Ministries like Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Civil Aviation etc., their representatives could also be co-opted wherever necessary.

The history of the illicit wealth holders should be brought out: We recommend that when India is able to unveil the banking secrecy through information sharing arrangement, it should get the names and amounts not just as of today but for the entire economic history of the account-holders.

Callous Congress, feckless PM

If we lesser mortals were to be found misleading someone intentionally, we would be accused of telling a lie. To be called a liar is as good as being told your integrity quotient is zero. Telling the truth, as we all know, may be difficult but is considered a virtue; telling a lie is sinful, a vice to which the feckless and the irresolute are given. But what about someone who holds high office and misleads the nation in the most casual (some would say sly) manner? Does vice become a virtue when your are the Prime Minister of India? I refer to Mr Manmohan Singh’s comment on Friday in response to a query on the shameful Jagdish Tytler-Sajjan Kumar episode. “I was not informed, not consulted, over the CBI’s clean chit to Jagdish Tytler,” he told members of the Indian Women’s Press Corps whom he hosted for tea.

In this age of lazy journalism it is unlikely anybody will bother to raise a doubt or two about the Prime Minister’s claim. But this needs to be done, if only to expose him for what he is, which is definitely far-removed from what he would like everybody to believe he is. So let’s check out the facts. The CBI, contrary to popular notion, does not report to the Ministry of Home Affairs; it reports to the quaintly named Department of Personnel and Training, otherwise known as ‘DoPT’, which is headed by a Minister of State. The DoPT is part of the portfolio of responsibilities held by the Prime Minister to whom the Minister of State in charge of that department reports. While routine administrative issues are directly dealt with by the Minister of State, he or she keeps the Prime Minister fully informed on sensitive issues, including high profile cases being handled by the CBI. In fact, files related to such cases are routed through the Prime Minister’s Office, which is known to have issued instructions to the CBI on certain occasions — recall the letter written by a senior PMO official, known for his proximity to 10 Janpath, directing the agency to deal with one of the accused in the Ayodhya case in a particular manner. In brief, it is an intimate relationship, never mind the Supreme Court’s directive that the CBI should function as an autonomous agency. It is highly unlikely, and that is putting it mildly, that the CBI would have sought closure of the cases against Tytler without discussing it with the DoPT, which in effect means the PMO. In other words, Mr Singh would have been aware of the CBI’s move.

Even if he were blissfully ignorant of it, surely Mr Singh reads newspapers and watches 24x7 news channels, at least those which don’t tire of extolling his ‘abilities’, such as they are. The CBI submitted its closure report to the trial court on April 2. The story was prominently published by every newspaper and found more than passing mention on prime time news. On April 7, when Jarnail Singh, a reporter with the Dainik Jagran, apparently upset over Mr P Chidambaram’s rude response to his questions on the Government giving Tytler and Kumar a clean chit despite the evidence — by way of affidavits, submissions and eyewitness accounts — of their role in the horrendous bloodletting of 1984 when 4,733 Sikhs were massacred after Mrs Indira Gandhi’s assassination, hurled one of his shoes at the Home Minister. It is only then that the Congress got into the act. Between April 2 and April 7, for full five days the Prime Minister did nothing, although he obviously knew about it, if not through the DoPT then from media reports.

For Mr Singh to now say “I was not informed, not consulted” is more than astounding. But there’s a pattern to his denying any knowledge about the actions of the CBI and pretending great surprise every time the Government has been caught on the wrong foot. When the CBI manipulated the de-freezing of two London bank accounts where Ottavio Quattrocchi is believed to have parked his share of the Bofors payola, thus helping the Italian wheeler-dealer who is a fugitive from Indian law to grab the money and run, similar lack of knowledge was proclaimed. Indeed, the Prime Minister has rarely been upfront; on the contrary, effortlessly and with great ease, he has excelled in slyly misleading the nation time and again, as he did most stunningly on the India-US civil nuclear cooperation agreement. 

In his memoirs, A Prattler’s Tale, economist Ashok Mitra is ruthlessly honest in his description of Mr Singh: “His timidity is the product of his civil servant’s mind, which many mistake as humility.” He also recounts an incident from his days as a member of the Rajya Sabha when Mr Singh was the Union Finance Minister. At a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Finance, Mr Mitra wanted the Government to supply copies of an RBI report listing the identities of individuals and corporates who owed more than a crore of rupees in unpaid bank loans adding up to more than Rs 50,000 crore. “The Finance Minister (Mr Singh) had a quick consultation with the Finance Secretary, who was sitting next to him, and agreed to place copies of the report before the members (of the committee)... Then the fun started. Days went by, then weeks, followed by a full month, but we did not receive copies of the report. I wrote to the Finance Minister but there was no reply from him. I sent him another letter... the silence was unbroken. At the next meeting of the committee, I hit the roof. Manmohan, however, was unfazed. He feigned surprise, ‘What, did I really make such a promise? I do not remember. Perhaps there was a misunderstanding’.” Mr Mitra has other stories to tell about our economist Prime Minister, but since he hasn’t committed them to paper, I shan’t either.

But Mr Singh’s proclivity to mislead others is not the only trait that raises discomfiting questions about India’s ‘accidental Prime Minister’. Nor should we needlessly cavil about his fake humility. What is relevant is his, to quote Mr Mitra, “lamb-like devotion” to the Nehru-Gandhi family, his “worshipful frame of mind”. It is this which prompts him to behave in the most craven manner, heaping treacly praise on the person who wields the authority of the office he holds, and which sets him apart from his senior colleagues like Mr Pranab Mukherjee. “Obviously the decision (to field Tytler and Kumar as candidates for the Lok Sabha election from Delhi constituencies) was reversed. It shows the Congress party’s sensitivity towards the Sikh community and for this you should compliment the Congress party,” he told members of the Indian Women’s Press Corps during his Friday’s interaction. Everybody knows that the decision was reversed by the Congress president. So the praise he solicits is not for the party but its president. As for ‘sensitivity towards the Sikh community’, had Mr Singh’s assertion been true, he would not have allowed the CBI to do something so reprehensible. But that would have required courage and integrity.

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WATER..SCARCITY..OUR BIG PROBLEM


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UPA fails to give justices to shiks and on other issues.


The Congress Party owes an explanation to the entire nation about their blatant use of communal politics. The 1984 Sikh genocide is without doubt the worst ever communal holocaust that the Congress Party cannot ever run away from. Apology notwithstanding, the Congress shamelessly has nominated the accused of this carnage for contesting the elections as their party candidates. Nobody can forgive the justification of these mass killings by Shri Rajiv Gandhi who infamously said "when a big tree falls, the earth tremors".


The Congress also owes an explanation as to why it has remained a mute spectator when the ethnic cleansing of 8 lakh Hindus was carried out from the Kashmir valley. The Shahbano episode has exposed so called secular credentials of Congress and has brought its ugly communal face to the fore. By giving berth in the central cabinet to the Muslim League for the first time in the history of independent India and by pleading for release of Abdul Naseer Madani the Congress has shown its true color of communalism. Granting religious reservations in Andhra and communal budgeting are the examples of their communal agenda. Congress went ahead with the communal agenda suggesting religion based head count in defence forces and judiciary. All the above and hundreds of such incidences have proved beyond doubt that Congress is communal political outfit in the Country. BJP challenges Congress to answer these questions first, before accusing others of communalism.


Duplicity of Congress as to what is communal and what is secular is exposed in as many cases in recent past. It describes the NDA partners as communal and UPA partners as secular. When DMK and TMC were part of NDA they were communal in Congress parlance but when these same parties are with Congress they become secular. For Congress, caste politics is secular and nationalist approach is communal. Babri is secular and Ram Mandir is communal. For Congress, denying the existence of Ram is secular and devotion to Ram is communal. For Congress, the assault on Taslima is secular and extension of her visa is communal. Providing facilities for Amarnath pilgrims is communal and providing facilities for Haj pilgrims is secular. Hate speeches of Imran Kidwai and D. Sriniwas are secular for Congress and speeches of other party leaders are communal. Appeasement politics is secular and giving justice to all is communal. The constitutional agenda of cow protection, Article 370 and Common Civil Code is communal and its divisive agenda is secular. For Congress, Muslim league is secular and Nationalist organisations are communal. Singing Vande Mataram is communal and not singing of it is secular.


Congress since Shahbano case has gradually moved away from the nationalist mainstream and has become a vehicle of vote bank politics. Congress is shrinking and loosing ground ever since because of such duplicity and will continue to shrink further.

UPA A Sinking Ship ,Pranab Mukherjee also sulking and Munna Bhai, from Gandhigiri to Stinggiri,


UPA A Sinking Ship

In the last fortnight evidence with alarming regularity is appearing that all the allies of the Congress are leaving the UPA one after the other because the UPA and the Congress is a sinking ship. After Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP), Laloo Prasad (RJD), Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP) and Dr. A. Ramdoss (PMK) it is now the turn of Sharad Pawar (NCP) to desert the Congress and the badly fragmented UPA. The NCP has already declared that Dr. Manmohan Singh is the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Congress only and not of the UPA and now, to rub salt in spite of being supposedly a key constituent of the UPA; Mr. Pawar is going to attend a third front rally with CPM and BJD in Orissa. It is evident that all the UPA allies so called are fighting among themselves and they realise to their dismay that keeping company with Congress would spell disaster. They or, the uncertain third front cannot be expected to give any stable government for the country. This is possible only by a resurgent NDA under the time tested unquestioned leadership of Shri L. K. Advani.


Pranab Mukherjee also sulking

Not only are the allies deserting the Congress but even the permanent no. 2 and trouble shooter of Congress Pranab Babu is also sulking. He has publicly commented that he is not able to get top post of the Prime Minister because among other things Dr. Manmohan Singh is a “Superior Intellectual Person” who enjoys the backing of Smt. Sonia Gandhi. This is a very loaded comment from a senior political leader of Congress, who has handled all the crucial departments with a Ministerial record of nearly forty years. Obviously, there is a great sense of unease even among Congress leaders about the patent lack of leadership qualities of Dr. Singh, “the supposed leader” of more than one billion Indian people. The comment of Shri Mukherjee only reinforces, what the BJP has been saying that Dr. Singh is in office but not in authority.


Munna Bhai, from Gandhigiri to Stinggiri

There is a famous saying “that one is known by the company one keeps”. It is truly surprising that in his new company in a very short time; Sanjay Dutt (Munna Bhai) popularised on the screen for “Gandhigiri”, has mastered the art of “Stinggiri” and that too on the Union Law Minister Mr. Hansraj Bhardwaj. In spite of the allegation and counter allegation it is a very sad commentary on the way governance is being done wherein unfortunately, even the name of the Supreme Court is sought to be brought into controversy. The BJP strongly condemns it and wants the nation to know that this sordid play is being done by players supposedly committed in the fight for secularism. The abuse of CBI in the whole matter of disproportionate asset of Mulayam Singh Yadav only confirms the extent of manipulations being done to keep Manmohan Singh Government in power. You support the Congress the CBI will bail you out; you oppose; the CBI will prosecute. The serious nature of the offence is of no consequence. How, the office of even the Law officers have been abused is also coming into disturbing focus. The people of the country would certainly respond to all this in the coming elections and vote out this conflicting combination of opportunism and bring back NDA into power.

UPA and Terror - Zero Tolerance or Zero Will?

TERRORIST ATTACKS :

A. Legal Response
B. Prevention and 
C. Convictions

The five year rule of the UPA Government has witnessed an unprecedented proliferation in terrorist activity. This alarming increase is by itself indicative of the fact that the Indian state under the UPA has become a soft target for devastating attacks by terrorists both foreign and of the home grown variety. Not unpredictably, the UPA Government has been on the backfoot on the issue of terrorism throughout its five year reign.

In the face of a barrage of criticism in Parliament and the press, the stock response of Congress spokespersons in particular, has been to point fingers at the previous NDA regime in an attempt to demonstrate that the predecessor Government’s record on terror is no better than that of the present regime. In particular, the Congress defense has three planks at its core :

A. that the NDA regime witnessed three major terrorist activities on Indian soil in the Kandahar hijacking in December, 1999; the attack on Parliament in December, 2001 and the attack on Akshardham Temple Complex in Gujarat in September, 2002;

B. That draconian laws did not deter terrorist activities as is evident from the fact that the Akshardham attack took place within a few months of the promulgation of POTA; and

C. That the NDA’s response to these attacks and the Kandahar hijacking was pusillanimous in the extreme and that the UPA would have dealt with the situation with a far greater degree of efficacy.

PREVENTION : On the issue of frequency of terrorist attacks, there is virtually no contest in so far as the record of the two regimes are concerned. While the NDA era witnessed three major terrorist attacks, the following is the list of the major strikes that have become so conspicuous a feature of the UPA Government’s tenure:-

New Delhi , Oct 29, 2005 : 61 persons killed in three blasts on the eve of Diwali

Varanasi, March 7, 2006: 21 people killed and over 101 injured in two blasts that rocked Varanasi, the first at Sankat Mochan Temple and the second at Varanasi Railway station.

Mumbai, July 11, 2006: 7 explosions ripped through crowded suburban trains in Mumbai killing 209 persons and leaving 700 more bloodied and injured.

Malegaon, Maharashtra, Sep 8, 2006: 40 people killed in two blasts and about 200 injured in 4 explosions in the Hamidia Mosque and chowks.

Samjhauta Express, Feb 19, 2007: 66 people killed after two firebombs went off on the India-Pakistan friendship train, the Samjautha Express, at Panipat, North Delhi.

Hyderabad, Aug 25, 2007: 42 people killed in two blasts, at a popular eatery and a public park.

Jaipur, May 13, 2008: 68 people killed in serial bombings.

Bangalore, July 25, 2008: One person killed in a low-intensity bomb explosion.

Ahmedabad, July 26, 2008: 57 people killed after 20-odd synchronised bombs went off within less than two hours.

New Delhi, Sep 13, 2008: 26 people killed in six blasts across the

New Delhi, Sep 27, 2008: Three people killed after a crude bomb was thrown in a busy market in Mehrauli.

Malegaon, Maharashtra, Sep 29, 2008: 6 persons killed and about 101 injured after a bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded.

Modasa, Gujarat, Sep 29 2008: One killed and several injured after a low-intensity bomb kept on a motorcycle went off near a mosque.

Kanpur, Oct 14, 2008: 8 people injured after bomb planted on a rented bicycle went off Colonelganj market.

Imphal, Oct 21, 2008: 17 killed in a powerful blast near Manipur Police Commando complex.

Assam, Oct 30, 2008: At least 45 killed (figure can change) and over 100 injured in 18 terror bombings across Assam.

Mumbai, Nov 26, 2008: 180 killed and many more injured in seven terror attacks targeting mostly foreigners' in the Taj Mahal Hotel, the Oberoi Trident Hotel, Leopold Cafe, CST, Chabad House and in random firing elsewhere by ten individuals armed with weapons, ammunition and grenades.

LEGISLATIVE RESPONSE : On the issue of strong laws to deal with the detection and prevention of terrorist activity and the trial and punishment of terrorists, the Congress stand discloses an unconscionable mix of both double standards and vote bank politics . Confronted with Sikh terrorism in Punjab and the assassination of its own Prime Minister by her Sikh body guards-both outcomes of Congress’s dangerously misconceived policies in Punjab-the Congress’s visceral reaction was the enactment of TADA, first by ordinance in 1985 and then by legislation in 1987. The Congress party’s civil libertarian pretensions found no public expression as TADA remained in force for well nigh 10 years. Meanwhile, convictions under the act were rare and when they did take place the ordinary law would have been adequate. On the other hand, thousands of innocent Sikh youth suffered the rigors of the statute through unwarranted arrests, illegal and protracted incarceration and custodial violence. Through all this, there was no whimper of protest from any Congress quarter.

In fact, Congressmen first discovered their revulsion for draconian laws in the wake of the Bombay serial blasts in 1993 as a consequence of which large number of Muslims, particularly from Mumbai, were arrested and sought to be tried under the TADA.

Congress M.Ps like Sunil Dutt commenced an indefatigable campaign for the repeal of TADA. On the eve of the 1995 parliamentary elections, Narsimha Rao’s Government allowed TADA to lapse.

In the wake of the Kandahar hijacking, and particularly the attack on Parliament in December, 2001, the NDA Government in 2002 enacted the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). While it is true that a few months later in September, 2002 there was a terrorist attack by Lakshar-e-Toiba militants at the Akshardam Temple in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, this was the only terrorist incident for the rest of the NDA regime after the enactment of POTA. The failure to check the Akshardam attack in spite of POTA is explained by the fact that the Akshardham conspiracy was well under way by the time the police could invoke the extraordinary powers that POTA gave them for the early detection of terrorist crimes through wire tapping and the interception of letters, e-mails, etc.

Ominously the only exception to the otherwise terrorism free reign of the NDA Government’s post POTA was the city of Mumbai in Maharashtra where the Congress-NCP Government was in power. Between Dec. 2002 to August, 2003, Mumbai was convulsed by as many as six terrorist bombing episodes in a span of eight months that left several persons dead and many more seriously injured. .

From December 2002 to August 2003, as the following terrorist incidents occurred:-

Dec. 2 2002: Two persons were killed and 31 injured in a powerful explosion in a bus outside the crowded Ghatkopar railway station in Mumbai. The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was suspected to be behind the blasts.

Dec. 6, 2002: Twenty five people were injured in a bomb blast by members of the SIMI at McDonalds fast food restaurant at Mumbai Central railway station. The bomb was planted in the air conditioner duct. It was suspected to be a crude bomb.

Jan 27, 2003: Thirty persons were injured when a bomb planted on a bicycle went off throwing splinters of sharp nails outside Vile Parle railway station in Mumbai. Members of SIMI were found to be behind the attack.

March 13, 2003 : A powerful bomb blast shattered a bogie of a local train at Mulund railway station in Mumbai during peak hours killing 11 people and injuring more than 65 .

July 28 , 2003 : Bus blast kills 3 and injures 31 others in Mumbai. Pakistani intelligence agency : ISI and members of SIMI were found to be behind the blast.

August 23, 2003: Two bombings at the Gateway of India and the Mumbadevi temple in Mumbai killed 52, injured 167. Terrorists from Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Students Islamic Movement of India were found to be behind the attacks.

In sharp contrast to its response to terrorism in Punjab, the Congress vehemently opposed the enactment of POTA and made its repeal a part of their manifesto and campaign during the elections that ensued in 2004. Immediately on its assumption of power as a part of the UPA, the Congress introduced legislation for the repeal of POTA, although it retained some of its provisions through an amendment of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention), 1967.

Since that repeal, terrorism has been in spate through the length and breath of India. The UPA, however, remained undeterred about its stand on strong terrorist laws. It was only the stark horror and humiliation of 26/11/2008 that forced the UPA to grudgingly accept the utter folly of its previous ways. On 17.12.2008 the Home Minister, Mr. P.C. Chidambaram, introduced two bills to effectively deal with terror which subsequently became law. The first, an amendment to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, substantially reintroduced all the earlier repealed stringent provisions of POTA. After five bitter years of struggling with terrorism, the UPA Government effectively bowed to the NDA’s legislative wisdom on terror.

CONVICTIONS : Congress’s attempts to defend its own abject record on terrorism by pointing to the earlier NDA’s Government record is both specious and misconceived. Its most stringent criticism of the previous regime centers around the Kandahar hijacking episode. According to the Congress, the NDA’s response was effete; the Congress would have effected the policy of Zero Tolerance and never allowed the hostage exchange of Masood Azhar for the passengers. This stand of the Congress constitutes an astounding volte face : contemporary newspaper reports of December, 1999 indicate that an all party meeting was held to discuss the Kandahar hostage crisis. At the said meeting there was unanimity amongst all parties that the Government of the day should handle the crisis in a manner that ensured the safety of all the passengers aboard IC 184. In fact it was categorically resolved that the safe return of the passengers to Indian shores should be the prime objective of the Government. The Congress delegation at the all party meeting, which endorsed this action, was led by Manmohan Singh. Neither Sonia nor Rahul Gandhi nor any other functionary of the Congress party opposed this line of action. Indeed contemporary newspaper reports disclose that both Sonia and Rahul were conspicuously silent on the issue. In stark contrast, the statements issueed by both in more recent times are critical of the approach of that Government.

More significantly, Masood Azhar whose release from captivity was at the centre of the hijackers demand, had been in custody since 1994 when he was arrested in Kashmir for terrorist activities. For five years the Congress Government and the subsequent Government which depended on Congress support for its survival, failed to secure Masood Azhar’s conviction on any charges in any court of law. Instead of trying and executing him for sedition, two successive Governments allowed him to languish in captivity, thus almost facilitating the audacious attempt for securing his release in a hostage exchange. The hijacking of IC 184 in December, 1999 was essentially motivated by the objective of securing Masood Azhar’s release. Those who did not secure his conviction and execution for five years were largely to blame for the Kandahar hijacking and its consequences as also for the several terrorists crimes attributed to him since 1999, including the attack on Parliament in December, 2001. Congress spokesmen have conveniently concealed these material facts.

As regards the 2001 attack on Parliament, the record of the NDA Government is exemplary to say the least. The attack on Parliament was thwarted - albeit by the sacrifice of the lives of a few brave security personnel. While the five terrorists who tried to gain entry into Parliament were killed, the masterminds behind the plot were traced and arrested. The trial of these persons was completed within a year. The Appeals of the convicted persons as well as those of the state against those acquitted - both before the High Court and the Supreme Court were finally disposed off by 4.8.2005.

The Supreme Court dismissed the Appeal filed by Mohamed Afzal Guru and confirmed the death sentence imposed upon him. For almost four years this sentence has not been carried out as a mercy petition filed by Mohamed Afzal Guru is pending disposal by the President of India. The exemplary method of dealing with terrorists demonstrated by the NDA Government, thus stands completely vitiated by delays attributable solely to the UPA Government.

The indecision of the Government is in stark contrast to the speed and alacrity on its part in hanging Kehar Singh one of the alleged conspirators in the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

The culprits in the Akshardham Temple complex attack have also been apprehended, tried and convicted; only their appeals are pending.

On the other hand, there is a marked reluctance on the part of the Congress/UPA Governments to detect and punish the perpetrators of terrorist crimes. It took 14 years for a Special TADA Court dealing exclusively with 1993 serial bomb blast case to convict the guilty. The judgment in that case was delivered only in 2007. Almost all those found guilty have filed appeals and doubtless, a few more years will elapse before they get their just desserts.

In the six blast explosions that shook various parts of Bombay between December 2002 and August 2003, the accused in one case have all been acquitted (though an appeal against their acquittal is pending in the High Court). In the case of three other explosions, the trial is still to commence and in the remaining two, although the trial has begun, they are some way from completion. In all these cases, the accused persons are members of SIMI, the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Pakistani Nationals. In short six years after these blasts, no one has been convicted by a court of law.

Finally, as regards the epidemic of terrorists attacks that have been the hallmark of the last five years of the UPA Government, in some cases the perpetrators have not even been apprehended. Where there have been arrests, the trials have not yet commenced. Even the case of Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani terrorist caught red handed with volumes of evidence disclosing his role in the several terrorist acts perpetrated by him on 26.11.2008, the charge sheet filed by the Crime Branch consisting of 2000 witnesses and several documents, threatens to undermine a speedy and efficacious trial. A trial that at most should take a couple of months, seems inexorably destined for needless protraction.

While a plethora of Congress spokesmen belligerently proclaim their commitment to Zero Toleration for terrorism on the several platforms afforded to them to air their views, the empirical evidence discloses that Congress deeds do not match their words. The truth is that Congress electoral compulsions have rendered the Congress inefficacious in the fight against terrorism. In fact, Congress has no stomach to fight the new 21st Century manifestation of terrorism that threatens the Indian subcontinent : Jehadi Terrorism .

Congress Secularism and Terrorist Dogma

Conceding the ideological turf

An earlier article on this blog had sought to establish by empirical data  that  the Congress party and its secular allies were soft on terrorism of the jehadi variety . Their record in apprehending and punishing such terrorists when in power is woefully miserable. What bodes grave ill for the integrity of the Indian State however  is the base rationale and motivation  for  the seeming reluctance to confront this sovereignty-debilitating problem with the steely resolve that it demands. That rationale has two facets: a Machiavellian motive to be a permanent contender for power at all costs by nurturing and indulging a Muslim vote bank coupled with a dangerous—even if correct –assumption that the community would take grave offence to the extent of withdrawing its electoral support to even its most ardent political benefactors if any of its members were punished for perpetrating terrorist acts. This second facet leads to an irresistible inference that secular parties are soft on terrorism on account of their belief  that there is sympathy among a majority of  Muslims for jehadi terrorism. Even if ,however,this eminently disputable premise were true that secular parties should only too readily accept it is both shameful and depressing. It at once indicates that our secular parties have neither stomach nor inclination to wage and win  a war of ideas against those who propagate jehadi violence and simultaneously discloses that our secular politicians would sacrifice long-term national interest for immediate power or that alternatively for love or money are themselves seduced by the jehadis.

Consider  Congress’s feeble handling of Dawood Ibrahim, ever since he was first identified as being one of the masterminds of the 1993 blasts that ripped through Mumbai.Its governments have never sought either his extradition from Pakistan where he undeniably resides in splendid luxury and enjoys state protection nor of any of his co-conspirators who dispersed not only to Pakistan but to other parts of the world.

In October 1993  the Vohra Committee which was established in the wake of the March 1993 blasts in Mumbai published its report on the political/bureaucratic-mafia nexus in the country .That report ,on the basis of evidence and confidential material placed before it came to the unambiguous conclusion that there existed an alarming political-mafia nexus in several states in the country and that there was a dire need for the creation of a nodal agency of various intelligence gathering outfits in the country to weed out this unholy nexus. While the findings of the committee were made public the materials and evidence disclosing the names of  those with criminal links were withheld. What however is in the public domain is statements of witnesses recorded in the 1993 blasts investigation. These disclose that Dawood Ibrahim enjoyed close links with several prominent politicians particularly from Maharashtra at least one of whom even today occupies ministerial office. Congress reluctance to implement the recommendations is accordingly not surprising in the least.

Sometime after the chargesheet in the 1993 terrorist attack case was filed Dawood offered to surrender to the investigating authorities in India on certain terms. The two chief of these was that he be tried only for the 1993 case and that he be placed under house arrest as opposed to being held in custody in jail for security reasons. This audacious offer by an absconding accused in a trial with substantial evidence against him was clearly a bluff made in the confident belief that the Indian  authorities would not bite his bait. Again, not surprisingly, the Congress government then in power rejected his offer on the specious ground that they could not accord him preferential treatment. The immense advantage in securing  the prime conspirator’s presence in India, the information that could have been obtained from him particularly as regards Pakistan’s role in that heinous attack on India’s sovereignty, his conviction and sentence in that case and the consequent elimination of his potential for similar attacks in future were all strangely lost on the then administration. Dawood’s bluff was never called;his interrogation could expose  his many allies in India. Significantly a few years later the NDA government after relentlessly pursuing Abu Salem in Portugal secured his extradition to India from that country on 2 conditions: 
that he be investigated and tried only in respect of the 1993 case and that in the event of his conviction the death sentence be not imposed upon him since Portugal did not recognize that sentence. The Congress,then in opposition did not raise the faintest protest on the ground of  preferential treatment.

The NDA government in sharp contrast pursued the extradition of Dawood Ibrahim from Pakistan with missionary zeal.The then Home Minister Mr LKAdvani in particular made the extradition of Dawood by Pakistan  almost a precondition for the improvement of Indo-Pak relations at the Agra summit of 2001, an insistence which irked Musharraf in the extreme and led him to blame Mr Advani by insinuation for the breakdown of talks. Undeterred, Mr Advani pressed the issue with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell during his visit to the U.S. in January 2002.His efforts were finally rewarded in October 2003 when  the United States designated Dawood Ibrahim as a global terrorist having links with Al QAEDA and financing activities of LeT and other terrorist organisations.

So why then is the Congress so meek and indeed almost indulgent in its attitude towards Dawood  and his known acolytes like Sunjay Dutt? The answer is not far to seek. The party believes that the poor,uneducated Muslim who constitutes a significant majority of that community largely because years of Congress rule has consigned him to that condition privately regard Dawood and his ilk as icons of justice where the Indian state has failed them in their hour of need. Rather than disabuse adherents of this presumed view within the community by deterring terrorists through their capture and conviction the Congress prefers to let the law meander aimlessly forever so that its inaction earns it the electoral harvest of a grateful community’s votes. Meanwhile, the nation burns as the undeterred merchants of terror unleash their next vicious attack.

That Congress has capitulated abjectly to fundamentalist and extremist ideologues in the Muslim community is most clearly established by its passionate support for SIMI.  The party and its spin doctors in the media have actually given this demonstrably pernicious outfit  a clean bill of health in the face of both the organisation’s unabashed adherence to and espousal of  jehadi violence for the purpose of subversion of the Indian State  and its well established involvement in several terrorist attacks across India.

The Student’s Islamic Movement of India (Simi)  is a fundamentalist organisation of Muslim youth founded in Aligarh in 1977. Its aim is “the liberation of India” by converting it to an Islamic state. Simi has declared jehad against India the aim of which is to establish Dar-ul-Islam by forcefully converting all Indians to Islam or by extermination. Simi is opposed to democracy, nationalism and secularism and thus to the Constitution of India. For Simi, Osama bin laden is an Islamic hero and not a terrorist. Further, Simi does not regard Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India.                 
     
As if its credo was not seditious enough for any mainstream political party to at least maintain a healthy distance from the organisation if not roundly condemn it, the Congress party and its secular allies have staunchly championed its cause. Worse, their support of Simi has been in the face of overwhelming evidence of the organisation’s active participation in terrorist activities.

On the 26th of March 2002 at a specially convened Parliamentary session to enact POTA, Sonia Gandhi shockingly opposed the Act on the ground that it was being introduced only to target Simi which was not a terrorist organisation. This in spite of the fact that the Home ministry on the basis of Intelligence Bureau reports had justified the ban on the ground that the outfit had strong links with Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the LeT. She was supported amongst others by Prakash Jaiswal  whom the UPA appointed as Minister of State for Home on its assumption of the reins of power in 2004.

Since then the role  of Simi in  the perpetration of terrorist activities through the length and breadth of India is well-documented history. The Institute of Conflict Management headed by KPS Gill has catalogued over 100 incidents from the year 2000 to July 2008 that characterized Simi as a terror outfit.

Even so, when Simi challenged the latest ban on it imposed by the UPA regime in February 2008, the Home Ministry  manned by Shivraj Patil and Prakash Jaiswal wilfully or otherwise presented its case so abysmally that the Delhi High Court was compelled to quash the ban on Simi on the ground that the government had not furnished any evidence to indicate that Simi was involved in any terrorist activities since the previous ban. It was only the vociferous criticism of the opposition and particularly the anger and protests of the police forces in various states including  Congress –run states(the State of Maharashtra for example was at pains to point out that Simi was responsible for two major terrorist acts since the earlier ban—the train blast of 11th July2006 and the Malegaon explosions in September the same year) that the UPA government appealed to the Supreme Court which promptly restored the ban. 

The purpose of this treatise is not to flay Congress’s avowed secular credentials. In a polity as diverse as India the road to power for a political party   necessarily consists  in championing sectional interests while feigning to be “truly national “ in order to maximize its electoral appeal. The real danger is when a political party in fact begins to accept its propaganda as gospel. Once before in 1975 the Congress seduced by its own propaganda that it alone could guarantee stability subverted this country’s  democracy and declared an unconstitutional Emergency. Today its only badge of pride is the appropriation to itself of the coveted title of all those who seek the Muslim vote bank: keeper of the secular ideal. On available  evidence  the Congress seems to believe  that the title behoves it to encourage separatist ideas, jehadi doctrines and an Islamic theocracy in India. This election is the time to put a mirror before Congress eyes, disabuse the party of its dangerous misconceptions about secularism and relieve it from the responsibity of office before it cedes India to a barbaric culture as effete rulers have so often done in the past.
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