Was India Shining?

Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi V/s The Hindu

Fictions V/s Facts

On its 03-May-2009 dated Sunday edition The Hindu Newspaper has made a study of the preamble of the Manifesto of the Bharathiya Janata Party (Indian People’s Party –BJP).

In the preamble of the manifesto drafted by Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, some claims have been made about the greatness of India in pre-British period. The Hindu claims to have employed a team of eminent historians who have analyzed each of these claims and have negated each of them as either false or as exaggerations.

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The predictable scandal of the UPA govt

For over a week, newspapers have been publishing reports that the Swiss authorities rejected the request to disclose details of the accounts and transactions of Hassan Ali Khan because the Government of India had sent forged papers.

This has now been confirmed by the spokesman of the Ministry of Justice of the Swiss Government in his interview to CNN-IBN.

The Justice Ministry official has also revealed that this fact about the forgery had been communicated to the Indian Government in early 2007 itself. He has said that the Indian Government was requested to provide valid documents and to confirm that the case against Hassan Ali Khan is a criminal one.

The Indian Government sent some documents in March 2007, and even these were not the requisite ones.

Since then, the Indian Government has not got back to the Swiss Government at all on the matter – neither to show that the documents it had supplied were genuine and adequate nor to replace them with genuine documents and ones that are required under the law.

What can this indicate except that what was done was done by design?

Furthermore, it is shocking that the Government has suppressed these facts – what it had ostensibly done, and what the Swiss Government had communicated to it – from the Supreme Court in its affidavit-in-reply to the PIL that has been filed by concerned citizens. As is well known, suppression of facts from the court – and that too from the highest court of the country – is a grave offence on its own. The Government knows this as well, and yet has chosen to suppress them rather than let the Court, and, through it, the people get an opportunity to learn the truth.

That this Government, the Government that has let Ottavio Quattrochi take away the money that had been frozen on orders of the courts; this Government which then used the CBI to let the man off the hook completely; this Government in which corruption has reached levels that were unheard of till now; this Government which has been consistently soft on terror, that this Government should now have stooped so low as to help an operator like Hassan Ali Khan by sending forged documents to a foreign Government is entirely in character.

Based on what they have been told by officials of intelligence agencies as well as of the Enforcement Directorate, the media have reported that Hassan Ali Khan

•    Has been known to be connected to Dawood Ibrahim

•  Has been known to have been channeling very large amounts from unknown sources into the Indian stock market

•    Has had 8 to 9 billion dollars in the UBS and other banks of Switzerland

•    Has been responsible for hawala transactions of over Rs. 35,000 crore through Swiss banks.

That such a nefarious operator should be helped by this Government is entirely predictable – it is the Congress(I) Government of Karnataka which refused to permit the CBI to investigate the equally notorious Telgi, and later put obstacle after obstacle in its course.

Apart from the sorts of statements by which it tried to mislead the country when Mr. Advani raised the demand for getting India’s stolen wealth back, the way it has helped Hassan Ali Khan exposes its character, and the fact that as long as such a Government is in office, the country will never get its wealth back.

But what is at stake is not just the wealth that has been stolen from the country. In addition,

•    the country’s honour is at stake

•    and its security.

Once again, the country is being held up to ridicule – once again, the world is being shown how the Government of India will bend our laws and institutions to help the worst sorts of criminals and their associates, exactly as banana republics do.

Moreover, international bodies as well the National Security Advisor of this very Government have pointed out that black money, hawala operations as well as tax havens are being used by terrorists and agencies like the ISI for carrying out terrorist and anti-India operations.

The Asia Pacific Group, which has been studying money laundering and terrorist operations, pointed out in 2005 that India had not taken the requisite steps in this regard, that it had not even carried out the comprehensive threat assessment that was required.

The Government did nothing.

No less an authority than the National Security Advisor has been stressing publicly since early 2007 that stricter provisions need to be put in place to check money flows to and from tax havens, and to ensure that banking secrecy is brought to an end, as these channels are being used by terrorists and their sponsors.

The Government did nothing – actually, it did something: around exactly the time that the National Security Advisor was urging the foregoing, in February-March 2007, it sent forged documents to foreclose any possibility of facts being discovered about Hassan Ali Khan and his associates.

In June 2008, the Government-appointed Administrative Reforms Commission, headed by its very own, M. Veerappa Moily, drew attention to the urgent need to plug terrorist financing. In its 8th Report, the Commission listed the channels through which, and the guises under which terrorist organizations and their sponsors were sending money for their operations in India. In particular, it urged that the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist operations needed to be merged. It made a series of detailed recommendations in this regard.

The Government did nothing.

That on even so grave a matter the state of affairs is exactly as it was is evident from the fact that in March 2009, the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report released by the US State Department again shows that, far from taking effective steps, India has not even brought its legal framework against money laundering and terrorism financing at par with the regime agreed to by the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force. It urges the country to swiftly do so.

We urge the media to continue to pursue the facts.

We urge the people to see how the country’s development, its security, its honour are being jeopardized by this Government.

And how even the obvious steps will just not be taken till this Government remains in office.

Clarification by Shri Sudheendra Kulkarni on statement participating in NDTV’s ‘Big Fight’ deb

A misleading impression has been created by erroneous news reports about my statement, in the course of a TV debate on Friday, that the BJP does not consider the Congress party to be “political untouchable”. It has been reported in section of the press today that I advocated the BJP and Congress working together to form a stable government. This is completely untrue and preposterous.

Participating in NDTV’s ‘Big Fight’ debate, I had said that the so-called “secular unity” mooted by the Congress and Left parties is nothing but an opportunistic ploy to isolate the BJP. The Congress-communist combine has used this bogus concept as an ideological justification to preach and practice political untouchability towards the BJP. They did so in 1996 when, despite the BJP having emerged as the largest single party in the Lok Sabha with 162 seats, other parties were mobilized on the plank of “secularism” to form two United Front governments propped up by the Congress, which destabilized both in quick succession.

I said that the BJP does not believe in practicing political untouchability, and quoted Shri L.K. Advani’s oft-repeated affirmation — “If untouchability is wrong in the social sphere, it is equally wrong in the political sphere.” The anchor asked me if the BJP considered the Congress to be untouchable. My answer was “No”. When he questioned me if the BJP would work together with the Congress, my response was: “Yes, if the nation’s interests demand so at some time in the future.”

Congress is the BJP’s principal adversary in the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha. Along with our allies in the NDA, we have campaigned vigorously for the defeat of the Congress. We are confident that the people will give a decisive mandate for change and in favour of a BJP-led NDA government. As such, the question of the BJP and Congress working together in the post-May 16 scenario is simply unthinkable.

The BJP has grown in strength by consistently fighting the anti-people, corrupt and dynasty-controlled Congress party. We have succeeded in transforming India’s polity into an essentially bi-polar system by ending the Congress’ single-party domination. More and more sections of the Indian society have supported us, and an increasing number of political parties have allied with the BJP, in spite of the Congress-communist combine’s ceaseless demonisation of the BJP as a “communal party”. Clearly, the Congress-communist combine’s stratagem of isolating the BJP has resulted in their own growing isolation.

Any future possibility of the BJP and Congress working together in the nation’s interests hinges on the Congress party eschewing its attitude of “political untouchability” towards the BJP

Bjp's stand on the corruption of the telecom ministry, and other issues. A must read

1) BJP demands that allotment of BSNL’s Wi Max franchise should be suspended immediately and the Telecom minister be sacked immediately as the reports suggest a wholesale loot and corruption. It is reported that the five firms of the six short listed companies for this purpose are floated by Raja’s confident Sanjay Kapoor and are registered on single date with same notary, same auditor, same witnesses, same address and same email id.

If the current process of allotment goes ahead, it will mean giving 20 MHz spectrum without any investment and offering free use for these companies assets like BSNL’s 50,000 communication towers, 20,000 offices and two million km of fibre network, free of cost.

2. The UPA Govt is bent upon squeezing and looting the country till the last day in power. Rahul Gandhi’s press conference yesterday was declaration of war on its own allies. Congress has shown utter contempt for its present allies like TMC and DMK, NCP and its erstwhile partners like SP, RJD & LJP. It also reflected a sense of desperation when it chose to diminish its own CM of Andhra Sh. Y S Rajshekhar Reddy and its leaders in Orissa. This attempt to woo new allies will not only fall flat but actually result in loosing some of the present allies, because the Congress mindset and its ‘Coalition Adharma’ of ditching allies has been exposed.

It also reflected a typical dynastic trait which presents leader as holier than cow and in effect, they end up in practicing the reverse of what they preach. Indira Gandhi talked about feeling of nationalism to create IMDT, which was supposed to deport infiltrators but resulted in protecting them. Rajiv Gandhi sermonized about the concept of clean politics and ended up with scandal like Bofors. Now the crown prince wants to democratise Congress but will end up by tightening a dynastic hold.

BJP strongly objects to his comment that BJP has burned Christians in Orissa and killed Muslims in Gujarat, as it is not only baseless but is made deliberately to flare up the communal tension. Election commission must take notice of these communal and instigating remarks as it violates code of conduct.

3) BJP condemns UPA Govt’s decision to allow intrusive fact finding visits from America and permitting religious state body to sit in judgment on the extent of India’s religious freedom. USCIRF, a body created by US was never allowed to visit India since its inception. Earlier governments under P V Narsimha Rao, H D Deve Gowda, I K Gujral and Atal Bihari Vajpayee never allowed such institutions and individuals to sit in judgment on India regarding human rights.

But this time around UPA Govt. overruled objections raised by various officers who were sighting USCIRF’s partial view and vitiated method of reporting. The permission is granted with a political motive to present an incorrect picture of India’s diversity.

BJP's stand on black money and the foul language used by the prime minister of india

The Congress party is clearly getting desperate by the day as it reads the clear writing on the wall that the people of India are not returning it to power. The language of its leaders including the usually cool Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is becoming more and more shrill and intemperate as the election campaign reaches its inevitable end. The Prime Minister has chosen to describe Shri Advaniji's call to bring black money stashed abroad by Indians as an 'election stunt'. He has also alleged that Shri Advani and the BJP were 'behaving irresponsibly' by raking up the black money issue. He has said that BJP's campaign would "alert" those who had stashed this money illegally abroad. And finally, he has accused the BJP of not understanding economics.

We plead guilty to the last charge. The BJP does not understand economics as well as Dr Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi do. At the same time, we would like to assert that even with our limited understanding of economics, the BJP/NDA government managed the economy much better than Dr Singh with his vast understanding of the subject. Even the Economist of London which the Congress party's General Secretary Digvijay Singh quotes with such pride has said in the same article that the NDA government's performance on the economic front was creditable. We would also like to remind the Congress party that quoting foreign sources can be a double edged weapon. If they draw comfort from the Economist, what about Razeen Sally's article in the Financial Times of London in which the economic performance of the UPA government, and specially the role of Dr Manmohan Singh as a ''do-nothing, zero-reform" Prime Minister, has come in for severe criticism? Sally has said "Mr Singh has proved a hopeless decision-maker as prime minister……Mr Rao and A.B. Vajpayee proved their mettle despite heavy political constraints. Mr Singh has failed."

The BJP understands enough economics to realise that the entire global environment today is far more conducive to bringing the black money of Indian's back to India than it ever was earlier. Shri Advaniji has seen this opportunity and grasped this moment. Dr Manmohan Singh refuses to recognise this opportunity and use it for the country's benefit. Nothing exposes this government more on this issue than its own affidavit before the Supreme Court in response to a Public Interest Litigation which has failed to satisfy the Supreme Court.

What can be more ridiculous than the Prime Minister's fear that the BJP's campaign would alert the depositors of the black money and they could withdraw the money? According to its own claim the government has been at it seriously for some time now. Has not that alerted the black money depositors already?

Foul and abusive language cannot be a substitute for sound argument. Having lost the argument, the Congress party and the Prime Minister are resorting to a language which is eminently avoidable even in the heat of electoral battle.

Don't Reuse, Recycle

Some of you may be in the habit of using and reusing your disposable water bottles (Wilkins, Viva, etc), keeping them in your car or at work. Not a good idea. In a nutshell, the plastic (called polyethylene terephthalate or PET) used in these bottles contains a potentially carcinogenic element(something called diethylhydroxylamine or DEHA). The bottles are safe for one use only; if you must keep them longer, it should be or no more than a few days, a week max, and keep them away from heat as well.

Repeated washing and rinsing can cause the plastic to break down and the carcinogens can leach into the water that YOU are drinking. Better to invest in water bottles that are really meant for multiple uses. This is not something we should be scrimping on. Take care.

Many are unaware of poisoning caused by reusing plastic bottles. Some of you may be in the habit of using and reusing your disposable mineral water bottles (eg. Evian, Aqua, Ice Mountain, Vita, etc), keeping them in your car or at work. Not a good idea. In a nutshell, the plastic (called polyethylene terephthalate or PET) used in these bottles contains a potentially carcinogenic element (something called diethylhydroxylamine or DEHA). The bottles are safe for onetime use only; if you must keep them longer, it should be or no more than a few days, a week max, and keep them away from heat as well. Repeated washing and rinsing can cause the plastic to break down and the carcinogens (cancercausing chemical agents) can leach into the water that YOU are

drinking. Better to invest in water bottles that are really meant for multiple uses. This is not something we should be scrimping on. Those of you with family to please advise them, especially children."

At first glance, this one appears quite similar to an earlier chain letter, warning against microwaving food in plastic containers. Like its predecessor, we find this one to be based on little more than theory and jampacked with misinterpretations of the facts.

Also like its predecessor, this one has roots in media coverage of one person's unsupported hypothesis. The idea that reusing plastic bottles can cause compounds in the plastic to break down into carcinogenic substances comes from a 2001 Master's Thesis by a student at the University of Idaho. Despite the fact that the thesis was not subject to peer review and, thus, lacking any degree of scientific authority, several media outlets picked up on it and ran the typical "whatyoudon'tknowcankillyou" stories.

According to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), "DEHA, as mentioned in the email is neither regulated nor classified as a human carcinogen. Further, DEHA is not inherent in PET plastic as raw material, byproduct or decomposition product. DEHA has been cleared by FDA for food contact applications and would not pose a health risk even if present." The IBWA goes on to suggest that the student's findings could be the result of normal laboratory contamination: "DEHA is a common plasticizer used in many plastic items, many of which are found in the lab setting. For this reason, the student's detection (see comment above) is likely to have been the result of inadvertent lab contamination." While the Environmental Protection Agency had earlier labeled DEHA a toxic chemical, they reclassified it due to a lack of evidence.

It is true that many organizations and bottled water companies recommend against reusing their packaging, but the rationale is far less lifethreatening. Rather, they caution that most bottles are not sufficiently cleaned and dried before refilling to prevent possible bacterial contamination. Graham Bauer and Jan Martin have nothing to do with this warning other than they received it or heard the rumor themselves and passed it on, inadvertently adding their identity to the notes. 

BJP's Stand on Quottrocchi and The Killings of Sikhs in Pakistan by the Taliban

1.    Bharatiya Janata Party deplores the absurd logic of the PM Manmohan Singh that India would have been looked down by the world community if red corner notice against Quatrocchi was not removed. This is a futile attempt to defend the indefensible act of the CBI. This also proves that withdrawal of red corner notice against Quottrocchi is not a CBI decision but a political decision of the UPA government. Instead of proceeding with the investigations UPA government offered Quattrochi a parting gift.

BJP has one poser for the Prime Minister that he should explain why then world community will not look down India when it does not carry out the hanging of Parliament attacker Mohammad Afzal Guru, who is condemned by the Supreme Court?  UPA wants to save Afzal for vote bank politics and Quottrocchi for his connection with the first family of the Congress. Both these decisions have once again proved that "Congress Ka Hath Quottrocchi Aur Afzal Ke Saath".

2.    Bharatiya Janata Party expresses deep concern over the report of killings and fleeing of Hindus and Sikhs from Swath valley by Talibans. BJP demands that Government of India should take proactive steps to save people of Indian origin living in Pakistan. Government utterly failed to protect the people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and elsewhere. Efforts by the government so far have remained technical only and have not yielded any tangible results.

BJP's message on the black money of indians in swiss and other banks.

The Congress party is clearly getting desperate by the day as it reads the clear writing on the wall that the people of India are not returning it to power. The language of its leaders including the usually cool Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is becoming more and more shrill and intemperate as the election campaign reaches its inevitable end. The Prime Minister has chosen to describe Shri Advaniji's call to bring black money stashed abroad by Indians as an 'election stunt'. He has also alleged that Shri Advani and the BJP were 'behaving irresponsibly' by raking up the black money issue. He has said that BJP's campaign would "alert" those who had stashed this money illegally abroad. And finally, he has accused the BJP of not understanding economics.

We plead guilty to the last charge. The BJP does not understand economics as well as Dr Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi do. At the same time, we would like to assert that even with our limited understanding of economics, the BJP/NDA government managed the economy much better than Dr Singh with his vast understanding of the subject. Even the Economist of London which the Congress party's General Secretary Digvijay Singh quotes with such pride has said in the same article that the NDA government's performance on the economic front was creditable. We would also like to remind the Congress party that quoting foreign sources can be a double edged weapon. If they draw comfort from the Economist, what about Razeen Sally's article in the Financial Times of London in which the economic performance of the UPA government, and specially the role of Dr Manmohan Singh as a ''do-nothing, zero-reform" Prime Minister, has come in for severe criticism? Sally has said "Mr Singh has proved a hopeless decision-maker as prime minister……Mr Rao and A.B. Vajpayee proved their mettle despite heavy political constraints. Mr Singh has failed."

The BJP understands enough economics to realise that the entire global environment today is far more conducive to bringing the black money of Indian's back to India than it ever was earlier. Shri Advaniji has seen this opportunity and grasped this moment. Dr Manmohan Singh refuses to recognise this opportunity and use it for the country's benefit. Nothing exposes this government more on this issue than its own affidavit before the Supreme Court in response to a Public Interest Litigation which has failed to satisfy the Supreme Court.

What can be more ridiculous than the Prime Minister's fear that the BJP's campaign would alert the depositors of the black money and they could withdraw the money? According to its own claim the government has been at it seriously for some time now. Has not that alerted the black money depositors already?

Foul and abusive language cannot be a substitute for sound argument. Having lost the argument, the Congress party and the Prime Minister are resorting to a language which is eminently avoidable even in the heat of electoral battle.

Chargesheet against Sonia (Maino) Gandhi and Her CongressParty

Shocking collection of data:

* In the last five years, Sonia (Antonia Maino) Gandhi, the President of Congress Party, and UPA Chairperson, has emerged as a very powerful woman in India. She is a devout Catholic Christian. To the dismay and disenchantment of Hindus, instead of adopting Hinduismafter her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi, she / her family allegedly made it a pre-condition of her marriage that Rajiv Gandhi convert to Catholicism. Or at least that her children (Raul aka Rahu Gandhi and Bianca aka Priyanka) be raised as Christians.

* Because of her belief rooted in the Christian faith that her religion is superior to the native Hindu Dharma, she feels herself more comfortable in the company of non-Hindus. It is thus natural that she surrounds herself with mostly the Christian and Muslim advisors. For that reason, she is very close to Ahmed Patel, A. K. Anthony, Oscar Fernandes, Abdul Rahman Antulay, E. Ahmed, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy (a Christian), Dr. Shakeel Ahmad, Shafi Qureshi, John Dayal, Mohammad Hamid Ansari, and Ambika Soni (also a Christian).

* During the Congress rule in the last five years, the condition of Hindus has gone from bad to worse. The worst form of repression has been unleashed on Hindus. Hindus today feel helpless, rudderless, leaderless and under an invisible asphyxiating hold. Hindu icons have been arrested (Shankaracharya of Kanchi Sri Jayendra Sarasvati), Hindu saints (Swami Laxmananda Saraswati) murdered, Hindu Sadhvis (Pragya Singh) tortured, patriotic Hindus treated like hard-core criminals (Col. Purohit), armed forces weakened and demoralized (Batla House incident), Hindu Dharma vilified and demonized (Ram Sethu), and the minorities pampered at the cost of national security (Afzal Guru).

* In addition, under the “Muslims-First” program initiated by the robot Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, “sites for Haj houses, waiver of loans to the tune of Rs. 500 crore for Muslims in Andhra Pradesh alone, Rs. 140 crore worth scholarships to Muslim boys and girls in Andhra Pradesh, payment of Rs. 200,000 per year for 20,000 Muslims students studying engineering and Rs. 50,000 per year for several thousand Muslims studying medicine” (Dr. T.H. Chowdhary in Organizer) – even pension to the children of terrorists – have been announced!

* In order to garner the Moslem votes, a staggering sum of Rs. 550 corers has been allocated in the next Five Year Plan for promotion of an Urdu televisionchannel. [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Efforts_on_to_promote_Urdu_channel_Govt/articleshow/811680.cms].

* In this connection, it should be noted that during Islamic rule in India, Tipu Sultan had imposed Urdu on Karnataka Hindus and Nizam of Hyderabad had done the same on Telegu speaking Hindus.

* In a step closer to imposing the Islamic legal system, Sharia, in largely Hindu India, the India’s Human Resources and Development (HRD) Ministry is now all set to treat the madrasa certification as being equivalent to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

* In order to further accelerate the Islamization of India, the Ministry of Home Affairs has instructed the Central Para-military Forces to make certain that 20 percent of their recruitment is made from the Muslim community.

* With a clear view to appease Muslims, the Government of India led by the Congress Party has consistently avoided executing the orders of the Supreme Court to hang Mohammed Afzal Guru, the convicted mastermind of the vicious armed attack on Indian Parliament in December 2001.

* “There are approximately 207,000 Hindu temples in Karnataka with a total income of about 72 crores. Out of these, the (Congress) government spends merely 6 crores on the upkeep of temples; the rest, though collected from the Hindu devotees, is recklessly spent on Muslim madrasas and Christian churches; a phenomenal Rs 50 crores on madrassas and Rs 10 crores on churches”. (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, India Today, in 2003)

* The government control of Hindu temples in secular India is a blatant violation of religious freedom in the country. In Andhara Pradesh alone, the 85 percent of the temple revenues from The Tirupati Devasthanam –- a whopping Rs. 3,100 crores –- are transferred into the state exchequer, which then are freely spent on Muslim and Christian causes.

* On encouragement of the local Congress Rajya Sabha member, the converted Christian tribals who recently joined Maoist groups had Swami LakshmanandaSarasvati and his four disciples murdered in the State of Orissa.

* Instead of expelling the Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators, the Congress government’s anti-Hindu stance came to fore when 1,500 Hindu refugees from Bangladesh, now settled in Kendrapara district of Orissa, were issued the Quit India notices!

* The Congress Party government at the Center made a big blunder by repealing the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA). This action emboldened the Islamic terrorists to ravage and batter with impunity the 20 million people of Mumbai on November 26, 2008, thereby killing over 200 Indian citizens and humiliating the entire nation in front of the whole world. What a disgrace!

* Then, as if to sprinkle salt on the wounds of Indians (read Hindus) recovering from the shock of Mumbai massacre, the India’s Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahmed , a fundamentalist Islamist and the President of Indian Union Muslim League, had the temerity to force India’s Consul General Prabhu Dayal in New York to celebrate the Eid festivity at the Consulate within weeks of the terrible carnage. 

* Mumbai Police Commissioner admitted on February 12, 2009, that 14 to 16 Indian Muslims too were involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, besides the Pakistani attackers. But UPA government led by the Congress party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi keeps misleading the nation by saying that all jihadists were Pakistanis.

* The Central Human Resources and Development Minister, Shri Arjun Singh has concluded an agreement with Saudi Arabia under which a few billion dollars will be given to the Islamic universities in India for the purpose of establishing Islamic Centers. This is a very dangerous development. We firmly believe that this ill-conceived move is not onlyanti-Hindu and anti-India but it also is treacherous activity designed to pull India fast into the vortex of World Pan-Islamic movement.*

* While the Foreign Minister Pranab Mookerjee has been exhorting on Pakistan to shut down the terrorist training centers in their country, no drastic steps are taken in our own country – Azam Garh, in U.P., and in the State of Kerala – to stop the jihadists from transforming India into a trainingground for the home-grown terrorists.

* Most of the newspapers in India are controlled by the Government and are the classic example of suppressio veri or the concealment of truth (e.g. the attack by Muslim goons on Telegraph Newspaper in Kolkata was blacked out) and suggestio falsi or a statement of a falsehood amounting to being a fraud (e.g. negative publicity was given to attack on pubs in Bangaluru with a mal-intent to slander the Hindu groups).

* Now, a few words about Aam Admi, the Sonia Gandhi’s pet political expression to describe the country’s common man… 

* According to M.J. Akbar’s article in The Pioneer, when the present Sonia government came to power in year 2004, there were 270 million people in country below the poverty line. The number of the poorpeople, however, has increased by 55 million, or 20% – a horrifying rise.

* In the past India was ruled by Muslims and Christians. It is a matter of shame and disgust that India is still being ruled by the minorities. Hindus cannot count on the UPA government to protect their interests, life and property. Since Hindus make up about 83% of the total population, it is obligatory on them to be more vigilant and circumspect. 

* Hindus should galvanize the public distrust of Gandhi dynasty. They should throw out the eminences grise (persons exercising power orinfluence without holding an official position) of India in the next general elections and reclaim political power for the majority population. If

* Hindus shed their centuries old torpor, and work in unison, the artificially assembled UPA government will fall like ninepins.

Varun was harsh, but so is truth

The media-driven furore over what is being described as Mr Varun Gandhi’s ‘hate speech’ deserves to be countered with matching crudity: If he is ‘communal’, then his critics are biased against Hindus. Nothing else explains why newspapers and 24x7 news channels should twist the entire issue out of context and plaster it all over their front pages and feature it on prime time news bulletins, while ignoring the basic rule of responsible journalism — facts are sacred, opinion is free.

Since the facts have been swamped by jaundiced opinion, it would be in order to place them on record. Mr Varun Gandhi, son of Ms Maneka Gandhi and the late Sanjay Gandhi, is an articulate young man who will be contesting the coming Lok Sabha election from Pilibhit constituency in Uttar Pradesh as a BJP candidate. As a prelude to his election campaign — he is yet to file his nomination papers — he visited the constituency, till now represented by Ms Maneka Gandhi, for what is known as ‘jan sampark’, or mass contact, meetings to familiarise himself with the voters and vice-versa. This is a legitimate exercise. Over March 6 and 8, he addressed a series of meetings.

On March 16th, a CD mysteriously surfaced in the offices of news channels, which was promptly aired without any effort being made to verify the authenticity of its contents. The CD contained audio-visual snippets of what Mr Gandhi is alleged to have said during a community meeting (as opposed to an ‘election rally’) at Barkheda on March 7. The aired version of the recording showed Mr Gandhi as saying:

“This is not the (Congress’s election symbol) ‘hand’, this is the hand of the ‘lotus’ (the BJP’s symbol). It will cut the throat of (derogatory reference to Muslims) after the elections… Varun Gandhi will cut… Cut that hand, cut it… cut it… Go to your villages and give the call that all Hindus must unite to save this area from becoming Pakistan… Is it not true… that if (a woman) is asked her name and she says Bimla Devi, she is told we’ll see, we’ll think (about giving Government aid), give us Rs 5,000 first… But if her name is Saira Bano or whatever begum Hukum Begum… I don't even know… These people have such scary-sounding names… Karimullah, Mazharullah… If you ever encountered them at night, you’d be scared… I have a sister… there was a pamphlet with pictures of all the candidates… so this child told me, ‘I didn't know that Osama bin Laden is contesting from your area’. I told her, ‘America couldn’t get Osama, but Varun Gandhi is going to get a lot of people after the elections’.”

There were subsequent reports in media that at an earlier public meeting, on March 6 at Dalchand, Mr Gandhi was equally ‘communal’. He was accused of telling his audience, “Agar kisi galat tatv ke aadmi ne kisi Hindu pe haath uthaaya ya Hindu’on ke upar yeh samajh key ki yeh kamzor hain, unke peechey koi nahi hai... Hindu’on ke upar haath uthaaya, main Gita ki kasam khaake kehta hoon ki main us haath ko kaat daaloong (If some wrong elements lift a hand against Hindus, or think Hindus are weak, there is nobody behind them, then I swear on the Bhagavad Gita that I will cut off that hand).” He ended his speeches with “Jai Sri Ram” and to thunderous applause.

But did Mr Gandhi really say all this? Yes, by his own admission, he did say most of it. But not quite the way it has been presented by the media, and definitely not the way the alleged recording purports it to be. A simple analysis of the recording contained in the CD, which was strangely circulated after more than a week, shows that it has 17 ‘cuts’; that the sound level dips to low resolution, and there is heavy echo at the crucial point where he allegedly makes a derogatory reference to Muslims. Each of the quotes have been clearly taken out of context.

As for his call that “all Hindus must unite to save this area from becoming Pakistan”, that a Hindu woman would find it difficult to get Government aid, his reference to Osama bin Laden look-alikes, his pledge to stand by Hindus against ‘galat tatv ke aadmi’, and his swearing by the Bhagavad Gita, there is really little to cavil against. ‘Secular’ State Governments have been prompt in taking their cue from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ‘Muslims first’ policy. Newspapers in the forefront of the bash Varun campaign have reported how Muslim victims of last year’s flood were lavished with aid while others were left to fend for themselves. Mr Ram Vilas Paswan would address election meetings accompanied by an Osama bin Laden look-alike till the man, Maulana Meraj Khalid Noor, dumped him for Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav for reasons that do not merit elaboration. Mr Gandhi was addressing a community gathering, not an election rally; he felt the people of Barkheda and Dalchand needed to be reassured that he would protect their interests; and, he spoke the truth rather bluntly, perhaps too harshly.

Before we go into the reason why he said what he is now being pilloried for, here are two questions for you to ponder over: Are we now living in such dreadful times that we cannot mention the Bhagavad Gita in public discourse lest we be condemned as ‘communal’ by newspapers and news channels which couldn’t stop pointing out, ever so admiringly and approvingly — some would say ecstatically — that Mr Barack Hussein Obama took his oath of office by placing his left hand on Abraham Lincoln’s Bible? And, is it now an unpardonable offence to say ‘Jai Sri Ram’?

Anybody who has any knowledge of Pilibhit knows that Hindus in that district — in fact, all over what is referred to as Rohilkhand — are increasingly feeling under siege. The district stretches along India’s border with Nepal. Mirza Dilshad Beg, the Nepali politician who fronted for Dawood Ibrahim and was on the payroll of Pakistan’s ISI, regularly used the Pilibhit route to funnel fake currency into India and supply arms and explosives to terrorists. Beg may be dead, murdered by his ilk in 1998, but the supply chain remains undisrupted. Thousands of cows are smuggled across the border to be slaughtered; cow slaughter in Pilibhit and adjacent districts is now a common phenomenon with the administration loath to take any action.

In recent months, there have been instances of Hindu women being molested and raped. This point has been disputed by the Indian Express which says there are no police records to prove it. Yet, on umpteen occasions the newspaper has, as have others, pointed out how the police in rural India refuse to register cases of rape, how families are terrorised into not pressing charges, and how the fear of social stigma forces victims of rape and their families to keep silent. 

The ‘secular’ media hasn’t heard of Sonu Kashyap who was murdered on October 21 last year. “Five unidentified Muslims” were accused of murdering him. The administration did nothing. On October 23, anger turned into street protests, led by a former BJP legislator and Minister, Mr Ram Saran Verma. He was promptly arrested and since then has been detained under the National Security Act. Beesalpur police station in-charge Pervez Miyan brazenly defends the continued detention of Mr Verma.

The Indian Express, however, is not alone. The Times of India’s online edition had two ads promoting itimes, its social networking group: ‘Snub Varun Gandhi’ and ‘Join Sanjay Dutt fan club’. It would appear that in this wondrous land of ours, where rules are being increasingly set by a dissolute media, it is now politically correct to be a fan of a man who has been held guilty of aiding the terrorists who bombed Mumbai in 1993. NDTV began by referring to Mr Gandhi’s “speech”, and then switched over to “hate speech”. Who’s to tell our ‘secular’ media it is horribly wrong? Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Bofors scam: Quattrocchi off CBI's wanted list

The Interpol has removed the red corner notice issued against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, who was being sought in India 

for criminal charges for acting as a conduit for bribes in the Rs 64-crore Bofors scandal. ( Watch ) 

This comes just three weeks before the Congress-led UPA government's term ends. 

The Italian businessman no longer figures in the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) list of wanted persons and the 12-year Interpol red corner notice against the lone surviving suspect in the Bofors payoff case has been withdrawn from the agency’s website after the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) appeal.

The CBI will formally inform the court of the same on April 30. "The case has been under trial in the courts since 1999. CBI has taken action on the basis of legal advice of the highest order. We will inform the competent court on the next date of hearing (April 30, 2009)," CBI spokesman Harsh Bahal said here today. 

The CBIs decision is based on the legal opinion sent by Attorney General Milon Banerjee to the government in which he describes the notice as "a continuing embarrassment." 

Banerjee writes: "The CBI is under an obligation to have the matters set right at the Interpol level as there is no basis on which the RCN can continue...I am of the firm opinion that immediate action should be taken to withdraw the Red Corner Notice". 

Quattrochi's counsel had already sought the removal of the notice in October 2008. 

Quattrocchi's role in Bofors scam, and his proximity to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi through his wife Sonia Gandhi, is thought to have contributed to the defeat of the Congress Party in the 1989 elections. 

Ten years later (1999), the CBI named Quattrocchi in a chargesheet as the conduit for the Bofors bribe and on he basis of a 1997 non-bailable warrant, the agency sought a red corner notice against him The case against him was strengthened in June 2003, when Interpol revealed two bank accounts, 5A5151516M and 5A5151516L, held by Quattrocchi and his wife Maria with the BSI AG bank, London, containing Euros 3 million and $1 million, a "curiously large savings for a salaried executive". 

In January 2006, these frozen bank accounts were unexpectedly released by country's law ministry, apparently without the consent of the CBI which had asked for them to be frozen. 

Reacting to the development, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi called the Bofors case ‘a dead horse that the BJP has been flogging.” 

“BJP has been unnecessarily dragging Rajiv Gandhi’s name,” Singhvi said. 

BJP senior leader L K Advani trained his guns on CBI for dropping the businessman’s name and demanded a probe into the agency's role during the last five years. 

"This is a serious decision. It is not a question of Quattrocchi alone but the entire role of the agency during the last five years which should be probed. It is a very serious issue. They have become the "dastak" or "handtool" in the hands of politicians," Advani, while campaigning in his constituency, said. 

Will witty Narendra Modi have the last laugh?

If comedy kings Raju Srivastav, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Shekhar Suman are invading the political stage, Modi is intruding on their comic space. 

While a creative Modi has spun one-liners, hate has been missing from his stinging speeches. Instead, satire is his favourite weapon against his targets these days. His barbs at the Gandhi family and Congress are laced with wit, humour and repartee. If Congress has refrained from provoking or reacting to Modi, the CM has invented ways of hitting the headlines. 

Coming handy are his early lessons in theatre and his ability to connect with the audience. Academic records at his school in Vadnagar, and some teachers are alive to authenticate that, show that though an average student, Modi used to excel in theatre. 

Those who have seen Modi from close quarters say this election has unmasked a new aspect of the leader - his humour. Call it part of his image makeover excercise to wish away the taint of the 2002 riots, but he has clearly conceded the hate space to Varun Gandhi, if some detractors in the party wanted it this way. 

What Varun was saying in Pilibhit last month matched what Modi had spoken during the Gujarat Gaurav Yatra in Chanasma before the December 2002 Assembly elections, tapes of which were sent then to the Election Commission. Even then, Modi was careful with his words while he aroused hate. 

He could have endorsed Varun's venom. Instead, in a TV interview, he casually brushed the issue aside saying it was sub-judice. "There is a shade of A B Vajpayee in Modi this time. Vajpayee's speeches were full of wit, which endeared him to the voter,'' said a senior BJP leader, adding that there was a coarseness in Modi's humour which the common man would find more appealing. 

Riot of laughter 

* O Ba, O Ma 

When terrorists attacked Mumbai, Congress leaders rushed to the US. They should have gone to Pakistan. In the US, they pleaded O Ba, O Ma... please save us 

* Budhiya 

Terminology to describe Congress as a 125-year-old party. This sent Modi's TRPs soaring 

* Gudiya 

Priyanka Gandhi, who reacted to Modi. Since then, the Gandhis are silent 

* SRP is after me 

S for Sonia, R for Rahul and P for Priyanka. In this age of SMS, abbreviations are an in thing, he says 

* Not MAR but RAM 

Before Congress could say MAR (Modi, Advani and Rajnath), Modi put it in their mouth. He said they should respect seniority. "They should have called us RAM (Rajnath, Advani and Modi). But something stops them from saying RAM 

* Kapadwala, Dabbawala, Gas Batlawala 

Congress troika of Shankersinh Vaghela (textiles minister), Naran Rathwa (railway minister) and Dinsha Patel (petroleum minister) 

* Middlemen Congressmen 

Congress manifesto promised wheat at Rs 3 a kg to the poor, Modi joked that Gujarat government was selling wheat at Rs 2 a kg. The Congress would buy wheat from Gujarat at Rs 2 per kg and sell it for Rs 3 per kg. 

*Soniaben's homework 

She mixes up the script. The other day, she spoke in Jetpur about Sujalam Sufalam. This speech was to be read out at Kheralu which has a Sujalam Sufalam project. 

$27bn flows out illegally every year from India

Just when a partisan debate rages over the issue of billions of black money hoarded abroad by India's corrupt, a US-based organisation 

— Global Financial Integrity (GFI) — has ranked the country fifth in the list of 160 developing countries suffering from the outflow of huge amounts of money through illicit channels. 

Quoting its report -- 'Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2002-06' — which came out in December last year, GFI said total illicit financial outflows from India during the period averaged from a low of $22.7 billion to a high of $27.3 billion per year. 

The report comes bang in the middle of a confrontation between Congress and BJP over the latter's promise to bring the illegal billions back. 

Congress has accused the BJP of exaggerating the issue by distorting facts for partisan ends. It, along with the Left, has also accused BJP of not taking measures to tackle the problem during NDA's tenure at the Centre. The BJP has returned the fire with full force, accusing Congress of ignoring the issue. 

GFI director Raymond Baker said it was not just India's problem. "In 2006, total outflows from developing countries outpaced incoming official development assistance (ODA) by a ratio of 10 to 1. This means that for every $1 in ODA a developing country received, $10 was lost due to illicit financial outflows," he said. 

China topped the list of countries for illicit outflows with $233bn-$289bn, followed by Saudi Arabia ($54bn-$55bn), Mexico ($41bn-$46bn) and Russia ($32bn-$38bn). 

The issue of money taken illegally abroad and stashed in tax havens has recently acquired prominence because of the feeling, encouraged by the global slowdown, that days of secret banking are over. The consensus was reflected in the recent meeting of G-20, and has been strengthened by the promises of Swiss authorities to cooperate with demands, provided they are backed up by specific details, for investigation into accounts in banks within their jurisdiction. 

In India, Supreme Court has taken up the matter following a PIL by a group of well-known citizens. 

The Centre has promised to get back to the court this week with details of what it has done to deal with the issue, particularly with regard to details of 1,400 accounts with a bank in Liechtenstein which has been made available by German authorities. 

The GFI report estimated that total illicit capital flight from developing countries was as high as $1 trillion per year during 2002-06. The illegal outflows involve activities such as corruption (bribery and embezzlement of national wealth) and proceeds of licit business that becomes illicit when transported across borders in violation of laws and regulatory frameworks. 

Baker said, "This massive loss of assets is the greatest impediment to economic development and poverty alleviation and should be of concern to all nations." 

The GFI report is based on examination of trade and external debt data from 2002-06 maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. 

Funny Campaign Advertisements

The defensive posture of the Congress is really amusing. It is trying to convince people with statements that even Congressmen cannot convince themselves with. The latest of these is 'Congress does not have a problem if Afzal is hanged'. Here we don't even have to ask why he hasn't been hanged till now. It is all so obvious. Then there is the Swiss bank accounts issue.

All I have seen this elections is that Congress has initially denied everything that BJP accused it of. But then it surrenders with lots of ifs and buts added. It has made a joke of itself. Our 'strong' PM acknowledges that there are links between terrorists across the border and Indian terrorists belonging to a particular community (read Muslims). So he devises a solution : community policing is the best thing to do. Ok, we accept this partly....but can the PM please tell us what if community policing fails or it does not happen? What is the role of the state?

The economy was fine and now the PM will revive it in 100 days if voted to power. What has he been doing all these months? He had much more than 100 days available to him.

Grow up Congress men....people of this country have much sharper intellect than you think they do. You are insulting them if you think otherwise. I get to watch some campaign advertisements of the Congress on TV and really...they are better than the best comedy shows on air. Some of them are:

1. Prices are falling - vote for Congress

2. Na main Hindu hoon, na Musalman, na Sikh, na Isai - main ek Bhartiya hun - Vote for Congress. This one definitely needs a big correction. It can be tweaked like this: main ek Bhartiya tha...par mujhe Musalman, Isai banaya Congress ne..to kya main Congress ko vote karoon?

3. Another ad is on the lines of the above ad. Here I would say - Party jo mile hue rangon ko alag kare ek hi hai - Congress . So don't vote for Congress.

4. This one is the funniest: Join/support Congress in fighting terrorism.

TOI-My God, I am so sick of this newspaper. Only voices that support the Congress or its allies and are against the BJP are covered by its reporters. As if the opinion of others doesn't matter. One thing I would definitely like to say to TOI - YOU ARE UNFIT TO RUN THE LEAD INDIA CONTEST. You are the least bothered about this country and its welfare. So stop this gimmick.

Another characteristic of Congressmen including Kapil Sabil I have noticed is that they don't have the basic etiquettes of debating. They never let the other person finish what he has to say. I know this is a sharp tool for fooling some people....but others can make out. So before you go out to debate..go back to school and learn the rules. You only spoil your already spoilt image.

War room

While Barack Obama is busy formulating an Af-Pak policy, we are busy in melting-point informatics and "my brother Rahul will become PM one day" 

kind of family employment schemes. The Prime Minister "revealed" to a group of journalists that he had decided to resign if the nuclear deal with the US was not passed in Parliament. To fulfil his "kasam" to Washington, he silently saw the lawmakers' highest body turn into a mandi. 

For him, his "kasam" was more important than the "maryada" of his nation's parliament. 

I wish he had honoured in the same way his "kasam" to the Indian people – the oath he took while taking the office of Prime Minister, that bound him to protecting the lives of his people and giving a government that treated all citizens equally. 

Pota was removed to please Muslims. A special reservation scheme was implemented at Aligarh Muslim University to have seats for a particular religious group reserved. 

The Planning Commission allocated Rs 3,000 crore for minority (read Muslim) development schemes and banks were directed to give loans to the minorities at a special consideration. To address Kashmiri Muslim "sentiments", Afzal's hanging was delayed till the next government is formed. Ram Sethu was brutally assaulted and Rama's existence was denied – all before the eyes of Mr Nice and Dr Decent. Not a single word was spoken to address the sentiments of Hindus. 

He kept a studied silence seeing the butchers of 1984 being protected and promoted as party candidates for Lok Sabha elections till a shoe throw compelled the leader to delist them. 

So much for his "kasam" to provide impartial governance. 

The "kasam" to protect the people and safeguard the honour of soldiers was "fulfilled" in such a manner that soldiers returned their war decorations and had to demonstrate like pariahs at Jantar Mantar. The government was busy decorating the liars and voices of terrorists. 

And now, there is a controversy regarding a story sourced to the Special Investigating Tribunal blaming certain NGOs for cooking up ghastly stories of barbarism, which, the report says, never occurred. The person who has been charged having helped file such "cooked up" stories became a darling of the secular media noises in Delhi who would present her stories like a constitutional tribunal's report. 

There is a contradiction which is further confusing as SIT is still silent on it. For the sake of justice and fair play, the truth must be investigated and the honour of the people, whichever side they might belong to, be restored. If the Kausar Bi story was filed truthfully, the criminals must be hanged in public along with the perpetrators of Godhra. But if it was a fabrication, the "writer" must be punished because if a mind can cook up such ghastly scenes, what will be the difference between what Kasab and his gang did in Mumbai and what these pen-pushers of the secular chill club do to India and her people? A writer more known in London wrote a story as spine chilling as was the Godhra fire. It read, "A mob surrounded the house of former Congress MP Iqbal Ehsan Jaffri. His phone calls to the Director-General of Police, the Police Commissioner, the Chief Secretary, the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) were ignored. The mobile police vans around his house did not intervene. The mob broke into the house. They stripped his daughters and burned them alive. Then they beheaded Ehsan Jaffri and dismembered him. Of course it’s only a coincidence that Jaffri was a trenchant critic of Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, during his campaign for the Rajkot Assembly by-election in February.'(Arundhati Roy’s article, Outlook, dated 6 May 2002). 

Ehsaan was killed but the rest of the story was false for which Roy had to apologize. A people traumatized, painted black all over the globe, their character mutilated and just an apology? 

And who were those killed in the Godhra train who never got a line from these "chroniclers of human tragedies"? 

Just waste paper? 

Read what the Union minister of state for home, Shriprakash Jaiswal, who belongs to the Congress, told Parliament on May 11, 2005: "790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed in the riots, 2,548 people were injured and 223 people were missing." 

Who were those killed in Gujarat riots along with Muslims? 

Just dirt? 

The hate-Hindu cartel represents the hate of Ghaznis and Ghauris. They survive on the funds given to them by Congress-Communist groups and state powers controlled by them. Their social acceptability and glamour is enhanced by "praise for each other" societies. And Mr Nice and Dr Decent pats them with state awards. 

Amid cacophony and intemperate language laced with shoe throws, criminals and convicted actors are having a field day canvassing for their parties and though a mature and stable democracy we pretend to be, the first casualty in this situation has been decency in public debate. 

The poll scene has turned the nation into a war room. The last 62 years have witnessed our motherland's vivisection, a million people killed, 1.25 lakh sq km of land illegally occupied by aliens, massacres by Pakistani marauders in Mirpur and in Bihar by Maoist terror outfits, the jeep purchase scandal in 1948, a humiliation like 1962 when ordnance factories were ordered to make coffee machines instead on rifles, the Nagarwala mystery, the submarine scandal, wheat import commissions, farmers' suicides, forced exile of Kashmiri Hindus and desecration of more than 172 temples. The list is ever-growing amid inspiring stories of Indian people’s perseverance and achievements. 

Isn't it time we rose above fault lines, gave a chance to an India that would make every Indian of every denomination, faith, colour and creed an equally proud partner? Can't we think and vote on issues that overpower religious, caste-based and parochial concerns? Will this war room kind of atmosphere result in a decisive mandate?