इस पोस्ट को एक आन्दोलन बना दीजिये

“ दर्द होता रहा छटपटाते रहे, आईने॒से सदा चोट खाते रहे, वो वतन बेचकर मुस्कुराते रहे

हम वतन के लिए॒सिर कटाते रहे ”

280 लाख करोड़ का सवाल है ...

भारतीय गरीब है लेकिन भारत देश कभी गरीब नहीं रहा"* ये कहना है स्विस बैंक के डाइरेक्टर का. स्विस बैंक के डाइरेक्टर ने यह भी कहा है कि भारत का लगभग 280 लाख करोड़ रुपये उनके स्विस बैंक में जमा है. ये रकम इतनी है कि भारत का आने वाले 30 सालों का बजट बिना टैक्स के बनाया जा सकता है.

या यूँ कहें कि 60 करोड़ रोजगार के अवसर दिए जा सकते है. या यूँ भी कह सकते है कि भारत के किसी भी गाँव से दिल्ली तक 4 लेन रोड बनाया जा सकता है.

ऐसा भी कह सकते है कि 500 से ज्यादा सामाजिक प्रोजेक्ट पूर्ण किये जा सकते है. ये रकम इतनी ज्यादा है कि अगर हर भारतीय को 2000 रुपये हर महीने भी दिए जाये तो 60 साल तक ख़त्म ना हो. यानी भारत को किसी वर्ल्ड बैंक से लोन लेने कि कोई जरुरत नहीं है. जरा सोचिये ... हमारे भ्रष्ट राजनेताओं और नोकरशाहों ने कैसे देश को लूटा है और ये लूट का सिलसिला अभी तक 2011 तक जारी है.

इस सिलसिले को अब रोकना बहुत ज्यादा जरूरी हो गया है. अंग्रेजो ने हमारे भारत पर करीब 200 सालो तक राज करके करीब 1 लाख करोड़ रुपये लूटा.

मगर आजादी के केवल 64 सालों में हमारे Hkz’Vkpkfj;ksa ने 280 लाख करोड़ लूटा है. एक तरफ 200 साल में 1 लाख करोड़ है और दूसरी तरफ केवल 64 सालों में 280 लाख करोड़ है. यानि हर साल लगभग 4.37 लाख करोड़, या हर महीने करीब 36 हजार करोड़ भारतीय मुद्रा स्विस बैंक में इन भ्रष्ट लोगों द्वारा जमा करवाई गई है.

भारत को किसी वर्ल्ड बैंक के लोन की कोई दरकार नहीं है. सोचो की कितना पैसा हमारे भ्रष्ट राजनेताओं और उच्च अधिकारीयों ने ब्लाक करके रखा हुआ है.

हमे भ्रस्ट राजनेताओं और भ्रष्ट अधिकारीयों के खिलाफ जाने का पूर्ण अधिकार है.हाल ही में हुवे घोटालों का आप सभी को पता ही है - CWG घोटाला, २ जी स्पेक्ट्रुम घोटाला , आदर्श होउसिंग घोटाला ... और ना जाने कौन कौन से घोटाले अभी उजागर होने वाले है ........

Summary of All scams of India : Rs. 910603234300000/-



See how Lokpal Bill can curb the politicians, Circulate it to create awareness

Existing System System Proposed by civil society No politician or senior officer ever goes to jail despite huge evidence because Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) and CBI directly come under the government. Before starting investigation or initiating prosecution in any case, they have to take permission from the same bosses, against whom the case has to be investigated. Lokpal at centre and Lokayukta at state level will be independent bodies.

ACB and CBI will be merged into these bodies. They will have power to initiate investigations and prosecution against any officer or politician without needing anyone’s permission. Investigation should be completed within 1 year and trial to get over in next 1 year. Within two years, the corrupt should go to jail. No corrupt officer is dismissed from the job because Central Vigilance Commission, which is supposed to dismiss corrupt officers, is only an advisory body. Whenever it advises government to dismiss any senior corrupt officer, its advice is never implemented.

Lokpal and Lokayukta will have complete powers to order dismissal of a corrupt officer. CVC and all departmental vigilance will be merged into Lokpal and state vigilance will be merged into Lokayukta. No action is taken against corrupt judges because permission is required from the Chief Justice of India to even register an FIR against corrupt judges. Lokpal & Lokayukta shall have powers to investigate and prosecute any judge without needing anyone’s permission. Nowhere to go - People expose corruption but no action is taken on their complaints. Lokpal & Lokayukta will have to enquire into and hear every complaint.

There is so much corruption within CBI and vigilance departments. Their functioning is so secret that it encourages corruption within these agencies. All investigations in Lokpal & Lokayukta shall be transparent. After completion of investigation, all case records shall be open to public. Complaint against any staff of Lokpal & Lokayukta shall be enquired and punishment announced within two months.

Weak and corrupt people are appointed as heads of anti-corruption agencies. Politicians will have absolutely no say in selections of Chairperson and members of Lokpal & Lokayukta. Selections will take place through a transparent and public participatory process. Citizens face harassment in government offices.

Sometimes they are forced to pay bribes. One can only complaint to senior officers. No action is taken on complaints because senior officers also get their cut. Lokpal & Lokayukta will get public grievances resolved in time bound manner, impose a penalty of Rs 250 per day of delay to be deducted from the salary of guilty officer and award that amount as compensation to the aggrieved citizen.

Nothing in law to recover ill gotten wealth. A corrupt person can come out of jail and enjoy that money. Loss caused to the government due to corruption will be recovered from all accused. Small punishment for corruption- Punishment for corruption is minimum 6 months and maximum 7 years.

Enhanced punishment - The punishment would be minimum 5 years and maximum of life imprisonment. Dear All, Please go through the details carefully & try to be part of this mission against corruption.

Things to know about Anna Hazare and Lok pal Bill-:

1.Who is Anna Hazare?
An ex-army man(Unmarried). Fought 1965 Indo-Pak War.
2.What's so special about him?
He built a village Ralegaon Siddhi in Ahamad Nagar district, Maharashtra
3.This village is a self-sustained model village. Energy is produced in the village itself from solar power, biofuel and wind mills. In 1975, it used to be a poverty clad village.

Now it is one of the richest village in India. It has become a model for self-sustained, eco-friendly & harmonic village.

4.This guy, Anna Hazare was awarded Padma Bhushan and is a known figure for his social activities.

5.He is supporting a cause, the amendment of a law to curb corruption in India.
6. How that can be possible?

He is advocating for a Bill, The Lok Pal Bill (The Citizen Ombudsman Bill), that will form an autonomous authority who will make politicians (ministers), bureaucrats (IAS/IPS) accountable for their deeds.

7. It's an entirely new thing right..?

In 1972, the bill was proposed by then Law minister Mr. Shanti Bhushan. Since then it has been neglected by the politicians and some are trying to change the bill to suit their theft (corruption).

8. Oh.. He is going on a hunger strike for that whole thing of passing a Bill ! How can that be possible in such a short span of time?

The first thing he is asking for is: the govt should come forward and announce that the bill is going to be passed.

Next, they make a joint committee to DRAFT the LOK PAL BILL. 50% government participation and 50% public participation. Bcoz u can't trust the govt entirely for making such a bill which does not suit them.

9.What will happen when this bill is passed?

A LokPal will be appointed at the centre. He will have an autonomous charge, say like the Election Commission of India. In each and every state, Lokayukta will be appointed. The job is to bring all alleged party to trial in case of corruptions within 1 year.

Within 2 years, the guilty will be punished. Pass this on n show ur support..Spread it like fire; Our Nation needs us... Please Contribute... This is not just a forward, it’s the future of our Nation.

आप लोग जोक्स फॉरवर्ड करते ही हो. इसे भी इतना फॉरवर्ड करो की पूरा भारत इसे पढ़े ... और एक आन्दोलन बन जाये

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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? 

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.

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.