You are what what you eat

Osho - What you eat makes your mind, makes your body, makes your senses, gives you qualities

Question - Please comment on these statements: "survival of the fittest," and "you are what you eat."

Osho - "Survival of the fittest" appears to be true, but only to the superficial eye, because man is not the strongest animal on the earth. Why he has survived, and destroyed other animals, is not his fitness, his strength, his power, but his intelligence. So I would like to change it to survival of the conscious.

Now we are facing a world crisis. If man does not prove conscious enough, then he is going to disappear from the earth. He proved more conscious than the animals; now he has to prove more intelligent and conscious than the politicians. These are the real animals now.

And if man can prove himself more conscious, more alert, more aware, then many things can disappear immediately. For example, the nations are all artificial. The earth is one. All the boundaries of the nations are fake; they are only on the map. If man is more alert and more aware, the first thing to be done is to dissolve all the nations. Let the world be one. One world is the only guarantee, that there is not going to be any more war.

If man is conscious and aware, he can see that the essential religion is one. Only rituals differ, and rituals are meaningless. Drop the rituals and save the essential religion. Then Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism -- all will come to the same point: the enquiry of your interiority, the inward journey.

If we can let the boundaries of nations disappear and the boundaries of religion disappear if the world can be one world and religion can be without any adjective -- just a quality, religiousness -- we will have survived the greatest danger that is facing us. A divided humanity -- in religions -- in nations is going to destroy itself. We need an undivided, one humanity. Anything that divides has to be dropped; it is against our survival.

And the second proverb, "you are what you eat," is certainly true.

A man who is vegetarian is basically nonviolent. You can see it: the people who have been vegetarians for centuries are absolutely non -- violent. They have not created any wars; they have not created any crusades, any JIHADS. The people who are meat eaters are bound to have little sensitivity, they are more hard. Even in the name of love they will kill; even in the name of peace they will go to war. In the name of freedom, in the name of democracy, they will murder.

There are cannibals also still in existence -- not many: a small tribe in South Africa, of three hundred people. Nobody passes through that area, because if you pass through that area you will never reach your goal -- you will become food! Because nobody passes through that area, those people have been eating their own people. In the beginning of this century their population was three thousand. Now they are only three hundred.

I am reminded of a Christian priest, a missionary, who was the first man from the West to reach to the cannibals to convert them to Christianity. They immediately got hold of him. They put him in a big pot.
He said, "What are you doing?"

They said, "Just wait a little and you will know."

Then they started putting logs and wood under the pot. The missionary saw the situation, looked around at those people's faces... ferocious. Trying somehow to persuade them that this was not good, he said, "Before you do anything, listen to me. Have you ever had any taste of Christianity?"
They said, "Wait, we will have. We will make soup of you and then everybody will have the first taste of Christianity."

A cannibal cannot be called human. If he can eat living human beings, he has no heart, he has no love, he has no sensitivity. He is just a stone.

But you don't think the same way when somebody kills a lion or a deer, because you don't think that the deer has as much life as you have. The deer may have a beloved; the deer may have children. You don't think of the lion, when you kill him, that he may have a family. His small cubs will be orphans. He is as alive as you are -- in fact more alive than you are. Destroying him only for a few taste buds on your tongue, for the taste...

It seems to me that killing animals for eating is not very far away from killing human beings. They differ only in their body, in their shape, but it is the same life that you are destroying.

With new technology the earth is perfectly capable of giving you food. You can make it as tasteful as you want, and you can give it any flavor that you love. Just for taste, destroying life is simply disgusting. And destroying life, you are destroying many qualities in you. You cannot become a Gautam Buddha. You cannot have that purity of consciousness, that sensitivity.

One day Gautam Buddha is passing a street with his disciple Ananda, talking to him. A fly sits on his forehead and he is so much involved in talking that just mechanically he waves his hand -- the way we do -- and the fly is gone. But then he suddenly stops, closes his eyes, and raises his hand very slowly, very gracefully.
Ananda said, "What are you doing? The fly is no longer there."

Buddha said, "I misbehaved with the fly. That was not the right treatment -- I should have been more graceful. I'm trying it, now I should have behaved, so that in future I don't commit the same mistake. After all, a fly is also alive, and she was just sitting on my forehead."

Now this man, who cannot even mistreat a fly, will certainly have a far purer consciousness than anybody else, a far deeper serenity than anybody else.

Vegetarian food lacks only one thing: certain proteins, which are absolutely needed for intelligence to grow. That is the reason not a single vegetarian has been awarded the Nobel prize. Even in India three persons have been awarded the Nobel prize, but all the three persons were nonvegetarians.

I have looked into the matter deeply. I have enquired from scientists, medical people, and found a substitute, the unfertilized egg. Added to vegetarian food, it makes it complete. It gives all the proteins that the old vegetarian food misses. And the nonfertilized egg is just vegetable; it has no life.

A simple change, and we can make the whole of humanity more sensitive, more artistic, more full of reverence for life. You cannot be religious if you are not full of reverence for life. God you have not seen, but life is all around you.

To you, life is the only representative that proves that existence is not dead, it is alive.

Eating anything by killing is irreligious, unspiritual, unaesthetic. And once the unfertilized egg is added to the vegetarian food, the food is perfect -- better than the none vegetarian food. It fulfills all your needs without any destruction. A man who lives by destruction will die by destruction. It is not a coincidence that both the world wars were fought in the West. And the third world war will also begin -- if it begins -- in the west.

In the East -- particularly the people who have been vegetarian for centuries -- they have never fought a war. I have researched in India whether any vegetarian has ever been caught committing suicide or murder or theft and I was surprised that not a single vegetarian has ever been put into jail for committing murder -- it is impossible.

I remember my childhood. My grandmother would not allow poor tomatoes in the house, because they look like meat.

I said, "You are mad. These poor tomatoes are not meat."

But she said, "Even the look... As long as I am alive, please don't bring any tomatoes into the house." Do you think this woman can kill somebody? Can you imagine this woman can commit suicide?

Yes, it is true, you are what you eat, because what you eat makes your mind, makes your body, makes your senses, gives you qualities. In India, I have been watching -- not a single vegetarian is a beggar. Where there are millions of beggars, not a single vegetarian is a beggar.

I have been visiting jails, and enquiring; I have never come across a vegetarian in the jail. They simply don't commit anything -- their sensitivity prevents them. If we want a really human world, a world of loving people, respectful of each others' lives, then we will have to think about our food and about our other habits. They should be changed. They are not so valuable.

And if you love the flavor of meat, that flavor can be given to any food. Now it is a simple matter. There is no need, just for that flavor, to kill a living, beautiful animal and destroy the ecology of the earth. They are our brothers and our sisters.

The day Saint Francis died -- he used to travel on a donkey -- the last thing he said is worth remembering. He addressed the donkey -- the last thing -- not his disciples. He said, "Brother donkey, please forgive me. I have been riding on you. I accept my guilt; it was not right to ride on a brother. Please forgive me before I die." But he addressed the donkey as brother.

We are part of this existence: these trees, these animals, these birds, they are our brothers and our sisters. This is our whole family. Just a slight understanding, and you can change your consciousness from being polluted, from being destroyed. You can rise as high as anybody has ever been able.

For example, in the West enlightenment is not a known phenomenon, for the simple reason that nobody was sensitive and alert and aware enough to attain it. Even a man like Jesus was eating meat, drinking wine.

Not only that, the Christians brag about his miracles, that he made water into wine -- now that is a crime, not a miracle. If he had made water out of wine, I would call it a miracle. I cannot call this a miracle. Wine makes people unconscious; it cannot help them to become enlightened.

There have been great people in the West. I love them. Socrates could have become a Buddha, an awakened one, if he had been in the East. But there, the whole atmosphere is not supportive. He was a meat eater -- not only that, he was a homosexual. Now, such a person cannot attain to the ultimate peaks of consciousness. He had the potential, he had the capacity, he had the intelligence, but just the little things missed.

So is the case with Moses; so is the case with Plato, Plotinus, Heraclitus, Pythagoras... beautiful people. I love them, and yet I feel sorry for them, because they were not in the right kind of atmosphere where they could have blossomed and flowered.

We don't know how many people in the world can become pinnacles, sky-high consciousnesses, because small things are preventing them. Food is very important. It is your body, it is your brain. And without your body and brain's support, you cannot attain to your soul.

http://www.messagefrommasters.com/veg/osho-on-eating-vegetarian-food.html

Congress@125: Six reasons why the party must not celebrate

Sheela Bhatt says the Congress cannot have a celebratory party until it addresses the national issues demanding attention.

The Congress turned 125 on Monday. Every Indian is in one way or another been touched by the Congress or is linked to it -- directly or indirectly.

There are by moderate estimates, some 200 million active or passive but loyal Congress supporters and voters. It is equally true that an overwhelming number of Indians, in real numbers, are dead against it while millions of Indians remain passive or neutral about it, also.

But, Congress is here to stay, in the form of past, present or future, in our lives.

The Congress, cricket, the Indian Railways and people's faith in God are omnipresent in every nook and corner of India. It seems certain that the place of Congress in the Indian landscape will not change dramatically in the near future.

The only party in the sub-continent that has touched three centuries has been also compared to banyan tree under which nothing can grow but it surely shelters and imbibes all hues and shades of political opinions of the Indian society. Pundits to tribals and slum dwellers to former maharajas have found their political identity with Congress. Election after election has shown that its 124-year-old cosmopolitan character is still the Unique Selling Point of the party.

Since it has ruled this country for more than 48 years of independent India, it has to take, largely, credit for progress under its rule and absolute blame for lots of miseries that Indians are living with.

As Sonia Gandhi , president of the Congress, kick-started the one-year long celebration of Congress party, the first question that arises in the mind is: Has the Congress enough reasons to be happy on its birthday?

The answer is clearly in the negative.

Here are some important reasons why Congress can not have a celebratory party until it addresses the national issues demanding attention.

One: Around 82 percent members of the Constituent Assembly consisted of Congressmen. The great Constitution of India, which has so far survived the test of time bears a clear Congress imprint. But, at the end of just three decades Congress Prime Minister Indira Gandhi circumvented it, muzzled its ethos and plunged the country into darkness by imposing Emergency.

Not enough has been said and regretted by Congress leaders who matter in the party. Indira did acknowledge that few excesses might have happened but, we saw recently that the party has no qualms in accommodating people who were responsible for the excesses committed against people during the Emergency. Democracy in India is a gift of the Congress. The Congress has to speak loudly for it, all the time.

Two: There is a fascinating book Nehru's Shadow by Jawaharlal Nehru's Chief Security officer K F Rustamji. It's edited by P V Rajgopal. It has some amazing minute observations on Nehru by Rustamji. The chapter called Nehrumania describes the mass-meeting methods of Nehru. It shows how poor women and girls would grab his garlands and how Nehru revelled in the adulation. In the same way, memories are fresh about Indira amma's visit to the countryside of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Orissa. Father and daughter both promised jobs, water, health and education.

I covered Rajiv Gandhi's visit to the poor people in Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh in the 1980s. What we saw was the heart-wrenching poverty. Rather, Rajiv himself had narrated his "discovery of India' vividly in his historic speech on December 28, 1985. He said, 'When I started my political work, it was only with the motive of being by the side of my mother. She bore with stoic fortitude the irreparable loss of a son who had been a tower of strength. She gave me no directions, no formulate, no prescriptions. She just said, 'Understand the real India, its people, its problems.'

'So I have plunged into that work. Millions of faces in varying moods of joy and sorrow, of eager expectation, of triumph and defeat filled my being, till they merged into the face of mother India, proud, defiant, confident but also full of sad perplexity. Always, the unspoken question haunting her face: Whither India?

'After two years of incessant travelling, meeting people, reading and reflection, I felt I could go to her with my perceptions. Listening to me, she thought I had gained some understanding of the complexities of our society. And then she began to unburden herself. She spoke of India's enduring strength and of her hopes for India, but also of her apprehensions and anxieties. She analysed with clinical precision how the entire system had been weakened from within, how the party had once again been infiltrated by vested interests who would not allow us to move, how patronage and graft had affected the national institutional framework, how nationalism and patriotism had ebbed, how the pettiness and selfishness of persons in political positions had ruptured social fabric. She was clear that if India had to keep her 'tryst with destiny,' so much had to change.'

And, now, his son Rahul Gandhi is repeating the father's actions. He is sharing meals in Dalits homes (he insists on identifying them only as 'the poor') in Uttar Pradesh where he wants to revive the Congress. One need not call it 'drama', as Mayawati does, but the last 60 years of Congress history and Nehru to Rahul's innumerable visits to peep into the homes of the poor speaks volumes about the failure of the Nehru-Gandhi family in tackling poverty, the biggest issue in India.

We can forget that during Nehru's time Indira Gandhi became president of Congress in 1959 and dynasty was launched. But, someone has to answer how many generations of Nehru-Gandhis would visit poor people's homes?

Rahul's visit itself is a painful reminder of the failure of Congress's socio-economic vision, so far.

Three: We are told since the last four generations that the Congress is born to rule. Ramchandra Guha in his book India After Gandhi writes that, 'The 1980 elections, notes the editor Prabhash Joshi, marked the 'end of ideology' in Indian politics. Previous polls were fought and won on the planks of democracy, socialism, secularism and non-alignment. However, Mrs Gandhi spoke not of the abolition of poverty but of her ability to rule.'

The failure of the Janata Party government led by Morarji desai – and the failure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee to do something visibly to at least control the riots of 2002 in Gujarat – has made Congressmen sell this idea again to the people that they are destined to rule India. Union minister Kapil Sibal has said that Congress will rule for the coming 20 years.

We agree that the non-Congress leaderships in the country and the opposition parties have failed us, but that is a limited issue for the poor people who want governance, delivery of promises and secure future, no matter who can provide them.

This propagated myth that Congress knows how to govern India has harmed Congress as much as the people.

The Telangana fiasco is the latest example. If an alert government had taken note that the vacuum left by the death of YSR Reddy will be certainly filled by opportunists then, political leadership in Centre would have taken note of Telanagana Rashtriya Samiti leader K Chandrashekar Rao's fast on the very second day before it became a 'law and order' issue. Home Minister P Chidambaram should have advised CM K Rosaiah to insulate the Osmania University right at the outset. These ideas can only come where political sharpness is there to govern the country, says a Congressman who had warned the 'core group' of Congress on December 8, 2009.

Congress which claims to know governance better than others initiated the process of a new state without any preparation at all. It is amazing to see how, actually, history repeated itself.

Guha's book narrates how on December 12, 1952, Potti Sriramalu, the Telugu leader who died during his fast to press for the demand of carving out a separate Andhra state from Madras Presidency, caught Nehru unawares. After 58 days of fast he died. Guha writes, 'Now, all hell broke lose.' The damage to government property ran into millions of rupees when Andhra got engulfed in chaos. 'Nehru had once claimed that 'facts not fast' would decide the issue. Now, faced with possibility of widespread and possibly uncontrollable protest, the prime minister gave in. Two days after Sriramulu's death he made a statement saying that a state of Andhra would come into being.'

Congress leaders claim that Sonia Gandhi is furious for the manner in which the decision was taken by Chidambaram, who was backed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. But there are scores of such decisions.

Four: The Congress's history is so stupendous that it cannot fade away with the troubled times it faces now and then. Here is a national institution that was touched, nurtured, pampered and educated by Mahatma Gandhi, which has the resilience to rise when faced with crisis. There are any number of examples when during a crisis the Congress had gone 'inward'. It takes unbearably long to churn the issue, change the parameters thrust upon itself by the crisis till the crisis takes a new form. The Congress party's mantra has been slow grinding.

But, now, this internalisation of issues and slow-motion politics do not work. There are more than 40 burning issues in present-day India but, Congress doesn't think it needs to take a stand. Just before the 2004 election Sonia Gandhi had promised reservation in the private sector but after the surprise win she never spoke about it.

Congress's rhetoric on the issue of Hindutva, minority, security, reservations, US-centric policies, model of development of villages and towns are hindering the country from moving forward. In the absence of any real political competition Sonia Gandhi should shed her safe politics of 'status quo' and take decisions. Pranab Mukherjee who chairs two dozen committees has an entire list of issues that cry out for her urgent attention.

The Teleangana issue was one such issue that Congress refused to take up with guts and commitment. It is difficult to adopt the technique of 'delays' and 'fudging' for the sake of gaining political advantage when the media and people are becoming so visibly impatient.

Five: There is no doubt that secularism and the centrist approach in politics and economy is working well for the Congress and the country. Sonia appears before us deserving kudos but the ground reality is shockingly different. There is no matching action to Sonia's centrist politics. The Sacchar Committee report has shown that Muslims have suffered tremendous loss under the Congress rule in most states. Few months after independence Nehru wrote to the chief ministers saying, 'we have got to deal with this minority in a civilised manner. We must give them security and rights of citizens in a democratic state. If we fail to do so, we shall have a festering sore which will eventually poison the whole body politics and probably destroy it.'

Nehru was aiming at communalists but, it holds good for the Congress also. Muslims are returning to the Congress but, this time they would ask for more share in the Congress pie. The Congress has not found the language and action plan under which without appeasing minorities for narrow gains of votes it can bring them into the mainstream. This is the Congress's prime duty because BJP, the next party, is not even giving nominal representation to Muslims within the party or in the power structure where they are in power.

Six: Right now, 19-year-old Ruchika's molestation case is haunting us. It is a national shame and painful to see how at every step corruption, nepotism and blackmail had worked within the system and the establishment. Some of the major culprits who supported guilty police officer Rathore are all Congressmen.

Ruchika was molested by a police officer and her parents could not file even an FIR. This is the manifestation of what in the 1980s we called 'Congress culture'. Salute to Rajiv Gandhi when he spoke in his 1985 speech that, 'Turn to the great institutions of our country and you will see that too often, behind, their imposing facades, the spirit and substance lack vitality. The work they do sometimes seem strangely irrelevant to the primary concerns of the masses. Attempts are made to taint the electoral process at its very source.

'Issues of crucial national importance are frequently subordinated to individual sectional and regional interests. Our legislatures do not set standards for other groups to follow; they magnify manifold the conspicuous lack of a social ethic. A convenient conscience compels individuals to meander from ideology, to ideology seeking power, influence and riches. Political parties twist their tenets, enticed by opportunism.

'And what of the iron frame of the system, the administrative and the technical services, the police and the myriad functionaries of the State? They have done so much and can do so much more, but as the proverb says there can be no protection if the fence starts eating the crop. We have government servants who do not serve but oppress the poor and the helpless, police who do not uphold the law but shield the guilty, tax collectors who do not collect taxes but connive with those who cheat the State and whole legions Whose only concern is their private welfare at the cost of society. They have no work, ethic, no feeling for the public cause, no involvement in the future of the nation, no comprehension of national goals, no commitment to the values of modern India. They have only a grasping, mercenary outlook, devoid of competence, integrity and commitment.'

He had angrily said: 'The best lack all conviction and the worst are full of passionate intensity."

It is not difficult to explain why the Congress is going strong in the electoral battlefield and the Congress government is enjoying power without any real opposition even as the national institutions are getting weaker and weaker. This is so because Congress doesn't have moral fibre to throw out of the system weak and corrupt leaders when they flout rules.

Congress has forsaken its role as the freedom fighter. Gandhiji had said Congress was a fighting machine. Now, for the young and the upwardly mobile, the Congress machinery is the passport to make money. One look at the first time elected young MPs background will tell you more.

It is a matter of national regret that every word that Rajiv Gandhi spoke in his greatest moment when Congress was 100 years old, is much more true and relevant today when the Congress is 125

http://news.rediff.com/column/2009/dec/28/congress125-six-reasons-why-the-party-must-not-celebrate.htm

CWG and Congress

Latest Shame of India ...Commonwealth Games....They are Shameless

When we talk about India's Shame then you will find long list of Shame and Shame. Commonwealth Games now becomes India's latest Shame, actually this is money making game and titled as Moneywealth Game. Prime Minister is totally responsible for this shame because the mismanagement created by congress managers and congress politician was regularly highlighted in news media.

When ever corruption news came on Commonwealth

Games then immediately congress spoke person came and blasting like any thing and says this is nothing but conspiracy of new media. What happened now? Not only bridge to main stadium is crashes but 60% work is unfinished. Scotland, England,Canada, New Zealand all are not happy with the Commonwealth Games preparation.

Our game masters used to provide Zero facilities to our sports person but Commonwealth Games is International Game and should need international standard facilities. India have more then enough time to manage but organizers are busy in making money and they have been protected by there big boss like politicians. The bridge collapse episode was very dangerous, thank god if such things happens on during Game time then it will be titled as terrorist conspiracy.

Why Manmohan Singh is not active? Why said incoming prime Minister Rahul Gandhi is not taking interest? Both is playing politics only. Manmohan Singh is act like just a statue while Rahul is engage in Cuckoo episode of West Bengal. They have to build image of India, Commonwealth Games is the best international stage but they no nothing but politics.

India is surrounded by shame like Kashmir issue, Terrorism, Naxalism, Poverty, Corruption, Inflation and all such things but who cares ....In my eyes all are Shameless..Selfish...and not worried for national pride.....

http://sudershan-upadhyay.blogspot.com/2010/09/latest-shame-of-india-commonwealth.html

CWG - Congress has made it a disgrace for our Nation

CWG: Rs.15000 crores bribes, largest share goes to Rahul Gandhi
08/10/2010 14:35:19 Dr. Subramanian Swamy

Here is the excerpt of the very important press release issued by Dr. Subramanian Swamy on 11 Aug. 2010 in Chennai which states that Rahul Maino is the main beneficiary of CWG bribes.

But surprisingly neither any Congress man dared to file a defamation case against Dr. Swany and everyone is mum including the "secular" press of India.

This is a must read for all patriotic Indians.

Dr. Swamy's statement reads:

While abroad recently I was informed by my reliable sources that of the Rs.40000 crores spent to date on Commonwealth Games preparations, about Rs.15000 crores have gone as bribes under cover of payments to consultants and contractors. The recipient of the largest share of the bribe delivered in London is Rahul Gandhi, a Congress MP and son of Sonia Gandhi. In London Mr.Gandhi is known under an alias as Raul Vinci. The Indian High Commission employee in London who has denied his letter of recommendation now, acts as a valet for Mr.Gandhi whenever he visits London, which is at least once a month. Mr.Gandhi is accompanied by his undeclared wife, Colombian girl Veronique.

The plan of UPA to protect Mr.Gandhi from expose and prosecution in this CWG scam is to blame it all on Suresh Kalmadi and Shiela Dikshit. The Prime Minister must show boldness now because corruption at the public person level has attained Himalayan heights bringing disgrace to the nation and the economy performing below our potential.

I demand therefore constituting an open Commission of Inquiry under a sitting Supreme Court judge with CBI as it's investigating arm. The public and whistle blowers should be invited to depose before Commission.

http://www.haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?PageID=12319&SKIN=B

Pioneer rocks Parliament

Pioneer rocks Parliament
October 08, 2010 10:15:17 PM

Pioneer News Service | New Delhi

Spectrum scandal exposé disrupts both Houses; Opposition seeks explanation from Govt

Telecom Minister A Raja was on Wednesday at the receiving end following fresh revelations on the 2G spectrum scandal by The Pioneer about his nexus with a woman public relations lobbyist, who played a key role in the scam. The report was based on excerpts from authorised telephone intercepts of Nira Radia and showed that she was in touch with Raja.

The AIADMK, BJP and the Left parties waved copies of The Pioneer in the two Houses of Parliament and sought explanation from the Government on the news item. They also demanded the Minister’s dismissal. Senior Janata Dal (U) leader Sharad Yadav also brandished a copy of the newspaper and, at one point, entered the well in protest.

The ruckus generated so much heat that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee lost his cool in the Lok Sabha when he found it difficult to present the finance Bill.

As soon as both Houses assembled for the day, the AIADMK and the Left members rushed to the well in the Lok Sabha displaying copies of The Pioneer and demanding an explanation from the Prime Minister on the outcome of the CBI investigation into the alleged allocation scam.

The Rajya Sabha too was disrupted on the issue. The AIADMK members, led by V Maitreyan, raised the issue even before the Question Hour started. Maitreyan wanted action against Raja. The BJP members too registered their protest on the issue.

Leader of Opposition in the Upper House Arun Jaitley said, “We have a news report which appears to indicate a case of authorised tapping of telephones. Not only is it authorised but, for some curious reason, the contents of what is recorded are also freely available.”

Jaitley wanted to know whether leaders of industry, corporate heads and corporate lobbies were involved in the allocation of portfolios by the Prime Minister and whether the entire 2G spectrum allocation was being guided by these kinds of people.

Quoting The Pioneer, he said, “This appears from the contents of the recordings, which are reported in the newspaper. This is a very serious issue. Was it authorised? How is it available in the market? The Government certainly needs to come out with a response on both these issues.”

Meanwhile, Maitreyan started displaying copies of The Pioneer, to which Chairman Hamid Ansari objected. Maitreyan said the issue should be discussed immediately. Intervening in the matter, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury said it was an important issue and it needed to be discussed. “This is violative of the judgement of the Supreme Court, which said that phone tapping is illegal,” he said.

Taking strong exception to the disruption of the House, Ansari said, “The Chair has watched with great distress constant disruption of the Question Hour in this session. If the Question Hour is that irrelevant, then the Chair exercises the right of invoking Rule 38 and shifting the Question Hour… I shall give a decision on this in the course of the day.”

Despite his observation, the Opposition continued shouting and forced Ansari to adjourn the House till noon.

In the Lok Sabha, the AIADMK and the Left members rushed to the well and displayed copies of The Pioneer report, demanding an explanation from the Prime Minister on the outcome of the CBI probe into the alleged scam.

Observing that making allegations was against the rules, Speaker Meira Kumar said members should raise the issue during Zero Hour. The members then went back to their seats, and the Question Hour continued.

In the Zero Hour, AIADMK leader M Thambiduari raised the issue again, saying the scandal was worth over Rs 1 lakh crore and the Prime Minister must take note of it. “I would like to bring to your notice a very important matter of urgent public importance, which is also a matter of propriety of this House and of the Government. The whole country knows that because of the Minister’s wrong policy, the nation has lost Rs 1 lakh crore. Whenever we raise this issue, the Minister rejects it,” Thambidurai said amid strong protest from DMK leaders.

Raja was not present in the Lok Sabha and DMK leader TR Baalu, along with party colleagues in the Lok Sabha, objected strongly to the charges levelled against the Telecom Minister.

The House had to be adjourned for over one-and-a-half hour. There was no change in the scene when the House met again. Enraged over continuous protests, Pranab Mukherjee called the behaviour “disgusting” and asked the Opposition to allow the financial agenda to be completed. “Only 10 members are holding a House of 543 (to ransom). This is not fair. This is disgusting,” an angry Mukherjee said after the AIADMK members did not relent when he rose to present the finance Bill. The AIADMK has nine MPs in the Lok Sabha.

Mukherjee, who is also the Leader of the House, told the AIADMK members, “Most respectfully, I ask you to go back to your seats.”

Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha pointed out, “There are records showing phone tapping. We had demanded that the Government form a joint parliamentary committee (JPC). What is the Government’s position?” Mukherjee assured the House that the budgetary process should be allowed to be completed and then all the issues, including IPL-gate, phone tapping and 2G spectrum, could be addressed.

“By Thursday, we hope to wind up the third leg of the Budget process and thereafter the Government will inform you (about discussion on issues raised in the House). There is time, please have some patience,” he said. The issues include 2G spectrum allocation, telephone tapping and the IPL controversy. “On all these issues, we will have the opportunity of holding discussions with various political parties. Either the Prime Minister or I will come to the House. But this will be done after the finance Bill is passed. I am not running away. The session is till May 7,” he said.

Reign of shady deals

June-Oct 2007: A Raja became Telecom Minister in May 2007. In the last week of October 2007, ignoring the objections of Telecom Secretary DS Mathur and Member (Finance) Manju Madhavan, he decided to grant new licences and 2G spectrum. Raja fixed the cut-off date for receiving application as Oct 31, 2007

Nov 1, 2007: The matter went to Law Ministry for clearance. Minister HR Bhardwaj opposed Raja’s move and wrote that the matter be referred to EGoM. He also warned the PM of Raja’s plan to allot spectrum without auction. Raja wanted to give licences/spectrum on the first-come-first-served basis price fixed in 2001

Nov 2, 2007: Ridiculing Bhardwaj, Raja wrote to the PM that Law Minister’s advice was “legally out of context”. Letter delivered at PM’s residence at 8.30 pm

Nov 2, 2007: PM asked for a freeze on all spectrum allocation activity and directed Raja to get his consent before taking any decision. Raja also asked to hold a transparent and competitive auction. PM’s letter delivered to Raja’s residence at 9.30 pm

Nov 2, 2007: Raja wrote back to PM, claiming he was committed to development of telecom sector but remained silent on auction. Letter delivered at PM’s residence at midnight

Nov 22, 2007: Finance Secretary D Subba Rao objected to the pricing policy and directed competitive auction

Dec 4, 2007: Telecom Secretary DS Mathur informed all senior DoT officials of PM’s direction, but Raja issued an internal note that the officials should obey his orders. The note snubbed Member (Finance) Manju Madhavan for “creating hindrances” in spectrum allotment

Dec 26, 2007: Raja wrote to PM that he had decided to go ahead with spectrum allocation on first-come-first-served basis on the rates fixed in 2001. Raja said he was “further enlightened by External Affairs Minister (Pranab Mukherjee) and Solicitor General GE Vahanvati to go ahead with his proactive plans”

Dec 31, 2007: Telecom Secretary DS Mathur retired and Manju Madhavan took VRS. Raja brought in Siddharth Behura as new Secretary, who had worked with him as Additional Secretary in Environment Ministry

Jan 3, 2008: PM did not respond to Raja’s letter; sent an acknowledgement

Jan 10, 2008: DoT issued a Press release at 2.45 pm, stating that the cut-off date was changed from October 1, 2007, to September 25, 2007. It asked the telecom operators to remit fee through demand draft between 3.30 pm and 4.30 pm. It is still a mystery as to how companies arranged DDs worth about Rs 1,600 crore and submitted the same within an hour

Investigative agencies got information that all the nine company owners/brokers who submitted the fee through DDs had a meeting with Raja a day earlier at his residence and were informed about the new cut-off date. The date was advanced because Raja’s favourite company, Unitech, had applied on September 24, as also another favourite, Shyam Telelink

Jan 14, 2008: TRAI chairman Nripendra Misra’s wrote to Behura and objected to the policy, change in cut-off date and manipulation of recommendations. Misra said his recommendations were “cherry-picked” by Raja More on Page 5

Jaya seeks Raja’s scalp

Chennai: After The Pioneer come out with startling revelations on the 2G spectrum scam, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday reiterated her demand for the dismissal of Telecom Minister A Raja. She also demanded that the CBI official investigating the scam, Vineet Agarwal, who was recently transferred, be brought back to continue with the probe.

In a statement, Jayalalithaa termed the transfer as a rude shock.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/252470/Pioneer-rocks-Parliament.html

Sun out in the cold

Kalaignar, DMK’s new channel, is making a concerted effort to edge out the market leader Sun TV

A hoarding inside Sun Network’s headquarters, facing Chennai’s arterial road Anna Salai,

proclaims the arrival of Kalaignar TV. The new channel isn’t Sun’s baby. Rather, it is a rival’s. The hoarding paradox could flummox those uninitiated with Tamil Nadu’s politics and media. The fact is that Sun broadcasts out of the DMK party headquarters, with which it has shared an extremely cosy relationship until recently. In fact, Sun was something the DMK helped promote 14 years ago. They fell out in early May this year when Sun’s affiliate newspaper Dinakaran published an opinion poll on who would replace Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, also the DMK chief. Angered, the DMK decided to back a brand new channel to counter Sun. Kalaignar (Tamil for ‘artiste,’ which is one of Karunanidhi’s titles) is its answer. The new channel reportedly has shareholding by members of Karunanidhi’s family. Significantly, it is being headed by Sharad Kumar, an old friend and associate of Maran.

The media-crazy state of Tamil Nadu, which enjoys one of the highest per capita access to cable television in the country, has seen a number of political parties backing TV channels over the years—some of the other examples being Jaya TV (AIADMK) and Makkal TV (PMK). From the point of view of that trend, Kalaignar’s entry is not against the run of play. The industry view, however, is that Kalaignar could be a tougher rival for Sun to handle than others.

Until now, Star Vijay, Jaya, Raj and the Doordarshan channel Podhigai could collectively, at best, clock a third of a viewership of Sun TV, Sun’s flagship channel. What’s more, in Tamil Nadu, the channel that has been a clear number two over the years has been Sun’s own KTV.

The result of such domination is the leverage that it has with production houses and advertisers. In its early days, recalls an industry executive, Sun used a model wherein it would sell, say, a 30-minute slot to a producer, who could then market airtime with advertisers. This system could be likened to an owner of an apartment who rents out individual houses.

As Sun gained in strength, it tweaked the system a bit: it started retaining a portion of that airtime, which it could market itself. In short, it developed a model wherein it could get both the fee for the slot as well as monies from ads. Today, Sun earns as much as Rs 2 lakh as fee from selling a 30-minute prime-time slot, and gets two to three minutes of airtime that it can sell to advertisers, says a source. For the same reason, it has been able to hold on to the card rate, perhaps the only Tamil channel to be able to do so. Prime time, a 10-second slot in Sun sells for Rs 25,000. Its nearest rival may get a fifth of that with some difficulty.

The over Rs 700-crore company’s hold on viewers hasn’t been a result of novel programming, says an official of a rival channel. Nonetheless, he adds, it hasn’t been shy of quickly launching take-offs of novel programmes of its rivals that have become popular.

Pull Factor

Sun’s content formula, which has only become more robust over the years, has two

The new channel(Kalaignar) has managed to woo big upoduction houses such as AVM, as also some Tamil film directors to make soaps for it

components: soaps and movies. At the national level, where rivals have a vastly bigger Hindi audience to tap into, Sun’s programmes account for a fourth of the top 100 programmes, and almost all of it are soaps. Also, Sun is said to hold the rights for 60% of the Tamil movies made till date. But what backs the content is the ground distribution, which Sun controls through an arm called Sumangali Cable Vision. Maran knows the value of distribution; two years ago, it had been reported how he held back plans to move beyond South (with a channel in Bengali) when he failed to win a bid for distributor RPG Netcom. Maran could not be reached for an interview for this story.

It is important to understand Sun’s model. Kalaignar seems to be largely mimicking it. Sharad Kumar didn’t respond to a questionnaire, but industry sources reckon the programming mix of Kalaignar would again hinge on soaps and movies. The new channel off the block, the sources add, has managed to woo big production houses such as AVM, which was with Sun till recently, as also some Tamil film directors to make soaps for it. Sun also has had to face competition in the movie rights market. Kalaignar has won the rights for the Rajinikant blockbuster Sivaji as well as the upcoming Kamal Hassan movie Dasavatharam. Also, the new channel, in an arrangement with Raj TV, could dig into the latter’s well-stocked library of movies. This war for movie rights is also proving to be a boon in disguise for the film industry. Says Oscar Ravichandran, a leading producer: "The increased competition for satellite rights means more money for producers, who can use it to fund more projects. This will also result in more investment in theatres and multiplexes (as more movies hit the screens). So it’s a win-win situation."

However, the focus on movies and soaps alone can’t ensure a good contest against Sun, as Jaya and Raj over the years have found out. Kalaignar will have something extra: ground support. The Government of Tamil Nadu has decided to enter the cable distribution business shortly. So, industry officials point out, last mile connectivity wouldn’t be a problem.

Fall From Heights

The coming of Kalaignar has had its impact on Sun’s stock, whose fall has been greater than other stocks in the floundering media segment (see: Stocktaking). A recent report by Media Partners Asia mentioned that Sun "has long enjoyed a virtual monopoly in the south but this is under threat following political change and fallout." Since the publication of this report, the Sun stock has gained some of its lost ground (which some analysts attribute to markets’ positive response to acquisition of a stake in Red FM) but it is still 29% off 52-week highs (according to the closing price on September 14).

A finance expert, who has kept tab of Sun’s evolution, says Kalaignar is "obviously a threat, as a part of Sun’s success has been no doubt due to political patronage." Says he: "The challenger is armed with an ammunition of funds, lineage and connections in the media world." The fact that the Sun stock has not fallen by a greater percentage validates the inherent strength of Maran’s business. "Having said that, viewership won’t shift in a hurry. And Maran wouldn’t wait for that to happen."

Analysts also believe that the ad pie is not going to grow significantly, so all channels playing the soap-and-movie game might take a hit if Kalaignar grows. Star Vijay, which has stayed away from this formula, might not be impacted in that case. A media planner agrees. "This is going to be the biggest competition Sun has had to face until now," he says. A situation the Sun chief has rarely been in. And, unlike other instances, where he used KTV (his number two channel) as a front to ward off competition, this battle could directly target Sun, says an industry executive.

No Smooth Sailing

The coming of Kalaignar has had its impact on Sun’s stock, which saw a sharper fall than other stocks in the floundering media segment

But, it is not going to be all that easy for the new challenger. The official of Sun’s rival channel says, "The loyalty developed by Sun wasn’t built in a day. Though Kalaignar is likely to follow the same content strategy, and has wooed a large number of Sun’s personnel, it would certainly find swapping viewership loyalty tough. It would have to sweat it out." Also, "how and when the distribution foray of the government is likely to happen is to be seen."

Kalaignar has to build viewership, says the media planner. Until now, Sun has been able to deliver reach to its advertisers. Such ability is useful in the ad market, conservatively estimated at Rs 350 crore (for Tamil Nadu). "With the kind of content that they are talking about, they can create a short-term impact," says the media planner. "But what’s vital is can they do it for the long-term. They haven’t had much time to plan this channel." He says the channel would get retail and film advertisers from Day One but the key would be wooing corporate advertisers, who make up two-thirds of the ad pie. The latter would like to wait for viewership numbers before committing itself in a major way.

Kalaignar apparently quoted Rs 10,000 for a 10-second slot for some prime time programming, which is twice what other Sun’s rivals could afford to do. This, when the channel was not even on air. But advertisers are waiting and watching. Surely, there’s much to watch in this part of the country.

http://business.outlookindia.com/inner.aspx?articleid=528&subcatgid=15&editionid=19&catgid=5

Dying of indifference

MATERNAL MORTALITY

One woman dies every eight minutes due to complications arising due to pregnancy such as sepsis, haemorrhage or obstructed labour. These deaths could be avoided if there is timely medical intervention, writes Kalpana Sharma.

10 September 2010 - "She gave birth, died. Delhi walked by". This was the headline of a six-column news item on the top of an inside page in Hindustan Times (29 August 2010). Illustrated with four telling photographs, the story was about a pregnant and destitute woman, who lay on the footpath of Delhi's busy and well-frequented Shankar Market, which is adjacent to the iconic Connaught Place. Thousands of people must have passed her, but no one spared a glance at what appeared a bundle of rags covered in a red cloth.

On 26 July, this woman gave birth, unaided by anyone. The cries of the newborn infant caught the attention of some of the shopkeepers and one of them, the owner of a garment shop, picked up the baby. The mother apparently refused help and died on that same spot where she had given birth, four days later. The police came and removed her body and took the child, who had been in the care of the Good Samaritan until then, to a foster home.

This is an item that should have been on the front page of all our newspapers because it illustrates two things. One, the increasing indifference of people who live in our metro cities, who are so absorbed with their own lives that they don't even look around to see how other people survive or die. We have lost our ability to see, to feel. No one wants to get involved. There is a fear that you might be asked to commit more of your time, your resources, your emotions than you are willing to do. So our eyes glaze over, we look the other way and we walk away.

And two, it brings home the reality of maternal mortality in this country where even as we boast of becoming an economic super power and the media celebrates the few Indians who are joining the list of the richest in the world, millions of our women are dying in the process of giving birth to a child.

India's current Maternal Mortality Rate is 254 in 100,000 live births. Half of all maternal deaths in South Asia occur in five Indian states - Rajasthan, MP, UP, Bihar and Orissa. • A steep price for motherhood • Who cries when mothers die?

Of course the story of this woman, whose name we do not know, is one extreme. But it should remind us that this is the reality that we have to address in this country.

Countless more

One can just imagine with rains and the floods that have taken place in the last months how many more such nameless women there must be on the streets of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, a part of the thousands who have no shelter, who have to sleep out in the open. All our cities, particularly Delhi but other cities too, are in the midst of a huge construction boom. This is bringing in thousands upon thousands of people from the surrounding areas. Those who have a skill and find regular work in these construction sites are possibly provided temporary shelter by the contractors. But many more do causal work, as and when it is available. The rest of the time they do what they can to earn a few rupees everyday, sometimes send their children out to beg and find whatever place they can to sleep.

In Mumbai, for instance, the fancy new skywalks that have been built connecting railway stations to business hubs have become temporary homes for these homeless people. It is an eerie spectacle to see these bodies laid out in a row, all ages, men, women and children, some sleeping under mosquito nets strung to the side of the skywalk, somehow catching a few hours rest under the relentless yellow light that shines all night. By morning the skywalk reverts to being what it is meant to be, a pedestrian walkway. No one can complain or say anything because there is no solution. But what happens to the children, especially the small babies, what happens to the women, some of them fairly young who become pregnant and have no recourse to any healthcare?

For the other side of this tragic story from a busy street in our national capital is that one woman dies every eight minutes due to complications arising due to pregnancy such as sepsis, haemorrhage or obstructed labour. These deaths could be avoided if there is timely medical intervention. But such help is hard to come by if you live in a remote area or if you are poor woman in city or village. Even if you get some help, it is often too late to make a difference between life and death.

India's current Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) is 254 in 100,000 live births. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), half of all maternal deaths in South Asia occur in five Indian states - Rajasthan, MP, UP, Bihar and Orissa. We have committed ourselves as part of the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to bring the MMR down to 109 by 2015, in just five years. Is that possible?

The central government has launched the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) to specifically address the problem. It provides cash incentives to women who choose institutional delivery in the belief that this will reduce maternal mortality. If we believe official data, then it would appear that many poor women are benefitting from the scheme. For instance, according to one report, two months before the destitute died in Delhi's Shankar Market, another poor woman living in an open park near the Nizamuddin Dargah was lucky enough to be found by an NGO that helped her get the benefits under this scheme. As a result, the baby girl she delivered in the park has a chance to live, she has a birth certificate unlike others like her, and the mother too is receiving healthcare.

Different reality

Sadly, just as the exception in the case of the woman who died on the street does not make the rule, neither does the woman who survived in the park. Cash incentives in this country have usually led to corruption and fudging of data. This is already evident from reports from Bihar and Jharkhand. Also, the media often remains content with reporting official figures without investing in investigating what is actually happening on the ground. The few investigative stories that do appear on healthcare tell a very different story. They inform us of the struggle poor women face to reach a hospital, how they are either turned away or have to wait as there are no trained personnel around. As a result, regardless of new schemes or incentives, they are either too weak to survive childbirth or die because the promised help never turns up.

Maternal mortality means women are dying of causes not related to diseases or epidemics. Their ability to survive something like childbirth is inextricably linked to poverty, malnutrition and the absence of basic healthcare. We can set ourselves all kinds of targets but a realistic plan to improve the survival chances of millions of Indian women is to ensure that our systems of healthcare actually cater to those at the bottom of the economic pyramid, women like that poor, nameless destitute in Delhi.

Kalpana Sharma
10 Sep 2010

http://www.indiatogether.org/2010/sep/ksh-mmr.htm

Long Live Secular UPA

Muslim appeasement has crippled India

Thanks to UPA government’s policy of soft borders, Pak-Bangla nationals are infiltrating into India every-day changing the demographic map of various states in the country. And even before perpetrators of 1993 bomb blasts in Mumbai could be punished, Mumbai faced fresh blasts on July 11, 2006 in trains which claimed about two hundred lives.
By J.G. Arora

Genocide and eviction of Hindus from Kashmir to be made refugees in their own country; frequent Pak-Bangla sponsored terrorist attacks on security forces, civilians and temples; continuation of Article 370 conferring a special status on Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir; infiltration of crores of Pak-Bangla nationals into India to create one more Islamic country on Indian soil represent the bitter harvest of this suicidal appeasement.

Congress government under Jawaharlal Nehru started “Haj subsidy” for Muslims in 1959 though such subsidy is anti-secular and though none of the 57 Muslim countries pays any such subsidy.

A large majority of Indian Muslims who demanded Pakistan for Muslims and exchange of population on creation of Pakistan stayed back in India, and did not go to Pakistan.

Sir Winston Churchill said, “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last”. Though India is being devoured bit by bit every day by its tormentors, India continues to appease them. Poisonous politics of appeasement has crippled India and ravaged its body and soul.

Genocide and eviction of Hindus from Kashmir to be made refugees in their own country; frequent Pak-Bangla sponsored terrorist attacks on security forces, civilians and temples; continuation of Article 370 conferring a special status on Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir; infiltration of crores of Pak-Bangla nationals into India to create one more Islamic country on Indian soil represent the bitter harvest of this suicidal appeasement.

Long legacy

This hideous policy of appeasement started in 1921 when Mahatma Gandhi and Congress Party’s support to Indian Muslims’ demand for Khilafat (to install Sultan of Turkey as the Caliph) led to Moplah rebellion in 1921 in Malabar in which thousands of innocent Hindus were massacred by Muslims. And Hindus had nothing to do with British policy towards Turkey. Sir C. Sankaran Nair (1857-1934), a former judge of Madras High Court has described horrors of Moplah rebellion in his book “Gandhi and Anarchy”. But Mahatma Gandhi reportedly described Moplahs as “God fearing,” who “are fighting for what they consider as religion, and in a manner they are considered as religious.”

Persistent appeasement philosophy of Congress culminated in the Muslim League demanding Pakistan for Muslims in March, 1940, and creation of Pakistan in 1947 and eviction of Hindus and Sikhs from present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. But even after 1947, the same doctrine has guided successive Congress governments’ actions. Only a few illustrations of such countless actions are given here. Congress government under Jawaharlal Nehru started “Haj subsidy” for Muslims in 1959 though such subsidy is anti-secular and though none of the 57 Muslim countries pays any such subsidy. And to placate Muslim uproar over Supreme Court’s judgement in Shah Bano’s case, the then Congress government passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 and nullified the said judgement. And the same Congress which had rejected “Communal Award” in 1932 is now spearheading Muslim reservation in government jobs; and is sharing power with Muslim League which had demanded and got Pakistan. Besides, debunking nation’s security, after regaining power in 2004, Congress government repealed Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA) the way it had repealed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) in 1995. Besides, to please pro-Pakistan elements, UPA government is planning to withdraw security forces from Kashmir. But the most vexatious outcome of this capitulation is the demographic and terrorist invasion of India.

Demographic and terrorist invasion

In their bid to demolish and dismember India, Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence, and its Bangladeshi counterpart are bent upon creating one more Islamic country on Indian soil for which they have illegally sent crores of their nationals into India.

AASU leader Sarbananda Sonowal took the issue of Bangladeshi infiltration to Supreme Court. By its judgement dated July 12, 2005, Supreme Court struck down the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 as unconstitutional; and termed Bangladeshi infiltration as “external aggression” and directed that “the Bangladesh nationals who have illegally crossed the border and have trespassed into Assam or are living in other parts of the country have no legal right of any kind to remain in India and they are liable to be deported.”

But instead of deporting the infiltrators, on Feb. 10, 2006, UPA government brought in the Foreigners (Tribunals for Assam) Order to nullify the Apex Court’s judgement. However, on December 5, 2006, Supreme Court quashed this Order also as illegal and unconstitutional, and called for a strict implementation of its earlier judgement dated July 12, 2005 “so as to ensure that illegal immigrants are sent out of this country.” Shockingly, despite the Supreme Court’s clear directions, no infiltrators have been deported by the government.

Rather, thanks to UPA government’s policy of soft borders, Pak-Bangla nationals are infiltrating into India every day changing the demographic map of various States in the country. And even before perpetrators of 1993 bomb blasts in Mumbai could be punished, Mumbai faced fresh blasts on July 11, 2006 in trains which claimed about two hundred lives. And these attacks are in the long line of attacks Bharat has suffered since Muhammad bin Qasim’s Arab army’s attack in 711. And such attacks continue to hammer India due to government’s terrorist-friendly approach.

‘Settlement’ as against ‘appeasement’

Immediately after Muslim League demanded Pakistan for Muslims and exchange of population in March 1940, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar wrote his book “Thoughts on Pakistan” in which he criticised the Congress policy of ‘appeasement’ of Muslims, and advocated the policy of ‘settlement’. As per Dr. Ambedkar, ‘appeasement’ sets no limits to the demands of aggressor. ‘Settlement’ does. Besides, appeasement increases aggressor’s aggression. Accordingly, Dr. Ambedkar held that as a ‘settlement’, creation of Pakistan would end constant appeasement.

Besides, as a ‘settlement’ of Hindu-Muslim conflict, Dr. Ambedkar suggested that exchange of Hindu-Muslim population must accompany partition of India. But despite Dr. Ambedkar’s counsel against appeasement, Congress kept on pursuing appeasement. In the 1945-46 elections, Muslims voted for the creation of Pakistan. And despite conceding Pakistan in 1947, Congress continues to cling to its policy of appeasement.

A large majority of Indian Muslims who demanded Pakistan for Muslims and exchange of population on creation of Pakistan stayed back in India, and did not go to Pakistan. But with the creation of Pakistan in 1947, it was the permanent settlement of Hindu-Muslim problem in the sub-continent. Accordingly, appeasement must come to an end.

Now or never

Because of its surrender and inaction, India is being taken over by crores of Pak-Bangla infiltrators silently. Besides, countless Pak-Bangla terrorists are stalking all over India to strike at the time and target of their choice.

Since drastic situations demand drastic remedies, all nationalist organisations and individuals must come together and force the government to act as follows: (a) Terrorists must be crushed; not welcomed and embraced. Chanakya Neeti as also Sun-tzu’s Art of War, and countless lessons of world history emphasise the crushing of enemies before enemies crush us. (b) Let infiltrators be treated as invaders, And not as vote banks. (c) Let Indian borders be sealed to prevent infiltrators from entering India. (d) Let all Indo-Pak and Indo-Bangla road and rail journeys be discontinued. (e) Let the Supreme Court’s judgements be implemented, and crores of Pak-Bangla infiltrators be deported. And their daily influx be curbed. (f) And let Pak-Bangla design to destroy India and plant one more Islamic country on Indian soil be defeated.

Here, it is relevant to quote Sir Winston Churchill who deprecated the British policy of appeasement of Germany before outbreak of Second World War thus, “Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival.”

The writer is a retired Chief Commissioner of Income Tax

http://hindustan.org/forum/showthread.php?p=12611

Muslim appeasement and UPA Government

Re: Muslim appeasement has crippled India

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The below article has impressed me very much. Friends, read and comment please...

A call to save Kasab from gallows

Dear Kasab, we Indians love you very much as you made history by killing 166 persons. Head of lashkar-e-Toiba, directed you that excepting Muslims you have to kill any one who comes in your way and you did it. Welcome for following the directions. To save about 170 Indians lives BJP laid government let released 3 terrorists in Kandhar episode to which we condemned the same as the then government was of highly non-secular mentality. We look towards BJP with askance. The present government and we are highly secular and assure that you will never be hanged as Afjal Guru could not be hanged under the auspices of the present government for more than 7 years and on technical flaw and lame excuses he will never be hanged, as much time has lost after verdict in his case. It will happen to you also. Be sure and have faith in our anti legal administrative system.

The government and we do abuse the judicial system for several procedural delays and recently also again the P.M. has shown concern over long pending cases. But no body asks the government what is wrong with it that it is not able to take decision with regard to Afjal Guru for long 7 years. No body asks the government and bureaucrats why departmental cases remains pending for years together. There is no prosecuter, accused, parties to the cases or their advocates to ask for adjournments and arguments in the cases. It is government only which has to take decision. In Afjal Guru’s case also it was for the government to take decision whether to hang or not to hang? Then let’s us know why delay?

A layman has his own philosophy in this regard. The philosophy is that you and Afjal Guru both being Muslims and we treat Muslims as minority and preferential class being Muslims we want to save our image of secularism by giving special treatment to them irrespective of the fact that whether they are terrorists or not. We discriminating Hindus form Muslims. We do not bother about Hindus as they are very cowards and most of them are not loyal with non-BJP parties. In the case of Afjal Guru Hindus could not do any thing more than oral opposition. Government of India and equally America is concerned with good relations with Pakistan the father nation of the Muslims as if Pakistan is girl friend of these countries! Be sure we shall be resolute to reprieve you and shall be satisfied that we served for the cause of Pakistan.


http://hindustan.org/forum/showthread.php?p=12611

Nothing good has happened in the 1st Year of UPA 2

In first year of the UPA-2, non-performance is visible in all areas of governance, writes Virendra Kapoor.

If you asked the aam aadmi if there was anything to celebrate at the end of one year in office of the United Progressive Alliance-II government, the answer would be a big yawn. The ubiquitous aam aadmi never had it so bad. His staple dal-roti has become so costly that he has had to cut down on the family's monthly rations.

Never mind the rising costs of electricity, petrol, cooking gas, public transport, schooling etc. Besides, the law and order situation even in the big metros has worsened further in recent months. In short, the Congress-led coalition has failed to protect the interests of the very aam aadmi in whose name it had won the second successive mandate.

Indeed, the non-performance is visible in all other areas of governance. After winning the second term in office, it was hoped that Manmohan Singh would emerge from the shadows of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi , and conduct himself as a leader in his own right. But, then, he has got where he has being self-effacing and modest.

A lifetime's habits are unlikely to change at this late stage even if the manna from heaven in the form the prime ministership of the world's largest democracy literally fell in his lap.

In a newspaper column, author and historian Ramachandra Guha compared Singh with India's second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri . It is quite off the mark. For one, Shastri was a politician of long standing. As an understudy of Nehru, he was the natural choice for heading the government following the death of the former. Yes, initially Shastri did evoke ridicule in some quarters but that was not due to his performance as prime minister.

It was his physical stature which caused titters whenever he figured in the obligatory documentaries screened in cinema halls. However following the 1965 war with Pakistan, such ridicule stopped as Shastri gained political stature in his own right. As against Shastri, one has been waiting in vain for six years for Singh to acquire that status in the popular mind.

So, Singh continues to be the non-leader he was when sheer destiny first catapulted him into the prime ministerial gaddi in May 2004. The failure of the prime minister to acquire a stature of his own has had a deleterious effect on the quality of administration. For, when the constitutional head of government is a cipher and is obliged to take orders from someone outside the government, his authority stands duly undermined.

Given that the exigencies of coalition politics had inevitably freed ministers belonging to the allied parties from the obligations usually enjoined upon them by the Cabinet system of government, the scant importance Congress ministers accorded the prime minister in matters of governance has further emasculated his authority. To begin with, the peculiar arrangement of government formation wherein the real power vests in the party chief is infelicitous to the smooth functioning of government.

Yet, if the UPA-I gave a relatively better account of itself, a lot of credit must go to the Leftists who provided it stable ideological moorings. With the luxury of enhanced numbers, and without the stern monitoring of the Communists, UPA-II was supposed to act far more decisively in implementing its electoral promises. But from the word go, the prime minister has faltered at every step.

Whether it was the stand-off before the ministry formation with the DMK, or the allocation of portfolios, the impression created was one of a weak and wavering leader who was entirely clueless about the ship of State he was obliged to steer by sheer default. On their part, the Gandhis were not ready yet to ascend the ~gaddi~ formally that they considered theirs by right because the chosen heir, Rahul Gandhi , was still not through with his `discovery of India.'

The question, therefore, that must be asked is as to why the nation must suffer for want of an effective leader, a leader in his own right, who can command the ship of the State with a degree of authority. As things are, it looks as if Singh is assailed by self-doubt that he is a mere caretaker meant to keep the prime ministerial ~gaddi~ warm till the anointed one can take his rightful place.

The resulting confusion shows in official decision-mak ing. So, you had the Women's Reservation Bill introduced with great fanfare in the Rajya Sabha and duly passed with the willing support of the BJP and the Communists. But those who had pushed the prime minister to take the bill to the Rajya Sabha so that they could take credit for having it passed on the centenary of the International Women's Day -- and could be shown by an obliging Doordarshan being facilitated by hordes of women from the party stable -- did not help the PM in finding a solution to the logjam over it in the Lok Sabha.

Likewise, there is stalemate over the proposed food security bill, the latest bee in the bonnet of the jholawalaas who have emerged as the chief mentors of Sonia Gandhi. Even within the government there is no consensus on the actual number of the below-the-poverty-line families, and on whether the free monthly ration should be 25 kilos or 35 kilos.

Again, the nuclear liability bill, without whose passage the prime minister cannot roll out the controversial Indo-US civil nuclear deal, is mired in controversy, though the government has tricked the opposition by sending it to a parliamentary committee headed by a Congressman.

Of course, the biggest disaster is the anti-Maoist policy. After the Pune terror attack and the systematic slaying of the police and paramilitary jawans by the Naxals, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram no longer struts his act as arrogantly as he had done till only the other day.

It is notable that the prime minister has not said a word edgeways even as Digvijay Singh , Sonia Gandhi and other Congress biggies have weighed in with `considered' opinions on the home minister's initial all-out confrontation with the armed guerrillas. The prime minister's stony silence is all the more shocking given that only a few months ago he had described the Maoist insurrection as the 'biggest internal security challenge' to the country. In what is a clear admission of failure of its pro-active policy, the central government has now taken to shifting the onus for taming the Naxal challenge to the state governments.

Or take the terrible political management of Manmohan Singh. He continues to shoulder the deadweight of the tainted Telecom Minister A Raja without mustering the courage to at least move him to a less lucrative charge. After the ejection of the voluble but error-prone junior minister for foreign affairs, Shashi Tharoor , the PM has had to contend with the frequent indiscretions of the Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh .

Then there is the Sharm-el-Sheikh faux pas and the flip-flop on the resumption of composite and not-so-composite dialogue with Pakistan. The failure to pursue an independent foreign policy so that our national interest, say, in the case of Iran vis-a- vis hydrocarbon security, could not be jeopardised.

Yes, on the positive side you would say that the economy is still growing at a decent clip. It is. But it is no thanks to the government. Our economy was never heavily export-reliant. So it was able to withstand the global financial tremors after the Wall Street collapse better. Besides, the famed entrepreneurial energies of Indians were in full play the moment the government vacated space and stopped messing around with business and industry. However, remember that during the year no further progress was made on structural reforms, or in opening up key sectors of the economy like insurance, health, defence, etc.

Honestly, there is nothing to gloat about the performance of the government these past 12 months. Yet, in spite of it being a wasted year, with the government having nothing to show except that it survived somehow -- even if that meant blackmailing the Yadav duo of Mulayam and Lalu and that eponymous mountain of Maya called Mayawati -- the prime minister faces no serious threat from the opposition. It is because the opposition seems to be in a bigger mess than even the UPA.

For sure, the government would muddle through in the coming months as well till the strange arrangement devised by the family to keep the gaddi warm for Rahul Gandhi is terminated.

Meanwhile, the aam aadmi can continue to put up most stoically with the humongous rise in the prices of his staple food.

A wasted year: The common man's woes only increased

http://news.rediff.com/column/2010/may/20/a-wasted-year-the-common-mans-woes-only-increased.htm