All My Views (Un)Fit To Print: Respect The Rule Of Law

All My Views (Un)Fit To Print: Respect The Rule Of Law

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

A Merry Christmas to one and all

It's a day when the world celebrates the birth of a teacher, pacifist and social thinker, regarded by some as an 'Avatar' of the Almighty, and by others as a 'prophet' .




Christmas brings with it the message of love and brotherhood.


Jesus, the teacher, told his followers that it was easy to love those who love you. The real proof of humanity was to show love to those who hate you. "Love your enemies", "Forgive those who hurt you", are the common tenets of Christianity, which is regearded as a 'pacific' religion by many.


My thoughts turn to the recent incidents after the Mumbai terrorist incident, and among the many eloquent voices, I would like to quote Ranjan Kamath:





".....ignorance of the rule of law begins with the rules of the road but does not end there.

No lawyer can refuse to defend an accused on the ground that the person is a terrorist as this would amount to misconduct under the Advocates Act, 1961. Refusal would render the lawyer liable for action under the Bar Council of India rules..."


Do click the link to read the entire article here

It pays to steal a phone in India

This article appeared on the net
Thursday, 25 December , 2008, 12:47

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in a directive, has blocked phones that do not have an IMEI number. The 15-digit IMEI number is unique to every mobile handset, and even some satellite phones.
You can usually see it by typing *#06# on most branded phones.
This would mean that 25 million users of cheap Chinese knock-offs - that don't have IMEI numbers - might get disconnected on January 6, or March 31 if that gets extended. (If this directive had come two years ago, we wouldn't have to worry about millions of affected users.)

First, about 26/11. Maybe the terrorists did use Chinese phones. It makes little difference. The bigger issue was that they used legitimate SIM cards, bought with fake identity papers.

Second, some irony. While 25 million users of cheap Chinese handsets, most having bought them in good faith and without knowledge of IMEI numbers, will get disconnected, millions of cellphone thieves and their customers will continue with phones without fear of persecution by police or service provider.
The industry has developed software that can be uploaded to a phone, giving it a unique IMEI number, if it doesn't already have one. The software is being tested.
But the IMEI-less phone is not the only or even the main issue. As long as regular branded phones (with IMEI numbers) get stolen and re-used without trouble, terrorists can buy them much cheaper than the IMEI-free clone phones.
Because service providers are so reluctant to go after a thief, or a customer who bought a stolen phone, it's really quite safe to steal a phone in India.
Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) members' track record in tracking IMEI is poor.

A Wikipedia entry says this of the IMEI number: "It's used by the GSM network to identify valid devices and therefore can be used to stop a stolen phone from accessing the network. The owner whose phone is stolen can call his network provider and instruct it to block the phone using its IMEI number."

That is, if you lose your phone, you could call your network provider and it could block that IMEI number so it cannot be used with any other SIM card, or flag it as "hot".
'Could' is the operative word. Actually, the provider won't.
Its stance is: "We do not want to harass a customer who has bought a second-hand phone in good faith". Even if that phone is stolen.
Can you imagine that applying to cars? You buy a stolen car, and the authorities say, oh, poor fellow, let him keep it, he bought it in good faith?
Now, telcos might say the phone could be used on any other network, but in this day of roaming interconnect and settlement, tackling that is no big deal. A credit card company does not tell you that a lost card will be blocked only if the thief uses it on 'their network'.

Oh, and an Airtel or a Vodafone will not block a stolen phone even on their own network, unless they're pressured by the police.
If you thought things would be easier with CDMA (code division multiple access) providers, where there are no SIM cards to change, it's actually worse. Tata Indicom refused to block a very poor painter's phone, which was stolen; he finally had to change the number he had got printed on his card. He went through a police report, but no luck.

This, then, is the bigger danger, but the one that is easier to tackle.

The good news is that the police have begun to act on FIRs (first information reports) filed on stolen handsets. I know of a case in Delhi where a handset was recovered in a few days through the IMEI number. The bad news is that less than one in 10 phone thefts gets even reported, let alone an FIR registered.
So if directed by the police to track a stolen handset, the telecom companies can do it.
On March 31, 2009, they should block not only the IMEI-free handsets but also stolen handsets, after reporting theft (when a handset reported stolen turns up with another SIM card number, they can report that, before blocking it.)
And the COAI should create a database for stolen handsets that would get blocked, at least in India.
Self-regulation? I must be dreaming. So I hope the DoT issues the diktat to block stolen handsets along with IMEI-free handsets. This will put the squeeze on the grey market, on thieves, and, in a small way, on terror.
And the next time you lose a phone, take the trouble to report it to the police. You might just get it back, and deprive the grey market. Or a terrorist.

Recovering

Thanksgiving Day was certainly an explosive one in India.
The terrorist attacks on Bombay's symbols of power and wealth
were plashed all over the news.
I'll post some of my views shortly.
Right now, I'm recovering.

Things I'm thankful for

On this Thanksgiving Day

I give thanks

FOR BEING ALIVE
for being able to breathe despite the air pollution,
for being able to survive despite the water pollution, pesticides and insecticides

FOR THOSE WHO HELPED ME SURVIVE

the doctors and nurses who pulled me through another operation

the friends and neighbours who rallied round me

the collaborators in all my schemes who keep me on my toes and leave me no time for self pity

FOR THE OPPORTUNITIES TO BE HUMAN
for challenges and problems
for moments of laughter
for periods of pleasure and moments of pain
for opportunities to make mistakes and learn from them

Happy Thanksgiving Day to you
wherever you are
CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY ABOUT THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving Day

Today is Thanksgiving Day

Here'a the story of Thanksgiving that you must read

THE PLYMOUTH THANKSGIVING STORY

When the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1620, they landed on the rocky shores of a territory that was inhabited by the Wampanoag (Wam pa NO ag) Indians. The Wampanoags were part of the Algonkian-speaking peoples, a large group that was part of the Woodland Culture area. These Indians lived in villages along the coast of what is now Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They lived in round-roofed houses called wigwams. These were made of poles covered with flat sheets of elm or birch bark. Wigwams differ in construction from tipis that were used by Indians of the Great Plains.

The Wampanoags moved several times during each year in order to get food. In the spring they would fish in the rivers for salmon and herring. In the planting season they moved to the forest to hunt deer and other animals. After the end of the hunting season people moved inland where there was greater protection from the weather. From December to April they lived on food that they stored during the earlier months.

The basic dress for men was the breech clout, a length of deerskin looped over a belt in back and in front. Women wore deerskin wrap-around skirts. Deerskin leggings and fur capes made from deer, beaver, otter, and bear skins gave protection during the colder seasons, and deerskin moccasins were worn on the feet. Both men and women usually braided their hair and a single feather was often worn in the back of the hair by men. They did not have the large feathered headdresses worn by people in the Plains Culture area.

There were two language groups of Indians in New England at this time. The Iroquois were neighbours to the Algonkian-speaking people. Leaders of the Algonquin and Iroquois people were called "sachems" (SAY chems). Each village had its own sachem and tribal council. Political power flowed upward from the people. Any individual, man or woman, could participate, but among the Algonquins more political power was held by men. Among the Iroquois, however, women held the deciding vote in the final selection of who would represent the group. Both men and women enforced the laws of the village and helped solve problems. The details of their democratic system were so impressive that about 150 years later Benjamin Franklin invited the Iroquois to Albany, New York, to explain their system to a delegation who then developed the "Albany Plan of Union." This document later served as a model for the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States.

These Indians of the Eastern Woodlands called the turtle, the deer and the fish their brothers. They respected the forest and everything in it as equals. Whenever a hunter made a kill, he was careful to leave behind some bones or meat as a spiritual offering, to help other animals survive. Not to do so would be considered greedy.

The Wampanoags also treated each other with respect. Any visitor to a Wampanoag home was provided with a share of whatever food the family had, even if the supply was low. This same courtesy was extended to the Pilgrims when they met.
We can only guess what the Wampanoags must have thought when they first saw the strange ships of the Pilgrims arriving on their shores. But their custom was to help visitors, and they treated the newcomers with courtesy. It was mainly because of their kindness that the Pilgrims survived at all. The wheat the Pilgrims had brought with them to plant would not grow in the rocky soil. They needed to learn new ways for a new world, and the man who came to help them was called "Tisquantum" (Tis SKWAN tum) or "Squanto" (SKWAN toe).

Squanto was originally from the village of Patuxet (Pa UK et) and a member of the Pokanokit Wampanoag nation. Patuxet once stood on the exact site where the Pilgrims built Plymouth. In 1605, fifteen years before the Pilgrims came, Squanto went to England with a friendly English explorer named John Weymouth. He had many adventures and learned to speak English. Squanto came back to New England with Captain Weymouth. Later Squanto was captured by a British slaver who raided the village and sold Squanto to the Spanish in the Caribbean Islands.

A Spanish Franciscan priest befriended Squanto and helped him to get to Spain and later on a ship to England. Squanto then found Captain Weymouth, who paid his way back to his homeland. In England Squanto met Samoset of the Wabanake (Wab NAH key) Tribe, who had also left his native home with an English explorer. They both returned together to Patuxet in 1620. When they arrived, the village was deserted and there were skeletons everywhere. Everyone in the village had died from an illness the English slavers had left behind. Squanto and Samoset went to stay with a neighbouring village of Wampanoags.

One year later, in the spring, Squanto and Samoset were hunting along the beach near Patuxet. They were startled to see people from England in their deserted village. For several days, they stayed nearby observing the newcomers. Finally they decided to approach them. Samoset walked into the village and said "welcome," Squanto soon joined him. The Pilgrims were very surprised to meet two Indians who spoke English.

The Pilgrims were not in good condition. They were living in dirt-covered shelters, there was a shortage of food, and nearly half of them had died during the winter. They obviously needed help and the two men were a welcome sight.

Squanto, who probably knew more English than any other Indian in North America at that time, decided to stay with the Pilgrims for the next few months and teach them how to survive in this new place. He brought them deer meat and beaver skins. He taught them how to cultivate corn and other new vegetables and how to build Indian-style houses.
He pointed out poisonous plants and showed how other plants could be used as medicine. He explained how to dig and cook clams, how to get sap from the maple trees, use fish for fertilizer, and dozens of other skills needed for their survival.

By the time fall arrived things were going much better for the Pilgrims, thanks to the help they had received. The corn they planted had grown well. There was enough food to last the winter. They were living comfortably in their Indian-style wigwams and had also managed to build one European-style building out of squared logs. This was their church. They were now in better health, and they knew more about surviving in this new land. The Pilgrims decided to have a thanksgiving feast to celebrate their good fortune.

They had observed thanksgiving feasts in November asreligious obligations in England for many years before coming to the New World.

The Algonkian tribes held six thanksgiving festivals during the year.

The beginning of the Algonkian year was marked by the Maple Dance which gave thanks to the Creator for the maple tree and its syrup. This ceremony occurred when the weather was warm enough for the sap to run in the maple trees, sometimes as early as February. Second was the planting feast, where the seeds were blessed. The strawberry festival was next, celebrating the first fruits of the season. Summer brought the green corn festival to give thanks for the ripening corn. In late fall, the harvest festival gave thanks for the food they had grown.Mid-winter was the last ceremony of the old year.

When the Indians sat down to the "first Thanksgiving" with the Pilgrims, it was really the fifth thanksgiving of the year for them!

Captain Miles Standish, the leader of the Pilgrims, invited Squanto, Samoset, Massasoit (the leader of the Wampanoags), and their immediate families to join them for a celebration, but they had no idea how big Indian families could be. As the Thanksgiving feast began, the Pilgrims were overwhelmed at the large turnout of ninety relatives that Squanto and Samoset brought with them.

The Pilgrims were not prepared to feed a gathering of people that large for three days. Seeing this, Massasoit gave orders to his men within the first hour of his arrival to go home and get more food. Thus it happened that the Indians supplied the majority of the food: Five deer, many wild turkeys, fish, beans, squash, corn soup, corn bread, and berries. Captain Standish sat at one end of a long table and the Clan Chief Massasoit sat at the other end. For the first time the Wampanoag people were sitting at a table to eat instead of on mats or furs spread on the ground. The Indian women sat together with the Indian men to eat. The Pilgrim women,however, stood quietly behind the table and waited until after their men had eaten, since that was their custom.

For three days the Wampanoags feasted with the Pilgrims. It was a special time of friendship between two very different groups of people. A peace and friendship agreement was made between Massasoit and Miles Standish giving the Pilgrims the clearing in the forest where the old Patuxet village once stood to build their new town of Plymouth.

It would be very good to say that this friendship lasted a long time; but, unfortunately, that was not to be.

More English people came to America, and they were not inneed of help from the Indians as were the original Pilgrims. Many of the newcomers forgot the help the Indians had given them. Mistrust started to grow and the friendship weakened. The Pilgrims started telling their Indian neighbours that their Indian religion and Indian customs were wrong. The Pilgrims displayed an intolerance toward the Indian religion similar to the intolerance displayed toward the less popular religions in Europe. The relationship deteriorated and within a few years the children of the people who ate together at the first Thanksgiving were killing one another in what came to be called King Phillip's War.
It is sad to think that this happened, but it is important to understand all of the story and not just the happy part. Today the town of Plymouth Rock has a Thanksgiving ceremony each year in remembrance of the first Thanksgiving. There are still Wampanoag people living in Massachusetts. In 1970, they asked one of them to speak at the ceremony to mark the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrim's arrival. Here is part of what was said:

"Today is a time of celebrating for you -- a time of looking back to the first days of white people in America. But it is not a time of celebrating for me. It is with a heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my People. When the Pilgrims arrived, we, the Wampanoags, welcomed them with open arms, little knowing that it was the beginning of the end. That before 50 years were to pass, the Wampanoag would no longer be a tribe. That we and other Indians living near the settlers would be killed by their guns or dead from diseases that we caught from them. Let us always remember, the Indian is and was just as human as the white people. Although our way of life is almost gone, we, the Wampanoags, still walk the lands of Massachusetts. What has happened cannot be changed. But today we work toward a better America, a more Indian America where people and nature once again are important."

Signs of the Times

The Signis annual regional meet held at Hazaribagh from November 20 to 23 for the Bijhan region could perhaps be counted as  one of the most ill-conceived and ill-organised affairs I have attended in recent times.

 

The accommodation was bleak [to put it politely], the content of the sessions for the study days was below par. The responsibility for this three day waste of time and resources will, of course, rest with the President of the Bijhan region, who was unable to put together a meaningful three day event for communication professionals.

[pics: accomodation: for MEDIA professionals? Inauguration of business session: no banner, no identity..... Is Signis Bijhan so bereft of talent?]

 

The main problem with the current Signis Bijhan leadership is poor communication and lack of professionalism. They are basically clerics with little or no claim to being media persons except perhaps a degree or two obtained at a catholic run media centre [fashionably abroad] and have been put in charge [occasionally] of church run media centres and such. There are more priests and religious in the association than catholic laity, even though the organisation is supposed to be to empower catholic professionals and encourage them to contribute towards a more meaningful media environment, the clergy appear to hog the limelight, honswoggle the funds, and generally call the shots.

 

From what I observed at the recent Signis meet was that [1] the organisers did not plan for professionals but for one of their local village parishioners meets. How else would you explain the blatantly feudal allotment of accommodation: with the priests being allotted single accommodation with attached European toilet facilities and the other Signis members been thrown into dormitory accommodation – common bathrooms, no running hot water, not  a table and a chair? How on earth were the delegates to function without a table or chair in their room? [Forget about the fact that as a professional one needs to have a power supply port for a laptop, a place to access the internet, and some basic amenities to be able to charge phone and camera batteries(!) ]

You see, the Catholic priests need privacy; catholic Professionals are not accorded the same dignity in the worldview of the current Bijhan president.

 

[2] The study days were not planned at all. A participant told me, “Media professionals were being taught about the media by children and their parents whose only idea about the media was the TV channels they watch! I observed that the ‘resource persons’ on the second day had really nothing new to say. Two school administrators – a priest and a nun – skirted issues [as a matter of personal opinion, the nun, had she been in a different city would have been prosecuted –and rightly so – for cruelty to young people].

 

[3] The Hazaribagh region is rich with resources and capable Catholic institutions which would have readily provided space and resources for the programme had the organisers but asked. Was there not a single affluent catholic in the whole of Hazaribagh who could have hosted a dinner and thus reduced the financial burden of the organisers? Was there not a single catholic institution that would have gladly provided support?

 

One would wish that members of the clergy, think about whether they actually have the time to contribute constructively to an organisation before indulging in power politics to gain executive seats. If you are an office bearer, you are supposed to see that your organisation prospers, and not think of your office as a means to go on trips and jaunts. If you can’t deliver the goods, kindly get off the train….

 

     

Another Day Older

Another Birthday.

What is it about?

Phone calls rudely awakening you at midnight

Because some well-meaning but misguided 'friend' wants to be the  first to wish the 'birthday boy'

Learnt how to get around that... I just turn off all the phones after 9 pm.

Most of my friends know by now that I don't like to answer phones between 9 and 11 pm.

That's my personal 'quality time' with the boob tube.

SMS messages cluttering up your mobile phone

and edging out the really important stuff...

like the confirmation of the shipment of the special gift you bought yourself

Dozens of notes on those 'social networking sites'

many from people you have never met, 

have never spoken to,

and haven't the foggiest idea of what they're all about!

I believe that a birthday is an intensely personal thing

and I am usually deeply embarrassed at public displays of affection especially from people whom I don't know that well.

But then, not much is left in the private sphere nowadays.

Sign up for a web-page or some such thing in cyberspace

and hey presto, everybody and his twisted sister  knows the date on which you came out, screaming and protesting

and landed into this madhouse called planet earth.

The great things about a birthday

Being remembered by friends old and new

Reconnecting with others whom you have somehow lost touch with

Receiving surprises in the mail and at your doorstep

like that wonderful flower arrangement from ferns and petals sent by a past student

Its nice to have a day of your own where you can take stock of what you've achieved 

in the past year of your existence...

Personally, I did not do badly the past year... but I surely could have done better

Thanks to all of you folks who were so kind to 

drop me a line, a note, an e-mail or an sms

Just food

As somebody who's proudly single, I often check out the supermarket shelves for stuff that is good to eat and that make my meals interesting. I also happen to be a 'foodie' and stirring up a wokful of meats and veggies is my speciality.

What pains me is how Patna has shrunk from a pretty cosmopolitan city to an insular, inward town. It's amazing what you can know about the nature of a place just by looking at what's on offer on supermarket shelves.

Just a decade ago it was so easy to walk into Roshan Brothers for bacon, ham, and fresh sausages. Today what's on offer are a few mangy cans of stuff that are twice as costly and have half the taste. I have been reduced to importing a kilo or two of bacon from Khub Chand's in Delhi.

These spanking new 'supermarkets' hardly have any non-vegertarian processed food. When they started out they displayed a couple of shelves with processed sea-food: sardines, squid soup and the like, but now they've disappeared. It's difficult for one to locate a pack of chicken flavoured noodles, for heaven's sake!

Of course, we do have access to a better range of [processed] cheeses, and one can actually discover the odd jar of marmite, now and again.

Now Sikkim... there's tiny Gangtok with a vast range of interesting food- from Giouda cheese, to prawn chips to pork products!

JOLLY GOOD SHOW

The All India Anglo Indian Association took up the challenge to revive the Patna English One-Act play competition which was started by the late Dr Anne Mukhopadhaya over three decades ago. Professors Shankar Dutt and Muniba Sami, Doctors John and Sita Mukhopadhaya are the ones behind this revival.

It’s a laudable effort to try to bring back the things that made Patna a livable place in the years gone by, and the involvement of the Anglo-Indian Association, Danapur Branch is commendable.

Four schools participated in the competition this year. The performances were good, but the way the event was handled made one want to tear at one’s balding head in utter frustration.

It amazes me how the English language is consistently butchered by the people who claim that she’s their mater lingua. The gaudily dressed woman announcer could have been forgiven for her choice of attire, but not for her sloppy pronunciation and awful grammar.

The show was slated to start at about three in the afternoon, but actually went under way about half an hour later, and when things finally got under way, the audience was subjected to a long harangue about the Anglo-Indian community, a stock speech by community leader Alfie de Rozario that seemed to go on and on and .... on. Somebody has got to tell these chaps that brevity is the order of the day. Any speech longer than three minutes, especially when the audience has been kept waiting for a performance, is very trying indeed.

Alfie Rozario is an outstanding personality and comes across as warm and interesting .. but oh, how one wishes he had winged it rather than read from a mouldering script.

And oh, the sound system -- it was a total disaster! The ever-present Sanjay Electricals was on hire for the sound and lights. He’s the most popular choice for performances and video-shoots in the city, and no doubt the organizers paid a pretty penny, but the sound was horrendous. The feedback whistles and hums were right out of a traveling bullock cart system on a particularly nasty election rally. I would have asked the chappie for a refund and slapped a fine on him to boot!

When the judges were busy toting up the marks, one would have expected some lively music or a performance from the members of the Danapur Branch of the Anglo-Indian association. Anglos are known for their music and dramatic talent. However what we got was another harangue on the community, this time in PowerPoint!

It was just too much to handle. So I made a bolt for the door.

But I’ll be back again next year, looking forward to another eventful evening. Despite the glitches, we do appreciate the effort. Full marks to the organizers for that. Keep it up, lads [and ladies!]

DEFENDING THE IDEA OF INDIA

POLITICAL RESOLUTION

29 October, 2008

The two day national convention - Countering Fascist Forces: Defending the Idea of India, 25-26 October 2008- was attended by over 750 activists' and intellectuals from 18 states (Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Delhi, Harayana, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Gujarat, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, J & K, Punjab, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh). 

POLITICAL RESOLUTION PASSED AT THE CONVENTION 

The urgency to intervene in defence of democracy, secularism and justice has never been more pressing than in the conditions prevailing in the country today. 

The rise of communal fascism has emerged as a threat not only to its immediate victims but to the very long-term survival of India as a unified nation of diverse religious, linguistic and ethnic groups. The mysterious and condemnable acts of terrorism that have shaken different parts of the country have engendered a climate of fear, insecurity and fuelled the politics of communal division. 

In recent months, vicious attacks have been mounted across India against religious minorities by Hindutva fascist organizations and communalism has even become the dominant tenor of public discourse. In Maharashtra the regional chauvinist forces of Bal and Raj Thackeray, both offsprings of the Hindutva politics of hate, has targeted north Indians in a bid to drive them out of the state.

 
The BJP, RSS and their allies in the Sangh Parivar have mounted a vicious campaign against the Christian community across India. Orissa and over 10 states have seen violent attacks on the Christian community, their institutions, religious places, property and businesses on the basis of fabricated stories and hate campaigns. 
Throughout the country Muslim youth are being targeted, without any or little evidence, as responsible for the various bomb blasts taking place in the country. There is a concerted attempt by the Indian police, intelligence agencies and certain political parties to portray all members of the Muslim community as 'terrorists and extremists' - to be arbitrarily arrested, tortured and killed in fake encounters. Sections of the media instead of investigating the truth are blindly parroting these sensational and unsubstantiated claims.

Even more disturbingly the accused are being systematically denied their basic right to legal defence by some bar associations themselves which have threatened, expelled and even violently attacked lawyers brave enough to take up these cases. The Indian judiciary has failed to take suo moto cognizance of such attacks as being contempt of court.

All this while hard evidence available against Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other Sangh outfits of their direct involvement in terror attacks is not only being ignored but actively pushed under the carpet by the Indian state. The Hindutva terrorist groups like the Bajrang Dal are openly claiming responsibility for this communal violence against Christians and are yet being allowed to go scot-free. 

There is a growing feeling among religious minority communities that the Indian state and judiciary is biased against them and unwilling to provide impartial justice even in cases such as the demolition of the Babri Masjid. No action has been taken on the recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission report following the anti-Muslim pogrom in Mumbai of 1993. On the other hand some members of the judiciary are now willing to be puppets of communal forces, a dangerous trend set by the Nanavati Commission, which has exonerated the Narendra Modi government of responsibility for the Gujarat Genocide of 2002. 

Instead of confronting these fascist forces the Indian state is cracking down hard on 'soft targets' like human rights and social activists. The fundamental rights of life, liberty, freedom of speech, religion and dissent guaranteed to all citizens by the Indian Constitution are being shred to pieces right in front of our eyes.
Entire swathes of the Indian North-East and Kashmir are covered by the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that authorises even the lowest soldier to shoot and kill civilians on mere suspicion of their being 'militants'. In Chhattisgarh, large numbers of citizens continue to be detained using the highly restrictive Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA). Those defending the rights of the poor, Dalit, Adivasis and other marginalised people are being falsely branded as 'extremists' and 'anti-nationals'. The state sponsored, unconstitutional 'Salwa Judum' campaign, which has unleashed horrific violence on innocent tribal populations over the past four years in the name of countering Maoism, is being justified by none other than the National Human Rights Commission itself. 
All this is happening even as the forces of imperialism led by the United States, under the pretext of the so-called Global War on Terror, are busy re-colonising entire nations from Iraq to Afghanistan and are now targeting Pakistan in the immediate neighbourhood of India. The global media is contributing to this politics of hatred by demonizing Muslims worldwide and frightening ordinary citizens into giving up their basic democratic rights everywhere. 
Within the country, the pattern of elitist development has turned a vast majority of the population into second-class citizens, reinforcing with misguided policies the apartheid of the ancient and racist caste system. The ghost of the East India Company, buried long ago, is being resurrected in myriad forms and those who run the Indian state are willfully abetting the return of a neo-colonial order. 
It is a state of affairs that calls upon all those who value Indian independence, democratic rights and social justice to come forward, take responsibility and resist the onslaught by fascist and imperialist forces on the foundations of our national values and existence. We also urge all anti-communal activists and secular political parties to forge alliance to defeat fascism and communalism. We, the delegates and participants of the National Convention on Countering Fascism: Defending the Idea of India in New Delhi held on 25-26 October 2008 resolve as follows to: 

1) Call for the resignation of Shivraj Patil, Home Minister of India for his abject failure to prevent bomb attacks in major Indian cities; take action against Hindutva terrorists despite evidence provided to him by civil society groups; stop the Sangh Parivar's attacks on Christian populations in Orissa, Karnataka and other parts of India; and for using fake police encounters and false evidence against Muslim youth to save his political career; 
2) Call for the dismissal of M.K.Narayanan, National Security Adviser for incompetence and all the intelligence lapses leading to rise in to both terrorist and communal violence; 
3) Demand prosecution of all members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and ABVP who have links with Hindutva terrorist organisations, such as the ones implicated in the Malegaon bomb blasts. 

4) Condemn the UPA government for falling prey to the Hindutva agenda while paying lip service to secularism. 
5) Demand the setting up of a time-bound judicial inquiry into the Jamia Nagar 'encounter' headed by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court; 
6) Review major cases of 'terrorist' attacks and immediately release those against whom there is no evidence of any kind; implementation of NHRC instruction regarding independent investigation into all deaths in police custody and in police encounters over the last 5 years; 
7) Call for a ban on RSS, the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad for terrorist, anti-national activities and seizure of their national and international assets; a White Paper on the terrorist activities of these organizations; 

8) Demand the presentation of a White Paper on the scope of India's "war on terrorism" and the level of its cooperation and collaboration with the US-led war on terror; 

9) Enact the Communal Violence Bill after thorough revision in consultation with citizen's bodies, human rights groups and anti-communal organisations across India; 
10) Provide immediate relief and compensation to the victims of communal terrorism in Orissa and other states including reconstruction of destroyed private property and restoration of livelihood. Set up a permanent statutory body to deal with such issues in future. 
11) Demand the formation of a strong statutory body like election commission (or extend the scope of the EC) to monitor pre-election conduct of political parties and their leaders which generally leads up to polarization of vote banks. Such a body should have a right to disqualify party and/or its functionaries or elected representatives in the legislature in the wake of a breach of conduct; 
12) The immediate release of Human Rights Defenders, such as Dr Binayak Sen, who have been arrested for exposing police atrocities and state violence against innocent citizens. 
13) Demand a White Paper on misuse of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Kashmir and the Indian North-East and the immediate withdrawal; search for a political rather than military solution to the Kashmir problem; 

14) A national commission of inquiry into the misuse of special security laws by the police to arrest members of the minority community in false cases of terrorism 
Convention Organised by: 
Academy of Public Understanding of Science, All India Christian Council, All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch, All India Quami Mahaz, All India Secular Forum, Alternatives, Aman Biradari, Aman Samudaya, ANHAD, Antarik Visthapit Hak Rakshak Samiti, Anweshi, Arya Samaj, ASHA Pariwar, Ashraya Adhikar Abhiyan, Asmita Collective, Awaz e- Niswana, Bandhua Mukti Morcha, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Bihar Social Institute, BUILD, Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms, Centre for Youth Development and Activities, Chattisgarh Jan Vigyan Vikas Sangthan, Centre for Information, Training, Research and Action, Commission for Religious Harmony, Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights , Countercurrents.org, Centre for Studies in Society and Secularism, Danish Publishers, Darpana Academy, Disha Social Organization , Ekta, Foundation for Educational Innovations in Asia, Global Gandhi Forum, GRAVIS, Holy Cross Convent, Human Rights Law Network, Indian
Social Institute, Indian Social Action Forum ,INSAF Bulletin, Institute for Minority Women, Institute for Social Democracy, Jadugoda, Janadhikar Samuh, Jananeethi, Janvikas, JUDAV, Lok Sangharsh Morcha, Lokshakti Abhiyan, Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, MASUM, Media Action Group, Medico Friend Circle, Minorities Council, Muslim Women's Forum, National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, National Economic Forum for Muslims, Nazareth Mahila Samiti, NCHRO, Nishan, North East Support Centre & Helpline, Orissa Development Action Forum, Orissa Seek, Save & Development Society, Oxfam India, Popular Education & Action Centre ,People's Movement against Nuclear Energy, People's Research Society, People's Watch, PRASHANT, Religious Harmony Commission (CBCI), Roshan Vikas, Saheli, Sahrwaru, Sajhi Duniya, Sama, Samarpan, Sanchetana, Sandarbh, Sangat, Sarva Dharam Sansad, Shambhavi, South Asia Citizens Web, South Asians for Human Rights , SUTRA, Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, Udayan, Urja Ghar, Vikas Adhyan Kendra, Yuv Shakti 

Tiger of a Book

From this Man Booker Prize-winning debut novel:

Me, and thousands of others in this country like me, are half-baked, because we
were never allowed to complete our schooling. Open our skulls, look in with a
penlight, and you’ll find an odd museum of ideas: sentences of history or
mathematics remembered from school textbooks (no boy remembers his schooling
like one who was taken out of school, let me assure you), sentences about
politics read in a newspaper while waiting for someone to come to an office,
triangles and pyramids seen on the torn pages of the old geometry textbooks
which every tea shop in this country uses to wrap its snacks in, bits of All
India Radio news bulletins, things that drop into your mind, like lizards from
the ceiling, in the half hour before falling asleep—all these ideas, half formed
and half digested and half correct, mix up with other half-cooked ideas in your
head, and I guess these half-formed ideas bugger one another, and make more
half-formed ideas, and this is what you act on and live with.

If you have read this book, post a comment.....

Fatwa against Terrorism

It was another sign of how Muslim organisations in India appear to be taking the initiative as the country suffers from a string of bombings, often blamed on suspected Islamists, that has raised tensions between majority Hindus and minority Muslims.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, one of India’s leading Islamic groups which has been active in the country since the start of the 20th century, endorsed on Nov 8 a fatwa against terrorism.
More than 6,000 clerics signed the edict, which follows a similar one issued earlier in the year by India’s top Islamic institution Darul Uloom Deoband. The fatwa follows a series of police crackdowns on Muslims after bomb blasts across Indian cities this year in which more than 200 people have died.
Muslim organisations are worried.
Previously Indian authorities had generally blamed Pakistan for most attacks, but evidence that these attacks were home grown has put India’s Muslim community under the eye of the police. Muslim leaders say innocent Muslim youths are being targeted by police.
So, there was no doubt that Muslim groups were reaching out to the rest of the country.
The Times of India quoted the weekend motion as saying that that “jihad is a constructive phenomenon and a fundamental right of human beings whereas terrorism is based on destruction”.
“It is required to define `jihad’ and `terrorism’ in the right perspective, which stand poles apart. Terrorism is the biggest crime as per Quran,” the resolution said.
“Here more than six thousand clerics from across the country have signed it to involve more people in spreading the message that there is no place for terrorism in Islam,” Jamiat’s senior leader and Rajya Sabha member Moulana Mahmood Madani told reporters.
It was interesting to see the response of the conference to news of the arrests of some right-wing Hindu militants and a military officer in connection with two recent blasts, originally blamed on Muslims.
Rather than make any political capital out of it, Madani said he disapproved the use of term ‘Hindu terrorist’ saying his organisation was opposed to linking terrorism with any religion.
“We are against linking terrorism to Hindus or Hinduism just as we are opposed to linking it to Muslims or Islam,” he said.
An act of political maturity, perhaps, that Indian politicians should learn from?

Patna is never parochial

IBN7: DEVIL'S ADVOCATE : SHOBHAA DE ON MUMBAI VS BOMBAY
Karan Thapar: When we looked at Mumbai from outside the city what we saw was this image of cosmopolitan avant garde modern India. What we thought was going to be our New York. Now Mumbai has become like the rest of India and in fact it is now more and more like Patna rather than New York.

PATNA HAS NEVER BEEN PAROCHIAL.
PATNA CANNOT BE COMPARED TO 'MUMBAI'
THIS OPEN LETTER TO KARAN THAPAR BY TV SINHA
ECHOES MY SENTIMENTS AND LAKHS OF PATNA LOVERS
WHO HAVE MADE THIS TOWN THEIR HOME-AWAY-FROM -HOME


In the interview, you ask Ms De "Mumbai ............is now more and more like Patna ?"
Who has given you the right to denigrate a city like this? Have you been to Patna recently? Have you looked at its crime statistics? Have you had any reports of regional hate?
Do try to recall. Did Patna have a communal riot in decades? This decade? In the nineties? In the eighties? Seventies?

Let me tell you, Patna has never had a communal riot.
Regional feelings?
Patna has a fairly large Bengali population which competes fiercely for the few jobs that are available. In fact, during the early British period, they had a virtual monopoly on the government jobs. But have you ever heard of a hate campaign against them? Marwaris control a large part of the trade in the city. Punjabis are in large number. The second holiest place of the Sikhs is at Patna: the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singhji. South Indians are a thriving community here, numbering about 30,000. Anglo Indians are another thriving community at Patna and nearby Danapur. Two seats [actually one seat- in the Assembly -FK] in the Bihar assembly is reserved for the Anglo Indian community. The author William Dalrymple has himself written to me that his family has strong Bhagalpur connections.
[And we have a large vibrant segment of Keralites and Tamilians and a very active south indian cultural society -FK]]
But for a few minor incidents of Sikh owned shops looted in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's murder (mind you, no murders of Sikhs at Patna at that time), can you give a single incident of hate crime or campaign based on ethnicity? The closest you will come to a riotous situation in Patna is during the 1942 Quit India movement and the JP movement of 1970's: both for a national cause.
Then how on earth does it occur to you to put Patna as the worst example of provincialism? Is it media hype about Bihar and Biharis? Is it because the elite of India like you have been trained to always denigrate something to make you feel good? Is it plain ignorance? Or is it that since Bihar is poor, hence elites feel that they can get away by criticizing Bihar without a fear of reprisal or offending any section of your audience which has very few Biharis in any case?
(It is another matter that the response of Shobaa De ( I could almost feel her nose contracting in horror) is an even worse example of 'elitist' thinking, but then this letter is about you and the media, not other categories of elites)
For god's sake, this type of typecasting has led to a very explosive situation in the country. You people never tire of criticizing a Raj Thackeray.
Let me share a shocking statistic with you. Out of the new migrants in Mumbai, the percent of Biharis is between 2.3 and 3.5%. Yes I am talking of new migrants, not the percent of Biharis in the total population, which has to be lower since the number has increased from just 0.2% in the sixties to a 'High" 3.5%. This is based on studies conducted by two Mumbai based organizations: TISS and IPSS. (I would be happy to forward the publicly available extract of the study and the link if you find this statistic too difficult to digest). Now surely, you would also agree, this percent cannot be called excessive by any stretch of imagination if there is any truth in Mumbai being the commercial capital of India rather than just the administrative capital of Maharashtra?
Then pray what makes Raj Thackeray demonize Bihar and Biharis? If you think a little about it, you will perhaps agree with my theory that this is so because of the "image" of Bihar, created by powerful mediamen like you.

Let me add, your colleague, another Raj from Maharashtra, Rajdeep Sardesai, wrote an article on the ills of Maharashtra last year where he had no compunction in using 'biharisation' as synonymous to criminalization. Not just in the body of his article but in the headline itself. In fact, the whole article was based on Rajdeep's view that Bihar is a living hell on earth. Is it any surprise then that men like Raj Thackeray, desperate to carve a political space for himself, think first of Bihar when they are looking for a villain?
I am well aware of the bias of the Indian English press towards Bihar. I don't expect it to remember the sacrifice of Bihar and Biharis for the nation: the Champaran movement or the 1942 quit India movement or the agitation against dictatorship in mid seventies. I don't expect the media to highlight the extreme injustice done to Bihar due to freight equalization or inequitable distribution of development funds in each of the five years plans since independence. But this continued bias is now striking at the very root of India. This anti Bihari feeling is now creating a feeling of alienation in every town and village of Bihar. Politicians of Bihar, though accused of playing politics by the media, are trying their best to douse this flame which they had no role to create. If you folks believe in the idea of India, you have to play a role here.
Repeated biased coverage of Bihar in the Indian English press should have convinced me by now that it is futile to expect any semblance of evenness in the coverage.
But what to do, I am a Bihari. I cant give up on my Indianess. And giving up on hope is just not in my gene: whether the centre gives me an ill treatment or the nature tests my tenacity every year through floods, you would not hear a Bihari committing suicide. Hence I still approach you with hope, that things can change and will change.
Thanks
-- Thakur Vikas Sinha

Bihar 'Martyr' or 'Maniac'?

“Additional Police Commissioner Sadanand Date said the youth was carrying an illegal weapon and had opened indiscriminate firing in a public place, and that he was killed in a police operation.
The 25-year-old man, Rahul Raj boarded the double-decker city bus plying on route No. 332 between Kurla and Andheri at Saki Naka stop around 10 am and went to the upper deck.
When the upper deck conductor Mahendra M. Ghule asked him to buy a ticket, he refused to do so and instead whipped out a revolver and pointed it at his head, a spokesman of the public transport service BEST said.
Raj also produced a chain and tied up one of the 25-odd commuters to a seat and pushed Ghule to a back seat in the bus.”

1. He refuses to buy a ticket
2. He threatens the conductor
3. He threatens him with a revolver
4. He carries an illegal weapon.
5. He ties up a fellow passenger with a chain
6. He fires indiscriminately.

Seems like a goonda to me. If I was travelling in that bus no matter whether I was in Patna or in Panipat, I would certainly feel that the man was a menace to society.
But on several Bihari e-fora such as 'cool bihari', apparently law abiding citizens are hailing this anti-social behaviour as
Heroism …
I don’t get it.

Did he fire at the police or was he shot in cold blood? That is the question which should be debated. Couldn’t he have been arrested? The young man was no ‘martyr’. To prop such a person up as a symbol of ‘Bihari pride’ is bizarre.

To condemn his killing [in case it was a fake encounter], and call for the punishment of the man who flouted the police manual is definitely something that must be done. If the action was deliberately done because of a bias against Biharis, then it will be logical to argue that Biharis will find it very difficult to get justice in Mumbai.

A yarn for Diwali

[Enjoy this yarn]
True Horror, which took place last month
This happened about a month ago near Lonavala. A guy was driving fromMumbai to Pune and decided not to take the new expressway as he wanted to
See the scenery. The inevitable happens and when he reached the ghats hisCar breaks down - he's stranded miles from nowhere. Having no choice he
Started walking on the side of the road, hoping to get a lift to theNearest town. It was dark. And pretty soon he got wet and shivering.
The night rolled on and no car passed by. Suddenly he sees a carcoming towards him. It slows and then stops next to him - without thinking the guy opens the door and jumps in. Seated in the back, he leans forward to thank the person who had saved him.
he realizes there is nobody behind the wheel!!!
Even though there's no one in the front seat and no sound of any engine, the car starts moving slowly. The guy looks at the road ahead and sees a curve coming. Scared almost to death he starts to pray, begging the Lord for his life.
He hasn't come out of shock, when just before he hits the curve, a hand appears through the window and moves the wheel! The car makes the curve safely and continues on the road to the next bend. The guy, now paralyzed in terror, watches how the hand appears every time they are before a curve and moves the steering wheel just enough to get the car around each bend.
Finally, the guy sees lights ahead.
Gathering his courage he wrenches openthe door of the silent, slowly moving car, scrambles out and runs as hard as he can towards the lights. It's a small town.
He stumbles into a dhaba, and asks for a drink, and breaks down. Then he starts talking about the horrible experience he's just been through.
There is dead silence in the dhaba when he stops talking ..... . . . .... . . . . . . . . ......

and that's when Santa and Banta Singh walk into the dhaba. Santa points and says "Look Banta - that's the weird guy who got into our car when we were pushing it."

Remembering Matthew Shepard

On Monday October 12 1998, as most of Canada was dreaming about the Thanksgiving supper they had either just eaten, or were planning to eat, the Shepard family had little to give thanks for. In a moment that would seem ripped from a horror novel, they were faced with the reality that their son Matthew had died as the result of injuries sustained during a vicious attack by a couple of all too human monsters.

At 12:53am Matthew's heart stopped and he was pronounced dead in the hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. How did a bright, friendly 21 year old man end up in such a state? Simply, he was brutally assaulted and left for dead, apparently for 2 simple reasons. Robbery and because he was gay. His attackers allegedly lured him out of a bar, using his sexuality as a tool, then robbed, pistol-whipped, burned and beat him. They left him tied to a fence-post to die on a near freezing night, even taking his shoes so he couldn't walk away.

Did I know Matthew? No. Did I know his family? No. Does that matter? No. I'm not one to jump on bandwagons going by. I usually keep to myself and let world events pass me by, but for some reason, this particular crime caught me. I was saddened by the loneliness of it, enraged by the senselessness of it, and touched by the out-pouring of support, from common people to President Clinton.
How did it touch me? As a person first. This kind of atrocity should never be brought upon a person. Matthew's suffering will remain unknown to us, mercifully. But the suffering and pain his family will imagine for him will be unbearable. A comment I read regarding his death said the following (paraphrased): "A good son to the end, Matthew spared his family the choice of removing his life support." A comment and perspective that paints a picture of the man Matthew was.

I'll never know if it's true, but I'll hold him in that light. As a person with a compassionate soul (I think), I couldn't help but feel for Matthew's suffering, his family's loss, and his friends pain. This personal/human connection is quite removed from my empathy as a gay person.

Yes, the spectre of homophobic violence looms in the back of my mind. Is it a large fear? No, but one wonders why it need exist at all. One report on Hate Crimes recently suggested that they've existed as long as there have been people, and will continue regardless. A sad fact of human nature that one of the first emotions we probably demonstrated to another human was hate, perhaps even before love. Hate Crimes are any crime perpetrated for a specific reason growing out of hate. Race, creed, colour, religion, sexuality and even age can be catalysts for these heinous crimes.

A quick look at our history tells us they're not new. My connection to Matthew through a shared sexuality seems tenuous. I didn't know Matthew but I do know someone who was "gay-bashed" at one time and although we've barely spoken of it, I wonder what that must be like. To be attacked for who you are. Not a choice you have made, or an action you have taken but simply for being. In my mind, it's an inconceivable thought.

My only complaint about this so far is that certain members of the gay community are attempting to hold Matthew up as a martyr for their causes. While there is little doubt in my mind that Matthew was assaulted primarily for being gay, a fact he hid from no one, I'm not sure that anyone would want to become a martyr like this. To me, a martyr is someone who works their whole life through for a cause and in the end dies for it. While Matthew perhaps was working toward gay rights and equality, he certainly didn't intend to die for the cause. Maybe that's what makes his death seem to qualify to these people.

Healing and Hospitals

What’s a hospital for? To make sick people get better. Duh? What are the ingredients that go into a good hospital? Generally speaking, it’s the skill of the doctors, especially the surgeons that are the most sought after. It’s the most skilful surgeon that you want operating on you – the best services that your money can buy.

And that’s why more than just a couple of eyebrows were raised when I decided to jettison one of the best surgeons in the business available in the city of Patna for a rather ‘foolish’ reason. He wasn’t going to operate on me at the hospital of my choice. It’s not that he was trying to get me to try out the services of the super-speciality hospitals, or at least the ones with the chrome-plated doors. He just wasn’t a consultant of the Holy Family Hospital at Kurji. And, after two weeks of soul searching, I opted for the hospital and not the doctor, much to the consternation of my more knowledgeable friends, who were of the opinion that the doctors there were—well -- not the very best.

Now, what do I want from a doctor? Apart from knowing his craft, he should have a pleasant manner, the ability to explain things clearly to me in lay-person’s terms, a frank assessment of the risks involved, and the willingness to answer all my questions. I discovered all of these in Dr Khalid, who did an excellent job. But with due respect to doctors, the success of the operation is only about ten percent of the real business of healing.

For me, Holy Family Hospital provides a blanket of comfort and security that I haven’t had in any other place, and I have been to a few! Every member of the staff: the orderlies, the bookkeepers, and the lab assistants speak to you in a way that puts you at ease. There is a pervasive sense of gentleness, and the purposeful gait of the professionals reassures you – it makes you feel wanted. You are not just another number in a long line of ‘jobs’ to be dealt with.

I am a loner. I check into the hospital on my own. I sign my own papers. I am not used to being seen as vulnerable, and so the less people that witness my incapacitation, the better. Of course, there are people who care about me who make it a point to let me know that they are there for me, but generally, I prefer the Spartan way.

Even so, I have never felt alone and helpless at KHFH. The morning of the operation. There was no ‘companion’ in my room to send me off. I was transferred to the stretcher and on my way to the OR. At the door, the staff nurse a feisty woman named Ragini Gurung, appeared. She held my hands and said a prayer over me, asking God’s blessings for my speedy recovery. As luck would have it another friend, a nun, appeared at the same time. The staff nurse accompanied me all the way to the OR, telling me that things would be all right. I was really touched by this gesture. I felt that I was not alone, that I was a person, not a ‘patient’.

The sunny dispositions of the kitchen staff who came along to serve the meals were most exhilarating. At the end of my stay, when I thought of offering the cleaning and serving staff a tip, they refused. Your happy face is reward enough, they said. One does not tip one’s family, I was justly rebuked.

Washed Away

[Just back from a 4 day visit to flood affected areas in Bihar]

What can you say

To people whose lives have been washed away?

The river rushes in with a roar

Smashes through walls

Ploughs through the village

Destroys your fields, crops, animals, livelihood

Takes away your home

Washes away titles, deeds, ration cards,

driving licences, birth certificates

bank records

Obliterates your identity

What can you say?

SHAME!

The Horror stalking the Indian Nation can hardly be described.
This link leads you to what the press has not carried about the
Orissa Carnage
http://orissaburning.blogspot.com/

To Krsna

How did you pin them down with your smile?
All those fluttering hearts, quivering, naked
In the playful glow of your up-curved lips?

How could you lead them on with your flute?
Those faltering feet, timorous anklets tinkling
Shattering threshold and lakshman-rekha
In hot pursuit of woodnotes in the wild?

How could you -- rustic and ribald,
Ink-black and smeared with butter
Dare smash my pretences,
Break down my defences,
Tear away my designer masks,
Make mockery of my indignation?













I am become – on this night of lamps
This flickering, flaming wick
Seeking,
Searching,
Simmering.
Dancing desperately in the dark.
How could you keep me awake and restless?
Straining
For the sound of your step
Listening
For the lilt of your tunes
Longing for your touch?

Frank Krishner: started Ranipul, Sikkim 1994 – completed Patna, Bihar 2006.


Note: lakshman-rekha – refers to the boundaries of propriety traditionally defined for Indian women. In the Ramayana, Lakshman, the brother of King Rama drew a rekha [line] around his brother’s wife Sita, who would be safe as long as she did not cross it. Ravana lured her across the lakshman –rekha and that resulted in a war, and loss of face for Sita towards the end of the saga.

The subject is Lord Krishna, the legendary god of love, who was the darling of the cow-girls and cow-boys as he grew up among them.

Staying Alive

Good things have been happening in Bihar. Not on a massive scale. But in small doses.
Like the new government intervention of having kids aged 12 to 16 access a bridge course that helps them complete the class 8 course in about 11 months. These kids are from the labouring classes. they have boarding school facilities .. that menas three square meals, books and a chance to get on with their studies without having to scrounge for a meal or to take up a job. In 11 months they should have functional literacy and numeracy. Some will stay in school. others will be able to negotiate jobs better. Brilliant!

Ugly Jammu versus Kashmir battle

A few points about the manufactured 'communal " flare-up over Amarnath
It was triggered off by the flip-flop of the state government (Kashmir) on the diversion of 800 kanals of land to SASB. An area not much larger than the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi, one journalist ponted out.

The SASB is entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the annual Amarnath yatra.
Broadly, its mandate is to provide facilities to the pilgrims who visit the holy cave of Shri Amarnath in south Kashmir.
It creates and regulates facilities for the pilgrims.
The cave is located in a snowfall area far beyond the tree line on higher reaches and can be accessed only for about three months in a year.
For the rest of the year it remains under heavy snow and, thus, is difficult to reach.

The facilities created for the pilgrims are temporary in nature and comprise mainly pre-fabricated huts, mostly toilets, since it does not make sense to try to create any permanent or even semi-permanent structures on glaciers.
So the land was diverted, temporarily, for the duration of the pilgrimage, to the SASB by the state government.
Incidentally, the allotment was made by the government on the recommendations of the forest ministry headed by Qazi Mohammed Afzal, Tariq Hamid Qarra and Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussein Beigh. All the three gentlemen belong to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a coalition partner in Azad-led government.
The three PDP ministers headed the forest, law and the tourism ministry, respectively. Besides, Mr Beigh was the number two in the state cabinet.

Part of the diverted land falls under Ganderbal, the electoral constituency and virtual fief of the Abdullahs for decades till Qazi Afzal trounced Omar in the 2002 assembly elections.

Farooq threw the proverbial first stone by questioning the wisdom of the land allotment to SASB though initially there had been no reaction in the valley against the move.
Farooq Abdullah's reaction to the land allotment was not strident or tough. Yet it made news.
And then all hell broke loose after the then chief executive officer of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board Arun Kumar made a statement which communalised the whole situation.
In his defence, Kumar says that he stepped in only when rumours about Hindu colonisation of Kashmir valley by the SASB became rather vicious.
He also pointed out that it was his duty as CEO of the SASB to try to set the records straight.


At that time, rumours were floating in Kashmir that the SASB was hatching a sinister conspiracy to change the essentially Muslim demography of the Kashmir valley.

Several local newspapers had either insinuated that large numbers of Hindus would be brought in from outside and settled on the land diverted to the SASB.
Never mind the fact that it is not possible for anyone to settle on such heights where not a blade of grass grows.
The newspapers also conveniently glossed over the fact that under Article 370, no outsider can become a permanent resident of Jammu & Kashmir.
Separatists fanned these rumours and mobilised large crowds for protest.
This led to death of five persons across the valley.

The two mainstream political opponents fighting for the Kashmiri Muslim votes
the NC led by father-son duo of Farooq and Omar Abdullah,
and the PDP led by father-daughter combine of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and
Mehbooba Mufti, are largely to blame for what happened.
They made no effort whatsoever to counter the bogey of Hinduisation of Kashmir.
Of the two, the PDP will have to take a large share of the blame as it was a part of the ruling coalition when it all started.

When contacted by a journalist for their comments, most of the NC leaders explained why they kept quiet and looked the other way:
As opposition party, it was not their responsibility to help the government.
Going a step further, they also accused the government of failing to solicit its support for normalising the situation.
Tthe Congress party, which was leading the government, also failed to scotch rumours of Hindu colonisation of Muslim Kashmir
Nothing but a shameful political drama-- the real antinationals are our Indian politicians!

'THE SHOT HEARD AROUND THE WORLD'

Melvin Durai is a Winnipeg-based writer and humorist. Bornin India and raised in Zambia , he has lived in North America since 1982. Through the Internet, his column is read by thousands of people in more than 90 countries. This week's column hits the bull's eye! (pun intended)

THIS WEEK'S COLUMN:

In case you missed the news, in case you were sleeping under a rock or just got released from Guantanamo , India won its first-ever individual gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, causing 1.1 billion people to jump up and down with joy, touching off a minor earthquake in California and a majorinterruption in tech support.

Yes, an Indian man won an Olympic gold medal -- and without all his opponents getting injured. Abhinav Bindra, a25-year-old from Delhi , won first place in the 10m air rifle event, beating 50 other shooters, including that great Albanian marksman Imer Gudschot. So excited were members of the Indian Olympic Association,s o taken in this moment of high-fives and champagne-popping, that some of them checked the official medal table to see ifIndia had moved past America . No such luck, of course, but that didn't stop Indians from celebrating like it was thegreatest Olympic achievement ever. And who can blame them?After all, it was their first individual gold medal sinceIndia began competing in the Olympics more than a centuryago, back in the days when 'catapulting' was an officialsport.'

The drought is over!' screamed one newspaper's headline, causing even more celebration across the land, particularly in the farming community.

It was a shining moment for India on the world's greatest sporting stage. As one Indian politician eloquently put it,'Abhinav Bindra has shooted us all into glory!'

Almost everyone in India , from the Prime Minister to the church minister, heaped praise on Bindra.

Even members ofthe Indian Astronomers Association, attending a conventionin Pune, took a break from the proceedings to applaud the'shooting star.' Congratulatory messages poured into India from all over theworld.

U.S. presidential candidate John McCain, hoping to endear himself to Indian-American voters, sent a congratulatory card that he said was 'from one straightshooter to another.'

Indian legislators debated a motion to celebrate Aug. 11 every year as Gold Medal Day. They voted down a proposal to display Bindra's medal at a national museum in Delhi , amid fears that the building would not be able to handle themillions who would come to view it.

The excitement and celebration may have seemed overblown,but not to Indians. '

People around the world may not know this,' a Chennai man said, 'but we Indians really love gold!

'Bindra's victory, combined with shooter Rajyavardhan SinghRathore's silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, is expected to increase the popularity of shooting in India , drawing thousands of youngsters to shooting competitions and exhibitions during breaks from cricket.'

We want shooting to be more popular in India ,' said sports administrator Baljit Singh, 'but not as popular as it is inAmerica .'

Hoping to match the success of TGC (The Golf Channel) in America , media mogul Rupert Murdoch announced that Indian viewers would soon be treated to TSC (The Shooting Channel).I t's expected to feature various shooting competitions from around the world, as well as reruns of the American shows'Gunsmoke' and 'Have Gun Will Travel.'

Rajesh Patel, who has been hired as a TSC analyst, saidBindra's victory will have a lasting impact in India , evenon sports announcing. 'We're not going to say that someone's performance is 'simply wonderful' anymore,' he said. 'We're going to say that it's 'simply Bindraful.''

Schoolchildren for years to come will learn about Bindra, thanks partly to an Indian publisher who has already put outa special alphabet book: 'A is for Abhinav. Abhinav is first name of champion. B is for Bindra. Bindra is surname of champion. C is for Chapati. Chapati is food of champion.'

Bindra has not just earned a lifetime of adulation, he has become India 's most eligible bachelor, receiving a flood of marriage proposals. Said his proud mother: 'We have received proposals from North Indians, South Indians, even WestIndians.' Indeed, a Trinidad dairy farmer with a 20-year-old daughter offered 1,000 cows in dowry, but Bindra turned down the offer, saying he doesn't want to milk his fame. That pleased Indian sports fans, who want Bindra to choose his bride carefully, believing that the country's future Olympic glory rests partly on what type of genes his children inherit. Some are even dreaming of a match betweenBindra and badminton star Saina Nehwal, an Olympic quarterfinalist. But that would be folly, according to oneIndian scientist, who said, 'If we match a badmintoner with a shooter, we might end up with a badshooter.'

A Sense of Humour

I think that Pawan is one of the most accomplished cartoonists in Bihar. His themes come from life around him and his focus remains that of the common man. His unashamed use of the vernacular makes his work all the more interesting.

My own association with Pawan dates back to about 1995 or thereabouts, when he was still a gangly youth... very young whose talent was spotted by the then editor of the Times of India Patna edition Uttam Sengupta. he would bring his stuff written in Hindi, and we would translate the captions into English.

We were thrown together once again by the UNICEF as part of a child rights campaign in 1999-2000 when he worked on a delightful book of CRIGHTOONS -- comments on the status of kids which were paired together with articles from the convention on the Rights of the Child.

Pawan's rustic sense of humour brings a unique flavour to his work.
[the woman says: Why haven't you delivered milk for the past two days?
The milkman answers: Can't you see the the water level? Should i turn her upside down and milk her or what?]

We hope to enjoy his work for a long time to come.

A Matter of Pride

The end of June marks the beginning of the gay pride campaign
And of course, this year, the New Delhi Pride Parade took pride of place
Upstaging dear old Calcutta [or Kolkata] as she is now called
Anyhow, Calcutta has pride of place for taking the first tentative steps
Way back in 2000, I think.
As for me, I missed the event again.
Anyway NEXT year I’ll be there in solidarity
With everyone… gay, straight, kothi, panthi, hijra, bi-, bicurious,
Or just HUMAN….