India Elections 2009 – Congress wakes up to Terror threat

Jairam Ramesh the Congress Party’s Coordinator for Election Related Affairs for the Lok Sabha 2009 polls made public a document released earlier in the week by Home Minister Chidambaram on the Congres Party’s pledge on protecting India from Terror.

In his e-mail Mr. Ramesh lists a number of measures taken after the Mumbai 26/11 attacks like the NIA and the UAPA. Mr. Ramesh however fails to mention any measures taken by the UPA between 2004 and November of 2008.

Mr. Ramesh’s email is also conspicuous in its silence on the ill-famed India Pakistan Joint Anti-Terrorism Institutional Mechanism, that was announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the deadly 7/11 serial train blasts of 2006 in Mumbai.

Mr. Ramesh’s email claims the Congress will not waste a single day in fighting terror while being woefully silent on the period since the scrapping of POTA in 2004 and the deadly attacks in Mumbai in November of 2008.

The document also makes it a point to highlight that “Religious Polarization” is inimical to the fight on terror, a strange comment after having scrapped POTA on grounds of Muslim sensititvities and not replaced it with any new law for 5 years till 26/11.

The document is not short on scoring political points with references to Kargil, Kandahar, Prakram and the allegation that IPS recruitment suffered between 1998 and 2004.

Nevertheless the Congress Party’s promise on Terror must be dissected and analysed for its worthiness. The document is 13 pages long and begins with a Section titled “Context” which interestingly enough carries a tacit admission of guilt by the Congress that the document only lists measures taken after 26/11.

It lays out five tenets as the foundation for the Congress Party’s anti-terror strategy but only talks of preparedness and response to threats after they manifest. The strategy is silent on pre-empting threats before they manifest.

The most significant aspect lacuna in the strategy is it doesnt highlight capabilities needed to eliminate threats that manifest outside the borders of India and capabilities needed to root out sponsors of Terror who are sheltered by sympathetic foreign governments.

The section on Human Assets focuses more on scoring political points against the BJP while explaining little on what was done to rectify IPS recruitment between 2004 and 2009. It only talks of plans to improve recruitment post 2009. 

The much maligned 100 day roadmap makes an appearance after complete silence from the Government ever since it was announced. More promises are made on plans to come including review of VVIP security.

The most glaring gap in the section on Human Assets is no talk of how external Intelligence will be revamped to infiltrate networks of terror outside Indian borders. With most Terror in India manifesting outside our borders it is strange that the Congress Party’s strategy is silent on how it will learn of new threats to come and how it will anticipate new modus operandi.

The section on Actionable Intelligence and Cutting edge Analytics sounds more like a commercial for Oracle BI with more talk on Databases like the NATGRID and the CCTNS.

It also curiously includes a treatise on the National ID Card Project. The document makes it a point to say ID Card project was not pursued by NDA but fails to explain what the UPA did for 5 years on the ID Card project.

This section has more technology jargon on what tools the Congress intends to develop to make intelligence actionable but it fails to explain how the Intelligence will be acquired in the first place. 

A closer look at the technology jargon used in this section is a must for it sounds more like a listing of Graduate School project topics

Threat Assessment Modeling, Artificial Neural Networks and Three Dimensional Modeling of Critical Infrastructure

Another curious and out of place proposal is a Citizen’s Campaign with no explanation of what it has to do with Actionable Intelligence or Advanced Analytics.

The section on empowered and coordinated Security Agencies is vague on what new Command and Control structures will be in place and how they will be empowered on decision making. The lone exception is the recent decision on the Indian Navy being the nodal authority on Coastal Security.

The second pillar on Rapid Response is again woefully lacking on the National Security Architecture to respond to acts of terror. It instead passes the buck to the States by disposing off the subject with adequate support shall be given to the States.

It goes further to explain how mistakes and lessons from the last terror strike will be addressed like the non-availability of aircraft while demonstrating little imagination on anticipating likely future needs and how they will be provided for.

The Permanent Crisis Management Group (War Room) and a Standard Operating Procedure with a U.S. like color coded threat level scheme are promised for the future. It doesnt however explain how the War Room will be empowered to make decisions within the National Security Architecture with the buck being passed to the States on response to threats.

The rest of the document describes how the Congress will bring Terrorists to justice while failing to explain how it will address the unique problem facing India where the key conspirators and sponsors of Terror reside outside India.

In conclusion it is fair to say that the Congress’ anti-terror strategy rests on dealing with Terror threats on Indian soil after they have manifested rather than pre-empting and preventing them from manifesting before they reach Indian soil.

In fact the entire 13 page document stands out for making zero mention of safe havens for terrorists outside Indian borders in Pakistan and elswewhere which makes this whole exercise highly questionable.

Any credible anti-terror strategy must first begin by articulating the nature of terror threat faced by India.

It must go on to outlining the National Security Architecture needed to deal with that threat before spelling out the different Protocols and Command/Control structures needed to deal with terror threats pre-emptively and after the fact.

It must then specify the necessary tools from a surveillance, intelligence acquisition, analysis and dissemination standpoint to aid in real time decision making

Finally it must outline the legislative framework necessary to bring the terrorists and their sponsors to justice irrespective of where they are.

On all of these counts the Congress Party’s Anti-Terror strategy is woefully inadequate for it leaves unstated where finally the buck will stop in protecting India from the Terror threat.

Filed under: Chattisgarh Polls 2008, Chhattisgarh Polls 2008, Delhi Polls 2008, DesiPundit, Dharmayudh-2009, Gujarat Polls 2007, India Elections 2009, India Lok Sabha Elections 2009, Karnataka Polls 2008, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Rajasthan Polls 2008, War on Mumbai, War on Terror, amarnath controversy, betrayal of aam admi, jeetega-bharat

India Elections 2009 – BJP Manifesto

Now that both the BJP and Congress Manifestoes have been made public the public debate can shift from personalities to issues.

It is clear that elections 2009 will not see a definitive fault-line along straight-jacket political ideologies typical of Western Democracies.

But then it is a curious year to be complaining about it for the Global Economic Meltdown has rendered these straight-jacket labels largely irrelevant with the trillion dollar bailouts.

So how must we bring sanity to this Manifesto Madness debate within the Indian context ?

We can do so by first recognizing  the present day political reality.

What we have in India are essentially Center Left leaning and Center Right  leaning “Minority Coalitions”.

Compounding this reality is the fact that these “Minority Coalitions” have to make further “pportunistic compromises” to close the gap to the half-way mark which gets them a simple majority.

Hence to judge these Minority Manifestoes on the basis of hard ideological definitions is foolish.

Instead we must judge them on the basis of the cost at which they will make opportunistic compromises and on the basis of that which will not be compromised.

More detailed analysis is bound to follow over the days to come from experts on the financial implications and the relative merits of the two manifestoes, it is clear that there is a fundamental difference between the Congress and the BJP’s approach.

Where the Congress seeks to tax and spend, the BJP has clearly staked itself for a low tax regime.

On entitlements too one can see subtle differences like when the BJP promises 35kgs of subsidised rice or wheat at Rs 2 for BPL Families it is not doing so at the expense of an enlarged and flawed Public Distribution System but by making a beginning on Direct Delivery of Entitlements via Food Coupons that will be redeemable at both PDS and Private Outlet.

Similarly Bicycle handout program is tied to Girl Child School Enrollment.

On education while promising entitlements at the primary and secondary level, the BJP has also subtly differentiated itself on the the question of full autonomy to Institutions of Higher Education with an emphasis on the Private Sector.

Freedom and Autonomy make a come back again on the question of Science and Technology Research by Academic and Research Organizations and on the question of Financial Autonomy to Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies.

In closing if there is one proposal that stands out in the BJP Manifesto it is the proposal to free Hindu Religious bodies from Government Control.

It is a travesty of Indian Democracy that an avowedly Secular State has resorted to Constitutional Ammendments to ensure Government control of Religious bodies like the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam.

From Sabarimalai to Tamil New Year, there have been numerous instances of the tyranny of State Control on the functioning of Hindu Temples and Religious bodies.

By promising to revert control to the stakeholders of these Institutions amongst the devotees and local communities, the BJP proposal will uphold true secularism and religious freedom.

This proposal could also provide a framework for resolving contentious issues like Ram Janmabhoomi and Amarnath.

As coalition politics continues to make party manifestoes largely inconsequential it will be important to see how the NDA’s National Agenda for Governance and Vision for the Country will reflect the Centre-Right leaning proposals in the BJP Manifesto and go beyond them on the question of Economic Reforms, Privatization and Disinvestment.

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Filed under: Chattisgarh Polls 2008, Chhattisgarh Polls 2008, Delhi Polls 2008, DesiPundit, Dharmayudh-2009, Gujarat Polls 2007, India Elections 2009, Karnataka Polls 2008, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Rajasthan Polls 2008, amarnath controversy, betrayal of aam admi, jeetega-bharat

Leadership in Crisis Management

Much has been written and said of the Mosque that was torn down and the terrorists that were flown. Very little is said though of the Mosque that was burnt and the Terrorists that were promised safe passage.

Two Ministers were deputed by the then Prime Minister to manage the crisis in the aftermath of the mosque burning after offers of safe passage failed. One of the Ministers is dead but the other is very much alive and is seeking to stake his claim to the Leadership of this nation.

One has to really scrounge the dark alleys of the internet to reconstruct the events leading up to and following the May 1995 burning of Charar-e-Sharief in Kashmir by Pakistan sponsored Terrorists.

Former J&K Governor and an ex- BJP MP  Jagmohan wrote this piece recently in September of 2008 in the Asian Age recounting the Charar-e-Sharief incident.

The fatal flaws of the Indian State and its leadership are reflected vividly in the events, from December 1994 to May 1995, pertaining to the famous shrine Charar-e-Sharief, built in 1808-10 in honour of Sheikh Nuruddin who founded the Sufi-Rishi order.

 About 50 hard-core militants, led by an Afghan mercenary, Mast Gul, sneaked into the dargah. The state and Central intelligence agencies remained ignorant or casual about their presence. The militants dug in and collected a large number of lethal weapons inside the complex.

It was only on March 5, 1995, when they killed two BSF jawans, that the seriousness of the situation dawned upon the authorities.

On March 8, the Army moved in to lay a sort of siege from a distance of about two kilometres.

Characteristically, the government was quick to announce “safe passage” to the militants.

But the offer was spurned by Mast Gul. Both, at the state and Central level, indecision and confusion continued while militants called the shots. Eventually, on May 11, 1995, the dargah and the adjoining houses and shopping complex were burnt down.

Physically, Charar-e-Sharief shrine was burnt by pro-Pakistani elements. But, on a different plane, it was burnt by the timidity and hesitancy of the Indian government. Pakistan and its terrorist outfits committed the “crime” by commission.  The Indian government committed it by omission.

After Charar-e-Sharief, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s statement in Parliament on May 12, 1995, that burning down of the shrine by mercenaries and militants was only going to steel our determination, sounded pathetic.

Could there be a worse demonstration of ineptness and lack of will? The monumental mishandling resulted in total destruction of the historic shrine, burning of 800 houses and 200 shops, besides costing millions of rupees to the country’s exchequer and causing grave human misery and pain not only to the residents of Charar-e-Sharief but also to thousands of others who became victims of the fallout.

What is still more deplorable is that Mast Gul, the most wanted foreign mercenary, escaped and even held press conferences and TV interviews on Indian soil.

 Overnight, he became a cult figure, providing a further prop to subversion and terrorism in Kashmir.

For this incident, which made India a laughing stock of the world, no one was held accountable.

The Prime Minister who mismanaged the crisis and the Home Minister who bungled are both dead.

But there was a third Minister who was also charged with managing the Charar-e-Sharief crisis but hardly anything is written of his contribution to this bungling nor have any questions of accountability been thrown at him.

To learn about then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh’s role in the Charar-e-Sharief crisis management, one has to turn to the New York Times writing on May 15th 1995.

The Indian Government sent two of its most powerful Cabinet ministers to Kashmir today to assess the turmoil raging there in the aftermath of the destruction by fire of the disputed region’s most revered Muslim shrine.

The two Cabinet ministers who went to Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-ruled Kashmir, Shankarrao B. Chavan of the Home Ministry and Manmohan Singh of the Finance Ministry, arrived as army and police units tightened a 24-hour curfew across the state that has failed to prevent scores of clashes with protester

Exactly ten days after the Manmohan Singh crisis missive to Kashmir, Mast Gul, the chief accused in the burning down of Charar-e-Sharief who was offered “safe passage” by the then Congress Government, held a press conference on May 26th 1995 where he was rewarded for his heroic deed.

As the Congress seeks to make this election about contribution to Mosques that were not to be and about capitulation to Terrorists in the decade gone by, tough questions must be asked of Dr. Manmohan Singh of his role as a Leader in Crisis Management when Charar-e-Sharief burned

#1 Will he take responsibility for the Cabinet Decision to offer safe passage to foreign terrorists holed up in Mosques in Indian soil ?

#2 Will he take responsibility for the incompetence of his Government that allowed foreign terrorists to hold press conferences on Indian soil ?

#3 Will he explain to the nation exactly what was his contribution in the management of this crisis and its aftermath ?

#4 Will he hold himself accountable in retrospect by way of collective cabinet responsibility for the delinquency of the then Congress Government in allowing Foreign Terrorists to occuppy a Mosque on Indian Soil for 6 whole months with no fear of consequences ?

Postscript: Charar-e-Sharief shrine was rebuilt fully by October 2000.

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Filed under: Chattisgarh Polls 2008, Chhattisgarh Polls 2008, Delhi Polls 2008, DesiPundit, Dharmayudh-2009, Gujarat Polls 2007, India Elections 2009, Karnataka Polls 2008, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Manmohan Confidence Vote, Rajasthan Polls 2008, War on Mumbai, War on Terror, amarnath controversy, betrayal of aam admi, jeetega-bharat

India Elections 2009 – A speech for Mr. Advani

Friends

I am happy to address you today as we approach the first phase of elections for the Lok Sabha.

I am also happy to note that the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is hale and healthy.

I wanted to take this ocassion to define to you what this Lok Sabha election must come to mean.

Today Congress President Sonia Gandhi made a very perceptive remark, I wonder if the irony was not lost on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Smt Sonia Gandhi said that while there were many who could be Prime Minister nobody could stand in front of Dr. Manmohan Singh.

How very true, even if any of us wanted to stand in front of Dr. Singh he is either unwilling or incapable of giving us the opportunity with his reluctance to contest the Lok Sabha election.

This friends is what this election ought to be about.

This election has to be about Leadership.

On the one hand you have strong and decisive Leadership that is willing to put its claims to test in the court of public opinion by directly holding itself accountable to the people.

On the other hand you have surrogacy that is being passed of as a substitute for Leadership with this reluctance to face the people by putting the 5 year record to test directly in a Lok Sabha contest.

I dont know if it is his waning love for Assam or the sliding fortunes of the Congress Party in that state that Dr. Manmohan Singh has chosen to shy away from a real Lok Sabha contest while continuing to claim to represent it in the Rajy Sabha.

Be that as it may, this election is also about something Dr. Manmohan Singh said today in his political remarks when he asked through his party’s surrogates in the media

“What is L.K. Advani’s contribution to National Welfare ?”

I wish Dr. Manmohan Singh had the courage and conviction to ask me that question face to face in a televised debate.

But then perhaps it is too much to expect him to face the people of this nation in a debate when he is reluctant to face them on the ballot.

Well Dr. Singh, my contribution to the welfare of this nation is the freedom that you enjoy today to ask me that question without fear of political persecution.

My contribution to the nation, Dr. Singh is that very same political freedom that your Party had deprived this nation of for four whole years by imposing emergency.

My contribution to the nation, Dr. Singh was to sacrifice my personal freedom and the comforts of life to fight for the cause democracy from inside the four walls of Jail during those four years of emergency while you continued to enjoy the comforts of everday life.

My contribution to the nation Dr. Singh was to defend that very document that entitles you to the Office of Prime Ministership – the Indian Constitution, the very document that your Party on every opportune occassion has trampled and violated.

I am not Oxbridge educated nor am I an economist by training.

But I do know a thing a or two about “welfare” and I am proud to have groomed some of the finest breed of leaders who have broken new ground in delivering Welfare through their Governance in states like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Leadership Dr. Singh is not about being selected to High Office by virtue of lineage, but Leadership is about sowing the seeds of future leadership so many more can reap the harvest from their efforts.

I take pride in the fact that Team Advani has raised the bar on public welfare through Governance and Development initiatives like Jyotigram and Ladli Lakshmi Yojana.

Friends, this election is also about Leadership that has the courage and conviction to face the truth and does not shy away from making hard decisions.

Over the last five years there have been multiple terrorist attacks. I have on occassion met many victims and kith and kin of deceased in these terrorist attacks.

 On every occassion these victims of terrorism ask me

Why is that the Dr. Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi never own up to their responsibility for lapses in Terror ?

Why is it they always give us cold comfort by pointing out that there were other attacks during the previous government ?

Should we draw comfort from the fact that others too suffered our fate and go on with our lives ?

Does our loss have no meaning to Dr. Manmohan Singh and Smt Sonia Gandhi that rather than explain how they will bring the Terrorists to justice, they want to spend time talking about what happened 8 years back ?

It pains me to hear Dr. Manmohan Singh run away from his government’s failures on Terrorism by harking back on what happened in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

Yes there were lapses during the NDA regime too, yes things could have been done better, we learnt from our mistakes but we never shied away from putting our performance to the electoral test and we faced the people in 2004 and they gave their verdict.

But Dr. Manmohan Singh how does that help the victims of Delhi, Varnasi, Bangalore, Mumbai 7/11, Hyderabad, Malegaon, Samjhauta Express, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Ajmer Sharif, Guwahati and Mumbai 26/11.

Should that widowed wife, bereaved father and orphaned son take comfort in the fact that 10 years back too someone suffered in a terrorist attack ?

Dr. Manmohan Singh wanted the nation to reflect on what makes someone fit to be Prime Minister.

He is right, and the nation ought to reflect on this criminal negligence and continued delinquency on his part.

Friends I was pleased to note that the Congress party has released its manifesto where it intends to focus on Terrorism and the Economy. It reminds me of Primary School impositions where a child is asked to write a 100 times that they will not repeat a mistake. The Congress Manifesto seems no better than that in its repetition of things it did not do during the last 5 years that it now promises to do.

The Congress Party would like this election to be about festering the wounds of the past by raking up the unfortunate demolition of the Babri Masjid and the unacceptable riots in Gujarat.

The BJP is looking ahead and not to the past.  Leadership is also about facing up to the ghosts of the past and about challenging the bigotry amongst your best friends.

In closing let me assure you that if the BJP lead NDA is voted back to power I shall personally lead the effort for a National Reconciliation on all contentious issues of the last century.

Its my assurance to the Youth of this country that bigotry of the past few decades will not be perpetuated and future governments will not have to carry the burden of the failed politics of Communal Socialism practised by the Congress Party during the first 4 decades after Independence.

Jai Hind and Vande Mataram

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Errata : As pointed out by Offstumped regular reader Jujung the emergency period must read two years and not four years.

Filed under: CNN-IBN Boycott, Chattisgarh Polls 2008, Chhattisgarh Polls 2008, Constituent Assembly, Delhi Polls 2008, DesiPundit, Dharmayudh-2009, Gujarat Polls 2007, India Elections 2009, Karnataka Polls 2008, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Manmohan Confidence Vote, Rajasthan Polls 2008, War on Mumbai, War on Terror, amarnath controversy, betrayal of aam admi, jeetega-bharat

Jammu & Kashmir Polls – And the losers are

It doesnt matter who wins the J&K elections but we definitely know who the losers are.

The first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections recorded a 64 per cent voter turnout, according to an official spokesman on Monday night.

The spokesman said said Gurez constituency in the once terrorist-infested Bandipora district recorded the highest voting– 74 per cent– followed by Mendhar and Poonch (73), Surankote (68), Nobra (66) Leh, Kargil and Zanskar (all 60), Bandipora(57) and Sonawari (46).

Earlier, Chief Electoral Officer B R Sharma told reporters in Srinagar that around 55 per cent polling was registered in the 10 constituencies but the figure was tentative and subject to revision once the final data comes in.

Sharma said Gurez constituency recorded 74 per cent vote followed by Mendhar (65), Poonch (64), Surankote (58), Kargil (57), Nobra (55), Leh (53), Zanskar(48) and Bandipora and Sonawari (42 each).

So while the assorted separatist groups of all hues that go by the name All Party Hurriyat Conference sit out the election, the people of Jammu & Kashmir have reposed their faith in the Indian Democracy.

Offstumped kudos to the people of J&K for showing up in large numbers and exercising their franchise to reiterate the point that elections alone are the means to earning a seat at the negotiating table to make your voices heard.

Filed under: Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, amarnath controversy

Closet Islamists

Pragmatic over at his blog on INI links to this interview by Syed Geelani.

‘Osama [Bin Laden] Has Come Only During the Last Few Years; People Like Me Have Been Fighting For This All Our Lives’

Offstumped will not waste discussing Geelani’s interview here, instead lets examine all those Indians of the resident and non-resident Indians who all have been batting for Geelani’s cause which in his own words is no different from Osama or Al-Qaeda’s?cause.

First the India Civil Society

Arundhati Roy, Prem Shankar Jha, Javeed Naqvi, Sanjay Kak, Dr. Aparna CPI (ML) New Democracy, G.N. Saibaba? Revolutionary Democratic Front, Retd. Justice Rajinder Sachar People?s Union for Civil Liberties, Gautam Navlakha People’s Union for Democratic Rights, S.A.R. Gilani Committee for Release of Political Prisoners

Next Simranjit Singh Mann

Then of course this pack of psuedo-intellectuals that Sandeep calls Non Resident Mischief Mongers

Dr. Angana Chatterji, Dr. Shubh Mathur, Dr. Srimati Basu, Dr. Purnima Bose, Dr. Amitava Kumar, Dr. Swapna Mukhopadhyay, Dr. Richa Nagar, Dr. Vijaya Nagarajan, Dr. Mridu Rai, Dr. Sabina Sawhney, Dr. Simona Sawhney, Dr. Kalpana Rahita Seshadri, Snehal Shingavi, Dr. Ajay Skaria, Sandeep Vaidya, India Solidarity Group (Ireland)

Finally our own homegrown “progressive liberals” from Vir Sanghvi to Kushwant Singh?all of who deserve a short refresher on Syed Geelani’s cause

“The creed of socialism and secularism should not touch our lives, and we must be totally governed by the Koran and the Sunnat (precedents from Prophet Mohammad’s life).”

we must fight against anti-Islamic forces. These forces come in our way under the garb of nationalists, secularists, racists, linguistic chauvinists, and so on

So here is Offstumped’s advise to all of these apologists for Syed Geelani’s cause

Get out of the closet of socialism and secularism and embrace the Sunnat to be governed by the Koran else Syed Geelani is coming after you as soon as he is done with the nationalists in Kashmir

Filed under: amarnath controversy, betrayal of aam admi

Meet India’s Civil Society

So for all of us uncivil Indians and some of us masquerading as civil despite sporting camouflage fatigues, well there is good news (not of the gospel variety but close).

Our prayers have at last been answered.

We now know who make up India’s Civil Society.

So now that veil of secrecy has been lifted on India’s Civil Society, here is an open letter from Offstumped to these very “civil” Indians.

Dear India’s Civil Society

I understand some of you got together at Janahastakshep in New Delhi to discuss issues with a lot of “civility”.

It fills me with immense disappointment that you did not advertise this Janhastakshep – “intereference in other people’s affairs” wide enough.

You see I have been yearning for years to learn the ways of you “civil” people, especially how you have perfected this art of “intereference in other people’s affairs”.

It warmed my heart to learn that your “intereference in other people’s affairs” has institutional sanction when you referred to this

the Indian government has singularly failed to follow the recommendations of the Nitish Sengupta Committee (1996) which had proposed curtailment of the Amarnath Yatra to 30 days and restricting the number of yatris to one lakh.

Thats absolutely the most “civil” thing to do, to tell other people how long they can conduct their private affairs of faith and how many of them can conduct them at the same time in the same place.

You sirs and madame, have taken “civility” to new heights with this “interference in other people’s religious affairs”. I salute you.

But sirs and madame, it would be terribly uncivil of me if I dont celebrate your “civility” by highlighting your deepest contempt for those amongst who masquerade as “civil” while actually wearing camouflage fatigues.

repression is back in vogue with Indian troops singling out local leaders with arrests, beating, booking some under draconian Public Safety Act, and filing of more than 250 case

You sirs are the epitome of “Civil Society” for you have the courage to call the repressive Indian Military for what it really stands as you continue to enjoy the freedom of speech at their expense. That sirs and madame is the kind of sincerity “civil society” needs to put hypocrisy to shame.

But sirs and madame this very “civil” concern from you is most ennobling and has me at a loss for “civil” words of praise, I hope you will pardon my colorful french !#$%^&

In contrast ….agitators in Jammu, persons charged with various violent acts have been allowed to go scot-free

What can I say of your great vision that never fails to see the very “civil”

Massive and peaceful outpouring on the streets of Srinagar and elsewhere in Kashmir Valley

while always failing to mention the very “uncivil” and very violent protests in Jammu sporting the Indian Flag.

Thats just the kind of double standard we need to keep the “uncivil” hooligans far away from us India’s Civil Society.

I would be guilty of delinquency of the most “uncivil” variety if I did not thank each one of you, who spoke at the event on Janhastakshep – “interference in other people’s affairs”, by name

Arundhati Roy, Prem Shankar Jha, Javeed Naqvi, Sanjay Kak, Dr. Aparna CPI (ML) New Democracy, G.N. Saibaba? Revolutionary Democratic Front, Retd. Justice Rajinder Sachar People?s Union for Civil Liberties, Gautam Navlakha People’s Union for Democratic Rights, S.A.R. Gilani Committee for Release of Political Prisoners

You Sirs and Madam have distinguished yourselves globally as the first national Civil society that no qualms advocating against your own nation’s interests.

Kashmir Valley ought to be met with meaningful political dialogue, which ought to revolve around the right of self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Thats the pinnacle of “Civil” behavior, you cant beat intereference in an entire Nation’s affairs.

I salute you and hope to some day learn and practice the art of “interefering with other people’s affairs” as masterly as you do.

Your hypocritically

A very “uncivil” Aam Admi

Filed under: amarnath controversy, betrayal of aam admi

How Kashmir and India can win in Kashmir ?

In all the fury and fire over Jammu and Kashmir, the armchair pundits who have thrown in the towel have missed a crucial point.

One of the reasons why Pakistan’s meddling in Kashmir and the Terrorism in Kashmir have waned in recent years was because the 2003 elections were seen by even the worst detractors of India as being credible and legitimate.

In fact by sitting out of that election, the moderate and hardline factions of Hurriyat saw the political space occuppied by them usurped by the Mufti Mohammad Syed lead PDP.

For all its failings the PDP deserves the credit and appreciation of all nationalist Indians for having reposed faith in the Democratic Institutions of India, whatever maybe its agenda. It did not shy away from participating in these elections and viewing the mandate obtained thus as the basis for establishing itself as the legitimate voice of a section of the Kashmiri society.

It is this faith in Democratic Institutions of India and this legitimacy of the mandate thats at stake in the separatist fires of Kashmir.

The separatists have realized that cannot afford to be sidelined and rendered irrelevant by another hugely succesful election that may pretty much see the PDP and National Conference as the primary representative voices in Kashmir.

Hence this pre-emptive strike with calls for freedom. Even the most bigoted Kashmiri knows in his heart that the calls for freedom are a choice between the failed state of Pakistan and a grand isolation with a dead end future.

This brinkmanship in Kashmir is not about freedom for its a pipe dream and well beyond the realm of reality but for some armchair pundits and demented whackos.

This brinkmanship in Kashmir is really about rpostponing elections or rendering them absolutely lacking in legitimacy and credibility so that the separatists can protect their political turf against the PDP and National Conference.

Hence the strategic and nationalist imperative in Kashmir is to ensure that the elections are conducted on time and are seen to be legitimate and popular. One way to do this is to make any serious talks with any faction in Kashmir, separatists included, contingent upon participation in elections.

Offstumped Bottomline: It appears that Manmohan Singh’s legacy could well end up being the undoing of Vajpayee’s unparalleled feat of a free and fair elections in Kashmir?whose legtimacy and credibility were?beyond question. There is only one way?for Kashmir and India to win in Kashmir. Elections on time and with everyone’s participation. It?demands that the PDP and National Conference rise to the occassion and raise the stakes for the Hurriyat to participate else its a matter of survival for them??

Filed under: amarnath controversy

Kashmir – Defeat the defeatists

The hall of shame grows by the hour.

First it was Swaminathan Aiyer, then Vir Sanghvi, Arundhati Roy and now Kushwant Singh.

Thank heavens they are only arm-chair pundits and demented whackos but their defeatism can be infectious.

Before their pestilence afflicts the political establishment its important to defeat their defeatism.

Let it be loud and clear across India – Muslim Majoritarianism cannot be the basis for a second partition.

A third Muslim Majoritarian island on India’s frontiers will be a recipe of disaster. It will become a safe haven and sanctuary to resettle the whackos from Pakistan’s troubled borders. Such an island of religious whackos on our frontiers is unacceptable, we have already paid a hefty price for the existing two.?

So Offstumped is taking a break from its centrist stance in the past on this issue to significantly modify the 3 choices it presented in yesterday’s post?while reiterating that Option 1 continues to enjoy Offstumped’s support in line with the proposal made by Mirwaiz Umar Farooque on restoring pre-1953 status with some caveats and modifications.

Option#1 – Reconcile for a meaningful future in the 21st Century success story called India

OR

Option#2 – Emigrate to the failed State of Pakistan, but first check if they really want you as Pakistanis or as the second class Kashmiris of PoK.

OR

Option#3 – Prepare to face the Nuclear Option

Offstumped Bottomline: If faced to choose?between a terrorist State of Kashmir with open borders to the rogue elements from Al-Qaeda to Talibana?and a wasteland that used to be once the Indian state of Kashmir, let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind what choice the Indian State will make.

Filed under: amarnath controversy

Geelani says he is a Pakistani

Offstumped says your Visa is past its expiry, please leave or face deportation.

Meanwhile in other news, another Indian born Pakistani was served deportation notices so he too like Mr. Gilani could find his true links to Islam.? The best practice in Pakistan is to send deportees to Saudi Arabia, so Mr. Gilani you may want to save yourself the trouble of a troubled and chaotic Transit through Pakistan and instead choose to join Mian Musharraf directly in Jeddah as a State Guest.

For the rest of the folks in Kashmir who still care about their future in the 21st century, Nitin over at The Acorn has made a very eloquent case and persuasive case for National Reconciliation premised on the inviolability of the Indian Republic but freedom for all States?in this Republic not just Kashmir to make Socio-Economic choices.

So you have a clear choice to make here.

Option#1 – Reconcile for a meaningful future in the 21st Century success story called India

OR

Option#2 – Prepare yourselves for another decade of lost opportunity agitating in the Indian state Kashmir while the other states of India marches on

OR

Option#3 – Emigrate to the failed State of Pakistan, but first check if they really want you as Pakistanis or as the second class Kashmiris of PoK.

Filed under: amarnath controversy