Palash Speaks

Different Historical View and Different Resistance Wanted Unless the galaxy will be Ruled by Manusmriti Order!
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: alashbiswaskl@gmail.com">palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
Galileo showed off his telescope nearly 400-years ago. And astronomy has come light-years since then. The latest gadget for the star-struck is Google sky. Now 200 million galaxies could just be a mouse click away.
And this galaxy is going to be ruled by Zionist Hindu Post Modern manusmriti Order. Since, the zionist and Brahmins establised dicrimination, caste and apartheid based socied before thousands of years, they are in a position to sustain the Hegemony and the Blacks, Minorities, Refugees and Dalits are destined to be enslaved infinitely with inherent inequality and continuous uprooting from life and livelihood. It would take more than some hundred years to create a mechanism of resistance against the rotten Old system. Awakening lacked as Indian Subcontinent could not rise against british Raj as a nation ,as a people before the fall of east India Company and here too, the industrialisation and renaissance in Europe contributed much. The blacks worldwide could finish apartheid with continuous struggle since spartcus` days. French and US revolutions only were logical results. We could not finish caste in India as we never fought syatematically against it as systematically the system was created by the Brahmins!
Brahminism dragging down India
This long message sent by an old member of the DV family in England was read out by the Editor himself at the Dalit Voice silver jubilee function in London on July 24, 2007. The message is published in full because of its eminent author’s several qualifications to comment with full authority on Brahminism that is dragging down India: she is an eminent anthropologist, (age 71), a White British citizen, deep study of India where she lived for several years with her daughter married to a Brahmin in Madhya Pradesh. She was away in Canada during our London meeting.
U.S. WAR ON TERROR”
West defeated in “clash of ideas” with Islam
V.T. RAJSHEKAR
[Paper on “US War on Terror” presented at the London Institute of South Asia (LISA) seminar in London on July 24 2007 at the Imperial College of Science, South Kensington, Central London. ]
The subject, “US War on Terror” has been the hottest international controversy for the past several years that any opinion you express is bound to be criticised. I am very well aware of the risks.
But we the Dalits (Untouchables of India), treated as slaves by its Hindu rulers, belong to no party to this longest war of the century waged by the American-led West against “terrorism.” We are neither Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Jew. India’s Hindu rulers led by their 3% Brahmins are the most enthusiastic supporters of America and its war on terror. India has the world’s largest Muslim population (next to Indonesia) which the Hindu rulers have declared as the enemy of Hindus and subjected to daily war and violence. So I am, with the permission of the chair, amending the subject to include India in my paper. Being neither Hindu nor Muslim our opinion on this war on terror can be taken as impartial, rank outsiders.
As the Editor of Dalit Voice, India’s largest circulated journal of the Untouchables, we have been writing on this “US war on Terror” ever since George W. Bush father launched the “clash of civilisations” and we are glad to tell you our readers have fully supported our stand on this subject. We have also gathered enough evidences from authentic American sources itself about the “terrorist attack” on the World Trade Centre. Hundreds of lies have been manufactured to hide the real perpetrators of the WTC holocaust.
Subsequent developments have revealed that Saddam Hussain had neither the weapons of mass destruction nor did he have any connection with Al-Qaida.
American people would have realised long back that this war on terror is built on a mountain of lies, totally hidden from their eyes by the mass media, controlled by its Jewish owners and journalists. The American voters themselves rejected President Bush’s party of Republicans after disbelieving his lies on the war. Bush himself has become the most hated President of America. His tail, Tony Blair, had a shameful exit. The Bush poodle died even before its master. The world opinion is not only against Bush and Blair and the war they started but the peoples of the world have started disbelieving all the lies manufactured to launch this war.
So it is now clear, even to a child, that all these cock and bull stories were manufactured and sold to protect the zionist Israel, which is the cause of the entire Middle East violence.
INDIA’S WAR ON MUSLIMS
In India too, we are witnessing the same scene daily. What we call as the “Jews of India” have made full use of this “US war on terror” and launched a bloody war on Indias’ Muslims. Not a single day passes without a war and violence on India’s innocent Muslims.
So it is now clear that this “US War on Terror” is nothing but a war on Muslims and Islam.
We very often hear from government leaders and the media that the “terrorists are killing innocents.” If Bush and Blair can kill millions and millions of innocent Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine etc, what is wrong in Muslims getting angry and retaliating? The Muslim terrorism is a rightful reaction to the Western action. Muslims say:” You stop the war on Muslims and Muslims will stop terrorism.” Why there was no Muslim terrorism before the Bush-Blair war on Muslims? For this Bush and Blair may point out the grave Al –Qaida provocation of 9/11 but we have our own doubts about the American version of 9/11. If the hate-Muslim campaign in the West is a recent development, in India the Muslim hatred was the very basis of the country’s partition in 1947. The Hindu rulers waged three wars against Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir, the world’s second longest lasting international dispute after Palestine, disregarding the UN call for plebiscite on the disputed territory.
So on this anti-Muslim hatred demonizing Muslims and attributing all types of cruelty to Muslims, India’s Hindu rulers excel American and Western rulers.
Nay. On one side they hate the Muslims (15% of India), on the other side they are doing everything to keep our people, Dalits (20%) enslaved. Why they hate both because most of the Indian Muslims are converts from our community and conversion brought liberation. I have to give this brief background of India because though India is far, far away from the West both suffer from the same hate-Muslim insomnia and the consequent pain, suffering, war and violence.
After observing this unending “war on terror” in the West and in India, our conclusion is that this “war on terror” is nothing but a war on Islam. Any amount of hiding this war on Islam by giving it all sorts of respectable names cannot hide the real intentions behind it.
Bush/Blair/ Brown argument that their intention is to “promote democracy” will not impress the Muslims, or outsiders like us.
WESTERN CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY
Because the word “democracy” itself makes the Muslims suspect the sellers of democracy. Please note “democracy” and “secularism” are zionist inventions to subvert and destroy nation-states and the ethnic identities which are the special features of Asian and African societies. This statement may come as a shock to you, but those doubting us may verify this from the book, Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the secret book of the zionists (for copies write to Dalit Voice office, Rs. 50). The failure of Western model of democracy in India is because it did not take into consideration India’s caste-based society and its varieties of ethnic identities. Even in China, “democracy” is not accepted for the very same reason. Western-style democracy and secularism can work only in countries where the society is homogenous.
If the West goes on lecturing Muslims on “strengthening democracy” not only Muslims, but also Asians and Africans will suspect such people more and more.
The West only talks of democracy and says Muslims must promote democracy. But always supports the worst tyrants like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan etc.
British rulers have also started using some deceptive language. The new PM, Gordon Brown, wants to change the choice of language. The media is also calling for a new vocabulary. But we can tell you that such a change is no use because by now the whole world knows what is meant by this “war on terror.” It is nothing but a war on Islam.
HOW TO DESTROY AN IDEA?
After making a deep study of the problem, I want to impress both the Western as well as India’s Hindu warmongers that they can never, ever win this “war on terror”- meaning Islam.
Why? Because Islam is an idea or ideology. An idea cannot be defeated or killed by any weapon, any army or bomb. An idea can be fought and defeated by a more superior idea.
An overwhelming majority of Western Christians are innocent and good people. But the Western ruling class is guided by zionist money bags, media and its stink (not think) tank. This is the real problem.
Do the people conducting this war on Muslims have any superior idea or ideology to defeat the Islamic ideology?
SUICIDE BOMBER
Both the Western rulers and India’s Hindu rulers have launched a bloody war on Muslims and Islam. They have killed millions and millions of Muslims. But to this day they have not claimed any victory. Nor have they made even a dent on Islam.
Muslims are simply fighting and dying. They are ready to die. Even young, unarmed boys are fighting the armed Israeli soldiers and dying. But it is the Western people and India’s Brahminical rulers who say they are afraid of dying. The Muslims have invented a new revolutionary magic weapon unknown to the West – the suicide bomber (Japanese and Lankan precedents are there).
Neither the Western nor Hindu rulers could prepare a single suicide bomber to this day. They have no courage. How can those who are afraid of dying win a war?
But Muslims have produced hundreds of such soldiers. Even young Muslim girls are not afraid of dying. Suicide bombers are dying daily. They call it Jihad.
So at this stage we can confidently predict who is going to win this war of ideas. Having failed so far to win this war, the sinking American rulers are now under zionist pressure to attack Iran. That means a sure world war because that will force China, Russia and many other countries to intervene. And the UN, the world’s only hope, will break into pieces.
SALMAN RUSHDIE HONOUR
Such a bankruptcy of ideas and ideology is forcing the Western rulers to take desperate steps even at the cost of a third world war — all because of their misplaced love for a tiny Israel and defend its illegal occupation of the Palestinian land.
Having failed in this war, they are already giving expression to their desperation resorting to heinous tactics of corrupting and co-opting their Muslim enemies. We have the standing example of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and its American stooge appointed Prime Minister. Not only that. Tony Blair, hated by the Palestinians and the Muslims as a whole, is appointed Middle East envoy on whom the Muslims have no trust. Such a habit of corrupting and co-opting enemies of Muslims and honouring hated authors like Salman Rushdie is like pouring petrol on the burning fire.
Such actions of the West are forcing the Muslim revolutionaries to fight two enemies – internal and external – at the same time. This is what Hamas is called upon to do in Palestine and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Unless the internal enemies are eliminated first, the external enemies cannot be fought.
So to put the matter straight it is a no-holds-barred war against Islam not by the masses of Christians in the West and India but by a tiny Western ruling class led by its zionist masters and by a mere micro-minority of 3% “Jews of India”.
LESSONS OF HISTORY
While dealing with this most important burning topic of the day, I will be failing in my duty if I don’t refer to the lessons of history. I have to refer to history because history has taught us that those who forget the past cannot build the future. What does history say? Among the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), the conflict has been mostly between Christianity and Judaism. Jews who lived in Islamic empires faced no persecution.
“The Muslims of Spain had given Jews the best home they had ever had in the diaspora, so the annihilation of Spanish Jewry was mourned by Jews throughout the world as the greatest disaster to have befallen their people since the destruction of the Temple in CE 70.” (P. 304, Karen Armstrong, A History of God, 1993, Vintage Books, London)
The author, a British Roman Catholic nun and a distinguished religious historian, says it was Christianity that was most violent against Jews during the15th century. Thousands of Jews were expelled from different countries. The German nazis accused of Jewish Holocaust were also Christians. She refers to many clashes between Christians and Jews but hardly any between Muslims and Jews.
The Tehran correspondent of The Guardian (July 13, 2007) reports that 25,000 Jews living in Iran rejected the Israeli offer of cash if they migrated to Israel, the arch enemy of Iran. Jews have lived in Iran since 700 BC. Jews rejected the zionist offer and said that they were Iranians first and Jews second.
NO MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN CONFLICT
The zionist – Muslim conflict began only with the creation of the zionist state and imposing it on the Palestinians with the firm British Government blessings. Even Churchill was not happy with this arrangement. This is the beginning of the zionist-Muslim conflict if my reading of history is correct. Nor was there any major conflict between Muslims and Christians. Christ was given the highest place of a prophet in the Quran. Both the First and the Second World War were fought mainly between the Christians only.
The Muslims were forced to fight the zionists who were supported by the Christian ruling class of England only after the zionists illegally occupied the Arab land. Any number of UN resolutions are there on record.
We can understand the zionists hating Muslims because they are fighting the zionists who have occupied the Muslim land. Why should the Western Christians join this zionist war on Islam? Muslims have nothing against Christians.
This is where we get doubts that the Western Christian political leadership, particularly in America and England, is manipulated by Zionist money and media power. Total media blackout in America has kept its innocent people in total darkness. In fact, outsiders like us know more about the truth than those inside America.
Our fear is the American political leadership by becoming a puppet in the hands of zionists is not only endangering peace in the whole of West but causing the economic collapse of America itself. The peoples of India, China, Africa and peace loving peoples even in the West have their heart with the Muslim sufferers.
If the zionists want to impose Israel on the Arab land, let them do it. Why the Christian leadership should fight the zionist war?
Already the Christian religion is under too much confusion. A large number of churches in England, Germany and elsewhere are closed down. There are hardly and church-goers in the West. Many of them have become indifferent towards god and religion.
CHRISTIAN – MUSLIM RECONCILIATION
But the zionists who preached communism, atheism to Christians are keeping their synagogues active and their religion fighting fit. Even in America, mainstream churches are fading and the Jewish-controlled Evangelicals are running riot. The Christian religion itself is in deep trouble in the West. Christian values are under threat.
So it is time the Christian West and Christian religious leaders, the Pope, the World Council of Churches etc. deeply ponder over these serious issues which have endangered the very peace and happiness of the entire Western Christian world and make peace with Muslims and Islam and join Muslims to rebuild the world.
A noted American intellectual and professor of History at Columbia University, Dr. Richard W. Bulliet, has written a book itself on the subject,Islamo-Christian Civilisation (2004). There is an urgent need for Islam – Christian reconciliation to save the world from sure Armageddon (Dalit Voice editorial Sept. 16 2006). Unless the Western Christian laity correct, control and force their political leadership, they will not be able to avert a third world war which is knocking at our doors
According to the Guardian (July 17 2007) Al-Qaida has become stronger, better equipped and well placed to attack both America and Europe. This was the assessment of the American Government itself, according to the Guardian.
WHO IS REAL ENEMY OF JEWS?
There is yet another serious problem with the highly advanced Western Christian society and the Jews.
Muslims are enlightened enough to understand that despite all their educational backwardness they have identified their enemy. But it is the highly educated and scientifically advanced Christians and Jews who have failed to identify their enemy.
We congratulate our friend, the British journalist and historian, Alan Hart, for writing a scholarly book in two volumes on this subject, Zionism — The Real Enemy of the Jews.
The West should realise the fact that zionism is not only the enemy of Jews, but it is also the enemy of the Western Christian society. Similarly in India, the Brahmin is not our enemy. The real enemy of Brahmin and India is Brahminism.
But I am sorry to note Alan Hart’s scholarly work did not get the respect and recognition it deserved. As the Christians and Jews have failed to honour the writer, who made the world know the truth, it is now the duty of Muslims to honour Alan Hart.
CONCLUSION
The Western society today is the richest, technologically the most advanced and militarily the mightiest. In contrast the Muslim world is poor, backward and riddled with plenty of stooges who have placed their only wealth (oil) at the disposal of the West. In spite of all these advantages, why the West is not able to defeat the Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine or even Pakistan?
Every time the “Muslim Terrorism” explodes the Western rulers say they are caught unawares. What does it mean? If the gory picture of the Al-Qaida and the more-than-the-life picture given about Osama Bin Laden are true, we are not able to understand how a frail ageing man sitting atop a mountain or hiding in a cave without any standing army, deadly weapons or any latest communication network is able to terrorise the world’s sole superpower. Are we listening to a fairy tale?
What does all this mean? The answer to this question reveals the Great Truth. The Western thinkers and scholars know the Truth but they are unable to understand it. What is this Great Truth? The Truth is between the world of property and world of ideas which is more powerful?
The West says the world of property is all that matters. If you have the wealth you can command anything. It brings happiness, respect. And military might will assure peace.
MILITARY MIGHT
All this is now proved false. The zionist Israel, a nuclear power and controller of the whole Western world, is not even getting sound sleep in the night.
Bush and his Neo-cons, who built the myth of military power as the determining factor, have been rejected by the American people themselves.
The dollar is sinking and China is poised to replace USA in another 20 years. Where is the myth of military might? Where is the superpower arrogance? Where is the dollar domination? Bush and Blair, dancing to the tunes of their zionist controllers have been rejected by their own people and thrown into the dustbin of history.
What a slap on the face of Samuel Huntington who tried to confuse and mislead us by calling it a “Clash of Civilisations.” It is not a clash of civilisations. It is a clash of ideas. In other words, the world of property is defeated by the world of ideas. See how these zionist writers are misleading the civilised world.What is this world of ideas? The answer is Islam.
The Christian world must note that Islam has nothing against Christianity or Christians, nor is it against Jews. It is time the Christian world understands this supreme truth. But our fear is that the Bush – Blair pair, intoxicated by the overdose of zionist liquor, will not regain sanity until they completely ruin the hard-won Western Christian civilisation and bring to grief the entire Christian world.
FUTURE BELONGS TO ASIA
The future belongs to Asia, meaning China, India and Africa — the winners in this “Clash of Civilisations,” to put it in the words of Huntington.
Of course in India we have to tackle the 3% ruling “Jews of India” who too have made terrorism, meaning Muslim mayhem, as their staple diet.
What is worrying us in India is the desperate bid of the “Jews of India” to join hands with their counterparts in America. The “Jews of India” have urged the American Jews to shift their enormous capital to India so that together they could subjugate India’s Dalits, Muslim’s and other original inhabitants, finish their hated Pakistan and finally take on China.
But our information is that the American Jews have expressed some reservations on this offer. The Brahminical rulers are told that their 60 year-old rule of India has only made a mess of the whole country. They are first asked to show their “merit and efficiency” inside India before selling their global ambitions.
That means there is total confusion unless the Christian leadership takes the initiative to end this mindless war and violence. With this question mark I will end this paper.
http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/august_a2007/articles.htm
AS AUSTRALIA'S defence minister during the Vietnam War and its prime minister when a flood of boat people arrived, Malcolm Fraser has a much different historical view of that conflict than US President George Bush.Fraser says the Vietnam experience left him convinced that no Australian government should ever again commit troops to a major war as an ally of the United States unless it could place a senior minister in Washington to closely examine US policy and strategy.
In a major speech to US war veterans in Missouri this week, Bush described how the willingness of the US to persevere in wars against Japan, Germany and Korea produced economically strong democracies that were now valuable American allies.In contrast, the decision to pull out of Vietnam contributed to the collapse of the South, the flood of boat people, retribution against those who stayed and precipitated the horrors of Pol Pot's regime in neighbouring Cambodia.Bush argued that those historical events demonstrated why the US should stay the course in Iraq.
Fraser, army minister and then defence minister during Vietnam War, said yesterday he was far from impressed by Bush's sense of history.
Japan's bid for a strategic partnership with India aims to counter China's rising influence, with Tokyo omitting Beijing from its vision of an Asian 'arc of freedom', analysts said on Thursday. The highlight of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's three-day visit to India was the signing of a roadmap for strategic and global partnership between the two Asian giants.
Abe called for greater political, security, defence and trade relations. "They are keen to consolidate their relations with India, which they see as a balance of power in the east against China's growing influence," said Sushila Narsimhan, professor of Japanese history at Delhi University. Abe made no reference to China on Wednesday when he called for the creation of an "arc of freedom and prosperity" bringing together Australia, India, Japan and the United States, but Beijing loomed large in the background.
Analyst C Raja Mohan said the trip had highlighted Abe's key strategic aims - rebuilding a "foreign policy that is rooted in Japan's Asian identity and constructing a new Asia that is committed to democratic values and freer trade."

The Government on Thursday said Air India and Indian Airlines have been asked to increase flights to bring over two lakh Indians stranded in the UAE as members in both Houses sought its urgent intervention in the wake of the Gulf nation directing all those without work permits to leave by September 2.
"I have talked to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and the Air India Chairman for increasing the frequency of flights," Minister of State for Overseas Affairs Vyalar Ravi said in the Rajya Sabha.
Since most of the stranded people were Telugu speaking, the External Affairs Ministry had made arrangements to depute officials knowing that language, he said during Zero Hour.Raising the issue, Ravula Chandra Sekhar Reddy (TDP) charged the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh with not doing enough for the safe return of the stranded people, most of whom belonged to SCs and STs.In the Lok Sabha, S Sudhakar Reddy (CPI) said there were 3.5 lakh Indians in the Gulf country and of them 80,000 belonged to Andhra Pradesh alone.
On the other hand,After violent demonstrations in Bangladesh, the country's military-backed caretaker government has apparently decided to confront and possibly suppress various sections of the population growing more restless by the day. While, Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif vowed on Thursday to return from exile in the coming days and fight to end President Pervez Musharraf's rule.

The caretaker government appears to have come to the conclusion that the demonstrations represented a real challenge to its authority - if not its continued existence. In unprecedented scenes, soldiers in uniform were seen being chased out of the Dhaka university campus by students. In two days, the myth of the army's omnipotence was all but laid to rest.
Meanwhile,Nepal's multi-party transitional government has decided to nationalise major royal properties inherited by King Gyanendra. The properties include the Narayanhiti Royal Palace in the capital, Kathmandu, and six other historic palaces around the country. The government says that some of those listed are archeologically significant. It is the latest setback for the king, who has already been stripped of most of his powers and prerogatives. He is no longer head of state or army chief, following a historic peace pact with rebel Maoists and political parties earlier this year. The monarchy itself remains suspended under the present constitution.

Pakistan's 60 year struggle for democracy
by Rehan Rafay Jamil
24 August 2007 Print
Email

KARACHI - As Pakistanis celebrate sixty years of independence, the country finds itself embroiled in yet another seemingly intractable political crisis. The state, founded by one of the Indian subcontinent's most brilliant lawyers, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, has spent more than half of its life under military rule. Jinnah envisioned Pakistan as a secular and democratic state. Today Pakistan is ruled by the military, and President Pervez Musharraf seems determined to stay in power despite his inability to prevent the growing militancy and political unrest brewing in the country.
Musharraf has travelled down a well-trodden path. Starting with the first military coup in 1958, the country has experienced a continuous power struggle between elected and military rulers. The plot is quite predictable by now. A general overthrows a civilian government in a military coup, making lofty but inevitably elusive promises to hold elections and return the country to democratic rule.
Democracy may not be the panacea for all Pakistan's problems but it is a discourse deeply rooted in the Pakistani polity since the country's inception. Unlike many other Muslim countries, Pakistan has enjoyed brief periods of democratic rule. But elections are just one component of democracy and must be supported by strong institutions such as an independent judiciary, a free press and a robust civil society, elements that have ? until recently ? been absent in Pakistan.
In March, Musharraf made the mistake of suspending the most senior judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Ifitkhar Chaudhury. Few could have contemplated the overwhelming public support that followed. The demand for the restoration of the Chief Justice and the independence of the judiciary captured the imagination of the nation. In a historic verdict by the Supreme Court this month, the Chief Justice was reinstated.
This lawyers' movement was a rare and unprecedented display of people's power in Pakistan. The protests were brought to the homes of millions of people by Pakistan's electronic media. Musharraf's seven-year rule has seen the strengthening of Pakistani civil society and a free press; it is these two institutions that could play an important role in his downfall.
There is a well-known saying in Pakistan that there are three A's that keep the country intact: Allah, the Army and America. This saying may be indicative of some deeper truths about the powers that shape Pakistani political life. Pakistan was a crucial American ally in the final days of the Cold War, which saw the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan. Today Pakistan once again finds itself as an indispensable ally in the Bush administration's so-called "War on Terror". But the two countries have always had a difficult relationship with mutual suspicion entrenched on both sides. A stable and friendly Pakistani government is essential for American efforts to maintain the fledgling peace in Afghanistan and curb the militancy along the Pak-Afghan border.
The fear that Pakistan, a state armed with nuclear weapons, could be taken over by hostile religious extremists has been a source of concern for American policy makers. The recent standoff between the government and fundamentalist students in the Red Mosque in the heart of the capital Islamabad ostensibly strengthens that perception. However, the Pakistani military establishment has a dubious and well-documented history of covertly supporting religious political parties and militant groups to marginalize mainstream political parties and further its foreign policy objectives. While religious parties may enjoy strong social support in Pakistan, they have had limited electoral success, as has been proven time and again at the ballot box.
Today Musharraf finds himself at an important crossroads. His political opponents argue that it is unconstitutional for him to simultaneously remain President and Chief of Army. With parliamentary elections scheduled for October, the President is faced with a difficult dilemma: he can either attempt to stay in power in the hopes of continued support from his two principle allies ? the Pakistan Army and America ? or he can step down from his position as Chief of Army and allow a peaceful transition of power to a civilian government by holding transparent elections. Such a move could secure him a place in history and ensure that his considerable economic and social reforms in Pakistan are not overshadowed by a desperate attempt to stay in power at all costs.
There is evidence of recent clandestine talks of cooperation between Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto, the exiled leader of Pakistan's largest political party. If these talks bear fruit, there could be a return to civilian rule in the country. Unfortunately, this in itself will not guarantee a quick fix to Pakistan's myriad problems. The track records of the leaders of Pakistan's two major political parties, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, hardly inspire confidence in democratic leadership of the country.
In order for a democratic political culture to take root in Pakistan, civilian governments must be allowed to complete their tenures in office. The people, along with democratic institutions, such as an independent judiciary and free press, should hold political leadership accountable.
In the long-term, perhaps the Turkish political model of an institutionalized role for the military in politics may be the only solution to maintain a balance of power between Pakistan's powerful military establishment and popularly elected governments.
###
*Rehan Rafay Jamil is a freelance journalist based in Pakistan. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
http://www.mediaforfreedom.com/ReadArtic

Left's 'stop N-deal' Rhetoric Continues with Bengal Seeking Jap Favour
Buddhadeb calls an all party meeting top locate the controversial chemical hub for DOWs and Salim!
Mayawati decided to roll back her new agriculture policy and ordered closure of Reliance Fresh stores
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: alashbiswaskl@gmail.com">palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
(Fidel uses his considerable ability to draw media attention to help
increase international coverage of the case of the Cuban Five today.)
============ ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= ====
Reflections by Cuban President Fidel Castro
The Empire Tastes an Unprecedented Moral Defeat
The words of Roberto González, a lawyer born to a Cuban family that
fled to the United States during the dictatorship and returned to Cuba
following the triumph of the Revolution, come to mind as I begin to
reflect on this issue. Like René, he was born in the United States
during his family's sojourn there. He has been fighting tirelessly to
obtain the release of his brother René, who endures cruel and unjust
imprisonment, as do four other heroes who sought to defend their
country in the struggle against terrorism.
"The worst thing that can happen to us is to allow a sense of defeat or
victory paralyze us; we will have won in the case of the Five when they
have set foot in Havana... for this is the kind of trial that is won
with facts many times over but is lost before the Law, by virtue of the
judges' decision".
These are wise and sensible words, spoken by a true expert at war
against shameless actions. Even he expressed his surprise at what
transpired.
During the Round Table program, we were given a sense of the importance
of the testimonies afforded, in the city of Atlanta, by 73
world-renowned experts in international Law. There, it was shown beyond
the shadow of a doubt that the felonies imputed to the accused,
resulting in convictions unanimously approved by a supposedly impartial
jury, in the last community on Earth where one could expect a fair
verdict, were never in fact committed. Each and every one of statements
made at the Round Table or over the phone, by those who spoke and those
who have yet to speak, must be read word by word and analyzed.
In real espionage cases, recently tried in the United States,
convictions usually do not exceed a 10-year prison sentence. The charge
of conspiracy to commit espionage brought against our five compatriots
has not even been proven. Their cruel and unusual fate, and that of
their relatives, reflects the perfidious overt policy pursued by
Washington of using terrorism against the Cuban people, a policy which,
for nearly half a century, has been in violation of the most elementary
norms set down by the United Nations and encroaching upon the
sovereignty of nations.
There are many important and proven facts that I could add, but I wish
to be brief so that these words may be transcribed and published by the
Cuban press. The most important thing is for our people to develop a
solid and unshakable conscience of these realities.
Fidel Castro Ruz
August 22, 2007
4:35 p.m.

Indo-US deal leaves common man in the lurch

Monideepa Banerjie/Gilvester
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 (Kolkata/Thiruvananthapuram)
The Left parties may be pushing the country towards mid-term polls but back in West Bengal and Kerala, the states where they rule, common man on the street is not sure why.
Those who understand the nitty-gritties of the nuclear deal are divided and political party workers, who have barely recovered from Assembly elections last April, are certainly not looking forward to another one again.
NDTV went to the streets and asked the rickshaw puller, coconut seller, taxi driver, vegetable vendor in various cities.
They are all voters but none of them know what the nuclear deal is nor why the country may be headed towards an election because of it.
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070023501
Buddhadeb calls an all party meeting top locate the controversial chemical hub for DOWs and Salim!Party General Secretary Prakash Karat, who had earlier warned the government of serious consequences if it went ahead with the deal, submitted a report of the Politburo on the contentious deal before the Central Committee. He is also understood to have apprised the Central Committee of his meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to iron out differences on the issue. The major Left party is maintaining that negotiations with IAEA on the safeguards agreement would bind India in perpetuity. If Kakodkar discusses the Indo-US nuclear deal with IAEA, the Left parties will decide on future of the relationship, the sources said.
The CPM Central Committee is likely to meet again in mid-September.
Left`s No Nuclear deal rhetoric continues with a diffrent flavour as after a two-day meeting of its Central Committee, the top decision making body of the party, the CPI(M) for the first time said it does not want the current crisis to affect the government which it supports from outside. The West Bengal government today sought assistance from Japan in key sectors like IT hardware, infrastructure and hydro-electric power. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today visited Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's ancestral home here and expressed the hope that Indo-Japan relations would grow stronger in line with the freedom fighter's dream. Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation's subsidiary will triple production of a key component used in making polyester and PET bottles at its Haldia plant by 2009, Japanese Prime Minister said . Expressing admiration for the leader who fought the British during World War II with the help of Axis force in South Asia, Abe recalled Bose's ties with Japan.
hough the state government's information and cultural affairs department had sent invitations to a section of the media yesterday, these were cancelled hours later. A statement said, "Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee calling on H E Shinzo Abe has been dropped due to some unavoidable circumstances. We, therefore regret to inform you that the invitation communicated to you may kindly be treated as cancelled." Asked whether the meeting had been totally cancelled, a state government spokesman had said it would be held but the media would not be allowed to cover it.
While continuing to rule out the Left's fears over Hyde Act, the government sources admitted that the Left's concerns over the IAEA safeguard protocol were indeed justified because New Delhi would have to make "maximum concessions" in Vienna. Although some senior ministers indicated that the government might turn to smaller regional parties for legislative support in the event of a divorce with the Left, they admitted that the Congress party and the government would pay a heavy price for such an action.The CPM on Thursday warned the UPA government of withdrawal of support if it went ahead with operationalising the Indo-US nuclear deal as its Central Committee authorised the top leadership to take "appropriate decision at an appropriate time" to block the agreement. Unrelenting on its opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal, the CPI(M) on Thursday made it clear that the future of the UPA coalition lies with the government, not operationalising the agreement and sought to dispel the image that the Left was interested in pulling it down.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe concluded his India visit Thursday after a tour to the eastern city of Kolkata where he inaugurated an India-Japan cultural centre and met relatives of a pro-Japan Indian independence hero. Abe, who flew into Kolkata after meeting Indian leaders in New Delhi, held talks with Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, chief minister of West Bengal state of which Kolkata is capital. Officials said Abe and Bhattacharya discussed various projects and investment opportunities, including the state government's request for Japanese funds to build a 43-billion-rupee (1-billion-dollar) metro project in the state.

Bhattacharjee had said last evening that only two news agencies, AIR and Doordarshan, would be allowed to cover the meeting. On reaching the hotel this morning, representatives of AIR and Doordarshan too were prevented from going inside. Several representatives from other news organisations too were barred from entering the hotel. When Bhattacharjee's was told that the chief minister had allowed AIR and Doordarshan to cover the event, he said police were not allowing their entry on the ground that there would be a serious breach of security.

On the other hand, in a surprise move, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati decided to roll back her new agriculture policy Thursday, 20 days after she had announced it, and ordered closure of Reliance Fresh stores that opened just a day ago.
'A decision to that effect was taken at the state cabinet today (Thursday),' Mayawati said at a hurriedly convened press conference here.

On Aug 3 Mayawati had unveiled the policy that would encourage farmers to sell their produce directly to traders, bypassing middlemen who traditionally dominate village marts. The Uttar Pradesh government had decided to give freedom to the farmer to sell his produce to any trader he wished to and at a price mutually settled between him and the buyer.
UP Chief Minister Mayawati announced the decision at a press conference. The move comes in the wake of an attack on Reliance Fresh and Spencer's stores by traders led by a Samajwadi Party MP in Lucknow yesterday -- soon after the inauguration of 10 Reliance Retail food stores across the city. When contacted, a Reliance Retail spokesperson declined to comment. The media were barred from covering a high-level meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee at a five-star hotel here today. In a big boost for the Indian Cricket League the West Bengal government has decided to extend its full support to the Essel group promoted tournament.

Left softens stand on govt over nuke deal while The Uttar Pradesh government today ordered closure of all retail stores of big corporates, including those of Reliance Fresh and Spencer's, in Varanasi and the state capital.The Central Committee of the CPI (M) on Thursday endorsed the Politburo's opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal. The committee, which concluded a two-day meeting in New Delhi today, termed the deal as ' unacceptable'. The committee reiterated Politburo's stance that the Government must not go ahead with the negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Authority ( IAEA) for India-specific safeguards. The communist parties are vehemently opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal, terming it as a 'sellout' to the United States. They claim that the civilian nuclear agreement with the US will hurt India's sovereignty and undermine its independent foreign policy. At the same time, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has refused to bow to the pressure from the Left parties, saying that the deal is in the best interest of India and will help the country meet its growing energy demand. Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and UPA allies have expressed their full support to the Prime Minister. However, none of the Congress partners want mid-term polls and some members of the Congress too fell the Indo-US deal is not the right issue to go out of the office.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has called an all-party meeting on Sep 3 to evolve a consensus over alternative location for a proposed chemical hub which was to be set up in Nandigram.
"We have called an all-party meeting on Sep 3 at the state secretariat to finalise the proposed chemical hub project. We have already sent letters to all political parties in West Bengal and they have responded to our call except the Trinamool Congress," Bhattacharya told reporters here Wednesday.
"We have seen a few locations for the proposed hub. Considering the issue of environmental threat, a committee has already been constituted in Delhi and thankfully for us, they would give the final go ahead," Bhattacharya said.
He said the Haldia petrochemical plant has been developed over 6,000 acres of land in East Midnapore district, about 125 km from the state capital, and it will be further expanded using another 3,500-4,000 acres of land which has already been acquired by the state government.
Bhattacharya said that another oil refinery and two ancillary units, including a polymer factory, will also come up at Haldia.
The state government has already seen a few locations, especially in the Haldia area, for the chemical hub project but nothing has been decided yet.
Issues such as the location of the chemical hub and the total land required for it will be discussed in the all-party meeting.
The proposed chemical hub as part of a special economic zone (SEZ) in Nandigram, about 150 km from here, had triggered large-scale projects. Since January, at least 24 people have died in violence there, including 14 deaths in police firing on March 14.
Meanwhile, state chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb Wednesday said several steel plants, captive power plants and cement plants would be set up in Purulia, Burdwan and North 24 Parganas districts by private groups.

Statement by Medha Patkar, Aruna Roy and Sandeep Pandey on the Indo-US Nuclear Deal
The India - US Nuclear Deal: Need for all citizens to question and speak out
against a deal that is against national security and sovereignty, and takes us
further down the path of environmentally disastrous nuclear energy.
Stop the UPA from proceeding before a public debate.
Much has been said and written about the India-US Nuclear Deal; beginning with
the statement issued by many eminent nuclear scientists soon after the talks on
the deal began between India and US governments. Public fora and People's
organisations such as Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace called it
anti-Sovereignty. Today when it is seen as an issue of conflict between the UPA
and its Left front allies, we as representatives of people's movements must
re-iterate our stand, which is that the deal is not just anti-democratic but
against peace, and against environmentally sustainable energy generation and
self-reliant economic development.
The Left front is questioning the fact that such an international deal with
significant implications is imposed on the Indian people and Parliament, with
no public debate and consultation in India. While US Congress took a year and a
half to discuss the proposed change in the US laws, permitting nuclear commerce
with India, the process in India has been totally undemocratic.
The deal is part of a successful attempt by the United States to build a
strategic relationship with India, in confronting the rising capitalist
challenge from China where India will be used as its client in the region.
Directly or indirectly, the US will also enter the Indian sub-continent, to
manage intra-regional, inter-country relations. This whole process is likely to
escalate the arms race between Pakistan and India, sabotaging the
India-Pakistan peace process. How can we ignore that fact the US sells arms to
both India and Pakistan?
The agreement also facilitates a full-fledged international exchange of nuclear
fuel and technology with insufficient caution and control. There will no doubt
be a corporate rush to extract, export and misuse nuclear fuel and technology,
and it will be very difficult to prevent misuse even for the arms trade. Highly
superficial clauses don't instill any confidence against such a possibility.
However, our basic objections to this deal stem from our opposition to the
production and use of both nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. The irreversible
dangers of radioactivity and its ongoing impact on health, water, and the
environment are factors that are being summarily dismissed in an irresponsible
manner. The whole cycle of nuclear production beginning with uranium mining, is
fraught with catastrophic dangers, and as a nation we cannot use the decisions
of another country as justification for our own. Places like Jaduguda in
Jharkhand, Kota and Pokhran in Rajasthan, have already demonstrated the ongoing
dangers of nuclear use to the common citizen.
We, in India, have inherited rich renewable sources of energy, which are
environmentally benign and abundantly available. The solar, wind, and ocean
waves along with human power need to be fully tapped and put to use with
people's control. Appropriate technology, research and development for
production of cheaper equipment and tools, need to be combined with just
distribution, for the right priorities. There is no political will for this in
the ruling establishment. Estimates show that India can generate far more
energy through alternative, environmentally sound sources. The nuclear energy
option should be put up for widespread public debate giving citizens a full
opportunity to make an informed choice.
This deal however raises questions beyond nuclear energy opening up large
spaces for US government and corporate control in India. This, no doubt, is a
symbol of imperialism already demonstrated through the Iraq war and the obvious
links of US policy with corporate control over resources. With unbound exchange
of information, data and material, knowledge and technology the dominant global
power is all set to encroach upon Indian reserves and impinge upon our
sovereignty. The deal ensures supply of sufficient nuclear material to nuclear
reactors in India for the next 40 years, but the precautionary agreements to
negotiations and consultations are only promises for the future. All this is
subject to approvals and conditions to be monitored by the US Congress, while
sidelining the Indian parliament.
The UPA government is proving to be increasingly submissive to the exploitation
of our resources, knowledge and cheap labour by commercial interests and
corporate interests. The BJP and its allies are also in the power game, using
capitalist forces for support. The Left has raised an important issue using
their bargaining power. Non-party people's formations may not have the power in
parliament, but we have an important set of issues that need to be considered.
The Indian Constitution which allows deal such as this, as well as
international treaties and agreements to be reached without democratic
consultation, needs an amendment to make public debate and referendums
mandatory and pre-conditional. We need an approval from the Indian electorate
before we agree to sign the agreement.
Sandeep Pandey
A-893, Indira Nagar, Lucknow-226016, Telephone: 0522-2016612, 2347265,
(Arundhati Dhuru), e-mail: ashaashram@yahoo. com
Aruna Roy
MKSS Village Devdungri, Post Barar, Rajsamand District -313341, Rajasthan,
e-mail: arunaroy@gmail. com, mkssrajasthan@ gmail.com
Medha Patkar
C/o Chemical Mazdoor Sabha, First Floor, Haji Habib Building, Naigaon Cross
Road, Dadar(E), Mumbai, India, Telephone: 022-24150529,
e-mail: nba.medha@gmail. com

Dear all
I am forwarding the views expressed on nuclear agreement by Mr. A.
K. Anand, formar Director, Reactor Projects Group, Director,
Technical Co-ordination Group & Executive Director, Nuclear Power
Corporation.

Akalpita
Ex. Scientic Officer, SSPD, BARC.

What the citizens of India should really know
The Nuclear DEAL?
1. The Indo US Cooperation on the Civilian Nuclear Program and
the Agreement is now being called a 'deal', which, in
common 'parlance' is not considered a polite word and our Prime
Minister is being targeted as if he has made some underhand 'deal'
with the US; some political parties including ones supporting the
Government are doubting the integrity of the PM; it is a matter of
National shame.
2. With his team from the MEA and DAE the PM has spent so much
time and effort to bring the agreement to this stage / shape.
3. The opposition is talking of the Hyde Act, that if India
carries out a Nuclear Test in future, all cooperation will stop. We
do not even know if at all and when, in the distant future, a test/s
will be required by the nation / scientists. Circumstances may be
different and may be favourable, political alignment may be
different; as of now we are in a self imposed moratorium, and
correctly so.
4. The whole agreement is on the civilian nuclear program; our
weapon's program will continue as it always has been, with our own
reactors, reprocessing plants, enrichment plants and heavy water
plants. We are not going to be giving the design and technology to
any one; why, then are we pointing out that the US will not give
these technologies as part of the civilian agreement?
5. About past tests and our strengths - we have been isolated
with sanctions since 1974. The DAE scientists, engineers and
technologists took up the challenge and after more than thirty
years' efforts have brought the nation to this stage of strength and
pride that all other developed nations, not only the US but also
other developed nations including the Russian Federation and the so
called Eastern Block, have extended a hand for us to join them and
we, after working and negotiating so hard, do not want to shake
hands!
6. Are we conveying our arrogance? No other country, not even
those who have been signatories to the NPT have been given such a
chance.
7. Due to sanctions, we lived in isolation however, we put in
efforts and spent resources to develop equipment, material and
systems which are available at a relatively nominal cost. Of course,
we are not complaining, we are all happy and proud that we,
scientists and technologists were given the chance by the country to
prove ourselves; if required we can and will do it again. But is it
required? Especially, when we have achieved our objective and the
world has recognised so?
8. We are proud of this because 30 years is a long period in the
life of an individual (nearly all of one's productive working life)
but for the life of a nation this is small.
9. At this stage, if we do not proceed further with the agreement
(and not 'deal'), the world will not pardon us and the future
isolation / sanctions may be more severe. Can we afford this when we
are on the path of economic progress? India's international image
will take a severe beating and our principles and our strategic
strength will suffer; of course, our neighbours will only be too
happy!
10. If ever we have to conduct a nuclear test in the distant
future, we will weigh the consequences as we did in 1974, and again,
in 1998 and decide; no country can dictate and the situation will be
no different!
We believe citizens of India should awaken and force all our
politicians to support this agreement ; we must seize the
opportunity help India attain leadership
In addition to voting for the Taj Mahal as one of the seven wonders
of the world, here is an opportunity for us to make INDIA, the
wonder of the world!
Please forward this mail to the Indian friends any where in the
world.
A K Anand
Retired from BARC in 2001 as Director Reactor Projects Group and
Director Technical Coordination and International Relations Group
Abe paid floral tributes to Bose in the room in Netaji Bhavan that he had used as a study during his stint as president of the Indian National Congress in the late 1930s. Abe took special interest in photographs featuring Bose with Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru.
In the Asia room of Netaji Museum, he saw photographs of Bose addressing the Greater East Asia Conference and visiting the historic Meji shrine in Tokyo.
Abe was taken round the home by Netaji Research Bureau chairperson Krishna Bose, the widow of Bose's nephew Sisir Bose, who presented him a DVD on the leader going to meet the Japanese emperor.
Abe also met with Prasanta Pal, son of late Indian judge Radhabinod Pal who expressed his dissent in the post-World War II Tokyo tribunal that convicted Japanese war criminals. In his judgement, Pal rejected the authority of the tribunal, calling it a 'sham employment of legal process for the satisfaction of a thirst for revenge.' The meeting with the judge's son has been criticized by some Asian countries but Abe has rejected suggestions that he was reigniting the row over Japan's wartime atrocities.
State PWD Minister Kshiti Goswami, who attended a meeting between visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shizo Abe and Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee at a hotel here, told reporters that the government had sought aid from Japan mainly in the form of foreign direct investment. Bhattacharjee told Abe that West Bengal had attracted the highest amount of FDI from Japan, he said. The chief minister recalled the long standing relationship between the state and Japan. Bhattacharjee said he would accompany Abe to Santiniketan, the artists village set up by Rabindranath Tagoe, when he visited India the next time. Other areas where Japan's cooperation was sought by the state were solid waste management and pisciculture.
slippery project
While the entire nation's attention is focused on the political stand-off between the Left and the UPA government on the Indo-US nuclear treaty, the left front government in West Bengal has silently shelved its controversial chemical hub project. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya admitted that there would be no acquisition of land. The state government will now focus on developing and expanding the petrochemical industry in Haldia. Ever since the Nandigram incident, the state has been looking for an alternative location. The government had earlier said the hub would be part of a 62,000 acre Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region. That was scaled down to 10-12,000 acres after Nandigram, and it was decided that land near Haldia would be acquired.
However, the outcome of the recently-held Haldia municipality election, where the left lost seven wards, forced it to abandon the plan. The election was held in the backdrop of Nandigram and the CPI-M raised a call for rapid industrialisation. The results showed that the rural wards are not supporting the left cause.
After that the government considered acquiring Nayachar, an island on the Hooghly river near Haldia, for setting up the Chemical Hub. For a decade or so, this virgin island is being developed by the state fisheries department as a major fishing hub. Of the total 10,000 acres of land in the island, 2,500 acres is leased to the Calcutta Port Trust, and the rest is left for fisheries. At present, more than 2,000 fisherfolk are engaged there as members of fishing cooperatives. Kiranmoy Nanda, minister in charge of the department, feels that once it is fully developed the fishing and associated works could generate employment for one lakh people.
To ward off the pressure for handing over the island to the industry department for setting up a chemical hub, the fisheries department suggested a techno scientific survey of the island. On August 14, the deputy director general, Geological Survey of India (ER), in its preliminary report stated categorically that the "island lies at 1.5 m above sea level and shows unconsolidated sand, mud of a very young age at the surface. It is vulnerable to cyclone and inundation owing to tidal surge/tsunami."
In the meantime, signals started coming from the centre that the government might not be that enthusiastic anymore for pushing the Chemical Hub project. Now, according to Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the expansion of the petrochemical industry will take place at 4,000 acres of government land adjacent to the Haldia Petrochemical and Mitsubishi plants. The IOC will set up a mother refinery there. And the government is expected to explain its new approach to the opposition political parties in an all-party meet. In their 30-year rule, this is perhaps the first such case where the all-powerful left bowed down to peoples' resistance and reversed its decision. For that alone, Nandigram will remain a milestone.
http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/portal/2007/08/1135
Meanwhile, reports suggest the four main Left parties are going to announce countrywide agitations against the Indo-US nuclear deal. The CPI has called for an emergency meeting of its National Executive on August 28 and 29 to decide on the next course of action in view of the continuing stalemate between Government and Left parties.
India's Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen is not the only casualty of the opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal in the Indian Parliament.The ramifications of the political impasse in New Delhi are being felt amongst experts and think tanks in Washington DC too.In fact, in the US, even those international relations experts who have been the most fervent proponents of the deal have had no option but to agree with Sen's remark that if the nuclear deal unravels because of opposition in New Delhi, India will have ''zero credibility.''
According to Teresita Schaffer, Director, South Asia Program, CSIS, ''The fact that there has been such controversy over it and that the government is even considering slowing things down inevitably leads people to wonder whether India is a country that cannot take yes for an answer.

West Bengal Sports Minister Subash Chakraborty on Thursday said that they have decided to provide all the stadia under the government control for the league matches of the ICL. That also includes the world class Eden Gardens in Kolkata.That's a real slap in the face of the Indian Cricket Board who don't own their own cricket stadia. The BCCI may not be able to prevent its grounds going to the ICL but they are trying to prevent their players. The Cricket Association of Bengal claims that Laxmi Ratan Shukla has changed his mind about playing in the breakaway league. However, other players who took the plunge insist that thier resolve is firm.
Panel recommends suspension of RJD MP
RJD MP Rajesh Kumar Manjhi, who took a woman friend on an official tour personating her as his wife, was on Thursday found guilty by a Parliamentary Committee, which has recommended his reprimand and suspension for 30 sittings of the House.
RSP for withdrawal of support to UPA govt.
Kolkata:The Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), a constituent of Left Front, today demanded Left parties withdraw support to the UPA government as the Centre was 'rigid' on operationalising the Indo-US nuclear deal.
"It would be expedient of the Left parties to consider withdrawal of support to the UPA government. And the four Left parties should sit together and take a uniform stand," senior RSP leader and party's central committee member Manoj Bhattacherjee told PTI here. He said his party wanted withdrawal of support to the UPA government not simply because of the Indo-US nuclear deal but also because of its 'failure' to implement the Common Minimum Programme.
The RSP leader was reacting to the CPI(M) central committee ratifying the party's Politburo consensus in asking the UPA government to press the pause button on the nuclear deal with the party General Secretary Prakash Karat saying today that the future of the UPA coalition lay with the government.
Another junior partner of the CPI(M)-led Left Front, Forward Bloc said "the question whether the UPA government will fall depends on the way Congress and the Prime Minister behave."
Forward Bloc State Secretary Ashok Ghosh told PTI that the party state committee would meet here on Sunday to decide its stand.
Asked to comment on the CPI(M)'s stand that it did not want the current crisis to affect the government, CPI State Secretary Manju Kumar Mazumar said his party's national executive meeting would be held on August 28 and 29 to take stock of the situation and the Congress's 'determination' to operationalise the Indo-US nuclear deal.
"India's sovreignty cannot be mortgaged to the US through signing of the Indo-US deal. We want a rethink of our support to the UPA government", he said.
The Centre has also failed to implement the Common Minimum Programme, curb rising prices of essential commodities and prevent suicides by farmers, Mazumdar, who is the CPI's national executive member said.

Red bastions upset with Left on N-deal
NEW DELHI: The communist bastions of West Bengal and Kerala seem to be the unhappiest with the Left's decision to serve an ultimatum to the government on the nuclear deal and trigger a political crisis.
While urban Indians are ambivalent about the nuclear deal and who is to blame for the current crisis, Kolkata and Kochi, both in states

USA Advances in Asia unprotested! Unchallanged!
While the Jap Prime minister is visiting Kolkata, One woman was picked up by police at midnight from her residence, kept in police lock-up for several days without any charge, tortured and sexually assaulted!
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: alashbiswaskl@gmail.com">palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
Friends, bleeds the divided Indian Geopolitics. Partition horror continues not only with refugee influx accross the border and within, but with the escalation of the War Zone and Killing Fields as USA advances in Asia unprotested! Unchallanged!
National Interest is the most Sacred Opium used to dupe and keep quiet popular resistance! Ruling classes have hegemony in every field of life and general population enslaved. this is the summary of so called nationalities marketable these days. Sovereighnity and freedom sold. Selling out the Nation they cry national interest and draw LOC of constant wargame! People are deprived of citizenship, civil and human rights. Life , liberty and livelihood destroyed. Deindustrialisation is implemented mercilessly ejecting out indigenous people everywhere. While the Jap Prime minister is visiting Kolkata, One woman was picked up by police at midnight from her residence, kept in police lock-up for several days without any charge, tortured and sexually assaulted, then released. It is the story from the Left Ruled West Bengal. Ironically the Ruling Left in West Bengal poses to resist US Imperalism in most violent way!
Osama Bin Laden is stated to be in Pakistan and USA is keen to eject him out. Strategic regrouping of Indian Ocean is very much completed, more than the running Join Exercise shows. Battle Ready US strike Power may hit any part of this geopolitics to save their National Interests which are virtually saved by our leaders and institutions!
USA has arranged everything to replace Mussarraf and whether Benzir or Nawaz sharif takes over, it won`t make any change in US strategic plan.
Meanwhile , the youth and students in Bangladesh are once again on the streets to protest Army Rule which is reminiscent of the Liberation War.
Divided Indian Geopolitics has transformed into a larger killing fields. ruler comraders and Zionist Brahminical Class do everything to colonise this Asian subcontinent. USA is described as Benevolent, Secular and Progressive as the British Raj had been. Indian intelligentsia spoilt two hundred years celebrating the Muslim Rule, enlightment with English Language and European Renaissaince ending the Middle Dark Age. The most common theme is Islamophobia or Muslim hatred. Common agenda is enslavement of dalits, tribals, muslims and women! Common goal is the expolitation of cheap labour, cheap technical manpower, manufacturing fecelities, greater market and the abundant Natural Resources.
Political borders have become irrelevant but the shopping list in international and particularly US Weapon market is enhanced day by day. The Nuclear race is intense as INdo US and viceversa Sino Pak Nuclear deals are on progress. The people of this geopolitics face poverty, starvation, unemployment, displacement and calamities with illhealth, child death, women trafficking and malnutrition in crudemost form. But the bulk of the revunue and natural resources spent for Defence only to fund political parties and individuals leading different polities.
Strike shuts Kathmandu
KATHMANDU: A strike called by local groups demanding greater rights closed businesses and schools and left the streets of Nepal’s capital deserted on Wednesday.
“Kathmandu is shut down. But so far there have not been any reports from the field on any destruction, casualties or damage,” Kathmandu police superintendant Sarbindra Khanal told AFP. The protest was called by a Maoist-affiliated ethnic rights group - the Tamang Rastriya Mukti Morcha or national liberation front - and an association representing members of the “untouchable” caste known as Dalits. “Today’s strike has been announced as the government has not been serious in meeting our demands,” said Tilak Pariyar, chairman of the Dalit Joint Republican Front. At the bottom of Nepal’s caste hierarchy, and making up around five million of Nepal’s 27 million people, the Dalits are demanding that 20 per cent of all government department jobs be reserved for them.
The two million-strong Tamang ethnic minority want greater representation and also want Nepal to be declared a republic ahead of elections planned for November. “We wrote a letter to the prime minister with 16 demands but the government did not respond,” said Tamang front leader Talak Ghising. afp
Dalits should say no to conversion?
Tuesday August 21 2007 12:10 IST
DAVANAGERE: Jayamrutyanjaya swamiji of Virakt Mutt said mass conversion of Dalits into Buddhism and Christianity was taking place due to the negligence of Matadipathis in the State, and urged them to take steps to develop their social conditions.
Greed and attractive offers were luring the Dalits to get converted, the seer said. ??Anyone who gets converted into another faith on his own should not be blamed, but conversion through the influence of different cultures will push them to slavery,?? he said.
He urged the Dalits to follow the footsteps of Basavanna. ??The 12th century revolution of the Sharanas has not yet reached the minds of Dalits and now the time has come to take the ideologies of Basavanna to the houses of Dalits,?? the swamiji opined.
Benazir unveils details of deal with Musharraf
Pakistan Dawn, Pakistan - 11 hours ago
Both Bhutto and Sharif have vowed to return to Pakistan this year, further raising the political temperature. Ms Bhutto said Musharraf must also explain how ...
Pakistan can’t afford to antagonise US: Kasuri
Pakistan Dawn, Pakistan - 11 hours ago
By Ahmed Hassan ISLAMABAD, Aug 22: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said in Senate that Pakistan could not afford to make the United States its ...
Kasuri says Pakistan can’t afford isolation Daily Times
Pakistan vows to safeguard sovereignty Xinhua
Pakistan condemns US leaders threatening statements Islamic Republic News Agency
‘Osama alive and well’
WASHINGTON: A top Taliban commander has said Al Qaeda mastermind Osama Bin Laden is alive and well, according to US-based analysts monitoring extremist publications. “All praise be to Allah, he is extremely healthy and active,” the commander Mansour Dadullah said in a video interview released Tuesday by analyst IntelCenter. Dadullah said Bin Laden, the man blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, had contacted him. “I received a message from him in which he advised me to follow Mullah Dadullah and continue the same activities so that the mujahedeen may not weaken,” he said, according to the transcript. The video is dated June 15, 2007, IntelCenter added. Bin Laden, who has a $50 million US bounty on his head, has appeared in a series of video and audio clips since the 9/11 attacks but has not been heard from since May 2006, when the CIA authenticated a voice recording on the Internet as his. In the recording, which was accompanied by an online text, the terror network chief said Zacarias Moussaoui, a 37-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan origin and the only man convicted in the 9/11 attacks, had nothing to do with the operation. afp
Pakistan's release of al-Qaida suspect upsets US and UK
Guardian Unlimited, UK - 13 hours ago
Pakistan's decision to release a suspect al-Qaida expert accused of training suicide bombers and plotting to attack Heathrow airport met with surprise and ...
Pakistan Frees Alleged Al-Qaeda Operative Washington Post
Pakistan Frees Man Tied To NYC Terror Plot WNBC

India is seeking details about reports that hooligans have taken over a gurdwara in Lahore and may take up the matter with Pakistani authorities, Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said this after SAD member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa raised the matter. "My attention has been drawn (to the media reports in this regard)," Mukherjee said.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan Thursday allowed exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif to return home and participate in politics, Geo TV reported. The court, hearing constitutional petitions from the Sharif brothers, ruled that as Pakistanis they could return to the country and take part in national politics.In a brief judgment, the court said that under Article 3 of the constitution no citizen of the country could be stopped from returning home. US officials have offered no comment on the reported release by Pakistan of a man accused of aiding Al Qaeda, beyond saying that they would continue to work with Islamabad “as a friend and ally”.
“Well, we coordinate closely with the Pakistani government on a host of counter-terrorism and security issues. I don’t have any more information specific to this case,” State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said Tuesday. “However, we’re going to continue to work closely with them as a friend and ally under President (Pervez) Musharraf in our counter-terrorism efforts,” he said, taking the question about the release of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, 28, in Islamabad.
Reporting the release from Islamabad on Tuesday, the New York Times said it appeared unlikely that the US would try to take unilateral action to take him into custody.Pakistani officials have said that information from Khan led them to a Tanzanian wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings of American embassies in East Africa, which killed more than 200 people, the Times said. Khan, it said citing his lawyer Babar Awan, was released without charge, and suddenly turned up at his home in Karachi Monday morning. Khan had been included in a group of missing people who were being held without charge in Pakistan and whose cases came before the Supreme Court on Monday. online

On the Other hand, Security forces patrolled the quiet streets of six cities Thursday, enforcing an indefinite curfew imposed by the military-backed government to quell unrest by students demanding an end to emergency rule in Bangladesh.
The curfew, imposed Wednesday on the largest cities in the country after days of street violence, cleared cities of protesters, forced residents to stay home and temporarily shut down mobile phones.
Military guards patrol a street during curfew in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2007. Security forces patrolled the streets Thursday after the military-backed government imposed an indefinite curfew in six major cities in a bid to quell unrest by students demanding an end to emergency rule. (AP Photo/Pavel Rahman) (Pavel Rahman - AP)
PHOTOS

The week's events from around the world, captured in pictures.
» VIEW THIS WEEK'S PHOTOS
Save & Share Article What's This?
DiggGoogle
del.icio.usYahoo!
RedditFacebook

Cell phone service was restored early Thursday. Authorities eased the curfew for three hours in the afternoon, giving people a chance to shop for food and other necessities, but the streets began emptying again as night fell.
Streets were empty of cars, and security forces were stopping anyone out walking or taking tricycle rickshaws.
There were no signs of protests, but some residents of Dhaka expressed unease.
1. Army leaves DU amid violent protests
Agitation continues, strike still in force, teachers join hands, protests spill over to other campuses. Read New Age report-
http://www.mukto- mona.com/ human_rights/ NewAge_DU. htm
2. Syed Badrul Ahsan writes on Law & Enforcement adviser Mainul Husein's claim of "conspiracy theory" [a borrowed style from Khaleda-Hasina? ] to undermine the army backed CTG government.
http://www.thedaily star.net/ story.php? nid=1019
3. DS editorial on August 21 Grenade Attack
http://www.thedaily star.net/ story.php? nid=1018

Courtesy: www.mukto-mona. com

Dear friend
Here is one case of police high handedness.
One woman was picked up by police at midnight from her residence, kept in police lock-up for several days without any charge, tortured and sexually assaulted, then released. When she got admitted in government hospital, police forcefully abducted that lady along with her husband.
Both are presently disappeared.
It is the situation of West Bengal, India.
We solicit your urgent intervention
Regards
Kirity

--
Kirity Roy
President
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha
(MASUM)
26 Guitendal Lane
Howrah 711101
West Bengal INDIA
Fax : +91-33-2640 4118
Phone: +91-33-2640 4520
e. mail : kirityroy@gmail.com
Web: www.masum.org.in
To 23 August 2007
Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjya
Chief Minister
Government of West Bengal
Writers’ Buidings
Kolkata -1
Sir,
We have conducted fact finding over an incident where a woman namely, Kajoli Das, Age: -20 years w/o Swapan
Das, of Dogachia village, Gaighata Police Station, P.O: - Monmohonpur North 24 Parganas was detained in police
lock up at Gaighata P.S. illegally for almost nine days without producing her to any court of Magistrate. She was
apparently not wanted in connection with any police case; she was arrested at mid-night by the police without any
woman police escort in place of her husband! After she was let off from local Police Station under legal advice she
went for treatment at the government hospital as she was subjected to physical torture and was sexually abused at the
police station. Surprisingly she and her husband were found missing on the very night of the admission to the hospital.
It was revealed that the police party led by the Officer-in-Charge of Gaighata P.S. whisked them away at dead end of
night in motor vehicles, till such time they are untraced. The police deliberately violated the guidelines of arrest
reported in D.K. Basu judgment by Supreme Court in AIR1997 Supreme Court 610. The police also blatantly violated
fundamental right of the victim as enumerated in the Article 22 of The Constitution by illegally detaining the victim
woman. It is utter violation of the rights of the woman who was tortured and sexually abused during her illegal
detention. The police abducted the victims to cover up their misdeeds, and with the help of the hospital management
fake documents had been created to save the police. There was all-round conspiracy of the employees of hospital and
the police forces for causing enforced disappearance of the victims. Our fact finding team reveals the entire thing.
Local Member of Legislative Assembly took initiative for the recovery of the victims.
We therefore appeal to your goodself
• Judicial enquiry must be conducted to find out the truth behind the entire matter
• The involved police officials must face criminal charges for kidnapping, adduction, illegal detention
and torturing a woman in police lock up and also abusing her sexually.
• The victims must be found out and their life and liberty must be secured
• Strict compliance of all guidelines of D. K. Basu judgment pronounced by Supreme Court in case of
all arrests
• The victim should be adequately compensated
Thanking you
Yours sincerely
Kirity Roy
State Director, NPPTI
&
President, MASUM
Name of the victim: - 1) Kajoli Das, Age: -20 years w/o Swapan Das
2) Swapan Das,
Both are resident of Dogachia village, Gaighata Police
Station, P.O: - Monmohonpur North 24 Parganas.
Name of the Perpetrators: - 1) Mr. Tushar Kar, Officer-in-Charge of Gaighata Police Station,
2) Police personnel of Gaighata Police Station, North 24
Parganas.
3) Superintendent of Dr. J. R. Dhar Sub- Divisional Hospital
4) Nurse on duty of Dr. J. R. Dhar Sub- Divisional Hospital,
Bongaon, 24 Parganas (N).
Place of Incident: - Dogachia village, Gaighata Police Station, P.O: - Monmohonpur North 24 Parganas,
West Bengal
Date and time of incident: - started from 15-16/05/2007 at night to till date
MASUM got information of police torture as well as illegal detention and enforced disappearance of a
woman through primary fact-finding enquiry. It is also an incident of abduction by the police of Gaighata
police station with the help of doctors and nurses on duty of Dr. J. R. Dhar Sub-Divisional Hospital,
Bongaon, North 24 Parganas . The victims belonged to poor family. The incident started on 16/05/2007 at
about 3 a.m. Swapan Das and his father, both were allegedly involved in a case of dacoity.
On the said date the police personnel of Gaighata police station led by Mr. Tushar Kar , Officer-in-Charge of
said police station came to the house of Mr. Swapan Das. As per information received by our fact-finding
team it was alleged that Mr. Swapan Das and his father, both were known as dacoits of that locality. Mr.
Tushar Kar, Officer-in-Charge of Gaighata Police Station, was present at the time of arrest along with other
police personnel. At that time, Mr. Swapan Das was suffering with high fever and he was lying on the bed.
Getting worried by the physical condition of the said person, the police arrested Mrs. Kajoli Das and took
her to the police station instead of her husband. Our fact-finding revealed that she was illegally detained in
the custody for 11 days without production before any court of law and without any charge. All on a sudden,
on 25/5/07 she was released from the police custody.
When Mrs. Kajoli Das returned her house, her husband, Mr. Swapan Das found that there were number of
injury marks over the body of Kajoli. When asked she stated that she was continuously tortured, sexually
assaulted by the police at Gaighata police station. This story was also heard by the local people. Some young
people took initiative and with the help of them, Mr. Swapan Das took her to the Sub-Divisional Criminal
Court at Bongaon. Mr. Susanta Das of that village took initiative to inform Mr. Jyotipriyo Mallik, Member
of Legislative Assembly. Mr. Susanta Das also assisted Mr. Swapan Das and Mrs. Kajoli Das to go to the
court. In the court Mr. Swapan Das and Mrs. Kajoli Das consulted with Mr. Sameer Das, advocate, Mr.
Amolesh Sur, advocate and other lawyers. The said lawyers advised them to get treatment for the victim
Mrs. Kajoli at Dr. J. R. Dhar Sub-Divisional Hospital, Bongaon, North 24 Parganas.
Accordingly, Mrs. Kajoli Das, Mr. Swapan Das and Mr. Susanta Das went to Dr. J. R. Dhar Sub-Divisional
Hospital, Bongaon, North 24 Parganas. Dr. Asim Kundu attached with the said hospital examined the
victim woman and advised for admission in the hospital. Mrs. Kajoli Das was admitted in the hospital as
PN10948 at Female Surgical Ward at bed number 7. According to hospital register, she got admission on
25/5/2007 at 4.10 P.M. Swapan Das, husband of the patient was staying at the hospital for the night and
his companion Mr. Susanta Das left for home. Our fact-finding reveals that Mrs. Kajoli Das was taken out at
1.30 A.M. on 26/5/2007 by seven policemen who came to the hospital by one white ambassador car and
one police jeep.
Next day when Mr. Susanta Das came to the said hospital on 26/05/2007 but he did not find the victims
namely Mr. Swapan Das and Kajoli Das. When he asked about the victims, one nurse of Dr. J.R.Dhar Sub-
Divisional Hospital, Bongaon, North 24 Parganas, informed him that Swapan Das went with her wife,
Kajoli Das.
According to the statements of the Superintendent of Dr. J.R.Dhar S.D. Hospital, Bongaon, 24 Parganas
(N) the patient was treated by the gynecologist and then one physician advised to transfer the patient to
Surgery Department on 26/5/2007 at 1:05 hours. He also stated that the patient was taken over by giving
Left Thumb Impression of Mr. Swapan Das at 1.30 A.M.
Through our fact-finding it is revealed that the victims were abducted on 26/05/2007 at about 1.30 a.m. by
7 police personnel. Mr. Tushar Kar, the Officer-in-Charge of the said police station was present with his 6
other associates. Tushar Kar was in uniform. The kidnappers gave slaps to the victims and put them in a
car.
Our fact-finding team talked with Mr. Suhas Sen, Sub Divisional Police Officer of Bongaon, Mr. Sanjeeb
Chakraborty, Officer-in-Charge, Bongaon, Superintendent of Dr. J. R. Dhar Sub Divisional Hospital,
Bongaon, 24 Parganas (N), local villagers, eye-witnesses, members of Bar Association of Bongaon Court
and other people.
Gender disparity unites India and Pakistan
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, Aug 22: India may be celebrate its 60 years of Independence, but we still have not been able to liberate women so that they can make their individual choices in life.
This holds true of Pakistani women as well. This is perhaps the most prominent similarity between the two countries. This was stated yesterday at an interactive session with three, eminent women activists from Pakistan speaking on the topic “India-Pakistan: Building Bridges of Peace and Harmony: 60 years on Insights from Pakistan”.
Mrs Nargis Rahman, Mrs Ameena Saiyid and Dr Rukhsana Zia spoke on various issues relating to the status, growth, development and uplift of women in Pakistan.
The session was organised by the Ladies Study Group working to spread education among women. Dr Zia, director, Directorate of Staff Development, Punjab, while speaking on violence on women, said: “In Pakistan, 55 per cent of the population are women who are not given their due rights.”
She said “they are subjected to different forms of violence ~ domestic, sexual abuse and exploitation. Such cases against women are common in India too.”
She added: “In Pakistan, however, the discrimination in gender is usually not termed as violence by women themselves, as the discrimination is made by parents only to provide social security to their daughters.”
Mrs Saiyid, managing director, Oxford University Press, Pakistan, said: “The literacy rate of Pakistan is 45 per cent and that of women lower. Girls are not sent to schools, in fear of loss of chastity.”
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=22&theme=&usrsess=1&id=167110
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indefinite curfew in Dhaka, 6 divisional cities
All universities closed sine die amid students? rioting, Students asked to vacate halls, Govt urges all to maintain peace

Announcing closure of all universities of the country and colleges of all the divisional cities until further order, the Government yesterday imposed curfew for indefinite period on all the six divisional towns, including the capital city, with effect from 8:00 Wednesday night(The New Nation ) • FULL STORY
Business suffers for mob violence
Major shopping complexes at Dhanmondi, New Market, Elephant Road and Mouchak remained closed due to the citywide clashes

Business and commercial activities in the capital remained almost suspended yesterday due to the ongoing sporadic clashes between police and agitating people.Business activities at corporate hub Motijheel, and wholesale supply markets at Babubazar, Moulvibazar, Chawkbazar and at other parts of the old town were badly affected due to mob violence.( The Daily Star ) • FULL STORY
Measures taken are temporary: Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed tonight sought support and cooperation from all irrespective of classes and professions to maintain peace and discipline in society and democratic process and economic progress.( BSS) • FULL STORY
Students being used for political gain: Mainul
Journalists urged to play responsible role

Law and Information Adviser Barrister Mainul Hosein defending the imposition of curfew in all divisional headquarters has said the step was taken to protect the life and property of the people.( The News Today ) • FULL STORY
Dhaka University to execute govt order
Girl students can leave dorms at suitable time later

Dhaka University Syndicate decided to execute government''s urgent order for vacating all university dormitories by 8pm Wednesday, reports UNB. • FULL STORY
http://www.bangladesh-web.com/
Curfew in Bangladesh quells street violence
The Associated PressPublished: August 23, 2007
DHAKA, Bangladesh: Security forces patrolled the quiet streets of six major Bangladesh cities Thursday, enforcing a curfew imposed by the military-backed government to quell unrest by students demanding an end to emergency rule.
The curfew, imposed Wednesday evening on the largest cities after days of street violence, cleared the cities of protesters, forced residents to stay home and briefly shut down mobile phone service.
"This is a temporary measure," the interim head of government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, said in a televised speech late Wednesday. "The curfew will be lifted as soon as the situation improves."
Mobile phone service was restored early Thursday, but stores and offices remained closed, streets were empty of cars and security forces were stopping anyone walking or in tricycle rickshaws.
There were no signs of protests, but some residents of Dhaka, the capital, expressed unease.

"We're suffering a lot; we don't expect such a situation in the country," said Abdul Malek Chowdhury, a former army officer, who said he had left his home to see what was happening on the streets. "We've passed through many troubled months in the recent past. We're passing through the same old thing even now."
The curfew was ordered on the third day of unrest after student protests, which had been largely confined to university campuses, spilled into the streets of Dhaka. Cars and buses were burned, and students battled with security forces. One person was killed and hundreds were injured, local media reported.
The death was reported Wednesday, when students attacked a police checkpoint northwest of the capital, the United News of Bangladesh agency said.
There were competing accounts of how the unidentified victim died. Students charged that the police had beaten him to death, but the police said the man had been killed by a stone thrown by a protester.
The emergency was imposed in January, when President Iajuddin Ahmed canceled scheduled elections, outlawed demonstrations, curtailed press freedom and limited other civil liberties.
The interim government now running Bangladesh is doing so with the backing of the military, which ruled the country throughout the 1980s. Officials say elections will be held in late 2008.
The protests began when University of Dhaka students called for the removal of an army post from the campus. The soldiers withdrew a day later, after violent protests left 150 injured, but the students' demands escalated and the protests continued.
In an indication of spreading support for the students, slum dwellers and street vendors joined the protests Wednesday as the police used batons and tear gas in an effort to disperse mobs.
Stoking separatist tendencies
http://www.centralchronicle.com/20070731/3107301.htm
Both Haryana and Punjab still want Chandigarh. Orissa demands the return of Saraikala and Kharsuan. Nagaland still wants to cut into large chunks of Manipur and certain forest areas of Assam.
How big is big? When does big become small? Does beautiful small make big ugly? Will small fetch better dividends than big? Or vice-versa? Confused? Don't be. At least not when we are talking about our polity and their vote-bank shenanigans. The latest brainwave to emerge from the political stable is to once again carve big states into small.
Obviously, the bigness and smallness of a state has everything to do with massaging the polity's vote-banks and improving their winability quotient! Trust the Congress, hurting after its electoral massacre in the UP Assembly poll last May, to reignite the flames of 'separatist tendencies' by talking of redrawing the contours of the sprawling state. In the hope that UP carved into smaller units will fetch the party big political dividends. Camouflaged as imperative for "political stability" in the country (read Party), it has mooted the idea of setting up another States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) to explore the formation of new states. No matter that till its electoral rout in UP, the party opposed tooth and nail the creation of small states.
It even let the Telengana Rashtriya Samiti quit the UPA alliance. Needless to say, this out-of-the-blue decision to appoint another SRC has opened a Pandora's Box on the demand for statehood from every nook and cranny of the country.
Already, over 10 new entrants are rearing to go. It remains to be seen whether the Congress-led UPA Government will come out smelling of roses or reek of rotten eggs. That the task is tough can be gauged from the fact the issue is both emotive and politically sensitive, against the backdrop of many regions and sub-regions aspiring to be full-fledged states. Besides Telengana in Andhra Pradesh and Vidarbha in Maharashtra, there is demand for Harit Pradesh out of Western UP, Bundelkhand and Purvanchal out of south-eastern UP, Gondwana from portions of Chhattisgarh, Andhra and Madhya Pradesh, Kodagu in Karnataka's coffee belt, Bodoland from Assam, Ladakh from Kashmir, Garoland from Meghalaya, Mithilanchal from North Bihar and Gorkhaland in West Bengal.
With the state party units divided in Telengana and Vidarbha it would be politically wise to push for reorganisation of the two states. This would force smaller parties align with it. Nobody can deny that a few states in India are much too large and unwieldy for efficient governance. It takes nearly two days to get to Jhansi from Lucknow by road! Obviously, administrative efficiency is the first casualty. Recent experience shows that smaller states are able to meet the rising expectations and aspirations of their people for speedy development and a responsive and effective administration. Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and, earlier, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are cases in point. Haryana, a barren backyard of united Punjab largely comprising illiterate jats, was carved out of a prosperous Punjab after a long and patient struggle. So also Himachal. Ditto Uttarakhand from UP, Jharkhand from Bihar and Chhattisgarh from Madhya Pradesh. Today, all are shining examples of "small is beautiful".
However, protagonists of bigger states disagree. What guarantee, they ask, is there that this will end internal fissures. Make the rivers flow smoothly from one state to another. (Look at the ugly riparian fight between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.) Bring about a synthesis between the haves and the have-nots. A linguistic and cultural affinity. Clinching their arguments by asserting that India is not ready yet for a fresh redrawing of its political and economic map. Further reinforcing that if smaller incisions have to be made as in the USA, then the body politic of India would need to be wholly restructured on that pattern. In addition, it could well encourage fissiparous tendencies, ultimately leading to India's balkanization and stoke the sub-terranean smouldering fires of disputes over borders--and cities.
Both Haryana and Punjab still want Chandigarh. Orissa demands the return of Saraikala and Kharsuan. Nagaland still wants to cut into large chunks of Manipur and certain forest areas of Assam. Bihar yearns desperately for the mineral-rich districts of Jharkhand. Will not a further partition of the existing states result in an India that would fit Jinnah's classical description of Pakistan as being "truncated and moth-eaten"? The only purpose it will serve will be to whet regional and separatist appetites, as it happened at the time of the first SRC in the mid-fifties?
The very "blackhole" that our past leaders were ever eager to avoid. The Congress manifesto of 1945-46, no doubt, stridently assured the people that provinces would be restructured on a linguistic and cultural basis. However, the priorities underwent a perceptible change following India's partition. Speaking before the Constituent Assembly on 27 November 1947, Prime Minister Nehru pleaded: "First things must come first, and the first thing is the security and stability of India." And, India's 'Iron Man', Sardar Patel, embarked upon his mighty effort to integrate and unite India. More than 560 princely States were merged with the rest of India peacefully without any loss of time--lest India should be broken up into hundreds of smaller States.
This was followed by the appointment of the Dar Commission to enquire into and report on the desirability or otherwise of creating any more provinces. Interestingly, the Dar Commission recommended that no new provinces should be created. India, it said, was burdened with problems more urgent than the problem of redistribution of provinces. Such as defence, food, refugees, inflation and production. Grounds which more th