Helen Thomas on the Press
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
Helen Thomas on the Press
Veteran Washington correspondent Helen Thomas, whose history in the press corps goes back over 50 years, says that this is the worst press corps she has ever seen in all her years in Washington.
http://www.evtv1. com/player. aspx?itemnum= 10060
Sw
Jharkhandis take West Bengal CM

Maoist posters at Bengal secretariat baffles cops

Palash Biswas

Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com
Police in the West Bengal capital went into a tizzy on Friday after Maoist posters condemning the violence in Nandigram were found plastered on the gate of Writers' Buildings, the high-security state secretariat.Security personnel found the posters on gate no.1 and immediately removed them. Police have taken a photocopy of the posters for further investigation.

"Yes, Maoist posters have been found on the gate of the state secretariat as well in other places. The matter is being investigated by the police," state Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy told reporters. He admitted the state intelligence department had no prior information about it.

Asked whether any action would be taken against the police for the security lapse, Roy said city Police Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborty would look into it.

"We have already filed a case and the investigation is on," Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner (Head Quarters) Vineet Goyel said.

The posters blamed Chief Minster Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Left Front chairman Biman Bose and Communist Party of India — Marxist politburo member Binoy Konar for the March 14 firing and the spiralling violence in Nandigram.

Maoists posters were also found on the walls of a popular city joint — Coffee House — in central Kolkata.

Maoist Uprising: A throwback to the sixties in Kolkata
Kumar Sarkar, 14 December 2007, Friday

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=128577
Maoists posters appearing on the gates of the seat of power in Bengal, the Writers’ Buildings have sent alarm bells ringing and reminded people of the late sixties and early seventies when Naxalites went on the rampage.
THE LATE sixties, when Naxalites overran Kolkata and Bengal, seems to be coming back to haunt the state. In the aftermath of the Nandigram violence, Maoist posters appeared, in all places on the walls of the seat of power in Bengal --- the Writers’ Buildings. A shocked state administration sat up in alarm and pressed the panic button.

The black posters written in startling white in Bengali were first noticed opposite the famous India Coffee House on College Street in central Kolkata, on Friday, opposite the Presidency College, the hotbed of Naxalite activities in the mid-sixties. Later in the day it was noticed on gate number one of the state secretariat.

Outside Writers' Building the poster was discovered by a security personnel on duty. He in turn alerted policemen on duty.

Police personnel tore the poster at Writers’ Buildings. This is the first time that Maoists have pasted a poster bang on the gates of Writers’ Building. The police are puzzled as to how the Naxalites managed to sneak in and paste a poster in such a high-security zone.

The posters near Coffee House were found around 8:30 am, after it opened. A woman who had come out early in the morning told television channels that she had seen a number of youths turn around and walk from where the poster had been put up. She went to the extent of saying that she had seen at least two of them loitering around in Presidency College on several occasions.

The posters lambasted the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaders, including Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, CPI (M) State Secretary and Left Front chairman Biman Bose and Politburo member Benoy Konar and blamed them for the violence in Nandigram.

The posters also demanded stern action against Tapan Ghosh and Sukur Ali, the two Marxist leaders who were active in Nandigram and who allegedly masterminded the Chhoto Angaria killings several years ago.

The police have had photocopies of the posters made for investigations.

That the posters, especially at Writers’ Buildings had created a flap was obvious. The State Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray confirmed that the posters had been discovered. He said that the Commissioner of Police, G M Chakravarty was looking into it.

Asked whether there had been a security lapse at Writers Buildings he said, "The Police Commissioner will look into the matter."

Despite complaints no pullout of CRPF from Nandigram

Notwithstanding the complaints of CPM of "excesses" by CRPF in Nandigram, there was no move by the West Bengal government to pull out the central force from the violence-hit village.

"We have no information at the government level about CRPF pullout from Nandigram," CPM MP Tarit Topdar said after a meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Friday.

"There is a little misunderstanding with the CRPF at some places where they are working beyond their jurisdiction and also committing excesses," Topdar, who visited Nandigram as part of a seven member team of party MPs on Thursday, said.

He also said that peace and normalcy was being restored in Nandigram with the harvest season on.

The team led by CPM leader in the Lok Sabha Basudev Acharya visited Sonachura, Kunjapur, Sherkhanchawk and Satengabari and heard complaints against the central forces posted in the areas.

Home Secretary P R Roy has already said that the central force will stay in Nandigram for three months till February 12 as per the schedule.
Rizwanur case: CBI seeks more time to submit report
The CBI, which is investigating the mysterious death of Rizwanur Rehman following his marriage to the daughter of a Hindu industrialist, on Friday sought more time to submit its report into the incident before the Calcutta High Court.

CBI counsel Ranjan Roy pleaded before Justice Soumitra Pal that the investigating agency be granted time till January seven next to submit its report before the court as some formalities were yet to be completed.

The court said it would pass an order on the agency's plea on December 17, when the matter is scheduled to appear.

Justice Pal, on October 16, had directed the CBI to complete the investigation and submit its report before the court within two months.

Rizwanur, a computer graphic designer, had married Priyanka, daughter of industrialist Ashok Todi, under the Special Marriage Act on August 18.

It was alleged that, soon after their marriage, the couple was summoned to Lalbazar police station thrice. And it was on the third occasion that Priyanka returned to her father's home on September eight following a written assurance by her uncle that she could return to her in-laws after a week. But she never returned.

A couple of weeks later, Rizwanur's body was found on the railway tracks at Dum Dum on September 21 leading to a public outcry here.

CBI interrogates Nandigram police firing witness

Nandigram: The CBI officials on Friday interrogated one more witness as part of their probe into the March 14, 2007 police firing in Nandigram in which 14 persons were killed and over 100 injured.

Tapas Kar, a member of the Trinamool Congress-backed Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee, whose mother was killed on the fateful day, described how police burst teargas shells and opened fire after asking hundreds of BUPC supporters at Bhangabera to disperse.

Kar told PTI after his deposition that his mother, who was in the forefront of a procession, went missing soon after the firing and he was forced to leave the spot after being hit by a teargas shell.

Later, he discovered from newspaper reports that his mother, Basanti, was killed. He contacted hospital authorities who confirmed her death and the body was then released to him, Kar told investigators.

He said there were two bullet marks on the body, one in the foot and the other in the lower abdomen.

To another question, Kar told the three-member CBI team that he decided to participate in the BUPC procession on March 14 after hearing news on radio about the police action there in the previous night. He apprehended that the police might enter the area to take away land.

Three claimant to exhumed body from Nandigram
With three women laying claim to the decapitated body unearthed from a burial mound in Nandigram on December 12, police on Friday sent it for DNA and forensic tests to identify the actual claimant.

"We have sent the body for DNA test to Kolkata to identify the actual claimant," East Midnapore Superintendent of Police SS Panda told IANS.

The decapitated body, with severed head and body packed in separate gunny bags, was unearthed from a burial mound at Maheshpur near Nandigram on Wednesday.

Though the decomposed body is yet to be identified, Shyamali Pramanik of Kamalpur village in Nandigram claimed the body was of her husband Haren Pramanik, a Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) supporter, missing since Nov 7.

Meanwhile, two other women - Sumitra Midhha and Annapurna Mondol - also claimed the body as of their missing husbands.

Sumitra claimed the body was of her husband Chanchal, missing since Nov 7. Later, Annapurna also said it was of her husband Mohan.

West Bengal Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray said the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) would establish the identity of the body after a DNA test.

Muslims in Indian economy: interview with Dr. Omar Khalidi

http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/dec/14/nandigram_attempt_destabilise_elected_govt_through_maoist_violence.html
Dr. Omar Khalidi is the author of well-researched book 'Muslims in Indian Economy.' This book is a study of conditions of Muslims at all levels of economic ladder and from Muslim dynasties to the post-independent India. Editor of TwoCircles.net Kashif-ul-Huda interviewed him recently about Muslims in Indian economy from past to present.

TCN: What was the status of Muslims under 'Muslim-ruled' India?

OK: At that time Muslims were divided into three groups economically. One was the family of the ruler or the ruling dynasty members at the top of the pyramid. After that was the group consisting of courtiers, landlords, and jagirdars etc. This second group had most wealth, they had land ownership and other resources. The third group at the bottom is where majority of Muslims were. These were peasants, craftsmen, lower rungs of soldiers. So in other words just because Muslims dynasties were ruling does not mean that all Muslims were prosperous
Dr. Omar Khalidi is the author of well-researched book 'Muslims in Indian Economy.' This book is a study of conditions of Muslims at all levels of economic ladder and from Muslim dynasties to the post-independent India. Editor of TwoCircles.net Kashif-ul-Huda interviewed him recently about Muslims in Indian economy from past to present.

TCN: What was the status of Muslims under 'Muslim-ruled' India?

OK: At that time Muslims were divided into three groups economically. One was the family of the ruler or the ruling dynasty members at the top of the pyramid. After that was the group consisting of courtiers, landlords, and jagirdars etc. This second group had most wealth, they had land ownership and other resources. The third group at the bottom is where majority of Muslims were. These were peasants, craftsmen, lower rungs of soldiers. So in other words just because Muslims dynasties were ruling does not mean that all Muslims were prosperous.

TCN: Did general Muslims benefit in anyway under these Muslim dynasties that would have encouraged people to convert to Islam?

OK: No, they did not benefit directly. They had to work as hard as anyone else. They were not privileged group during the so called Muslim rule of India. Even when people converted to Islam they remained economically were they were, there was no upward mobility. As a result of their conversion they did acquire social mobility because curse of untouchability was lifted. Disabilities arising as being part of Hindu caste system was no longer relevant. But it did not mean an upward economic mobility.

TCN: What was the effect of introduction of English under company raj on Muslims?

OK: Most of the Muslim members of the elite did not take English education as fast as upper caste Hindus did. As a result, the were left behind in the path of modernization that lead to greater prosperity to the upper caste Hindus. Muslims could not progress because they were reluctant to acquire modern scientific education. Muslims being part of the old nobility wanted all the benefits and the British have no reason to please them. As a result Muslim elites did not accept English education and they were left behind.

TCN: After independence of India, the fewer number of Muslim officers in the bureaucracy was reduced as a result of a large number of them migrating to Pakistan. How much of this migration was due to idealogical reason and how much was economic or other reasons?

OK: After the formation of Pakistan, those who went there initially were top most officials who were in the top most positions of bureaucracy, military and so forth. They thought Pakistan was a land of opportunity. Even then it was not quite sudden, often younger brothers went and older brothers or parents remained behind. So migration was gradual and it was not uniform everywhere. Migration happened mostly in UP, Bihar and obviously Punjab and surrounding areas of Pakistani borders. Bhopal and areas south to that was less affected by migration to Pakistan. Hyderabad was affected after Operation Polo of September 1948. Lot of Bombay businessmen moved because they saw better opportunity in Pakistan because Pakistan did not have much of an industry. So flow of migration was uneven.

TCN: How much discrimination or lack of education should be blamed for lower representation of Muslims in government services?

OK: I believe that primarily it is the lack of modern scientific education. India is still a very poor country with fewer opportunity. We have to see that India is poor and Muslims are less educated, therefore Muslims are less able to compete.

There are geographic differences as well. India is not uniform and Muslims in India are not uniform. Most well off Muslims in India are in Tamilnadu comparable to upper caste Hindus. But if you go to the eastern UP and Bihar, then the Muslim condition is comparable to Dalits. So, we have to see India in segments, an all India picture can be very misleading.

With regards to discrimination, yes it exists but it is subtle and hard to establish in courts. But discrimination in of itself does not explain Muslims lower representation.

TCN: What are your recommendations for improving Muslims socio-economic condition?

OK: My strongest recommendation is for the government to open good schools on a massive way in Muslim concentration areas. If the primary education is strengthened then it will enable Muslims to compete successfully with the rest of the nation in acquiring high paying modern jobs. In other words, problem must be attacked at the root and root is education at the primary level.

Muslim private organizations can supplement the efforts of the government. They can not establish a parallel system of education, that's not possible and that's not right either. As taxpayers, we are entitled to educational advancement at the expense of the state. Muslim organizations can play a supplementary role to advance it further.

Marxists end their honeymoon with left intellectuals
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
Vendors’ investment goes up in Singur
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, Dec. 13: In a bid to project that Singur and Nandigram incidents apparently did not have much impact on investment, the state government today claimed that the quantum of investment by vendors of the Tata small car factory in Singur has taken a giant leap, increasing by nearly four times.
While on 9 March, after signing the agreement with the Tata Motors Limited, the state commerce and industry secretary had pegged investment by the vendors in Singur at Rs 500 crore, the minister of the department, Mr Nirupam Sen today claimed that the vendors would invest nearly Rs 2,200 crore.
Mr Sen today held a meeting with 35 of the 55 companies manufacturing auto components and setting up their unit at Singur. “The vendors would invest Rs 2,200 which is over and above the investment of Rs 1,500 crore in the mother plant,” said Mr Nirupam Sen.
Among the 55 vendors, 15 have already started construction while another 13 have applied for land for setting up the unit. The minister also said that initially, the vendors would employ 2,750 people which would increase to 4,000 once the project is completed. The project affected people would be trained to be employed as skilled labour in the project.
Land for Telcon
The state government today handed over 250 acres of land acquired in Kharagpur to Telcon, a joint venture between Tata Motors and Hitachi, for setting up of a heavy earth moving manufacturing unit at a price of Rs 9 lakh per acre. The investment will be around Rs 600 acres for the mother plant and another 500 acres by the vendors, said the minister.
FB raps CM & Nirupam
KOLKATA, Dec. 13: The Forward Bloc state secretary, Mr Ashok Ghosh, said today that chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and industries minister Mr Nirupam Sen were responsible for the present situation in Nandigram and Singur. Reiterating his party decision to go it alone in the panchayat polls, he said that the Forward Bloc was opposed to setting up Special Economic Zone and would address a meeting in Nandigram on 23 December.
“I am going to Nandigram as the situation is yet to be normal there,” he said. Asked about any effort to paper over cracks in the Front, Mr Ghosh said that he had not held talks with Front chairman Mr Biman Bose.SNS
Marxists end their honeymoon with left intellectuals
Fri, 2007-12-14 02:47
By Tushar Charan - Syndicate Features
http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/8701
With more than three years of the five-year term of the state assembly still left before it faces the polls, it is disappointing to note that CPI (M), the dominant party in West Bengal’s Left Front, is not even embarrassed, leave alone shamed, by the barrage of criticism on the way it has handled the situation in Nandigram. But the series of tragic and unfortunate incidents in Nandigram since the beginning of the year have shattered many myths about the Left rule in West Bengal, especially the image of the big brother CPI (M). The honeymoon between the intellectual classes and the CPI-M had perhaps lasted too long.
Even as groaning voices kept wafting out of West Bengal in the past not many outside the state were ready to shed the romantic notions about a party with leaders who looked ideologically and sincerely ‘committed’ to the cause of the poor and the unprivileged and were known to be the least enamoured of avarice unlike the politicians from other parties. A party like the CPI (M) was supposed to be free of the common vices of other parties like crime, corruption and sycophancy. Prolonged exposures from Nandigram have altered (if not erased) that image drastically.
Despite the popular conception—largely based on the governance in what was once known as the Eastern Bloc-- that the comrades have no belief in it, the CPI (M) and its allies notched up more points by proclaiming their belief in democracy. The CPI (M) appeared to many as a unique Indian party where its leaders lived simply, preached what they practised and believed in accepting the poll verdict.
The admiration, though silent and unspoken, for the comrades was high and widespread in intellectual institutions. It was assumed that higher institutions of learning would have a predominance of ‘Leftists’ among both students and teachers. A good number of top civil servants had flaunted their Left leanings before entering the portals of privilege. States ruled by the Left were known as ‘progressive’ as opposed to the retrograde states run by petty bourgeoisie politicians who had embraced ‘anti-people’ policies.
Now we have it from a person no less than Justice S. Rajendra Babu, chairman of the National Human Rights Commission that the Nandigram incidents are among the ‘worst scars’ on the face of India. (Incidentally, if it is of any importance the Justice comes from a ‘progressive’ state.) The West Bengal chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, was stumped. When asked to give his reaction, all that he could say was that he would give his reaction after he had ‘studied’ the remarks of the NHRC chairman.
That reply appeared to be rather uncharacteristic of the post-Nandigram Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee who had described the mass murder and rape by the musclemen of his party in Nandigram as a (befitting) ‘reply in the same coin’ to the ‘goons’ who had earlier driven out his cadres. This cavalier if not offensive expression shocked Kolkata’s vast intellectual circles, most of whom were among his admirers. He had no qualms about choosing words that could well have been spoken by Narendra Modi of Gujarat after the latter’s ‘cadres’ had executed a state-sponsored pogrom of the minorities. It earned Modi a notoriety with which he has to live his entire life.
Outside the Hindutva world of the Sangh Parivar, not many would like to be compared to Modi. But if the Gujarat chief minister had reportedly given a three-day amnesty (vide Tehelka exposures) to his ‘goons’ to stage an orgy of murder, rape and pilferage in his state, in West Bengal the state machinery had had a much longer holiday—almost a year. There must be only a thin line that distinguishes the fascism of the kind Sangh Parivar pursues and the brand patented by the CPI (M).
Actually, it may be worse in West Bengal. Despite incompetence, suspected bias and unpardonable delays before they swung into action, the state security apparatus did manage to show its presence in Gujarat. In Nandigram the state actually refused to summon the police and even prevented the forces sent by the Centre from doing their duty. All because the state government had more faith in its own party’s armed cadres whose given assignment was to ‘teach a lesson’ to the opponents.
If the Left Front government in West Bengal has its way, it is the armed and undisciplined party cadres who would manage the law and order situation in every state in the country. That would place the party and its interests above the units of the state and the people who live in them. The Bengal comrades have also shown that engaging dissenters and opponents in dialogue is a waste of time, a fruitless pursuit.
Criticism from any quarter can send the comrades fuming; more so when it comes from the Raj Bhavan where the incumbent had actually asked for some kind of introspection by the state government when it failed to deal with Nandigram adequately. It is ironic that it was the Left, still puffing with anger over their spats with previous governors like A.P. Sharma and T. Rajeshwar that had asked for Gopal Gandhi to be sent to Kolkata’s Raj Bhavan.
The poor farmers of West Bengal have been wrong in the eyes of the CPI (M) to oppose the land acquisition programme of the communist ruled West Bengal. The ruling party decided that the farmers’ organisation, the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee deserved no hearing, especially when many Maoists and ‘goons’ of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress had managed to infiltrate it. The only way to deal with them was to ‘teach them a lesson’ by beating them black and blue, raping their women folks, burning their homes and hearths and if they still survived and wished to return home, make them pay fines.
The West Bengal government’s determination to acquire land—mostly on behalf of the much maligned capitalists—would have been admirable had it not been for the fact that elsewhere in India the comrades think it is a cardinal sin. Except West Bengal, the comrades have been in the forefront of opposing special economic zones in the rest of India.
However, the contradictions in their new philosophy of industrialisation that looks quite pro-capitalists had become apparent even before Nandigram when the land acquisition plan in Singur had turned violent. It was perhaps a sign of the arrogance that has crept in the ranks of the comrade rulers who did not want to learn any lesson from Singur. Now they have even harder lessons to learn, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s public regret over Nandigram show notwithstanding.
- Syndicate Features -

Collapse of state structures in West affected India: Menon
Palash Biswas

Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com

Collapse of state structures in West affected India: Menon

New Delhi, Dec 13: India on Thursday said the collapse of state structures in countries in its west has led to terrorism, extremism and radicalism, which are affecting economic growth in the country.

In an apparent reference to Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said any compromise with such forces only encourages those responsible for terrorism.

International terrorism remains a major threat to peace and stability, he said inaugurating the foreign policy dialogue with London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"Large areas abutting India to the west have seen the collapse of state structures and the absence of governance or the writ of the state, with the emergence of multiple centres of power," Menon said.

The results, in the form of terrorism, extremism and radicalism, are felt by the people of India, he said.

"We in India have directly suffered the consequences of the linkages and relationships among terrorist organisations, support structures and funding mechanisms, centred upon our immediate neighbourhood, and transcending national borders," Menon said.

He said with the advent of globalisation, risk factors that threaten systemic stability come from larger global issues like terrorism, energy security and environmental and climate change.

"These are the issues that will impact directly on India's ability to grow and expand our strategic autonomy," Menon said.

CPI to ask government to scrap n-deal

New Delhi, Dec 14 (IANS) In yet another indication that the Left-United Progressive Alliance (UPA) row over the India-US nuclear deal was set to worsen, the Communist Party of India (CPI) Friday said it would ask the government to scrap the agreement as a majority in parliament was opposed to it.

'We do not want the deal. We do not want the deal to be operationalised... There is no doubt about it. Arithmetically, the sense of the house (parliament) is that a majority of the members are opposed to the deal,' CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan told reporters here.

Pointing out that the government should take into account the views various political parties had voiced during a debate in parliament, Bardhan said his party would ask the government to give up the deal in the next UPA-Left nuclear committee meeting.

He hoped the government would come with the details of its negotiations with the UN atomic body International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on India-specific safeguards in the seventh meeting of the joint nuclear panel. No dates have been fixed for the meeting.

The 15-member nuclear committee, formed to address concerns raised by the Left over the agreement, had given its nod for the government-IAEA India-specific negotiations. But it insisted that the government should come back to the committee before initialising the safeguards agreement.

Bardhan's counterpart in the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Prakash Karat has recently been quoted saying at a party meeting that the government would not be allowed to go ahead with the deal after its talks with the IAEA.

The Left wants the government to ensure fuel supplies to Indian nuclear reactors in perpetuity and also continuation of civilian nuclear cooperation as well as India-specific safeguards even if the Indo-US deal is terminated.

Senior Left leaders admit that this was an impossible task - and in the process, minus Communist support, the Indo-US nuclear agenda would derail.

Musharraf takes charge of nuke arsenal
President Pervez Musharraf today tightened his grip on Pakistan's nuclear arsenal by issuing an ordinance that made him the head of the National Command Authority which is responsible for development and control of atomic weapons.The ordinance, issued late in the night, gives a more structured character to the NCA, which was originally set up in February 2000 to address concerns about the safety of the nuclear arsenal. Under the original set-up, the chief of the NCA was the "head of the government" or the Prime Minister. The ordinance issued by Musharraf names the President as the chairman of the NCA and the Prime Minister as the Deputy Chairman.

The order said, "it is necessary and expedient to establish an authority for complete command and control over research, development, production and use of nuclear and space technologies". It also provides for the "safety and security of all personnel, facilities, information, installations or organisations and other activities or matters connected" to nuclear and space technologies. Besides the President and the Prime Minister, the other members of the NCA will be the ministers for foreign affairs, finance, defence and interior, the three service chiefs, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee and the Director General of the strategic plans division.

The NCA would exercise complete command and control over all nuclear and space-related technologies, systems and matters of strategic organisations.

The security of Pakistan's nuclear installations had become a major cause of concern internationally, particularly in America, where there were worries that militants could get their hands on Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

The Indian and US diplomatic missions and VVIPs including President Pervez Musharraf and former premier Benazir Bhutto might be targeted in "a spate of suicide attacks by terrorists" in Pakistan, intelligence agencies have warned. Terrorists based in the restive northwestern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and the Swat valley in North West Frontier Province are planning to carry out suicide attacks in collusion with the al Qaeda, said a secret report prepared by the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC).

"Besides the US and Indian embassies, their consulates and several other religious and political personalities are also on the hit list," the Daily Times quoted the report as saying. The report, titled "Threat to VVIPs, Politicians, Foreign Missions and Military Installations", said terrorists could carry out suicide attacks disguised as women or as military or police personnel. "Furthermore, five suicide bombers have already entered the NWFP to move to their target areas, "it said.

"The emphasis needs to be on the security of foreign diplomats, foreigners living in Pakistan, and the Christian community who would attend Christmas prayers at different churches in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. It is apprehended that hardcore religious elements may try to disrupt the New Year celebrations," the report said.

Meanwhile, majority of Pakistanis want President Pervez Mushrraf to quit immediately and do not favour the party backed by him, according to the first major opinion poll released since he imposed emergency last month. About 67 per cent of Pakistanis want Musharraf out of power and 56 per cent said the army, which has ruled Pakistan for long periods since it won independence 60 years ago, should have no role in the government, said the poll by the Washington-based International Republican Institute that was released on Thu8rsday.

Asked which party they would support in the polls, 30 per cent of respondents said they would support Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, 25 per cent Sharif's PML-N party and 23 per cent the ruling PML-Q, which backs Musharraf, It found that 60 per cent of Pakistanis opposed a deal between Musharraf and former premier Benazir Bhutto to form a government. However, 58 per cent said they would back a "grand opposition alliance" of Bhutto, her political rival and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and other parties opposed to Musharraf. Two-thirds of the respondents "expressed anger at the current state of affairs, desired change and were anti-Musharraf," the IRI said. One-third "remained supportive of President Musharraf and were positive about the condition of the country". Pakistan appeared to be headed for a hung parliament after the January 8 general election if Bhutto and Sharif do not form an alliance, the poll said.

NASA puts off Atlantis shuttle launch
NASA on Thursday postponed yet again the launch date for its Atlantis shuttle mission to deliver a European space laboratory to an orbiting station, pushing it back by a week to January 10.

"Moving the next launch attempt of Atlantis to January 10 will allow as many people as possible to have time with family and friends at the time of year when it means the most," said Wayne Hale, space shuttle program manager. "A lot has been asked of them this year and a lot will be asked of them in 2008," he said in a statement by the space agency. "The workforce has stepped up to and met every challenge this year."

The mission was first due to launch on December 6 but was delayed after faults were found with fuel gauges on the shuttle's external fuel tank, requiring complex repairs. The December launch was finally abandoned.

Atlantis is to carry the European Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station, an orbiting platform hundreds of miles above Earth which is intended as a jumping-off point for deeper space exploration.

NASA now plans to fill the fuel tanks on December 18 in a test to try and identify the cause of the fault. The gauges show when the tank of liquid hydrogen fuel is nearly empty during the flight into orbit. This causes the shuttle's engines to shut off automatically so they do not keep firing without fuel, which could cause an explosion.

Protest rally against Assam carnage
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
A protest rally against Assam carnaige has been organised on 15th Dec 2007. It will start from College Square (Kolkata) at 12 noon & end in Rani Rashmoni road. The meeting in Rashmoni road will start from 2:00 p.m to 5:00 p.m. After the meet 5 member delegation will meet the Governor of West Bengal to submit the memorandum.Interested Adivasis/well wishers are requested to join the rally..Thanking you.Dr. Anand Besra
Nagen Hembrom of AISWACS Dakshin Dinajpur informs that 500 members of the Adivasi Samyukta Manch will travel tonight to Kolkata to attend the rally tomorrow.Prabir
A team of the National Security Guards (NSG) will visit Assam on Friday to assist in the investigation into the explosion in the Rajdhani Express. The team will look for ballistic and forensic clues at the site of the incident, a spokesperson of the Home Ministry said here on Thursday.
The Ministry is closely monitoring the situation and was in touch with the State authorities, he said.
Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta spoke to the State Chief Secretary and he was briefed about the steps taken in the wake of the blast.
Home Minister Shivraj Patil, strongly condemning the blast, said the State and Railways would take necessary steps to provide protection to passengers and see that such incidents did not recur.

Protest rally against Assam carnage
Palash Biswas

Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com

A protest rally against Assam carnaige has been organised on 15th Dec 2007. It will start from College Square (Kolkata) at 12 noon & end in Rani Rashmoni road. The meeting in Rashmoni road will start from 2:00 p.m to 5:00 p.m. After the meet 5 member delegation will meet the Governor of West Bengal to submit the memorandum.
Interested Adivasis/well wishers are requested to join the rally..
Thanking you.
Dr. Anand Besra

Nagen Hembrom of AISWACS Dakshin Dinajpur informs that 500 members of the Adivasi Samyukta Manch will travel tonight to Kolkata to attend the rally tomorrow.
Prabir

A team of the National Security Guards (NSG) will visit Assam on Friday to assist in the investigation into the explosion in the Rajdhani Express. The team will look for ballistic and forensic clues at the site of the incident, a spokesperson of the Home Ministry said here on Thursday.

The Ministry is closely monitoring the situation and was in touch with the State authorities, he said.

Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta spoke to the State Chief Secretary and he was briefed about the steps taken in the wake of the blast.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil, strongly condemning the blast, said the State and Railways would take necessary steps to provide protection to passengers and see that such incidents did not recur.

“Necessary assistance will be extended to them,” he said, conveying his sympathies to the families of those killed.

Politician dies in Assam attack
By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Calcutta

Suspected separatist rebels have shot dead a regional politician and seriously wounded another in India's north-eastern state of Assam.

Police said Manindra Lahkar, a senior leader of the Hindu nationalist BJP, was shot dead in Rangiya town.

Rebels also broke into the house of legislator Padma Hazarika in Sootea and fired on him.

Police said they suspected the rebel separatist group, the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa).

Mr Lahkar, a former vice-president of the BJP state committee, died on the spot.

Mr Hazarika, who belongs to the regional Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) party, was hit by five bullets. Doctors say his condition is critical.

'Terrorising'

Key village council polls are due to take place in Assam in three phases, beginning on 31 December.

A BJP leader, Kabindra Purkayastha, said the Ulfa rebels were working with the opposition Congress party and "terrorising" party supporters.

The AGP party made similar allegations but Congress spokesman Himanta Biswa Sarmah denied the charge.

"The Ulfa may target anybody, so why blame us for what they do," Mr Sarmah said.

Ulfa has neither claimed nor denied a role in these two attacks.

Ulfa began an armed rebellion against what it describes as colonial rule by Delhi in 1979. Thousands of people have died in the violence.

An effort to start peace talks between the rebels and the Indian government broke down last year.

The rebels are seeking a separate homeland for the Assamese people and demanding the departure of the non-indigenous population, particularly Hindi speakers.

The Adivasi Question In Assam

Recent violence involving Assam’s adivasis highlights the region’s uniquely complex realities, says MOIRANGTHEM PRAKASH.

It is unfortunate that the Adivasi student body went on a rampage while rallying to press for inclusion of Santal Adivasis and other tea tribes in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) in Assam on November 24, 2007. Equally condemnable is the brutal retaliation of local residents who attacked the rallyists, leading to the killing of one person and injury of more than 250 people. Even greater was the shameful act in which the retaliators publicly stripped one of the female protestors.
However, this is not the first incident of attacking outsiders in the state. We have repeatedly witnessed the killing of Hindi speaking migrants over the last few years. In the light of this continuing violence, and particularly the recent clash, we could observe an emerging issue – the conflict between Adivasis and Scheduled Tribes (ST).

It seems to be strange to hear of an Adivasis Vs Tribals conflict. But the conflict does exist in Assam. The word ‘Adivasi’ denotes tribes in other parts of the country, but not in the Northeast. Tribes in the region are better known as Scheduled Tribes (ST). Even if two nomenclatures are given for a single group, why are there conflicts between them? Because these are not merely two names identifying a single community; these are two different communities in Assam.

STs are the indigenous tribes of the state, while Adivasis are the tribes from other states who are currently residing in the state. They came from the regions of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Orissa a long time back and have been working as labourers in the tea gardens. Adivasis, including tea tribe communities, are not Scheduled Tribes in Assam and they have been demanding such status for a long time.

STs of the state, no doubt, are against the Adivasis’ demand of ST status. Not only the inclusion of Adivasis in the list of ST will reduce their share, they consider themselves under threat from the Adivasis (as well as other migrants from Bihar and Bengal) in the last few decades on economic, social and ethnic grounds. The violent manner in which the local residents retaliated to the adivasi rallyists is partly a reflection of their hostility against the ‘outsider’ Adivasis.

Although the Adivasis were brought to work in tea gardens initially, as there were acute shortages of labour supply, they are no more in need today as the number of unemployed local residents have increased tremendously in the last couple of decades. Another important aspect is that these migrant labourers are ready to work at a minimal wages, having no other options, while the local Assamese demand higher wages. When a local Assamese labourer demands fifty rupees, migrant labourers are ready to work even at twenty rupees. For this obvious reason, employers prefer migrant labourers and Adivasis. Thus, local Assamese find it difficult to get jobs and in turn blame the migrants.

Not only creating a tough competitive environment for getting job in the state, the outsiders are also seen as threatening the identity of the sons of the soil. Many have settled in the state and their increasing number is alarming the ethnic groups. Particularly in Assam and other parts of Northeast, the original inhabitants are outnumbered by outsiders. Assames and Tripuris are effectively minorities in their own states and the same is going to witnessed soon in Manipur and Meghalaya also, creating the region a fertile dumping ground for overpopulated mainland India. Thus, conflict starts with economic causes and transforms into ethnic and communal ones.

But, for the Adivasis, demanding ST status is not unreasonable. They have been staying there for many years, and neither in their home states nor in their resident state are they obtaining the advantages of STs. Keeping in mind the precarious living conditions of Adivasis, both the governments of home and resident states need to consider it seriously while not neglecting the interest of the indigenous tribes of the resident state.

The writer is a researcher at the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi

Muslims urged to unite against State's hostile attitude
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
Kolkata : All India Minority Ekta Manch president Shaikh Ahmad expressed his grave concern over the step-motherly treatment towards Muslims on the part of Left Front government in the State. He was addressing a meeting of the Manch here Tuesday.
"The Left Front government of West Bengal is violating the rights of Muslims. Whether it is the issue of madrasas or job opportunities for Muslims, or granting university status to Madrasa Aalia or promotion of Urdu through Urdu Akademy, in every issue related to Muslims the well-planned anti-Muslim policy of the State government is evident," he alleged.
Mr Ahmad further said that the present State government is hell bent upon effacing the very existence of Muslims in the State.
Warning the Muslims against the hostile attitude of the State government towards Muslims, he said, "The Muslim Leftists who bear the party's treachery will have to effect a change in their attitude towards the party."
Mr Ahmad also talked about launching a State-wide movement to unite Muslims and create an awareness among them in near future.

ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNAL HARMONY IN ASIA (ACHA)
www.asiapeace.org & www.indiapakistanpeace.org
4410 Verda Lane NE, Keizer, OR 97303, USA
Pritam Rohila, Ph. D., Executive Director, 503.393.6944, asiapeace@comcast.net
December 12, 2007
Appeal for Restoration of Rule of Law in Pakistan
Since March this year, the current administration of Pakistan has made several brazen attempts to thwart the rule of law in the country and crush the will of its people.
On November 3, the Constitution was suspended and replaced with the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO). Since then honorable judges who refused to take the oath under the new dispensation were arbitrarily dismissed, denied their civil rights and retirement benefits. They are now being evicted from their residences. Many other