Thursday, November 29, 2012

Egypt erupts as prez turns ‘pharaoh’

Morsi Assumes Sweeping Powers That Even Mubarak Didn’t Enjoy, Triggers Violence

Cairo: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi assured his supporters that the country was on a path of “freedom and democracy” even as thousands of people staged rival rallies across the polarized nation to both support and oppose his move to assume sweeping powers.
    Morsi’s detractors dubbed him the ‘new pharaoh’, a day after he issued a declaration granting himself what many said were more powers than even the ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak.
    Thousands of his supporters and opponents on Friday took to streets to stage rival rallies across Egypt, leading to sporadic violence and burning down of offices belonging to the ruling Muslim Brotherhood.
    Amid much concern over the move, Morsi told his supporters that Egypt was on the path to “freedom and democracy,” and stability was the need of the hour.
    “Political stability, social stability and economic stability are what I want and that is what I am working for,” he told an Islamist rally outside the presidential palace.
    Morsi’s new powers are supposed to be temporary, to last for the transition period, and the decree will expire when a new constitution is approved by the middle of February. However his opponents see the move as endangering the gains of the popular uprising which ousted Mubarak’s dictatorial regime.
    “I have always been, and still am, and will always be, God willing, with the pulse of the people, what the people want, with clear legitimacy,” Morsi said.
    The president’s declaration also ordered retrials of officials involved in the killing of protesters during the 2011 mass uprising against the Mubarak regime.
    Protesters marching from various city points converged in Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square chanting slogans such as “Down with the Supreme Guide”, “Wake up Mursi, it’s your last day,” and the popular “The people demand the fall of the regime”.
    The protesters held banners denouncing the Muslim Brotherhood and its intervention in the state policy, as well as banners rejecting Thursday’s constitutional declaration. During the protests, offices of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, were set ablaze in Ismailiya and Port Said, state television said.
    It was also reported that the party’s office in Alexandria was also stormed. Eyewitnesses said 15 were injured in the clashes as both sideshurled stones at each other, and at least five cars were smashed. The protesters arrived in Tahrir about an hour after Islamist supporters of Morsi came out in the tens to demonstrate against the Constitution Party’s anti-Mursi protest march. The two groups engaged in verbal sparring matches, shouting slogans at each other.
    Political forces including the Wafd Party, Tagammu Party, Constitution Party, Democratic Egyptian Party, Free Egyptians Party and Popular Trend Party, and the April 6 Youth Movement, the Revolutionary Youth Union, the Free Egyptian Movement, the No to Military Trials group and the Bring them for Trial campaign announced participation in the protest.
    Islamist forces including the Muslim Brotherhood, Jama’a al-Islamiya, and Salafi Dawah as well the Freedom and Justice Party, the Noor Party, Asala and Wasat were in support of the new constitutional declaration. PTI
BIRTH OF ANOTHER AUTOCRAT?
    President Morsi exempts all his decisions from legal challenge until a new parliament is elected
    Gives himself sweeping powers that allow him to sack the unpopular general prosecutor and open the door for a retrial of Mubarak and his aides
    Empowers himself to enact any measure he deems necessary to deal with a ‘threat’ to Egypt’s ‘revolution’
    The powers are supposed to be temporary — until a new constitution is adopted and new parliamentary polls take place
Morsi’s aides say the steps will help in speeding up a protracted transition process that has been hindered by legal obstacles
    But his critics say the decree puts Morsi in the same category as Mubarak, who argued his autocratic powers were necessary to shepherd Egypt to a new democratic future

Varanasi blast: HC slams UP govt for withdrawing cases

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Lucknow: The Allahabad high court lashed out at the Uttar Pradesh government for withdrawing terror charges against those accused of the 2006 Varanasi serial blasts.
    Expressing displeasure at the move, the court on Thursday asked how does the government decide whether an individual can be accused of terrorism or not. The court said, “Who will decide if a person is a terrorist or not? Since the cases in question are pending before the court, it should be left for the courts to decide.”
    The court also observed, “Today the government wants to withdraw cases against terror accused. Tomorrow they will be decorated with Padma bhushan.” The bench of Justice RK Agarwal and Justice RSR Maurya wondered if the government’s move will end up encouraging terror activities.
    The judges made these observations while hearing a public interest litigation by social activists Nityanand Chaubey and Rakesh Nayayik of Varanasi questioning the government’s move to withdraw the cases.

Terror hits Pak as summit starts

Taliban Kill 23 Shias, More Attacks Feared During Muharram

Omer Farooq Khan TNN

Islamabad: At least 23 people were killed and 62 injured in a suicide bomb attack on a Shia Muslim procession in the country’s garrison city of Rawalpindi late on Wednesday. The attack came after twin blasts against Muharram procession of Shias in Karachi left three dead and a remote-control blast in Queatta city killed at least five.
    Eyewitnesses at Rawalpindi’s blast scene said a suicide bomber was intercepted by law-enforcement personnel when he was trying to join a Muharram procession.
    “The bomber was trying to join the procession by crossing barbed wires and breaking the security cordon. The bomber detonated himself the moment he was intercepted by security personnel,” said Sadaqat Hussain who was injured in the blast.
    Deeba Shehnaz, police rescue spokeswoman, said: “A total of 23 people, including the bomber, have died and 62 injured, eight of them are children.”
    The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the Karachi and Rawalpindi blasts. “We carried out the attacks in Rawalpindi and Karachi because the Shia community is engaged in defiling our Prophet,” said Ehsanullah Ehsan, the Taliban spokesman. The banned Balochistan Republican Army claimed responsibility for a blast in Quetta region targeting security personnel.
    Pakistan intelligence officials said the extremist groups have escalated bombings and shootings of Shias to trigger violence that would pave the way for further sectarian violence. They also warned of more attacks in the coming days of the month of Muharram.
    The violence also coincided with Islamabad hosting a summit of developing eight countries, attended by the leaders of Iran, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia and other countries. Observers said largescale sectarian or militant violence could hurt Pakistan’s efforts to show that it has improved security situation as it hosts a summit of the leaders of eight developing countries in Islamabad.
    “The ongoing sectarian violence could hurt Pakistan’s efforts to show that it has improved security as it hosts the leaders of eight developing countries,” said Amir Mateen, an analyst.
    Home minister Rehman Malik said the attacks were designed to create the impression that the government is incapable of providing adequate security for the summit. “We are trying to build relationships, get investment in Pakistan and these groups are trying to derail the process,” he said.
    Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf condemned the bombings in a statement, vowing that the country was united and would never submit to

Ex-NSG commando claims non-payment of 26/11 dues

Himanshi Dhawan TNN

New Delhi: A former NSG commando, who had killed two terrorists at the Taj Mahal Hotel during the 26/11 siege but was rendered completely deaf due to injuries he suffered, came on Arvind Kejriwal’s platform on Thursday to allege that he had been handed a raw deal and deprived of pension and disability benefits due to him despite risking his life for the country.
    Haryana resident Naik Surender Singh, who was compulsorily retired following injuries he suffered during Operation Tornado, alleged that he was forced to run from pillar to post for the past 13 months for money due to him.
    Talking to reporters, Singh and Kejriwal demanded an inquiry into the funds given as donations by the public post-Mumbai terror attack alleging that the money was selectively distributed among commandos leaving many out. The two said that a callous government had left heroes to beg, and demanded to know the amount of money NSG had received from the public and what had been done with cheques signed by contributors such as Indian cricket captain M S Dhoni, Rohan Motors, Royal Western India Turf Club in favour of the commandos.
    Government denied the charge of insensitivity towards the commando, but acknowledged that there was a delay of 13 months in the disbursement of pension to Singh who was originally from the Grenadiers’ unit of the Army.
    Singh, the sole earning member of a family of five and now completely deaf, will start getting his pension only from this month. He forcefully countered ministry of defence’s (MoD) claim that Rs 19 lakh of the total Rs 31 lakh due to him in benefits had already been released. He produced bank statements to show that the account into which the money was supposed to be credited never got any. The account has only Rs 10 lakh. He maintained that he has so far received only Rs 4 lakh from various sources.
    `Even the citation certificate given to me is worthless since it did not have the signature of the Director General of NSG,’’ said a dejected Singh.
    The timing of the press conference, underlining Kejriwal’s growing ability to attract people with diverse grievances against the government, was significant. The allegation of indifference to heroes who had combated the Mumbai attackers comes a day after terrorist Ajmal Kasab was executed, and days before the fourth anniversary of the terror attacks, and sought to tap into the mood in the wake of Kasab’s hanging. The tactic worked too, forcing the government to come up with a prompt and detailed response and to argue, in a first, its case on micro-blogging site, Twitter.
    The emotive nature of the allegation knocked the ministries of defence and information and droadcasting, and the NSG into a team as they tried to fend off Singh’s charges. “I left for the Operation without seeing my newborn son. I gave my 100% to the country but this government has left me with nothing. I don’t want money…I want an inquiry into the money.”
    Singh suffers from 100% hearing disability diagnosed as sensory neural hearing loss in both ears and has splinters in both legs after a grenade thrown by the terrorists blew up on Nov 29, 2008. “Jo w a h a n l a d a a i t h i , w h o b a h a r w a l o n s e t h i . A p n e a a d m i y o n s e l a d n a m u s h k i l h o r a h a h a i. (The fight in Mumbai was against outsiders, but fighting with my own countrymen is proving difficult.),’’ he lamented.
    He denied the government’s claim that his failure to get a Contributory Health Insurance Scheme Card was the reason why he had to spend Rs 1 lakh from his own pocket for the treatment of injuries he sustained while battling the terrorists holed up in Taj Mahal Hotel.
    Government agreed to investigate the charge that money donated by Royal Western India Turf Club for the NSG commandos who fought the 26/11 attackers, was given to only four of them.
    “This is a country where a cricketer gets Rs 1 crore just to swing his bat but we force people who have risked their lives to beg for their rights. Who will send their husband, wife or son to fight for the country,’’ Kejriwal and his colleagues said.
    He claimed that both Taj and Oberoi hotels received $28 million in insurance money by August, 2009.
    Charging the government to prove that he had even received a “single paisa’’ from them, Singh said that he and his colleagues had been threatened not to air their grievances publicly or they would lose the funds they had received. Singh said that he was declared medically unfit 14 years three months and 10 days in to service and thrown out of the army forcing him to lose pension benefits due after 15 years of service.
26/11: Four years on, Mumbai fire brigade yet to receive President’s medals
Mumbai: Three years after the President’s medals were announced for seven of Mumbai’s firemen for rescue operations during the 26/11 attacks, they are yet to receive the medals. Several firemen bravely saved over 400 people from the Taj Mahal and Trident hotels.
    The prestigious fire service medal for gallantry was announced on August 15, 2009, for seven of them: former chief fire officers A V Sawant and P D Karguppikar, assistant divisional fire officer S G Amin, station officers K F D’souza and S W Rane, fireman Yuvraj Pawar and driver-operator Moses Pugaonkar.
    Senior fire brigade officials said the medals have arrived and are with the state government. According to protocol, the medals are to be handed over to them by the governor in a special programme. Strangely, senior state government officials said they want to give away the medals at a big function and hence are waiting to organise a collective function for all other firemen who have got these medals in the past and will do so in the near future.
    In fact, fire brigade officials said the President’s medals named for different fire brigade officers have not been handed over to them since 1997.
    “We were rescuing people during continuous firing and grenade explosions. We were happy that our efforts were recognised when the medals were announced,” said a fire brigade official who was one of the first few firemen to reach Taj hotel when the terrorists set it on fire. The people recommended for the award however said they have been receiving the financial benefit of Rs 450 per month that comes with the medal. TNN

Six-yr-old forced to drink his urine

Parents Protest, Lodge Police Complaint; Teacher Absconding

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Anaparthy (East Godavari):
In yet another horrific act of child abuse, a teacher of a private high school allegedly forced a six-year-old student to drink his own urine. The victim, a first standard student of Satyabhama High School, was forced to drink urine as punishment by his teacher Gowri who suspected him of leaving a mug full of urine in the bathroom, said sources.
    Though the incident took place on Wednesday afternoon, it came to light only on Thursday. The incident sparked off a public outcry after parents and relatives of the boy staged a protest in front of the school and lodged a complaint with the police. The teacher has been absconding from the school soon after news of the incident spread across the town.
    This is the third such incident to have come to light this year, after a fifth standard girl was allegedly forced to drink her urine by the hostel warden after she wet her bed in Viswa Bharathi School in West Bengal on July 10 and around the same time, a 14-year-old student in Perambalur of Tamil Nadu was subjected to a similar punishment by three teachers, who were later arrested, on July 21 this year.
    While sources said the teacher beat the child before allegedly meting out the inhuman punishment, other students said the teacher had asked them to hold him while she tossed the mugful of urine at him.
    However, the boy’s parents insist that their child was made to drink. “The statements of other children are false. My son told me he was forced to drink the urine. How can a teacher do this to a small child?” said an angry Ananta Reddy, the boy’s father and businessman.
    Anaparty police, on the other hand, said the boy gave them two versions. While he first said he was dragged by other students from the bathroom to the classroom before they poured urine on him, he reportedly changed his version within a few minutes to say that the teacher had asked the other children to pour the urine on him.
    Education department authorities, who recorded the version of students on tape, said it was another boy who allegedly urinated in the mug, but the students following the instructions of the teacher dragged the victim instead. “This is only a preliminary report. An officer has been put on the job to verify the facts and prepare the report,’ said district education officer (DEO) Srinivasa Reddy said.

7-yr-old loses genitals after circumcision, fighting for life

Rajendra Sharma TNN

Alwar: A seven-year-old boy is battling for life after a circumcision went horribly wrong at a private hospital in Alwar on Thursday. The boy’s genitals had to be cut off in an attempt to save his life, said sources. An FIR has been lodged against the hospital authorities after the relatives of the boy created a ruckus.
    The boy, Imran, was admitted to Sania hospital in Alwar on November 10 for circumcision. According to sources, after the operation, some equipment was used to prevent bleeding. However, electric current accidentally passed into his private parts and the boy suffered serious injury.
    On November 13, the boy was referred to a private hospital in Jaipur. After investigating, the doctors in Jaipur advised the boy’s relatives to remove his genitals as it was necessary to save his life. The operation was conducted and his genitals were removed. Three days after the operation, the boy was again admitted to Sania hospital in Alwar. The boy is now fighting for life while his relatives are protesting outside the hospital in Alwar.
    Imran’s grandfather Ayub Khan said, “The circumcision was carried out by Tayyab Khan, a physician at Sania Hospital. He is not a surgeon. The licence of the hospital should be cancelled.” However, Tayyab Khan denied the allegation. The hospital administration assured the boy’s relatives that it would bear the expenses of the treatment.

Pakistan Taliban threaten to attack Indians ‘anywhere’

Seek Kasab’s Body For Islamic Burial

Omer Farooq Khan TNN

Islamabad: The Pakistani Taliban on Thursday vowed to attack Indian targets “anywhere” to avenge the execution of Ajmal Kasab, the lonesurvivor of the terrorist squad responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. The outfit demanded that Kasab’s body be returned to Pakistan for an “Islamic burial”.
    Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said the TTP would mount attacks in India and anywhere to avenge the hanging of Kasab, without elaborating. The TTP, linked to al-Qaida, operates from Pakistan’s ungoverned tribal belt along the Afghanistan border.
    Ehsan warned, “If India does not return Kasab’s body to us or his family, we will capture Indians and not return their bodies.” He criticized Pakistan for not asking India to return Kasab’s body after Indian authorities said on Wednesday that the terrorist had been buried in the Yerawada jail premises in Pune where he was hanged. Indian authorities did not specify what burial rites were performed.
    Pakistan has tightened security at the Indian embassy in Islamabad following Delhi’s request for extra cover for its diplomats. Indian deputy high commissioner Gopal Baglay met his counterpart in the Pakistan foreign office Zohra Akbari, DG, South Asia, a day before Kasab’s hanging, and handed a ‘note verbale’ requesting extra security.
    Diplomatic sources confirmed that security measures at the Indian high commission had been tightened further.
    Foreign secretary J A Jillani said, “I am not aware of the threats that you are8 referring to, but as far as we are concerned, our position on the issue of terrorism has been consistent — we have condemned terrorism in Pakistan or in any part of the world . As far as the question of security is concerned, the government of Pakistan is doing everything despite all the challenges to provide security not only to our own people but also to members of the diplomatic community.”
I was denied 26/11 dues: Ex-commando New Delhi:A former NSG commando, who had killed two terrorists at the Taj Mahal Hotel during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks but was rendered deaf due to injuries he suffered in the rescue operation, came on Arvind Kejriwal’s platform on Thursday to allege that he had been handed a raw deal and deprived of pension and disability benefits. Haryana resident Naik Surender Singh, who was compulsorily retired following injuries he suffered during Operation Tornado, alleged that he had been forced to run from pillar to post for the last 13 months for money due to him.

Kasab’s Life Ends On A String

In A Top-Secret Operation Executed With Surgical Precision, LeT Terrorist Ajmal Kasab Is Hanged At Pune’s Yerawada Jail At 7.30am Wednesday After Being Moved From Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail In The Dead Of Night

Prafulla Marpakwar & C Unnikrishnan TNN

Mumbai: Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab exited this world as stealthily as he had entered Mumbai four years ago. The lone surviving gunman of 26/11 was hanged to death in Pune’s Yerawada jail at 7.30am on Wednesday in an extremely hush-hush operation.
    Asked for his last wish, the 25-yearold terrorist from Faridkot village in Pakistan’s Punjab province said: “Gharwalon ko milna hai (I want to meet my family members).” He was told the Islamabad government had been informed about his hanging but had failed to respond. As his hands and legs were tied, his last words, according to officials who witnessed the hanging, were: “Allah kasam maaf karna. Aisi galati dobara nahi hogi…(Allah, please forgive me, this mistake won’t happen again).”
    Sources said Kasab was babbling incoherently before the hangman pulled the lever at Yerawada, about 150km from Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail, his home for four years. His body was buried in a pit in the prison premises as there were no claimants. He was convicted in May 2010 by a special judge for murdering seven people directly with his AK-47 and 65 others in common intent with fellow terrorist Ismail. He was also found guilty of being part of a Lashkar-eTaiba conspiracy that led to 166 deaths. The Mumbai high court in February 2011 and the Supreme Court in August this year upheld the sentence.
    How Kasab came to be hanged as most of India slept is as dramatic a tale as the unfortunate cycle of terror he and his nine other terrorists unleashed across Mumbai landmarks on November 26, 2008.
    On November 7, two days after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected Kasab’s clemency petition, Shinde, home secretary R K Singh and sleuths from the Intelligence Bureau drafted ‘Operation X’ to execute him. “It was a top-secret operation. Only a few bureaucrats and high-ranking IPS officers were involved,’’ Shinde told TOI.
Even PM, Sonia didn’t know, claims Shinde
    Kasab’s execution was kept such a closely guarded secret that neither the PM, nor Congress president Sonia Gandhi was told about it, Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Wednesday. “My Cabinet colleagues got to know from television this morning,” Shinde said. “The UPA president was not part of the decision. This is the depart-ment’s work, my routine work. It is my nature to keep work a secret, I have a police background.” Shinde was a policeman before joining politics.
Pak govt dodges execution note, citizens say it’s OK
    Pakistan stuck to its script of denial on Kasab even in his death as the foreign office refused to acknowledge a note on his execution from the Indian mission. The expected queasiness, in fact, was one of the factors in the cancellation of interior minister Rehman Malik’s proposed visit to India on November 22-23, sources said. In contrast, netizens in Pakistan openly welcomed the hanging, saying, “all terrorists must face the same treatment”.
2nd fastest execution in India; first for a foreigner
    Kasab’s execution — exactly five days ahead of the fourth anniversary of his crime — is the second fastest in the country, after that of Ramchandra alias Raoji who was hanged in 1996, within three years of murdering his family. Kasab is also the first foreign national to be hanged in India, among 55 executed so far. Interestingly, both 26/11 and Kasab’s execution were on Wednesday, in November, in a leap year. P 10
    THE LAST DAYS Oct 16 | Union home ministry recommends rejection of Kasab’s mercy plea to President
Nov 5 | Pranab Mukherjee rejects petition for clemency
Nov 6 | President’s rejection is conveyed to Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde
Nov 7 | Shinde approves execution and sends file to Maharashtra govt
Nov 8 | Maharashtra govt receives file with advice to execute Kasab on Nov 21
Nov 12 | Prison officials inform Kasab about the rejection of mercy plea
Nov 13 | Additional sessions judge issues death warrant
Nov 17 | Arthur Road jail officials inform Kasab about hanging on Nov 21
Nov 20 | Indian high commission informs Pakistan about decision

Miscreants set ablaze 6 cars in Old City

Hyderabad: Even as normalcy was returning to the violence-hit Old City, miscreants again tried to create trouble by setting ablaze six fourwheelers in the surrounding areas of Charminar in the early hours of Monday.
    At about 3.30 am, five miscreants, riding on two bikes, started setting ablaze fourwheelers parked on the streets in Ghansi Bazar, Golla Galli and Tagari Ka Naka areas near Charminar.
    The miscreants set ablaze a Honda City (AP 12 J 1890), Scorpio (AP 12 G 1800) vehicles belonging to Satya Prakash Agarwal, his brother Kiran at Tagari Ka Naka, and then they torched a Honda Brio and Honda City belonging to Subodh Agarwal at Ghansi Bazar. Immediately, they went to Golla Galli and set ablaze a Maruti Swift (AP 12 L 8892) owned by Baglekar Sham Kumar and a Ford Ikon (AP 10 AM 8061) owned by Sainath. Among the vehicles torched, Swift was completely gutted, while other vehicles suffered partial damage, the Charminar police said. Among the victims, except Sham, all others are into textile, steel and jewellery business. Sham is a student, police said.
    As the flames engulfed the cars, their owners quickly came out of the houses and doused them. Traffic and surveillance CCTV cameras at Ghansi Bazar captured the images of five miscreants travelling on two separate bikes committing the offence.
    “In the video, it is clearly visible that the pillion rider getting off the bike, sprinkling inflammable material on the four-wheelers, which he was carrying in a pouchlike thing, and then lighting it up with a match stick. All the vehicles were set ablaze in less than five minutes,” a Charminar police officer said.
    With the help of the video, police are trying to zero in on the offenders. All the victims belong to a particular community and some of them reportedly have close ties with certain political parties. Police have booked a case under section 435 (Mischief by fire) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and launched investigation.

THE MAN WHO CHANGED MAHA POLITICS

BA L T H AC K E R AY | 1 9 2 7 - 2 0 1 2

THE MAN WHO CHANGED MAHA POLITICS

No other leader in Maharashtra evoked the extreme reactions that Bal Keshav Thackeray did — hero worship on one hand, outright hostility on the other. The Shiv Sena founder, who admired Hitler and promoted a divisive sons-of-the-soil policy, leaves behind an ambiguous legacy

Ambarish Mishra | TNN

    For over four decades, Bal Keshav Thackeray dominated Maharashtra’s political stage, courting controversy, riding storms, earning credit and criticism — and punctuating all this with biting, often crude, humour. The Maharashtra politician, who passed away on Saturday, was the first among free India’s homespun leaders. Neither an Inner Temple lawyer nor a khadiclad Gandhian, Thackeray never carried the baggage of colonial politics.
    His sons-of-the-soil agenda changed Maharashtra’s political culture and eroded Congress’s once-impenetrable base in the state. He upheld the cause of Mumbaikar Marathis — blue-collar workers and chawlwallas — and demanded their pre-eminence in the country’s commercial capital. Little wonder, he was an icon for many Marathis though among his critics in later years were also Marathis.
    Thackeray’s socio-political thought was shaped by his father, writer-crusader K S Thackeray, also known as Prabodhankar because he edited a periodical called Prabodhan (Renaissance). Bal Thackeray never followed a cohesive political ideology. He advocated Hindutva but stayed away from casteist politics and religious dogma. Unlike DMK or Akali Dal, he didn’t allow his regional agenda to eclipse national issues. He made anti-Muslim statements but allied with Muslim parties. He loved contradictions.
    The Shiv Sena he founded in 1966 was an extension of the 1950s Samayukta Maharashtra Samiti which fought for a state for Marathis. The Samayukta stir brought Thackeray, then a Samiti activist, in contact with the Marathi manoos. He espoused their cause through speeches, activism and Marmik, his publication launched in 1960. This was when locals were getting restive about the influx of migrants into Mumbai, especially from South India, and Marmik, packed with Thackeray toons, published lists of South Indians holding government positions in Mumbai. This fanned Marathi ire. Thackeray had a cartoonist’s eye for symbolism and used this to great effect, standing on an Ambassador at the Gateway of India and demanding that the Gateway be shut to outsiders.
    It was the February 1969 Sena agitation to demand a peaceful settlement of the Maharashtra-Karnataka border row that gave Thackeray greater clout. After 56 people died in police firing on a Sena morcha and Thackeray was sent to Yeravada Jail, Sainiks made Mumbai burn for five days. Chief minister Vasantrao Naik urged Thackeray to issue a peace appeal from prison. He did, emerging the uncrowned king of Mumbai.
    Bandhs became the Sena’s weapon of mass destruction. Such was the fear of Sena gangs that none ventured out on those days. The Congress used this street power and patronised the Sena to crush communist trade unions in Mumbai and Thane. Fights between foot soldiers of both parties culminated in the murder of CPI MLA Krishna Desai. Thackeray used the state machinery to overthrow the left unions and ensure his party’s expansion.
    Long before coalition dharma became fashionable, Thackeray made and unmade poll alliances without batting an eyelid. In sealing electoral pacts he covered Maharashtra’s political spectrum — from left-secular Socialists to the right-wing BJP to the Muslim League. He could gauge the mood of the moment. In 1987, with the Ayodhya issue gathering steam, Thackeray switched from Mee Marathi to Hindutva. After the Babri Masjid demolition of December 1992, he brandished his Hindutva agenda with greater belligerence.
    The ’90s were a period of troughs and crests. If his partymen were indicted for triggering one of the worst communal conflagrations in Mumbai after the Babri demolition, what followed was victory in the 1995 assembly polls. It was also when intra-party bickering battered Sena’s monolithic structure. Thackeray’s blue-eyed boy, former Mumbai mayor Chhagan Bhujbal defected to the Congress in December 1991. This, in a way, triggered Sena’s democratisation.
    Thackeray lost his wife, Meenatai, in 1995 and eldest son, Bindumadhav, in a road accident a year later. His brother Shrikant died in 2003. Trusted colleagues Pramod Navalkar, Dattaji Salvi and Sharad Acharya, too, passed away. The biggest political blow came when nephew Raj snapped ties with the Sena in December 2005 and launched Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2006. “Yet, Balasaheb took everything in his stride. He bore personal tragedies and rebellion with courage — and with a hearty laugh,” said former CM and Thackeray confidante Manohar Joshi.
    Thackeray retained his wicked sense of humour till the end. When a Mumbai BJP functionary called on him at Lilavati Hospital this July, Thackeray asked him if Nitin Gadkari, the roly-poly BJP chief, was dieting to lose weight. When the visitor replied in the affirmative, Thackeray shot back: “But the BJP is already fast losing its political weight!”

Friday, November 23, 2012

Savita effect: Irish govt may amend abortion laws

London/New Delhi: Rising global outrage over the tragic death of 31-year-old Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar forced the Irish government to respond on Friday. Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Eamon Gilmore, conveyed to the Indian ambassador in Dublin, Debashish Chakravarti, the Irish people’s “very strong feelings” and “sense of grief ” over Savita’s death. He also told a press conference that the Irish government would introduce guidelines on abortion in the country’s parliament.
    Earlier on Friday, the external affairs ministry had summoned Irish ambassador Feilim McLaughlin over the issue. Sources said that secretary (west) M Ganapathi conveyed to the ambassador “concern and angst in Indian society about the untimely and tragic death”, and also New Delhi’s wish for a free and fair probe into the incident.
    Though Gilmore made no direct reference to the Irish ambassador to India being summoned, he did say he had asked Chakravarti to communicate to “the wider public in India” Ireland's feelings and sense of grief. He also gave assurances of “full co-operation” with the Halappanavar family to determine the circumstances of Savita's demise.
    “Although we will not know the full details (of the Savita case) until the investigation has been completed, we have heard what Savita's husband said and as legislators we have a duty and a responsibility to respond, act and deal with the issue,” he said.
    Irish health minister James Reilly added that the Halappanavar family was being consulted before the terms of reference for an inquiry by Ireland’s health authorities are finalised.
    Savita, who had migrated to Ireland from Karnataka in 2008, was 17 weeks pregnant when she was apparently denied a life-saving abortion at a hospital in Galway, south Ireland. She was reportedly told, “This is a Catholic country.” Staff at the hospital said they had detected a foetal heartbeat, though they are said to have admitted the baby would not survive. Savita died of blood poisoning on October 27.
    There are countless tales, spread over decades, of young Irish women crossing the Irish Sea to England or driving to Northern Ireland (which is British territory), if in need of termination of a pregnancy, because they cannot lawfully undergo this at home. However, Savita's death has sparked a spontaneous outpouring of public outrage in Ireland. Pro-choice protestors are organising a rally in Dublin on Saturday.

Exams put off to save student’s life

Rescheduled Engg Exams Help Classmates Raise 10L For Her Treatment

M N Samdani TNN

Nellore:In a rare instance, Sri Venkateswara University postponed the examinations of engineering stream for a week to let students collect donations to save the life of a student. Moved by the plight of their classmate E Preeti, who is struggling with a lifethreatening disease, the students of NBKR Institute of Technology in Nellore requested the university authorities to reschedule the examinations so that they could go door-to-door and collect donations to fund the treatment.
    Preeti, a final year student of NBKRIT, is the daughter of a car driver in Madanapalle of Chittoor district. About three months ago, the 20-year-old Preeti complained of severe stomachache and nausea. Parents took her to local hospitals, where the doctors, after thorough examination, referred her case to CMC, Vellore. The worried parents rushed her to Vellore and subsequently to a private hospital in Bangalore. In the process, the poor family spent nearly Rs 10 lakh for visiting various hospitals and for medical tests by selling their small house and other valuables in hope of seeing their child back home hale and healthy. To their utter shock, the doctors at Vellore diagnosed that Preeti’s liver was completely damaged and required transplantation.
    Although David, father of the girl, came forward to donate his organ, the hospital authorities said that the treatment would cost Rs 50 lakh. The stunned parents took Preeti home and started knocking every door, seeking financial assistance for the liver transplantation. Parents were completely traumatised as the hospital authorities said that the survival chances of Preeti were remote if the transplantation was not carried out immediately. Upon learning that Preeti might not return to the college, her classmates at NBKRIT, too, were distressed.
    But, soon overcoming the sorrow, about 540 students of final year engineering rushed to the director of the college, V Vijayakumar Reddy with a request to allow them to go out and collect donations by skipping classes. Touched by the students resolve, the college management, too, offered assistance and allowed the students to spare no efforts in collecting donations. Forming about 30 groups, the students went around Nellore town and nearby villages for nearly a week and started collecting donations.
    Meanwhile, the university announced the schedule for the first semester examinations from November 14. Not worried by this unexpected development, the resourceful students requested the college director to seek postponement of the examinations on humanitarian grounds. “Vice-chancellor W Rajendra conceded students’ requests with a view to saving a life. This could be the first time that a university has rescheduled examinations to allow students to collect funds for a noble cause,” college director Vijayakumar Reddy told TOI. The philanthropists and bighearted people donated generously for the ‘Save Preeti’ fund. The students collected nearly Rs 10 lakh and got Preeti admitted to Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad, two days ago. Classmates of Preeti promised to do more after clearing the examinations which would now start on Nov 21. Donors could meet David @

90523 31271.

Violence erupts in Old City areas Youths Resort To Stone Pelting, 10 Vehicles Set Afire

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad: Violence erupted once again in the Old City soon after the Friday prayers when hundreds of Muslim youths emerging out of Mecca Masjid attempted to break through the barricades set up by the police and made a vain attempt to proceed towards the ‘chilla’ located within the historic Charminar with
the intention of offering prayers. Unable to do so, the youths resorted to stone pelting to which the police responded with lathicharge and teargas.
    Within minutes, the unrest spread to other parts of Old City including Shalibanda, Yakutpura, Rein Bazaar and Gowlipura, from where incidents of stone-pelting were reported. In all, at least 5 people including security personnel were admitted to Osmania General Hospital with minor injuries while at least 10 vehicles were burnt by the protesters. Over 50 youths were detained by the police. Till late in the evening, sporadic incidents were reported from across Old City and the situation, though largely under control, continued to remain tense.
    The Old City has been on the boil over the last fortnight over the repair work that was undertaken by the management of the Bhagyalakshmi temple adjoining Charminar and it culminated in the MIM withdrawing support to the UPA government at the Centre and the Congress government in the state on the charge that chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and his administration was openly siding with the Sangh Parivar and aiding the harassment of the minority community. After incidents of stone pelting between two communities in the Moghulpura area on Wednesday night, heavy security including increased personnel of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) was deployed for Friday in Old City, specifically in and around Charminar, but it could not prevent the outbreak of violence.
    As part of the security measures, the police had banned entry of devotees to Bhagyanagar temple at 11 am on Friday. By 12.30 pm, the devout started entering Mecca Masjid to offer prayers. In the meantime, perhaps anticipating trouble, senior cops deployed for duty began wearing the riot gear.
    The trouble started after the completion of the Friday prayers when the devout started emerging out of Mecca Masjid around 1.15 pm, a little earlier than usual. On finding the path to Charminar heavily barricaded, the youths attempted to break through it but were prevented by the large police presence. Frustrated, the youths began stone pelting at the cops from all four sides of Charminar. The cops responded with lathicharge and then teargas and at least 50 teargas shells were fired till 4.30 pm to disperse the crowd.

Back problems on the rise among IT pros

Hyderabad: That seemingly comfortable office chair may just give you a chronic back problem requiring surgery if you are not taking proper precaution right now. Medical experts across Hyderabad’s private and government hospitals are reporting a spurt in chronic back problems among professionals in their forties.
    With the city being a major IT hub where thousands of youngsters in their twenties and thirties working in 12-hour shifts,doctorswarn thatthey shouldstart worrying from now. From a negligible 5% of below 40 years suffering from back problems, the percentage has risen by around 50% in the past five years, which doctors attribute to rising obesity, lack of exercise and unhealthy food habits.
    According to a just concluded study by AC Nielsen in 11 Indian cities, around 36% of people were above normal weight, and an alarming 23% of the people classified as healthy were on the verge of being overweight. With obesity spreading rapidly, the risk of spinal damage too is swiftly rising, doctors said.
    Dr K Sanjay, spine surgeon at Yashoda Hospital, Secunderabad, said that five years ago he performed a total of seven to 10 corrective spine surgeries in a month, but now the figure has gone up to 40. Doctors at the state-run Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (Nims) say awareness about surgery has increased and affordability too has improved due to Aarogyasri scheme. “There has been a 30 to 40% jump in the number of patients opting for surgery in the past three years,” a surgeon said.
    Such is the situation that Yashoda Hospital recently held a workshop on spine surgery for city doctors, with 160 specialistsdiscussing theuseof minimally invasive techniques for spinal procedures.“Thesuccess rateof this procedure is 99% and it has many benefits like minimum blood loss, lesser tissue damage, lower chances of infection, lesser use of drugs and quick recovery comparedtothe open surgery,” said Dr K Sanjay. Five of the 10 patients treated by Dr Sudhir Kumar, a neurologist at Apollo Hospital, are below 40, and have severe back problems due to lack of exercise. “Usually severe back problems are common in people above 50 years. But after I came to Hyderabad around nine years ago, I was shocked to see how many people in their 20’s and 30’s were suffering from severe back ache and disc collapse in which the pain radiatestothelegs,”hesaid.Onesuch patient, Kiran Mitra, a 21-year-old MNC employee from the city, said working in the 5.30 pm to 2.30 am shift for two months worsened his back pain. “Doctors have told me that my work pattern is a major cause,” he said.
    Doctors say at least 5 minimally invasive surgeries are performed every month in the city with patients coming from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Rajashthan and a few arriving all the wayfrom Africa andWestAsia too.“Obesity is one the major reasons why younger people are suffering from back problems. Sitting in front of the computer for long hours, unhealthy diet, smoking and lack of exercise combined with riding the twowheeler on bumpy roads for long distances also contribute in these cases,” said Dr A Dinakar, orthopaedic surgeon at Sunshine Hospital.
HOW TO FIGHT PAIN

• Stretching the back and neck once every hour while in office

• Get up and walk about whenever you feel stress in the back and neck

• Squat to pick up objects

• Exercise for at least 20 minutes every day

• Eat healthy and keep your weight in check

• Avoid smoking

• Take a break during long two-wheeler rides on bumpy roads

Indian woman refused abortion in Ireland, dies

London: A 31-year-old Indian dentist died recently in Ireland from complications following the hospital’s refusal to conduct an abortion to save her life. Her death has triggered calls for a review of the Catholic nation’s near complete ban on termination of pregnancy, even on medical grounds.
    Karnataka-born Savita Halappanavar died on October 28, three days after she was admitted to the university hospital, Galaway, for treatment of a messy 17-week pregnancy that had left her in agony. But the doctors repeatedly rejected her pleas for an abortion, citing Ireland’s orthodox ban, leading to a worsening of her condition even when it was clear that the baby could not be saved. Savita died of septicemia.
    According to British newspapers, an Irish deputy, Patrick Nulty, said Halappanavar’s death points at the “pressing and urgent need” for parliament to “show responsibility and legislate”, calling on his party to press for reforming the abortion law. I am neither catholic nor Irish, she said before dying
Bangalore/Belgaum/London: The newspapers also said that the Halappanavar’s family is considering legal action, arguing that the fetus should have been removed earlier to save the woman’s life.
    Irish authorities have launched a probe into her death. Her husband, Praveen, an engineer at Boston Scientific in Galway, is flying back to Ireland.
    Within hours of Savita’s hospitalization on October 21, doctors determined that she was miscarrying, Praveen said. Over the next three days, they refused requests for a termination of her fetus to ease her surging pain and fading health. The dead fetus was later removed and Savita wastaken to the high dependency unit and then to the intensive care unit, where she died of septicemia on October 28.
    “Savita was really in agony. She was very upset, but she accepted she was losing the baby,” he told the Irish paper in a telephone interview from Belgaum. “When the consultant came on the ward rounds on Monday morning, Savita said if they could not save the baby, could they induce an end to the pregnancy. The consultant said: ‘As long as there is a fetal heartbeat, we can’t do anything’.” “Again on Tuesday morning..., the consultant said it was the law, that this is a Catholic country. Savita said: ‘I am neither Irish nor Catholic’, but they said there was nothing they could do,” Praveen was quoted as saying. He said his wife vomited repeatedly and collapsed in a restroom that night, but doctors wouldn’t terminate the fetus because its heart was still beating.
    The fetus died the following day and its remains were surgically removed. Within hours, Praveen said, his wife was placed under sedation in intensive care with systemic blood poisoning and he was never able to speak with her again. By Saturday, her heart, kidneys and liver had stopped working and she was pronounced dead early on October 28.
    Praveen told TOI he is getting frequent updates from his friends in Ireland. “The PM has given an assurance to get the matter investigated by an independent agency.’’

Five Maoists killed in encounter

Five Maoists killed in encounter Security forces gunned down five Maoists in an encounter in a forest bordering Ganjam and Gajapati districts of Odisha on Wednesday. “We have received information about the death of five Maoists during an exchange of fire in the jungle. The bodies are yet to be recovered as the operation is still on,” said R K Sharma, DIG (Southern Range). “The slain Maoists belonged to a group headed by Sabyasachi Panda,” he added. AGENCIES
3 jawans, 2 terrorists killed in J&K: Three Army jawans and two terrorists were killed in an encounter at Nowgam along the Line of Control in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Wednesday as the army foiled an infiltration bid. Defence spokesman Lt Col J S Brar said the encounter was on till late in the evening, and the slain terrorists were Pakistani nationals. TNN

Skirmishes in Old City, cops resort to lathicharge

Hyderabad: The simmering tension in Old City of Hyderabad boiled over on Wednesday night when mobs belonging to two communities took to stone pelting resulting in injuries to 5 persons. Police had to resort to lathicharge and teargassing to restore order. The injured were rushed to Osmania General Hospital. In all, at least 7 persons were detained.
    According to police sources, the trouble began near Mohammed Shakur mosque under Moghulpura police station limits around 10 pm when a chilla (Green flag) was burnt. The police were still trying to establish whether the flag burning incident was an act of arson or an accident caused by crackers a day after Diwali.
    The entire south zone police have been deployed to tackle the situation. The tension was further compounded due to an accident in which two youths on a motor cycle were hit by a traffic police towing vehicle near Farasa Café close to Charminar under Hussaini Alam police station limits. This incident took place around 9.30 pm and one of the youths died on the spot. The driver of the traffic police towing vehicle was taken into
custody.
    The entire Old City has been tense for the last fortnight and curfew-like situation prevailed near Charminar over developments in the Bhagyalakshmi temple near Charminar with the MIM alleging that efforts are being made by the temple management to convert a temporary canopy structure permanent. The temple management, on the other hand, denied any such moves. The state government stepped in and based on the status quo order of AP High Court, the temporary structures were restored last Sunday by the district administration under the supervision of an ASI team.
    The situation further worsened with the MIM withdrawing its support to the UPA government at the Centre and the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in the state on the charge that the state government was colluding with right-wing elements. Ironically, the curfew-like situation in the vicinity of Charminar was lifted only on Wednesday evening. But with trouble breaking out in Moghulpura polce station limits late in the night, Old City continues to be tense and security personnel deployed all over to ensure that the situation does not worsen.
Kiran blamed for MIM ‘fiasco’
    The state Congress on Wednesday publicly offered an olive branch as well as issued a veiled warning to the MIM over the severance of ties with the UPA government at the Centre and the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in the state. But in private, several leaders keen on dislodging the chief minister blamed him for mishandling the situation. Two days after MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi announced the parting of ways, the Congress on the one hand urged the MIM to reconsider its decision and on the other, said the minority party's absence will in no way weaken the ruling party. P 5

Tension in Old City, MIM MLAs arrested

Hyderabad: Sporadic incidents of violence rocked the Old City after Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) legislators were arrested by police when they were trying to march towards Bhagyalakshmi temple at Charminar on Sunday. At some places, police had to fire tear gas shells and resort to mild lathicharge to disperse protestors.
    The MLAs gathered in the Old City after the Bhagyalakshmi temple management restored tarpaulin on the makeshift pandal with the assistance of the Hyderabad district administration as per the high court’s order.
    At 5 am, police barricaded all streets leading to Charminar from Gulzar Houz, Shah Ali Banda, Kotla Alijah Hussaini Alam, Moghulpura and Mirchowk.
    Under the supervision of officials from the Hyderabad collectorate, GHMC and Archeological Survey of India (ASI), the temple management began restoring the tarpaulin at 7 am and completed it in an hour. Police provided security cover for the entire operation.
    On learning about the tarpaulin restoration work, seven MIM legislators, including their floor leader in the Assembly, Akbaruddin Owaisi, gathered at Volta café in Moghalpura at 8 am. As they were planning to move towards Bhagyalakshmi temple, police, who were already waiting there, picked up the legislators along with six corporators.
    However, while they were being shifted into police vehicles, the legislators managed to give the slip to the cops. Another team of police personnel posted at Kotla Alijah intercepted five MLAs __ Akbaruddin Owaisi, Ahmed Balala, Ahmed Pasha Quadri, Moazzam Khan, Mumtaz Khan __ along with the corporators, were taken into custody again.
    Two other legislators, MLA Mohammed Muqtada Khan alias Afsar Khan and MLC Altaf Hyderabad Rizvi, who managed to escape even from there, were arrested near Gulzar Houz. All the arrested legislators and corporators were shifted to the Bolarum police station.
    Later in the day, Nampally MLA Virasat Rasool Khan and four corporators reached Ravindra Bharathi, where chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy was attending an event organized on the occasion of Minorities’ Welfare Day, and staged a protest against the arrest of his party leaders. Police immediately picked up the MLA and his associates and shifted them to the Gandhi Nagar police station.
    As the news of arrest of MIM leaders started flashing on news channels, sporadic incidents of stone pelting were reported at Chandrayangutta X Roads, Anmol Hotel, Edi Bazar, Kalabhairavi temple, Hussainialam and Musabowli X Roads.
    Four RTC buses, two cars, an ATM and a garments showroom were damaged in the violence. A mob targeted RTC buses on the Chandrayangutta main road and broke windshields of three buses.
    Police had to resort to mild lathicharge to disperse the mob at Chandrayangutta and several people, including MIM corporator Samad, suffered minor injuries.
    Protestors carrying black flags staged dharnas at Gulzar Houz, Nalgonda X Roads, Chaderghat, Chanchalguda, Tolichowki, Humayun Nagar and Punjagutta. Effigies of the state government were burnt at Machili Kaman and Charminar. Later in the evening, police fired tear gas shells and lathi-charged the stone-hurling mob at Talabkatta in Bhavani Nagar.
    Hyderabad police commissioner Anurag Sharma supervised the situation from his office at Purani Haveli since morning. Later in the night, the commissioner issued a press release clarifying that they had only provided bandobust for implementation of the high court orders.
    “In relation to the high court’s orders, the collector and the GHMC commissioner had consulted Archeological Survey of India (ASI) officials to determine the status (of temple pandal cover) as on October 30. ASI gave its opinion in writing that on October 30, there was a cover on the temporary structure at the temple. Based on these facts, the civic authorities permitted the Bhagyalakshmi temple committee to cover the temple structure with tarpaulin sheets, as an interim measure. Since, it was a sensitive issue, police force was deployed in the area to maintain peace and law & order,” Anurag Sharma said in the release.
    Police booked 18 cases in relation to Sunday’s violence and arrested 109 persons. By 6.45 pm, all the arrested legislators were released.

Farooq’s brother calls India enemy

Srinagar: Sheikh Mustafa Kamal, the younger brother of Union minister Farooq Abdullah and the uncle of J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, has sparked off a massive outrage yet again. He has slammed the country saying Kashmiris are closer to Pakistan. Calling India the enemy, Kamal alleged, “Time and again India has backtracked from its no-war pact with Pakistan.”
Kamal’s controversial comments at a National Conference rally in Kishtwar on Sunday are just the latest in a series of statements that have given Farooq and Omar uncomfortable moments. On the surface, Kamal’s tendency to take potshots at New Delhi seems strange considering his party, the National Conference, is the flag-bearer of mainstream politics in the state. But, a closer look at the history of Kashmir since 1947 suggests there might be a method in Kamal’s madness.
Beginning with Sheikh Abdullah, mainstream politicians in Kashmir have sought a delicate balance between separatism and being mainstream. Islamist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani is today viewed as the most hardline of separatists, an image fostered no doubt by his unrelenting demand that Kashmir is disputed.

Have the courage to face our past and present, squarely

ANIL DHARKER

Was V S Naipaul right or was Girish Karnad right? The sound and fury generated by the controversy at Literature Live!, Mumbai’s literary festival, has obscured one important aspect of our national life: we are afraid of our own history.
    Let’s recap for a moment how the controversy began. Naipaul was given the Landmark Lifetime Achievement Award at the festival. This aroused Karnad’s ire: the award should not have been given, he said, because Naipaul was anti-Muslim. In his non-fiction books, Naipaul’s stance, according to Karnad, is to depict Indian Muslims as “raiders and marauders” and so, in effect, Naipaul has “criminalised a whole section of the Indian population as rapists and murderers.” “I have Muslim friends and I feel strongly about this,” Karnad added.
    I have Muslim friends too, and i feel strongly as well, not about our shared history but about the state of the community in our country today. That feeling has been strong enough for me to be a trustee of Citizens for Justice and Peace, an NGO which (among other things) has taken up multiple cases on behalf of the Muslim victims of the 2002 Gujarat massacre. As a direct result, many people including Maya Kodnani, a former minister in the Modi government and Babu Bajrangi, the Bajrang Dal leader, have been sentenced to long prison terms. My strong feelings, therefore, are not just emotional but take the practical shape of righting today’s wrongs.
    But should that blind me to our history? Right from the 12th to the 15th century, Afghan and Central Asian invaders like Mohammad Ghori and Mahmud Ghaznavi came as marauders and plunderers: they came to loot (places like the Somnath temple were immensely rich and obvious targets), and even to destroy local religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. The sacking and burning in 1193 by the Turk, Bhaktiyar Khilji of the Nalanda library, one of the greatest places of learning, and whose collection of books was so extensive that it took three months to be gutted, is a case in point. Hampi, which is now a Unesco Heritage site, was burned down by the Bahamanis, an act of vandalism which took days. Later, the Mughals led by Babar may have come, not as raiders but as settlers, but they did proselytize. Emperor Aurangzeb’s depredations were extensive and go far beyond the Shivnath temple: when you think that Ahilyabai Holkar rebuilt as many as 350 temples in and near Varanasi, you realize how far-reaching the damage was.
    This is a rather jumbled, and hurried look at our history, but it makes the point that in spite of the enlightened rule of emperors like Akbar (notably), Jehangir and Shahjahan, a great deal of the nation’s heritage was wilfully destroyed by Afghan, Turk, Central Asian and Mughal invaders and rulers. You can overstate the case, as Naipaul does, by seeing in the Taj Mahal only the ‘blood and sweat of slave labour’ (you can say that of the pyramids too), but that’s only overstating the case, not making one up. By stating it, you do not become anti-Muslim.
    That’s the important point. Girish Karnad, like a lot of secularists who want to see present-day India live in a harmonious blend of communities, bends over backwards to gloss over the negative aspects of Islam in our history, because of the harm this reiteration can cause to present-day Muslims. (In his attack on Naipaul, for example, Karnad said off-handedly, “Oh, I do admit some temples and monuments may have been destroyed by the Mughals…”).
    Ibelong to that group of secularists too, and i would not be writing this article if it weren’t for the recent controversy. But we need to remind ourselves about something that should be obvious: Yes, it’s true there was a Ram temple where the Babri Masjid stands; yes, it’s true that the temple was demolished and a mosque built on the site-…But it’s also true that over the many years after this happened, not too many people were bothered either about the now-decrepit mosque, nor the once existing temple until L K Advani and the BJP made it an issue to revive its electoral chances. The Babri Masjid demolition and the subsequent riots did not happen because people like Naipaul wrote their versionsof history.
    Sadly, the laudable wish to ensure that today’s Muslims are not victimized any more than they are, also prevents secularists from lashing out at the pronouncements and actions of the ultra-orthodox in the community, for example the recent edict banning women from entering the sanctum of Mumbai’s Haji Ali dargah. Our silence only helps those in the minority community who stop it from moving into modernity. It’s something we need to face squarely, as squarely as we need to face our history.

Congress MP praises RSS, annoys party

Bhopal: The Congress MP from Dewas in Madhya Pradesh Sajjan Singh Verma has embarrassed his party brass by saying that while Congress leaders don’t venture out of their air-conditioned offices and cars, RSS workers eat only ‘chana’ and campaign hard for the BJP in remote rural areas.
At a meeting with party workers on Thursday, he also exhorted them to ignore elderly leaders who have crossed the age of 60 and concentrate on party national president Sonia Gandhi, AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi and the Congress flag. The MP’s remarks came to light after local media in Neemuch reported them. The state Congress leaders tried to distance themselves from the remarks. Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh said, “I have not heard his statement or what he said but Congress leaders and workers are all working together and we will win elections 2013 and form government in Madhya Pradesh.’’

Jagan busiest inmate with big guest list

Hyderabad: Qaidi No.6093 at Chanchalguda jail appears to be the busiest among all the prisoners as he had 134 ‘mulaqats’ in the first five months of his stay in the jail, much higher than what was notched up by his ‘VIP’ co-prisoners. And qaidi No.6093 is none other than Kadapa MP and YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy.
    Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders have now come out all guns blazing to accuse Chanchalguda jail officials of showing undue favour to Jagan, allowing him to meet more than the permissible number of people during his ‘mulaqat’ and having provided the MP with some communication gadgets.
    Documents pertaining to ‘interview details’ with STOI show that Jagan, between May 29 and September 27, gave 134 ‘interviews’ during the mulaqat, to family members mostly besides some MLAs, MPs and friends.
    Except on one or two occasions, at least officially, records show that prison authorities stuck to the jail manual as regards the norm of ‘mulaqats’ twice a week.
    “During the mulaqat, the jail superintendent allows a prisoner to meet his/ her visitor for 30 minutes or above at his discretion in his (jailer’s) office,” a senior prison official said. TDP politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu had a few days ago claimed that he had filed a Right to Information (RTI) application with the department of prisons seeking details about Jagan’s visitors.
    Interestingly, mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy, who has been languishing in jail since September 2011, had given 86 ‘interviews’ till September-end. But his activities during mulaqats have on more than one occasion sparked controversies.
    He has met at least 10 such people who are either MLAs or MLCs in Karnataka besides visitors who are now accused in the cashfor-bail case, including his brothers Karunakara Reddy, Somasekara Reddy and Kampli MLA Suresh in this time.
    In the records, sometimes Jagan’s brother-inlaw Anil Kumar, who has met him eight times, has been identified as a ‘friend’ while sometimes his name was entered as ‘Anil Babu’. At Chanchalguda jail, Jagan has met 11 persons, some of whom are MLAs and MPs, besides his mother YS Vijayamma (19 times), who is also an MLA, wife Bharati (36), and sister Sharmila (9).
    Surprisingly, some prominent visitors who met other inmates were not mentioned in the official records.
    On February 18, former director-general of police (DGP) K Aravinda Rao had met suspended IAS officer BP Acharya at Chanchalguda jail. However, records claim that there were no visitors between February 16 and 20.
    Similarly, actor Mohan Babu after meeting Jagan in the jail had disclosed that he had also met Nimagadda Prasad.
    However, his name does not appear in the records of Nimmagada’s mulaqats.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Reds kill 4, free 8 cadres in Giridih ambush

Dhanbad: In a carefullyplanned and deftly executed operation, about 100 Maoists, including armed women, ambushed a police van carrying 32 prisoners from Giridih court to the divisional jail on Friday. They freed eight of their comrades and three cops and one prisoner were killed in the attack during which more than two dozen ordinary prisoners escaped.
    District SP Amol V Honkar said among those who escaped were two Maoists arrested for the Chilkhari massacre in 2009, when 20 people, including son of the former chief minister Babulal Marandi,
were killed by the Maoists during a cultural programme.
    On Friday, the attackers first blocked the crowded Giridih-Tundi road near the jail and then chucked bombs at a truck that was just ahead of the prison van. The Maoists then hurled bombs at the van and started firing from AK-47s and SLRs. The three policemen killed in the attack were identified as assistant sub-inspector Prabhunath Singh, havildar Rajkumar Das and constable Sadanand Gagrai.
    Giridih police confirmed the Maoists had looted three rifles from the police escorts. Late in the evening, police claimed that they arrested two rebels from Bengabad for involvement in the attack.
    The handcuffs for the prisoners were found hanging at the gate of the vehicle indicating prisoners had got themselves freed during the attack. Police reinforcements rushed to the spot from the district headquarters and found some explosives on the road.
    Mohammad Saleh, a witness, claimed the Maoists had assembled at Mahadev Chauk near Dukhiya Mahadev temple well in advance and attacked the truck to block the police van.
    The Maoists snatched four motorcycles from the locals to escape with the prisoners.
    One of the motorcycle owners, Rajendra Tanti, said he had gone to relieve himself on the roadside when the rebels struck. He claimed the Naxalites used AK-47s and SLRs to attack the van.

11 DJS activists arrested

Hyderabad:Task Force sleuths nabbed 11 Darsgah-Jihad-O-Shahadat (DJS) activists who indulged in violence in Old City recently. The sleuths of the South Zone Task Force arrested DJS president MA Majid, and 10 of his associates including Mohammed Bin Omer, Shafiz and Shahad from their houses on Friday morning. Task Force personnel said they picked up the DJS activists in connection with the recent incidents of stone pelting and assault in Old City. “We have handed them over to law and order police for further investigation,” Task Force additional DCP P Rameshaiah said.

HSBC helped uber rich stash cash in Swiss banks

HSBC helped uber rich stash cash in Swiss banks: Kejri

Ambanis, Burmans, Naresh Goyal, HSBC Deny Allegations

Himanshi Dhawan TNN

New Delhi: Activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan widened their “anti-graft” net on Friday, accusing the multinational bank HSBC of running a huge hawala operation to launder thousands of crores of illicit money belonging to leading corporates like the Ambani brothers Mukesh and Anil, the Burmans, Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways, Yashowardhan Birla and Congress MP Annu Tandon.
    They demanded the suspension of HSBC’s India operations and arrest of its officials, prosecution of the industrialists concerned and disclosure of names of all Indians who hold accounts in foreign branches of different banks.
    The activists also attacked the government for not taking action against HSBC and its clients engaged in money laundering in disregard of “strong evidence’’, specifically accusing the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee of covering up the racket when it came to light in July 2011.
    Kejriwal and Bhushan made the sensational claim of having been tipped off by a mole who has just been inducted in the Union Cabinet, as they cited documents of the income tax department to allege that the multinational bank took at least Rs 6,000 crore in illicit money belonging to these corporates and 700 others to be deposited in its Dubai and Geneva branches.
ARVIND’S FOURTH FRONT
IAC ALLEGATIONS
HSBC helped high networth individuals, including Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Kokilaben Ambani, Naresh Goyal, 3 family members of the Burmans, Yashovardhan Birla, Sandeep Tandon & Anu Tandon, to evade tax & open Swiss bank accounts
HSBC sent agents to homes of these HNIs who took money in cash and by the end of the same day, opened accounts in Dubai or Geneva. Name and mobile number of a contact in Geneva was given for depositing and withdrawal of money. Cash would be taken and delivered at home
Govt despite having list of 700 Swiss bank account holders didn’t make it public & adopted a pickand-choose policy by probing just 125 out of 700, letting off the ‘big fish’ STOUT DENIALS
    Mukesh Ambani has no illegitimate accounts anywhere in the world. This being instigated by vested interests – Reliance
    Anil Ambani has no bank accounts with HSBC in Geneva…baseless allegations at the behest of vested interests – Anil Ambani Grp
    No account in name of Naresh Goyal in a Swiss bank as has been alleged. The suggestion…is entirely false – Jet Airways
    The accounts were opened by the Burman family when they were NRIs… amount was officially remitted through official banking channels – Burman family
    The charges are utterly baseless and motivated. We will take legal action –
Anu Tandon
    The bank cannot comment on specific details…which relate to issues in the past. HSBC takes compliance with the law, wherever it operates, very seriously – HSBC HSBC must be charged with sedition: Kejriwal But Admits IAC Doesn’t Have Data To Prove Collusion
New Delhi: This is the first instance where the anti-graft campaigners have targeted an MNC, although it was the UPA government which bore the brunt of their fresh onslaught. “This government protects criminals, and has plunged new depths of venality, corruption and criminality. It is so degenerate that it draws repulsion,” Kejriwal said as he released interrogation reports of HSBC account holders being investigated by the I-T department and ED and cited their conversations with tax officials.
    The activists, who came up with their fresh tranche of accusations after nine days, said the whole operation – a meticulously planned affair where people could open and operate Swiss bank accounts without stirring out of their homes in India and with greater ease than starting an account with SBI – came to light after a whistleblower in HSBC leaked the names of account holders to the French government.
    They said that while the government, based on a CD forwarded by the French, did start investigation against 125 people, it let off the big fish: the industrialists and the Congress MP who, along with the late husband, a senior official of Reliance Industries Limited, had a stake in its subsidiary Motech Software.
    The allegation was condemned by the government, corporates and Tandon, Congress MP from Unnao. The government dismissed the serious charge. “There is nothing new in the allegations of Mr Kejriwal. He has given no evidence and the issue has already been discussed in Parliament. If necessary, government will respond at an appropriate time,” a government source said. There were indications that the government may respond to the fresh assault from IAC by Monday if not on Saturday itself.
    Kejriwal and Bhushan backed their charge by stressing that the CD containing names of Indians having accounts in HSBC’s branches abroad in 2006 not just came from French authorities but was also the basis for the I-T department to start probes against the 125 in the list.
    To emphasise that their allegations were credible, they released the statements of three HSBC account holders – Parminder Singh Kalra, Vikram Dhirani and Praveen Sawhney – where they admitted to having illicitly transferred money into the foreign branches of the bank.
    According to Kejriwal, the modus operandi revealed by the three was simple but effective. The client would just have to contact HSBC in India which would send its agent to collect cash and an account would be opened in Geneva or Dubai by evening. “You don’t need to go out of India to open an account. You are given the name and mobile number of someone in Geneva to deposit or withdraw money telephonically. There is no physical transfer of money. This is money laundering,” Kejriwal said.
    “HSBC’s operations should be immediately suspended as it is a fit case for charging them under sedition and waging war against India,” Kejriwal said, referring to the tough measure taken by the US which forced the bank to reveal the names of American citizens having illegal accounts in their different branches.
    As for the “big fish” on the CD, Kejriwal and Bhushan criticised the government for letting them off the hook after realising a mere Rs 181 crore as penalty for tax evasion.
    “This is not just a case of tax evasion. This is a case of money laundering and violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act,” Bhushan said.
    Giving the specific instance of Mukesh Ambani, Kejriwal said he was helped by the I-T department at the direct instance of Pranab Mukherjee after they had a meeting. They disregarded HSBC’s apology to Ambani for putting his name on the list of account holders.
    Responding to questions, Kejriwal and Bhushan said they did not have documents to prove the collusion between the government and HSBC and its clients, acknowledging that their information came to them in an Excel sheet. However, they said they had verified the data from their sources and were making their case with “complete responsibility”.
    This time, however, younger brother Anil was also in the crosshairs. Besides the allegation of money laundering through HSBC, Bhushan accused the younger Ambani of involvement in the 2G scam.
    The lawyer-activist said CBI had found evidence that Anil had floated Swan Telecom – one of the companies which got 2G licence at dirt cheap rate – and sold off 10% of its share worth Rs 760 crore to Delphi Investment for a mere Rs 20 crore. The shares were further sold to a company Belvoir owned by a Mumbai resident.
    On HSBC, Kejriwal said in October 2011, a report was sent by the I-T director of investigations in Delhi to director general of investigations which clearly stated that HSBC officials were indulging in hawala and also encouraging tax evasion in India.
    The two activists also alleged that the UPA government under PM Manmohan Singh was “sold out” and it was the “biggest danger” as it had surrendered “economic sovereignty’’ of the country. They expressed fear that terrorists in Pakistan or criminals could exploit the method of money transfer in HSBC for their activities in India.
    Asking HSBC employees to quit their jobs in national interest, the activists said this was not just a case of tax evasion but FEMA violation that attracts a penalty of double the amount that is evaded.