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February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 3

Special Report

Chhattisgarh : Khadyan SahayataYojana........................................ 5

Two-Day Kissan Yatra........... 6

Mammoth Mumbai Rally....... 11

Advaniji in Dainik Jagaran

Summit.......................................15

Special Articles

Rampur shows the rot within

By Ashok K Mehta..........13

Pseudo-Seculars deliberately

By Rama Prasada Tripathy.20

Others

BJP gears up for Lok Sabha....8

BJP Strongly condemns the draftpolitical document of CPM...... 9

BJP firm on Women Reser.......23

Price Rise.....................................26

State Reports

Himachal (24), Jharkhand (27),Rajasthan (27), Chandigarh (27),Andhra Pradesh(28), Kerala (28),Karnataka (28), Goa (29), J&K (29),Delhi(29), West Bengal (30)

Published by Dr Ram Kripal Sinha for Dr. Mookerjee Smruti

Nyas, PP-66, Subramanya Bharati Marg, New Delhi-03 and

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Jhandewalan, New Delhi-55

Contact

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e-mail address

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EditorPrabhat Jha

Editorial TeamAmba Charan Vashishth

Amarendra Tiwari

Design & LayoutDharmendra Kaushal

Editorial

Contents

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I n earlier times the society used

to celebrate the birthdays and

martyrdom days of those great

men and women who had sacrificed

everything of theirs for the country

and the society. It was not those

very leaders, but the people who

out of their own free will felt it a

duty to celebrate those auspicious

days as a mark of respect and love

for the great souls. Nobody made

them to celebrate these. Their

statues were raised at prominent

public places so that the coming

generations could draw inspiration

from their great life and work.

But not so today. Today the

birthdays are not celebrated;

people are made to organize the

celebrations. This is done as a

measure of flattery to win favours.

Even government machinery and

money is utilized for the purpose,

unashamedly. Those who once

derided hero and idol worship are

today trying to imitate it knowing

fully well that they themselves are

no heroes in any sense of the term.

They indulge in self-praise and seek

public eulogizing at people’s cost.

Now leaders in power in their own

lifetime are indulging in raising

their own statues at government

cost. The administration is now

being used as an instrument of self-

praise.

UP has a BSP chief minister.

The chief minister does belong to

BSP, but the UP government does

not belong to BSP. The present

dispensation in the State is leaving

no stone unturned to politicize the

administration as the one belonging

to BSP and BSP alone. The leader

who boasted of her ideology being

servajan hitaye, servajan sukhaye

seems soon to be turning into a

feudal lord in word and action. The

manner and the grandeur with

which her birthday was celebrated

on January 16 at Lucknow, NOIDA

and Delhi left no one in doubt that

Sushri Mayawati is not the leader

of the poor she otherwise claims,

but that of the rich and sycophants.

What message is she giving to her

people in celebrating her birthday

by cutting a cake and blowing out

the lit candles in a country where

the tradition is to celebrate happy

occasions by bringing in light and

not by extinguishing the burning

lamps? She is only injecting tears

into the eyes of the people.

Courtesy the BSP government,

UP is fast turning into a sanctuary

of global terrorism deriving

strength from political patronage.

During the last few months,

numerous terrorist attacks have

taken place in the State – Faizabad,

Ayodhya, Lucknow, Varanasi,

Rampur and earlier at Chandauli.

Bundelkhand is in the grip of a

severe drought and people are

facing the spectrum of death. The

situation on the agricultural front

is so alarming that farmers are

feeling helpless and committing

suicide. And the UP government

New Culture : Private

birthday at public cost

4

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 4

instead of helping them is indulging

in exploiting the situation for its

political benefits. UP chief minister

has no time off her crusade to collect

crores for her birthday celebrations

that she should attend to the

turning problems of the State.

Former UP CM Shri Mulayam

Singh has already alleged that she

is doing all this just to turn into

white the black money with her.

Celebrating birthdays of

celebrities is nothing new. But the

way the whole UP government was

made to crawl for the purpose, the

way people were forced to smile on

the face with a pain in their heart,

is something not conducive to the

health of the nation. In democracy

a chief minister is not something of

a special individual; he/she is just

the head of the executive. And

executive is not over and above the

Constitution or the law. Birthday

can be a personal celebration of an

individual, but it can never be a

public or government function at

public cost.

In her case it has come out to

be an ugly display of wealth and

luxury by an individual who

otherwise claims to be a leader of

the dalits, poor and the

downtrodden. It became a display

of pelf and power. What message

did the DGP of UP in police

uniform and other senior officials

give when they come bowing in

reverence before her on the

occasion? Political power and

society are two different entities.

Birthday celebration can be a social

function but never a governmental

one. But will there be the same type

of celebration when she is no longer

the chief minister? That remains a

question.

When in power Samajwadi

Party too did what BSP is now

trying to follow. The people of UP

seem to have fallen into the same

pitiable condition in which they

earlier were under Mulayam

regime. Sushri Mayawati is also,

more or less, doing the same what

Shri Mulayam Singh was doing

earlier and Sushri Mayawati was

criticising. During SP regime

people were suffering under the

tyrannical duo of Mulayam-Amar

Singh. The voter threw both of them

out of power. The people preferred

BSP. But the way she is indulging

in the misuse of public money, it is

nothing short of a political crime

and treachery with the people who

reposed faith in her. Collecting

money in the name of birthday

celebrations is giving birth to a new

political culture in the country. It

will be followed by the people from

the highest to the lowest rug in

administration, from the top of

government to the panchayat level.

It is necessary that the evil of

nipped in the bud.

It was a vulgar display of

arrogance when Sushri Mayawati

said she always kept BJP at the toe

of her shoe. She must remember that

arrogance and hot-headedness has

never paid; has never survived and

it had a fall sooner than later.

People do make sink, at one time or

the other, the heads of those very

who never look at the ground.

People have never condoned

arrogance. Even mightiest of the

rulers, tyrants and dictators had

their fall one day. She needs to keep

this fact in mind. That may turn out

to be in her own interest. n

BJP has demanded that the notification for the implementation of therecommendations of the Delimitation Commission pertaining to mostStates should be issued at the earliest.

During the course of his two-day Yatra through the Vidarbha regionin Maharashtra, BJP National President Shri Rajnath Singh demandedearly implementation of the recasting of Lok Sabha and assemblyconstituencies as per the recommendation of the Delimitation Commission.“The cabinet has taken a decision; it should be implemented at theearliest.”

Addressing reporters, BJP Vice-President Shri M A Naqvi alsodemanded that the redrawing of constituencies should be completed byFebruary-end so that all elections this year can be held on the basis ofthe redrawn boundaries. ‘‘We want the government to have theconstituencies redrawn in time for all the assembly polls coming up thisyear.’’ n

Delimitation Commission Report

BJP demands early notifying of

redrawn constituencies From Our Correspondent

5

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 5

A n ambitious MukhyamantriKhadyann SahayataYojana was launched by

BJP Government led by Dr. RamanSingh on January 15. It was a grandday for the people of the State,particularly the poor families livingbelow the poverty line (BPL) andSCs/STs who will get 35 kg riceevery month at a nominal price ofRs 3 per kg. under this unique foodsecurity scheme, which will provideall families living below poverty line?The Yojna was given a kick start in agrand way with the BJP NationalPresident Shri Rajnath Singhpresiding over functions for thepurpose at State headquarters atRaipur and Bilaspur, while ChiefMinisters of BJP-ruled States andother senior leaders were the chiefguests at the remaining districtheadquarters in the State.

This scheme is expected toannually cost Rs 834 crores to theState and benefit 34 lakh families,including 19 lakh SC/STs families.

Shri Rajnath Singh lauded theRaman Singh Government fordistributing rice at Rs 3 per kg to thepoor and called it a unique schemefor the benefit of the people ofChhattisgarh.

Inaugurating the scheme atJanjgir, former Union minister Dr.Murli Manmohar Joshi said that thefocus of Chattisgarh Governmentwas only on removal hunger of thepoor without discriminating on thebasis of caste or creed. “Poor arethe only priority of the StateGovernment”, he told the audienceamid cheers.

Former BJP President Shri M.

Venkaiah Naidu gave a green signalto the scheme at Raigarh. Heenumerated the various publicwelfare schemes launched by RamanGovernment and its achievements.

Gujarat chief minister Shri

Narendra Modi presided over thelaunch function at Ambikapur. Heexpressed happiness that he washappy to have been invited tolaunch the scheme for the poor onMakar Sankranti day. He expressedregret at the fact that the UPAGovernment had reduced the ricequota to Chhattisgarh instead ofhelping it to help the poor of theState.

Other chief ministers and seniorleaders too were present at similarfunctions in various districts. TheMadhya Pradesh chief minister ShriShivraj Singh Chouhan presidedover at Rajnandgaon, Rajasthan CMSmt. Vasundhara Raje at Durg,Uttarakhand Chief Minister Shri B CKhanduri at Korba and Bihar deputychief minister Shri Sushil KumarModi at Kanker. The formerJharkhand CM Shri Arjun Munda

and former Deputy CM ofMaharastra Shri Gopinath Mundeand several former Union Ministersincluding Shri Bandaru Dattatreya,Shri Vikram Verma and ShriRavishankar Prasad launched the

scheme in other districts of the statein a grand celebration. Rallies wereheld after its launch at all centres.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr.Raman Singh launched the ricescheme in his native Kawardhadistrict. Addressing the people onthe occasion he said, the Stategovernment had taken steps to makethe scheme fool proof so as toprevent the misuse of grain soldunder it.”

Apart from issuing specialration cards with bar-codes, thebeneficiaries will be offered rice in apacket with a special logoemblazoned on it, to prevent its salein the open market.’’ He added thatpaddy was the life of Chhattisgarh.“Dhaan read chawal hein to jaanhein, jaan hein to jahan hein, garibpet bhar khana khaiein issi meinpradesh aur desh ka kalyan hein.”

Chhattisgarh

Mukhyamantri Khadyann Sahayata Yojana launched

Rice at Rs 3/ per Kg to BPL familiesFrom Our Correspondent

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February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 6

On January 10 BJP NationalPresident Shri RajnathSingh kicked off his

momentous two-day ‘Kisan Yatra’from the historic Gandhi Ashram ofWardha to highlight the plight offarmers of the suicide-hit Vidharvaregion of Maharastra. It was a grandhit from the day one.

Before the start ofhis Yatra, Shri RajnathSingh accompanied byMaharashtra BJPPresident Shri NitinGadkari and BJP GeneralSecretary Shri GopinathMunde visited SevagramAshram and paid homageto the Father of theNation Mahatma Gandhi.Later, he addressed amammoth gathering in front of theAshram and blamed the present andprevious Congress leadership forthis horrible condition of povertyand plight of the farmers.

He said ‘those who led thenation in the post- independentperiod for many years did not knowwhich way to go and whom tofollow. Without applying theirknowledge, they copied others’model and destroyed the economicbackbone of Indian villages andshape of this nation. Charging theUPA government with being anti-farmer, he said, whenever BJP cameto power, it tried its best to uplift thecondition of the farmers. ShriRajnath Singh assured that if BJPreturns to power again, it will ensurethe immediate implementation of

insurance scheme for farmland,agricultural loans at the rate of 4percent, waiver of farm loans,pension to the farmers above 60years, insurance for livestock, atleast 50 percent profit oninvestment, putting irrigation in theconcurrent list, and thereby makingboth the Center and the States

responsible for it. He demandedimplementation of Swaminathanreport’s formula for calculating theminimum support price.

On the first day of the ‘KisanYatra’ Shri Rajnath Singh handedover a cheque for Rs. 75 lakh toRambabu Mhalgi Probodhini for itsambitious ‘Annadata Sukhi Bhava’scheme for the help of suicide-hit

families. This scheme is divided intotwo parts — the educationalguardianship scheme and familysupport scheme.

The two-day Yatra, whichpassed throughout Vidharva,covered more than 250 km acrossNagpur, Wardha, Amravati andAkola districts of Maharastra on thefirst day. Shri Rajnath Singh got atremendous response from themasses standing both sides of theroad throughout the length andbreadth of the Yatra. With thecommencement of the Yatra thedesperation and frustration ofCongress camp was also evidentfrom the manner in which ithaphazardly announced farm loansfrom cooperative banks on the eve

of the ‘Kisan Yatra’.Commenting on this moveof Congress, some farmerssaid, Congress hasditched us several times.This announcementcoming as it did on the eveof the Yatra itself exposedhow serious the Congressis for the welfare of thefarmers of Vidarbha.

On the concludingday of his two–day ‘kisan Yatra’ inthe Vidharva region, Shri Singhlashed out at the Congress-led UPAgovernment at the Center and in thestate by holding both responsiblefor the distress in agriculture sectorand demanded effective measuresto improve the lot of peasants.

Addressing huge gathering enroute his Yatra, Shri Rajnath Singh

Two-day Kissan Yatra

BJP President receives

massive responseFrom Our Correspondent

7

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 7

said that Hindutva and developmentcannot be separated. Our politicalrivals are confusing the commonpeople by misinterpreting our standon Hindutva. He said for usHindutva is a way of life and webelieve in integration of differentcultures and traditional values. Inshort, we believe in ‘CulturalNationalism’. Attacking theCongress he said, “Had thesuccessive Congress governmentspaid attention to the agriculturesector, the country would havejoined the ranks of developednations at least two decades back!”

In Yavatmal, where 1000 farmershave committed suicide in the lastfour years (the maximum cases offarmers’ suicide in recent times), ShriRajnath Singh compared thedevelopment registered during theprevious NDA government andunder the present regime. He said,“The whole agriculture sector isunder distress. In nine States paddyfarmers are facing tough times. InMaharastra it is the cotton farmersand in Uttar Pradesh it is the sugarcanegrowers. So the BJP willdefinitely fight for their rights”, heassured.

He asked the Prime Minister,Dr. Manmohan Singh to take up thematter with his counterpart in Chinaabout the undeclared restrictionsimposed by China on import ofIndian cotton.

Stopping to warm receptions byvillagers at various points betweenAkola and Yavatmal stretch of hisYatra, the BJP President held theCongress responsible for the plightof farmers under successiveCongress regimes. He advised thefarmers to throw out the present anti-farmer Government of Congress andNCP that has only made their lifemiserable.

Addressing the farmers he alsourged them not to commit suicides

and instead resolve to fight backthe government.

On the sidelines of ‘KisanYatra’ BJP spokesperson ShriPrakash Javadekar released a factualreport on the cotton prices and thesituation of farmers in Maharastra.He said that in the last four years3,500 farmers have committedsuicide. Only at Yavatmalaround1000 farmers have committedsuicide. Therefore, BJP demandedthat the MSP for cotton be raised toat least 3,000 per quintal. He said,ten year back when the BJP- ShivSena government was in power inMaharastra, the farmers used to getRs.2,300 even though the MSP wasRs. 1500. The state government thengave the money as bonus to the

Former BJP President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has criticised theUPA government’s reported move to appoint a new StatesReorganisation Commission (SRC). It exposed the “opportunistic”ways of the Congress on the Telangana statehood demand, he added.

Shri Naidu accused the Congress of politicising the Telanganaissue to suit its political interests and playing with the sentiments ofthe people. He posed several questions to the ruling party and daredit to come clear on them. “Do you believe that SRC is the only way toform new states? If yes, then why did you not form Telangana on thebasis of the recommendations of the first SRC? Can you deny that anumber of new states have been formed without setting up SRC?” heasked.

“The NDA government has formed states like Jharkhand andChhattisgarh. Why did you not insist on SRC then? Will the new SRCbe confined to Vidarbha and Telangana demands or will it look into alldemands for separate states? If the SRC is only for Telangana, thenwhy did you take over three years to appoint it? Why did you constitutethe sub-committee headed by Pranab Mukherjee to look into Telanganademand? What has it achieved so far?” he asked.

He affirmed that the BJP would extend support if the UPAbrought a bill for formation of a separate Telangana state.

Congress is “opportunistic” on

States reorganization : NaiduFrom Our Correspondent

farmers. Now even though the costof production has gone up, farmersget an MSP of Rs.1,900. The stategovernment no longer gives anyadditional amount to help farmersrecover their cost. He added thatVidharva is one of the drought proneregions of the country. So, the costof producing cotton in Vidharva iscalculated to be 2,700 per quintal.However, the possibility of highreturns has made it an attractiveoption for farmers but now the Stateand Central government approachis such by which no farmer can dareto think of cultivating cotton inVidharva region and this approachis mainly responsible for theirindebtedness and resultantsuicides.’ n

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February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 8

BJP gears up for Lok Sabha pollsFrom Our Correspondent

The Left parties are no longer the messiahs of the working class. InKerala it is the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) that has caught the fancyof the workes. According the latest reports, while CPM’s CITU hasslipped from the third place it occupied in 1989 to fifth place, a biggersurprise comes from Kerala. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh has managedto muster more than double the number of members (1.52 lakh) in thesouthern state than Congress’ INTUC (71,289).

The final verified membership has been okayed by a StandingCommittee of trade union representatives constituted by the Governmentand was submitted to the Labour Ministry on December 31, 2007. Thenotification was issued on January 11, after Minister of State withIndependent charge of Labour Oscar Fernandes cleared it.

BMS far ahead in membership in

Communist KeralaFrom Our Correspondent

The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) has decided to focuson the 297 parliamentary

seats that it had own since 1989upto the previous Lok Sabhaelection of 2004, to evolve a winningformula for the next Lok Sabha polls.The decision was taken by thenewly set up Central ElectionManagement Committee under thechairmanship of party president ShriRajnath Singh.

However, before the partythinks of a formula, it will study theimpact of delimitation ofconstituencies on its prospects. Itagreed that the elections would haveto be fought on a seat-by-seat basisrather than on an anti-UPAstrategy— after analysing theimpact of delimitation.

After the first meeting of thecommittee, Deputy Leader of BJPParliamentary Party, Smt. SushmaSwaraj, told the media that thecommittee also agreed that the partywould concentrate its efforts towrest some of the 189 seats apartfrom the 297 seats that have eludedthe party since its inception. On theother hand 43 of the 138 seats theparty holds in the current Lok Sabhahave been won 5 times and 31 twiceor more. Smt. Swaraj said the partyintended to seize the initiatives bygoing in for early preparations forthe Lok Sabha polls. She added that“the party already announced ourPrime Minister candidate, set up ourCampaign Management Panel andnow the next task is to work out aplan to win as many seats aspossible.”

Smt. Sushma Swaraj said in duecourse of time the BJP President Shri

Rajnath Singh will appoint several“sub-groups” who would beresponsible for studying the effectsof delimitation on BJP’s electoralprospects, implementing decisions,draft manifesto, identifying issues,preparing publicity campaigns andinteracting with the media.

Smt. Swaraj said she has beenassigned the duty to coordinate with

the NDA allies and was hopeful ofroping in more parties “as per therecommendations of the Stateunits”. Shri George Fernandeswould continue to be the NDAconvener, she said. She added thatBJP was in touch with its alliancepartners to chalk out a joint strategyfor the next Lok Sabha elections.

Headed by Shri Rajnath Singhhimself, other members of the 19-member Central ElectionManagement Committee include ShriJaswant Singh, Dr. Murli ManoharJoshi, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Smt.Sushma Swaraj, Shri Vijay KumarMalhotra, Prof. Bal Apte, Shri ArunJaitley, Shri Ananth Kumar, ShriGopinath Munde, Shri ThawarchandGehlot, Shri Vinay Katiyar, ShriYashwant Sinha, Shri Ramlal, ShriMukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Shri ArunShourie, Shri Ravishankar Prasad,Shri Balbir Punj and Shri VinaySahashra Budhe. n

9

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 9

The BJP strongly condemnsthe draft political documentreleased by the CPM at its

19th party congress yesterday. Theentire document smacks of politicalarrogance at its worst despite thefact that the Left Front parties havebeen conclusively pushed to themargins of the country, and theirpolitical relevance is confined onlyto West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.It was indeed astonishing that theCPM has the audacity to call theBJP as its enemy number one, failingto realize that the BJP is today oneof the two principal political frontsof the world's largest and trulyfunctioning democracy, and is inpower in six states on its own andin another three states in coalition.The BJP totally refutes this entireconcept of terming politicalopponents as enemies and wouldlike to remind Mr. Karat and hisbandwagon of "leftovers" that thismindset is patently anti-democratic,irrelevant and undesirable in theinterests of healthy democratictraditions.

It is indeed worth pointing outthat since independence, even thepolitical forefathers of Mr Karat haveindulged in this sort of verbal assaultagainst the nationalist anddemocratic forces of the country.At various points of time, the LeftFront leadership has used similarautocratic and stalinist expressionsagainst the Congress party and alsodescribed Loknayak Jai PrakashNarain in the 1970s as a rank fascist.Infact, for 45 years, the Left Frontleadership did not even spare thelegendary Subhash Chandra Bose

from their verbal assaults. But theinbuilt democratic genes of India 'smasses always conclusivelyrejected such despicable and anti-democratic abuses during elections.Yet the Left Front leadership has

remained rooted in the past andfailed to evolve in sync with the willof the people. This explains thereality of their total marginalizationin Indian politics where the LeftFront cannot ever emerge beyondthe confines of three states andwhere their total vote share at thenational scene is nowhere close todouble digits.

Over the last six decades sinceindependence, Indian politics hasincreasingly become bi-polar, areality the CPM and Left Frontparties have failed to either note orappreciate. The BJP and theCongress are today the twodivergent poles of Indian politics.The chimera of the so-called ThirdFront is solely to frustrate thegrowth of the BJP and prevent itfrom coming to power. This ill-conceived political game plan isdestined to fail.

The people of India deservebetter than an attempt to subvertthe will of the masses through theformation of a Third Front. Ahoisted political enterprise

conceived in haste to subvert thetrue will of the people will neversucceed. History has numerouslessons to teach. Neither the Gujralnor Deve Gowda Third Frontexperiments at the centre could ever

last or provide a viable politicalalternative to the country. The onlydifference between then and now,is at that point the grand old man ofantiquated political thought, MrHarkishan Singh Surjeet, was theforce behind these disastrouspolitical experiments, and today it isMr Prakash Karat and his team ofoutdated intellectuals. However, thepeople of India will never let theircollective will be subverted bybackroom political machinations ofrootless outdated and so calledpolitical thinkers. Ultimately, postthe era of third front politics, thepeople elected Shri Atal BihariVajpyee to lead a magnificentcoalition of stability that laid thefoundations of a resurgent India inits six years tenure.

The BJP feels that the lust toshare the trappings of powerwithout due responsibility oraccountability exposes the rankduplicity of the Left Front's mindsetand their true commitment towardsthe country. After enjoying powerwithout responsibility for four years,

BJP strongly condemns the draft political

document of CPM : Ravi Shankar

Press Statement by BJPNational Spokesperson Shri

Ravi Shankar Prasad

10

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 10

now that electionsare approaching,the Left Front isonce again openlypropagating theidea of a ThirdFront without evenhaving the politicalintegrity of firstw i t h d r a w i n gsupport from theUPA government.Is this politicalduplicity thebenchmark of theirso-called highstandards ofintegrity?

M o r e o v e r ,along with theCongress Party, theLeft Front is theprincipal factorbehind this patentand rank anti-people governmentthat goes in thename of the UPAand wears thefacade of an AamA a d m i ' sdispensation. Inaddition to theCongress Party,how can the LeftFront ever walkaway from theirown responsibilityfor supporting agovernment thatthey themselvesconcede is a totalfailure?

The BJPconsiders thisattitude of shirkingresponsibility aspolitical hypocrisyand deceit at itsworst. nnnnn

Celebrating the NationalYouth Day on January12 in a very innovative

way, the Madhya Pradesh unitof Bharatiya Janata YuvaMorcha (BJYM) had organizeda massive Yuva Sansad. TheSansad was attended andaddressed by many leadinglights from BJP that includedMadhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shri Shivraj SinghChauhan, Smt. Sushma Swaraj,BJP National Secretary Shri Prabhat Jhaamong others.

Inaugurating the Sansad, Shri ShivrajSingh Chauhan emphatically emphasisedon the need of creating more avenues foryouth employment and stated that hisgovernment had created more than 1 lakh29 thousands government jobs for theyouth. He also stressed upon on the urgentneed of formulating a comprehensiveNational Youth Policy for generatingcompetent human resources. While SmtSwaraj spoke on the need for mouldingeducation employment oriented becausein this era of globalization only youth armedwith vocational and technical know-howhave a distinct edge over others. Deliveringkey-note address on evolving YouthPolicy, Shri Prabhat Jha said that bothpolitics and youth policy should be tailormade for serving the nation and not just atmeeting two square meals a day. Extollingthe virtue of the cyclonic Hindu MonkSwami Vivekananda, Shri Jha urged theyouth to shun publicity and self praise forceaseless and silent works in the true spiritof the great Swamiji. He said that only withsuch spirit of sacrifice, patriotism and

strong social and ethical values,the dream of Pt. DeendayalUpadhyay's Integral Humanismcould be realised.

Those who also addressedthe Yuva Sansad included ShriVikram Varma, National Vice-President of BJP, Shri AnilMadhav Dave, Vice-President,Shri Ajay Pratap Singh, GeneralSecretary of BJP, MadhyaPradesh . While Shri Varma dealtwith the new emerging Young

India with over 60 crore population by 2020,Shri Dave said wrong prioritizing wasresponsible for derailment of developmentsince independence and said that strongleadership is needed to overcome this.

Addressing the valedictory function ShriAjay Pratap Singh assured the enthusiasticgathering that any future Youth Policy wouldbe made keeping in mind the needs of theyouth. In a way the Yuva Sansad was a hugesuccess considering it was organized for thefirst time by the BJYM in the state. nnnnn

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha-Madhya Pradesh

Yuva Sansad Organized on

the National Youth Day

Sarangpur MLA Shri Amar

Singh Kothar no moreMP Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh

Chouhan has expressed a deep sense of sorrowover the passing away of MLA Shri AmarSingh Kothar. Shri Kothar was a mass leaderrepresenting Sarangpur Assemblyconstituency of Rajgarh district. In acondolence message, the Shri Chouhan saidthat in Shri Kothar's death, the Bhartiya JantaParty has lost a dedicated worker and thestate has suffered the loss of a noted socialworker. Shri Chouhan has prayed the God togrant peace to the departed soul and strengthto the bereaved family to bear the loss. nnnnn

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February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 11

On January 20 Gujarat ChiefMinister Shri NarendraModi came down heavily

on the Congress charging the UPAGovernment with practicing “votebank” politics aimed at appeasingthe Muslims. Congress had becomea “liability” in the country and itwas high time that the peopleshowed the door to the SoniaGandhi-led party, he went on.

Shri Modi was addressing in amammoth rally organised by theMaharashtra BJP at the Shivaji Parkin north-central Mumbai. This washis first major felicitation functionorganised outside Gujarat afterleading BJP to victory in Gujarat forthe third consecutive term inMumbai.

In remarks rich in sarcasm, hetargeted Smt. Sonia Gandhi sayingthe Congress President fell ill afterthe party lost the Gujarat Assemblyelection and had to be admitted tohospital. “After the results weredeclared Soniaben fell ill and had tobe admitted to a hospital. The wholeof Gujarat had prayed for herrecovery. A lot happened,” headded.

Shri Modi rubbished the now-well accepted political dictums that“good governance is bad politics”and that “development does notbring votes”, and lambasted the“vested interests” for finding faultwith the electoral verdict handed outby the people of Gujarat in favour ofthe BJP.

Modi said an important lessonthat all the political parties shouldlearn from the Gujarat Assembly pollverdict was that they, when in

power, should accord top priorityto the development issues, ratherthan indulging in “vote-bank”politics as was the case with theCongress.

Modi arrived at the felicitationvenue in a lion-headed chariot ontoa stage having Parliament as thebackdrop in the middle with maps ofMaharashtra and Gujarat on eitherside. He received a rousing receptionby a large and an enthusiastic crowd

— a gathering that senior BJP leaderGopinath Munde described as theone bigger than the crowds drawnby AICC president Smt. SoniaGandhi early last year and UP ChiefMinister Sushri Mayawati veryrecently at the same venue.

Shri Modi virtually kick-startedthe BJP’s preparations for the 2009

Assembly polls in Maharashtra, ashe blew the “shanka” (shell)presented to him by the State BJPleaders on the occasion.

Shri Modi strongly advocatedthe need for the country adoptingthe “BJP model of governance” asagainst the three other models of“tested and failed” governance —the one practised by the Congressfor “40 to 45” years, the otherpractised by the CPI (M) during the

last two decades and the third bythe various regional parties — seenby the country since Independence.

“The BJP’s model governanceis best suited for the country at thisjuncture,” declared Shri Modi said,as he explained in detail how he hadchanged the rules of politics in thecountry by according a “top

Mammoth Mumbai rally

Congress, a liability for country : ModiSooner the country got rid of it, better

From Our Correspondent

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February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 12

priority” to the developmentalissues.

He singled out the Congressfor “going out of the way” toappease minorities and said: “Istrongly believe that the Stateexchequer belongs to the people.As far as Gujarat is concerned, Iconsider myself a chowkidarappointed by the people to guardthe State treasury. I would not allowanybody to touch even one rupeefrom the State treasury for needsother than development. Here, wehave a Prime Minister who says thathis Government would accord toppriority to the needs of Muslimswhen it comes to utilising financialresources available with it”.

“Given that the Congress wasout of power at the Centre for 15years”, Shri Modi went on, “Ithought that the Congress wouldreform itself on its return to power.But, unfortunately, the Congresscontinues to practise the same vote-bank politics. If anything, theCongress has become a liability tothe country. The country canprosper only when the people getrid of the Congress from power”.

Calling the Manmohan Singhgovernment a total failure, Shri Modisaid: “If one asks 10 persons in astreet corner to list five good thingsdone by the Manmohan SinghGovernment during the last fouryears, I sincerely doubt that if evenone person is able to list five goodthings done by it”.

Accusing the UPAGovernment of having miserablyfailed to arrest the unchecked pricerise, Shri Modi said that it had doneprecious little to help the poor anddowntrodden. “During the VajpayeeGovernment’s tenure at the Centre,our food godowns were not onlyfull to the capacity but we had alsoa major problem of storing the excessfood grains we had at our disposal.

Once the UPA Government came topower, the godowns suddenlybecame empty and a stage camewhen we had to import wheat fromabroad. And the Government endedup distributing inferior quality ofwheat to the people through PDSoutlets,” the Chief Minister said.

Shri Modi demanded anexplanation from Union AgricultureMinister Sharad Shri Pawar andAICC president Shmt. Sonia Gandhias to why the Government importedwheat at such exorbitant costs, evenwhile it denied remunerative pricesfor the wheat growers in the country.

Shri Modi said that the UPAGovernment did not have either apolicy or a strategy to combat terror

in the country. He said the UPAGovernment had committed a “sin”by withdrawing Army from theborder areas in Kashmir. Hecastigated the Centre for its failureto re-enact the repealed POTA,which would have come in handy indealing with terrorist activities in thecountry.

Earlier, BJP National GeneralSecretary Shri Gopinath Munde andState Party President Shri NitinGadkari showered lavish praise onShri Modi for ensuring the BJP’sresounding victory in the GujaratAssembly polls and said that theparty would utilise his servicesduring campaign for MaharashtraAssembly polls. n

On January 8 Gujarat ChiefMinister Shri NarendraModi called on Prime

Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh andbrought to his notice how his Statehas been receiving “partialtreatment” from the petroleumministry in the allocation of gas. Thiswas Shri Modi’s first meeting withthe Prime Minister after he assumedoffice for the third consecutive termas chief minister of Gujarat.

Shri Modi expressed hisconcern over border area problemsin Gujarat in the wake of the politicalunrest in Pakistan and felt that theentire internal security scenario inIndia needed a fresh review.

Shri Modi told Dr Singh thatlooking at the recent political unrestin Pakistan and terrorist incidents invarious parts of India, the entireinternal security scenario demandsa fresh look. “The BSF and CoastGuard are unable to patrol

effectively the coastal waters in theGulf of Kutch,” he felt and informedthe PM that Customs did not havesufficient manpower to checksmuggling through fishing boats.

He suggested that a vesseltraffic monitoring system has to beput in place immediately in the Gulfof Kutch and requested the PM todirect the Kandla Port Trust to helpmonitor and curb the menace in theGulf of Kutch. .

Shri Modi also sought the PrimeMinister’s intervention for theestablishment of a full-fledggedIndian Institute of Technology,Indian Institute of InformationTechnology and Indian Institute ofScience Education in Gujarat in viewof the fact that all-round economicand social development in the stateis at par with other academicallydeveloped States, according to arelease issued by the Gujaratinformation centre. n

Modi complains to PM against

“partial treatment”From Our Correspondent

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February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 13

This article is not about BenazirBhutto’s assassination,cricket and the perfidy of the

Australians or Al Qaeda. It is aboutan incident to which India woke upone day and forgot the next. L’affaireRampur is getting curious by theday. Given that it was the firstorganised terrorist attack against amilitary target — the Central ReservePolice Force — outsideJammu & Kashmir, it israther odd thatinvestigating agencieshave not yet got anydefinite leads. But securityforces are interrogating aCRPF jawan, a formerKashmir militant fromBaramulla in the KashmirValley.

Apparently the CRPFjawan, who was once amilitant but surrendered inJammu & Kashmir andjoined the force, was onduty at Control Room-2,which the terroristsattacked first and shot dead asecurity man. However, while thepost-mortem suggests all those whowere killed died of bullet injuries,circumstantial evidence confirmsthe use of at least one grenade.Other spots where the grenades weresaid to have been hurled resemblethose hit by petrol bombs.Investigators are, therefore, probingwhether the attack was orchestratedby an insider with outside help.

Other reports would have usbelieve this was not a terrorist attackat all. In fact, it was a ‘difference ofopinion’ between two groups ofKashmiri youth who had a brawlover something and brought theirguns out. This is what the Kashmirimedia is reporting, obviously on thebasis of information that hastravelled from Rampur to Jammu &

Kashmir. At present, there are 68jawans and officers in the RampurGroup Centre hailing from the Valley,including eight jawans, who havejoined the force after leaving variousterrorist outfits.

It is hard to make a judgement,which is more disturbing: Was it ashootout between two Ikhwani (asthey are called) groups who appearto have learnt nothing from the corpsd’esprit of the CRPF, or was it a

terrorist attack? It was confusingwhen the world first got to hear ofit. At 3.45 am, for gunmen to havegone berserk in an area as wellguarded as a CRPF recruitmentcentre? But Uttar Pradeshintelligence sources say there was amethod in the madness.

Militants in Jammu & Kashmirare becoming conscious of the fact

that in the battleground,the paramilitary isincreasingly using boysto fight militants, drawnfrom that very area.When a militant joins thesecurity forces, hedoesn’t just get a job.His family gets ananchor, but it alsobecomes a target —especially when he isserving in his home area.One would imagine theparamilitary is notunaware of this.

But more than that,he has to fight his

community, sometimes, even hisplaymates. It is to preventrecruitment by paramilitary agenciesand teach recruits a lesson thatmilitants struck at Rampur. But whyRampur? Well, for one thing, it is aparliamentary constituency with 49per cent Muslim population. TheMuslims in this region (includingneighbouring Bijnor andMoradabad) trace their origins toPashtun stock. So they are tall, well-

Rampur shows the rot within By Ashok K Mehta

There appears something more than that meets the eye. But we cannot afford the blame game.

We have to do something and a national internal security grid, as the writer suggests, has to

be created in cooperation with State Governments before it is too late.

It is hard to make a judgement, whichis more disturbing: Was it a shootoutbetween two Ikhwani (as they are called)groups who appear to have learntnothing from the corps d’esprit of theCRPF, or was it a terrorist attack? Itwas confusing when the world first gotto hear of it. At 3.45 am, for gunmen tohave gone berserk in an area as wellguarded as a CRPF recruitment centre?But Uttar Pradesh intelligence sourcessay there was a method in the madness.

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February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 14

built and ideal material for themilitary.

The CRPF camp was set up inRampur for recruitment, rather thanplanning operations. But like othercantonment areas in peacetimestations, for instance Lucknow, itwas rather relaxed in security. InLucknow, anyone can go throughthe cantonment area without givingrise to any suspicion. There are norifles, pistols or any arms on displayanywhere, except in thequarterguard, which is as it shouldbe. But consider what wouldhappen if militants took control ofbuildings with civilians inside ashostages and began bargaining withthe Indian state? It is a thought toohorrible to contemplate.

In addition to the myriad threatsof urban militancy that the big citiesface, we now also have to beconscious that as the Indianeconomy grows, it is the Tier-II cities— underdeveloped in terms ofsecurity and infrastructure butgrowing rapidly and for that reason,giving rise to a new underclass —that are most at risk. In these cities— from Mysore and Mangalore toVadodara and Veraval — security islax and borders porous; besides, agenerally laid-back approach topolicing makes them potentialtinderboxes. The truth willeventually come out in the Rampurcase. But whatever the facts, it istrue that on that cold night in theCRPF post, guns did go off andcivilians — non-combatants — werehurt, something that should offendevery Indian militaryman.

Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterMayawati has blamed paramilitaryforces for the incident. “Despiteseveral alerts by the intelligenceagencies and the UP Government,the CRPF did not make suitablearrangements to fend off such anattack,” she lamented, adding,

“They should have been morecareful following the threatperception.” But the problem isbigger than just threat perception.Intelligence was unprocessed. TheUnion Home Ministry hadintelligence that Rampur was goingto be attacked, but there are so manyRampurs in India.

Law and order in our country isa State subject. It is the StateGovernment that is responsible forthe security of its people. StateGovernments must be sensitised tosecurity challenges — regardless ofwhether they are friendly to theUnion Government or not. Securityconsciousness has to become acreed if we are to prevent the Hizb-ul Mujahideen cadre operating inKerala. How is this to happen?

BJP has scored an impressive victory in the elections to ManipurZila Parishad, Panchayat Pradhan and Gram Sabha Elections held lastmonth.

List of elected BJP sponsored candidates for Manipur Zilla Parishad,Panchayat Pradhan & Gram Sabha Election, 2007

ZILLA PARISHAD:

1. Smt. K. Sumati Devi

2. Smt. Ng. Bimola Devi

3. Smt. T. Manitombi Devi

4. Shri. A. Ibomcha Singh

5. Smt. P. Bimola Devi

6. Shri Usham Indrakumar

7. Shri . Ranjen Singh

PRADHAN:1. Kh. (O) Shobita Devi2. M. Manglemjao Singh3. Th. Roma Devi4. N. Tangba5. S. Rameshwor Singh6. S. Manihar Singh7. T. Tompok Singh8. G. Bihari Sharma9. A Ranendrajit (Lukhoi)10. L. Manihar Singh11. L. Ibomcha

Clearly the State Governments willgive up no powers. Yet, the Centrehas to exercise its will over certainkinds of threats. State Governmentscan retain the right to police, butinternal security has to be theconcern of the Union Government.A national internal security grid hasto be created in cooperation withState Governments before it is toolate.

India doesn’t necessarily haveto become a police state. But theantennae have to be pulled out sothat deterrence can work and theblame game stops. Surely we cannothave the Chief Minister of one ofIndia’s largest States alleging thatthe ruling party leaders want herkilled! n

(Courtesy: The Pioneer)

BJP records impressive win

in Manipur Zila Parishad pollFrom our correspondent

Manipur

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February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 15

‘Democracy and Conflict

Resolution in Asia’Distinguished participants in this conclave, ladies andgentlemen,

I am delighted to be with you this morning. At theoutset, I wish to congratulate Dainik Jagran, a leadingHindi language newspaper in our country, for organizingthis summit. Conferences of this kind have been heldon an annual basis by some well-known Englishpublications, and I have participated in themtoo. However, it gives me specialsatisfaction to be participating in a conclaveorganised by a publication in Hindi, ournational language, of which I am immenselyproud. At the same time, I am dismayed bythe fact that Hindi has not yet received thekind of recognition, both within India andinternationally, that it so richly deserves.

There is an urgent need to encourage,enrich and honour Hindi and other nativeIndian languages. I am saying this in aspecial context. The United Nations hasrecently proclaimed 2008 the InternationalYear of Languages, recognizing thatgenuine multilingualism promotes unity in diversity andinternational understanding. It also emphasized theparamount importance of the equality of theOrganization’s six official languages (Arabic, Chinese,English, French, Russian and Spanish). There is not asingle Indian-origin language among these, althoughthe number of Hindi-speaking people exceeds thosethat speak Arabic, French, Russian and Spanish.

A reason for insufficient international recognitionfor Hindi may be the fact that it is not spoken outsideIndia. But what is disappointing is that, within India, weplace English on a higher pedestal than Hindi and otherIndian-origin languages. The effect of the British strategyof making Indians feel inferior about their language andculture has curiously survived even after independence.Those who speak only Hindi or other Indian languages,and are not very conversant in English, are generallylooked down upon. Let me recount a personal experience.

I knew very little Hindi during the first twentyyears of my life I spent in Sindh. But I studied it diligentlyafter I came to this part of India after Partition. I camefrom Rajasthan to Delhi in 1957 to assist the

parliamentary wing of my party. Whenever the telephonerang and I happened to pick it up, my first expressionwas (it still is), “Haan ji.” To which, many times, theresponse from the other side used to be: “Sahab gharmein hain?” (Is sahib at home?). And I would tell them,“Aap ko Advani se baat karani hai, to main bol rahahoon.” (If you wish to speak to Advani, you are talking

to the right person.)In the context of the language debate in India, I

have always maintained that our opposition is not toAngrezi per se, but to Angreziyat, which makes peopleharbour a sense of inferiority complex because they areunable to converse in English. The Chinese or Russiansor Japanese have never suffered from this complex.

* * *Let’s recognize the Genius of Asia

With these prefatory remarks, let me come to thetopic of this conclave. A discussion on ‘Democracyand Conflict Resolution in Asia’ must first of allrecognize two factors about Asia ¯ its rich historicalexperience and its proud diversity, which shoulddisabuse us of the notion that we have nothing to learnfrom our own tradition of democracy and conflict-resolution and have to only learn from others. Asia isthe world’s largest, most populous and most diversecontinent. It is also where all the world’s major faithswere born. It is the cradle of a majority of the world’sgreat and living civilizations. Neither of the twodevastating World Wars of the last century was caused

Text of speechdelivered by Shri L.K.Advani, Leader of the

Opposition (LokSabha) at the DainikJagran Summit in

New Delhi onJanuary 16, 2008

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by Asia, although Asian countries were affected bytheir fire. Similarly, Asia has been a victim of colonialismand not a cause of it.

All this speaks of what is often termed as the‘Genius of Asia’. By any reckoning, it provides a valuablespiritual, cultural and intellectual resource to promotedemocracy and peaceful conflict-resolution. There isanother important point to be noted here. Afterremaining a victim of history for several centuries, Asiais now becoming, once again, a prime shaper of its owndestiny. Let me put this point in perspective.

Last week, I came across three volumes of a newand ambitious encyclopedia on the history of IndianScience and Technology, a project promoted by ShriRaja Amphora of the Infinity Foundation, USA. It quotesSamuel Huntington writing the following in his much-discussed book ‘Clash of Civilizations’.

“In 1750, China accounted for almost one-third,India for almost one-quarter and the West for a less

than a fifth of the world’s manufacturing output…Inthe following decades, the industrialization of the Westled to the de-industrialization of the world.”

In contrast to this, the late 20th century witnessedan Asian economic renaissance. As far as economicgrowth is concerned, the centre of gravity has alreadyshifted to Asia, with India and China emerging as thetwo main engines of the growth of the global economy.According to noted economic historian AngusMadison, if India and China can sustain their currentrates of growth, they will regain their historic place inthe next few decades.

The above trend has profound implications fordemocracy, conflict-resolution and management ofglobal affairs in general. The western monopoly overglobal economic processes, one that has lasted for overtwo centuries and which gave the West a dominantposition in military matters and global diplomacy, hasbeen unequivocally broken. Asia’s material rejuvenationbuttressed by the flow of financial resources anddissemination of information/knowledge flows, itselfenabled by the IT and communication revolution of the1990s, has begun to strengthen the voice of nationstates in Asia.

Therefore, if Asia’s newly gained economic strengthand rapidly growing political clout can be combined

with the essential ‘Genius of Asia’ ¯ its pricelesscivilisational, cultural and spiritual resource, rooted inthe values of peace, harmony, justice, respect forpluralism, co-existence and dialogue ¯ I am optimisticthat Asia will be able to rewrite not only its own historybut also contribute greatly to building a better futurefor the world as a whole. And with Asia rapidlyreclaiming its historic position in the global community,I feel confident that Europe’s past will not be Asia’sfuture; rather, the best of Asia’s past will mouldhumanity’s future.India and China should fully normalizegood-neighbourly ties

In fact, one notices an interesting trend in Asiandiplomacy whereby outstanding conflicts are casting adiminishing shadow on the improvement of relations inother spheres, particularly economic. It could also beargued that the existence of outstanding disputes ispersuading states to seek rapprochement and construct

new bilateral and multilateral mechanisms/institutions. Economic interdependence inAsia is gradually compelling states topursue non-confrontational means oftackling old disputes. It may suffice tosay that inter-state stability can only

emerge from a mutual accommodation of each other’score security interests. And this in turn will requireresponsible statesmen who can equilibrate securitystrategies based on “self-help” with those based oncooperative norms.

A good example of this is the evolution of India-China relations in recent years, and the constructiveapproach that both countries have adopted to resolvethe border dispute. Prime Minister Dr. ManmohanSingh’s just-concluded visit to China has hopefullytaken this effort forward. Fully normalized good-neighbourly and cooperative relations between the twogreat nations of Asia can become a reliable factor ofpeace, stability and progress both in the region andglobally.

Indeed, the effort to bring about a rapprochementin India-China relations was started when Shri AtalBihari Vajpayee was the foreign minister in MorarjiDesai’s government. His historic meeting with DengXiaoping in 1979 broke the ice and resumed top-leveldialogue that had been frozen after 1962. Shri Vajpayeealso gave a big boost to this effort when he became thePrime Minister. An institutionalized framework fordialogue on resolution of the border dispute was begunduring his regime. In between, Rajiv Gandhi and P.V.Narasimha Rao also made valuable contribution to the

As far as economic growth is concerned, the centreof gravity has already shifted to Asia, with Indiaand China emerging as the two main engines of thegrowth of the global economy.

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normalization of ties between our two countries. Herewe see an example of the development of a highlyuseful national consensus in foreign policy.

It has been my view that Pakistan should recognizethe usefulness of the framework adopted by India andChina for normalizing and strengthening our bilateralties, without holding them hostage to the resolution ofthe border dispute. Similarly, Indo-Pak relations can benormalized without holding them hostage to theresolution of the Kashmir issue.Two long-festering conflicts in Asia

Unfortunately, several long-festering conflicts inAsia have been sustained, and have eluded asatisfactory solution, because of the interplay betweenwestern strategies of global domination in conflict-zones, where the conflicts are in turn exacerbated bycertain intolerant, violent, hegemonistic ideologies thathave originated in Asia itself.

Two prime examples of this are the conflicts inWest Asia and South Asia. Palestine must getindependent statehood and, at the sametime, Israel’s right to exist must beunequivocally recognized by all itsneighbours. Those who say that Israelshould be wiped off the map of the worldare a threat to regional and world peace,even though their voice emanates fromwithin Asia itself.

Similarly, closer home, we havewitnessed the tragedy of Afghanistan, where the forcesstoking the fires of religious extremism and globaldomination have harmed India, too. The trouble beganin 1979 with the invasion of Afghanistan by the SovietUnion, which the then government of India shouldhave condemned strongly and categorically.Afghanistan then became a victim of the Cold Warrivalry between the then two superpowers, with Pakistantrying to take advantage of the conflict for its ownnarrow geo-political ambitions. Since then, the Sovietspulled out of Afghanistan, and the Soviet Union itselfdisintegrated. But Afghanistan continues to be a zoneof war, because it was converted into a sanctuary ofjehadi terrorism, with disastrous consequences for allthose who gave birth to this Bhasmasur.

The latest victim of this Bhasmasur was Ms. BenazirBhutto in Pakistan. We must remember that herassassination in a terrorist attack took place in thecontext of the Pakistani people’s aspiration for theestablishment of an effective and stable democraticsystem. I had commented then, and also on the earlieroccasion when she escaped an assassination bid on

the day she returned from her exile (when 125 personswere killed in a terrorist attack on her convoy), that, inPakistan, the struggle for democracy and the struggleagainst terrorism inspired by religious extremism cannotbe separated.

The developments in Pakistan should prompt us torecognize a disturbing trend: The term ‘democracy’ isbeing manipulated in international relations discourseto suit the self-serving purpose of preserving one’sglobal domination and preserving one’s “spheres ofinfluence”. All of us know that intolerant and extremistreligious ideologies are being exported out of certaincountries in Asia which are far from being democratic.Nevertheless, they are tolerated by those proclaimingto be defenders of freedom and democracy worldwide.This self-deception will prove costly to its practitionersand to the world at large.Worrisome developments in Nepal

Friends, I would like to make a brief comment onthe happenings in Nepal. My party and I stood firmly

by the side of the people of Nepal in their desire foreffective and fully empowered democracy. But we alsobacked their other aspiration, which was suppressedby the rise of Maoist forces in the politics of Nepal:namely, preservation of Nepal as a Hindu kingdom withconstitutional monarchy. Maoism and democracy are acontradiction in terms. The two cannot go together. Itis unfortunate that they have gained ascendancy in thepolity of Nepal.

This has grave implications not only for Nepal butalso for India, given the close nexus between Maoistson both sides of the border. The Prime Minister is rightin characterizing Communist extremism or Naxalism asthe biggest threat to India’s internal security. It is alsoa threat to our democracy. Why then has the UPAgovernment remained a silent onlooker, with communistsin India playing the role of a colluder, whenconstitutional monarchy was disbanded recently underthe pressure of Maoists? The monarchy in Nepal wasa symbol of its unique national identity and a source ofits stability.

Also, why did the Indian communists applaud when

The developments in Pakistan should prompt us torecognize a disturbing trend: The term ‘democracy’is being manipulated in international relationsdiscourse to suit the self-serving purpose ofpreserving one’s global domination and preservingone’s “spheres of influence”.

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the identity of Nepal as a Hindu kingdom was erasedeven before the Constituent Assembly had discussedit? Would they demand that Pakistan or Bangladeshcease to be Islamic Republics?

The examples of Israel-Palestine, Afghanistan andNepal raise two important questions: Should India andother countries in Asia get entrapped in the Western-sponsored normative discourse on Asia’s politicalevolution, or should we imbibe from our traditionalvalues and norms? The former path is likely to ensurethat we become the plaything of external powers seekingto shoot guns off our shoulders.

The second question is: Can Asia, or for that matter,the rest of the world, rest in peace if ideologies ofreligious extremism, exclusivism and global domination¯ and these ideologies neither respect democracy nortolerate secularism and plurality ̄ are allowed to growin our midst?

India’s proud record in defendingdemocracy

It is against this background that I wish to presenta few salient aspects of India’s democratic tradition andour approach to conflict-resolution. This tradition andapproach have been fundamentally influenced by Hinduphilosophy and cultural ethos. Hindu philosophy sincethe dawn of our civilization has been pluralistic in itsoutlook and teachings. As a result, India is inherentlya rare state in the international system, insofar as it isunwilling to impose a set of ideals and principles onother equally proud nations. Which is why, throughouther millennial history, India never sent out her armiesto conquer other lands and exterminate or coerce thenative populations or cultures.

It is because of this faith in pluralism and respectfor the other’s viewpoint that India, after independence,naturally accepted democracy and secularism. We didnot import these from the West. Ask yourselves asimple question: Why is it that there has never been amilitary coup in a vast and diverse country like India,where a large section of the population is poor and less-literate? Never a violent change of power? How didIndia succeed in having regular elections, which arefree and fair, and whose outcome has always been

accepted by all political parties?Yes, there was a brief eclipse of democracy during

the Emergency. But the people voted against theEmergency regime so angrily, that even a leader as tallas Indira Gandhi was defeated.Five tasks for strengthening India’s role inthe world

Friends, the challenge before us in India is: How dowe strengthen the voice and role of India in the affairsof Asia and the world? Let me identify five tasks:

The first task is to ensure the success of India’sown socio-political-economic story, which would inturn serve as a model for others to emulate.

Without comprehensive national succes s ¯material, political, technological, and social progress,combined with military might to defend ourselvesagainst any external threat ¯ the credibility/attractionof India’s soft power (that is, the repertoire of ancient

Indic knowledge, spiritual traditions, culturalheritage etc.) will remain perfunctory. In fact,derogatory western commentary toward Indiaand Hindus ¯ i.e. “Hindu rate of growth”,which, shockingly, some Indian intellectualsalso use ̄ stemmed from our poor performanceon the economic front, the inaction that stifledthe strengthening of our polity, and the

inefficient execution of our developmental objectives.The second task is to regain and rebuild pride in

our own national heritage ¯ spiritual, cultural,intellectual, scientific, technological and military.

Sadly, in the name of a distorted and pervertedunderstanding of secularism, a section of our politicaland intellectual elite is busy belittling, denying anddenigrating all that is Hindu. A nation that is not proudof its own past can never attain greatness, nor can itcommand respect in the eyes of the world.

Thirdly, India should further strengthen anomnidirectional foreign policy seeks to engage with allthe major centres of power.

The end of the Cold War brought with it the gradualdilution of a bloc-based system. The evolution of Indiandiplomacy since the 1990s has been a structuralresponse to such a world. The proliferation of ournumerous “strategic partnerships” that India has enteredinto in the past 15 years attests to the geopoliticaldiversity around us.

Fourthly, we have to vastly expand the size andstrength of our foreign service personnel; businessplatforms; media organizations and think tanks withglobal reach; personalities associated with cinema, arts,music and literature; academics; NGOs; and cultural

India’s current diplomatic infrastructure andresources ¯ in the political, economic, culturaland academic-intellectual fields ¯ are far tooinadequate for us to play an effective role eitherin Asia or around the world.

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and spiritual ambassadors. We should also leveragethe valuable resources of the approximately 20-millionIndian Diaspora worldwide.

India’s current diplomatic infrastructure andresources ¯ in the political, economic, cultural andacademic-intellectual fields ¯ are far too inadequatefor us to play an effective role either in Asia or aroundthe world. Lastly, India must intensify its efforts aimedat reform and restructuring of multilateral organizationsat the Asian and global levels, beginning with the UnitedNations. India’s current role in these organizations isfar from being commensurate with our present strengthand future potential. If India is seeking a permanentseat in the UN Security Council, it is not because of

some prestige value. Rather, it is out of our convictionthat any global system that does not fully recognize therole of an ancient and newly resurgent nation, onewhich is the world’s largest democracy and accountsfor one-fifth of humanity, is inherently flawed.

I believe that systematic, unsentimental pursuit ofall the above-mentioned five tasks will enable India toplay a benign/constructive role in promotion ofdemocracy and conflict-resolution in our own immediateneighbourhood, in wider Asia, and in the world at large.This is what we mean by our goal of working towardsIndia reclaiming her rightful place in the comity ofnations.

Thank you. n

B JP Spokesperson ShriPrakash Javadekar hasalleged that the revelation

before the Supreme Court in thematter of fugitive Quattrocchi is atestimony to the planned sabotageenacted by the CBI at behest ofCongress President Smt. SoniaGandhi.

In a statement Shri Javadekarsaid, CBI’s consistent failure hashelped Quattrocchi to get releaseand has enabled him to go back tohis country. First, CBI failed tosubmit documents required underArgentine Law. Second, it failed tosubmit even the court order of arrestdated 25th May 1997, which wasthe basis of India’s effort to get thefugitive extradited. Third, CBI failedto submit documents to Argentinecourt for securing extradition. Forth,it failed to submit to pertinent legalgrounds, which are necessary toproceed with extradition order. Fifth,most laughable is CBI’s excuse thatit could not get officially translatedcopy of the order of the Argentinecourt even after five months of SC’sorder. All these developments

confirm our position thatgovernment through CBI is involvedin operation “Save Quattrocchi”.

BJP recalls, Shri Javadekar said,that Quattrocchi was arrested inArgentine on 6th February 2007.This was not made public and evennot communicated to the SupremeCourt, which was hearing a PIL. Hisarrest was made public only after hewas granted bail on 23rd February2007. Government’s efforts after hisgetting bail was not for securing hisextradition but to ensure hisunconditional release fromArgentine, he alleged.

Shri Javadekar said the verdictof EL Dorado court on June 8, 2007goes for automatic appeal as perArgentine law. The Argentinecouncil is on record saying that shewas ready for appeal but was notallowed by Indian authorities toproceed. This lapse on part of CBIhelped Quattrocchi getting fullfreedom and leave Argentine.

BJP Spokesperson recalled thatearlier also, UPA governmentthrough CBI helped Quattrocchidefreeze his London bank accounts

BJP accuses CBI sabotaging Quattrocchi case at Sonia behest

NREGS helps only 3 percentFrom Our Correspondent

and withdraw Rs. 22 crores. Thiswas done with the help of curiousremark by director prosecution thatthere is no prima facie case againstQuattrocchi and taking shelterbehind a questionable judgment,which should have been challenged.Thus, it’s a clear misuse of CBI forhelping the Bofors accused. BJPasks the grounds for specialtreatment to Quattrocchi other thanhim being a family friend of the firstfamily of the Congress.NREGS hoax

BJP has said that the firstperformance audit of ambitiousNREGS by CAG is a testimony to UPAgovernment’s failure in implementingthe scheme where only 3% of eligiblepeople get benefit, where jobs areprovided for only 18 days insteadof 100 as promised, where the familyreceives only Rs. 1500/- instead ofRs. 8,000/- as envisaged, where laboursdon’t get money on time and at thestipulated NREGS rates. BJPdemands total revamping of thescheme with transparent guidelinesand comprehensive monitoring putin place.n

20

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 20

The Kandhamal violence thattook place in Orissa washighly discussed by the so-

called 24x7 secular media, who havean inbuilt prejudice against thenationalist forces. As always, theydidn’t waste a moment beforeattributing the incident and its causeto the nationalist activists. Unawareof the ground realities prevailing inKandhamal they targetted theactivists belonging to the Sanghparivar and attributed motives onthe Naveen Patnaik led BJD- BJPstate government, all for publicconsumption in spite of the fact thatthe state government had taken allthe steps and directed the districtadministration to ensure restorationof normalcy and peace in that districtand immediately ordered a judicialprobe into Kandhamal violence, inwhich both Hindus and Christianssuffered to some extent.

When the Union Home MinisterShri Shivraj Patil visited Kandhamalhe deliberately skipped the affectedHindu villages and ignored thequestions relating to massiveconversion by missionaries, theforeign money involved inconversion and role of Maoists andNGO links with the violence. Thepsudo-secularism of Congress onceagain got exposed and it playedpolitics on the wounds ofKandhamal masses. They have nottried to go into the root cause ofthis violence, deliberately and witha design.

Communal tension inKandhamal district had nothing to

do with Christmas celebrations. Aconversion convention wasorganized by the missionaries and itwas opposed by the local people.Ignoring the warnings, missionariesand their supporters erected boardsand arches in front of Hindu houses.This incident fired the alreadyfuming communal clashes in thatarea. People removed boards andbanners in front of their houses andprotested to the people who erected

it. This action of the tribal Hindusinfuriated the Christians and first ofall the Christians attacked Hindusand stoned their houses. Then thewhole series of incidents startedfrom unprovoked and preplannedattack on Swami LaxmananandaSaraswati who was visiting hisdisciples in Darsingbadi village inKandhmal District on December 24.

The 82 year old Swamiji hasbeen working relentlessly in the

Kandhamal Violence in Orissa

Pseudo-Seculars deliberately

trying to shun factsBy Rama Prasada Tripathy

Tribal Delegation met the

President of IndiaA four-member delegation representing the Kandhmal (Orissa) tribals

and other Hindus affected by the recent Kandhamal violence met HerExcellency the President of India and submitted a Memorandum thatdemanded that –wwwww Government of India should check foreign funding to the NGOs and

Church establishments and frame laws to scrutinize the activities ofthese organizations;

wwwww Duly check and audit their income and expenditure profiles and seizeand confiscate their accounts wherever those may be in existence;

wwwww To protect all the rights and facilities provided to the SCs (ScheduledCastes) and STs (Scheduled Tribes) and to prevent others (non-SCs& non-STs including convertees) from taking away those facilities byfraud;

wwwww ‘Propagation of Religion’ does not mean the ‘right to convert’.Therefore, all conversion activities, that undermine the holisticindigenous culture and religious traditions and work against the unityof the people by breeding disaffection amongst them and threaten theintegrity of the country, must be banned;

wwwww To arrest, prosecute and punish those offenders and their accompliceswho murdered an innocent person and made an attempt on the life ofHH Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and torched the houses of Hindus.

wwwww Let a Central Law be made to prohibit conversions by force, allurementand fraudulent means presently going on in Bharat.

wwwww Restrain those that converted to Christianity from being declared asST.

21

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 21

district since 1967 to protect the localpopulation, where more than half ofthe total population are belowpoverty line and illiterate. He hasopened schools and hostels,hospitals and temples to protectmainly the tribals and the down-trodden from the clutches ofmissionaries and Maoists, who areoperating with massive funds fromforeign countries pumped into NGOsin disguised operations to convertthe local tribals to Christianity.Activists and henchmen of onesuch NGO ‘World Vision’ areallegedly the assailants whoattacked Swamiji on December 24and killed a Hindu who tried toprotect Swami LaxmananandaSaraswati.

On hearing the news of assaulton Swamiji, the already agitatedHindu (Kui) community reacted andprotested throughout the district.Interestingly, the Maoist (Naxalites)activists in the district are alsomostly from among the recentconverts to Christianity.From the 47 Maoists arrested inconnection with recent burning ofvillages inhabited by Hindus(Brahmanigaon, Jhinjiriguda,Katingia, and Godapur), about 20guns have been recovered by thesecurity forces. It is evident that theMaoists and the Church are handsin glove to spread fratricidal killingsand clashes among the tribals, whichis also evident from incidents inKarbi-Anglong and North CacharHills districts in Assam. Conversionsof poor tribal villagers are beingconducted at gunpoint and byspreading terrorism.

Taking advantage of thepoverty and lack of education,thousands of converts are beingtrained for separatist movements inNagaland and Maoist insurgency.This trend is more distinct since 1970,which is evident from the census

report till 2001.In Kandhamal Districtalone the Christian population hasincreased from 6 percent in 1970 to27 percent in 2001, despite an Actenacted by Orissa Legislature in 1967to prevent conversion. Swamiji hasbeen fighting a lone battle by makingthe tribal district his home for last 40years, and he is targeted by theChurch. Earlier, there were two otherlethal attacks on Swamiji in 1971 and1995.

Natives said, that peace reignedin this place 20 years back, but theday the Christian Missionariesstepped in, tension has surfaced.Actually numerous churches wereset fire by the Christians themselvesin collaboration with the Maoists toget more media coverage. Fed bythe Bishop Houses of Bhubaneswarand Bishop Council of New Delhi,media the world around is projectingas if all the Christians are attackedby Hindus. They also added thatthese Missionaries have only oneaim to convert by starting schoolsand hospitals in the area and this iswhere the bargaining starts.

The Orissa State government’sclarification regarding the

involvement of Maoists and thehome secretary’s statementregarding the Kandhamal violencehas attested to the facts and doubtsof the natives.

Home Secretary Shri T K Mishrahas spoken of the role of Maoists inthe communal and ethnic violencein the Kandhamal district. He said,“ the Maoists had a hand in theviolence of Kandhamal district,where nearly 800 houses of both thecommunities were set ablaze andthree police stations attacked”. Headded that the attack on a policestation at Brahmanigaon village wasa Maoist attack .The police hadevidence that ‘’the attack onBrahaminigaon police station onDecember 27, was carried outstrategically, which was not possibleby villagers. Trained hands could bebehind the attack. He said theinvolvement of Maoists in the attackwas confirmed after the recovery of12 unlicensed guns from the villageand secondly, the violence affectedBrahaminigaon village was close toGajapati district’s Maoist affectedAdaba area.”

The innocent victims and

BJP for strict enforcement

of anti- conversion lawThe BJP national vice-president Shri Jual Oram who led a party

delegation to the riot-hit areas of Kandhmal district said that the recentriots in Kandhmal district were caused by conversion and conspiracyby foreign funded NGOs. He said, as a political party we are not fullysatisfied with the manner in which the anti-conversion law has beenimplemented in Orissa. The Freedom of Religion Act must be enforcedstrictly and action should be taken against its violators. He also allegedthat due to constant violation of the State's Freedom of Religion Act,Hindus had become a minority in Kandhmal, at least in Daringbadi blockof the district. Answering a query regarding the siphoning of foreignfunds received by NGOs to Naxalite elements, Shri Oram demanded thatthe matter should be probed and activities of these organizations shouldbe monitored.

22

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 22

natives further added that we triedour best to communicate the realstories to expose the activities of theanti-nationals to all our visitors. Butneither the so-called secular medianor the secular central governmenthave given an ear to them.

A question is agitating theminds of the people: From wherethe local Christians are getting fundsto construct huge churches (around900 within a decade in Kandhamaldistrict alone)? Do the Income TaxD e p a r t m e n t / E n f o r c e m e n tDirectorate have any idea as to howmuch money is pouring in and fromwhat sources and who is receivingthem? Why are foreign Missionariesinterested in Orissa? How manyforeign missionaries are functioningapart from the locals? Are theyspying in the guise of social work?Or, was the violence generated bythe local Missionaries to extort morefunds by creating a sympathy wavein the name of riots?

It is pertinent to recall a news-item published, in local media titled“NGO’s funds go to Maoists” sometime back. It was reported that thepolice administration of WesternOrissa warned the state governmentto ban the NGOs working in the tribalareas because, they alleged, theNGO funds directly go to theMaoists. If this is to be believed,the alliance between Maoists andChristians and participation ofMaoists in the Kandhamal violencebecomes clear. Again, on December31, the Maoists and Christians intwo different press releases havedemanded the arrest of SwamiLaxmanananda Saraswati and banon VHP and Bajrang Dal. This clearlysubstantiates the alreadyestablished fact that they areworking hand in hand.

Therefore, some of the nativesdemanded in suppressed voice thatthe recent Kandhamal violence is

an eye opening incident and hasramifications in socio-economic,political and cultural tribal issuesand the deep-rooted conspiracy bythe missionaries and the Church todestabilize the innocent tribalsociety and our economy. Withoutsupporting blindly the foreignmissionaries it is incumbent upon

the central government and 24x7channels to open their eyes and earstowards the nexus between the anti-nationals, the missionaries and theiractivities in this part of India. It isthe duty of both the State and theCentral government to protect thetribal people against foreignpressure.

Gujarat Chief Minister ShriNarendra Modi on January8 hogged the limelight at

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.Shri Modi took up the cause of

Indian cricketers and called forprotecting the country’s self-esteem.He called upon the nation to standby Non-ResidentIndians (NRIs) orthe People of IndianOrigin (PIO) in theirhours of trial andtribulations.

Slamming theban on off-spinnerShri HarbhajanSingh for threeTests for his alleged racial remarksagainst Andrew Symonds, ShriModi said: “The country’s self-respect must be protected. It is notjust the question of one cricketerbut of the whole country.”

He was more forthright andforceful and stole the limelight fromPrime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singhby making a much more powerfulplea for India’s intervention inhelping the NRIs in cases of

harassment.Shri Modi said, “Our Embassies

are doing very well. When NRIs arein distress, the country shouldexpress solidarity with them.”

Mediapersons mobbed ShriModi after the Prime Ministerconcluded his address. Sporting a

black suit and lookinglike an MNC executive,Shri Modi turned thecentre of attraction.When he moved to theExhibition Pavilion, thecrowd comprisingmediapersons and NRIdelegates followedhim.

Shri Modi inaugurated theGujarat Pavilion there. Later, othersrequested him to have a look at theirexhibits as well. Modi did notdisappoint them. He had a round ofthe pavilion.

“Gujarat has done a lot of workin social and infrastructure sectors.Besides Gujarat’s image as anindustrial State, the Government hasimplemented social welfare schemestargeting poor,” Shri Modi said. n

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

Narendra Modi hogs

the limelightFrom Our Correspondent

23

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 23

B JP National PresidentRajnath Singh hasreiterated the Party's

commitment to give 33 percentreservation to women in Statelegislatures and Parliament. If theUPA government came out with aBill to this effect in Parliament, BJPwill support it, hedeclared.

Addressinga two-day meetof the BJP MahilaMorcha at NewDelhi, ShriRajnath Singhasked thedelegates toremain firm ontheir demand.

B J PPresident saidthat a proposalhe made a few months ago to giveone-third of all party positions towomen will be approved at the BJPnational council session beginningon January 28.

The entire list of office-bearersand national executive councilmembers, and lists of office-bearersof the various party wings at thecentral and state levels would berevised after the session, to givewomen one-third of all positions, headded.

BJP has renewed its demandthat a new legislation should bebrought in to force all politicalparties to earmark 33 per cent seatsfor women.

Earlier, addressing the meeting

Deputy Leader of BJP ParliamentaryParty in Rajya Sabha, Smt. Swarajdemanded that a legislation makingit mandatory for parties to allocate33 per cent seats for women shouldbe brought in the Budget session ofParliament so that "2009 electionscan be held on the basis of

reservation." The constituents ofNDA are in favour of such alegislation, while the allies of theruling UPA have also indicated theirsupport, she said.

With no consensus in sight onthe Women's Reservation Bill, Smt.Sushma Swaraj said, "We cannot

BJP firm on Women Reservation

Bill : Rajnath SinghFrom Our Correspondent

just sit and wait and break our headson the issue, on which there was nounanimity even in the Cabinet."Opposition by certain politicalparties had so far thwarted all NDAattempts in the past to getParliament's approval on the Bill.UPA despite declaration to standby the Bill has failed to work out aconsensus on the Bill.

Smt. Swaraj said: "The proposalmooted by the Election Commissionmaking it mandatory for politicalparties to earmark 33 per cent seatsfor women was possible, easy anddoable."

This proposal will end thedebate of quota within quota as itwas upto the parties to decide ontheir nominees and will also address

the fears ofcertain politicalparties onrotation of seats,she said. The BJPhas decided tosupport theE l e c t i o nCommiss ion 'sproposal, aspossibility of aconsensus onW o m e n ' sReservation Bill

ahead of next year's Lok Sabhaelection was nowhere in sight, sheadded.

Since the Delimitation exercisehas already been completed, anyproposal to increase the total numberof seats will amount to starting itafresh, she said. n

Mahila Morcha National Executive Meet

24

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 24

Himachal Chief Minister Prof.Prem Kumar Dhumal hasinducted nine Ministers

into his Cabinet. State Governor ShriV.S. Kokje administered the oath ofoffice and secrecy to the Ministersat a simple ceremony at the RajBhavan at Shimla.

Those administered the oath ofoffice and secrecy included formerSpeaker Shri Gulab Singh(Jogindernagar), Shri I.D. Dhiman(Mewa), Shri J.P. Nadda (Bilaspur),Shri Ravinder Ravi (Thural), ShriKishan Kapoor (Dharamsala), ShriNarender Bragta (Jubbal-Kotkhai),Shri Ramesh Dhawala (Jwalamukhi),Dr. Rajeev Bindal(Solan) and Smt.S a r v e e nC h a u d h a r y(Shahpur). All nineof them are in theCabinet-rank.

IAmidst adownpour BJPsupporters from all over the State

9 Ministers inducted in Himachal CabinetTulsi Ram Speaker, Khimi Ram Dy. Speaker

From Our Correspondent

made a beeline to RajBhawan which wasresonating withslogans of “Jai ShriRam”, as theministers took oath.

Barring ShriRajeev Bindal, allother eightministers had beenministers or chiefp a r l i a m e n t a r ysecretaries (CPS) inthe previousDhumal regime.Portfoliosallocated

Prof. Prem

T e c h n o l o g i e s ,Parliamentary Affairs.

Shri RavinderSingh Ravi, Irrigation& Public HealthMinister: Irrigation &Public Health.

Shri KishanKapoor, Transport Minister:Transport, Town & CountryPlanning, Housing.

Shri Narender Bragta,Horticulture Minister: Horticulture,Technical Education, Vocational &Industrial Training.

Shri Ramesh Dhawala, Food,Civil Supplies & Consumers AffairsMinister Food, Civil Supplies &Consumers, Labour & Employment.

Dr. Rajeev Bindal, Health &Family Welfare Minister:Health &Family Welfare, Ayurveda.

Smt. Sarveen Chaudhari, SocialJustice & EmpowermentDepartment. Minister: Social Justice& Empowerment. n

In its first session at Dharmsala, the HP VidhanSabha unanimously elected Shri Tulsi Ram(Pangi-Bharmaur tribal constituency) as the

Speaker and Shri Khimi Ram (Banjar in Kulludistrict) as the Deputy Speaker.

Despite bad weather BJP supporters throng

Raj Bhawan for the swearing-in ceremony.

Governor V.S. Kokje administers the oath of office

and secrecy to (from top left) Gulab Singh, I.D.

Dhiman, J.P. Nadda, Ravinder Ravi, Kishan Kapoor,

Narender Bragta, Ramesh Dhawala, Rajeev Bindal

and Shraveen Chaudhary at Raj Bhawan in Shimla

Kumar Dhumal Chief Minister hasretained the portfolios ofHome, Finance, Power, andother Departments notallocated to any otherMinister.

The ;portfolios ofothers Ministers are:

Thakur Gulab Singh,Public Works Minister:Public Works and Revenue.

Shri Ishwar DassDhiman, EducationMinister: Higher Education& Elementary Education.

Shri J.P.Nadda, ForestMinister: Forest,Environment & Scientific

Himachal

25

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 25

Congress may be one. UPAmay claim to be a single,united affiliation. But in

practice it is not.On the single question: Should

minorities be accorded reservationof seats in educational institutionsand government jobs? Two Centralministers, Union Home Minister ShriShivraj Patil and Union HumanResource Development MinisterShri Arjun Singh spoke at varianceon the issue on January 16 atseparate for a though both werediscussing issues concerningminorities.

In the morning Shri Patilspeaking at the meeting of theState Minorities Commissionscalled by the NationalCommission for Minorities inDelhi, Shri Patil said that that therehas been a demand from minoritiesfor reservation in educationalinstitutions, “The question is” ShriPatil said, “can it be done? We haveto apply our minds and find out howit can be done in the best possiblemanner.” Not ruling out reservationfor minorities, he said, “What canbe done should be done and wecannot say it cannot be done.”Moreover, the Home Minister saidthe government is looking into theseaspects without coming to the finalconclusion yet.

Shri Arjun Singh when askedabout reservation for minorities afterthe meeting of the NationalMonitoring Committee on MinorityEducation said the Centre has nottaken any decision on reservationfor minorities. Stating that he didnot know in what context Shri Patil

had made the remarks, but whenasked if minorities would be givenreservation in educationalinstitutions Shri Singh said therewas no such proposal. ***States’ Reorganisation

The story is no different as faras the constitution of the 2nd StateReorganisation Commission (SRC)is concerned. Doublespeakcontinues to rule on this issue too.

It was the UPA and theCongress themselves who floatedthe idea of constituting this

Commission to mark time till the LokSabha elections to concede thedemands for creation of new Statesof Vidarbha out of Maharashtra,Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh,and trifurcation of the present UttarPradesh.

It was on January 14 that theCongress said it had “absolutely noobjection” for such a Commission.Congress spokesperson ShriAbhishek Singhvi said, “The issueof setting up of an SRC or creationof new states are matters for thegovernment to decide. In the eventthat government believes thatcreation of some new states is valid,then Congress party will absolutelyhave no objection.” He said that anexpert body like the SRC would helplook into the issues of creation ofnew states in a proper manner.

Uttar Pradesh Congress has

come out with demand for carvingout a separate “Bundelkhand” statefrom UP with state party Chief Smt.Rita Bahuguna Joshi saying that herparty was not against smaller states.

The UPA has set up a sub-committee headed by senior leaderPranab Mukherjee to go into theissue of smaller states.

But just after two days onJanuary 16 the UPA governmentquietly buried its plans to set up asecond States ReorganisationCommission to consider demands

for separate states –Vidarbha, Telangana,Bundelkhand, Harit Pradesh,Poorvanchal and so on.

This is sharp contrast towhat Shri Veerappa Moily,senior Congress leader and

chairperson of the AdministrativeReforms Commission, toldmediapersons in Hyderabad a weekearlier. He said the government hadtaken a decision on the second StateReorganisation Commission and “itwill be set up any time now”.

Congress general secretary andAmethi MP Rahul Gandhi, too, hadendorsed the demand for aBundelkhand State by dividing UttarPradesh. He argued that big stateslike UP were too unwieldy and hencehindered development.

However, sensing trouble fromopponents of the second SRC andfearing that the move may open aPandora’s Box, the same Congressspokesperson Shri AbhishekSinghvi on January 16 said “there isno proposal before the governmentto set up the second StatesReorganisation Commission”.

Contradictory voices from Congress-UPAOn Minority reservation and State reorganization

From Our Correspondent

Congress may be one. UPA mayclaim to be a single, united

affiliation. But in practice it is not.

26

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 26

Delhiites feel the heat ofsoaring prices of essentialcommodities in the chilly

weatherThe inevitable rise in the prices

of petrol, diesel, and LPG over thenext couple of weeks is sendingshivers down the spine ofconsumers who are alreadystruggling with steep rise in theprices of essential commodities.

The price rise has forcedKrishna Kant Sharma, a resident ofR K Ashram Marg in Gole Marketand a government servant, to curtailhis spending and expenses. Thefood items are the most affected lot.

But, Sharma has lost his peaceof mind as he is finding it difficult toneutralise the effect of the price riseand regulate his budget. With afamily of four to support, he findshis monthly income of Rs 10,000 toolittle to support the basic needs ofhis family.Worried salaried people

“You cannot curtail your dailyneeds beyond a certain point. Isimply cut my expenses on fooditems, as I cannot compromise withthe education of my two children.

I spend Rs 2,500 every monthon the educational needs of mychildren. But, it seems that with thepresent salary, it has becomedifficult for me to provide anutritious food to my family,” Sharmasaid. .

“Six months ago, I used to buypulses between Rs 30-35 per Kg,but now it’s not available below Rs55 per Kg. I have to choose the

cheapest quality of pulses,” saysSharma.

“I have reduced theconsumption of milk to one third;from three litres a day to just onelitre,” adds Sharma, affirming thesteep rise in price of milk.Milk prices have risen

Another consumer, VirendraThakur, who lives in Seva Nagar,said, the milk, which used to cost Rs17 per kg is now available at Rs 20per kg and that of Rs19 per kg is nowcosts Rs 24 per kg.

Not only milkand pulses, but theprices of otherhousehold articlessuch as tea, sugar,mustard oil, paneer,ghee, and spiceshave also gone up,said Thakur paintinga miserable life of asalaried man underthe present price scenario.

In a survey to assess theincrease in prices of essentialcommodities, it was found that theprices of both - wheat and rice -have also increased sharply.

The rice that was available inthe range of Rs 26-28 per kg threemonths ago now costs Rs 45 per kg,while the price of wheat flour hasshot up from Rs 125 to Rs 150 for a10 kg bag.

“The mustard oil was availablefor Rs 59 a litre, now it costs Rs 85per litre. The prices of the variousspices have burgeoned in a very

short span of time, such as jeerafrom Rs 120 to Rs 180 per kg, blackpepper from Rs 160 to Rs 220 per kg,coriander from Rs 38 to Rs 62 per kg,red chilli from Rs 40-45 to Rs 80-90per kg, big cardamom from Rs 190 toRs 230 per kg and turmeric from Rs60 to Rs 90 per kg,” said AshokGogia, a retailer.

Sharma and Thakur buy mostof their items of daily need fromKendriya Bhandar and MotherDairy’s outlet, where the goods arecomparatively cheaper.

However, for most of theDelhiites, articles of daily need aregetting costlier. “The prices ofcommodities vary from area to area.In posh localities the prices of thesame items are higher than those in

areas inhabited by middle or lowermiddle income groups,” saidNamrata, an office-goer, who hasknowledge of the difference in pricesin two localities - Vaishali (herresidence) and South extension (heroffice). Green vegetables are alsomissing out of the menu of manyDelhiites with the luxury of desi gheebeing done away with now.

The price of ghee has increasedfrom Rs 160 per kg to Rs 200 per kgat Mother Dairy outlets. The 200 gmpacket of paneer now costs Rs 30,which used to be Rs 22 few monthsago. n

Aam Aadmi feeling the

pinch of rising pricesA special report by Amit Kumar

27

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 27

JHARKHAND

Yashwant Sinha’s Rathyatra

against kushasanOn January 17 former Union Minister and senior

BJP leader Shri Yashwant Sinha launched upon a three-day Yatra against kushasan (bad governance) of theMadhu Koda government in Jharkhand. Starting fromDeoghar and Basukinath in Santhal Pargana, on theday one, it covered around 100 km. In the eveningaddressing a huge public meeting at Dumka, Shri Sinhaclaimed that the Rathyatra comprised thousands of

small vehicles and it gottremendous support fromthe masses against(kushasan) of theincumbent government inthe State.

At Dhanbad, ShriSinha challenged the Congress to take a final stand onits support to the Jharkhand government, as the latter’sultimatum to Chief Minister Madhu Koda was only‘creating anarchy in the State’. Talking to the mediapersons there, Shri Yashwant Sinha said that sinceNovember 15 last when the Congress, offering outsidesupport to the Koda government, had given a 60-daydeadline, to ‘set things right’ or face the music. Sincethe Congress served an ultimatum to Madhu Kodagovernment, functioning of the State machinery hadbeen paralysed with the ‘Chief Minister busy savinghis chair and bureaucrats face a dilemma’.

He said “Jharkhand, its government has beenrunning on support of other parties, resulting in thelack of momentum in development work and withoutabsolute majority, overall development of the Statecannot be possible,”

Shri Sinha added that “Corruption has increasedmany folds in the State during this period anddevelopment work has stopped. So, if Congress is goingto withdraw support from the State government, thenthere is no point holding bye-poll for Simeria assemblyseat, scheduled for next month.”

Shri Sinha said the BJP would make developmentand gaining absolute majority the main poll issues inthe next assembly election.

The three-day Yatra against kushasan touchedalmost every nook and corner of the State and receivedenormous support from across the every section ofsociety.

RAJASTHAN

Plan outlay is Rs 14,000 cr.The plan size for Rajasthan for the coming fiscal

year has been fixed Rs 14,000 crores. It was finalised ina meeting between State Chief Minister, Smt.Vasundhara Raje and Deputy Chairman of PlanningCommission, Shri Montek Singh Aluwalia, on January15 at New Delhi.

The annual plan comprises of gross budgetarysupport of Rs 8,767 crores and Rs 5,233 crores of internaland extra budgetary resources. The State share forCentral assistance is Rs 1,850 crores of which untiedgrant is Rs 428 crores and one time grant of Rs 100crores, an official press release said.

Rajasthan’s annual plan for 2008-09 is 19.5 per centhigher than the previous fiscal one. Major allocationsare for Power sector Rs 6,188 crores, Rural DevelopmentRs 1,116 crores, Education Rs 743 crores, Medical andHealth Rs 350 crores, Water supply Rs 1,001 crores,Urban Development Rs 1,092 crores, the release said.

Among the programmes benefitting weakersections, Tribal Sub-plan has been proposed at Rs 472crores, while the allocations for irrigation has beenproposed at Rs 472 crores.

The allocation for irrigation has been proposed asRs 1,083 crores which includes Rs 97 crores for commandarea development. Among the infrastructure sectors,PWD has been allocated Rs 590.44 crores, the releaseadded. (PTI)

CHANDIGARH

Satyapal Jain elected Law

Faculty DeanNational Convener of BJP Legal

Cell, Shri Satya Pal Jain Ex-BJP MPfrom Chandigarh and incharge Partyaffairs in Himachal Pradesh hasbeen unanimously elected as theDean of faculty of Law of PunjabUniversity Chandigarh.

In the past, prominent personslike Dr. Gurdial Singh Dhillon, formerSpeaker of Lok Sabha, Shri Jagan Nath Kaushal, formerLaw Minister and former Chief Justice Mr. Justice D. K.Mahajan, have been occupying this highly prestigiousacademic position.

State Reports : From our Correspondents

28

February 1-15, 2008 m m m m m 28

ANDHRA PRADESH

BJP asks PM to bring Bill

to create TelanganaAndhra Pradesh State BJP has on January 19

appealed to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh tobring in a Bill for formation of separate Telangana State.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, State BJP presidentand former Union Minister Shri B Dattatreya said thesenior Congress leader Shri Veerappa Moily’s earlierstatement that the Centre was considering constitutionof a fresh States’ Reorganisation Commission (SRC),has ‘shocked and pained’ the people of Telanganaregion who want separate State to be carved out fromAndhra.

Shri Dattatreya said Shri Moily’s statement cameat a time when the people of Telangana were expectinga categorical announcement from the UPA governmenton Telangana as promised in the election manifesto.

Pointing out that Telangana issue was included inthe UPA’s common minimum programme and also inthe first Presidential address to the Parliament, the BJPleader said in the present situation the only option leftfor formation of Telangana was to bring a Bill inParliament.

Assuring BJP’s support for such legislation, hesought its introduction in the coming session of theParliament. (PTI)

KERALA

BJP State Executive Committee Meeting

Rajnath Singh inspires workers

for better success in KeralaWith morale of the BJP workers high because of

recent victories in the two prestigious assemblyelections in the States of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh,BJP is gearing up for next year’s Lok Sabha election.

BJP National President, Shri Rajnath Singh, rushedto Kochi from a hectic 500-km ‘Kisan yatra’ in theVidarbha region of Maharashtra to address the meetingof the State Executive Meeting of the Kerala State unitthere. He has called upon the State unit to make a no-holds-barred effort to secure a couple of Lok Sabhaseats from Kerala to add to the party’s national tally. Heurged the State leaders to focus on a couple of winnableconstituencies. His addressed marked as an informal

election campaign kick-off.Shri Singh said that manpower and other resources

should be concentrated in these constituencies andalliance strategies should be worked out in such a waythat the party would have at least one Kerala MP in theLok Sabha.

The State leadership has, accordingly, decided topay more attention in Kasaragod andThiruvananthapuram parliamentary constituencieswhere the BJP traditionally has a strong following.

At the State Council meeting, BJP State PresidentShri P.K. Krishnadas spoke at length on the ‘Gujaratmodel’ and said wishfully how much he would love tosee ‘that kind of development’ in Kerala.

In the run-up to the elections, the thousands ofbooth committees and the different ‘morchas’ of theparty would be asked to get deeply involved in localissues such as water scarcity and roads and to raisepeople’s problems at the grassroots level.

KARNATAKA

Election Commission scraps

electoral rolls 33.48 entries deleted

With the elections to Karnataka Assembly due tobe held by May 2008, the Election Commission onJanuary 10 decided to scrap draft electoral rolls in theState and ordered a fresh revision after deleting 33.48lakh entries.

“We are concerned that a large number ofadditions have taken place. No deletions. In someplaces no deletion at all. Karnataka does not want topronounce anybody dead,” Chief ElectionCommissioner Shri N. Gopalaswami told a pressconference at Bangalore.

Shri Gopalaswamy said, a fresh revision of the listwould be undertaken to clean up the rolls and its draftpublished on February 7. A list of deleted and addedentries would be given to political parties. The finalelectoral rolls would be published on March 10, headded.

Asked when Assembly elections would be heldin Karnataka, which is under President’s Rule fromNovember 29, 2007, Shri Gopalaswami said, the EC isrequired to hold it before May 28. “I don’t know(when elections will be held). The last date (forelections) is May 28,” he added. The Commissionhas taken serious note of the “major discrepancies”in the rolls, he said.

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GOA

Jamir playing Nagaland politics

at Goa’s expense : ParrikarBJP has protested against Goa Governor Shri S.C.

Jamir accusing him of “indulging in Nagaland politicsat the expense of the state exchequer”.

As the session began on January 10 and theGovernor stood up to address the House, BJPlegislators, led by Leader of Opposition Shri ManoharParrikar displayed placards saying Shri Jamir, a formerNagaland Chief Minister, was the “most expensiveGovernor”.

“He (Jamir) spends around Rs 3 crore annually juston his visits to Delhi and Nagaland. He is using Goagovernment’s money to play politics in Nagaland,”said Shri Parrikar after the BJP MLAs staged a walkout.He alleged that the Governor visits Delhi almost everytwo weeks and the Northeastern State every month. Headded: “The Governor would not require such a hugesecurity, if he stops indulging in Nagaland politics.”

Earlier, Shri Parrikar brought to the notice of theHouse that the motion of thanks on the Governor’saddress last year had not been passed by the Assembly.In such a scenario, there was no point in making anotheraddress, he argued.

J&K

Minister demands separate currency

BJP demands his dismissalBJP has said that the demand of the J&K Finance

Minister Tariq Hameed Karra for a separate currencyfor the State is fraught with a separatist insinuation anddeserves an outright condemnation.

In a statement, BJP National Spokesperson ShriRajiv Pratap Rudy said, in the garb of autonomyMinister’s statement spews separatism and such ademand by senior Minister does not absolve theCongress leadership in the state or the Chief MinisterGhulam Nabi Azad who is heading a coalitiongovernment in Kashmir . The failure to sack the Ministerso far amply proves this point, he added.

Shri Rudy said the deafening silence maintainedby the top brass of the Congress party in general andPrime Minister and Smt. Sonia Gandhi in particular onan issue which has major ramification on country’s

sovereignty is appalling. It is shocking that with an eyeon the impending elections in the State and the greedto hold on to power even at the cost of country’ssovereignty, the Congress has chosen to ignore thebizarre and divisive statement, he added.

“While states and Nations across the globe areworking towards integration and adopting a commoncurrency as witnessed in the European Union, here isa State of the Federal India which is asking for a separatecurrency”, Shri Rudy said. The demand is the totalnegation of the Constitution, he said

Shri Rudy pointed out that Dr. Shyama PrasadMukherjee had sacrificed himself opposing “twoConstitutions, two Flags and two PMs” in the country.

BJP Spokesperson demanded that the PrimeMinister and the Congress must come out categoricalon such a fundamentalist and divisive remark especiallyin a border sensitive state of Kashmir. The errant Ministeris unfit to be in the government and should be sacked,he demanded.

DELHI

BJP to launch agitationIf demolition & sealingoperations not stopped

Delhi State Bharatiya Janata Party has threatenedto launch a “jail bharo” agitation if the Delhi Governmentand the Centre fail to stop demolition and sealingoperations in the Capital.

Addressing a dharna at Jantar Mantar, Delhi BJPPresident Dr. Harsh Vardhan said the people of Delhiwere suffering because of infighting between the StateGovernment and the Centre. “Neither sealing anddemolition are being stopped, nor are unauthorisedcolonies being regularised by the Government. Also,the Central and the State governments are not pleading88888

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88888 the cases in the court properly,” said Dr. Vardhan.The BJP leader alleged that the two governments wanted to drive out a large number of people from Delhi.

He also accused them of being hand in glove with the land mafia.With an eye on Delhi Assembly elections, Dr. Vardhan said, the State Government was misleading the

people by announcing construction of five mega-cities and four lakh houses for the poor while the city wasfaced with scarcity of water and power. Deputy Leader of BJP Parliamentary Party in Lok Sabha, Prof. VijayKumar Malhotra that the people of Delhi were being deprived of basic amenities in the Capital by the presentState government. He expressed apprehension about failure of law and order in the National Capital.

BJP National Secretary Shri Vijay Goel said both the Central and Delhi governments had proved to be acomplete failure in meeting the genuine demands of the people of Delhi.

The well-known human rightsorganisation AmnestyInternational has come out

with a shocking revelation in itsreport released on January 15 afterits delegation visited the area thatalthough violence in Nandigram waslikely to intensify in October 2007,yet the only remaining police postedat Nandigram were withdrawnwithout any reasons being given.

Quoting Shri Satya PrakashPanda, District Superintendent ofPolice, the report says that thedelegation was told that the orderto withdraw the remaining policecame from his superiors in Kolkataand that it took almost two weeks todeploy CRPF personnel after theState police force pull-out.

For 14 days, according to thereport, the people of Nandigramwere left at the mercy of the CPI (M)and the Bhumi Ucched PratirodhCommittee (BUPC). However, onNovember 13, the Chief Minister ofWest Bengal, Shri BuddhadebBhattacharjee alleged that it was theUnion Government, which hadcaused the delay. The entire districtwitnessed armed confrontations

between the CPI (M) and BUPC.According to the report, during

the bloodshed, women were morevulnerable. Several were threatened,raped, beaten up and harassed.“This is a serious issue. During suchincidents women are targetted andsexually abused in our country. InWest Bengal, those women weretargetted who were either leaders oractivists. “They told us that theywere harassed as we were leader orour husbands were leaders. I havemet several women who have giventhe names and details ofperpetrators to the authorities butnothing happened,” says VrindaGrover, a lawyer, activist and memberof the delegation of AmnestyInternational that visited Nandigramafter the November violence.

“The threats have not endedtill now, rapists are roaming freely,abusing women and they are alsothreatening more sexual assaults inthe future. Violence in Nandigramwas used as a weapon againstwomen. A number of local residentsinformed the delegation that theoffenders were operating withimpunity, taunting the people,

forcing them to shout in supportsof CPI(M) or attend its meeting”,she added. Relatives orsympathisers of BUPC too lost theirlives or were subjected to abuse andbrutality, especially the women, thereport discloses. “Accounts of bothofficials and villagers relating toviolence against women agreed thatvictims were either relatives orsympathisers of BHPC and namedthe perpetrators as groups of armedsupporters of the CPI (M)”.

The report also urges the StateGovernment to ensure that allincidents of human rights abusessince early 2007 are thoroughlyinvestigated and the culprits,whether or not they are officials andregardless of their politicalaffiliation, are brought promptly tojustice. “Victims continued to suffer.People who have abused andattacked or took up the violenceneither arrested nor booked. Thishighlights the great sense ofinsecurity. The State Governmentmust establish an independent andimpartial inquiry”, said Shri MukulSharma, Director, AmnestyInternational India. n

West Bengal : Nandigram carnage

Amnesty report indicts

CPM GovernmentFrom Our Correspondent