Aman Ki Tamasha

Yes.. I should be writing about rape since nothing concrete has been done and even our Supreme Court recently noted that women are not safe in the capital city. 

“There is no safety in Delhi. We are concerned about providing a safe environment for women to live with dignity,” the top court said while expressing concern on the issue as it issued notices to the central government, the National Commission for Women and the Delhi government’s State Transport Authority.

Maybe it is time to shift the capital? But to where? In which part of India is women really safe? If the capital with a constant presence of security personnel is not safe then where else. And to top it all a few idiots continue to cite ridiculous reasons for rape. Even our Judges have fared no better. Anyway let me get back to the topic that I intended to write.

A few in Pakistan has yet again showed us how brutal they can be! Their brutality during the Mumbai carnage is still fresh in our minds and at least a few found some peace when Kazab was hanged. Yet our government went ahead with peace talks and our cricket crazy junta enjoyed cricket as usual. It was last year that an updated list of wanted men were handed over to Pakistan but yet nothing has been done. 

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Haafiz Saeed tops the list which was given to Pakistan during the Home Secretary level talks between the two countries in March. Saeed was followed by Major Iqbal, a suspected serving ISI officer who also figures in the FBI indictment in a Chicago court in connection with the Mumbai attack.

These men continue to spew hatred against India and also against those in Pakistan. They even accuse India for the recent bombing of the Shias in Quetta!

Since the year 2000, over 2000 Shia Hazara community members including many women and children have been killed or wounded in attacks perpetrated by Sunni Muslim terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaedaand Taliban in southwestern town of Quetta.

A fact recognised by all in Pakistan is that the people of the country are not sectarian-minded. Before jihad took hold of Pakistan and extremist clerics became threatening, there was considerable harmony between the sects. Muharram was not the season of sectarian violence and mayhem. Today, the world understands that the intensification of the sectarian feeling among the clerics is actually a result of a war relocated from Pakistan’s neighbourhood in the Gulf.

—The Express Tribune, 2012^[17]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sectarian_violence_in_Pakistan

Terrorism in Pakistan has become a major and highly destructive phenomenon in recent years. The annual death toll from terrorist attacks has risen from 164 in 2003 to 3318 in 2009, with a total of 35,000 Pakistanis killed as of 2010.^{[citation needed]} According to the government of Pakistan, the direct and indirect economic costs of terrorism from 2000-2010 total $68 billion.^[1] President Asif Ali Zardari, along with former President ex-Pakistan Army head Pervez Musharraf, have admitted that terrorist outfits were "deliberately created and nurtured" by past governments "as a policy to achieve some short-term tactical objectives".^[2][3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_Pakistan

And yet there are people in India who have total memory loss when it comes to Pakistan. They call themselves “Peaceniks” (A political activist who publicly opposes war, a particular war, or the proliferation of weapons; a pacifist) and keep talking of peace with no solution for the same. I am a peacenik too since I oppose war. But war is not the only solution. Since the international community is well aware of the militant training camps and the number of wanted terrorists hiding in Pakistan, it can very well exert pressure and ensure that they discontinue their business of hatred. India can afford a complete stop in public discourse with Pakistan but can Pakistan afford the same? It will be further alienated and will have more terrorists attacks in it’s own soil. So it is time to put more pressure on Pakistan once and for all. India should not continue to tolerate a Pakistan who refuses to acknowledge it's weakness. A Pakistan whose government has no control over it's army. Whose people has a false sense of pride over their army.

When will the people of Pakistan rise up and dislodge those who are tearing up their country?

When will they stop listening to those who know only to spew hatred in the name of religion?

When will they recognize those who urge them to kill in the name of a compassionate and merciful God?

When will they rise en mass to protect the minorities among them? 

Until then let India remain mum. No more peace talks and cricket. Let us remember that we have our own to protect.

MJ Akbar has brilliantly described our government's failure to reign in Pakistan and in his own words:

Pakistan’s Army concluded that if it could get away with Mumbai, it could get away with anything. It has.

Nevertheless I cannot help but copy this cry for peace that is coming from the Civil society of Poonch. The signatures are few but let those who are spewing hatred remember that they shall be cursed throughout history for their role.

Also cannot help copy this from Ajit Ninan.

Edited to add the following:

http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/dec/10mumterror-8-things-india-inc-govt-must-do-against-pakistan.htm
http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/dec/11mumterror-12-steps-to-shock-and-awe-pak-economy.htm
http://www.rakeshjhunjhunwala.in/2013/01/how-not-to-do-anything-when-your.html

Headley shall also be "cherished"

One of the major news that we read in the Indian newspapers yesterday was that Headley will be now pleading “guilty” instead of his earlier plea of “not guilty”.

In the American criminal justice system, defendants in federal court can be convicted one of two ways -- by pleading guilty or after a trial.

Those who choose to admit their guilt are often "rewarded" with lesser sentences.

The concept of the plea is one of the major differences between criminal procedure under common law and procedure under the civil law system. Under common law, a plea of guilty by the defendant waives trial of the charged offences and the defendant may be sentenced immediately. This produces a system under American law known as plea bargaining.
A plea bargain is an agreement between a prosecutor and defendant whereby the prosecutor provides incentive for the defendant to plead guilty in order to avoid going to trial. Plea bargains can benefit defendants by guaranteeing particular outcomes. The two most common types of plea bargains are charge and sentence bargaining, where the first type reduces the charge(s), and the latter, the sentence(s). Fact bargaining is a less common type of plea bargain.

As we know now, Headley used this same plea to escape from his earlier offense of smuggling heroine into the US soil. He was not only “awarded” but he got a perfect opportunity to tie up with the elements in Pakistan.

Mr Headley came to the attention of the US security services in 1997 when he was arrested for heroin smuggling in New York. He earned a reduced sentence by working for the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) by infiltrating Pakistan-linked narcotics gangs.

In fact, there are people who wonder if he was working as a double agent for US. If not, one wonders why Headley has not been given access to Indian authorities even after the Pune blast. During Headley’s “high profile visits” (he rubbed shoulders with the high and mighty of Bollywood) which happened even after the Mumbai blasts, he did visit Pune too. Recently Cochin was at high alert since the “Karachi Project” is still being manned by those who continue to run scot free.

Today the news reads thus...

Also his being proven guilty and convicted in the US courts makes him inaccessible to Indian investigative agencies.

I guess now Headley shall escape capital punishment and will now be “rewarded” with a lighter sentence.

But will his admitting to certain offense aid in getting Kazab punished or shall we have one more deadly criminal to “cherish”.


Source:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06086/677199-85.stm
http://www.answers.com/topic/plea-bargain
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7026599.ece
http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3716625

For the carrot...

Thus blogs the great enlightener of the masses..

Sometime in the past year, secret talks between India and Pakistan over Kashmir--which made great progress in 2008 before Pakistan's strongman, Pervez Musharraf, was ousted--were restarted, say U.S. and Indian sources. If successful, the negotiations would represent a huge breakthrough for the subcontinent.

Wow!

Nd why in the world should India be obsessed with Pakistan?

Oh yes… they have an answer to that too.. The much coveted seat in the great UN besides the great US.

And hence, US is dangling this carrot and sweet talking to India so as to end its stand with Pakistan since the great citizens in the US thinks and is made to think that all the problems in Pakistan ( Afganisthan , Bin Laden, Islamic terrorism) is only because of Kashmir (India). Literally speaking, every Pakistani wakes up in the morning and was waking up since Pakistan’s independence and thinks and was thinking only about Kashmir and the myriad ways to save the multitude of suffering souls in Kashmir. And now it seems US is also thinking along these lines!

And it is only we stupid Indians who is yet to realize this great truth… but let us not be discouraged since our government has realized it too..

Did anyone say that Bombay.. sorry Mumbai was attacked?

Still clueless..

Senior police officials, requesting anonymity, opined that bullet-proof jacket is the first line of evidence which should have been taken into the custody by the investigators. However, Mumbai police found this blooper only after slain IPS officer's wife, Kavita Karkare, filed an RTI plea in which the police admitted that the jacket was not traceable.

Are our police clueless or made to be clueless?

Are the Mumbai police so naïve?

And have any of them been taken to task?

Not likely, since as usual they have selected the right candidate to pave the escape route.

“On the night of November 27, after Karkare's body was brought to JJ hospital for autopsy, I had mistakenly put the jacket along with bio-medical and non-medical waste in polythene bags which was sent to the Deonar dump grounds for disposal”, the sweeper had said in the statement on December 22, 2008.

The ultimate source for many!

The latest campaign in the name of terror is from Idea and one may have seen Junior Bachan urging the nation to talk for India.

I guess the entire nation has been talking much on terror and even major police officers are busy doing their talks.

As for Idea, are they out for publicity?

Will the fund thus collected go for the purchase of safety gears or will the public be left in the lurch as usual?


If their main site shows the following:

*The campaign is an initiative of mobile operator, IDEA Cellular, which has a subscriber base of over 53 million across the country. The campaign will be supported across print, television, digital and outdoor media space. The funds accumulated from calls initiated from the network during the 'Talk for India Hour' will be donated to the Government.

Their terms and conditions shows thus..

Talk for India

Terms to be displayed on www.talkforindia.in
1. Idea will contribute an amount equal to Net Income from all voice calls originating from Idea numbers and made within India between 8:36pm and 9:36pm on 26/11/09 towards procuring safety gear for the police force.
2. Idea reserves the right to disburse the amount to a body / entity/ organization / person or to divide it amongst a number of bodies / entities / organizations / persons suitably identified by Idea for the purpose.
3. The process and time of disbursing the amount shall be solely at the discretion of Idea.
4. The time and manner of contribution will be decided solely by Idea.
5. Subject to Mumbai jurisdiction only.

Why did Idea Cellular chose to put the second condition if the money is going to the government of India?

Should one care?

Just keep talking....

The road to terror .......

Soon it will be one year since we viewed the shocking scenes from Mumbai and there still remains many questions unanswered. The following news caught my eyes this morning.

According to top officials, the bigger concern for the government is to crack the sleeper cells that both Headley and Rana were in touch with to conduct attacks here. While the arrests may have delivered a blow to those plans, the fact remains that trained terror cells were here for this purpose and they have not yet been busted.

What a reassuring report! Even after a year we still haven’t discovered those Indians who helped the terrorists and now because of Headley we have this exercise just to satisfy the nation’s curiosity.

and..

There is no record of Rana’s departure from Kochi but a few days later, there is evidence of him surfacing in Mumbai.

Does this happen only in India?

Recently when we went to UAE, our passports were kept at the hotel reception and we could have it only when we vacated the hotel. I am sure this is the law in many countries and while applying for a Visa it is mandatory to supply the address of the hotel / place of residence.

I am aware that even in India we have similar laws but do we really have the luxury of not following it even after so many incidents?

Please take a look at a travel advice given to US citizens..

At the Hotel

Foreign security services have well-established contacts with hotels that commonly host conferences and meetings with international participation. Some even have their own office within the largest hotels. If the local intelligence service considers you a significant intelligence target, you are likely to be assigned a room that is equipped to monitor your in-room conversations and phone calls. To avoid this, it may help to make your own room reservation in a smaller hotel less frequented by foreigners.

In many countries, you will be asked to surrender your passport when registering at a hotel. This is a routine procedure, as hotels must submit a daily report to police on all registered guests. Although a routine police procedure, be aware that this information may also be reviewed by a local intelligence service looking for targets of opportunity. Don't forget to get your passport back at the earliest possible time.

But then if one thinks that our government has been sitting idle in all matters then no. We have now signed the world largest defense deal with US worth $ 10 billion which may bring in 126 fighter aircraft to our Air Force.

The Indian Air Force Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) Competition, commonly known as the MRCA Tender, is an ongoing competition to supply the Indian Air Force with 126 Multi-Role Combat Aircraft. The Defence Ministry has allocated Rs. 42,000 crore for the purchase of these aircraft (Approx. US$10.5 billion).[1]

While I do agree that our fighter pilots deserve the best aircrafts and that our Air Force needs to be strengthened, I wish the same enthusiasm is shown in every other aspects of our security.

Can we leave our internal monitoring / governing in shambles and expect our armed forces to secure our country?

The road to terror..

David Coleman Headley (until 2006 he was Daood Gilani) caught my eyes yet again this morning and while reading about him, I landed on the Chicago Tribune’s page which gives the Federal Complaint against David and his accomplice Rana. One can check this too which is on David alone.

I could not finish the material since it is very long and I understand how much training one would need to decipher so much from normal conversations and emails. If deciphering is difficult can one imagine how harder it is to mask these activities?

If only one would engage their brains and time in more useful pursuits.

But yet again I wonder how the Indian intelligence agencies missed David. Are their antennae’s up only for certain names?

I hope our agencies are being trained at least now to tackle future such ventures.

But then haven’t we already forgotten 26/11?

Haven’t our governments and babus managed to turn the attention away from it so that they can continue with their own personal pursuits.

If not, why is Kasab still not punished?

Why does Kavitha the wife of Hemant Takare need to file an application for the right to information for her husband’s missing vest? Has the nation forgotten this hero already?

Back in business

Sadly we are back into business in the shortest time.

I thought the issue with the “dog’ would die within the mallu world, but no, even the national mainstream newspapers seem to have forgotten the horrible days the country just left behind. I am not providing any links to the news papers since none has been fair. Keralites are not new to their CM and their own colloquial language. In my opinion the ‘dog’ word is the mildest word that the mallu uses in his day-to-day dealings. But like me there are many who respect the CM even for his quirks. Everyone accepts the Father’s feelings too and if the media is to be believed, he had no issues with the CM during the telephone talks. The same media and citizens who shouted foul when Major Unnikrishnan was identified as a Malayalee, in the same tone whined when there was no ministerial representation, except for the political secretary from the Kerala ministry.

We tolerated the electronic media during those dark moments with utmost patience although it was not easy at times, but I believe it is time the media stopped short and did a self study. We lost brave men and there is nothing the country can give their family in return except gratitude. Nothing will suffice since only those who have lost their loved ones can understand the feelings. But for the sake of their utmost sacrifice for the country, this not the time to lose focus on the main issue. This is not the time to aid the parties to take political mileage and knowing well our politicians, it is up to the citizens and the media to get them into running the nation. Sadly we need them all at this moment to govern the country and not to fill the roads with “protestors” for insignificant issues.

For once, India is not alone in her pursuit of terrorism. Pakistan, though reluctantly is ready to cooperate. War is not the answer for any issue and we have all learnt our lessons. We do not want history to give us a repeat. Even in the battle of Kurukshetra in Mahabharata, diplomacy was given a chance until the end even when there were mighty warriors ready to give up their lives. We need every resources and the help of the citizens to root out the menace the nation is facing. If the media is to be believed there were more terrorists and they might be still in the country aided by our own worthless citizens. These terrorists did not work alone and cannot work alone in the future. There needs to be meaningful discussions in the main stream media on this issue. So far I have seen none.

Is it over?

It has been very depressing the last 3 days and I could not control the way the events affected me. Maybe I should have just stopped watching the news.

Let me take my frustrations on my blog.

The media has been comparing the Mumbai blasts to the Sept 11 attack. But for the Americans, their anger and frustration were quickly directed to the military assaults that Bush began. They had a vent for their feelings. It might not have been difficult for them to watch their planes bombard a far of land which most of them had never heard before.

But for us Indians the frustration has only begun. For a few hours, we thought Pakistan was serious when they agreed to sent the ISI chief over to India to help with the investigations. But, it was just another one of their feeble attempt in bravado; the ISI and many other elements are not under the control of the government. Pakistan continues to be a failed state. As for an assault, it will only take the life of the innocents. But then I remember that Obama wanted to take on Pakistan, for reasons I am sure he had plenty.

The Indian media was kind during the last 3 days I should say, by keeping the appearance of the politicians to the barest minimum. How can one watch the arrogant faces of those who had a say over the security aspects? As for the Home Minister, I had only a morbid interest on his suits and he has not let the viewers down on that aspect. I am also tired of watching our PM being ushered in by Sonia. Does he still not know his way around? Our politicians, including Modi will only continue their games.

But as citizens, it is time we raised our voice for our heroes. When the nation is ready to spend millions for the economy in 'deals', can’t they not equip our soldiers and task forces with proper gears? If there is no security, is there are an economy?

As for the ideology of the cowards, it is from the devil himself. One need not give a second thought on that. They shoot indiscriminately on a helpless crowd and then ask for specific Passport holders.

I pray that this event unites our nation and we learn valuable lessons. These events should not repeat and those precious lives that were lost should not be in vain.

Black Day

Why oh Why?

How many more black days do we have to see before we see an end? Or is this only the beginning?

Where are our leaders? What other issues are occupying their times?

It is time you stepped down from your seats since you have all failed.

You sent brave men to take bullets in their hearts and in spite of repeated warnings there was no preparation.

You have let innocent people die without a cause. If our main cities cannot be protected from these cowards called terrorists who hide behind black masks and guns, then what are you governing?

Words fail me.. let me shed silent tears for my bleeding nation.