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It is very sad to see how Jaffor Ullah tries to justifies mumbai massacre. He did not cry like a humanist for the fallen indians; like all other islamists he cried for palestine, like all other pakistanis he cried for kashmir. One of the terrorists who performed the mumbai mummassacre could write exactly the same article written by Jaffor Ullah.
Let us be more focused and professional under these circuimstances. No matter what (attention Jaffor Ullah!) we should denounce islamist's acts. If they get an upperhand, there will not be an end to our distress. They are already threatening to burn alive people of various cultural organizations in bangladesh!
If Jaffor Ullah thinks that the world has been divided into usa- israel-india on one side and the islamists on the other, then we should all join the former, where all humans are equal. We should not give any special status to islamists; they must keep their religeon in the closet like all others.
and if Mr. Jaffor Ullah thinks he some baggage, then he does. It is his own job to remove it.
Tistarbahe
--- In mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com, "sk_cd59" < wrote: > > > > > WRT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/50868 > > > There is a case to be made for the plight of the Muslim underclass in > India just as there is a case to be made for the plight of the Black > underclass in USA. But Jaffor Ullah seems to have merely used it as an > excuse to whitewash vicious crimes of Pakistan-based terrorist > outfits. I invite Jaffor Ullah to watch the following and see for > himself how much he sounds like Pakistan's Zaid Hamid: > > http://www.hotklix.com/?ref=content/152704 > > In fact, Jaffor Ullah has tried to be even more loyal than the king in > his asinine write-up. Not even Pakistan's President is denying the > Pakistani connection to the Mumbai carnage. In fact the Pakistan > President's appeal to India has been not to allow "non-state actors > from Pakistan" to hijack Pakistan-India relations. > > The prime suspect for the carnage is the infamous Wahabi terrorist > outfit "Laskar-e-Taiba" which incongruously translates into "army of > the pious". Knowledgeable Pakistanis (including Pakistan's current > Ambassador to USA, Hussain Haqqani) have no illusions about this > vicious group. Here is Hussain Haqqani's article on Laskar-e-Taiba: > > http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2140676/posts > > The Ideologies of South Asian Jihadi Groups (Laskar-e-Taiba) > By Hussain Haqqani > > The most significant jihadi group of Wahhabi persuasion is > Lashkar-e-Taiba (The Army of the Pure) found ed in 1989 by Hafiz > Muhammad Saeed. Backed by Saudi money and protected by Pakistani > intelligence services, Lashkar-e-Taiba became the military wing of > Markaz al-Dawa wal-Irshad (Center for the Call to Righteousness). > Saeed created a large campus and training facility at Muridke, outside > the Pakistani metropolis of Lahore. After the U.S. froze > Lashkar-e-Taiba's assets and called for it to be banned, Saeed changed > his organization's name in Pakistan to Jamaat-ul-Dawa (the Society for > Preaching). Pakistani authorities have been reluctant to move against > either Lashkar, which continues to operate in Kashmir, or > Jamaat-ul-Dawa, which operates freely in Pakistan. Lashkar-e-Taiba and > Jamaat-ul-Dawa scaled down their military operations against India to > help Pakistan honor its commitments to the U.S. and India. But Saeed > remains free and continues to expand membership of his organization > despite divisions in its leadership. > > Under U.S. pressure, General Musharraf placed Jamaat-ul-Dawa on a > watch list in November 2003. > > Lashkar-e-Taiba has adopted a maximalist agenda for global jihad > though its operations so far have been limited to Kashmir. The group > justifies its ideology on the basis of the Quranic verse that says, > "You are obligated to fight even though it is something you do not > like" (2:216). Extrapolating from this verse, the group asserts that > military jihad is a religious obligation for all Muslims. The group > then defines the many circumstances in which that obligation must be > carried out.=2 0 > > For example, a Markaz al-Dawa wal-Irshad publication titled Hum Jihad > kyun Kar rahe hain? (Why Are We Waging Jihad?), declares the United > States, Israel and India as existential enemies of Islam. It lists > eight reasons for Jihad: > > 1) to eliminate evil and facilitate conversion to and practice of Islam; > > 2) to ensure the ascendancy of Islam; > > 3) to force non-Muslims to pay jizya (poll tax, paid by non-Muslims > for protection from a Muslim ruler); > > 4) to assist the weak and powerless; > > 5) to avenge the blood of Muslims killed by unbelievers; > > 6) to punish enemies for breaking promises and treaties; > > 7) to defend a Muslim state; and > > 8) to liberate Muslim territories under non-Muslim occupation. > > This list of itself is sufficient to justify a virtual state of > permanent jihad. "Have all the obstacles to observing the faith in the > world been removed?" the unnamed author asks rhetorically, adding that > non-Muslim dominance of the global system makes jihad necessary. "Is > the current world order that of kafirs (unbelievers) or of Muslims? Is > the global economic system according to the wishes of Allah, which > requires the end of interest and usury?" Jihad is described as > essential to ensure ascendancy of Islam and to create circumstances > whereby non-Muslims would either convert to Islam or pay jizya. Fur > thermore, all major powers have broken their pledges to Muslims made > at one time or another, for which they must be punished, runs the > argument. "Are Muslims not being mistreated all over the world? Are > not weak Muslim men, women and children calling for help against > oppression from India, Kashmir, Philippines, Chechnya, Russia, China, > Bosnia and several other parts of the world? … Burma's Muslims are > under attack from Buddhists, who expel them from their homes … Israel > has pierced the dagger of its existence in the heart of the Arabs." > > The Markaz/Lashkar/Jamaat-ul-Dawa movement construes Muslim > territories under non-Muslim occupation in the broadest sense. > "Muslims ruled Andalusia (Spain) for 800 years but they were finished > to the last man. Christians now rule (Spain) and we must wrest it back > from them. All of India, including Kashmir, Hyderabad, Assam, Nepal, > Burma, Bihar and Junagadh were part of the Muslim empire that was lost > because Muslims gave up jihad. Palestine is occupied by the Jews. The > Holy Qibla-e-Awwal (First Center of Prayer) in Jerusalem is under > Jewish control. Several countries such as Bulgaria, Hungary, Cyprus, > Sicily, Ethiopia, Russian Turkistan and Chinese Turkistan … were > Muslim lands and it is our duty to get these back from unbelievers. > Even parts of France reaching 90 kilometers outside Paris and some of > the forests and mountains of Switzerland were home to Muslim mujahidin > but are now under the occupation of unbelievers." > > Some of20the arguments and claims might appear historically incorrect > or practically impossible but this does and will not deter a > closely-knit jihadi group from raising funds, organizing cadres and > fielding militants or terrorists in pursuit of a broadly defined > global jihad aimed at the revival of Islam's global ascendancy and > eventual domination. >
------------------------------------
***************************************** Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links
There are good reasons to believe that the House of Sauds will go down like the House of Cards when USA's hegimony declines [~ 20 to 25 years from now!]
Sent by:
Syed Aslam
On 12/3/08, mohiuddin@netzero.com <mohiuddin@netzero.com> wrote:
If we compare the expense of U.S. President with the King of Saudi Arabia we can surely say that ,Saudi King's expense is very minimum for a Miiddle Eastern oil rich nation(like peanut). Saudi King is not a begger rather Head of state of World's largest exporter of Oil.
Saudi King is very generous persons and regularly donates money to charities all over the World including USA.
__._,_.___
***************************************** Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.
"Rahul Gandhi was partying after Mumbai Jihadi attacks The gruesome Mumbai Jihadi attacks were definitely India's 9-11. However, our future emperor Rahul Gandhi was partying on Saturday when the Mumbai terror attacks were on. What a disgrace this Rahul Gandhi is for India ! And the Congress party wants him to be our future Prime Minister. It seems that the Gandhi family has no sympathy towards our nation, they were partying when people are bleeding.
Even as the nation felt searing pain and anger over the death of more than 195 people- including foreigners - in the terrorist attack on Mumbai, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi merrily partied. According to a report carried on Monday by a tabloid, Mail Today, Congress general secretary and heir apparent Rahul Gandhi went partying on Saturday with his pals at a farmhouse on Delhi's outskirts. The 'Prince' partied hard, till 5 in the morning, at the 'sangeet' ceremony for the wedding of Samir Sharma, one of his childhood friends. The gathering was at a sprawling farmhouse at Radhey Mohan Chowk, the haven of people who lead charmed lives, beyond Chhhatarpur. A close aide of Rahul confirmed his presence at the function. "Rahulji was in Rajasthan on Saturday. He attended four rallies there and returned to Delhi at 10 pm. Later, he went to this party that was pre-scheduled," said a staff member on the condition of anonymity. He said that Rahul was at the farmhouse with Samir Sharma, the US-based furniture designer son of Captain Satish Sharma, the late Rajiv Gandhi's flying partner. Capt Sharma had nursed the Gandhi family's pocketborough, Rae Bareli, till Sonia Gandhi chose to contest from there in 2004. "Why raise such a hue and cry over a small and pre-scheduled party?" he asked. Gandhi's media coordinator Pankaj Shankar, on the other hand, refused comment on the issue. "I am not a spokesperson, I just coordinate among mediapersons and Rahul Gandhi. Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan has clarified the issue," said Shankar. On Sunday, Rahul's sister Priyanka Vadra had caused a flutter by saying that late Indira Gandhi would have "made us very proud" by the way she would have reacted to the Mumbai terror strike. As per the report published by the tabloid, Saturday night's 'sangeet' was a lavish affair. Leena Musafir, the sister of the woman with whom Samir is getting married, and her husband Inder, hosted it. Over 800 guests, including regulars at Page 3 dos, attended the party. Later, however, Rahul was quoted in another tabloid, Metro Now, saying, "It seems as if someone entered my house and slapped me." The tabloid stated that Rahul made this comment while addressing a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which had reportedly been called to discuss the impact of the attack on the party and the country.
you are joking, aren't you? When do you ever find a mafia don (or is it donness?) resign? They do not resign, they are "taken out"
Kevin -
Your organization should be promoting the cause and interest of India only in this country. Stop promoting interests of countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh under the banner South Asia. They do not deserve any better here while promoting violence in India. Let them fight their share here alone. Last time I went to one of your events, I was disgusted to see what you were promoting under the banner South Asians in that event. So naive....
And stop asking resignation for Sonia Gandhi and sending those amateurish emails around while denigrating her, asking her resignation. She did whatever needed to be done to have a government at that time. The whole attack on India has larger implications than just blaming her for the misfortune. We know Manmohan Singh is a soft man. But he and Sonia got us nuclear deal a few weeks ago. Didn't they? Manmohan Singh does not need a knee jerk reaction now. Pakistan army is playing a timely game here- if India takes a military step now, it will play in to their hands. They are cornered now by US over the Taliban issue and they need a diversion. If India act irresponsibly - they will have more reason to tell Pakistanis that they needed an army. Right now Pakistani army's morale is very low becuase of the Taliban issue as there are so many desertations happening from it. Last year 900 people resigned fearing being killed by Taliban. An attack by India will increase their morale - which they need badly at this time, specially wheh US is pounding them at the western frontier.
So for you - start promoting interest of India and India only here right now. Stop trying to magnanimous about other countries. I know you are playing something similar to a low-level politics here with the issue. At this time we need stand by the government and as NRI, we should mobilize our resources against Pakistan, not against our own government. Do you want a leadership vacuum at the top now in India? If you have average IQ - you know the answer. If you want to help, start organiziing meetings, debates, conferences by inviting top people and experts on South Asian security issues like Henry Kisinger, the CIA guy (I forgot the name of this guy who yesterday submitted a report to congress saying that Pakistan is the epicenter of terrosism - Do a GOOGLE search, you will find his name) to create a consesus / awareness. Look what people are doing in London. They have already conducted a march in London. How about a similar march in Los Angeles on the coming weekend. There are about a million people from India here in LA. You can definitely organize a march to generate solidarity and create an impression among the politicians here. Rather you are trying to under cut the efforts of your own givernment at this time here. What a bright idea?? See - that is why India is facing what it is facing now....Think clearly and you will get what I am trying to unravel.
The best thing you and your organization can do now - if you are really serious about his issue is to internationalize the whole issue - notice that Pakistan is very clever in telling rest of the world that it is an issue between India & Pakistan. But I say it is an inhternational issue as people who died belong to 10 countries. This is the perfect opportunity for India to make this an international terrorist attack - just what US did after 9/11, get as many countries as possible on board and support India, inlcuding whose citizens died (UK, France, Israel...), get their goodwill, and then take a strong millitary/punitive response at a later stage. The more countries perceive this as a bigger issue, the more Pakistan will be pushed to the wall. To do this your organization can do a far better job than just signing a stupid petition for resignation.
Just think about it....
If you send out irresponsible emails like the one you just sent will simply go to their trash folder.
-Deb
PAKISTAN WILL HAVE TO PAY A HEAVY PRICE BY M J AKBAR
Many people forget that India is a tough nation. Toothless leaders have turned India into a soft nation. People forget that India has fought back Muslim terrorism in Kashmir; Sikh terrorism in Punjab, Christian terrorism in Nagaland and Hindu terrorism in Assam, and amongst the Naxalites.
We have had everything thrown at the Indian nation State. Still, we have stood up. The people of India have shown the courage and ability to believe in their nation and to fight back. But the completely impotent leadership of five years have turned a tough country into a soft State. I am very sad. I keep feeling that if they protect India as they protect their leaders -- whether it is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] or Congress President Sonia Gandhi - I think I would be safe. Today, India's leaders are safe and India is in panic. On what India's response should be: India's proper reaction would be possible if we understand the extent of the disease. If the disease is cancer, you can't apply band aid. After making a complete mess of security issues for five years by asking Shivraj Patil to go finally we may have a home minister who doesn't comb his hair and change his clothes. But we want something more than that. If it is cancer, we need chemotherapy, a much more serious exercise. It needs a legislative and executive framework. It needs political mobilisation. People are numbed. The Indian people have no leadership. You have a prime minister. Did you see him when he addressed the nation? Nobody knew if he was addressing the nation or having a cup of tea? He looked serious, but he didn't talk to us about our anger and about our anguish. I think this administration is tone deaf to the anguish of the people. They just cannot understand what the people are going through. They just don't understand our pain or our anger. The most important thing is that, perhaps, we have politicised not only the instruments of the State like the police but we have also politicised the understanding of the nature of the problem. I think the very first thing to do is to ensure security so that it prevents the next attack. If any attack takes place under someone's job should go. Don't come to me with alibis. On the terrorists getting local support: I am an Indian Muslim and I am very proud of both, being an Indian and a Muslim. I do not see any contradictions. This is my land and I have nowhere else to go. But can I say because I am an Indian Muslim that no Indian Muslim is involved? Can you, because you are a Hindu, say that no Hindu is involved? We have to behave like Indians first. Not as a Muslim or as a Hindu first. Because we need Hindu votes and Muslim votes and because this government thinks that it needs Muslim votes so it has been in complete denial. Do you think that these people came across from Pakistan and had no support in Mumbai? It is not possible. It was a huge operation. Ten people hit nine places and you killed nine of them. You want to say that they went from place to place? Who knows some of them must have slipped away to create new sleeper cells to hit us six months later. They are hiding things. I would like to believe that there was an underworld connection. Because, Karachi and Mumbai are also linked by drug smuggling. The culture of criminals is aggression. It comes naturally to them. It is not easy for you and I to become aggressive, however angry we are. It does not come naturally to us. These are people who are trained psychologically in aggression. They have no respect for the State. They have no love for the country. And they have no respect for authority. Why? Because the only face of authority is the corrupt policeman. The criminal gives money in the morning and money in the evening. Why should he have respect for somebody he gives bribes to? For the guy from the underworld his understanding of the IndianState and authority is corruption. He has no patriotism to stop him. Why would he not join hands with the terrorists? In any case, he belongs to another world. We have not even begun to address and discuss this.
On the Pakistan factor I am tired of giving Pakistan a long rope on some excuse or the other. Everybody is saying this will happen if we do this that will happen if we do this. Our relations with Pakistan will go, then, let them go. What has our relations with Pakistan brought us except violence and terror? Why should we be in charge of saving Pakistan? For what? Every time they turn around and they say they want evidence. Now, finally we have evidence. I have been an editor for 35 years from the age of 23. From that time on, since the days of General Zia-ul Haq, I have been hearing ' Pakistan is asking for evidence'. We asked for withdrawal of their support to the movement for Khalistan, they said, 'Oh, we don't know anything about it.' On Kashmir, they kept repeating where is the evidence. Benazir Bhutto came, she asked for evidence. Nawaz Sharif came, he asked for evidence. I think Pervez Musharraf asked for less evidence. Now again, they are asking for evidence. There is a terrorist in Mumbai, captured and arrested. How much more evidence do you want? If what he is saying is not evidence, then how can you get more evidence? This government is in its 11th hour. Now they will bluff the people to protect their votes. There is no time left for them. The agony of departure will be hard from this government. On the reaction in the West The US and Britain have a vested interest in telling India to look within. Why? When Americans die then they can send their air force 7,000 miles and bomb every country to smithereens. But when Indians die, they tell us no, no, you must be patient. You must act like a swami and a yogi. Why? Is an American life more precious than an Indian life? Why should we keep listening to them? But we have a government that keeps listening to them all the time. We don't get tough. The last time we got tough was after the attack on Parliament. We took some tough actions under Operation Parakram and then there was a certain lull. Three years ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was able to tell President George W Bush that there are no terrorists amongst Indian Muslims. That means that lull continued. Pakistan must be made to realise that it will have to pay a heavy price. Not necessarily through war, but a heavy price will have to be paid in loss in trade, in cancellation of orders and other engagements. They should pay a heavy price in terms of people to people relations. I am not saying you can freeze a relationship to death, but the message must go out that if there is a crime there will be a penalty. You just can't get away with it. Let the Pakistan government cooperate with us. But look at how the Pakistan government has buckled down and we are sitting here whimpering. They want to send some lowly officers to India. For what? Even Pakistan is treating the Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi government with total contempt. They know how weak it is. De-link Hindu-Muslim relations and Pakistan Look; you must not confuse the Pakistan issue with the Indian Muslims issue. Their so-called alienation or their economic deprivation is not linked to the issue of Pakistan. Indian Muslims have nothing to do with Pakistan. They have absolutely no sympathy for Pakistan. They know that Pakistan was the biggest mistake committed in the history of Indian Muslims. They know it. You can ask anyone in Baroda, Bihar or Mumbai. They know how they are suffering the backlash of all the consequences of cross-border terrorism.
Today, they fear retribution from the government; they fear retribution from popular disenchantment and anger. They feel helpless. They feel afraid. We must understand finally that it is not so much the 'local people'; it is the local underworld that is involved in anti-India activities. In 1993, who were involved in terrorism? The underworld. Why have you not done anything about it? The State turns a blind eye to the police and corruption. I don't know how many readers smoke hashish and other stuff, but I am accusing them of cross-border terrorism. Drugs come to India from Afghanistan via Karachi. What we can do as individuals If whoever is responsible for protecting the nation fails, then he or she should not be allowed to continue in power. That is the toughest and sharpest message we can give. You can tell that you may be a soft State, but we are a hard people and we are hard voters. We are not going to forgive you for your lies and deception and for your waffling. How many blasts do we need to understand that? When Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Delhi happened no one who was genuinely guilty was caught. We have to understand now that corruption has eaten away vitals of this nation. It is the biggest danger to the security of India. It is not just the case of some spectrum being sold to someone by some minister in. Everyone who is corrupt get out! It Is a failure all around. We have to be extremely practical and pragmatic. There is great deal to be depressed about as an Indian. Frankly speaking, I feel very angry and upset. I am never upset by the behaviour of our enemies. I am only upset by the betrayal of those I trust.
Thanks very much for your great work. I will certainly pass the flier along - unfortunately, because Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath, AJC does not officially cosponsor events that are held on Saturdays. This is true of most major Jewish organizations as well. Many individual members of the Jewish community will have no problem whatsoever with an event held on a Saturday, but most Jewish organizations will not actively promote a Saturday event. (The Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and lasts through sundown on Saturday, so Friday night events also have the same restrictions.) I'm sure the event will be meaningful, and the thoughts and prayers of the Jewish community will be with you. Best,Melanie,Melanie B. Maron
Executive Director
American Jewish Committee, Washington Ch apter
1156 15th Street NW, Suite 1201,Washington, DC 20005 Dear Dr. Biplab,
I am so pleased to hear that you will be covering this afternoon's event for FOSAAC TV. I know it's at a very weird time of day - we were trying to accommodate the schedules of multiple people, and that was the best we could do!
American University will have mult boxes available for cameras if you need to plug in. They will be ready for press set-up by 4pm. There is a large parking lot at Nebraska Ave. and New Mexico Ave., which will put you directly across the street from the main quad on campus. If you walk from the parking lot across Nebraska and straight into the quad, you will be facing the MaryGraydonCenter. We also intend to have people posted outside to help direct attendees to the proper building.
My cell phone is 312-342-4516, and my direct office line is 202-785-5475.
Thanks again,Melanie
Melanie B. Maron
Executive Director
Many of us are US citizens and DO NOT VOTE OR PAY TAXES IN INDIA.
Then How we can demand resignation?
Gope Gidwani
Trustee, IAFPE
Director,
Dear Kevin,
I am not sure how you got my e-mail address. Although I am interested in India's politics, my interest is not strong enough to continue to receive your e-mails. Good luck with your endeavors. Please remove me from your a-mail list.
Krystole
Dear Kevin Kaul:
Following a visit to Pakistan, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared that the Pakistani government has pledged to cooperate in rounding up suspects of the Mumbai terror attacks who operated from Pakistani territory or were of Pakistani origin.
**Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, who was in Pakistan on Wednesday, is believed to have told his Pakistani interlocutors that Washington had enough evidence to show a Pakistani hand in the attack, the sources said.
**Sources also refuse to believe that the Pakistani army did not have knowledge of the Mumbai operation given that ISI is controlled by it.
**At the same time, sources do not believe that the civilian government in Pakistan is involved in the attack. In fact, one view is that the civilian government itself may be a target of the strike which may be used by the army to heighten tensions with India to return to power Thus, the crucial question is: Does Pakistan's government have the ability to go after the suspects of the Mumbai carnage wilthout civil authority regaining effective control over Pakistan's army and the ISI? With Pakistan so heavily dependent on American largess both for military supplies and social and economic sustenance and with Pakistan's finances in intensive care under IMF's supervision, can there be a better time for America to exercise its powerful leverage to get the military (and ISI) ensconced securely under civilian control?
Friends of both India and Pakistan in the US need to impress upon Congress that NOW is the time to make Pakistan's democracy secure and safe from any future threats of a military take over. Once that task is accomplished, it will be easier to prepare and execute a strategy to finish off the terrorists. Without fulfilling this precondition, nothing can stop Pakistan from continuing to be the epicenter of terrrorism in the world.
It's NOW or NEVER.
The US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) has formulated an action plan to respond rapidly to the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The action plan includes working with several key Members of Congress to develop an effective response from the US, supporting a Congressional Resolution condemning the attacks, supporting US-India counter-terrorism legislation, and organizing a Congressional Briefing on the origins of the terrorist attacks and the best way for the US to proceed. Further, USINPAC has launched a petition calling for changes in US aid to Pakistan to be signed by Indian Americans across the country. The petition will be presented to Congress.
USINPAC spoke with India Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), who will be authoring a Congressional Resolution condemning the attacks. It has said it will help Rep. McDermott gain Congressional support for the resolution. Further, it will work with Rep. McDermott to organize a Congressional Briefing on the terror attacks as soon as Congress is back in session. It's important to gain Congressional support for US-India counter-terrorism legislation being authored by Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY).
We need to get massive participation on this petition to demonstrate to the US Congress and the administration the anger, pain, and desire for action on the issue of terror camps in Pakistan that is being felt by the Indian American community. Please read and then sign the petition immediately to reflect your response to the Mumbai Attacks and forward it to at least 10 people you know!
Taj was covered 'cos rich visit it. Who cares for CST?
by Gnani Sankaran
Watching at least four English news channels surfing from one another during the last 60 hours of terror strike made me feel a terror of another kind. The terror of assaulting one's mind and sensitivity with cameras, sound bites and non-stop blabbers. All these channels have been trying to manufacture my consent for a big lie called - Hotel Taj the icon of India. Whose India, Whose Icon ?
It is a matter of great shame that these channels simply did not bother about the other icon that faced the first attack from terrorists - the Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station.. CST is the true icon of Mumbai. It is through this railway station hundreds of Indians from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Tamilnadu have poured into Mumbai over the years, transforming themselves into Mumbaikars and built the Mumbai of today along with the Marathis and Kolis
But the channels would not recognise this. Nor would they recognise the thirty odd dead bodies strewn all over the platform of CST. No Barkha dutt went there to tell us who they were. But she was at Taj to show us the damaged furniture and reception lobby braving the guards. And the TV cameras did not go to the government run JJ hospital to find out who those 26 unidentified bodies were. Instead they were again invading the battered Taj to try in vain for a scoop shot of the dead bodies of the page 3 celebrities.
In all probability, the unidentified bodies could be those of workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh migrating to Mumbai, arriving by train at CST without cell phones and pan cards to identify them. Even after 60 hours after the CST massacre, no channel has bothered to cover in detail what transpired there.
The channels conveniently failed to acknowledge that the Aam Aadmis of India surviving in Mumbai were not affected by Taj, Oberoi and Trident closing down for a couple of weeks or months. What mattered to them was the stoppage of BEST buses and suburban trains even for one hour. But the channels were not covering that aspect of the terror attack. Such information at best merited a scroll line, while the cameras have to be dedicated for real time thriller unfolding at Taj or Nariman bhavan.
The so called justification for the hype the channels built around heritage site Taj falling down (CST is also a heritage site), is that Hotel Taj is where the rich and the powerful of India and the globe congregate. It is a symbol or icon of power of money and politics, not India. It is the icon of the financiers and swindlers of India. The Mumbai and India were built by the Aam Aadmis who passed through CST and Taj was the oasis of peace and privacy for those who wielded power over these mass of labouring classes. Leopold club and Taj were the haunts of rich spoilt kids who would drive their vehicles over sleeping Aam Aadmis on the pavement, the Mafiosi of Mumbai forever financing the glitterati of Bollywood (and also the terrorists) , Political brokers and industrialists.
It is precisely because Taj is the icon of power and not people, that the terrorists chose to strike.
The terrorists have understood after several efforts that the Aam Aadmi will never break down even if you bomb her markets and trains. He/she was resilient because that is the only way he/she can even survive.
Resilience was another word that annoyed the pundits of news channels and their patrons this time. What resilience, enough is enough, said Pranoy Roy's channel on the left side of the channel spectrum. Same sentiments were echoed by Arnab Goswami representing the right wing of the broadcast media whose time is now. Can Rajdeep be far behind in this game of one upmanship over TRPs ? They all attacked resilience this time. They wanted firm action from the government in tackling terror.
The same channels celebrated resilience when bombs went off in trains and markets killing and maiming the Aam Aadmis. The resilience of the ordinary worker suited the rich business class of Mumbai since work or manufacture or film shooting did not stop. When it came to them, the rich shamelessly exhibited their lack of nerves and refused to be resilient themselves. They cry for government intervention now to protect their private spas and swimming pools and bars and restaurants, similar to the way in which Citibank, General Motors and the ilk cry for government money when their coffers are emptied by their own ideologies.
The terrorists have learnt that the ordinary Indian is unperturbed by terror. For one whose daily existence itself is a terror of government sponsored inflation and market sponsored exclusion, pain is something he has learnt to live with. The rich of Mumbai and India Inc are facing the pain for the first time and learning about it just as the middle classes of India learnt about violation of human rights only during emergency, a cool 28 years after independence.
And human rights were another favourite issue for the channels to whip at times of terrorism.
Arnab Goswami in an animated voice wondered where were those champions of human rights now, not to be seen applauding the brave and selfless police officers who gave up their life in fighting terorism. Well, the counter question would be where were you when such officers were violating the human rights of Aam Aadmis. Has there ever been any 24 hour non stop coverage of violence against dalits and adivasis of this country?
This definitely was not the time to manufacture consent for the extra legal and third degree methods of interrogation of police and army but Arnabs don't miss a single opportunity to serve their class masters, this time the jingoistic patriotism came in handy to whitewash the entire uniformed services.
The sacrifice of the commandos or the police officers who went down dying at the hands of ruthless terrorists is no doubt heart rending but in vain in a situation which needed not just bran but also brain. Israel has a point when it says the operations were misplanned resulting in the death of its nationals here.
Karkares and Salaskars would not be dead if they did not commit the mistake of traveling by the same vehicle. It is a basic lesson in management that the top brass should never t ravel together in crisis. The terrorists, if only they had watched the channels, would have laughed their hearts out when the Chief of the Marine commandos, an elite force, masking his face so unprofessionally in a see-through cloth, told the media that the commandos had no idea about the structure of the Hotel Taj which they were trying to liberate. But the terrorists knew the place thoroughly, he acknowledged.
Is it so difficult to obtain a ground plan of Hotel Taj and discuss operation strategy thoroughly for at least one hour before entering? This is something even an event manager would first ask for, if he had to fix 25 audio systems and 50 CCtvs for a cultural event in a hotel. Would not Ratan Tata have provided a plan of his ancestral hotel to the commandos within one hour considering the mighty apparatus at his and government's disposal? Are satelite pictures only available for terrorists and not the government agencies ? In an operation known to consume time, one more hour for preparation would have only improved the efficiency of execution.
Sacrifices become doubly tragic in unprofessional circumstances. But the Aam Aadmis always believe that terror-shooters do better planning than terrorists. And the gullible media in a jingoistic mood would not raise any question about any of these issues.
They after all have their favourite whipping boy - the politician the eternal entertainer for the non-voting rich classes of India.
Arnabs and Rajdeeps would wax eloquent on Manmohan Singh and Advani visiting Mumbai separately and not together showing solidarity even at this hour of national crisis. What a farce? Why can't these channels pool together all their camera crew and reporters at this time of national calamity and share the sound and visual bites which could mean a wider and deeper coverage of events with such a huge human resource to command? Why should Arnab and Rajdeep and Barkha keep harping every five minutes that this piece of information was exclusive to their channel, at the time of such a national crisis? Is this the time to promote the channel? If that is valid, the politician promoting his own political constituency is equally valid. And the duty of the politican is to do politics, his politics. It is for the people to evaluate that politics. And terrorism is not above politics. It is politics by other means.
To come to grips with it and to eventually eliminate it, the practice of politics by proper means needs constant fine tuning and improvement. Decrying all politics and politicians, only helps terrorists and dictators who are the two sides of the same coin. And the rich and powerful always prefer terrorists and dictators to do business with.
Those caught in this crossfire are always the Aam Aadmis whose deaths are not even mourned - the taxi driver who lost the entire family at CST firing, the numerous waiters and stewards who lost their lives working in Taj for a monthly salary that would be one time bill for their masters.
Postscript: In a fit of anger and depression, I sent a message to all the channels, 30 hours through the coverage. After all they have been constantly asking the viewers to message them for anything and everything. My message read: I send this with lots of pain. All channels, including yours, must apologise for not covering the victims of CST massacre, the real mumbaikars and aam aadmis of India. Your obsession with five star elite is disgusting. Learn from the print media please. No channel bothered. Only srinivasan Jain replied: you are right. We are trying to redress balance today. Well, nothing happened till the time of writing this 66 hours after the terror attack.
Subject: Pak pres interview on Larry King - my response is at the bottom of the page
THIS SHOULD MAKE VERY INTERESTING READING DO SPARE A LITTLE TIME.
NO WONDER WHEN BOMBS EXPLODE EVERYONE LOOKS THE OTHER WAY!!!
A VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE...ONE MUST READ
Who owns the media in India ?
The last Gujarat elections have witnessed unaccountable money paid to media persons - both print and electronic, by Saudi Arabia to discredit Modi and the Hindutva forces. The Media did very faithfully adhere to this policy of "FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE", yet without success.
There are several major publishing groups in India , the most prominent among them being the Times of India Group, the Indian Express Group, the Hindustan Times Group, The Hindu group, the Anandabazar Patrika Group, the Eenadu Group, the Malayalam Manorama Group, the Mathrubhumi group, the Sahara group, the Bhaskar group, and the Dainik Jagran group.
Let us see the ownership structure of different media agencies.
NDTV: A very popular TV news media is funded by Gospels of Charity in Spain Supports Communism. Recently it has developed a soft corner towards Pakistan because Pakistan President has allowed only this channel to be aired in Pakistan . Indian CEO Prannoy Roy is co-brother of Prakash Karat, General Secretary of the Communist party of India . His wife and Brinda Karat are sisters.
TV Today which used to belong to the INDIA TODAY group and the only national weekly which supported BJP has now been bought over by NDTV!! Since then the tone has changed drastically and turned into Hindu bashing.
CNN-IBN: This is 100 percent funded by the Southern Baptist Church with its branches all over the world with HQ in US.. The Church annually allocates $800 million worldwide, for promotion of its thoughts. Its Indian head is Rajdeep Sardesai and his wife Sagarika Ghosh.
Times group list:
Times Of India, Mid-Day, Nav-Bharth Times, Stardust, Femina, Vijay Times, Vijaya Karnataka, Times now (24- hour news channel) and many more...
Times Group is owned by Bennet & Coleman. 'World Christian Council' provides 80 percent of the Funding, and an Englishman and an Italian equally share balance 20 percent. The Italian Robertio Mindo is a close relative of Sonia Gandhi.
Star TV: It is run by an Australian, who is supported by St. Peters Pontifical Church Melbourne.
Hindustan Times: Owned by Birla Group, but policies have changed since Shobana Bhartiya took over. Presently it is working in Collaboration with Times Group.
The Hindu: English daily, started over 125 years has been recently taken over by Joshua Society, Berne , Switzerland .. N. Ram's wife is a Swiss national.
Indian Express: Divided into two groups. The Indian Express and new Indian Express (southern edition) ACTS Christian Ministries have major stake in the Indian Express and latter is still with the Indian counterpart.
Eeenadu: Still to date controlled by an Indian named Ramoji Rao.
Ramoji Rao is connected with film industry and owns a huge studio in Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Jyothi: The Muslim party of Hyderabad known as MIM along with a Congress Minister has purchased this Telugu daily very recently.
The Statesman: It is controlled by Communist Party of India.
Kairali TV: It is controlled by Communist party of India (Marxist)
Mathrubhoomi: Leaders of Muslim League and Communist leaders have major investment.
Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle: Is owned by a Saudi Arabian Company with its chief Editor M.J. Akbar.
Gujarat riots which took place in 2002 where Hindus were burnt alive,
Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt working for NDTV at that time got around 5 Million Dollars from Saudi Arabia to cover only Muslim victims, which they did very faithfully.Not a single Hindu family was interviewed or shown on TV whose near and dear ones had been burnt alive, it is reported.
Tarun Tejpal of < <http://tehelka.com/>Tehelka.com regularly gets blank cheques from Arab countries to target BJP and Hindus only, it is said.
The ownership explains the control of media in India by foreigners. The result is obvious.
PONDER OVER THIS. NOW YOU KNOW WHY EVERY ONE IS AGAINST TRUTH, HOW VERY SAD.
Please pass this on to as many as possible. Let them know who feeds them with biased news and information- yet call themselves secular
MUST READ!!!!! WHAT A WONDERFUL ARTICLE BY AN EDITOR OF TIMES OF INDIA
LETTER TO PRIMEMINISTER
Dear Mr. Prime minister ,
I am a typical mouse from Mumbai. In the local train compartment which has capacity of 100 persons, I travel with 500 more mouse. Mouse at least squeak but we don't even do that.
Today I heard your speech. In which you said 'NO BODY WOULD BE SPARED'. I would like to remind you that fourteen years has passed since serial bomb blast in Mumbai took place. Dawood was the main conspirator. Till today he is not caught. All our bolywood actors, our builders, our Gutka king meets him but your Government can not catch him. Reason is simple; all your ministers are hand in glove with him. If any attempt is made to catch him everybody will be exposed. Your statement 'NOBODY WOULD BE SPARED' is nothing but a cruel joke on this unfortunate people of India.
Enough is enough. As such after seeing terrorist attack carried out by about a dozen young boys I realize that if same thing continues days are not away when terrorist will attack by air, destroy our nuclear reactor and there will be one more Hiroshima.
We the people are left with only one mantra. Womb to Bomb to Tomb. You promised Mumbaikar Shanghai what you have given us is Jalianwala Baug.
Today only your home minister resigned. What took you so long to kick out this joker? Only reason was that he was loyal to Gandhi family. Loyalty to Gandhi family is more important than blood of innocent people, isn't it?
I am born and bought up in Mumbai for last fifty eight years. Believe me corruption in Maharashtra is worse than that in Bihar. Look at all the politician, Sharad Pawar, Chagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane, Bal Thackray , Gopinath Munde, Raj Thackray, Vilasrao Deshmukh all are rolling in money. Vilasrao Deshmukh is one of the worst Chief minister I have seen. His only business is to increase the FSI every other day, make money and send it to Delhi so Congress can fight next election. Now the clown has found new way and will increase FSI for fisherman so they can build concrete house right on sea shore. Next time terrorist can comfortably live in those house , enjoy the beauty of sea and then attack the Mumbai at their will.
Recently I had to purchase house in Mumbai. I met about two dozen builders. Everybody wanted about 30% in black. A common person like me knows this and with all your intelligent agency & CBI you and your finance minister are not aware of it. Where all the black money goes? To the underworld isn't it? Our politicians take help of these goondas to vacate people by force. I myself was victim of it. If you have time please come to me, I will tell you everything.
If this has been land of fools, idiots then I would not have ever cared to write you this letter. Just see the tragedy, on one side we are reaching moon, people are so intelligent and on other side you politician has converted nectar into deadly poison. I am everything Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Schedule caste, OBC, Muslim OBC, Christian Schedule caste, Creamy Schedule caste only what I am not is INDIAN. You politician have raped every part of mother India by your policy of divide and rule.
Take example of former president Abdul Kalam. Such a intelligent person, such a fine human being. You politician didn't even spare him. Your party along with opposition joined the hands, because politician feels they are supreme and there is no place for good person.
Dear Mr Prime minister you are one of the most intelligent person, most learned person. Just wake up, be a real SARDAR. First and foremost expose all selfish politician. Ask Swiss bank to give name of all Indian account holder. Give reins of CBI to independent agency. Let them find wolf among us. There will be political upheaval but that will better than dance of death which we are witnessing every day. Just give us ambient where we can work honestly and without fear. Let there be rule of law. Everything else will be taken care of.
Choice is yours Mr. Prime Minister. Do you want to be lead by one person or you want to lead the nation of 100 Crore people?
PLEASE READ N FORWARD AS MANY PEOPLE IN YOUR CONTACT LIST
Hi Kaul, It is a good thing that you bring to light the failure of Ms Sonia and Pm Singh. Please look at my website www.railwaysHit.com and understand the fact that daily as many people that dies in the recent Mumbai tragedy are dying in India - due to lack of sanitation on Indian trains - their bathrooms opening onto the tracks is a tragedy. I have a written a letter to saja founde sre at Coloumbia and in it there are some crucial issues raised - I hope you will bring these to the discussions through the new secetary of state appointee and others. The letter is below. Look forward to hear from you SIncerly George
Dr George Joseph Themplangad
A simple letter from a hapless Mumbaikar to the most intelligent economist and Prime Minister of India : "LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER
Dear all, We talk too much. We do very little. We have Dada's in politics, Dada's in underworld, Dada's in Police force and Dada's in Judiciary. We continue to boast that we know it all. People concerned must resign and make way for educated, capable and committed young people. There is Dadagiri all around. We need Gandhigiri and clean government. Dr Manu Chandaria Nairobi
"Dear all,
I don't know the source of this article ..... but still this is also one of those outraged comments about terrorist attacks that we have come across in past couple of days. I thought that I should just share this article , in my individual capacity with you ...
Regards Sunil Sareen
" Dear Mr. Prime minister I am a typical mouse from Mumbai. In the local train compartment which has capacity of 100 persons, I travel with 500 more mouse. Mouse at least squeak but we don't even do that. Today I heard your speech. In which you said 'NO BODY WOULD BE SPARED'. I would like to remind you that fourteen years has passed since serial bomb blast in Mumbai took place. Dawood was the main conspirator. Till today he is not caught. All our bolywood actors, our builders, our Gutka king meets him but your Government can not catch him. Reason is simple; all your ministers are hand in glove with him. If any attempt is made to catch him everybody will be exposed. Your statement 'NOBODY WOULD BE SPARED' is nothing but a cruel joke on this unfortunate people of India. Enough is enough. As such after seeing terrorist attack carried out by about a dozen young boys I realize that if same thing continues days are not away when terrorist will attack by air, destroy our nuclear reactor and there will be one more Hiroshima. We the people are left with only one mantra. Womb to Bomb to Tomb. You promised Mumbaikar Shanghai what you have given us is Jalianwala Baug. Today only your home minister resigned. What took you so long to kick out this joker? Only reason was that he was loyal to Gandhi family. Loyalty to Gandhi family is more important than blood of innocent people, isn't it? I am born and bought up in Mumbai for last fifty eight years. Believe me corruption in Maharashtra is worse than that in Bihar. Look at all the politician, Sharad Pawar, Chagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane, Bal Thackray , Gopinath Munde, Raj Thackray, Vilasrao Deshmukh all are rolling in money. Vilasrao Deshmukh is one of the worst Chief minister I have seen. His only business is to increase the FSI every other day, make money and send it to Delhi so Congress can fight next election. Now the clown has found new way and will increase FSI for fisherman so they can build concrete house right on sea shore. Next time terrorist can comfortably live in those house , enjoy the beauty of sea and then attack the Mumbai at their will. Recently I had to purchase house in Mumbai. I met about two dozen builders. Everybody wanted about 30% in black. A common person like me knows this and with all your intelligent agency & CBI you and your finance minister are not aware of it. Where all the black money goes? To the underworld isn't it? Our politicians take help of these goondas to vacate people by force. I myself was victim of it. If you have time please come to me, I will tell you everything. If this has been land of fools, idiots then I would not have ever cared to write you this letter. Just see the tragedy, on one side we are reaching moon, people are so intelligent and on other side you politician has converted nectar into deadly poison. I am everything Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Schedule caste, OBC, Muslim OBC, Christian Schedule caste, Creamy Schedule caste only what I am not is INDIAN. You politician have raped every part of mother India by your policy of divide and rule. Take example of former president Abdul Kalam. Such a intelligent person, such a fine human being. You politician didn't even spare him. Your party along with opposition joined the hands, because politician feels they are supreme and there is no place for good person. Dear Mr Prime minister you are one of the most intelligent person, most learned person. Just wake up, be a real SARDAR. First and foremost expose all selfish politician. Ask Swiss bank to give name of all Indian account holder. Give reins of CBI to independent agency. Let them find wolf among us. There will be political upheaval but that will better than dance of death which we are witnessing every day. Just give us ambient where we can work honestly and without fear. Let there be rule of law. Everything else will be taken care of. Choice is yours Mr. Prime Minister. Do you want to be lead by one person or you want to lead the nation of 100 Crore people? "
Dear Friends,
The recent terror nightmare in Mumbai has shaken all of us. Please take a few minutes to read this chilling episode and pass it to all you can. Everyone needs to be aware of the horrible deeds committed by these terrorists and what people of Mumbai have gone thru.
Your friend,
Anil Shah M.D.
Folks,
I received this chilling account of one person's experience via a friend.
I confirmed with him about the authencity before sending.
Please Please Please read.
Janak
From: PARIKH Rohan
Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2008 6:36 PM The Mumbai Attacks
Dear friends, First, I wanted to thank you all for the incredible concern and support that you'll have given me over the past few days which have been among the most emotionally and psychologically draining of my life. By the grace of God my father was rescued from the Oberoi on Friday with two (minor) bullet wounds and is now speedily recovering. He did however lose the two best friends he was dining with that fateful night (who are like godfathers to me). We also lost a lot of other friends and colleagues and have watched our beloved city reduced to a war zone and brought to its knees. On Wednesday night, my father and his two friends arrived at the Indian restaurant on the first floor of the Oberoi Hotel for dinner at about 10pm. They had barely sat down when they heard gun shots in the lobby of the hotel. The terrorists, armed with AK-47s, grenades and plastic explosives, had entered the hotel and were executing everybody sitting in the ground floor restaurant. Realizing the situation, the staff of the restaurant my father was in asked them to quickly exit through the kitchen. As the guests tried to rush into the kitchen, one terrorist burst into the restaurant and began to shoot anyone that remained in the restaurant. At this point my father was in the kitchen and along with his two friends rushed to the fire exit. They had barely descended a few steps when they were trapped from both ends by terrorists. The terrorists then rounded up anyone alive (about 20 people) and made them climb the service staircase to the 18th floor. On reaching the 18th floor landing they made the people line up against a wall. One terrorist then positioned himself on the staircase going up from the landing and the other on the staircase going down from the landing. Then, in a scene right out of the Holocaust, they simultaneously opened fire on the people. My father was towards the center of the line with his two friends on either side. Out of reflex, or presence of mind, he ducked as soon as the firing began. One bullet grazed his neck, and he fell to the floor as his two friends and several other bodies piled on top of him. The terrorists then pumped another series of bullets into the heap of bodies to finish the job. This time a bullet hit my father in the back hip. Bent almost in double, crushed by the weight of the bodies above him, and suffocating in the torrent of blood rushing down on him from the various bodies my father held on for ten minutes while the terrorists left the area. When he finally had the courage to wiggle his arms he found that there were four other survivors in the room. They communicated to each other by touch as they were too afraid to make a sound. My father moved just enough to allow himself room to breathe and then lay still. The survivors passed over twelve hours lying still in the heap of bodies too afraid to move. They constantly heard gunfire and hand grenades going off in the other parts of the hotel. They feared that any noise would bring the terrorists back. After approximately twelve hours, the terrorists returned with a camera and flashlight and joked and laughed as they filmed what they thought was a pile of dead bodies. They then moved to the landing below where they set up explosives. On their departing, my father decided that it was too risky to remain where they were due to the explosives. Along with the other three survivors he climbed the rest of the stairwell, where they discovered a large HVAC plant room in which they decided to take shelter. They passed the rest of the siege hiding in this room trying to get the attention of the outside world by waving a makeshift flag out of the window. They drank sips of dirty water from the Air Conditioning unit to survive. Finally on Friday morning they were spotted by a commando rescue team that was storming the building and were evacuated to safety and taken to the hospital. This is just one of the countless horror stories that unfolded in those two days. There are many stories of entire families being wiped out while eating their dinner, or young kids losing both parents, or pregnant women being shot while pleading for their lives, or hostages being beaten to death with the butt of a rifle so that their faces were unrecognizable. The terrorists attacked on every level. They killed middle class workers when they shot up the railway station, they killed the elite in the hotels, they killed tourists and kids as they ate in a cafรฉ, and they killed the sick and dying when they stormed three hospitals. They shot people in the roads, in stations, in hotels, and even entered an apartment building. They killed Indians, Americans, Britons, Israelis, and several other nationalities. They killed men, women, children, policemen, firemen, doctors, patients. This was systematic, cold-blooded, slaughter. We have lost a lot of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. Every person who lives in South Mumbai has a story about how either they or someone they love either died or had a narrow escape. The true extent of the horror will only make itself clear over the next few days. Mumbai is a proud city and we pride ourselves on bouncing back from any adversity. We survive and prosper despite all the difficulties placed on us. We are no strangers to terror and have had to pick up the pieces and move on after several attacks. This time however, the sheer scale and audacity brought the city to its knees. The openness of our society, the bustling hoards in our train stations, the vibrancy of our news media, and the thousands of tourists, diplomats, and business leaders packing our hotels was used against us to devastating effect. In the end one tries to make sense of all this. Barack Obama said about the killers of 9/11: "My powers of empathy, my ability to reach into another's heart, cannot penetrate the blank stares of those who would murder innocents with such serene satisfaction." Unfortunately, this is becoming an all familiar scene in today's world. While I cannot understand, I recognize again and again the hatred, anger, and desperation of the terrorists and the cold blooded, targeted, ruthlessness of those that dispatch them. They respect nothing but their own twisted beliefs and to achieve them have declared war on an entire way of life. India now finds itself as a major front of this global war. How do we fight such hate? How do we inject humanity into such monstrosity? How do we convince those who think they kill in god's name that no God would condone such barbarity? How do we maintain our own values and humanity when faced with such hate and provocation? Over the next week as we say goodbye to those we lost and help those that survive, Mumbai and India will ask themselves these questions. I hope the rest of the world does too. I will remain in Mumbai for at least a week to help out with various things, after which I will probably return to complete P2 at INSEAD. Right now, though I miss all everyone at INSEAD, I cannot fathom sitting in a classroom. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers. Rohan
.
Shri Kaul ji,
Sadar Pranam.
I am a Indian from heart and Hindu from soul. I think we are trying to push wrong buttons to put our point up front. My personnel thought is all the so called elected leaders (thugs by profession) should be named, especially who are trying to divide my motherland on the basis of religion, caste and statehood. Our servants who want to treat us like a piece of meat and throw us in dustbins, should not be spared in the next election - jago sone walon. To name few Dy. Chief Minister of Maharastra (good already gone), Kerala Chief Minister, Gujarat Chief Minister, Raj Thackrey and many more cannot be let go. It is sad and I condemn the terrorism of any sort but only thing positive has come out from this attack is brought Indians together. Our leaders (community and religious) should take advantage of this and preach patriotism. Country is first and then comes anything else. Dhanayad for sharing pertinent information, always enjoy reading your material. Looking forward to hear from you.
Subject: Re: NRIs demanding resignation of Sonia Gandhi
LETS KICK HER OUT TO PAKISTAN WE HAD BTRITSH FOR 200 YEARS NOW ITALIANS FOR LAST 35 YEARS AND LETS GET RIDOFF ALL NEHURU DYSTANY THEY HAVE BOUGHT THE COUNTRY DOWN I AM SICK OF THIS SONIA RAJ I HAD IT MIKE PATEL USA
With personal account deposit bank of $1500 billion in foreign reserve which have been misappropriated, an amount 13 times larger than the country's foreign debt, one needs to rethink if India is a poor country?.
DISHONEST INDUSTRIALISTS, scandalous politicians and corrupt IAS, IRS, IPS officers have deposited in foreign banks in their illegal personal accounts a sum of about $ 1500 billion, which have been misappropriated by them. This amount is about 13 times larger than the country's foreign debt. With this amount 45 crore poor people can get Rs 1,00,000 each. This huge amount has been appropriated from the people of India by exploiting and betraying them.
Once this huge amount of black money and property comes back to India , the entire foreign debt can be repaid in 24 hours. After paying the entire foreign debt, we will have surplus amount, almost 12 times larger than the foreign debt. If this surplus amount is invested in earning interest, the amount of interest will be more than the annual budget of the Central government. So even if all the taxes are abolished, then also the Central government will be able to maintain the country very comfortably.
Some 80,000 people travel to Switzerland every year, of whom 25,000 travel very frequently. "Obviously, these people won't be tourists. They must be travelling there for some other reason," believes an official involved in tracking illegal money. And, clearly, he isn't referring to the commerce ministry bureaucrats who've been flitting in and out of Geneva ever since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations went into a tailspin!
Just read the following details and note how these dishonest industrialists, scandalous politicians, corrupt officers, cricketers, film actors, illegal sex trade and protected wildlife operators, to name just a few, sucked this country's wealth and prosperity. This may be the picture of deposits in Swiss banks only. What about other international banks?
Black money in Swiss banks -- Swiss Banking Association report, 2006 details bank deposits in the territory of Switzerland by nationals of following countries:
Top five
India---- $1,456 billion
Russia ---$ 470 billion
UK -------$390 billion
Ukraine - $100 billion
China -----$ 96 billion
Now do the maths - India with $1456 billion or $1.4 trillion has more money in Swiss banks than rest of the world combined. Public loot since 1947: Can we bring back our money? It is one of the biggest loots witnessed by mankind -- the loot of the Aam Aadmi (common man) since 1947, by his brethren occupying public office. It has been orchestrated by politicians, bureaucrats and some businessmen. The list is almost all-encompassing. No wonder, everyone in India loots with impunity and without any fear.
What is even more depressing in that this ill-gotten wealth of ours has been stashed away abroad into secret bank accounts located in some of the world's best known tax havens. And to that extent the Indian economy has been stripped of its wealth. Ordinary Indians may not be exactly aware of how such secret accounts operate and what are the rules and regulations that go on to govern such tax havens. However, one may well be aware of 'Swiss bank accounts,' the shorthand for murky dealings, secrecy and of course pilferage from developing countries into rich developed ones.
In fact, some finance experts and economists believe tax havens to be a conspiracy of the western world against the poor countries. By allowing the proliferation of tax havens in the twentieth century, the western world explicitly encourages the movement of scarce capital from the developing countries to the rich.
In March 2005, the Tax Justice Network (TJN) published a research finding demonstrating that $11.5 trillion of personal wealth was held offshore by rich individuals across the globe. The findings estimated that a large proportion of this wealth was managed from some 70 tax havens.
Further, augmenting these studies of TJN, Raymond Baker -- in his widely celebrated book titled 'Capitalism' s Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free Market System' -- estimates that at least $5 trillion have been shifted out of poorer countries to the West since the mid-1970.
It is further estimated by experts that one per cent of the world's population holds more than 57 per cent of total global wealth, routing it invariably through these tax havens. How much of this is from India is anybody's guess.
What is to be noted here is that most of the wealth of Indians parked in these tax havens is illegitimate money acquired through corrupt means. Naturally, the secrecy associated with the bank accounts in such places is central to the issue, not their low tax rates as the term 'tax havens' suggests. Remember Bofors and how India could not trace the ultimate beneficiary of those transactions because of the secrecy associated with these bank accounts? IS THERE ANY ONE WHO WOULD SAVE INDIA ?God... No No No, even he can't....... ....!!
forward it to all your Indian friends....
-
FOSAACs 5th Annual Awards Banquet
Awards Night and Independence Celebrations dinner brings together South Asians and American Communities
FOSAAC hosts its Annual Awards Banquet on September 6th. The event, in its 5th year, will be held at the International Ballroom at Beverly Hilton Hotel, which also hosts the annual Golden Globe Awards in Hollywood. The event functions not only as an awards ceremony; but also doubles as an Independence Day celebration. This event will be viewed on CNN Headline News between Sep 1-4,08 also in the US.
FOSAAC, founded in 2000, by Chairman Kevin Kishore Kaul, is an organization which seeks to integrate the South Asian American communities into the American mainstream. The goal of integration not only involves retaining one's culture but attempting to gain a visible presence in American society. The event is organized by Kevin Kishore Kaul for the past 5 years and the main sponsors of this annual event over the past years and now are Mr Dave Katragadda, Mr Gurbax Bhasin, Dr Prem Sagar Reddy,Mr BU Patel, Dr Anil Shah,Mr Hamilton Brewart, Mr Jagan Yelisetti, Mr Nataraj Reddy, Mr Chitaranjan Roy, Mr Shiv Grewal, Mr Imaad Zuberi, Malaysian Airlines, Mrs Sangeeta Kaul, Mr Ragu Sada,Mr Rattan Joea, Mrs Anne Tahim,Mr Yogesh Mehta,Mr Hashmath Mallik, Mr Vijay Soni, Mr Vinay Keesara, Dr Durairaj, Mr Sarfaraz Khan,Mr Farooq Vakil and all of the communities at large.The program, which serves as the launching point of FOSAAC Entertainment & Media, is produced by Nauzad Sadry, the President of FOSAAC Entertainment & Media. FOSAAC Entertainment and Media specializes in Hollywood productions and event management.
The highlight of the evening is the presentation of the awards and distribution of the awards. The awards are named after many influential members of the South Asian community, are given to members of the South Asian and American community members who have been successful in their chosen fields. Some of the awards featured at the awards banquet include the Mahatma Gandhi Award which is given for outstanding contributions to society, and the Mother Theresa Award which is given as an award for humanitarian of the year.
The Chief Guests of the event are Antonio Villaraigosa, the Mayor of Los Angeles & Mrs. Maneka Gandhi who is a Member of Parliament in India. In addition to our chief guests, the event will serve as host to many several high-profile political dignitaries, businessmen and celebrities from both the United States and India.
Grant Cardone, a profound motivational speaker, and Elena Lyons, a famous Hollywood actress, will serve as Masters of Ceremony that evening. Hollywood celebritiesNancy Cartwright, of Simpson's fame and Anne Archer, an Academy Award Nominee, will be awarded for their considerable contributions to various social causes.
In addition to the awards ceremony, the event features a multitude of programs which not only represent various South Asian communities but also programs with American flavor. The event will have dazzling performances by Nauzad (Bollywood's singing sensation), NoopurDanceAcademy, Rasalila, and sensational dances by the famous Fire Groove Dancers from Hollywood. The show will be followed by an After-Party with music by DJ Zubin.
If you'd like more information about FOSAACs 5th Annual Awards Banquet please call Kevin Kaul at 562-572-8751 (info@kevinkaul.com) or Divya at 310-491-6214 (divk85@yahoo.com).
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