Open letter to my blog-mates

I think all sides should be tolerant of criticism including Vinod Sharma. It is OK if we use harsh language minus abuse but calling everyone who is anti-congress, anti-pseudo-secularism RSS wallah is great injustice. The bloggers have full rights to question journalistic neutrality of Mr.Sharma. We expect Mr.Sharma to be neutral not biased.

I’d like to thank Mr.Sharma for this platform. It gives us great insight into Indian journalism and its priorities.

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The goal , to keep the discussion civil, is a worth while goal and will always be a coinstant struggle, with no final victory. Just like any democracy.

Remember, Indian diplomats have struggled for years trying to keep dialogue with Pakistan civil with futile and counter productive results.
ICC and ECB too tried to keep dialogue with Pakistan PCB civil, but they have floundered with horrendous results.

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Helo Mr.Sharma , you worrying for some body using heating language, same view express vir sanghvi also early, but you all people need to know, you can call any body fascist, communal, etc… if you also using these type of language and journalism you need to expect opposite criticism

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Lets see how long this lasts. Some of the guys obsession with Islam and Pakistan creeps in.

Second post, Rajiv could not waste time brings in Pakistan and PCB. Rajiv does not like me cutting and pasting, but he will post his baseless allegations and his opinion again and again.

Rajiv you want me to direct you to site, which will shows horrendous decisions during the series against England? You want me to direct you to photos what English bowlers were doing with the new ball, but fingers were only pointing towards Pakistan. Heck the holier than cow English men have promoted this guy Mazhar Majeed into some post, while our guys are banned even before proving any of the allegatiosn.

Coming to your fiasco in Commonwealth Games, Pakistani delegation has approved the security measures and the facility to be be ok. If it was the other way around, and the games were in Islamabad, yes you guys would be squarely and firmly sitting in the English and Aussies lap. Here lies the difference, Rajiv.

Its going to awfully hard for some of the guys to be civil.

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Mapla i.e. Moplah means ‘SON-IN-LAW’ in malayalam.

The pakistani muslims are treated as MOPLAHs by liberal media.

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Mr Vinod Sharma, Let the readers be known that, i use to frequently write to HT’s ‘letters to editor’ column way back in 2004/2005. Though most of my comments were related to published articles in HT, but i do confess that most of them were critical of pseudo-secular policies of Congress and jehadi secularism of media. For sometime, my letters were entertained and printed after mild or heavy “editing” Many a times, the edited portions use to be the crux of my letters. But i accepted that with a pinch of salt.

Then suddenly, somewhere in the early 2005, my letters stopped appearing abruptly. I know, i am not the only one who use to write to HT and so i dont have any fundamental right to make it to the printing blocks every time i wrote. But the peculiar thing was, all the letters on that topic which were included were either of pro-Congress content or anti-BJP tenure. So by that logic, i was the “other view” which too should had been included but it wasnt. Not one or two, but somewhere around 100 letters later, i decided its pointless and i called it quits. So much for HT’s policy to tell the truth, include all views and traditions of minimal editing.

However, all that is besides the point. This blog and your write-up is about foul language used by some people on this site. Who can deny Mr Sharma that whatever you have written is absolutely correct and desirous of being followed voluntarily by all visitors to the blog. But tell me Mr Sharma, does it ever occur to you as to why educated and net-savvy upper class of India, resorts to such abusive language ? Do you think it pleases the abuser to use such language ? The answer to this is a BIG “NO” Mr. Sharma.

I think you need to introspect on this issue. If my observation has any value to you then i will state the following reasons :

1) HT and all major news publications have adopted an abhorrently sycophant attitude towards Congress party and its Gandhi scions. You over glorify Rahul and Sonia and policies of Congress and offer them the longest rope on every hole they dig themselves into. You have been playing the Devil’s advocate for Congress for a long long time and this has become too apparent and extremely irritating for readers who expect you to be fair and neutral in your reportings.

2) As a follow up to the above point, HT and other news publications as well as prominent national news TV channels and their celebrated anchors adopt a very hawkish attitude towards BJP or Sangh parivaar which is at most times not only highly irrational and unjournalistic but also extremely insulting and castrating in nature and the reporting goes overboard in its bias against the saffron brigade. So much so, that i can put my head on the line to challenge that not a single article, editorial, or news reporting in the last 15 years has even mildly praised or acknowledged BJP’s point of view on any given issue. The only articles where this anomaly occurs is when the writer is a BJP spokesperson or a Sangh functionary which too happens very rarely.

3) Ayodhya debate : On this highly emotive issue, HT has forever pitted itself in the camp of pro-Babri agitators and has condemned pro-Mandir camp with vehement disdain. At no point has HT shown any sympathy for the Hindu cause and only talks about the 1992 Babri demolition and not 1528 demolition. It sheds tears for Muslim population but refuses to acknowledge the injury to Hindu psyche. All the editorials and writers at HT have all kinds of harsh words for VHP and BJP for pursuing the Mandir movement, but they soak their pens in golden ink of lyrical praise when it comes to addressing the pro-Masjid camp. The Hindus who have a clear historical right over the land and have sited ( wrong or right ) valid reasons for the demand of that piece of land , are declared “communal”, stubborn , obstinate and trouble mongrels by your paper where as the other side, which has no religious significance or historical context for the disputed land find robust support in media, in corridors of power, as well as from the fast mushrooming juggernaut of self-claimed “intellectuals” and “rights activists”. Do you think that’s fair ?

4) Gujarat riots and Modi : Not even against Hitler was so much written by so many as much has been written by your paper against the giant from Gujarat – Narendra Modi. Till date not even an iota of evidence has been found against Mr. Modi, but columnist after columnist in your paper have been gunning for his head and calling him all kinds of names. In the bargain, you ignore all his achievements, his vast acceptability all over the country, his pro-development deeds as well as image and above all, Gujarat’s trouble free record since riots of 2002. As a journalist and as someone who is aware of basic tenets of legal preambles, you must be aware that in the eyes of law every person is innocent till proven guilty but did you and your paper ever follow this dictum ? If you have such high regards for secular fabric of Indian society and so you cant overcome the fact that Mr Modi had played a suspicious role in Gujarat riots, howcome you don’t abhor Congress for its role in 84 riots and partition riots ? An estimated 3 lakh people died during partition right under the nose of Nehru and close to three thousand Sikhs died in 84 riots while Rajiv echoed that infamous “big tree” comment.. Were they too mass-murderers and deservants of loath for you ?

5) Kashmir : If Kashmir’s Azadi movement has off late gained a huge momentum it can be largely contributed to taking up of their “cause” by mainstream media of India and your paper takes the cake for it. All your editorials are pro-Azadi as are your onboard columnists as well as “guest” columnists. They, inspite of their supposed above-average intelligence and commonsense, fail to se the “communal” and anti-national angle in the demand for an Azad Kashmir. After all, the Sikhs and Pundits of the valley never pressed for any Azadi so howcome only Muslim Kashmiris have a problem with Indian state ? But, your paper chooses to ignore this dinasaurus argument and tows the preposterous line of separatists of the valley. Is your paper HT or KT ?

So, Mr Vinod Sharma, the point is, even though it is a known fact that you can please few people sometimes but not all the people all the time , but still, the way a large section of Indian Media is heavily biased against the sentiments of majority community and catering only to the pseudo-secularists and pro-Congress, pro-Muslim mindset is what is causing this gross disillusionment in the minds of your readers and their frustration to see you do all this in the garb of liberalness and secular-ness is making them use harsh words against you and trust me, what you see is only the tip of the iceberg. People are highly frustrated but you are blinded by your Congress “prem” and your pseudo secular ideals and so you either don’t see the dissent or you don’t bother about it because your job is done as long as 10 janpath keeps patting your back.

A request – Please just for one day in your life, take a break from everything and introspect deeply and genuinely. Is your personal likes or dislikes more important or should you be a foot soldier of national good ?

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Vindod ji, completely understand your point. I too have been mostly a silent observer of your blog and the comments that follow. Its pathetic to see the abusive language that’s used by some of the readers here. They do not understand how badly they let their country down when they use such language. A particular reader with a name that starts with ‘P’ often comes to mind – an Indian who has made it a habit of swearing in his comments. There are of course many more in his league, who consider themselves to be truly patriotic while they’re actually throwing mud on themselves.

I do hope you want be too bothered by those chronic abusers to stop writing this blog. I find it an interesting read and would be sad to see it disappear.

Regards

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Testing times for HT Freedom of speech speech policy

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http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/1871/dr-aafia-deserved-what-she-got/

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-let’s hope for —better–best,
–thanks.

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Sharmaji, while your thought is honourable, when even the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan who have considerable experience in diplomatic talks end up indulging in provocative talks, how do you expect an average person out here to display communication and diplomatic skills to have a discussion with people of the country they dislike the most?

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Most Indians say, India is far from perfect but much better than Pakistan . They believe it would be a lie to say otherwise.
The world says something similar and concurs with India, but thats besides the point.

Pakistanis (not all but two deviants you find here most of the time,enjoying the full journalistic freedom that an Indian web site offers to all , including Pakistanis, without moderation and censorship ) say,Pakistan may be sometimes bad but India is as bad, if not worse and if Pak did something wrong, its the cunning India ( read Hindus ) who made them do it ! Jinnah said something similar.

One of them , reportedly carries a mirror given to him by Jinnah, which shows him that India is as undemocratic, terrorist, corrupt and criminal as the Pak army/ISI ruled state, who are saviors of Pakistan ! Its only Zardari who is bad !!!!!!!

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Rajiv are you habitual lier or what?

It is you people who go over board for self praise, that is why I carry a mir, ror to show your real self. As far Jinnah is concerned, you could not match his leadership qualities at that time, hence his success in getting us Pakistan. That is why regardless what happens we will always be happy and you always how lost part of your country. Now go work hard, cause Kashmir is also fixing to leave your so shining country.

Calm down go watch the commonwealth games, cause so far it really does not look good with human c— in the apartments. Make sure those gora’s are happy

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The message is lost already!

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Yeah I think the fact that Indian media or celeb’s think that Indian’s and Pakistani’s are almost same but divided bt boundries and god knows what else.. is the reason why the flamefest happens everywhere on web.

Indians hate Pakistanis and Pakis have hated Indians since the day their country was formed (hell, their foundations are based on hatred and greed). If bloggers or anyone else actually expect Indians to have civil arguments with a country that is openly killing our fellow countrymen then denying it knowing that Indian Congress won’t do anything because of vote-bank politics, then that’s just being ignorant.

At the moment flaming Pakistan on internet is the only outlet for millions of Indians since our government will not take any action. Indian “liberal” media wants to take that away as well so that they can keep pretending they are civil and living in west (where dreams come true).

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Sharmaji,

Your blogs are worthwhile to read and the comments sometimes give an interesting insight.. Its very important to know the point of view of the ‘other’ side n this blog serves the purpose .. I implore u to hold on to this blog .

Regarding the bloggers who repeatedly dishonour this blog by using un parliamentary language . my suggestion wud be to ignore them .. They seek attention and Our refusal to give any willl be the biggest deterrent.. Some words though are beyond pardon and should be censored..

An ardent reader

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Please ask HT to post 3 options at the end of each comment – “Reply” “Like” and “Dislike”. That way all of us can vote and lets see what kind of reaction these fanatics get.

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@ Vinod Sharma,

With Shri Aiyar boarding the flight to London, I think things will suddenly change for the CWG. However the “Silencer” has dented India’s image by his relentless lies…

Did he gain by the negative publicity which lead to loss of tourism and loss of potentail jobs?

The COngress too has taken a good bashing curtesy one of its own…

Wish he migrates to Rwanda for ever….

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@ Vinod Sharma, Rajiv, Rajeev, Jai, Dr Anand, everyone….

Sir,

In the last blog you had commented, that tri-furcation of Jammu, Ladkah and Kashmir would prove Jinnah right. I am now giving you an example and would love to have your opinion.

Imagine a person has three sons and he gifts them a house with three rooms. Let us name this person as India and his sons as Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir.

Now one of the sons named Kashmir claims that the entire house is his own. That he should get all the money from his father (India). And he also occupies the kitchen, takes all the food meant for Jammu and Ladakh and also keeps fighting with the father (India).

He regularly kills anybody who comes to the house, yet keeps taking money from India (the father) stays all over the other properties of India and buys them.

Don’t you think that the father should show him his place in society by just assigning him one room and declaring that the other two rooms of the house belong to the other sons called Jammu and Ladakah?

Why should his negative views and activities spoil the careers and prosperity of his brothers?

That is why, sir, we need to tri-furcate Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir….

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Indians and Pakistanis have so few opportunities to interact, the open borders provided by the internet and blogs such as this one can become a forum for greater understanding. Sure we have our differences and may like to wave the flag, as it were, but with tehzeeb.

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@Azhar
Once you stop equating India with all-expletives-deleted-Pakistan , then maybe you will have some credibility. Till then , every all-expletives-deleted used at you , have been justified by your very own conduct.
Now feel free to go to a Pakistani blog , with your great mirror and write all abuse you can muster against India.
None of us will care or complain !

Do not keep abusing the freedom of expression that an Indian blog offers you but then did not PCB and Ijaz Butt grossly abuse the favour that ECB and ICC did to Pakistan ?

So may be , its just a trait.

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@Azhar Hussain

Dont argue with people like Rajiv, Rajeev etc. They know very well about their massive dirt ranges from dozens of separatist movements from Kashmir to Mizoram to Moaists who operates in 2/5 of India to 3/4 of country which lives less than 2$ in a day to dalts and many more. Each and every dirt of them needs a long article. But Leave them.

They dont have a courage to talk to you about their massive dirt

Instead, they will talk to you about your problems which are nothing infront of their problems but they do it beacuse Dil ke behlanay ko ghalib Kheyal accha ha.

So dont waste your time..Azhar Hussein….leave them..

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Beyond a certain point the more Indians and Pakistanis exchange c-r-a-p , the more dirty and filthier they themselves look. Except for Sharmaji, none of the Indians have visited Pakistan and none of the Pakistanies have visited India to see the ground situation. For Indian bloggers, we need not prove anything to Pakistani bloggers neither about our own country and neither there’s, we have our own aspirations to fulfill, our own limitations to negotiate, let them think whatever they want about India, by trying to get even with Pakistanies we are giving them importance they don’t deserve for there are far more pertinent issues in India at hand. Anything they speak ill about India can be taken by pinch of salt. They hate us, we hate them end of the story.

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Vijay,
The control of the Kashmir room is someone of the character of Fiday the 13th. Unfortunately the Kahsmir family is severly dysfunctional. There are several family members in this room, who are loyal to the father. How can we betray them as they hold 78% of the room? The 22% of the room has to be isolated. And why trifurcate ? Why not sixfurcate the Valley?

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@ Azhar,

Most of India is happy that we are partitioned from the section called Pakistan. They may be some naive idiots who believe that we should have remained one nation. But as events of the 63 years after independence have proved… a secular India could have never survived with the elements of hate and violence Pakistan breeds.

Today’s Hindustan Times carries a story of Pakistan based terrorists planning to hit European cities in a Mumbai style attack. Do you know that the USA has already planned to bomb each and every city of Pakistan in case of another 26/11 or 9/11 type of attack.?

Azhar, the problem is that we cannot equate the situation in India and Pakistan. I know you meant well in your previous posting but it does not answer Indian concerns. For example when you say, “go ISI go.. do a good job in India..” It may be funny to you or it just reveals the Pakistani position on terror sponsorship.

To Indians, it just proved that Pakistan is bound to go along its present path and eventually sink.
A hell hole of terror creation without a future.

Eventually friendship with India is only possible if you punish the Lashkar, Jaish and other evil entities.

Azhar, as a Shia are you happy that your fellow practitioners are cut up by Sunni fanatics like goats, chicken and fish?

The point is you guys are living in denial that your ISI and terrorists are cancer cells which need to be destroyed.

PS: I know there are a lot of positive things in Pakistan like Onyx carvings and translated works of Faiz Ahemad Faiz which I picked up in my last visit there. But the last video of a woman being stoned to death for talking to a man, which I saw last night, becomes the overiding image…

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Even if one accepts that India and Pakistan are brothers ( that notion largely rejected in Pakistan ), then Pakistan at best, is our cousin brother,like the ‘Kauravas’ of MahaBharat , with each and every quality ( chhal and kapat ) that distinguished the Kauravas.

Unfortunately a peaceful solution eluded the Pandavas/rest of world.

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@Anmol and Rajeev,

A strong Pakistan or weak Pakistan should not become a prerequisite for India’s peace. India(/Indians) needs to get DETACHED from dreaming about positive things that can happen in India “IF” Pakistan becomes peaceful and friendly with India. We can be powerful and peaceful with or without their co-operation.

We also need to look at the necessity of criticizing Pak’s policies, its defects and weakness, which are not really affecting India. Our way of telling them (Pak people) to “learn from us” is nothing but “holier than thou” attitude. If our country is really performing well, they will automatically realize where they erred. We don’t need to preach.

Once, an agitated Muslim (in some other blog) said “The negative propaganda against Muslims and Islam is so great that every tom dick and harry from Jews, Christian, the Hindus wants to teach them manners, wants to educate them, wants to refine the religion …” :
We need to understand his frustration. When 5 year old kid doesn’t like to be told, here we have a nation of million people who are expected to “listen to the entire world”, for foolish deeds of some. We can’t expect any other response than “rebel”.

Whether Pakistan survives or perishes, it is in their hand and it is their headache. It is not our job.

Same thing applies to Pakistani people, who keep shouting about “minority rights” in India, without considering why and how the “minorities” within their country migrated/vanished. Those who shout about the independence of Kashmiri people in India; but never asked their counterparts what they really liked (whether they were willing to be with Pak, were they happy when Pak decided to lease their integral part to China etc).

Most of Indo-Pak problem is mainly because of too much indulgence in each other country’s affairs. (Our security threats are mainly from China, but emotionally it is always Pak which is our first envy. For Pak, it is Talibans in their northern border which is the real threat. But their main worry is India).

Yes, we were hooked earlier. But we have parted our ways, let us admit it first. Our past will not give us any right to be nosy with each others affairs. Unnecessary love or hate, both show our attachment in the subject. The only way to show that we have really moved on from our past is to IGNORE. For a while, if India can consider Pak to be Philippines and Pak presume ourselves as Mexico, our problems can be solved (by ourselves).

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@Vinay,
I agree. A bening detachment would serve India best.

Thats why I have always supported reducing all contacts with Pakistan, including diplomatic to the bare minimum.

It may not solve the differencess ( which may be immune to a rational solution ) but less we interact, lesser the aggravation for all.

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@ Dr Anand,

There is something called the “poverty circuit.” It is about shouting “India is poor… give us money. Give me a chance to lecture you on poverty. Give me a return ticket to and fro London- Delhi-London… a hotel stay … Give me a scholorship. Or funds for my NGO…”

I suspect Mr Aiyar has gone on a lecture on this poverty circuit. Arundhati Roy does it every fortnight. Nirad Chaudary used to do this years back.

The Pakistani leadership of Quereshi and Zardari did it in the floods. Instead of self mobilization they went for globalization!

The CWG is an opportunity to inspire the youth for sports; an economic opportunity for the tourism industry and for all the workers who built the massive infrastructure; The METRO and the T3 will surely inspire other cities to follow.

But Mr Aiyar has bombed a significant part of the effort with his “silencers…” Unfortunately a gullible and a dumb media fell for it. Or maybe they needed scandals…. for TRP ratings

But Shiela Dixit and Manmohan Singh should turn the things around. For India!! For us !!

By the way we should probe all cases of corruption. But only after the Games. And also check out Mr AIyar for dereliction of duty in his tenure as Sports MInister….

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hello!This was a really brilliant blog!
I come from usa, I was luck to come cross your Topics in bing
Also I get much in your theme really thanks very much i will come later

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Are all disputes or conflicts , amenable to a rational and peaceful solution ?

( Hitlers Germany or East Pakistan before 1971 are examples of extreme situations )

Is it a pre-requisite that both parties to a dispute be rational for a peaceful solution ?

Is a peaceful and just solution to a dispute possible if one or more of the partuies are irrational ?

Is there a guarantee that all parties to a dispute will be rational ??

Answers to those questions will show if all disputes are amenable to a just and peaceful solution.

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I just watched reaction of some self-styled secularists especially Rajiv Dhawan, Senior Lawyer SC. He is calling High court judgement absolutely shocking and Panchayati in nature.

I think our secular media under the leadership of Barkha Dutt is hell bent on inciting muslims to go for riots. It is dangerous move and can prove disastarous for whole country especially muslims.

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Tp ,e this seems a good judgement.

But let us not forget that we are a country of 24/7 TV where the channels need controversy to survive. They are bound to get idiots to create a confrontation again. They will infact stuff words in the mouths of their panelists so that a war begins…

However the people of India — both Hindus and Muslims should respond maturely and reconcile to the future.

The real problem could be super pretending secularists like Mani Aiyar and Mulayam SIngh Yadav who may go to the MUslims and tell them ” guys you have been cheated…”

So let us be careful on how we handle this part.

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Well the mature re-actions of all the main partis to the dispute, has stunned and dis-appointed the fake secularists or those who make a living by berating others.

Now, all the media has to do is to get hold of some fringe elements , on both sides of the issue ( I detest that lady who wss MP CM or Tagodia or some other useless fellow ) , tell them that they are on national TV and get some media bites from them to fan communal trouble.

Unless that happens , expect the fake-secular-media brigade to act irritable and angry.

I just hope , all the main actors continue to display maturity and civility.

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How will those political parties and personalities survive whose survival depends on antics of Uma Bharati or Tagodia ?

It’s a grave dilemma.

I think Mulayam, Lallu, CPI-M even Congress may call for a Bharat-bandh to protest the absence of communal trouble after the verdict. The maturity displayed by principle characters of all sides so far is a threat to the survival of the fake-secular parties.

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Couples counseling for India and Pakistan
June 30th, 2009 Deepak Chopra and Salman Ahmad

Monday, June 29, 2009

Suspicions over a cooked election in Iran have brought a glimmer of hope for real reform. It takes glimmers in the long, fractious fights that hold societies in thrall. Can we find one in the toxic fight that has plagued India-Pakistan relations for six decades? We’ve already had a Camp David moment. When the two heads of state met to shake hands in mid-June, Manmohan Singh of India and Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan obeyed some new forces. One was the force of economics, which has cut both ways. Economics promises to make India a prosperous player on the world scene. With money has come the expectation of rational behavior, and India can see rationally that a stable, nonaggressive Pakistan is the kind of neighbor it wants to have. The other side of economics is the downturn. The mini-Cold War that has raged between the two countries keeps draining much needed resources that neither side can afford to squander.

The second new force is social, and it has arisen since the terrorist attack in Mumbai last November. The fact that the Indian populace did not call for reprisals against Pakistan, combined with Pakistan’s seemingly genuine efforts to crack down on terrorist camps, had an unexpected result. The xenophobes and zealots on the right lost the recent Indian election, and now the ruling Congress party has seen a peace benefit in real-time politics.

Now what?

Both countries need to test if a deeper shift in consciousness has taken place. Family feuds make for the bitterest wars. Behind the facade of nationalism, Delhi and Islamabad have been acting like battling exes in a never-ending divorce dispute.

It’s on this human basis that peace could make progress. The point isn’t how to slice up Kashmir or stop brandishing useless nuclear bombs. Until the divorced parties stop demonizing each other, both sides will cling to the one thing that all family feuds are based on: feeling right. India and Pakistan mutually feel justified in calling the other side wrong, and their emotional stance has ossified for 60 years.

May we offer some suggestions as a form of couples counseling?

First, the two countries need to recognize their commonality. Both were born on the same day in 1947, share the same ethnic and many of the same tribal backgrounds. India has a massive Muslim population, and on both sides of the border millions more identify as Punjabis. Their young people go to the same rock concerts and download the same songs, while their grandparents tell the same folk tales around the fire and relive the same myths.

With this commonality in mind, we propose a new paradigm for moving toward peaceful relations:

1. Increase people-to-people exchanges.
2. Use the arts and culture in building new cultural bridges.
3. Adopt a proactive realignment in loans to serve all the people, not just the privileged few.
4. Make the public feel safer by a joint agreement renouncing nuclear weapons and massive standing armies on each other’s border.
5. Agree to isolate violent extremists of all shapes and stripes, whether Hindu or Muslim.
6. Resolve the Kashmir conflict through international intermediaries.

India’s current national leadership can help immeasurably in strengthening the region by playing an astute and farsighted role in normalizing relations. An older generation couldn’t conceive of India without Pakistan as a blood enemy and vice versa. But the younger generation wants to be free of such rigid conditioning. With 60% of Pakistan’s population under 24 and India’s young people being globalized via the Internet, the race between MySpace.com and the politics of hatred looms large.

Given the right signals, beleaguered Pakistanis and Indians will recognize and embrace a sincere, open approach toward conflict resolution. This may take a leap of faith on both sides, but the time is ripe. Iran isn’t unique. Change is in the air everywhere.

Deepak Chopra is the author of over 50 books on health, success, relationships and spirituality, including his most recent novel, “Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment,” available now at http://www.deepakchopra.com.

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Sharmaji,

Can you introduce a rating system for the comments? This will automatically throw up posts that have substance as against unnecessary acrimony.

Also the system can give your vote disproportionate weight awhich may be used by you in case a post carries profanity.

Regards,

Ashu

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@Vinod Sharma,

Sir, you had predicited that Kayani’s extension is Zardari’s insurance. However with Kayani changing colors like a chameleon, it seems that the insurance company wants the client dead !!

Jab rakshak hi bhakshak ban jaye,

toh anjaam-e-gulistaan kya hoga… ?

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Vinod,

I am an Internet Hindu if you will, who follows you blogs on a routine basis.

I will say that you need to accept that there will be posters who will try to derail the blog. Please ignore them, You are doing a great favour to India by looking at Pakistan through friendly eyes. By far yours is one of the more objective and balanced takes on Pakistan. It just opens the possiblity of being in the minds of the readers.

In that yous blogs posts are helpful.

However, what I find disgusting (Not addressed to you personaly ) are members of your profession who are complietely blind to the truth and live in their dreamland. The ire if any is directed towards them.

I understand that it is hard but i will say keep it up.

Regards

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@Rajiv,

As predicted by me Mulayam Singh has already thrown the first jarring note. He sees this as an opportunity to tell the Muslims that your rights are being snatched.

Mani AIyar is bound to do this on the NDTV type of shows.

Ho Hum! Nothing changes in India

Hope Vinod SHarma ji has the interests of the nation when he goes on the TV. It may be tempting to play to the gallery, but sir, I request that you keep the interest of the nation in mind. At the end of the day, some panelists tend to make fun of the existence of lord Ram, calling him a mythological figure.

Let us remember that what prophet MOhammad is to Muslims, Ram is to HIndus.

The truth of temples being broken to make way for mosques exists everywhere. Even if you go to Qutub Minar in Delhi, you can see pillars of dancing goddesses over which the minar is made. The tourism booklet of the GOvt of India states that 27 temples were broken to make way for the monument.

BUT….

For the larger interests of the country, we have to move forward in history and not backwards. However if HIndus do get 2 acres or so of the site it should not be a big issue with the Muslims.

Further on the protection of monuments acts ensures that no other site is disturbed.

I hope and pray that Vinodji has the sagacity and wisdom to enhance the spirit of the judgement and not make fun of it.

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When I want to relax from work I read thease types of blogs very funny & entertaining.Ha Ha Ha Ha…..

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@Vinod Sharma,

I am coming back to the case for tri-furcation of Jammu and Kashmir.

As an engineering consultant I have just done a recce of two hotels in Goa, Guess what? They were owned by Kashmiri Muslims.

And now in Delhi, I have been asked to work on a design of a hotel and a guesthouse. Guess what. Bothe are owned by Kashmir Muslims.

All three people I met were fine gentlemen. Shrewd and tighfisted to the core, though !

BUt my point is, if these guys can own hotels and properties all over India, why I cannot do so in Kashmir ??? ????

Even the thought of a small piece of land being used of the Amarnath Yatra had literally evoked an avalanche.

That is why it is necessary to tri-furcate Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir.

let us come back to the anology of the three bedroom house being given by the father (India) to three brothers called Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir.

Let the naughty boy (Kashmir) sulk in his room for a few years. No point in pampering him beyond a point. In fact if you give a sulking pampered child all the toys he wants, he is still sure to break all and still fight with his brothers and parents. In this case, Kashmir taking all the government jobs, subsidies and funds meant for Ladakh and Jammu.

He is bound to come out of his bad habits, only when he sees his brothers racing ahead in life.

So when Ladakh and Jammu are freed and become separate states and progress, the smaller Kashmir will realise his “aukaat” and will yearn more for the love of the father (India) !!

Buying a few days of peace by pampering the separatists like Mehbooba and Mirwiaz as well as fundamantalists like Gilani will produce peace only for a few days…

Remember these words Vinodji. It is just a matter of months, before Kashmir goes on the boil again…

So let us start working for tri-furcation now!!

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Hello Viyay
You always come up with a new and more logical argument in support of trifurcation of Jand K. If I am not wrong the separatist leaders own property even in Delhi, what to speak of other gentlemen from Jand K owning property in Goa. But we are little defensive on this point. To of my knowledge, even people from other parts of the country can not buy property in HP (Himachal Pradesh). The law has to change in every state for any countryman to own property anywhere in the country.
Regards
BNA

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A lot of these separatists leaders own properties all over Delhi. They only shriek out ” Qyamat … qayamat…” when you and me think of buying something in Kashmir.

Even the nationalists — the Nehru family was originally from Jammu amd Kashmir….

Since we know they are the proudest of Indian citizens and had properties all over— Jawaharlalji owned the Anand Bhawan and Mrs Gandhi had a farmhouse in Delhi’s Chattarpur, and as per his tax declarations, Rahul has some shops in some Malls, I think they should change the property laws under section 370….

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@Vinodji,

Look tri-furcation finds another instant fan in Anmol. Sir, this is the way to go !

@Anmol.

Tri-furcation is the way to go, Anmol. Yes we can think of Ladakh as a Union territory.

If you need a mailer to post to your friends on the issue, mail me at vkkhanna71@gmail.com. You can send this factual mailer to all your contacts as well as eminent prsonalisties to build up momentum for tri-furcation.

We have to get this issue into public domain so that political parties take it up. So do the people of Jammu and Ladakh.

Cheers!! jai HInd !! Khuda Hafiz !!

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Did you guys watch the CW Games opning ceremony ?

It was spectacular , rivaling the very best in the world anywhere.

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Truly spectacular !!

Unfortunately a section of the media has been duped by the bogus windball called Mani Shankar Aiyar to oppose the CWG today and the possibility of holding the Asiad tomorrow!

Last heard of the windball called Aiyar is cruising the world on the taxes paid by the poor of INdia…

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Vijay kumar removes comments that he does not like or the ones that dont agree with him. you may notice there are more comments from him than any one else on all the blogs…. There is no set gudeline for control. it runs on the whimps of Mr. Kumar….at best people will leave this blog forever!!

So just like anywhere in India …..Baap ka raj prevails!!!

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@Rishi,

I’d like to clarify. My father does not own the Hindustan times!

I am here for the same reason u r here. I find the subject interesting and the interaction out here enlightening. I am sure if you stick around, you would do the same.

PS : I have no software which can remove your postings. It is probably the perogrative of Vinodji

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The secularist reaction to the verdict is entirely in form with their tactical approach. — FUD – fear, uncertainty, doubt. All the counts on which they are berating the judgement are based on a willful misunderstanding of the facts of the case and issues adjudicated.

First, the decision regarding faith was part of a separate suit and was decided specifically because the court was REQUIRED to decide if Hindus believed ayodhya to be the birthplace of Ram. Its not something they voluntarily delved into. Second, the final 3-way split formula had little to do with this decision, but was based purely on the merits of the title suits of each party. The split was based on the fact that none of the parties (except the nirmohi akhara) had any meaningful title claims to their claimed land, as per strict reading of laws related to such matters. The eventual decision was really in favor of the mahasabha purely on the basis of continuous active possession of the location for a significant length of time (since 1949) and almost no evidence of muslim possession over that period. Based on those facts, the court could easily have given the entire area to the hindu party. But eventually, this was a civil suit, not a criminal. Therefore the objective of the judgment is justice in equity and making each party whole. Which gives the justices considerable power in terms of deciding who gets what to make each side whole. There is no reason that if the hindu party was decided to be the winner of the matters disputed, the other side should walk away with nothing. The justices noted that there was considerable period of muslim ownership prior to 1949, and decided to compensate the muslim on basis of that, which is entirely acceptable in a civil suit. The issue of ‘faith’, had absolutely nothing to do with the final decision.

The secularist criticisms deliberately and willfully ignore the truth of the matter in order to rile up the muslims and create the fear psychosis that has proven so beneficial to them for so long. Keep the muslims forever scared of the other and they will keep voting for you.

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People like Mr Vinod Sharma should actually take up Muslim Name as they are Hindus only by name with hardly any feelings for Hindus . All of his & other “Secular ” people in India ’s symapthy is always with Muslims only for God knows what reasons . In the name of Secularism they have been always trying to ask Hindus to compromise everything but thanks to BJP’ rise (which again was never liked by the “Secular ” Media of India ) atleast now Hindus are no pushovers. They also know how to fight for their cause . I only would like to ask Mr Vinod Sharma & other media wallahs to just watch their Pakistani Media. How much liberal they might be but still theyr start their shows with ” Bismillah e Rahmane e Rahim ” which shows how much respect they show to their religion. Hinduism in unlucky to have a large no of persons like Mr Vinod Sharma who have no pride in their religion & alays lick otherers feet. I would just share one of the things a genuine muslim shared with me . He said that ” a Real Muslim would never support a ” Secular ” Politcians like Mr Lalu Yadav or Mulayam Yadav or Digvijay Singh as he will never trust a person who is not loyal to his own community . What a thought. If a person cannot be loyal to his own community how can he think about others benefit ? Mr Vinod Sharma – sharm karo

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There is a silent but real and mammoth Hindu majority that deeply resents what people like you are doing. This part of our society sees you urdu-poetry-quoting Delhi liberals as anachronistic relics of the past and a liability to our Nation and its sovereignty. Blogs like these allow them to vent some of their anger and frustration. These people and their thoughts and ideas are more real and more important than your “honourable lady” friend Diva, who I suspect is neither a lady (a female is more apt) nor honourable (likes Merlot, reads Rushdie, has Herpes?). If you are going to censor the comments and limit them to like-minded liberals, then there really is no point in maintaining this blog. Hindustan Times blogs are already one-sided and extremely homogeneous because they seem to represent the POV of Delhi liberals with Humanities backgrounds. Atleast allow the real Indians to express their views in the comments section. It doesnt matter how rabid and indecent the comments may seem to your “lady” readers. These comments are from real people who live in the real world and who make real contributions to India. Their voices are more important than yours. They represent the future and you, the decaying past. Instead of trying to build bridges between India and Pakistan, please try and contribute something to India. Nobody wants those bridges except a few people who don’t have real jobs. Please don’t censor the comments to impress some stupid, irrelevant female. If you want to get laid, all you have to do is quote a couple of verses from Neruda to her. You dont have to change your blog’s comments policy for that.

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Dear Vijay,
I agree with your comments, it has to be constructive comments in the interest of the whole society.

On the same note, can you help me, I am looking for contact information / email ID/Tel nos for my class mate Ashwani Sarin, who was editor in news paper, and has many interesting stories of his times, which he covered etc.

I would appreciate or alternatively, you can email him with a copy to me, so that we could revive our age old memories. I last met him some where in mid seventies, used to live at Malviya Nagar, New Delhi, just when he possibly got married.

Best Wishes for your work,
A Talwar,
Auckland, NZ, (talwar1948 AT GMAIL DOT COM)

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Good One.

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Success brings scrutiny. Vir is right to point out the contradictions.
Predictably, the movement will split. Kiran Bedi will join BJP. P.Bhushan
will go his own independent way and Anna Hazare will go on hunger strike
selectively whenever the public opinion seem to favour it.
However,corruption itself is a big issue. It is too early for Hazare to drift into
other political issues or get bogged down in the elections. Keep
laser like focus on corruption. The success is far from assured.
It is like 5 set tennis match-only one set has been completed. Go on fighting it.

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Looks like writing about anything now a days and projecting RSS for whatever they do or don’t do, in negative light has become a de-facto fashion of the left wing English media.

Let’s go beyond that and analyze this article.

Yes, the mixed ideologies doesn’t go well for long in the Indian Political arena for that matter, in any alliance. But that didn’t stop Congress from creating the alliance just to keep the “communal” forces out of power, even though it was the most communal Congress Govt. which opened the doors of the disputed site in Ayodhya. They are the one, who have been continuously playing with religious emotions of the minorities, while compromising the majority’s interests little by little.

So, why Mr. Sanghvi is being sympathetic to the connest party of India? I’m sorry, I meant to write Congress party of India. Is it because he doesn’t want a short term non-congress government in the center? Is it just the congress that has been able to provide the full term govt? Or is he worried that frequent elections would be a strain on the government treasury? Well, if that’s the case, I say bring it on.

If frequent elections is what it takes to remove the corrupt from the govt., it is still a better deal. All the money spent on elections would still remain in India among the people to keep the economy churning. If the corrupts remain in power for long, they would simply be looting and sending the money overseas to park in some Canary Island or Swiss bank account.

While we are on the topic of Prashant Bhushan, could someone please post more about his background and the motives of supporting the Kashmir cause apart from being a socialist. Is he a Kashmiri? If he is not then he has no right to talk about plebiscite. It is so unfortunate for our country that one after another, there has been so many Jaichands in the history. Someone should ask him, if he ever been to the Camps of Kashmir Pundits in Jammu, Delhi or elsewhere. While he understood Mirwaiz’s Hurriyat’s point of view, can he also claim to understand the conditions of Kashmiri Pundits living in their own country as refugees.

Shame on Mr. Bhushan, if he hasn’t done so.
Shame on India’s collective News Media who hasn’t done its duty to bring the plight of certain section of India’s citizens and keeping it to the fore.
Shame on us, for forgetting the plight of fellow citizens who were kicked out of their homes and the land of their ancestors overnight.

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Anna’s team has different people with different Idea-
1. Anna – a self-confessed Gandhian believes in Congressism.
2. Prashant Bhushan – NGO wallah committed to supporting Maoists and all the separatist movements.
3. Arvind Kejriwal: – Jholachhap NGO wallah
4. Swami Agnivesh – Congress Spy in Anna’s team
5. Kiran Bedi – Motor mouth
6. Hegde – Speaks his own mind often aligning with Congress

However all of them are committed to bring Jan Lokpal and all of them except congress stooge Agnivesh have been harrassed by Congress…All of them are allergic to any association with RSS but have no problem with associating with equally communal but totall anti-national congress.

This team needs to re-calibrate itself otherwise Congress sponsored media will tear them to shreds….They should not forget that Congress will use 2G loot to decimate them with media playing a coy wife doing everything to please Congress.

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What about Radia tapes? Don’t try to preach morality, we know who you, barkhadutt and rajdeep sardesai are.

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Vir is right. hazare has turned out to be a total hypocrite. He attacks RSS whose Mohan Bhagwat openly said that RSS supported his campaign. He praises prashant bhushan who speaks of dividing India. He doesnt say anything about BJP govts (karnataka, MP or Gujrat) which are openly corrupt. He campaigns in Hisar (where congress anyway was going to loose) to claim the credit, but in Pune he keeps his mouth shut as He knows no Anna giri will work there. 2 of his members are retired govt servants holding deep grouse against congress for personal reasons. Shanti Bhushan fought the case of Dawood Ibrahim in 1993. What kind of insane campaign is this– all the morally corrupt people (except Anna whom i give benefit of doubt) are there, serving their own political agendas. Good article by Vir. Thank you.

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Congress government sucks, why they are targeting Mr Anna , rather than correcting them self…

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The only lesson we learn from history is that we learn no lesson. Vir is no exception to this. He is too intelligent not to know that the credibility of media is at its lowest ebb and it goes without saying that this is due to the biased and subjective reporting of news and one sided commentaries. Anna Hazare’s movement for janlokpal was the expression of disgust at rampant corruption and assertion of pro active citizens’ right to set things right. Vir must be knowing that movements neither have ideological cohesion nor do they need to have one. However, the entry of Team Anna in electoral foray in Hissar ( in terms of appeal against Congress ) was not a wise decision .If good writers like Vir try to put an end to confrontationist politics in the country and work for the emergence of consensual politics through their writings, they would be doing immense service to the country and the community.

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cant believe this power broker in the name of Journalist still writes about issues…

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Vir, you are still around? I thought you would have taken up another respectable profession by now but apparently not. Since you are still writing how about a lengthy article on UPA failures, the disbalance of power and governence experiment Between Sonia and MMS gone wrong? Come on Vir, write a bit about UPA and Congress like a true journalist and you may win some credibility (self respect????) back. I understand that HT may not allow them to be printed but give it a shot man….you are VEER…Right Vir?

How was the trip to south Asia…It was told you went there to take a sabattical….how did that turn out? Had a peep inside you? what did you see when you looked inside you? found anything? let’s talk about those things in your blog…readership will go up.

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I simply love your analysis and writing. You could have put few lines about Swami and Hegde also. Swami has different idealogy and has secret relation with some cong ministers. Hegde is more than lokpal bill; his views are sober and reasonable, not emotional or not naked anti-congress. He is more wise in the whole team.

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You are absolutely right that the Sena activists should not have resorted to the violence. I think by doing that they have given an opportunity to whole lot of people to point fingers at Anna and his team.

Is it good or not good? I don’t know. But definitely, or may be hopefully, it would help the Indian Voters to ask more questions about the agenda of leaders who just make promises, in turn delivering nothing.

From a common man’s perspective, do these 3 sena activists, and for that matter, do you and I have any voice left in the system that can ask the folks like Arundhati Roy and Prashant Bhushan to stop and consider the sensitivity associated with certain topics? Or at least take a balanced approach while making an effort towards the other section of people who have been, if not more, equally traumatized. Just because this section is associated with the majority, does this mean that these socialists would walk all over them?

Do you have that voice to stop the corrupt political organizations from wagging their tongues, which are loser than the dog’s tail?

Is there an NGO funding you or standing behind to support you?

Is there a mainstream media that is sponsoring you to write against such political organizations, who in the name of socialism are hell bent on dividing my Dharma Bhoomi?

Because when I look around as a common man, I do not see such support. What should a common man supposed to do in such a system? In 80% cases, they resort to violence, some times towards themselves and most of the time at others responsible for making such statements. I am still not saying that it is right but when frustrations set in, no one can claim to be showing sane behavior.

Every one wants to have the right to a free voice in a democracy. Sure, go ahead, but then the folks like Arundhati Roy, Medha patkar, Prashant Bhushan should first declare what kind of funds they are receiving and from what NGO. NGOs should in turn declare their ideology and philosophy alon with the funding they are receiving and from where, and should also declare whom are they funding so that the common people like you and I know what are we dealing with here. So that, we know which side they are on before they exercise their right to free voice.

Until then, spare me their BS.

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Vir Sanghvi ji is living in some other time. History will repeat it self but totally different types of outcome. Congress by any standards is not a homogeneous party and has in its band wagon, extremists of the right wing Muslim league, naxalites and rich and famous socialists! no movement can succeed with the solid backing of a cadre based all India party. JP movement was a success only because of Parivar support who filled jails in thousands and brought some know how and discipline. Now the BJP is not the Jansangh of the seventies. Now they have eight states and many competant CMs with outstanding track records. Anna knows this. Prashant Bhushan is in the wrong place with wrong people. He belongs to Arundhati comrade group.As the congress does not have any CMs of stature, no mass leaders and the not so charming prince not yet ready, the only option for the nation with 50% population under 30 years is NDA with leaders who are non corrupt and dedicated to nation.The way Anna distanced him self with Bhushan is the solid proof that he is scared of these marxist,anti hindu pro islam socialists.

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Vir, You have not made the most telling contradiction in the team. Their connections not only to political parties but also to some of the foreign Governments.Both the left and BJP joined against Indira gandhi because at that time she represented the Indian nationalism while these forces were supported by western interests. The most significant cause now is Nuclear detterence of India. It is here Left joins Jayalalitha in Koodankulam and indirectly joins leaders in Congress who are beholden to World Bank to cap and roll back Indian Independence.

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Anna’s single-most objective is to fight corruption in goverment. Since corruption affects all political, ideological, ethnic, regional entities, their division should not count in Anna’s movement. All should be welcome as all and every one of us has stake in our nation’s clean governance,whoever they may be. We should unite on one cause, which should not tainted, compromised, derailed or sabotaged at the alter of our ideological differences.

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contradictions started long back. when swami agnivaish tried to reform the hindu society by arguing against worship of shiva lingam. the way he was beaten up in gujrat with tacit support of other members of team anna proves that (1) team anna is as retrograde in thier ideology as sangh parivar (2) they will not going to accept any reformation of hindu religion (3) whosoever will oppose this Manuvadi brahmanist dictatorship of team anna will be crushed. lately another member of team anna Mr Hegde has criticized Kejriwal for calling team anna superior to Parliament. the issue of radia tapes is extremely relevent. media is totally biased in favour of team anna. Udit Raj and several ambedkarites along with shahi Imam of Jama Masjid collected a big crowd against team anna when anna was fasting at ram lila maidan. i personally witness to the fact along with Journalist of URDU press and Hardnews Correspondent that this gathering of udit raj was atleast 5 times larger then team anna’s corwd. yet no paper no channel covered it. since the days of Riv veda and Bhagwat geeta we arer witnessing this cruelty of manuvadies against the original inhabitants of India. the entire movement is about crushing indian democracy and establishing manuvadi dictatorship. atleast gandhi tried to reform hindu society although only in a symbolic manner. but team anna has closed all doors of reasoning and adopted a totally Talibani mindset.

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DO you have a Prashant Bhushan type of guy in PoK and CoK?

Kashmir belongs to hindus not you converts.

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And Congress? Vir and chamchas like you.

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Bongs are known to convert…Coward genes..

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That’s a very good question. However, for Muslim men and women, there’s a dress code prescribed: men should at least cover their lower abdomen till the knees, while women should cover their whole figure in modesty – no, not in a burkha, but any garment would suffice. If a Muslim man roams the street in his briefs or a Muslim woman in a bikini, that’s their choice of course, but they are violating the dress code, which is not acceptable in a religious society. This whole idea of following the diktat of the Holy Book applies only to those people and societies that are religious – and to those who are not religious, the whole discussion is meaningless. And we all have the right to make our choice – whether to be a theist, polytheist or an atheist.

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see Bob we might say that the people (say orthodox Muslims) have different views.. but we can’t say whether they are right or wrong..personally i would say.. as long as they keep their views to themselves and don’t force women to wear what they don’t want to it should be fine.. coz am sure.. even in any other religion.. if women wear bikinis in streets.. u will find people who disprove of it!!so why only blame muslims???

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@abu ahmed and zia. The problem is islamic societies DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE , it is SUBMISSION to an obscurantist , archaic , anti rationality DOGMA.
You cannot live freely being an atheist in an islamic country , TRY QUESTIONING THE AUTHENTICITY OF QUORAN , WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU QUESTION SOME ACTIONS OF THE PROPHET.
and here lies the answer , THIS HYPOCRISY , in islamic societies , this self righteousness , YET TAKE OIL OUT AND ISLAMIC SOCIETIES HAVE ZERO CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENTIFIC MODERN ERA

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I wait for the day when muslim women will send pink chaddis to Imam Bukhari.

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Chemical and biological effects used by NATO, USA, France, Israel and British Airforce have started to appear on the birth of new children in Libyan hospitals, babies been born with many legs, hands and very unrecognizable as little human beings. Birth defects that took place in Fallujah Iraq, are now common place in Libya.

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Zia,

I wonder why nobody is talking about headgear for man in Islam. Why banning of such attire is always linked and discussed in case of fair sex?

Wearing headgear, whether it is Ghutrah, Araquiyeh, tarbush, Fez, turban, Kufia, Iqal, Skullcap, to my understanding is apart from Sunnah, is also part of Islamic culture. Is it not?

I am not a Muslim but have read somewhere as follows:

“In Tafseer Ma-aariful Qur’aan, Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Shafi (Rahmatullahi Alay), explains in the exposition of verse 31 of Surah A’raaf in the Most Holy and Glorious Qur’an:
“O the Sons of Adam! Adopt your beauty at the time of every Salaat.”

From this ayat it is obvious that just as the compulsion of concealing the satr is based on the command in this verse, so too is the significance and merit of donning good and clean garments according to one¹s means and ability.

It is Makrooh for a person to perform Salaat bare-headed, bare shoulders and exposed elbows. Islamic headgear is an integral part of the Sunnah, so much so that to abandon this Sunnah is a sign of Imaani disaster. Therefore, Muslim headgear is considered as particular aspect of Islamic dressing. The entire hue and cry is to apply this aspect is only in respect of ladies and specifically for small girls who have not yet obtained puberty …? It is to scratch their mind with lifelong feeling of Sunnah. Even the most revolutionary lady will adopt it when in her own society. This is basically a ritual to tame the society towards a particular direction and has nothing to do with one’s connect with his or her own God.

I am not sure but will anybody enlighten us as to why the issue is only in respect of ladies when Sunnah is applicable to both?

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