Jaswant praises Jinnah, blames Nehru for partition

Updated on Sunday, August 16, 2009, 20:08 IST
New Delhi: Walking in the footsteps of party senior L.K. Advani, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh has called Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah "a great Indian", saying he was "demonized". In an interview to a news channel, the former external affairs minister blamed India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the Partition.
"Nehru believed in a highly centralized polity. That's what he wanted India to be. Jinnah wanted a federal polity. That even Gandhi accepted. Nehru didn't. Consistently, he stood in the way of a federal India until 1947 when it became a partitioned India," Jaswant Singh told Karan Thapar in "Devil's Advocate", which will be aired on CNN-IBN Sunday and Monday. Jaswant Singh strongly contested the popular Indian view that Jinnah was the villain of the 1947 partition or the man principally responsible for it. Asked if he thought this view was wrong, Jaswant Singh said: "It is. It is not borne out of the facts... we need to correct it." "I think we have misunderstood him because we needed to create a demon... We needed a demon because in the 20th century the most telling event in the subcontinent was the partition of the country," Singh said. His praise for Jinnah comes ahead of the BJP's three-day 'Chintan Baithak' (brainstorming session) to begin in Shimla Aug 19. The BJP has also been maintaining that it has not changed its resolution on Jinnah that was adopted in 2005 against the backdrop of Advani's visit to Pakistan and his comments appreciating Jinnah. Jaswant Singh, whose biography on Jinnah would be released Monday, said he did not subscribe to the popular demonization of Jinnah and said he was attracted by the personality of the Pakistani leader. "Of course I don't (subscribe to the popular demonization of Jinnah). To that I don't subscribe. I was attracted by the personality which has resulted in a book. If I was not drawn to the personality I wouldn't have written the book. It's an intricate, complex personality, of great character, determination," Singh said. Jaswant Singh also questioned the wisdom of Indians who hesitated to call Jinnah a great Indian. Asked if he views Jinnah as a great man, he said: "Oh yes, because he created something out of nothing and single handedly stood against the might of the Congress Party and against the British who didn't really like him ... Gandhi himself called Jinnah a great Indian. Why don't we recognize that? Why don't we see (and try to understand) why he called him that?" He said Jinnah was a nationalist leader. "He fought the British for an independent India but also fought resolutely and relentlessly for the interest of Muslims of India... the acme of his nationalistic achievement was the 1916 Lucknow Pact of Hindu-Muslim unity," he said.
"I admire certain aspects of his personality. His determination and the will to rise. He was a self-made man. Mahatma Gandhi was the son of a Diwan. All these (people) - Nehru and others - were born to wealth and position. Jinnah created for himself a position. He carved in Bombay, a metropolitan city, a position for himself. He was so poor he had to walk to work... he told one of his biographers there was always room at the top but there's no lift. And he never sought a lift," Singh said. New Delhi: Walking in the footsteps of party senior L.K. Advani, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh has called Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah "a great Indian", saying he was "demonized". In an interview to a news channel, the former external affairs minister blamed India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the Partition.
"Nehru believed in a highly centralized polity. That's what he wanted India to be. Jinnah wanted a federal polity. That even Gandhi accepted. Nehru didn't. Consistently, he stood in the way of a federal India until 1947 when it became a partitioned India," Jaswant Singh told Karan Thapar in "Devil's Advocate", which will be aired on CNN-IBN Sunday and Monday. Jaswant Singh strongly contested the popular Indian view that Jinnah was the villain of the 1947 partition or the man principally responsible for it. Asked if he thought this view was wrong, Jaswant Singh said: "It is. It is not borne out of the facts... we need to correct it." "I think we have misunderstood him because we needed to create a demon... We needed a demon because in the 20th century the most telling event in the subcontinent was the partition of the country," Singh said. His praise for Jinnah comes ahead of the BJP's three-day 'Chintan Baithak' (brainstorming session) to begin in Shimla Aug 19. The BJP has also been maintaining that it has not changed its resolution on Jinnah that was adopted in 2005 against the backdrop of Advani's visit to Pakistan and his comments appreciating Jinnah. Jaswant Singh, whose biography on Jinnah would be released Monday, said he did not subscribe to the popular demonization of Jinnah and said he was attracted by the personality of the Pakistani leader. "Of course I don't (subscribe to the popular demonization of Jinnah). To that I don't subscribe. I was attracted by the personality which has resulted in a book. If I was not drawn to the personality I wouldn't have written the book. It's an intricate, complex personality, of great character, determination," Singh said. Jaswant Singh also questioned the wisdom of Indians who hesitated to call Jinnah a great Indian. Asked if he views Jinnah as a great man, he said: "Oh yes, because he created something out of nothing and single handedly stood against the might of the Congress Party and against the British who didn't really like him ... Gandhi himself called Jinnah a great Indian. Why don't we recognize that? Why don't we see (and try to understand) why he called him that?" He said Jinnah was a nationalist leader. "He fought the British for an independent India but also fought resolutely and relentlessly for the interest of Muslims of India... the acme of his nationalistic achievement was the 1916 Lucknow Pact of Hindu-Muslim unity," he said. "I admire certain aspects of his personality. His determination and the will to rise. He was a self-made man. Mahatma Gandhi was the son of a Diwan. All these (people) - Nehru and others - were born to wealth and position. Jinnah created for himself a position. He carved in Bombay, a metropolitan city, a position for himself. He was so poor he had to walk to work... he told one of his biographers there was always room at the top but there's no lift. And he never sought a lift," Singh said.

Leaders, particularly leaders who are politicians, would invariably and necessarily have the trait of being all things to all men. Therefore a research into an eminent leader would no doubt throw up facets that would paint him in a many coloured glory. This is all what Jaswant has achieved with Jinnah. If the answer to the question who was responsible for partition is sought to be answered more thoroughly, we have only to take the role of the two principal political parties of India at the time of partition, the Congress and Muslim League, to see clearly whose actions led to partition. It would be as clear as daylight that while Congress sought to take people of all hues abroad, the Muslim League had only the exclusive Muslim interest at heart. And in the end it got what its heart desired - the partition of India. Jinnah, being the President of Muslim League, cannot be absolved of partition’s sin, particularly as he never chose to decry Muslim League’s policies. Jaswant planted a non-existing mole in his previous book. In this book he has planted an unlikely saint. Sales gimmicks? -K.Venugopal - Mumbai

http://www.zeenews.com/news555699.html

Playboy is coming to India.

Playboy Enterprises, known for its adult magazine for men Playboy, is reportedly planning to launch its accessories, apparel, etc, in India by year end 'targetting young adults', even as the Indian American community has called it 'crude westernization'.
Indian-American leader Rajan Zed has, in a statement, said this reckless flooding of Indian markets with western icons and trends would lead that society away from its traditional value systems. He said that the West had a lot of wonderful things to offer, but everything Western was not always good.
Zed argued that India was an ancient civilization with certain norms, and therefore, crude westernization was not the correct path to take in that country. Describing the move as 'just for plain mercantile greed', Zed said: 'We should not attempt to destroy the age old traditions, moral standards and value system with the irrelevant arguments of keeping with the times and globalization'.
Headquartered in Chicago, Playboy Enterprises Inc also develops, produces, acquires and distributes a wide range of adult programming for television networks; has a range of adult-movie channels; its Playboy Radio offers 24-hour sexy listening alternative; publishes 26 different editions of Playboy magazine; etc. It runs a Playboy Club Casino and a nightclub in Las Vegas [ Images ] and three such venues are under development in Macau (China), Latin America, and South Beach which will allow customers to 'experience the Playboy lifestyle'.

The ideal before the world should be to transform the globe into a land without borders and boundaries. There should be the right of unrestricted transport among nations. But right now the ideal is only sought to be achieved vis-a-vis the market. This would make the ideal loop-sided. There should also be free movement of individuals, families and communities from and to anywhere in the world. The whole world should be transformed into a single village, so to say. For this, there must be a world government and world laws. The ideal of Vasudeva Kutumbakam or the world as one family should be revived. When we are done with all restrictions on movements of wo/men and goods across the world, all cultures would become vibrant enough to absorb all anomalies.

http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/aug/05/playboy-is-coming-to-india-your-take.htm

Govt prone to settle Kashmir like Sharm-el Sheikh: LK

Updated on Thursday, August 06, 2009, 23:43 IST Tags:Advani, Kashmir, Sharm-el Sheikh
New Delhi: Leader of Opposition L K Advani on Thursday said after the Indo-Pak Joint Statement at Sharm-el Sheikh, the government may be "inclined to settle" the Kashmir issue in blatant violation of the unanimous resolution on it in Parliament in 1995. "The joint statement in Sharm-el Sheikh is a curtain raiser to the UPA government's surrender to Pakistan on the Kashmir issue under external pressure. The government seems inclined to 'settle' the Kashmir issue in blatant violation of the unanimous resolution by both Houses of Parliament," Advani said.
He was speaking at the launch of the Urdu version, "Mera Watan, Meri Zindagi" of his autobiography, "My Country My Life". Advani said while BJP followed the two-pronged policy of honestly pursuing friendship with Pakistan while not compromising on terrorism, the UPA government was interested in friendship with Pakistan at äny cost". "This may prove costly", he warned. He said Pakistan was engaged in a "proxy war" through terrorism as it had faced defeat in three conventional wars with India. Raking up the Ayodhya temple issue, he said it should be resolved through dialogue between leaders of Hindu and Muslim communities. "Ayodhya played a major role in changing history. Secularism is not vote bank politics. I would like to tell my Muslim brothers that the Ayodhya issue should be solved through dialogue between the leaders of the two communities," Advani said, referring to the Babri mosque-Ram Janambhoomi issue. Advani had in the past maintained that building a grand Ram temple at Ayodhya has always been on the party's agenda and would be fulfilled if BJP got an absolute majority. Referring to Sachar Committee findings, Advani held Congress responsible for the poor state of Muslims in India. "What came out of the Committee formed by the government? That good has not been done to Muslims. For 60 years, one party has ruled this country. But only those who play communal politics have benefitted," he said. The Urdu version of his autobiography is the sixth translation. It has already been translated into Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Marathi. Bureau Report


What is happening is the unfolding of the American agenda of crushing terrorism in Pakistan. America has found its lackeys in Pakistan in the Government of Zardari. Upto this point all is well, except that in co-opting India in the venture, Indian government is using the opportunity to crush “Hindu terrorism” in India, which in reality does not exist and in effect would mean crushing genuine Hindu forces in India. This is to appease the Pakistani establishment and justify their action against Islamic terrorism. The Congress government sees an opportunity to get not two but three birds with one stone. It can obtain America’s goodwill, crush Hindu organizations in India which have always been a challenge to the Congress’s anti-national ideology, and win Muslim support by claiming good rapport with Pakistan. In the scheme of things, Kashmir will be compromised by anti-Hindu forces in Congress. They have already compromised the counter-terrorist activities of Indian Military Intelligence by exposing “Hindu terrorism” led by Col. Purohit. Now they want to compromise RAW activities by bringing up Baloochistan in Egypt. Congress, who partitioned the nation, is upto its evil schemes again. They must be exposed.

http://www.zeenews.com/news553397.html

THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2003 MUMBAI BLASTS

Updated on Thursday, August 06, 2009, 14:25 IST Tags:Mumbai Blasts, Terror, POTA, Ashrat Shafique Ansari, Fehmida Sayed
Zeenews Bureau Mumbai: Three persons, including a woman, were today sentenced to death by a special court for their involvement in the 2003 blasts at the iconic Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar here which left 54 dead and 244 injured. The convicted are Ashrat Shafique Ansari (32), Mohammed Hanif Sayed (46) and his wife Fehmida Sayed (43). They have been held guilty for murder and conspiracy under Sections 302, 307, 427 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code. They were also found guilty under Section 3 of POTA. The court turned down the leniency plea for Fehmida, on the grounds that she has children, by terming her act as “extreme cruelty”, hence doesn’t qualify for leniency. Hanif, who was present in court dressed in a white kurta pyjama, did not show any reaction when the verdict was delivered. His wife Fahmida remained silent at the time of the pronouncement of the judgement but broke down as she left the court premises. This is for the first time that a couple is being convicted by a POTA court for their involvement in carrying out blasts. Along with the couple, their 16-year-old daughter was also arrested for her alleged involvement in the blasts. However, she was discharged since the prosecution chose not to investigate the charges against her as she was a minor.
“The Court has announced death sentences to Ansari, Mohammed Hanif Sayed and his wife Fehmida Sayed for their involvement in the Bombay bomb blast case,” Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said just after the pronouncement of the judgment. "We are happy that all three got the death penalty. It is a message to people who indulge in terrorism that the law will not spare them if they commit such barbarous acts," Nikam said. Nikam said Zaveri Bazaar in south Mumbai was chosen since the trio wanted to target the famous Mumbadevi temple nearby. The historic Gateway of India was also chosen since they wanted to target the nearby Hotel Taj where many foreign tourists stay. "The aim of LeT was to destabilize India with these blasts," the special public prosecutor said. On August 25, 2003 two blasts had rocked the Gateway of India and the busy Zaveri Bazaar in South Mumbai killing 54 and injuring more than 200. They had also planted a bomb on July 28, 2003 in a municipal bus in suburban Ghatkopar which killed two persons.

They should be hung at the Gateway of India.

http://www.zeenews.com/news553145.html

Death sentence for three Mumbai blasts accused

Thursday, August 06, 2009
Mumbai Court awarded death sentence to the three Mumbai blasts accused, holding them guilty for'exceptional cruelty and gruesome crime'. Prosecution counsel Nikam Ujjwal pleaded with the POTA Court that it was the rarest of the rare crimes, and hence it calls for capital punishment. Nikam also said that some Pakistan elements are involved in the 2003 Mumbai twin blasts.

Venu10
#1
Thursday, 06 August 2009 01:17:41
They should be hung at Gateway of India.

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3119925

To boot or not to boot Buta?

"The law shall take its course" should be a dictum upheld at all costs in the case of anyone, however mighty they might be. Otherwise India's justice system will collapse, weak as it already is due to political interference in judicial matters.

Oz racial attacks: Students for action, Krishna assures safety

Updated on Thursday, August 06, 2009, 10:32 IST Tags:Racial Attacks, SM Krishna, Australia, Students, Kevin Rudd
Zeenews Bureau Sydney: External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, who is on a five day visit to Australia, on Thursday said that the safety of overseas Indians is one of the top priorities of the govt. His Australia visit comes in the backdrop of the string of racial attacks on Indian students Down Under that had created a great deal of anxiety back home. Krishna’s assurance of ensuring safety of Indians abroad came during his meeting the members of the Australian-Indian community.
The Federation of Indian Students in Australia (FISA) members, who have been in the forefront protesting against the attacks on Indians, also met the Foreign Minister appealing that he should press the Rudd government for more action against the attackers. The students added that India should encourage the Australian government to be more co-operative to Indians. FISA also demanded that Indian government must set up a crisis centre here to help Indian students in times of emergency. Krishna will meet his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith and also expected to discuss the situation with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd later in the day. Krishna will also travel to Melbourne to meet Indian students after the bilateral talks with Australian officials. New Delhi has expressed deep concerns over the safety of Indian nationals living in Australia who have been subjected to racial bias and faced attacks in the past two months. Prior to External Affairs Minister’s visit, the Australian government had assured to take additional preventive measures to ensure safety and security of Indians and improve the situation in most-affected parts of the country. This will be the first high-level visit from New Delhi to Australia since reports of attacks on Indian students in the country sparked public outrage in back here. In last 52 days between May 25 and July 15, 83 Indians, mostly students, have been assaulted. This works out to more than one attack every day. Australia has the largest number of Indian students (about 97,035) next only to the US (1,04,522). In June, according to government figures, there were at least 10 cases of assault on Indians “which might have a racial element”.

India should forthwith tell Australia that if it cannot control its lumpen elements, India would ask all Indian students to return and would make alternate arrangements for their education, in a foreign country if required. -K.Venugopal - Mumbai

http://www.zeenews.com/news553169.html