Shiv Sena 'mum' on Asha Bhosale's 'India for Indians' view

Updated on Wednesday, March 03, 2010, 19:01 IST Tags:Shiv Sena, Asha Bhosale

Mumbai: Shiv Sena Executive president Uddhav Thackeray today refrained from reacting to legendary singer Asha Bhosale's remarks that 'India belongs to all Indians.'


She had made the remarks in Pune on Sunday.

"Those present at the function should have reacted," Thackeray told reporters when asked for his reaction without naming his estranged cousin and MNS president Raj Thackeray.

The MNS chief was among the guests at the function.

Earlier, Shiv Sena had criticised master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and industrialist Mukesh Ambani for their "Mumbai for all" comments.

Speaking at a cultural evening organised by a Marathi television channel here, Asha had said, "People are bound to flock Mumbai as Hindustan belongs to all. Those who work hard here become prosperous. I also worked in my field with determination to earn success. I have sung in all Indian languages but I am a proud Maharashtrian."

Let it be noted that Shiv Sena, however much they may hurt India through their parochial vote politics, are run by Hindus of Maharashtra and Hindus of Maharashtra, to whichever political parties they may belong, are Indians to the very core of their hearts and their love for India will never diminish even if their short-sighted political strategies may hurt India. This is unlike political parties in Kashmir run by Muslims. They are not great Indian lovers, to be sure. But our secular media seems to think political parties in Kashmir, particularly the PDP and Hurriat Conference, are secular while Shiv Sena is communal. What an irony.

http://www.zeenews.com/news608284.html

Saudi can be interlocutor, not mediator: Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor, being a master writer, certainly has a way with words – a way with linking words and a way with keeping words apart. He has sought for Saudi the role of interlocutor, not mediator. The same Tharoor had given a new interpretation to the joint statement by Indian and Pakistan at Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, by saying it was merely a diplomatic document with no "legally binding commitment". However he uses words, the aim seems to get the message across that India is willing to sabotage herself. He should be dismissed for his anti-India positions.

http://www.zeenews.com/news607674.html

Growing fury at Dubai killing reaches Australia

Reuters Limited , 26/02/2010

By Rob Taylor
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Mounting diplomatic fury over the killing of a top Hamas commander in a Dubai hotel reached Australia on Thursday, with Israel's envoy summoned over the use of Australian passports by a suspected assassination squad.
Dubai authorities have now identified 26 people suspected of involvement in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Fraudulent Australian passports were used by three of the 15 new suspects named, most of whom were Europeans.
"Any state that has been complicit in use or abuse of the Australian passport system, let alone for the conduct of an assassination, is treating Australia with contempt and there will therefore be action by the Australian government in response," said Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, without elaborating.
Mabhouh was killed last month in his hotel room in what Dubai police say was almost certainly a hit by Israel's Mossad spy agency.
Dubai police added 15 new names on Wednesday to a list of suspects wanted over the killing. Six carried British passports, three held Irish documents, three were Australian, and three French, the Dubai government said in a statement.
Among other suspects named earlier were 11 who travelled on fraudulent British, Irish, French and German passports to kill Mabhouh. Six were Britons living in Israel who deny involvement and say their identities were stolen.
"Dubai investigators are not ruling out the possibility of involvement of other people in the murder," a statement by Dubai authorities said.
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said on Thursday his country was "angry" at the use of fraudulent Irish passports in the hit and that none of the suspects named were Irish citizens.
"Whoever did this forged the passports. We are angry about that because it violates the integrity of our passport system and places at risk the security of our citizens," he said.
Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, who summoned Israel's ambassador in Canberra Yuval Rotem, said investigations were still under way, but the three Australians were also apparently innocent victims of identity theft.
"I made it crystal clear to the ambassador that if the results of that investigation cause us to come to the conclusion that the abuse of Australian passports was in any way sponsored or condoned by Israeli officials, then Australia would not regard that as an act of a friend," Smith said.
French magistrates will also investigate how three fraudulent French passports came to be used in the assassination, France's foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Some of the other governments involved have summoned their Israeli envoys and the EU slammed the abuse of passports.
INTEGRITY AT STAKE
Rudd said the use of fraudulent documents was of deep concern, as it called into question the integrity of the entire passport system, both in Australia and elsewhere, and could place the lives of identity fraud victims at risk.
Israel has not denied or confirmed it played any role but its foreign minister said there was nothing to link it to the killing. The United States, Israel's main ally, has kept silent about the affair.
The Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, said no country except Dubai had accused Israel of involvement.
"I personally know nothing about it," Oren told Reuters.
Mabhouh, born in the Gaza Strip, had lived in Syria since 1989 and Israeli and Palestinian sources have said he played a key role in smuggling Iranian-funded arms to militants in Gaza.
Ironically, Mabhouh used the same tradecraft -- fraudulent passports and disguises -- as his killers during his secret missions to procure arms, a confidant told Reuters on Thursday.
A Hamas official and Israel have also said he masterminded the capture and killing of two Israeli soldiers during a Palestinian uprising in the 1980s.
Like last week, Dubai police released passport photos and closed-circuit television footage of the new suspects, who police said arrived from cities including Zurich, Paris, Rome, Milan and Hong Kong.
Once their part in the operation was completed, the suspects fled to different parts of the world, with two suspects leaving Dubai by boat for Iran.
Dubai police also released credit card details of some of the suspects. At least 13 credit cards used to book hotel rooms and pay for air travel were issued by the same small U.S. lender, MetaBank. The bank declined comment.
Two Palestinians suspected of providing logistical support were in detention and Dubai's police chief has said he believes the operation could not have been carried out without information from inside Hamas on Mabhouh's travel details.
(C) 2010 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters Sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
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K.Venugopal
#1
26 February 2010 11:37:40
Whoever did it should be congratulated for getting rid of a terrorist.

http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3664040&ucid=302280#uc2Lst302280

Raj's latest diktat: irrigated land only for Marathi Manoos

26/02/2010
Mumbai: Taking a new line to push his son-of-the-soil campaign, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has decided to hit the streets for a new state law which will deny a non-Maharashtrian possession of any land under irrigation.
In a letter written to mark the Marathi Language Day on February 27 -- and a copy of which is with The Indian Express -- Raj Thackeray stated that following the "successful agitations"for conducting railway examinations in Marathi and making taxi-drivers learn Marathi, he and his party have decided to press for a legislation which will ensure that land under irrigation is not given to a non-Maharashtrian.
His letter to party leaders in Mumbai will be distributed to the public on Saturday.
"Apart from the on-going Marathi language agitation, my party will begin a new agitation to ensure that land under irrigation is given only to Maharashtrians. The Maharashtra government should pass a resolution to this effect," Thackeray stated in the letter.
Taking it a step further, he said existing non-Maharashtrian land holders should be compelled to have Maharashtrian partners. "Those non- Maharashtrians who have bought land in the state in the past will now have to have Maharashtrian partners and stakeholders. The legislation should be applicable to all previous transactions as well."
Source: The Indian Express
PreviousNext
K.Venugopal
#1
26 February 2010 10:23:09
This Marathi Jinnah is unable to conceive of India, just as the original Jinnah. The original fellow succeeded in getting independent Pakistan but this fellow will not succeed in getting independent Maharashtra for the simple reason that the majority of Maharashtrians are Hindus.

Kanthi
#2
26 February 2010 09:51:20
God created both good and evil....On one hand he created Sachin Tendulkar and on the other hand he created Raj Thackeray.....strange that both are from Maharashtra but India is proud of one but doesn't think the same about the other


http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3664711&ucid=302217#uc2Lst302217

MF Husain conferred Qatar nationality

New Delhi: India's eminent artist MF Husain, who has been under attack from Hindu fundamentalists for his paintings of Hindu goddesses and has been living in Dubai and London, has been given Qatar nationality, it was reported here Thursday.


"I, The Indian origin painter MF Husain at 95 have been honoured by Qatar nationality," the celebrated artist wrote above a line sketch of a horse, the leitmotif of much of his work. The black and white drawing was carried by The Hindu newspaper.

In a signed article, The Hindu editor N Ram wrote that the artist had given him the news from Dubai "by reading out the few lines he had written on a black-and-white line drawing that he released to The Hindu".

According to the report, Husain did not apply for the nationality but it was conferred on him at the instance of the emirate's ruling family.

Photographer, designer and activist Ram Rahman, who is close to the Husain family, responded to the news by saying: "The citizenship has been offered by the sheikha, the wife of the sheikh of Qatar, and it has several implications.

"On a personal note, I feel it is quite clear that the man who is 95 years old and cannot return to his country to die, there is no point of him remaining an Indian citizen."

"It would be a tragedy. He has not given up his Indian citizenship yet but if he decides to take up the Qatari offer, he will not remain an Indian citizen anymore. It is also a reflection of our legal system because the cases against him will drag on for 20-30 years.... so it is justified if he takes up the Qatari offer," Rahman said.

IANS


Any country, when granting citizenship, goes into the antecedents of the person concerned. In the case of Qatar and M.F.Hussain, it has clearly overlooked the fact that there are many cases against him for hurting the religious sentiments of the Hindu community. However, it appears that Qatar, being an Islamic country, would not care if Hindu sentiments were hurt - not even on the basis of its own sentiments being hurt when cartoons depicting Mohammad was drawn by a Danish and Qatar was in the forefront of protests against it. For them Saraswati is of no value because it is not part of Islam. Qatar has verily insulted India by granting citizenship to M.F.Hussain.

http://www.zeenews.com/news606856.html

Exclude 26/11 mastermind from talks: Pakistan

Press Trust of India, Wednesday February 24, 2010, Lahore

On the eve of the Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks, Pakistan on Wednesday said that India's demand for handing over of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, should not be bracketed with the parleys as it would be "counter-productive."

"In my view it is better not to view this (tomorrow's talks) from the point of success or failure. Let's wait till tomorrow. There will be more clarity on this tomorrow and we'll take it from there," Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told reporters here in reply to a question before leaving for New Delhi.

Bashir will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao, who is expected to raise the issue of terrorism during the meeting.

On India's demand for handing over of Saeed, he said Pakistan's stand was very clear "on these issues, on counter-terrorism and other problems."

"There is only one way -- the first thing is that the two sides had agreed in Sharm-el-Sheikh that terrorism is a common problem. That is, the threat of terrorism is both to India and Pakistan as it is to other countries of the world," Bashir said.

"In my view, there is great clarity that bracketing these specific issues with the talks is counter-productive."

Responding to a question on India's alleged interference in Balochistan and whether he would raise it during the meeting, Bashir said all this is part of counter-terrorism and if that issue is raised Pakistan will discuss this matter.


The Sharm-el-Sheikh joint declaration with Pakistan is coming to haunt India. There is a conspiracy by a part of the ruling UPA to sabotage the growing nationalistic view in India cutting across all party lines. The result was the joint declaration which said that terrorism is a problem that Pakistan also faces and inter-alia conceding that India had contributed to Pakistan's terrorism problem vis-a-vis India's Afghanisthan/Baluchisthan policy. This anti-national clique in the ruling UPA betrayed India's nationalistic forces and compromised our policy in Afghanisthan/Baluchisthan. So long as this clique continues to call the shots in the Government, India will tolerate Pakistan's terrorist adventures and seek to give the Pakistani government a clean chit so that America can befriend the ruling forces in Pakistan and continue with its agenda, which need not necessarily be in India's interest. This clique has to be exposed if India is to be saved.

http://www.ndtv.com/news/world/exclude_2611_mastermind_from_talks_pakistan.php

Gadkari-led BJP suffers from internal conflicts: Govindacharya

Indore: Attacking the BJP, its former general secretary and ideologue K N Govindacharya has described it as a party "suffering from internal conflicts and contradictions".

Govindacharya alleged that the Nitin Gadkari-led party lacks experience and has not done its homework properly on various issues including Ram Temple.


"The BJP is caught in the web of internal-conflicts and contradictions and now it is not possible for it to manage it," he told PTI.

"It appears there is a conflict going on within the party on the issue of liberalism and fanaticism and the same reflected during its meeting here from February 17-19," the senior leader said.

Referring to Gadkari's appeal to Muslims on the Ram Temple issue, he said the latter's views cannot be taken seriously. "It reflects that he has less experience, had not done his homework well and lacks coordination".

Advising Gadkari to "think well before commenting on any sensitive issue", the 66-year-old leader said politics is a field of fire where lack of knowledge is not pardonable.

He said Gadkari had taken over the reins of the party in a difficult situation.

Terming BJP as the 'Saffron Congress,' he charged that corporate culture is ruling the party where the place of leaders are taken by the managers and that of workers by the employees.

-PTI

It is undoubted that Govindacharya is brilliant and capable. However, since he is part of Sangha Parivar leadership, it does not behove of him to criticize the BJP publicly, particularly when RSS is striving to give it proper direction. Govindacharya should join the BJP and help set it right from within. Mere criticism would be of no help to anyone except those who wish to heap ridicule on Sangha Parivar.

http://www.zeenews.com/news606507.html