New Delhi: In March 2006, CNN-IBN had shown documents proving that former Congress MP from Tezpur, Assam, Moni Kumar Subba had lied about his age, his nationality and brought to light the fact that he is wanted in a murder case in Nepal. However, not only has no action been taken, but Subba is one of the longest running MPs in the country - winning from the Tezpur Lok Sabha seat three times. He is a lottery baron turned politician and was one of the richest candidates in the fray last time.
Now, the Supreme Court has taken note of the oversight and has asked the CBI to take action against the Congress MP. The court ordered this while disposing off a petition against him.
CNN-IBN INVESTIGATION
Subba has for 16 years lied that he is an Indian. The truth is he is a Nepalese, and he is a criminal. A report by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) says Subba is a Nepali national originally named Moni Raj Limbo, who escaped from the Illam prison in Nepal while serving sentence for murder.
In an affidavit filed before the Tezpur magistrate's court on October 3, 1985, the politician admitted that Moni Raj Limbo and Moni Kumar Subba are the same person.
A CNN-IBN investigation in March 2006 exposed Subba for lying about his place of birth and hiding his Nepalese identity. The birth certificate is the only document Subba has to prove his Indian citizenship, but the CNN-IBN investigation established that the certificate was a fake and that he is a foreign national.
The certificate says Subba was born on March 16, 1958 in Dabgram, West Bengal, which is bizarre, as the document was issued 40 years later on October 28, 1998. Salil Sarkar, the Registrar of Births and Deaths in Dabgram, confirmed this to CNN-IBN.
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Now this brings us to the question "What is the criteria by congress to select candidates?"
Money power of candidate which would have been used for campaigning looks to be the cause here. But some other criteria's by them for selecting candidates can be viewed in the following post-
http://vu-point.blogspot.com/2009/05/criteria-for-choosing-candidates-by.html
Let me begin with a set of disclosures: I have perhaps written more articles against Modi and his handling of the post-Godhra scenario than most people have; I have called him a modern-day Hitler and have always said that Godhra shall remain an enduring blemish not just on him but on India’s political class. I still believe that what happened in Gujarat during the Godhra riots is something we as a nation will pay a heavy price for.
But the fact is that time has moved on. As has Narendra Modi. He is not the only politician in India who has been accused of communalism. It is strange that the whole country venerates the Congress Party as the secular messiah but it was that party that presided over the riots in 1984 in which over 3,500 Sikhs died: thrice the number killed in Gujarat.
The fact of the matter is that there is no better performer than Narendra Modi in India’s political structure.
Three weeks ago, I had gone to Ahmedabad to address the YPO and I thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up with Modi. I called him the evening before and I was given an appointment for the very day I was getting into Ahmedabad. And it was not some official meeting but instead one at his house. As frugal as the man Modi is.
And this is something that the Gandhis and Mayawatis need to learn from Modi. There were no fawning staff members; no secretaries running around; no hangers on…just the two of us with one servant who was there serving tea.
And what was most impressive was the passion which Modi exuded. The passion for development; the passion for an invigorated Gujarat; the passion for the uplifting the living standards of the people in his state and the joy with which he recounted simple yet memorable data-points.
For instance, almost all of the milk consumed in Singapore is supplied by Gujarat; or for that matter all the tomatoes that are eaten in Afghanistan are produced in Gujarat or the potatoes that Canadians gorge on are all farmed in Gujarat.
But it was industry that was equally close to
his heart.
It was almost like a child, that he rushed and got a coffee table book on GIFT: the proposed Gujarat Industrial City that will come up on the banks of the Sabarmarti: something that will put the Dubais and the Hong Kongs of this world to shame.
And while on the Sabarmati, it is Modi who has created the inter-linking of rivers so that now the Sabarmati is no longer dry.
He then spoke about how he was very keen that Ratan Tata sets up the Nano plant in Gujarat: he told me how he had related the story of the Parsi Navsari priests to Ratan and how touched Ratan was:
the story is, when the Navsari priests, (the first Parsis) landed in Gujarat, the ruler of Gujarat sent them a glass of milk, full to the brim and said, there was no place for them: the priests added some sugar to the milk and sent it back saying that they would integrate beautifully with the locals and would only add value to the state.
Narendra Modi is clearly a man in a hurry and he has every reason to be. There is no question in any one’s mind that he is the trump card for the BJP after Advani and Modi realises that. People like Rajnath Singh are simply weak irritants I would imagine.
He also believes that the country has no apolitical strategy to counter terrorism and in fact he told me how he had alerted the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the NSA about the impending bomb blasts in Delhi and they did not take him seriously. And then the September 13 blasts happened!
It was this resolve of Modi’s that I found very admirable. There is a clear intolerance of terrorism and terrorists which is evident in the way the man functions; now there are many cynics who call it minority-bashing but the truth of the matter is that Modi genuinely means business as far as law and order is concerned.
I left Modi’s house deeply impressed with the man as Chief Minister: he was clearly passionate and what’s more deeply committed. When I sat in the car, I asked my driver what he thought of Modi and his simple reply was Modi is God. Before him, there was nothing. No roads, no power, no infrastructure. Today, Gujarat is a power surplus state.
Today, Gujarat attracts more industry than all the states put together. Today, Gujarat is the preferred investment destination for almost every multi-national and what’s more, there is an integrity that is missing in other states.
After I finished talking to the YPO (Young President’s Organisation) members, I asked some of them very casually, what they thought of Modi. Strangely, this was one area there was no class differential on. They too said he was God.
But what they also added very quickly was if India has just five Narendra Modis, we would be a great country. I don’t know if this was typical Gujarati exaggeration or a reflection of the kind of leadership India now needs!
There is however, no question in my mind, that his flaws apart, Narendra Modi today, is truly a transformational leader! And we need many more like him!
Suhel Seth
The writer is Managing Partner, Counselage
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The Times of IndiaAug:19:2009
Tarun Vijay
"I am not prepared to discuss ethics. We have a pistol and are in a position to use it." So said Mohammad Ali Jinnah while delivering his presidential speech at the Muslim League convention on July 19, 1946.
What followed was an unimaginable massacre of Hindus in Kolkata on August 16, 1946. Six thousand killed, twenty thousand raped and maimed.
Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the then leader of Hindu Mahasabha had said, "Jinnah is out to destroy the very soul of India."If one single instance should be cited to understand what Jinnah really was, it would not be his speech in the Constituent Assembly, Karachi, often quoted by Indian Hindus, but his call for "Direct Action".
That was August 16, 1946, known as the day of "great Calcutta killings". After the "Direct Action" resolution was passed by the Muslim League on July 19, 1946, its president, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, said in his valedictory speech: "What we have done today is the most historic act in our history. Never have we in the whole history of the League done anything except by the constitutional methods and by constitutionalism. But now we are obliged and forced into this position. This day we bid goodbye to constitutional methods…. Now the time has come for the Muslim Nation to resort to direct action. I am not prepared to discuss ethics. We have a pistol and are in a position to use it."
Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the then leader of the Hindu Mahasabha, who had said, "Jinnah is out to destroy the very soul of India", organized Hindus fearlessly and foiled Jinnah’s plan to oust Hindus from Kolkata. He formed a volunteer group of the Hindus named the Hindusthan National Guards, resisted horrendous goondaism of the League and moved in the riot-affected areas giving courage to the victims of a planned slaughter and orgy of violence by the League’s marauders.Syama Prasad Mookerjee was traveling all over India awakening the masses to rise against the partition plot. On October 8, 1944, at a United Provinces Hindu Conference, he said, "The sooner Mr Jinnah understands that Pakistan in any form or shape will be resisted by Hindus and many others with the last drop of blood, the better for him, for he will then quietly descend on realities and himself plead for a just and equitable settlement.
None but an agent of imperialism will so block the path of Indian unity and freedom as Mr Jinnah is doing."Dr Mookerjee, who is respected as the ideological icon and source of inspiration by the Bharatiya Janata Party, was a devotee of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.
In fact, he had been in close contact with Sri Aurobindo, who had said, "The idea of two nationalities in India is only a new-fangled notion invented by Jinnah for his purposes and contrary to the facts.
More than 90% of the Indian Mussalmans are descendants of converted Hindus and belong as much to the Indian nation as the Hindus themselves. This process of conversion has continued all along; Jinnah is himself a descendant of a Hindu,converted in fairly recent times,named Jinabhai and many of the most famous Mahommedan leaders have a similar origin."(SABCL, vol.26, page 46).
It was Dr Mookerjee who stood firm and tried to organize a people's movement against partition. He said: “Hindus regard this country as their sacred and holy land. Irrespective of provincial barriers or the diversity in faiths and languages there exists a remarkable economic and cultural unity and inter-dependence which cannot be destroyed at the will of persons and parties who think it beneath their dignity to regard India as their motherland. We must live and die for India and her liberty.” (24th December 1944).
He disagreed with Gandhi placating the Muslim demands and said,"As soon as the other communities realize that the Hindus of India are united and have pledged themselves to stand together for the attainment of their ideal and have adopted a policy of understanding and tolerance to all classes of people residing in India, other communities whose support we are seeking in vain today will then join us voluntarily and on terms honourable to all.”(“Awake Hindusthan”, Page 12).
He further said: “Our experiences in recent years have proved that much as we would be willing to surrender the rights and interests of the Hindus for the purpose of placating other communities, much as we would like to pursue the policy of delivering “blank cheques” the response from the other side is slow and halting, if not sometimes hostile in character.("Awake Hindusthan", Page 13)
In this context, I would like to add that however different Jinnah might have been , we just can't belittle Nehru before Jinnah. Nehru belonged to us; he fought for India’s freedom, spent years in jail and had an Indian dream. We may have a thousand differences with him on policies and programmes, but so what? That would be our "domestic matter".
Jinnah led our motherland’s vivisection and he never fought for the freedom struggle.MJ Akbar has written these lines describing his persona,"Muhammad Ali Jinnah, aristocrat by temperament, catholic in taste, sectarian in politics, and the father of Pakistan, was the unlikeliest parent that an Islamic republic could possibly have.
He was the most British of the generation of Indians that won freedom in August 1947. As a child in the elite Christian Mission High School in Karachi, he changed his birthday from 20 October to Christmas Day. As a student at Lincoln's Inn, he anglicised his name from Jinnahbhai to Jinnah. For three years, between 1930 and 1933, he went into voluntary exile in Hampstead, acquired a British passport, set up residence with his sister Fatimah and daughter Dina, hired a British chauffeur (Bradley) for his Bentley, kept two dogs (a black Dobermann and a white West Highland terrier), indulged himself at the theatre (he had once wanted to be a professional actor so that he could play Hamlet) and appeared before the Privy Council to maintain himself in the style to which he was accustomed.
He wore Savile Row suits, heavily starched shirts and two-tone leather or suede shoes……Despite being the Quaid-e-Azam, or the Great Leader of Muslims, he drank a moderate amount of alcohol and was embarrassingly unfamiliar with Islamic methods of prayer.
He was uncomfortable in any language but English, and made his demand for Pakistan — in 1940 at Lahore — in English, despite catcalls from an audience that wanted to hear Urdu.”
That was a bit of Syama Prasad and the related reflections that may prove worthwhile in the present political debate enveloping the nationalist school of politics.
At the end of it, what the Gita has said and the RSS teaches us must make the final lines to this blogpost:
It’s better to die unwavering even in tatters than to change track midway and die stinking rich.That’s Dharma.Krishna said: "Swadharme nidhano shreyo (to live and die in ones’ own path alone is the life worthwhile and adopting the ‘other’ dharma is horrible)".
For small desires we lose a lifetime’s achievements and glory.History was never made essentially by those who became state heads, but often by those who didn’t.Or by those who gave up everything for others’ good, honestly.
Syama Prasad and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya are two major icons of faith for the Hindu nationalist parivar. Both created history and died in their early fifties. Both were mysteriously ‘murdered’. Their lives must light the path of those who care to follow swadharma.That’s BJP’s legacy too.
As it is of other ideologically committed organisations of the saffron hue.Lincoln didn’t shy away from the civil war and stood like a rock on the question of American spirit and unity. So was Syama Prasad. He died but didn’t bend.
Most of the times Bihar is in the news for the wrong reasons. Its an irony that a state with such a glorious past is now one of the poorest state of India!Bad governance has played its part very much leading to scams, poverty, corruption, illiteracy, crime and what not.
But something has changed in past 3-4 years. What is it? In past year Bihar was the 2nd best state in terms of development with 11% growth rate ! Gujarat leads the race but just by a margin.
Highlights-
- Despite three years of floods followed by a year of drought, backward and benighted Bihar reports a miraculous figure: 11% GDP growth.
- More than 6,800 km of roads have been relaid and 1,600 bridges and culverts constructed in the last four years.
- Automobile sales in the state grew 45% in 2009, at a time when sales had dipped 20-25 % in several other states during the economic slowdown.
- The kidnapping industry has clearly fallen on hard times. One indication of this is that doctors no longer refuse to go to patients homes on emergency calls. Today you can see boards at clinics saying we go on calls, says Dr Amulya Kumar Singh.
- Most of Bihars infamous dons are behind bars. That includes Mohd Shahabuddin, the former RJD MP who had once gone live on TV, daring the state police chief to arrest him.
- Speedy trials have ensured a total of 38,824 convictions between 2006 and September 2009.The convicts included dons and their henchmen. Gun-toting strongmen are no longer a common sight on the streets of Bihar. Policemen patrol them now.
- Malls, shops and private educational institutions are coming up. So are mobile service providers and banking firms. Its boom time for real estate with apartment buildings coming up all around.
- The flip side is that much of this growth does not get reflected in social indicators which remain abysmal. But, as Gupta says, it would be unrealistic for anyone to expect the moon at this stage.
- Right now the fundamentals are getting corrected and therefore you can find mostly infrastructural indicators of growth; one will have to wait for social indicators to become visible, he says. While contractors and realtors stand to gain, more than half the states 8.2 crore people 1.25 crore families still live below the poverty line. For these families to prosper, Bihar desperately needs huge investments and more growth.
Full page article HERE
Less than 5 year of rule and the change is enormous emphasizing the fact that good governance can do wonders even in less time.
There are many kinds of war- Civil war, Biological war, Nuclear war but the worst kind is PROPAGANDA WAR.The reason is that it is the propaganda spread against things leads to the actual war.
In today's world most people have very strong opinions which generally dont change. Now whats the source on which the opinions are based? Newspapers, News channels, Radio etc i.e. THE MEDIA.
Now pause for a moment and think- Is the media controlling you? Is it making you believe what they want you to believe?
Its important and correct to have an opinion but is it flexible enough to change once you know the other side of story? Or have people been "brainwashed" that they dont want to even look at the other side!!
Its dangerous if you are controlled by someone else and its even more dangerous if the masses are controlled by someone else!
Extremist Muslims who force vulnerable teenage girls to convert to Islam are being targeted by police, Met chief Sir Ian Blair has revealed.Police are working with universities to clamp down on "aggressive conversions" during which girls are beaten up and forced to abandon university courses.
The Hindu Forum of Britain claims hundreds of mostly Sikh and Hindu girls have been intimidated by Muslim men who take them out on dates before terrorising them until they convert.
Sir Ian spoke about the problem at a conference organised by the forum. A Met spokesman said: "Neighbourhood officers work with university authorities in London and we would encourage anyone targeted in this way to seek help and support and where necessary use third party reporting facilities if they do not want to contact police directly."
Ramesh Kallidai, of the Hindu Forum of Britain, said: "Some girls are petrified because they are constantly being phoned up, having their door knocked. "One girl was beaten up on the street and others have been forced to leave university."
• Met police chiefs are to review a controversial stop-and-search power used in the fight against terrorism. Assistant commissioner Andy Hayman, the overall head of Britain's anti-terrorist operations, said he had concerns about the number of stops carried out in London using Section 44 legislation.
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CHANDIGARH: Even as the Chandigarh administration gives final touches to its report on the role of Sacred Heart School in expelling Ruchika, the school is reportedly planning to move the National Minorities Commission, alleging harassment.The UT administration, which had earlier said the report would be ready by Tuesday, was mum on its deadline. Sources said the report is likely to make adverse comments on school’s role, which may have allegedly led to this move.
Voicing apprehension, Ruchuka’s friend Anuradha’s sister Adhunika, said “the delay may work in favour of the school, if the panel stepped in.” “We would approach the administration to urge them for speedy action in submitting the report,” she said.
Technically, once the commission steps in, it would then become the supreme authority and any future action on the part of the administration could be put under its purview.
However, a senior functionary of the commission in Delhi said the panel was also aware of public and media attention, which would guide its actions as well. ”
According to sources, the fact finding report has pointed out the anomaly that Ruchika had been a defaulter in 1989 also, but neither her name was scrapped off the rolls nor was she was expelled. It was only after her molestation in 1990 that, within a month, she was asked to leave the school. The report is expected to be submitted on Wednesday to the UT home secretary.
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I came across an article with the same headline a few days ago. My initial reaction was "What rubbish!".