India the most allied ally of the US and Israel

One of the world’s largest economies in aggregate terms and once a leader of the Non-aligned Movement, India is now on way to become the most allied ally of the US and Israel. This has largely been due to the policies adopted by various governments during the last decade or so, each of whom has vied with the previous government to give a little more of space to the US and Israel than their predecessors. The fact that there has been no stable government in India ever since the assassination of Rajeev Gandhi coupled with the Pakistan factor prompted the succeeding governments to work to strengthen this relationship even if it meant bending forward or backward.
Manmohan Singh government too has followed the same path perhaps because it was quick to realize that a mere leak of some classified information at the US’s behest, like in the case of Natwar Singh, could threaten the foundations of the government at the Centre. The Congress was left with not many choices but to distance itself with Natwar Singh to save its government.
Manmohan Singh government has followed the same path of its predecessors and has been able to win over US faith to such an extent that the US Government under George Bush, went out of the way to get the Henry J. Hyde, United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006, named after the outgoing Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate in the US. Normally, for any agreement that exempts a recipient non-nuclear weapons state (NNWS) such as India from full-scope safeguards (FSS), as required by section 123 a (2) of he Atomic Energy Act (AEA) to come into force, a specific congressional vote of approval is required. But the substantial changes already incorporated into the legislation by the House and the Senate ensured the passage of bill.
If there was no pressure from top, why would have the House and the Senate gone out of the way to pass the legislation by 330 votes to 79, if India has not given enough guarantees to follow the US policies, particularly putting on stake its freedom in independent foreign policy by ensuring that it would “fully and actively participate in US and international efforts to dissuade, sanction and contain Iran for its nuclear programme,” a point that was very much part of the conditions right from beginning though India did not say so officially. That India was moving on the same lines was evident by its stance and consequent voting against Iran during the UN meeting.
This is a well-known fact that after Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran is the biggest eyesore for the US. India was one of the countries which could have rallied support to Iran owing to the cordial relations between the two countries, the potential of trade between them and the fact that Iran was merely talking of making peaceful use of its nuclear resources while India had already gone ahead with making the nuclear bomb. Owing to the US actively pursuing India and offering the bait, India got into an awkward position in front of the international community, which saw dual policy of the US that was on one hand going out of the way to provide civil nuclear cooperation to India and was on the other hand going out of the way to build pressure against Iran, which was claiming to put its nuclear technology to civil use, and even tried to extract a promise India to support it on this issue, something that the Indian government readily complied with.
India’s lukewarm stance on several international issues, including the attack on Lebanon and Palestine (there was a time when Yasser Arafat was acclaimed as best of our friends) and subsequent killing of thousands of civilians in these two countries and now the execution of Saddam Hussain too has confirmed that India has now become the most allied ally of the US and Israel.
This is good news for those Indians who keep personal gains foremost, whatever the cost to the rest of the world. To those who still wish to value the principles of justice and truth foremost, which has remained the hallmark of Indian history since ancient times, it is definitely not good news as this means India will have to look the other way on many an occasions, just as the US did so when Saddam was slaughtering his own countrymen or used chemical weapons against Iranians. Choice is not there as our government already appears to have opted for the former.

The farmer’s plight

Farmers are restless. Be it Vidarbha in Maharashtra, Punjab, MP or UP, a fire is smoldering which has the potential to erupt with serious consequences. Who is responsible for the farmer’s plight?
A general apathy towards farmer’s grievances and rampant corruption at all places are the prime reasons.
Take the instance of Vidarbha in Maharashtra. The State Government started cotton procurement in December, delaying it by two months after the crop was harvested. In several places, procurement centres were yet to open. With their harvest remaining unsold, farmers were restless. Those who came to few centres that were open, like Wani, had to wait for days in chilling cold. Some of them had hired trucks to bring the produce there and as the trucks remained stranded for days, the rent mounted. Graders were refusing to buy all the cotton, saying it was moist. With time and when they realized something was wrong, farmers grew restless. They ransacked the furniture and put the building on fire. Finally police had to open fire to disperse the farmers.
What happened at Wani is not a stray incident. The same is happening all over India leading to restlessness among the farming community. A senior officer connected with the agriculture department in UP spilt the beans to us though only on condition of anonymity. This is the time when paddy and sugarcane is being purchased by State departments. Cheques worth crores of rupees are issued daily from the offices of Regional Food Controllers in various divisions. What happens on ground is that the graders label a particular farmer’s produce as moist. The farmer is left with no choice but to take back all the produce. Reluctant to fall in the clutches of private traders, the farmers are left with no choice but to negotiate underhand price with the graders. For instance, if the going rate is 620 per quintal and the farmer agrees to pay back Rs. 20 per quintal, the same produce that was about to be marked as wet is bought.
If it is not apathy on part of our system then what it is that in Vidarbha, where 1200 suicides have been reported since June 2005 alone, and nearly 75% of the families (12.75 lakh households) are in great distress, as per a State survey, the Cotton Corporation of India did not open centres for more than two months after the harvest, while at several places the private traders had already started buying cotton from October onwards.
Moreover, no adequate arrangements were made for farmers who waited all this while so that they could sell to the government. Finally, when some centres did open and the farmers went there, they had to wait for days and their cotton rejected on flimsy grounds. Is it not a clear enough indicator that with more and more of private parties entering into purchase of agri-produce, certain officials of the government actually played in the hands of these private players by denying the farmers an equal opportunity to sell to the government and private traders alike.
Unless the government takes remedial steps right now, the future appears to be bleaker for farmers of the country who comprise nearly 70% of the population, particularly after the entering of private players like Reliance, Bharati and ITC into this sector. Reliance has already started with creating petrol pumps and motels all across the country to build a sound network of bases from which to operate. Bharati has announced that it would make foray into schools in rural areas while ITC too is strengthening its network deeper into the country. With such giants dealing with weaklings – the farmers – the farmer’s voice is like to get throttled further unless an adequate checking system is evolved, devoid of corruption. Or else, just as several consumers complained that the mobiles at Rs. 500 were followed by exorbitant back-breaking bills and subsequent legal notices, right under the glare of us all, that too in metro cities, and the poor consumer in most cases was left with no choice but to pay up, the rural farmer who is still largely straight-forward and uncorrupted compared to us city folks, would find himself incapable of standing up in front of the well-oiled and perfected battery of lawyers, white-collared enforcers (you may call them goons) and shrewd business managers.
Is anybody listening?

‘Lucknow is at take-off stage’

Lucknow’s infrastructure is rapidly changing. Major real estate players with deep pockets have come to the city and development is taking place at all places. Hi Time Express talked to Sheikh Mohammad Arif, Chairman and Managing Director of Arif Industries Limited, who is constructing the single largest group housing project of Northern India, as reported by CNBC, with 630 apartments, commercial centre, community centre and allied infrastructure. Excerpts from an interview:
Hi Time: Where do you place the real estate infrastructure of Lucknow?
Sheikh Mohammad Arif (SMA): Lucknow is growing with no stoppage. Demand too is rising due to large scale resettlement of people. Recent attempts to give it a metropolitan status and its selection as Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Progam will further give boost to its development. In entire North India, maximum development is taking place here after the cities surrounding Delhi, viz. Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Greater Noida. Cost of living is cheaper and cost of real estate is very modest, even half of neighbouring Kanpur
Hi Time: What do you have to say of entrance of Delhi-based players with deep pockets?
SMA: Most of them who have come are merely five-year old. True that they have a strategy of mass construction in lot many destinations but are actually promoters and not builders. In our case, whatever we do we are sure what we are doing.
Hi Time: How are conditions different from Delhi?
SMA: In Lucknow, there are several things that count which are not that important in Delhi. For instance, surface transport is of paramount importance here. That is why development on outskirts takes 20 years for appreciation to show its effect. If Eldeco Udyaan could become successful in 15 years, that was because of SGPGI. Even those who had taken plots with UNITECH found difficulty in selling them.
Hi Time: What about malls and multiplexes that are coming up in good number?
SMA: All these are failures of tomorrow because they have not thought of a long-term plan. Government should drastically change the parking norms, which are very weak at present. Out of 100 footfalls, 5 are not customers. An entry fee should be put in order to make malls successful and one who purchases inside should be able to encash this amount. This is how unwanted crowd could be controlled.
As soon as some mall comes in Lucknow which has good parking facilities, all the existing malls including the Sahara mall, Zee mall and Rave, will become deserted.
Hi Time: What about areas that need to be taken care of?
SMA: Slow-moving traffic, encroachments and rapid commercialization without adequate planning are a major roadblock to fast development. All these should be removed. One thing that Lucknow lacks is industrialization. If government succeeds in making LIDA, it would be equated with any city of the country.

King of the Jungle

And the beasts within city limits

Such is the shocking nature of Nithari episode that Mulayam, when asked whether there was actually jungle-raaj in UP couldn’t deny the allegations and merely said that if there was jungle-raaj in UP, then he was its king. No doubt, this ‘jungle kingdom’ has beasts in human garb wandering in cities, devouring and killing fellow human beings at their whims.
Unable to brush aside the issue of killings at Nithari, in which more gruesome developments are being added every passing day, the State administration tried to show that something was being done when it distributed cheques of 2 lakhs each (raised to 5 lakh later) and suspended six policemen, CO, SP-City and the then SSP of Noida. Proof that all this was merely done to silent the raging emotions and the subsequent media glare can be gauged from the fact that there are still cases, like that of a girl named Payal, whose father has not been given the cheque yet.
But too little has been done too late. Who would punish the policemen who refused to register FIRs when the children were being abducted for the last two years, who gave clean chit to Mohnder Singh when complaint was made against him, who subverted the evidence and then considered it their moral duty to lathicharge the aggrieved parents and relatives. All those who acted as patrons or thwarted investigation should be probed.
It seems law and order is only for those with clout and money. Nobody is able to tell how child after child was taken up inside the premises of D-5, sexually violated (as per present beliefs) and killed. More than 40 children have met with the same fate, at the hands of Surendra, Mohinder Singh’s aide in these heinous crimes. More shocking is that while the children from the poor locality continued to be abducted, the neighbouring rich residents continued to lie in slumber, only to wake when one from their own community was kidnapped. Then it became big news.

Box
UP Under Abduction Threat

The state government has been under fire for the poor law and order situation. Proof is here, about 135 abduction cases have been registered in ‘06.
The worst picture was revealed with the news of abduction of Anant Gupta, son of Adobe CEO Naresh Gupta from Noida. This was the first case that drew the attention of government as well as the concerned authorities. Anant was kidnapped few yards away from his home. The police department tried to do its best not to gain adverse publicity as the matter had already become highly publicized, but in vain. After about a week all off a sudden Anant came back to his home. Police claimed to solve the case later though it has been revealed that his father gave ransom amount of 50,00,000 rupees.
Anant’s abduction case brought a chain of abduction cases in light. In this series, on December 8th, Ankit, (13), was kidnapped. Ankit was son of RK Vishwakarma, a technician at SGPGIMS. He was abducted soon after he left his Eldeco Colony residence along with two teenagers on a motorcycle. Later, he was brutally murdered by the kidnappers; police recovered the body in pieces. In this case police took a ‘take it easy’ attitude, perhaps because the case was not that high profile as that of the Adobe CEO’s son. However, two people Vikas Gupta and Satender Singh were arrested for kidnapping.
On 13th December, B Tech II-year student Saif Siddiqui of Integral University disappeared under mysterious circumstances. He was reportedly kidnapped from Vikas Nagar locality when he was on way from Madiaon. When police probed the boy was found in Meerut, this case came under controversy as the police suspected that the case was of faux kidnapping.

These kidnapping and subsequent brutal murder cases seem to have little effect on the lackadaisical attitude of police. A 12-year–old student of Rani Laxmi Bai School, Indira Nagar was abducted. But the cops did not initiate any efforts to trace the boy, despite information given by the victim’s father. The cops sat idle while the boy returned home, giving the abductors a slip.

On 29th of last month, a two and a half year boy Muzamil, son of Tanveer Kamil, was kidnapped by Noor Alam from Thakurgunj area. The abductor was asking for ransom money of ten lakh rupees.

In recent times murder case of Kavita Devi lecturer of Chaudhary Charan Singh University of Meerut again raised questions over the law and order situation in the State. Kavita’s case registered under section 364 (abduction with intent to murder), names of some politicians like Babulal were allegedly involved in the case. The case has given Mulayam Singh Yadav government sleepless nights.

Year ‘06 has ended with the news of gruesome tale of kidnapping and then brutal killing of 18 children in Nithari Village near Noida by a serial killer Surender Koli alias Satish and his master Mohinder Singh. According to police reports, 31 children of Noida were missing from the last two years.
Now it has been clear that the innocent children were kidnapped by them to benefit their self. But it’s still not clear that who would take the responsibility of the safety of the state and people living in this ‘crime capital’? This is surely not the ‘Uttam Pradesh which was visualized by all of us.

Sad End, Saddam?

Sad end, Saddam be damned

Our heading itself is an indication that the Muslim community is giving mixed reactions over Saddam’s execution. Those who suffered his ire during his regime celebrated the execution while a good number of them mourned and could even be heard speaking ill of the US. There was a big majority who was least bothered and never wanted the news of execution to hamper their Eid celebrations, some of whom have woken up to demonstrate now that three days of Eid have passed.
Hi Time Express spoke to several people and took their views on Saddam’s execution. Prof. Naiyer Masud, one of the most prominent literary figures at Lucknow, rues the fact that society is on verge of split. He is of opinion that people should not allow differences to creep in between themselves owing to Saddam’s execution, both in India and in the Muslim world. Saddam is dead and nothing can bring him back, the Muslim world should work to rebuild the tattered Iraq and other countries which are passing through the same condition.
S. Mahmood Naqvi, journalist and a prominent social worker from Delhi, too stresses on the urgent need to make efforts to build Iraq. He says that Saddam’s execution is neither an occasion for rejoicing but a matter of deep concern for the rulers of Arab countries, a warning that the US is the supreme power and they ought not to ignore the unblemished allegiance to the US.
Likewise, Sheikh Mohammad Arif, Chairman and Managing Director of Arif Industries Limited says that killing of Saddam Hussain shows that the US wishes to tell to the world that it would do what it wants and nobody can stop it. “If it is said that 100-odd people were killed when Saddam was president, we forget that he was the President and as a president he was authorized to pass a judgement. You do not hang a judge if he by mistakes hangs somebody who is innocent. But who is responsible for killing lakhs of people. I am not defending Saddam but what the US is doing is that they are dividing Muslim community to the core and they have succeeded in doing that.”
Arif cites the case of the British who was caught in Arabian attire in Iraq with RDX and other weapons and later the British forces surrounded the police station and got the man released. Says he: “So-called Sunni Shia killing is actually motivated. If it is in their capacity they will destroy Iran tomorrow but because they are showing themselves pro-Shia at the moment, they are showing a soft stance towards it.” And adds: “This is an international conspiracy. Who is supplying arms in Assam and Afghanistan? Who killed Rajiv Gandhi which resulted in instability in the country for last 15 years?”
Giving his views on Saddam’s execution, prominent Sunni cleric Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangimehli said that this was 100% unfair to Saddam because U.S.A. has no rights to hang him as he was elected President of his country. When asked what was his view on Saddam brutally killing many of his countrymen, Maulana Rasheed said, “He had killed only those who were traitors and I don’t think Saddam had killed any innocents.”
However there are still some like Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abbas who disagree with this statement. From his point of view the death of Saddam had been delayed; he should have been hanged earlier. Had he been hanged earlier, so many innocent lives of women and children would have been saved, he feels.
Maulana Saif also said, “If we talk of Americans they also don’t have the responsibility to kill anyone, to destroy America, God will send some other person. But the lines of Prophet Mohammad comes true which he had earlier explained that “Zulm karne wale ko usse bada zulm karne wala marta hai.”
The President of Nationalist Congress Party (Uttar Pradesh Unit) Ramesh Dixit said, “This is absolutely an act of evil which the US performed because they don’t have such rights to kill a person which did not belong to their country. The people who are contented with his death must have to understand that America cannot create an atmosphere of brotherhood with anyone. It can do the same with others also.”

Sad End, Saddam?

Executed on the day when goats and sheep are sacrificed

Eid was celebrated two days later in India. Hence not many Indians know that Saddam was executed on the dawn of the most auspicious day of Muslims in the region, at a time when millions of people, both Shias and Sunnis, had gathered at Makkah to perform the sacred rites of Haj. This was also the day when the Muslim world sacrifices goats and sheep to please the God. That Saddam was hanged on that day itself cannot be without a purpose.
Millions of Muslims come to Haj from all corners of the globe. A small spark of sectarian divide there would have clearly divided the Muslim world into two distinct blocks, already being propagated as Sunni and Shia triangle by the Western media. This apparent division is a new coinage to divide and was never heard of till now, as all the countries of the region have mixed population of Shias and Sunnis. The fact that this term was conceptualized and propagated by the West talks of a clear-cut plan to ignite bloodshed and hatred in the Muslim world.
A riot on Haj between Shias and Sunnis could have resulted in unimaginable consequences and would have further isolated Iran, Syria and Hizbollah, US’s biggest enemies of the day. That it didn’t happen shows that the Muslim world has started seeing into the game-plan. How long?

Sad End, Saddam?

Politics of Video Release

It was a video filmed inside the confines of high security Abu Ghraib prison that ignited the entire Arab world. The photos were seen by the Arabs as an attack to subdue the spirit of freedom and independence that the Arab people are known for. It was more of an attack on the Arab psyche as the men, who had refused to subdue their minds even after they were physically subdued, were seen behaving like dogs, their sexuality compromised and lying in a mound of naked men. On another occasion, news of the Holy Quran being flushed got leaked out and spread like forest fire.
The proud and defiant Saddam, who decided to embrace death boldly and refused to get his face covered, too, was seen as epitome of the same spirit of Arab pride. Earlier examples, which caused much embarrassment due to release of photographs, must have necessitated that special care should have been taken this time keeping the sensitivity of the issue involved and particularly when the executioners too were aware of this and took special care to hide their faces behind masks. Saddam’s execution had the potential to ignite the entire country. The mobile video footage of the execution of Saddam Hussain and voices of those around him that clearly identify the executioners as Shias, reveal that certain people with vested interests are hell-bent on creating the divide between Sunnis and Shias of Iraq. No Sunni would have agreed to execute Saddam. Even if he had done so, it was better advisable to have Shias doing the job, considering the strict security that was required. But the fact that not one but two mobile videos were present inside the execution chamber is a clear indicator of sinister designs. Naturally, the government officials of Iraq, to whatever sect they belong, would not want the community to get divided on sectarian lines. Who is it who wants the wedge to deepen?
Zia Haider Rizvi, a prominent lawyer of Lucknow who visited Iraq twice in the past says: “The difference between Sunnis and Shias was not there in Iraq at all. Inter-marriages between the two sects and the people lived amicably.”
The country has been taken from that amity to chaos where car bombs nearly every day threaten to torn the fabric of unity. No eyebrows were raised when a British citizen was caught by Iraqi police with RDS stacked in his car. As the police interrogated, the police station was surrounded by the British forces, with tanks and guns, and the prisoner released by force. Iraq’s rapidly disintegrating social fabric appears to be a well-calculated game plan with roots in Abu Ghraib, car bombs, Saddam’s execution and now the politics of video releases.