Good to know

Found some informative articles on the net.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=jun2309/State3

"The local residents also said that Manmasi National Christian Army cadres had painted cross symbol on the walls of the temples with their blood.

At least seven to eight Hmar youths were frequently visiting Bhuvan Pahar, which had nearly 700 Hindu people as well as eight Hindu temples. These Hmar youths approached with gun in one hand and the Bible in the other."

http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/7262.html

(Apparently the two forensic labs gave differing reports on Varun Gandhi's claim of the CD's being doctored. Looks like the Indian media selectively publicized only one of the reports!)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/184668/Let-Church-leave-Hindus-alone.html

(Kanchi shankaracharya stands up for Hindu rights)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/184764/Row-over-RSS-event-in-Jammu-University-ends.html

"Highly placed official sources revealed that the Chief Minister (Omar abdullah) had not relished the idea of holding a function to pay homage to Dr Mookerjee inside Jammu University, where key speakers were bound to lambast role of his grandfather Sheikh Mohd Abdullah in the events preceeding the mysterious death of founder president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. "

Open threat to India - where is the media/national outrage?

Here is a shocking piece of news about the arrest of Rashid Malabari and his associates. Of course all of them are Muslims and many from the hot bed of terror -Kerala. Apparently Malabari entered from Nepal, most likely from Philibit, which is why Chotta Shakeel asked him to kill Varun Gandhi.

The way things are going it looks like if anyone says anything against Malabari and his associoated, the NSA will be invoked against him by the political thugs in the Congress, CPI-M and the BSP and supported by the treasonous media!! This is the level that our political and media disourse has sunk to!

It is shocking how there is so little news on this but the MSM went guns blazing against Varun Gandhi whose only crime was to say he will protect Hindus!! This news should have been made top headlines but I guess the media is worried if it will get sympathy for Varun!

It turns out that Malabari had Pramod Muthalik and possibly BJP ministers on his hit list (The K'taka home minitsry has not divulged any more info). The audacity of this planning is shocking!! How much longer will the people if India allow the pseudo-secular politicians and the incompetent media to encourage such Islamic threats?!

http://election.rediff.com/report/2009/apr/01/loksabhapoll-the-man-who-wanted-to-kill-varun-gandhi.htm

"Investigations, which have been carried out following the arrest of Malabari, have now revealed following the violence and panic created by the Shri Ram Sena in Mangalore, the plan was hatched in Pakistan to eliminate its leader Pramod Muthalik."

(Notice the pseudo-secular flavor in this sentence- Violence and panic!! Isnt that exagerrating a little too much. What would you call a riot? Violence and panic!! Arent they trivializing greater crimes by using such strong words for smaller issues? Also, why the hell should Malabari have a problem with Sri rem sene beating up a few hindu girls for getting drunk?!! Doesn't Islam also preach against women disrobing and drinking alcohol?!! Obviously it is not the incident in Mangalore which has made Malabari pick Muthalik as a target, then why does the media bring in this angle ot the story? Do they want to generate sympathy for Malabari as they always do for terrorists?!!)

Here are photographs of the arrest,
http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=118509

Notice the comments made,
"Mohammed , UAE, Mar 30, 2009
So the BJP government has started framing innocent minorities.I wonder why they are not able to catch those who damaged the sacred churches and mosques and killed innocent minorities."

"Maqbool, UAE Mar 31, 2009 (Justifying terror)
When govt institutions fail to protect innocent civilians, people are forced to take law into their hands."

"Roshan D'Souza, UAE Mar 31, 2009
After church attacks, I don't trust these police at all. Police and State govt are targeting minorities!! This is crazy."

They also caught some people who gave shelter to Malabari
http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=118981

These people have now threatened serial blasts in bangalore!!

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200904031670.htm

Here is the conversation Shakeel and Malabari had,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Shakeels-shooter-reluctant-to-kill-Varun/articleshow/4352689.cms

Maneka Gandhi on the Varun issue

Maneka Gandhi is interviewed by NDTV. She very calmly points out the facts behind the issue and reprimands the media for blowing things out of proportion.

Congress and the Indian Media

This is a brilliant piece by Tarun Vijay on rediff on the systematic way the Congress party and the trecherous media are working hard to undermine the HIndu population in India.


Family legacy and the Varun effect

Those who opposed the Ayodhya temple movement, wore silence over the plight of Kashmiri Hindus, damaged the Ram Sethu and denied Lord Rama ever existed, denied the violence at the Godhra railway station, and embraced the butchers of 1984, are collectively gunning at Varun Gandhi's political life.

Column after column by Padma Shris in the media have created an atmosphere where supporting Varun has become a sin. Why? The simple reason is that the farmhouse of Gandhi-Nehru politics has been broken and a scion of the family chose to speak out as his conscience directed.

More than what Varun said or didn't say, it is the hurt and bewilderment over the loss of a Gandhi to the saffron brigade that has made the media and anti-Hindutva politicos react with such venom and acid. He was not heard, not given a chance to present his case, nor did forensic experts examine the so-called proof in the form of a CD containing his speech.

Varun has suddenly dwarfed the media-supported Rahul.

Nobody has ever heard a dynasty member to say with understandable assertion that he or she is a Hindu. Rather, they have always tried to look differently at things. They banned Hindu organisations, imposed the Emergency, removed basic human rights, never willingly facilitated the Sikh massacre probe, rewarded hardened criminals, made alliance with those who were convicted for murder or were facing scandalous charges, had the Muslim League join the government after Partition. Yet, they are nice, decent, peace-loving, patriotic democrats who love to tell others: 'Go read the Gita.'

When Indian soldiers were fighting Pakistani marauders in 1947, we didn't have enough jeeps. So orders were placed with the British company and supply demanded immediately. Our high commissioner in London V K Krishna Menon, Pandit Nehru's blue-eyed boy, messed it up. The jeeps reached a year late.

That was the first scandal in independent India.

We lost Gilgit, Baltistan and Skardu. We lost Aksai Chin because the government in New Delhi didn't know the exact boundaries and so no patrolling was being done there.

In all we have lost 125,000 square km to the Pakistanis and Chinese during Congress rule.

Plus we had a bad dream called 1962.

At that time our ordnance factories were making coffee machines as Pandit Nehru openly argued against having a well-equipped large army for defence. 'Who is going to attack us?' he would ask.
And people still remember the mysterious death of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who simply wanted Kashmir to be a part of India like Bihar or Bengal and the permit system to enter the valley be abolished. Kashmir had two rulers then, its ruler was called Sadr e Riyasat or 'head of state', and it had a prime minister. Mookerjee's martyrdom compelled the Nehru government to remove the permit system and the two heads of state.

Then we had the Mundhra scandal, the Nagarwala case, the L N Mishra murder. The Jana Sangh's fast-emerging leader Deendayal Upadhyaya was murdered. A Congress leader canvassed openly against the official Presidential candidate and supported her own choice as independent nominee. The original Congress symbol was a pair of oxen. After the official Congress broke up, they got the hand as a temporary symbol till the case is finally settled. It would never be.

Opposing Sonia Gandhi's sudden rise in politics only on the grounds of her foreign origin were leaders like Sharad Pawar and P A Sangma. Old Congressmen still feel sad that they lost dynamic and promising leaders of substance like Rajesh Pilot, Madhavrao Scindia and Jitendra Prasada, who could have steered the Congress on an entirely different and strong nationalist course. And a veteran like Sitaram Kesri was humiliated no end.

The only non-dynasty prime minister to run a Congress government for full five years successfully was insulted even in his death and his body-in-state was not allowed to enter the Congress headquarters in New Delhi. An airport in his home state to be named after him was opposed to by Congressmen although the proposal was put forth by an Opposition leader.
This is how they treat their party leaders not belonging to the family. They amended, abused and twisted the Constitution, put the entire Opposition behind bars for an undisclosed period and were harsh on the unyielding masses.

Yet, they are the democrats and secular lighthouse of freedom of expression and liberty.
They kept India backward in such a planned manner that even after 62 years of independence we are yet to have a spacious functional airport in the national capital, 70,000 farmers committed suicide in one year, decorated soldiers returned their medals in protest and a movie on our poverty-stricken 'slum dogs' fetches the Oscar. And they loved illegal infiltrators for the sake of their votes -- and still they say they are the inheritors of a freedom struggle that demanded the ouster of aliens.

No electoral reforms, no police reforms or strengthening their morale and weapons, the administration is still run the way it functioned during the Sahebs; and despite having won a well-fought war in 1971 we couldn't settle the Kashmir issue or control the jihadi tail-wagger in the neighbourhood.

Minorities were so well supported in Congress regimes that in the sixth decade after independence they felt a need to provide special crutches for them. Show the 'M' card and get the privilege, became the new secular psalm, further shrinking the space and opportunities for the condemned majority.

More than anything else they tried to wreck the morale of the assertive Hindus who faced the onslaught of invaders for 12 centuries with unparalleled bravery and with invincible spirit to protect their culture and the fragrance of the land. They deserved to be comforted most after a fractured independence and a massacre that was thrust upon them by a weak Congress leadership. Yet, a large section of Hindus today feel cheated and anguished.

They form governments in 12 states, prove they can run the country beautifully with a coalition of 25 parties with diametrically opposed ideologies. And one of their Swayamsewaks unfurled the tricolour six times from the ramparts of the Red Fort as the prime minister, impressed world leaders and the international media with a record of infrastructure-building, communication revolution and women's empowerment, chose a Muslim to be the President and conducted Pokhran II by fooling the CIA's 'eyes', and resisted extraordinary world pressure and sanctions.

Yet, they are called anti-development, anti-women, even anti-social. In not a single so-called mainstream media outlet are their views published, but every news item is scanned to hurl stones on them through editorialising on the front-page.

Still, they are the very objective face of our independent media.

The choicest abuses used by 'decent guarantors of the freedom of expression' columnists and editorial-writers can be collected as a bouquet of India's uncivilised lexicon, yet their films against the very spirit of Hindu nature get widely supported by a regime that survives on Hindu money and votes.

Their love for development and secularism is so deep that they can send dredgers to destroy a million years of faith and marine life because that was Ram Sethu, but won't dare to touch a six feet by six feet dargah in the middle of the road blocking the highway and causing accidents, for fear of annoying a vote-bank.

And then they say, they are the future of India.

Communal Indian Media

Found a good analysis of Indian Media's coverage of Varun Gandhi episode

Media communalism
If the media really believed that Varun Gandhi’s speech would cause unrest among a section of the people, did the repeat telecasts of the speech make any sense?
S R RAMANUJAN finds the media’s indignation hypocritical.

In one of his responses to media "interrogation", Jawaharlal Nehru's great grandson and a political debutant Varun Gandhi said that he was being targeted simply because he was a "Gandhi". What he probably meant was that because he was an "estranged Gandhi", he was on the firing line of his rivals (no prizes for guessing who they are) and specially the English media. The speech that was attributed to him, doctored or otherwise, was certainly not in good taste. His defence that the fact that his speech did not incite any single individual for nearly 15 days was by itself a pointer that there was no malice on his part, may not wash either.

However, the role of media is certainly open to question. While reporting that it was a "hate speech" "blatantly communal" etc, did the media behave responsibly by telecasting the tape umpteen times a day for the last few days? If the media really believed that the speech was intended to or likely to cause unrest among a section of the people, do the repeat telecasts of the speech make any sense, or does it show the media as a responsible institution?

When the Election Commission sincerely believes that it was indeed a "hate speech" and might cause communal disturbances, it should have intervened and restrained the media from repeat telecast. They did their job by reporting the event with the CD supplied to all channels by a mysterious source. Follow up stories need not always be with the same offensive CD. Finding an excuse to repeat the telecast of the CD only exposes the channels' real intentions. It also helps those who charge the mainline channels of being anti-majority.

Though conventional ethics demands that the source need not be disclosed, on instances like this, where the CD is not the result of the efforts put in by the reporting staff, revealing the source might help viewers make up their mind as to the intentions of those behind the CD that is dished out to them at least a dozen times a day, irrespective of the genuineness of the CD. Particularly so when Varun is harbouring a conspiracy theory. This is analogous to the tendency of both print and electronic media to decry obscenity while showing obscene pictures on the pretext of dealing with the subject, in the process titillating readers and viewers.

Varun Gandhi made certain observations relating to the context in which he made objectionable statements. He was citing atrocities, real or imaginary, committed on the majority community in the border constituency of Pilibhit. Should not the media make its own independent investigation into the charges made by the fresher in politics rather than repeating the telecast of the same CD? Is the media afraid that it will not help its ultra secular image?

When National Conference leader Omar Abdullah made a speech during the Trust Vote in the Lok Sabha stating that he was proud to be a Muslim and an Indian, the fell all over his speech, declaring it the best speech in recent times in Parliament. He was equivocal on the Amarnath issue during the speech and his role during the Amarnath agitation is no secret to the citizens of this country. But the media did not think he was communal or practising divisive politics when he spoke for Muslims.

Take the case of the Majlis-e-Ittehaadul Muslimeen (MIM). Everyone knows how rabidly communal the party is. The MIM was an ally of the UPA in the last elections. Now, the party wants to have the veto power in the appointment of Police Commissioners or Director General of Police in Andhra Pradesh. MIM President Asaduddin Owaisi petitioned the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of AP against the inclusion of a particular officer in the panel for the top Police post stating that his "communal and high-handed" behaviour had alienated him from "the Muslims of Andhra Pradesh". So, the basic pre-condition for appointment to the top police post, it seems, is that he/she should enjoy the confidence of the minority community. If the majority community makes a similar demand, we know what the reaction of the media will be. The community or its leaders will attract instant criticism that they are divisive and communal. But the national media is silent over the MIM's demand.

Abdul Nassar Madhani's alleged terror links and the Kerala CPI-M's proximity to him is no news for the national media. Interestingly, while the chief minister betrays his helplessness on the issue stating that it takes time for him to get information from his intra-party rival and the state home minister, the latter feels there is no need for an enquiry into Madanis' terror links. The party wants Madani's PDP support to win elections. Never mind the fundamentalist nature of the PDP's policies and programmes. For the uninitiated, Madani was accused of master-minding the Coimbatore blast in the nineties to assassinate L K Advani who, however, had a narrow escape.

(Madani was acquitted of all charges in this case in 2007. Ed.)

The latest is Imran Kidwai's Chandigarh speech. Though he made the "hate speech" on March 15 closer to Delhi and not in far off Pilibhit, and the BJP petitioned the EC on March 19 with the CD which was circulated to the media by the party, the national media do not seem to have picked up the story. Imran Kidwai is a senior Congress leader and he said "I regret not being a mufti. Had I been one, I would have issued just one fatwa that going with the BJP amounts to committing kufr". AICC in-charge for Punjab Moshina Kidwai and party candidate and Union Minister Pawan Bansal were reportedly present at the public meeting in which Imran is alleged to have made this statement. This seems to be a perfectly secular sermon for our media. Hence, the deafening silence?

In contrast, on the same day, Mallika Sarabhai's decision to take on Advani in Gandhinagar was a great developing story for most of the national channels. There was a "live" debate with her in at least two English channels. While the anchors conceded that there was "negligible" chance of her winning, and that her real intention may be to hog publicity, the debate, nevertheless, continued for quite some time. Of course, in all fairness to her, she maintained that her foray into electoral politics was not to score a point or two on secularism.

An interesting side-show to this secular-communal diatribe is the petition filed by the "Vaishnavites" of Andhra Pradesh before the CEO, Hyderabad, against the CPI-M state secretary B V Raghvulu who asked the state finance minister K Rosaiah to wear "namam" and roam the streets of Andhra Pradesh as a mendicant. Vaishnavites felt that their sentiments were hurt by Raghavulu's statement as he ridiculed their sacred "namam". For the uninitiated, what the Chief Election Commissioner Gopalaswamy wears on his forehead is "namam". Even this story had no takers in the national media.

The lesson, therefore, is that communalism, whether prefixed with the labels like "majority" or " minority", is not confined to men occupying political space in this country. The media is also not untainted by it.

B. Raman on Varun Gandhi episode

This is a very good article by the former intelligence chief B. Raman on the Varun Gandhi Saga.

http://election.rediff.com/column/2009/mar/25/guest-ec-should-have-given-varun-gandhi-a-hearing.htm

"As I read the late night communication of the Election Commission to Varun Gandhi, son of Sanjay and Maneka Gandhi and grandson of Indira Gandhi, and his reply to the Election Commission, I was reminded of the exchange of midnight missives between his illustrious grandmother and the so-called syndicate in the Congress before the Presidential elections in the late 1960s in which V V Giri, supported by her, was elected and Sanjiva Reddy, supported by the syndicate, was defeated.

Indira Gandhi rightly viewed the machinations of the syndicate as an attempt to marginalise her in the Congress party and put a stop to her political aspirations. She fought back ferociously and ultimately prevailed. The syndicate did not forgive her for this. When the Congress lost the elections after the lifting of the Emergency in 1977, the syndicate had its moments of revenge. It got Sanjiva Reddy elected as the President and sought to humiliate her in every way possible. She ferociously fought back again and returned to power in 1980. Nobody remembers the syndicate. Its members have been consigned to the dustbin of history. Everybody remembers Indira Gandhi.

A grand-son of Indira Gandhi is now fighting ferociously against what he apparently sees as an attempt by a syndicate of so-called secularists to discredit him and crush his political aspirations even before he could take his first firm steps in politics. He has every right to fight against what he perceives to be the denial of the right of natural justice to him.

The extremely objectionable remarks alleged to have been made by Varun Gandhi during two pre-election meetings in the Pilibhit constituency should be strongly condemned by all right-thinking persons as distasteful, irresponsible and unworthy of a political leader if it is established that he did make those remarks.

If he had not contested those remarks and, on the contrary, if he had tried to justify them, there would have been no need for a further enquiry before condemning him. But he has contested the remarks which he is supposed to have made and he has not justified them. He has challenged the genuineness of the tapes and alleged that the tapes have been doctored.

In TV interviews, he has given a number of arguments as to why he contended that the tapes had been doctored. Many of his arguments could be dismissed as after-thoughts but not one, namely, his contention that in a tape he is shown as referring to a sister of his whereas he had no sister. If what he says about the contents of the tapes is correct, there is a serious mistake of fact in the remarks which he is shown as making. Where there is such a serious mistake of fact, there is a presumption of innocence in favour of the accused. He has not been given the benefit of this presumption.

There are certain procedural infirmities in the way the Election Commission has passed its order of March 22 against Varun. The first infirmity arises from the fact that the commission has passed an ex-parte order without giving Varun an opportunity to appear before the commission and explain his conduct. An ex-parte order is permissible if a person against whom an inquiry is being made was given an opportunity to appear and explain his conduct, but he did not do so. When a person fails to respond to a summons to appear before an inquiry body and explain his conduct, he is presumed to be avoiding the due process of the rules or the law. There is an automatic presumption of guilt against him.

All of us, including the distinguished members of the EC, had served as bureaucrats. We had all done our training before we started our career. We had all attended courses in how to hold an inquiry and about the importance of being fair in an inquiry. There are detailed departmental orders in the government of India and the states as to how to hold a fair inquiry. All these orders lay down that every person against whom an inquiry is held has a right for a personal hearing before the inquiry officer twice -- before the inquiry starts and again before an adverse ruling is pronounced by the inquiry officer. If Varun Gandhi is to be believed, these dos and don'ts of a fair inquiry were not followed in his case.

The second infirmity arises with regard to Varun's contention that the tapes seem to have been doctored. The Election Commission has held that it was for him to prove this. How could he have explained to the commission as to why he thought that the tapes might have been doctored if he was not given an opportunity for a personal hearing. There are two ways of proving that a tape must have been doctored -- forensically or by pointing out serious mistakes of fact in the contents of the tape, which are glaring and could not have been made by him. It would have been but fair that he was given an opportunity to appear before the commission and explain why he contended that the tapes must have been doctored.

Priyanka Gandhi, another grand-child of Indira Gandhi, has reportedly advised Varun to read and understand the Gita better. She should too. In fact, all of us, who consider ourselves proud Hindus, should. In the Gita, Lord Krishna advises and convinces Arjun as to why one should sometimes fight even against one's kith and kin if there were strong moral grounds for doing so.
That is why Indira Gandhi fought ferociously against the syndicate of the Congress.
If Varun thinks that he should emulate his illustrious grand-mother and fight ferociously against what he sees as the unfair attitude of the syndicate of so-called secularists against him, he has every right to do so. "

B Raman