Da Eternal Rebel

Jinhe Naaz hai Hind par wo kahan the ?

2012-01-13T01:44:00.003+05:30

No words required, Rabbi has done his job....

A Post for Tahrir

2011-11-27T23:43:00.001+05:30

A woman in Bahrin. Will not say anything coz this pic itself is more than enough to convey my thoughts...

आखिरी प्रेम पत्र

2011-10-19T00:20:00.000+05:30

Excuse me if this is overly kiddish, when I wrote this, was just 15 years old.

To Neha once again, from an old notebook, a letter which was never sent; just digitalizing it, afterall this is my last loveletter...

Finally one post in my blog for myself.

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Please पढने से पहले फाड़ना मत! हर बार मैं यही कहता हूँ की ये मेरी आखिरी चिट्ठी है लेकिन क्या करूँ, कंट्रोल ही नहीं होता. वैसे इसे तुम मेरा confession भी समझ सकती हो. बहुत कुछ ऐसा है जो मैं clarify करना चाहता था लेकिन अब तुम्हारा सामना करने की हिम्मत खो चूका हूँ. अब मुझे तुमसे कोई जवाब भी नहीं चाहिए. बस मेरी situation को समझने की कोशिश करना.

तुम मुझे भले ही सड़क छाप रोड रोमिओ समझो लेकिन अगर मेरा यकीन मानो तो 21 मई 1997 से पहले मैं इन सब लफड़ों से दूर ही रहता था. मैं वैसा भी नहीं हूँ जो मुश्किल से दो मिनट की बहुत ही फोर्मल बातचित को कुछ और समझ लूँ. तुम्हारी और मेरी ऊस मुलाकात के दो दिन पहले मैंने तुममे कुछ देखा था, वो कुछ क्या था मैं न कभी समझ पाया और न ही कभी समझ पाऊंगा. अब तुम ये उम्मीद तो मत रखना कि मैं तुम्हे कभी भूल पाऊंगा. तुम मेरा पहला और आखिरी पागलपन हो...

मैंने तुम्हारे साथ जिस तरीके से behave किया है उसके लिए मैं अपने आप को कभी नहीं माफ़ कर सकूँगा. लेकिन मेरा इरादा कभी भी बुरा नहीं था. मैं तुम्हे सिर्फ प्यार ही नहीं करता था, लगभग पूजा करता था. Angel थी तुम मेरी, बेदाग़ और innocent. काश किसी और के through मुझे "समझाने" कि जगह तुम खुद एक आखिरी बार बात कर लेती.

कभी कभी जब अपने बारे में सोचता हूँ तो बड़ा अजीब सा लगता है. दो साल पहले मैं क्या था और आज क्या हो गया हूँ... लेकिन मुझे सुधरने का मौका ही किसने दिया? तुम्हारी एक हाँ से मेरी ज़िन्दगी बदल जाती, वापिस लौट सकता था... अपनी सारी ज़िन्दगी को किसी की एक हाँ या ना पे छोड़ देना बहुत बड़ा दांव होता है और मैं ये हार चूका हूँ. भगवान् ना करे कि तुम्हे कभी पता चले कि ज़िन्दगी कि सबसे बड़ी बाज़ी हारने का अहसास कैसा होता है.

लगता है मेरा confession जरुरत से ज्यादा लम्बा हो गया. अगर तुमने इसे पढ़ा है तो thanks a lot ! शायद तुम दिल्ली जा रही हो, मैं भी बहुत दूर जा रहा हूँ. औरों कि तरह कभी IIT कि फ़िक्र नहीं की अब नयी शुरुआत करनी है. बहुत परेशान किया है मैंने, हो सके तो माफ़ कर देना. So stay happy. And believe me, this time its really my last letter. I love you..

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Whoa ! It feels weird to read this after 12 years! Wonder where she is, wonder where those days have gone when love used to be innocent.. and complicated.

Shall we "donate" Kashmir?

2011-10-15T06:16:00.000+05:30

A lot of hungaama is happening in the name of Kashmir again. There are voices from within India which say we should donate Kashmir to the Kashmiris because they are more of a liability than an asset to us and doing this will be democratically right bringing us eternal peace. Sounds fine to me, just that I have a few questions about this proposal. They are:

1. If we make this donation, what part of Jammu and Kashmir will be donated? Will it be the whole of Jammu and Kashmir or just the Kashmir Valley? If it is just the Kashmir Valley, sounds digestable, but what if they want the whole of Jammu and Kashmir as the donation? Being the intolerant majority they are, what is the gurantee that they will not treat Jammu and Laddakh in the same way as they treated the Kashmiri Pundits in 1990, the treatment in this case being ethnic cleansing. So if we remove Indian Forces and Administration from Kashmir for the peace thingie, will the whole purpose not be defeated at the hands of the new genocide that will start?

2. On what grounds do we give Kashmir? On the basis of Kashmiriyat? How is Kashmiriyat incompatible with India? Further, if it is because of Kashmiriyat, will they gurantee that the Kashmiri Pandits will be able to return back to their homes and will be protected? I doubt. So whats the second excuse? Islam? Well how can a secular nation concede territory on the basis of religion? If that happens, will it not take away from the Muslims living in the "remaining India", the moral right to stay in the nation anymore? That will be a great injustice to the Muslims of India, will it not be? Further, if it happens in the name of religion, will it not start the Balkanization of India?

3. More than 400 soldiers were killed in the Kargil War alone. I persume they died to defend Kashmir from the invading enemies. And when we talk of donating Kashmir, soaked with the blood of our soldiers, who are we going to donate it to ? To those swines (with due apologies to dogs who are atleast loyal to the hands that feed them) who pelt stones, abuse India and burn the Tri color in the steets of Sri Nagar on Friday afternoons even if something trivial happens in far away Netherlands? Where is our self respect?

Finally, it was mentioned that Kashmir is like a limb rotten with gangrene and should be amputated. With due respect I must say that Head is not a limb.

With that, I rest my case...

Thus spake George Bernard Shaw

2011-10-10T00:32:00.000+05:30

1. The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity.

2. We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it.

3. I'm only a beer teetotaler, not a champagne teetotaler. I don't like beer.

4. We don't bother much about dress and manners in England, because as a nation we don't dress well and we've no manners

5. There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it.

6. [Chess] is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever, when they are only wasting their time.

7. The word morality, if we met it in the Bible, would surprise us as much as the word telephone or motor car.

8. All great truths begin as blasphemies.

9. You'll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race.

10. I have defined the hundred per cent American as ninety-nine per cent an idiot.

11. The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. All progress, therefore, depends upon the unreasonable man.

12. The fickleness of the women I love is only equaled by the infernal constancy of the women who love me.

13. The test of a man or woman's breeding is how they behave in a quarrel

This is for you Didu

2011-10-02T22:47:00.002+05:30

My "Didu"

This is about my grandmother. She is 80 years old and has seen the ups and downs of life from a small village near Chittagong, Bangladesh to another small village in the hinterlands of Bihar. Now she lives in Patna with my masi. So today I was at their place talking with her. Suddenly I asked her if she remembered Surya Sen. My masi hearing this, laughed and said grandma even forgets their names sometimes, how could she remember someone who died 70 years back.

So I asked again. And Grandma says, "Oh yes I do! I remember Master Surya Sen, Kalpana Dutta and all of them!" Shocked I asked if she had seen them, to this she said yes she had actually met them because she was part of a group of girls who sang a welcome song for them when they came at the Congress President's office at Chittagong. She explain how was Surya Sen dressed and how beautiful Kalpana Dutta looked. Then came the biggest shock; she sang the whole song!

Surya Sen and most of his motely group of revolutionaries died in early 1930s. Now most Indians do not even know what happened in Chittagong on 18th April 1930. Here is one lady who remembers them all even if she doesn't remember the names of her own daughters. This generation will fade away soon, giving way to the Gen Xs and Ys who do not know and just do not care..

Masterda, this small post is for you, and for my grandparents. I worship you and am proud of them, very proud!

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For the uninitiated, you can read about Suryasen here , Kalpana Dutta here and Chittagong revolt here.

32 ka Dum !

2011-09-26T01:27:00.000+05:30

Long back in the 1960s, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, riding on the groundbreaking slogan of "Garibi Hataao", became the Prime Minister of India. It will never be established how much "Garibi" was removed in those decades of the "Hindu rate of growth" but Garibi Hataao" remained the flagship of the elcetoral battle formation of the Congress in every election. The slogan slowly died a natural death when Corruption became institutionalized and the poverty of the nation and inflation became structural instead of being just monetary.

Today's government is headed by an Economist, with another economist as the Home Minister and a Political Science Graduate as the Finance Minister! No wonder both the Home Policy and the Economic Policy look screwed up to a great extent. After the Anna debacle, the government could actally sense the Trust deficit that has been built up between the rulers and those who make them the rulers.

Maybe in this moment of difficult, the government rememberd that golden slogan of the 1960s coined by Mrs. Gandhi Senior. "If the talisman could work then, why would it not work now? " - someone must have thought. And hence they decided to give it a try.

All went well, except a small mess up. They copied it alright but made a mistake with just one syllable of the slogan. So now instead of "Garibi Hatao", it became "Garib Hatao"!

So what does this new slogan translate to? In one masterstroke, the esteemed policymakers of India have eradicated most of the poverty of the nation. How? Well, if you live in a city and you earn more than Rs 32 .00(yes 32!) a day, you are rich; and if its a village, then just Rs 25.00 is enough to shower you with the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi !!!

The public understood 6 months back that our government is a joke, but this new thing makes them a downright PJ !

I remember an excellent blog post by Shubham a few days back in his blog. That a new reality show should be started. 32 ka dum. In this show, ask all these members of the planning commission to survive on Rs 32 per day for a month. The Neta who lives till the end will be declared the winner. How good will it be?

Jokes apart, Dunno about others but am surprised this time instead of getting disgusted as usual. Are these the people who will guide India to Mission 2020? In that case India is better off on an Auto Pilot instead of bearing with these bunch of Jokers in Khaadi and Safaari suits!

The Aryan Myth according to Max Muller

2011-09-25T03:49:00.003+05:30

"I have declared again and again that if I say Aryans, I mean neither blood nor bones, nor hair nor skull; I mean simply those who speak an Aryan language… in that sense, and in that sense only, do I say that even the blackest Hindus represent an earlier stage of Aryan speech and thought than the fairest Scandinavians...To me an ethnologist who speaks of Aryan race, Aryan blood, Aryan eyes and hair, is as great a sinner as a linguist who speaks of a dolichocephalic dictionary or a brachycephalic grammar."

- Max Muller (Indologist)

Thank you Visitor !

2011-08-22T22:24:00.001+05:30

10000 visits

103 posts

The Eternal Rebel thanks you for being here...

May the quest for a better world remain alive !

Viva La Revolucion !!!

The Indian Jasmine ...

2011-08-20T23:24:00.002+05:30

I will not forget this man who I saw during the ongoing agitation for Jan Lokpal in Chennai. He was a quiet old man who had come there to support Anna Hazaare. He never uttered a word unlike others who were raising slogans or singing patriotic songs, instead he just sat in a corner with this peaceful look of his and fasted. There was something in his simple face which attracted me immensely. I will always remember him as my version of the face of the revolution by Anna Hazaare - an ordinary common man with the simple resolve to bring a change, quietly....

As Anna sits through the 5th day of his fast and thousands of his followers and fans all over India march in different sort of protests, there are many voices which call Jan Lokpal impractical, Anna a blackmailer and this whole thing a tamasha. They say its undemocratic to protest and fast and the only the parliament should be supreme.

To such voices, I want to convey that its not the parliament in the Democracy which is Supreme but We, the people, are the ones who are supreme. If we can make the lawmakers, there is no reason why we cannot decide on a law by ourselves, especially if this law, like the RTI, has a direct conflict of interest with the parliament which is supposed to protect the Democracy and instead thrives on Mobocracy.

Further, leave Jan Lokpal alone; its not even about Lokpal. This protest is the collective show of the middle finger to the corrupt, shameless and servile government of India by the people of India. This is the outburst of anger of the average common man who sees his nation getting looted with glee by the corrupt politicians and all the government agencies entrusted with protecting his interests, siding with the rich and mighty instead. So those who dismiss this as a tamasha, are either being myopic, or elitists - frowning at the masses taking matters in their own hand, or just plain ignorant. They fail to see this agitation for what it is - the Indian, Gandhian, Jasmine.

Chidiya naal jebaaz ladaawa ...

2011-08-11T21:23:00.001+05:30

A Sikh stands guard while Muslims pray in the Holy Month of Ramzaan in UK..... Small things in life which make us feel good...

I am with Anna Hazaare .. what about you?

2011-08-08T01:39:00.001+05:30

Anna Hazare may be flawed, but so is the whole system. To a government which frowns at citizens protesting against the rampant corruption, this is the time to show the big middle finger of the Indian Public. To those who are laughing off the support for Anna Hazaare as yet another fad of the Indian youth which doesn't know which way to go, its our call - "Lead us against the fight against corruption if you have it in you!"

What is there which is in the blood of Egyptians, Libyans, Jordenians, Syrians and all those brave men and women from the Arab? Why can't we stand and unite to bring down a corrpt government which has and can do no good? Why can't we start a revolution?

Have we judged the revolt of 1857 failrly ?

2011-07-24T11:49:00.006+05:30

The revolt of 1857 is often called a revolt of the sepoys for petty reasons like greased cartidges, a mutiny without a clear sense of purpose, an effort immature in its ambitions and ambigious in character. In my humble opinion, the time has come to when we dissect such beliefs and theories and make up our mind on the true character of the revolt.

The next few paragraphs are the exerpts from a proclamation made by the Grandson of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Jafar after the 'liberation' of Azamgarh. This may shed some light on what the rebels actually wanted to achieve through their 'Great Revolt'.

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"The poople of India are keenly aware of the tyranny and oppression of the English. I, the grandson of Bahadur Shah, have come here to declare that we will rid India of the English and will liberate the poor people who are groaning under their iron rule. I present this proclamation, to all the people of India, so that they can understand the politics that the Badshahi Government will enact. This will bring reform and freedom to the people in the following five key areas.

1. Taxation

India has been reeling from the heavy taxation the British have imposed on all the landed people of India, who in return tax the rest. I commit to lower the taxes, to preserve the dignity and honour of the people.

2. Trade and Commerce

The English Government has monopolized the trade of all the fine and valuable goods that India manufactures. Products such as textiles, indigo and other articles that India has exported in the past are now a complete monopoly of the English. This leaves only the trade of trifles to the people, and even in this, they are not without their share of profits by means of high customs, stamps, and bureaucracy that is entrenched in limiting freedom in trade.

My government will abolish these fraudulent practices and open the trade of every article, without exception, both by land and water, to all Indian merchants. The Government will support this trade with steam-vessels and steam-carriages for their merchandise. Merchants with little or no capital of their own shall have access to capital at lower costs with the assistance of the government treasury as necessary.

3. Public Servants

Today, Indian officials in the British Government have a limited scope for growth - the highest level they can reach is that of a Subedar with a salary of no more than Rs 60 or 70 per month. All the Officers under the government will have starting salaries of Rs 200 to rs 300 per month with the promise of reaching higher levels in public service. Understandably, if they cannot publicly proclaim their support to ny government today - I ask them to help nt government indeirectly and help assist us to free India from the British.

4. Industry

The British economic policies have thrown India's skilled workforce into a life of poverty. From weavers to cotton dressers, from carpenters to blacksmiths to shoemakers have all lost their livelihood under this oppressive rule of the British. Support us in this effort and help us to enjoy the fruits of our labor and economic freedom for eternal prosperity.

5. Personal Freedom
The British have imposed and forced Christianity upon us - Hindus and the Muslims alike. I urge the guardians of both faiths to join me in this effort to rid India of the British and create a nation that freely practices its faith and its culture.

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The nature of any plan is evident from the dream behind it. Looking at what this young man from Delhi dreamt for an India post the British, is it fair to say that the revolt of 1857 was just a sepoy mutiny with no national character of its own and no ideology? Was it an attempt to deny the leadership of the revolt, the true status that they deserved?

Time we give the First War of Indian Independece, its due and know it for what it truely was - a revolution as good as the ones in France before and Russia later on...

Reference:
1. Parag Tope, Operation Red Lotus, ISBN 978-81-291-1562-1, Rupa & Co.
2. Ainslee T. Embree, 1857 in India: Mutiny or War of Independence, p.1, D.C Heath and Company, Boston, 1963

Bharat Bhaagya Vidhaata?

2011-06-28T19:04:00.006+05:30

The belief that the British were instrumental in building a nation called India is often a result of looking at the concept of Nationalism from a Western Point of view and failing to look at the nebulous nature of the eternal entity that has been India. Unlike the modern nation states of Europe which took form in the 18th century, India was always a different setup. The current attempt of unification of Europe had already matured in India and China a millennium ago. Whether empires expanded or shrank, or their names changed with time, the concept of a common and unique identity which distinguishes an Indian with an Afghan, Turk or European was always there, this difference of character was the nation which India strived for.

When it comes to political freedom, India had an enviable track record of a free nation which continued from 3000 BC to 1100 AD when some Northern kingdoms were subjugated by foreign invaders. Even if the Northern states were under the foreign rule, the rule of outsiders was never a bed of roses, the people resisted the foreign rule tooth and nail and there was never a period when some part was not up in rebellion. All this time, while the North was reeling under foreign invasions and occupation, the South not only remained free but also flourished. Barring a few exceptions, throughout the period, India was able to protect its ports, towns, trade centers and most importantly culture and free spirit.

As the Mughal Empire breathed its last, the Marathas rose in prominence and knit India from Arcot to Attuck in a common thread, ruling as a proxy for the Mughal Emperor whose diktats ran not far from the boundaries of Delhi. They were almost at the verge of becoming the greatest force India had seen in centuries when their young empire was dealt a death blow first by Ahmad Shah Abdali and then the British. The real change appeared with the arrival of White pirate turned traders. Even as the Marathas were reeling under the impact of the Third battle of Panipat, the British started stealing their territories sometimes by military might and most often by hook and crook.

The 19th century saw the decline of a great nation as never witnessed before. Like cancer, the British ate away in the economy, polity and culture of the country and made sure that even though they were to be driven off by the end of 1946, the scars they had left on the nation would continue to bleed for the decades to come. To understand the mentality that praises the British for contributing towards India, one would have to look at the analogy of a house owner who has been robbed of the last article he had in house. Now since the robber was so loaded with the goods, he had to leave his dagger in the house; and the robbed is happy that he atleast has a new dagger.

Total Revolution around the corner ?? Can we see?

2011-04-06T23:09:00.001+05:30

It was just another afternoon in 1974, the only difference being the electric discontent flowing through the mammoth gathering of people assembled at the Gandhi Maidan of Patna. After a few speakers had talked and left, a fragile 70 year old man comes on the stage. He throws a challenge to the regime:

“Do raah samay ke rath ka gharghar naad suno,
Simhasan khaali karo ki janata aati hai !"

Give way; listen to the roar of the chariot of time
Vacate the throne, here comes the public!

This was the starting of the Bihar Movement, what later came to be known as the “Total Revolution”. The Indian youth which was in need of a pillar of inspiration to rally around came out in full force and gave a befitting reply to the bunch of corrupt sycophants who used to believe that Indira was India.

Today in 2011, another 73 year old man stands up and challenges the remnants of the same regime, more corrupt and immoral than ever. Does the youth of India today has the guts to support Anna Hazare as they supported Jayprakash Narayan two generations back? Or does our patriotism starts and ends with Cricket only?

I wonder …

A belated note for the people in Japan

2011-03-27T10:28:00.003+05:30

The recent triple tragedies in Japan have been an eye opener of a sort. On one hand, they have shown the might of nature and how powerless we are against it and on the other hand, it has shown how iron willpower can stand between even the strongest forces of nature and complete annihilation. The way they have reacted to the calamity, their grit, discipline and sacrifice in the face of endless trauma boundaries on Superhuman. Think of those workers, who volunteered to stay back in the doomed nuclear reactor, think of people working calmly to help each other in spite of their own personal tragedies, think of a nation all determined to rebuild itself all over again. No mad wailing, no chest beating.. they are dignified even in their defeat against the nature. They are almost an inspiration. In their misery and devastation, a humble Japanese stands taller than most...

बहुसंख्यक होने का अर्थ - नरेंद्र कोहली

2010-12-19T12:56:00.001+05:30

पादरी के घरपर बहुत भीड़ देख, रामलुभाया घबराया। कहीं कोई दुर्घटना तो नहीं हो गई? पड़ौसी की चिंता के कारण वह घर बैठा नहीं रह सका। भागा हुआ उसके घर चला गया।
"क्या हुआ भाई?" उसने पादरी से पूछा, वह उसे फादर नहीं, भाई ही कहता था।
"अत्याचार हो रहा है हम पर इस देश में।" पादरी चिल्लाया, "हम इसे सहन नहीं करेंगे।"
"हम इसे सहन नहीं करेंगे।" उपस्थित लोगों ने चिल्लाकर कहा।
"अत्याचार तो कभी सहन नहीं करना चाहिए।" रामलुभाया उससे सहमत हो गया, " मैं इस लड़ाई में तुम्हारे साथ हूँ।"
"तो बताओ। उड़ीसा में उन लोगों को फिर से हिंदू क्यों बनाया गया?"
"किन लोगों को?" रामलुभाया ने पूछा।
"जिन्हें हमने पिछले सप्ताह ईसाई बनाया था।"
"क्या हिंदू और ईसाई बनाए जाते हैं?" रामलुभाया कुछ चकित होकर बोला, "मैं तो समझता था लोग अपनी आस्था के अनुसार हिंदू और ईसाई होते हैं।"
"रहने दो अपनी यह बकवास।" पादरी रुष्ट होकर बोला, "हम उनकी आस्था के बदलने की प्रतीक्षा करते तो वे क़यामत तक हिंदू ही बने रहते।"
"तो तुम्हारी क्या क्षति हो जाती?" रामलुभायाने पूछा, "धर्म तो अपने आत्मिक विकास के लिए होता है। तुम अपना विकास करो. . ."
"हम अपना विकास ही तो कर रहे हैं।" पादरी बोला, "जितनी अधिक संख्या में हम हिंदुओं को ईसाई बनाएँगे। ईसा मसीह हमसे उतने ही प्रसन्न होंगे।"
"ईसा मसीह के विषय में तो मैं नहीं जानता, पर पोप अवश्य प्रसन्न होंगे।"
"हाँ! " पादरी बोला, "यह देश जितना ईसाई होता जाएगा, उतना ही यूरोप और अमरीका के ईसाई देशों का गुलाम होता जाएगा। हमारी सत्ता बढ़ती जाएगी।. . ." पादरी प्रसन्न था।
"पर जब लोगों की आस्था नहीं बदलती तो तुम उनको ईसाई कैसे बना लेते हो?"
"वे अस्वस्थ होते हैं। उन्हें ज्वर होता है। हम उन रोगों की औषधियों को पानी में घोलकर उन्हें ईसा के चरणामृत के रूप में पिला देते हैं। उनका ज्वर उतर जाता है और हम उनको ईसाई होने का ज्वर चढ़ा देते हैं। नहीं मानते तो उन्हें ईसा मसीह के क्रोध से ज्वर लौटा लाने का भय दिखाते हैं।"
"पर यह तो झूठ है। पाप है। तुम धर्म के नाम पर लोगों को धोखा दे रहे हो।"
"मुझे तुमसे वादविवाद नहीं करना है।" पादरी बोला, "मेरा तो पूछना है कि उन लोगों को फिर से हिंदू क्यों बनाया जा रहा है ? इस प्रकार धर्म परिवर्तन का अधिकार किसी को नहीं दिया जा सकता।"
"तो तुमको किसने यह अधिकार दिया कि तुम भोले-भाले हिंदुओं को धोखे से ईसाई बनाओ?" रामलुभाया ने पूछा।
"इस देश में धर्म परिवर्तन का अधिकार है। इसीलिए हमने उन्हें ईसाई बनाया।" पादरी बोला।
"इस देश में धर्म परिवर्तन का अधिकार है, इसीलिए वे लोग पुन: हिंदू हो गए, जो वे सदा से थे।"
"पर यह अधिकार न तो उनको है, जो हिंदू हो गए, और न उनको है, जिन्होंने उन्हें हिंदू बनाया।"
"क्यों?" रामलुभाया स्तब्ध रह गया, "जो अधिकार विदेश से आकर भी तुमको है, वह इस देश के नागरिकों को क्यों नहीं है?"
"क्योंकि धर्म परिवर्तन का अर्थ है हिंदू से ईसाई बनना। हिंदू से मुसलमान बनना।" पादरी बोला, "हिंदुओं को यह अधिकार किसने दे दिया कि वे अपने धर्म की रक्षा करें?"
"जो अधिकार ईसाइयों को है, वह हिंदुओं को क्यों नहीं है?"
"क्योंकि वे बहुसंख्यक हैं।" पादरी बोला।
"तो लोकतंत्र तो बहुमत से ही चलता है। यह कैसे संभव है कि बहुसंख्यक लोगों को वह अधिकार भी न हो, जो उस देश के अल्पसंख्यकों को प्राप्त हैं?"
"वह जहाँ होता होगा, होता होगा।" पादरी बाला, "इस देश में तो बहुसंख्यक का अर्थ है, जिसे कोई अधिकार न हो।"

Kashmir ... some random thoughts ...

2010-10-31T02:02:00.005+05:30

Heard a biatch's rambles on how the "Bhookhe-nange Hindustan" needs azadi from Kashmir as much as Kashmir needs azadi from India...

The first question that came in my mind was- What Azadi???

On what grounds does J&K want azadi?

What percentage of J&K is Kashmir?

Do Laddakh and Jammu want Azadi too ?

Why do some people love secularism when they are in minority but want Nizam-E-Mustafa when they are in a majority?

If Kashmir wants Azadi on the basis of the so called Kashmiriyat, then let them resettle the Kashmiri Pundits first, if they want azaadi on the basis of religion then it is much better to cull them like swine!!!

Kashmir did not do a favor to India by acceding to it. It was saved by India when its lands were looted, farms and homes burnt and honour raped by the very same people who are deemed as the saviors of Kashmir today by the namakharaam Hurriyat waalas. Once in, you are in for ever. By allowing Kashmir to secede we simply cannot start the Balkanization of India. All these talks of freedom of speech, democracy and all sound sweet coming from the coffee table intelligencia, at the end if the nation is not there, nothing will remain. So when supporting those morons in the name of freedom of expression; stop for a second and think about the soldier standing guard in the wilderness of Siachin. One day he should not turn around to find that there is no nation to back him.

Do not insult the colour Saffron, Mr Chidu!

2010-09-05T22:10:00.010+05:30

Dear Chidu,

I understand very well that being born in the "Royal family of Chettinad", you have not been exposed to the colour Saffron (sacrifice) much and things came to you quite easily in life. I have been quite amused by the way you have been colour coding things related to terrorism of late. Take for example, the latest term coined by you- Saffron terror. Understandably the print and visual media went gaga over this new term and the euphoria has hardly died till now.

Have you ever noticed what an Oxymoron you have given birth to? Being a moron yourself, you must be in a better position to understand this than me, right? What exactly is "Saffron terror"? How can the colour Saffron which signifies valour, sacrifice and unquestioned nationalism since ages in India, be termed as terrorist? Or are you trying to imply that the Sangh Parivar has exclusive rights over the colour? People are too soft when they are in majority in India right? That is why you can go on talking crap, expecting them to take everything with a large pinch of salt? How convenient!

Not going into the merits of your claims about the link between Sangh and some freak terrorist attacks, I want to ask you just one thing. Do you have the guts to colour code global terrorism further and come up with another term like- say "Green Terror"? Can you Chidu? Can you really do that?

I know you will not do that. Your masters in 10 Janpath and elsewhere will not allow that. Further, you are not courageous enough to invite the wrath of the "Seculars" by uttering anything about the "Green Terror".

Anyway, I discount even that. Why not look into one more shade of terror which is 100 times more potent than the colour you have strong fetish for these days? Please do something about the "Red Terror" which threatens to take over a major chunk of our country. Our CRPF and Police jawans are not that expendable as you are making them to be, and you cannot just leave it to the states to fight this kind of terror.

The present Tri-colour to which all Indians, except some namakharaams in Lal Chawk, bow to has the colour Saffron on it as the top most one. When you insult the colour saffron, you are insulting the valour of Maharan Pratap, the jauhar and saka of the Rajputs, the sacrifice of the Gurus and the flag of Chattrapati Shivaji. Do not mess with our heritage with your brand of politics! Otherwise you will cease to command any respect left by now.

So Chidu, please wake up, smell a kappa coffee and deliver! Open your eyes and see where the real threat is coming from. And till then, please do not insult the colour saffron just for the sake of drawing attention away from your incompetence.

Regrads
Rebel

Do they really want to protect the Wistleblowers?

2010-08-20T23:16:00.006+05:30

"Any person who makes any disclosure which was false to his knowledge or reckless or malicious, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend up to three years and also to fine which may extend up to fifty thousand rupees."
This is a very interesting provision in the proposed Whistle Blower legislation which the government is trying to introduce.

What exactly do they mean when they say "false to his knowledge or reckless or malicious?"

Who is going to decide if a particular voice raised by a Whistle blower was malicious in nature? How exactly will it be made sure that this decision is transparent and unbiased?

Imagine a lone person standing against a corporation or the government. What are the odds that he will be able to prove himself in a system which abets and thrives on corruption? Given the way investigations and enforcement happens in this country, the way files go missing when an RTI is filed, there is little hope that any claim will ever be proved.

So what will be the result? You stand up against the system, the system will go all out to prove your comments false and "malicious" and at the end, you will end up in jail for three years; and Rs 50000 poorer. There goes the Whistle blowing down the drain.

There is no limit to how shameless can the people in power get to suppress the voice against corruption in this country. It seems that merely killing the RTI activists and other whistleblowers was not enough, now they want to break the will of the conscious too. This single provision will be enough to discourage anyone who wants to blow the whistle, and he will remain safe as long as long as he refrains from raising his voice.

This reminds me of a few lines by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, he becomes so relevant as far as the rot in the Indian system is concerned:

जहाँ पालते हों अनीति-पद्धति
को सत्ताधारी,
जहाँ सुत्रधर हों समाज के
अन्यायी, अविचारी;

नीतियुक्त प्रस्ताव सन्धि के
जहाँ न आदर पायें;
जहाँ सत्य कहनेवालों के
सीस उतारे जायें;

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake....

Utopia- the drama of a massacre

2010-07-24T00:05:00.011+05:30

Not so long ago, in a remote corner of this planet, was a Utopia- the perfect society. Everything about the place was almost perfect, the people, the ethical government, the prosperity and the green-ness. It was a new habitat and the people had made all efforts to showcase their place as the epitome of perfection to the outside world, and the effort showed.

But, as with any other place, Utopia too had a small problem. Long before the city was built, there used to be a hamlet of poor outcasts in that place. They continued to live around the area and could be seen living on the pavements of the glittering city.

The sight of these poor amongst all the prosperity of Utopia brought different responses from the Utopians. There were three kinds of people, those who felt pity at the poor and used to feed and cloth them, there were many who were indifferent. And then there were a third class of people for whom the very presence of these god forsaken people was an eye sore. Incidently, this third catagory for people was the most vocal and demands were increasingly being raised to get Utopia rid of the pavement dwellers. They started putting more and more pressure on the government to act.

So what did the 'ethical' government do? Well, nobody actually knows for sure. But one fine morning, the Utopians woke up to find that the poor had simply vanished from the streets. And people were just clueless as to what happened to them. But slowly disturbing information started getting leaked from within the establishment. It was said on the fateful night before, the poor were all herded together, taken to an unknown location and gassed to death; as making arrangements for their rehabilitation was too much of a chore.

This infuriated some people and they started pestering the government to come up with an answer. At first, the government simply chose to ignore the questions; but when the protests became louder, after a prolonged silence, the government came up with an answer. The response was that, to ensure the percieved general well being of the Utopians, the government hired a private agency to 'take care of the poor'. Surprisingly, the government claimed complete ignorance on to how was that 'taking care of' activity carried out by that agency. The President of Utopia said in a public gathering that he would look into the issue. Needless to say, the issue was soon forgotten.

Incidently, much before the Government came up with this answer, the activists started getting veiled threats to fall in line or face the consequences. There were people who were happy to see the 'eye sores' gone and they started accusing the activists of needless rabble rousing. Some of them who were getting undue benifits from the establishment were concerned that any messing up with the establishment will mess up their comforts. The indifferent ones were simply surprised as to why so much importance was being given to such a petty issue.

The unexpected backlash from the Government and fellow Utopians, shocked and silenced the activists. They conceded defeat sensing that it was a lost cause and no matter how much they protested, nothing was going to happen. Slowly, they too got assimiliated in the main stream of Utopia.

So today, Utopia is finally perfect at last, The Establishment is happy and so are the people, Foreign dignitaries are being given a walk through to showcase how a perfect city should be run. The Elite are happy for getting rid of the eye sores. No one actually cares anymore...

... And they say that some unmarked graves outside the boundaries of Utopia have been forgotten too ...

What after the Naxals are all gone ?

2010-07-08T02:28:00.001+05:30

This is a question which has been coming in my mind again and again. The Naxals who have turned into Maoists, are being percieved as the biggest threat to India's security.

What will happen after they are finally crushed? So who will speak for the landless and the tribal once we succeed in crushing the Naxals, which I am sure we will do one day. Naxals have been the only way the poor and deprived of India voiced their grievances. Much more than any so called pro-poor party. How will a tribal voice his anger on his jungle being snatched away by land mafia and mountains being razed for mining?

Have we really prepared an alternative? Or will we allow India to be hegemony of Politicians-Businessmen-Police ?

--To be continued... --

Being a Bihari...

2010-06-18T19:56:00.007+05:30

Sometime back I was with a school friend, going up to his flat in a happening suburb of Pune. Suddenly out of nowhere, he mused, "Bihari parents are the most unfortunate ones .When we were kids and needed them, they spent their everything trying to make us what we are today Now ,when we have become what we are today and they are the ones who need us in their old age , they are destined to live alone. Because they are caught in the fix between joining their children in the big unknown and sometimes unfriendly cities and the trauma of being uprooted from their homeland, which is the only place they can call- home."

Very recently I have come to realize the full impact of his statement, and the pain behind it; the pain of being a part of the moneyorder economy, where migranting to greener pastures is the only way one can hope to earn money and dignity. This is the penalty we have to pay for letting a Pol Potish regime stay for 15 years whose only aim was to fill its coffers without caring for development, order and prosperity. For 15 years, they sucked our blood shamelessly and we were equally shameless in our impassive tolerance. Hope we realize how dearly we have paid for that blunder.

Two years back, I was appearing for an MBA interview for IMT Gaziabad and the interviewer asked me, "As soon as you said that you are from Bihar, I got a very bad taste in my mouth. Why?"

Why?

That lady got a bad taste in her mouth just because she had a lad from a poor, god forsaken state sitting across the table trying to reason with her? Or was it just plain contempt which a privilaged has for the non-privilaged? I am waiting for the day when the likes of her will be paid in kind, when we rise to such heights that they cannot do anything but stare in awe.

Now when I go back home, I can see that we have a Chief Minster who is trying hard to change things for better. He cannot do it all alone, he needs our unwavering support. Why not give him another mandate so that he can finish the work he started five years back?

This is a message to my brethren back home. Elections are round the corner and the forces which plunged our state into darkness for decades have started rising their heads again. Make sure that you choose for better. Do not let Bihar down by being a mute spectator again.

समर शेष है, नहीं पाप का भागी केवल व्याध
जो तटस्थ हैं समय लिखेगा, उनका भी अपराध !

तुम नक्सली बन जाना

2010-06-09T15:01:00.004+05:30

क्योंकि तुम इन्हें गोली मार कर

अपनी भड़ास निकाल सकोगे

और अगर

तुम

तथाकथित निर्दोष

आवाम को मार भी बैठे

तो

मीडिया

तुम्हे सर माथे बिठा लेगा

तुम

भोपाल के गैस पीड़ितों की तरह

नक्सलियों और डकैतों को

जन्म देने वाली व्यवस्था

की चौखट पर इंतेजार मत करना

तुम

इनकी नाक में दम कर देना

इनके कच्छे उतार देना

इनके सफ़ेद कुरते को

इतना खीचना के

ये हराम खोर राजनीतिज्ञ

जहा जाए

नंगे ही नजर आये

हेडली से

उसके आकाओं का

पता पूछने चले थे ये

नपुंसकों के वंशज

वहा बैठे

पूरे विश्व में

अपनी ठिठोली करवा रहे है

अरे

तुमसे अच्छी कूटनीति तो

इजराएल और पाकिस्तान

जानते है

जाने कब

हमारा सब्र टूटेगा

जाने कब हम

नींद से जागेंगे

बहुराष्ट्रीय कंपनियों

और

हथियार के दलालों

के हाथ

बिक चुका देश

अब

सचमुच

सोने की चिड़िया

बन गया है

अपनो के तिरस्कार

उपेक्षा

और

कुपोषण के चलते

भारत रूपी वन में

हर कोई

बहेलिया बन गया है

हो सकता है

हमें भी

कलम छोड़

हथियार उठाने पड़ेंगे

तबकी तैय्यारी रखना

हमें भी

धरती का

कर्ज चुकाना होगा

तब की

तैय्यारी रखना

बहुत लिख चुके

ड्राइंग रूम में बैठ कर

काफी, चाय , दारु

पीते हुवे

एक शाल

और श्रीफल

के लोभ में

कब तक

सड़ चुकी सत्ता को

ढांकते रहोगे

कब तक

कुत्तों , गधों और सुवरों के

प्रसंस्ती वाचते रहोगे

तुम्हारे पास एक स्कूटर तो होगा

आज फिर तेल महँगा होगा

कल गेहूं के दाम बढ़ेंगे

परसों कपड़ा भी नहीं रहेगा

सर पर छत

की तो आस भी मत रखना

साँसों का भी

हिसाब ले लिया जाएगा

और

आने वाले वक्त में

जीने का भी टेक्स

ले लिया जाएगा

==

This poem is written by Tarun and is available on Bharhaas
This poem is not in support of the Naxal murders but against this rotten system which breeds them...

Satan's own brigade

2010-04-26T01:22:00.005+05:30

"Ilahi ...! Bhej de Mahmood koi ...!"
"Waiting ...! For Ghaznavi !!!"

You may wonder who are these sinister people who want Mahmud of Gazni to come back and ravage India once again. Well they are not foreigners but our own people. They are SIMI - Students Islamic Movement of India.

Why has SIMI emerged as one of the most feared organizations posing a thread to India's security and stability? Lets have a look:

Origin of SIMI:
Established on 25th April 1977 in Aligarh, the headquarters of SIMI used to be in Jakir Nagar, New Delhi. In its 32 years of existance, SIMI has gathered some 1 million members, some 500 of which are hardcore 'Ansars'.

Organization:
Ansar : Regular Student members - 500
Ikqwan : Related members - 100,000
Aiwan : Supporters - 10,00,000

Ideology :

"No compromise on Babri masjid, we will build the mosque again"
"Jehad is our only way and martyrdom the only aim."
"Osama Bin Laden - Islam's Gazi (warrior) and exterminator of Kafirs (Non believers)"
"Vande Maataram is a direct attack in Islam and singing it is shameful"

- Shahid Badar Falahi
President, SIMI

"We don't have any respect for Nehru and Gandhi ... Osama is really great"

- Safdar Nagauri

SIMI works by exploiting the feeling of insecurity among the muslims of India. It claims that muslims are exploited everywhere in India and a 'Jehad' is necessary to save Islam in the country. The ideals of SIMI include Osama Bin Laden, Masud Azhar and the militants in Kashmir. SIMI has very close relationship with Hizbul-Mujahiddin, LeT and Al Quaida. It gets a lot of funds from the World Assembly of Youth, Riyadh and International Islamic Fedaration of Student's organization.

Shaheen Force, the outfit’s wing for schoolchildren, seeks to "protect the children from present-day misguidance and vices" and keeps them "under the shade of Islamic culture". The outfit also has a wing that aims to channelise the talent of girls for the Islamist cause.

SIMI is also reportedly involved in a continuous recruitment drive for the HuJI-B in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ambedkar Nagar, Aligarh, Azamgarh, Sonauli, Ferozabad and Hathras areas. Further, SIMI cadres, sources indicate, are involved in the safe transportation of explosives and creation of channels for funds and securing safe houses for the HuJI-B cadres.

Groups of SIMI sympathizers reportedly exist in several places in the Gulf States. Jamayyatul Ansar, an organisation of SIMI activists comprising expatriate Indian Muslims, reportedly operates in Saudi Arabia.

Several Islamist fundamentalist organisations in India are allegedly controlled by former SIMI cadres. Prominent among them are the Kerala-based National Democratic Front and Islamic Youth Centre (IYC), and the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) in Tamil Nadu.

According to official sources, in the year 1993 following the arrest of a Sikh terrorist, it was revealed that SIMI cadres, Sikh and Kashmiri terrorists, had been brought together by the ISI through the Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan to carry out subversive activities.

Incidents

2009

*

July 20: The Maharashtra Police arrested four SIMI militants from Mana village in the Akola District. The cadres were arrested while trying to flee in an Indica car, before they were intercepted. After receiving an initial tip off from intelligence inputs, the Police neutralized a secret SIMI meeting, which was taking place with 35 cadres present at the meeting. However, the Police managed to arrest only four of them while the others managed to escape.
*

June 12: June 12: A militant of the outlawed SIMI, Abu Bashar, who was implicated by the Gujarat Police for the July 26, 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts, is reported to have confessed about the presence of training camps in the coastal areas.
*

February 27: Two suspected SIMI cadres, identified as Shibili and Hafeez Hussain, who were arrested for reportedly attending a secret training camp held by the outfit in 2007, were remanded to a 15-day judicial custody. About 40 cases were pending against the duo in various parts of the country, including in Gujarat, Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Malegaon in Maharashtra. Nearly 40 SIMI cadres had participated in the camp for about three days, the Police mentioned, adding that till date, ten cadres were arrested in this connection.
*

February 9: A SIMI cadre, identified as Amil Parvesh, a native of Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, who was arrested by the Kerala Police from Indore in Madhya Pradesh in connection with his suspected role in the training camp of the outfit held in the Vagamon hills, was remanded by the Kanjirapally First Class Magistrate Court in Kottayam to 15 days Police custody.

2008

*

December 27: A trial court in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh convicted nine cadres of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) to two years imprisonment and imposed a fine of INR 500 on each for promoting communal hatred. Police had arrested them in July 2006 for their alleged links with the SIMI and booked them under various sections of the India Penal Code, mostly dealing with treason.
*

December 20: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested a SIMI cadre, identified as Amir Talha from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, from platform number three at Nagpur station. One .32mm pistol and five bullets were recovered from his possession. Talha is the son of Amir Rashidi Madni, who heads an ulema council in Azamgarh, and is also believed to have been arrested in connection with SIMI activities in the past. Talha, who was reportedly in close touch with the Indian Mujahideen (IM) that executed the serial blasts in New Delhi on September 13, was produced before a Nagpur court and has been remanded in Police custody till January 3, 2009.
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November 10: Gujrat Police said that the Madhya Pradesh Police have arrested the main conspirators of the July 26 Ahmedabad serial blasts, identified as Qayamuddin Kapadia, from an unspecified place in Madhya Pradesh. Qayamuddin Kapadia allegedly planted cycle bombs in the Ahmedabad as well as bombs in different parts of Surat and was also responsible for purchase of cycles on which the bombs were planted and kept in different parts of the city, said Joint Commissioner of Police of Ahmedabad city crime branch, Ashish Bhatia. He was also an expert in using explosives, and reportedly present during various SIMI terror training camps in Waghamon in Kerala and Halol near Vadodara and was instrumental in training the participants.
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October 23: An unidentified SIMI cadre was arrested from the Nagda District of Madhya Pradesh in connection with the July 26 serial blasts in Ahmedabad, Gujarat Police said on October 24, reports The Hindu.
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October 21: A special squad of the Thrissur District Police arrested two SIMI cadres from Kodungallur. The two cadres, identified as Nisar and Asghar, reportedly participated in a SIMI camp at Panayikulam on August 15, 2006.
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October 14: The special investigation team looking into the case relating to "clandestine meeting of activists of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)" at Panayikulam in the Ernakulam District on August 15, 2006, has taken one more person, Nissar of Idukki, into custody. Nissar was among the 13 persons who were let off after the Police stopped the meeting and arrested five persons.
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October 13: The Supreme Court ruled that the Union Government's plea against a tribunal's ruling lifting the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India will be heard by a larger bench of the Court, even as the ban is to continue. The bench of Justice S.B. Sinha and Justice Cyriac Joseph referred the matter to Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan saying the Government's suit be listed before "an appropriate and larger bench". The bench also said the ban on SIMI would continue till further orders.
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October 6: Kerala Police arrested two persons for their suspected links with the SIMI. Abdul Hakeem (22) from Azheekal in Guruvayur and Shameer (29) from Karukapadathu in Thrissur were arrested on information that the duo attended a clandestine meeting of SIMI activists at Panayikulam on August 15, 2006. The Police had taken 18 persons into custody. Five of them were arrested and the others released for lack of evidence. Shibili and Ansar, who were among those arrested from Panayikulam and later released on bail, were again arrested from Indore in Madhya Pradesh with firearms in their possession. They were produced before the Paravoor Judicial First Class Magistrate who remanded them to judicial custody till October 21.
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September 27: The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in Nagpur arrested a SIMI cadre in the IODC colony of Washim. Mohammed Khaleel Mohammed Ismail Chauhan (32) was working for SIMI since year 2000 and was based in Khandwa (Madhya Pradesh). He had taken shelter at his younger brother Aqueel Mohammed Ismail Yusuf Chauhan''s (also a SIMI cadre) place in IODC colony. Police sources said that Aqueel was involved in spreading communal violence in small cities. Khaleel has four offences of rioting and forgery registered against him in Khandwa.
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September 25: A SIMI cadre was arrested in connection with the serial blasts in Bangalore on July 25. Police said that Mohammad Samee Bagewadi alias Mohammad Samee attended most of the important camps organised by SIMI at Castle Rock near Hubli in Karnataka, Vagamon in Kerala and other places and also underwent training in these camps. Bagewadi, a resident of Bijapur, was allegedly influenced by SIMI''s ideology, and was closely associated with its leaders such as Safdar Hussain Nagori, Hafeez Hussain alias Adnan, Shibly, Tauqeer, Shahbaaz, Abu Bashar and others, Police sources said.
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September 24: Mumbai Police arrested five suspected members of the Indian Mujahideen. While Afzal Mutalib Usmani (32) was arrested from Uttar Pradesh, Mohammed Saddik Shaikh (31), Mohammed Arif Shaikh (38), Mohammed Zakir Shaikh (28) and Mohammed Ansar Shaikh were arrested from their Mumbai residences on September 23-night. All the accused, originally from Azamgarh District in Uttar Pradesh, have worked with the banned SIMI, Joint Commissioner (Crime), Rakesh Maria, told journalists. "They broke away from SIMI to form the radical group of Indian Mujahideen. Saddik was one of the co-founders of the outfit along with Atiq, killed in the Delhi encounter, and Roshan Khan, who is yet to be traced. The Police are on the lookout for Khan", Maria added. The Police have booked the arrested terrorists under the Explosives Act, Arms Act, various sections of the Indian Penal Code and for criminal conspiracy. The recovered items from the arrested terrorists include 10 kilograms of gelatin or ammonium nitrate, 15 detonators, eight kilograms of ball bearings, four fully active electronic circuits, one sub-machine carbine, two .38 revolvers and 30 cartridges of 9 mm carbine and eight cartridges of .38 revolver.
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September 13: 30 persons were killed and 100 more injured in a series of five bomb blasts in the busy market places of national capital New Delhi, reports. The first explosion took place at Karol Bagh at 6.10 pm. The next explosion took place at 6.35 pm near the Metro Station at Barakhamba Road. Five minutes later, another explosion took place at the Central Park in Cannaught Place. Two more explosions took place in the M-block market of the Greater Kailash area at 6.30 pm and 6.40 pm. Initial investigations revealed that the improvised explosive devices were configured using ammonium nitrate. Four live bombs were recovered and diffused. While one bomb was found outside the Regal Cinema in Cannaught Place, two more bombs were diffused in the Central Park at Cannaught Place and at India Gate. In an e-mail to the media, the Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the explosions.
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September 11: The Supreme Court further extended its interim order continuing the ban on SIMI till the 2nd week of October, 2008. This is the second time the apex court has extended the ban. The Union Government had filed a petition challenging the decision of a Special Tribunal to lift curbs imposed on the organisation. The Court has asked the Centre to place before it the synopsis of arguments and other documents in support of its stand to ban SIMI. The ruling came after the Government petitioned for more time for probe.
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September 7: Two youths, identified as Mohammad Sohail and Azam, detained in Jodhpur were arrested by the SIT on charges of involvement in the May 13, 2008 Jaipur serial blasts case. During investigation, it was found that both had links with the banned SIMI and the main accused of the Jaipur serial blasts, including Sajid, Karimudeen and Taukir. They had allegedly arranged hotel rooms for the meetings of Sajid and his accomplices. The SIT sources claimed, "Sajid and his associates like Taukir, Karimudeen and others had visited Jodhpur many times and generated funds from there. It was found that Sohail and Azam had also gathered Zakat (charity) for them". With these two arrests, the total number of people arrested in connection with the Jaipur serial blasts went up to 14.
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September 4: Four suspected cadres of the SIMI were arrested in connection with the July 26 Ahmedabad bomb blasts from Ahmedabad and Bhuj towns. An Ahmedabad police spokesman said that while Naved Kadri, Aiyyaz Sayed and Zaved Ahmed were arrested from Ahmedabad, Abbas Asmeja was arrested from Bhuj. The arrests took place following confessions made by the 10 main accused SIMI cadres. Aiyyaz was among those who had actually placed some of the bombs. Naved Kadri was present at the final planning meeting held in Juhapura. Zaved Ahmed had procured a gas cylinder from Kalupur area, which was used in the car bomb placed at the trauma centre in the civil hospital. Asmeja had secured a house, under a false name on behalf of the SIMI, under rehabilitation projects for the people hit by the 2001 Kutch earthquake. The house was sold recently to part-finance the blasts.
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September 1: The Hyderabad Police arrested a person identified as Jaber from the Hyderabad city for suspected links with the SIMI. Hyderabad City Commissioner of Police B. Prasada Rao said, "Jaber has been arrested for his alleged links with the banned SIMI and sharing material with SIMI head Safdar Nagori." Jaber, son of Moulana Naseeruddin, is a Hyderabad resident. Naseeruddin is an accused in the assassination of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya and is now in Sabarmati jail in Gujarat.
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August 26: Gujarat Police arrested Tanveer Pathan alias Sameer, a suspected SIMI member, from the Mira road area in Mumbai for his alleged involvement in the planting of bombs in Surat. Police sources said Pathan's name was revealed during the interrogation of Sajid Mansuri, an accused arrested in connection with the Ahmedabad serial blasts case. An unidentified police officer told, "Pathan was in touch with several SIMI activists in Pune and we passed on this information to the Gujarat Police. After Pathan's name emerged in the investigation, a team from the Gujarat Police arrived in Mumbai. With the help of the ATS, the Gujarat team caught Pathan."
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August 25: The Supreme Court extended its stay of a tribunal order quashing the Union Government’s February 7, 2008 notification, which banned the SIMI by six weeks. A bench, consisting of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice P. Sathasivam, said, "The matter is important. We are ready to hear it. What we are concerned [with] are the documents and records relevant on the date of the ban notification."
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August 23: The 'Indian Mujahideen', which had claimed responsibility for the recent serial explosions in Gujarat, sent a mail to TV channels with photographs of cars claimed to have been used in the attacks on two hospitals in Ahmedabad. Claiming that not a single Indian Mujahideen cadre involved in the blasts have been arrested so far the outfit threatened to widen the arc of its attacks. "The Indian Mujahideen on its full authority declares that by the Grace of Allah not even a single mujahid from our ranks who played even a minute role in the blasts, have been arrested to date. We are completely safe", the mail said.
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August 21: The Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Mumbai Police arrested Feroz Mehboob Pathan (32), a suspected to SIMI member and part of the recently neutralised sleeper module of the outfit, from the Ghorpade Peth area of Pune. Two others were detained but not arrested.
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August 20: The Union Government filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court, citing the involvement of SIMI cadres in the July 26 serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad in Gujarat. In its affidavit, the Government said investigations revealed that the accused in the bomb blasts in Ahmedabad and Surat on July 26 were members of the SIMI. Annexing the depositions made by witnesses, the Government further said intelligence sources and secret surveillance by the police made it clear that the accused had nexus with international terrorist outfits. Further, these persons were persistently involved in more than one offence or other unlawful activities and the nature of activities indulged in by the outfit would show secessionist tendencies and the potential damage to the secular fabric of society.

Replying to the debate in the Uttar Pradesh State Legislative Assembly on terrorist activities and the role of the SIMI in the recent serial bomb blasts, the State Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Lalji Verma, said that since 2003 no activity of SIMI has been witnessed in Uttar Pradesh. He further said between 1998 and 2003, 65 cases had been registered against SIMI activists in the State. Rejecting the charge of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that the UP police and its security and intelligence agencies were inefficient in containing the menace, Minister Verma said the security and intelligence units in 34 sensitive districts and on the State’s border have been upgraded.

Following leads given by arrested SIMI cadre Usman Agarbattiwala, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch recovered two pistols, a pipe bomb, balloons and 19 CDs and DVDs containing speeches of Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders, laptops and hard drives from different places in the city. Usman Agarbattiwala was one of the ten SIMI members arrested for their alleged involvement in the Ahmedabad blasts.
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August 19: A team of the Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad arrested dentist Mohammed Salim Honali (31) from Bijapur in Karnataka. Honali used to work with the MA Rangoonwala College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre at the Azam Campus in Pune till May 2008 before he was laid off. ATS officials suspect that Honali not only had a significant role in the July 26, 2008 Ahmedabad blasts but was also brainwashing other youth to bring them into the radical fold. ATS officials said jihadi literature was recovered from all four suspects.
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August 17: Three persons were arrested in Bharuch in Gujarat for renting a house to the SIMI activist Sajid Mansuri, who allegedly played a key role in the July 26 Ahmedabad serial blasts. Mansuri had taken the house on rent from Saeed Hayat at Lukman society in Bharuch. Hayat had the power of attorney over the house that belonged to a London-based non-resident Indian. Two persons, Yusuf Patel and Maqbul Patel, had recommended the name of Sajid Mansuri to Saeed Hayat.

Police in Indore in Madhya Pradesh arrested a suspected SIMI activist in connection with the serial blasts in Ahmedabad on July 26. The arrest followed a tip off provided by the Gujarat Police. Nine persons arrested by the Gujarat Police on August 16 for their alleged involvement in the blasts had disclosed that the explosives used in the blasts were sent from Madhya Pradesh.

Police sources in Gujarat claimed that SIMI leader Abul Bashar Qasmi who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh on August 16 for his involvement in the serial blasts in Ahmedabad has "confessed" to his and his team’s involvement in the terror attack. According to Abhay Chudasma, Joint Commissioner, Ahmedabad Crime Branch police, Qasmi also confirmed the role of Sajid Mansuri, another arrested senior SIMI member in the blasts. "We are questioning him on the details of other locals involved in the terror attack", Chudasma said. Police also suspected Qasmi and Sajid’s involvement in the Jaipur blasts. "We are still questioning Qasmi on the Jaipur link", Chudasma added. The police said Qasmi had taken over charge of the SIMI national network after the arrest of its leader Safdar Nagori and his brother Karimuddin Nagori in Indore in Madhya Pradesh in March. Safdar and Karimuddin had originally planned the execution of the Ahmedabad blasts and to carry out bombings in Surat too.
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August 16: The Gujarat Police announced the arrest of SIMI leader Abul Bashar Qasmi, who allegedly was the mastermind behind the July 26 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts. Gujarat Director-General of Police P.C. Pandey said Qasmi was arrested from a village in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh (UP) by a joint team of the UP and Gujarat Police. The Gujarat police also said with this arrest they had unravelled the conspiracy that led to the bombings. Before Qasmi’s arrest, nine SIMI cadres were arrested from Ahmedabad and Vadodara. "We now have the entire details of how and where the plans for the Ahmedabad blasts were chalked out, who were the people involved and how the entire plan was operationalised," the DGP said. He also claimed that the same group was involved in planting bombs in Surat.
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August 14: A SIMI activist was arrested in Bharuch in Gujarat in connection with the serial blasts in Ahmedabad on July 26. The arrested SIMI cadre Mohammad Sajid Mansori is suspected to have been part of the conspiracy to carry out the nine blasts across the Gujarat capital.
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August 8: The All India Minority Front said it had evidence that the SIMI had links with terror outfits in Pakistan. The Front national president S.M. Asif told reporters, "We have evidence of SIMI's links with Pakistani terror outfits and are ready to provide it to the central government provided we are assured security." "We have spoken to various Muslim people who have proof in this regard but they fear for their lives", he added. He further said, "We want SIMI should be banned and punished. The minorities in the country are opposed to all sorts of militancy. Even then Muslims suffer whenever there is any terror attack in the country."
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August 6: The Supreme Court stayed the order by the Special Tribunal quashing the Union Government's February 7, 2008 notification declaring the SIMI an unlawful organisation. A Bench of the Supreme Court stayed the order on a mention made by Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam about the Union Government filing a special leave petition against the lifting of the ban. The Bench, consisting of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice A.K. Mathur, ordered notice to the SIMI seeking its response in three weeks.

The MHA asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to send details of the criminal cases pending against the SIMI and its activists. Police headquarters in State capital Lucknow said that it has received a letter in this regard. The Office of the Director General of Police (DGP) has, consequently, started compiling the details of the recent cases against the SIMI.
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August 5: The Anti-Terrorist Cell (ATC) attached to the Belgaum district Police Department in Karnataka arrested three suspected SIMI cadres. They were identified as Naveed Khaji and Ansar Nizami, both from Malmaruti area, and Sadiq Mulla of Azad Nagar. The arrest took place on the basis of information given by suspected SIMI cadres Tanveer Mulla and Iqbal Jakati, who were arrested recently. With the arrest of these three, the number of arrested suspected SIMI activists in the district rose to 11.

A specially-designated tribunal lifted the ban imposed by the Union Government on the activities of the SIMI. Justice Geeta Mittal of the Delhi High Court, who headed the tribunal, held that there was no new evidence submitted by the Government against the SIMI to justify the extension of the ban. A senior law officer said that the Government only came out with the evidence of the Malegaon blasts in Maharashtra in 2006 to show the complicity of the organisation in unlawful activities which was not sufficient to come out with the notification to ban it.
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August 2: Immigration officials at the Mumbai International Airport detained a passenger in connection with a blast in the Judicial Magistrate First Class court in Hubli in Karnataka in May 2008. The passenger Iqbal Shaukat Ali is alleged to be a SIMI activist. A resident of Belgaum in Karnataka, Ali had fled to Sharjah soon after his name emerged as one of the major suspects in the blast. Subsequently, he was remanded to four days of police custody.
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July 27: The Ahmedabad Joint Police Commissioner Asish Bhatia said an activist of the banned SIMI, Abdul Halim, who was wanted in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots, was arrested during the combing operation in the city following the July 26 serial explosions in Ahmedabad (Gujarat).

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July 15: Police arrested Mohammed Muqeemuddin Yaser, a former SIMI member, from his residence in the Saidabad area of Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh. Yaser, who is a MBA student, is also the eldest son of Maulana Naseeruddin, the founder president of Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Shaan-e-Islam (TTSI) and is presently lodged at the Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad for his alleged role in the assassination of the former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya. Yaser’s younger brother Raziuddin Naser, a suspect in the twin blast cases in Hyderabad in August 2007, was arrested by the Karnataka Police in January 2008 for planning terrorist attacks in Karnataka and Goa. SIT sources said "Yaser was an active member of SIMI. Now, he along with some other former SIMI activists of the city has formed a group which downloads jihadi material and religious killing videos from the internet and distributes disks to extremist religious groups in the country."
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June 8: Supporting continuation of the ban on the SIMI, the Karnataka Government in its affidavit submitted to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal contended that some of the SIMI members had been in contact with militant outfits. The Tribunal, set up by the Union Government to review the ban on SIMI concluded its two-day sitting on June 8 in Bangalore.
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June 1: The Kerala Government represented its case in favour of continuing the proscription on the SIMI. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal appointed by the Union Government to review the ban on SIMI began a two-day sitting in capital Trivandrum. Representing the State Government, Inspector General of Police (Internal Security), N. C. Asthana, filed an affidavit before the tribunal stating that the SIMI was still carrying out unlawful activities in Kerala and hence the ban imposed on it shall be continued.
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May 27: Police arrested a SIMI cadre, identified as Nasir Liyaqat Ali Patel, from Belgaum for allegedly spreading messages of hatred. Police also recovered the hard disc from his computer.
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May 17: The special investigative team conducted raids across the State targeting activists of the SIMI. A SIMI cadre, Mohammad Shajid, was detained for questioning. Raids were conducted at Jaipur, Ajmer, Fatehpur, Godhpur, Tonk and Sikar on the basis of Intelligence inputs. A senior police officer said, "Raids were conducted, but it seems most of the activists have gone underground fearing arrests."
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May 8: Three suspected SIMI activists were arrested from the New Housing Board colony area of Morena in Madhya Pradesh. Fake currency worth INR 80,000 and four mobile phones were recovered from them. Police sources said that one of the arrested Naajmia belongs to Kayamganj in Uttar Pradesh, while the other two, Pappu alias Sudhir Jadaun and Rajbir Gurjar, were from Morena.

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April 23: The Union Minister of State for Home, Sriprakash Jaiswal, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) said that despite the ban, the SIMI has been carrying out its activities clandestinely including holding of organizational meetings and circulation of literature. The Minister said that more than 70 male SIMI cadres have been arrested during the last one year as per reports from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka. No foreign national is among those arrested, he said. The Minister added that activities of the SIMI have been noticed in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
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April 22: The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Sriprakash Jaiswal, replying to questions in the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) said that the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) has links with terrorist groups, including the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). He said that the links have been revealed in investigations into a number of cases. The minister further said that 181 SIMI cadres have been arrested in various States since 2006 and arms, ammunition, incriminating literature and other items were recovered from them. Of them, 128 were arrested in Madhya Pradesh.
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April 10: The Mumbai Police arrested two SIMI cadres from the Thane district. The duo, identified as Irshad Salim Khan and Israr Ahmed Abdul Hamid Tailor, are believed to be close to the arrested secretary-general of the outfit, Safdar Nagori. Khan is a civil engineer by profession and was the former president of the outfit while Israr Ahmed is a computer professional. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria said, "Both are wanted in a case registered under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act here on July 28, 2006, in which train blasts accused Ehtesham Siddqui was earlier arrested."

The Madhya Pradesh Police arrested a SIMI cadre from the Rishala area of Indore city. The arrested cadre, identified as Hafiz Yusuf, has been an active worker of the outfit and played a significant role in collecting funds for the outfit, police sources said. He was working in a mobile shop in Indore.
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April 7: Six SIMI cadres were arrested by the Madhya Pradesh police. While five SIMI cadres were arrested from Guna, a suspected SIMI cadre, identified as Naved Irfan was arrested in Indore’s Muslim- dominated Khajrana area for allegedly indulging in illegal activities and aiding anti-national elements, a senior police officer said.

The Jabalpur Police in Madhya Pradesh announced a reward of INR 5,000 to those who help trace two absconding SIMI activists Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Shakil.
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April 5: Three SIMI activists were arrested from Narsinghgarh town in the Rajgarh district. The Rajgarh Superintendent of Police D. K. Arya said that the SIMI cadres, identified as Irfan, Faizal and Shakir, were arrested on charges of aiding anti-national elements and indulging in illegal activities. An unspecified quantity of objectionable material, video cassettes and CDs were recovered from the house where the arrests occurred.
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April 4: Three persons, including a woman, were arrested for allegedly renting their premises to SIMI leaders in Indore and Khargone. A house in the Shyam Nagar locality of Indore was rented to SIMI's Andhra Pradesh unit chief Qamaruddin Nagori from where police arrested top 13 leaders of the outfit on March 27. The house rented to the SIMI by Gaffar Khan Bakerywale was registered in the name of his daughter-in-law Shahnaz Bi. Police arrested both Khan and Shahnaz for not providing information to the police about giving their house on rent.

Separately, in Khargone, another person, identified as Shahzad Hussein, was arrested for allegedly providing his farmhouse to the SIMI for running training camps.
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April 2: Madhya Pradesh Police neutralised a SIMI training camp in Choral, a popular holiday spot, 35-kilometres from the State capital Bhopal. Police claimed that interrogation of the 13 arrested SIMI cadres led to the information on the existence of the camp. The Superintendent of Police Chanchal Shekhar told, "We were told the camp trained SIMI activists from Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka and a few other states. Each training camp would train around 20 SIMI members. We have information of five such camps in the past one-and-half years, which would mean about a hundred SIMI activists trained in Choral." He said that the trainees were made to climb the surrounding mountains and swim across the river daily. The police also found evidence of a firing range and exploded bits of petrol bombs.

Separately, Police recovered 122 super-explosive gelatine sticks, 100 detonators and switchboards buried underground in the Gawali village under Balwara police station area of Khargaon district.
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April 1: The Assam Government told the Legislative Assembly that SIMI was active in Assam, but clarified that no member of the group had been arrested so far in the State. "While the Government had banned SIMI in 2001, there is information that the group is still active in Assam," Minister Rockybul Hussain told the Assembly.
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March 31: A team of Madhya Pradesh Police arrested seven SIMI cadres from an unspecified location. The investigators interrogating the 13 SIMI leaders arrested in Indore on March 27 claimed that the banned outfit were planning to kill top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including the Leader of Opposition L. K. Advani, and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The investigators further claimed that the SIMI was even running training camps for militants to carry out terrorist attacks in the country.
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March 27: 13 SIMI leaders, including the outfit’s General Secretary Safdar Nagori and his brother Kamruddin Nagori, were arrested following several raids in Indore by the Madhya Pradesh Police. Police described the arrested persons as active members of the outfit hailing from Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The arrested persons included SIMI’s Karnataka unit chief Hafiz Hussain and Shivli, who is the mainstay of the group’s operations in Kerala. Pistols, cartridges, nine mobile phones, INR 45,000 in cash, 15 masks, 22 pairs of surgical gloves and surgical instruments, SIMI literature were recovered from the arrested persons.

Police raided the house of SIMI leader Shiblyin a village in Kottayam district. Two computers were recovered from the houses of Shibli and his brother, Shaduli.
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March 18: The Union Minister of State for Home, Sriprakash Jaiswal, said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) that the SIMI and its associates were planning to commit serial blasts and other serious offences in the country. "While there was no present input indicating any specific plans of SIMI to attack important installation, ...One arrested person disclosed that he along with his SIMI associates were planning to commit serial blasts and other serious offences," Jaiswal said.
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March 11: A former Bihar unit chief of the SIMI, Arif Abrar, who had surrendered before a lower court in Nagpur in January 2008, was reportedly granted bail by the 10th Ad hoc Sessions Judge. Abrar who was lodged in the Nagpur central jail after police interrogation is expected to be released shortly. Defence lawyer A.M. Rizway stated that court found no incriminating evidence against him.
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February 21: The Corps of Detectives arrested a software engineer for suspected links with the banned SIMI from Guruappanapalya under Mico Layout police station limits in Bangalore, capital of Karnataka. However, four of his alleged accomplices escaped during the police operation. Yahya Khan is a native of Kerala and was working in a leading multinational information technology company in the city and he was reportedly under watch by the Bangalore Police for the past few days. Police sources said that the arrest followed information given by Mohammad Asif, a final-year MBBS student, and another SIMI activist, who was arrested in Hubli recently.
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February 12: The Corps of Detectives, which is investigating a terrorist module unearthed by the Davangere police in Karnataka, arrested an electrician from Dharwad for his alleged links with the banned SIMI. The arrested identified as Shakeel, a resident of Koppadakeri in the Dharwad district, had helped the SIMI activists to hold two meetings, one near the Mastansab Darga on Saudatti Road and the other at the Halligere forests on Haliyal Road in Hubli in November 2007. Shakeel reportedly participated in these meetings where some 25 SIMI activists from Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala allegedly discussed plans to carry out acts of sabotage. These activists had held another meeting near Dandeli in May 2007.
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February 12: Firoz Sanadi, the former deputy mayor of Belgaum city in Karnataka, and nine medical students were detained for alleged links with the SIMI and suspected militant Mohammed Asif who is in police custody.

Former Bihar unit chief of the SIMI, Dr Abrar Arif, who had surrendered before the Nagpur court recently, was sent to jail after he was produced before the lower court 2 by Sadar police.
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February 10: The Islamic Students Association (ISA) is functioning transparently and it has no links with the banned SIMI, said ISA ad-hoc committee secretary E K Noufal in Kozhikode in Kerala.
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February 7: The Union Government decided to continue the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) for another two years. "The decision to re-impose the ban for two years has been taken in view of the fact that the group continues to indulge in unlawful activities," said the home ministry spokesperson Onkar Kedia.
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February 6: Police arrested four activists of the Islamic Students Association (ISA), while trying to stick wall posters in the early hours at Edavamgal near Bekal in the Kasargod district of Kerala. The four activists of the newly-floated ISA, which seemed to be a front organisation of the banned SIMI, said the police.
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January 31: Mohammad Abrar Arif Mohammad Kasim, a key SIMI leader, surrendered before a court in Nagpur after remaining at large for 18 months.
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January 22: A report in The Hindu stated that the SIMI is believed to be operating under the cover of at least 12 organisations in Kerala. SIMI organisers periodically change the name of their front organisations to shake off police surveillance. Intelligence officials believe that SIMI activists in Kerala had developed links with the Lashkar-e-Toiba in 2006. They said that SIMI activists are operating under the cover of religious study centres, rural development and research centres and institutions for developing "personal effectiveness." Some of these organisations were spreading "extremist religious ideals" among a section of impressionable youth by acting as "counselling and guidance centres working for behavioural change". In the past 10 years, the police have registered 17 cases against suspected SIMI activists.

2007

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October 23: Daily News & Analysis reported that the role of a splinter group of the SIMI is being examined by the internal security agencies for its alleged linkages with some rural non-government organisations (NGOs) in Maharashtra. An unidentified intelligence official said cadres belonging to the SIMI splinter, Tehereek Taifooz Sher-e-Islam, could have established linkages with a section of Muslim functionaries in these NGOs. Central intelligence agencies and the State Intelligence Department reportedly have been investigating the way these NGOs are managed.
*

September 6: The Supreme Court asked the SIMI to serve a fresh notice to the government on its plea for transferring the petition relating to the ban imposed on the organisation from the Delhi High Court to the apex court. SIMI had sought transfer of the petition filed by it in the High Court challenging the ban imposed in September 2003 for its alleged anti-national activities. Two other petitions filed by SIMI challenging the ban in September 2001 and February 2006 are pending in the apex court and hence it has sought transfer of the 2003 petition so that all the three petitions could be decided by the apex court.
*

July 5: Four persons, including two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) militants, were convicted by a court in New Delhi for possessing explosives and conspiring to wage war against the country. The other two persons, held guilty under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Explosive Substances Act, are members of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Gulzar Ahmed Wani and Mohiuddin, the HM militants from Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, and Feroz Rafi and Mumtaz, the SIMI activists from Uttar Pradesh, were arrested at New Delhi Railway Station on July 30, 2001. Police had then seized a huge haul of RDX, grenades, launchers, detonators and other explosives from them. The Hizb militants had reportedly come to Delhi to deliver the explosives to the SIMI activists. With their arrest, police had claimed to have solved six bomb blast cases, including the 2001 Sena Bhavan blast. However, the court on February 23 acquitted them in all these cases for lack of evidence.

Times Now reported that the SIMI has stepped up efforts to strengthen its base in the northeastern region along the India-Myanmar border. SIMI has been trying to tie up with Manipur-based outfits and especially the Peoples' United Liberation Front (PULF), an organization of indigenous Muslims of Manipur called Pangals. The report further indicated that SIMI's presence in the north-eastern region could pose a grave threat since several jihadi outfits with similar ideologies are already active on both sides of the border.
*

March 9: Police in Patna (Bihar) arrested Mohd Haseeb Raza, an activist of the SIMI, from his Phulwari residence. Police sources said that Raza was the state secretary of the outfit and was wanted in a case lodged in 2001 as a prime accused for planning subversive activities in the country.
*

February 15: The Supreme Court described the proscribed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) as a "secessionist movement". A bench of Justice S. B. Sinha and Markandeya Katju observed while dealing with the Special Leave Petition filed by the SIMI challenging the ban imposed on it, "You are a secessionist movement. You have not stopped your activities." The Bench refused to agree with the submissions put forth by Kamini Jaiswal, counsel for the SIMI, that there was no evidence to link SIMI to any anti-national activity after 2003. In the petition, the SIMI had challenged the judgment of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act Tribunal headed by Justice B. N. Chaturvedi of the Delhi High Court, which confirmed the ban imposed on the organisation by the Union Government on February 8, 2006.
*

January 22: Police have beefed up security in the Cuttack city amidst intelligence reports indicating that the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) cadres are planning to orchestrate a terrorist attack during the India-West Indies one-day Cricket Match at the Barabati Stadium on January 24.

2006

*

December 21: The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra Police filed the charge sheet in the September 8 Malegaon serial blasts case. The charge sheet stated that nine SIMI cadres had hatched and executed the conspiracy with the help of two Pakistani nationals in the textile town to "infuriate the entire Muslim community and trigger communal riots’’. 40 persons died and 312 were injured in four blasts.
*

December 4: The Uttar Pradesh Government said that it had not received any direction from the Union Government to proscribe the SIMI. In a written reply to a question in the State Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said that no instructions had been received from the Centre to ban SIMI. The State Government had recently successfully moved an application in a district court in Baharaich seeking withdrawal of cases against SIMI chief Shahid Badar Falah.
*

November 7: According to IANS, the SIMI is contemplating changing its name to evade attention it receives for its association with the terrorists. Quoting unidentified sources, the report said that SIMI may emerge under a new name such as Teharik-e-Millat or Awaz-e-Sura, with a view to expand its activities in Madhya Pradesh.
*

November 5: Six SIMI cadres are arrested in Indore. Police said that the six had met a detained senior SIMI operative, Imran Ansari, at a local restaurant while he was being escorted for a court hearing on November 1.
*

October 30: Maharashtra Police arrests Noorul Hooda Shamshul Hooda, a SIMI activist, in connection with the Malegaon serial bomb blasts of September 8, 2006.
*

October 8: A suspected SIMI cadre, Nurullah Samsudoha, is arrested from the Jaffar Nagar area of Malegaon town in Maharashtra.
*

September 6: The Bahraich District court in Uttar Pradesh grants permission to withdraw a treason case against the banned SIMI chief Shahid Badar Falah and 11 other members of the outfit.
*

August 23: Two suspects in the October 2005 Delhi serial bomb blasts are remanded to the custody of Mumbai Police till August 28 by a local court in Mumbai. Firoz Abdul Latif Ghaswala and Mohammed Ali Chippa, who were lodged in a jail in Delhi, were brought to Mumbai on August 23 and produced before a local court. Both, suspected to be linked to the SIMI, have allegedly visited Pakistan clandestinely to undergo training in arms and explosives handling at the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) camps.

Speaking in the State Legislative Assembly, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav ruled out the involvement of the Students Islamic Movement of India in recent terrorist attacks in the State.
*

August 22: Faizal Ataur Rehman Sheikh, allegedly Lashkar-e-Toiba’s Mumbai chief, and younger brother Muzamil, a software programmer, were booked in the Bandra blast case and remanded to police custody till September 4. In its remand plea, the Anti-Terrorist Squad said the brothers were active members of the proscribed SIMI and had been to Pakistan for military training.
*

August 18: SIMI activists, Waqar Baig Yusuf Baig and Jitaullah Rehman Mehmood Khan, are arrested from Kazipur in the textile township of Hinganghat in Wardha district of Maharashtra.
*

August 16: Five suspected SIMI activists, identified as Saduli, Abdul Aziz, Shammi, all from Kottayam district, and Anzar and Nizammudin, both from Aluva, arrested in Kerala.
*

August 15: Kerala Police arrested 18 suspected SIMI activists from Binamipuram in the Kochi district.
*

August 13: Two SIMI activists, Irfan Sayeed and Najib Bakali, are arrested by Mumbai Police personnel investigating the July 11 blasts.
*

August 8: Three SIMI cadres, Shakil Warsi, Shakir Ahmed Nasi and Mohammad Rehan Khan, are arrested in connection with the July 11 Mumbai serial blasts from Nagpur in Maharashtra.
*

August 7: The tribunal, constituted to examine the ban imposed on SIMI by the Union Government, holds it "legal and valid”.
*

July 29: SIMI activist, Ehtashan Siddiqui, is arrested from his Mira Road residence on the outskirts of Mumbai for alleged links to the 7/11 blasts.
*

July 21: Bhopal Police arrests a SIMI activist, Imran, wanted in two cases, one registered at Surat in the State of Gujarat and the other at Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh. He is said to be an organising SIMI activities at the national level.
*

July 13: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav says in Lucknow that the SIMI is not active in the State and there is no evidence of its involvement in any unlawful activity during his regime. He further said that as far as its existence in Uttar Pradesh is concerned, it will be improper to initiate action without evidence.
*

July 6: The Supreme Court upheld the ban on the SIMI rejecting a petition that claimed that the organisation had not been found to engage in any terrorist activities.
*

June 2: According to the Government of Kerala, the SIMI is operating under the cover of at least 12 organisations in the State. At least two organizations linked to the SIMI are operating in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram.
*

April 25: Mohammad Aamir, the chief of SIMI's Uttar Pradesh State unit and the prime accused in the Kanpur riots of March 16, 2006, surrenders before a metropolitan magistrate in Kanpur.
*

April 21: The Union Government declares the SIMI an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. It also constitutes a Tribunal, comprising Justice B.N. Chaturvedi of the Delhi High Court, for adjudicating whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring SIMI as an unlawful association.

2005

*

July 11: Police in Uttar Pradesh arrest six persons, including four of a family, from Faizabad in connection with the July 5-attack on the disputed complex in Ayodhya. The arrested family members were associated with the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, according to official sources.
*

June 11: All eight accused in the Ghatkopar blast case, allegedly cadres of the SIMI, are acquitted by a POTA court in Mumbai due to lack of evidence.
*

March 8: Delhi Police arrests a SIMI member, Mohammad Iftikar Ehsan Malick, from Dehradun, the capital city of Uttaranchal.

2004

*

November 1: Maulana Nasiruddin, president of the Tahaffuz Shari'at-e Islam (Protection of Islamic Sharia) and allegedly linked to the SIMI, is arrested from Hyderabad in connection with his suspected links to the murder former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya.

2003

*

November 11: A court in New Delhi acquits SIMI president Shahid Badar Falah in a case of sedition, which was filed against him in September 2001.
*

September 12: Five persons, including two SIMI activists, are arrested for the removal of railway sleeper clips from the tracks in Kumardubi-Barakar section in West Bengal.
*

July 21: POTA court in New Delhi sentences two SIMI activists to a five-year imprisonment under POTA for their membership of the proscribed organization and seven years imprisonment for sedition.
* July 16: A POTA Court in Delhi convicts two SIMI activists for their active involvement with the banned outfit.

* May 26: Mumbai Police arrest two suspected activists of the SIMI in the Ghatkopar bomb blast case and remand them to police custody till June 5.

* May 14: Mumbai Police arrest three persons from Padgah village and foil a plan that envisaged a series of explosions in Mumbai and Kerala, which was allegedly hatched by the SIMI and Lashkar-e-Toiba. The accused were identified as Muzzamal Ansari, Mohammed Nadir Palob and Arif Hussain.

* May 11: Mumbai Police detains SIMI activist Anwar Ali, a lecturer of the National Defence Academy in Khadakvasla, Maharashtra, for his suspected involvement in the March 13-Mulund train bomb explosion case.

* May 3: Mumbai Police arrests six SIMI activists with links to the LeT and also seizes lethal chemicals and some arms and ammunition from their possession.

* April 25: Mumbai Police arrests two suspected SIMI activists for their alleged involvement in the March 13-Mulund-bomb blast case from the Padgha village of Thane district.

* April 21: Mumbai Police arrests Ghulam Akbar Khotal, an alleged SIMI activist from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, in connection with March 13 Mulund blast.

* April 10: Saquib Nachan, a SIMI activist, surrenders before the Mumbai High Court. He is subsequently arrested by the Mumbai Police and booked under POTA for his alleged involvement in the Mulund blast. Saquib was arrested from Gujarat in October 1992 under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) for his subversive activities and sentenced to life imprisonment, which was later commuted to 10 years by the Supreme Court. He was released from the Sabarmati jail in April 2001.

* March 12: Noman Badar alias Falahi, one of the top leaders of SIMI, is brought on transit remand to Delhi from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. A case against him is pending in a Court in Delhi for his involvement in unlawful activities, including publishing objectionable using inflammatory language.

* February 24: Police arrest two persons allegedly connected with the SIMI at Rabodi in Thane District of Maharashtra and seize incriminating documents from their possession.

* January 29: Mumbai Police suspects the LeT and SIMI for the twin blasts near Vile Parle railway station in Mumbai on January 27 and January 28. United Arab Emirates (UAE) based LeT terrorist Abu Hamza is suspected to be the masterminded behind the first explosion, in which a women was killed and 25 more injured.

* January 27: Uttar Pradesh Police arrests three SIMI activists from Lucknow and recover certain incriminating documents from them.

* January 26: Dubai authorities deport Mohammed Altaf, an activist of the SIMI and main accused in the December 2, 2002, bomb blast at Ghatkopar.

* January 9: Madhya Pradesh Police arrests Bhopal district unit former president of the SIMI Khalid Naeem. He was later released on bail.

* January 3: Mumbai Police invokes POTA against four SIMI activists–– Abdul Mattin, Sayed Khwaja, Muzzamil Ahmed and Zahir Shaikh––for allegedly setting off a blast inside a bus in Ghatkopar on December 2, 2002, in which three persons were killed.

2002

* December 21: A Delhi court discharges SIMI leader Mohammed Javed Iqbal in a sedition and unlawful activities case and also drops sedition charges against its president Shahid Badar and three others. While discharging Iqbal, the court granted bail to Badar and four others in the case. The court also dropped sedition charge against Badar in another case and granted him bail on a personal bond of Rs 5,000 and one surety.

* October 7: Supreme Court issues notices to Union Government and eight States on a petition filed by the SIMI challenging the Union Home Ministry's order declaring the organization as unlawful and the subsequent order of a Tribunal upholding the same. States to which notices were issued are: Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

* May 27: Two SIMI activists are arrested in Delhi.

* May 5: Uttar Pradesh unit SIMI chief Noman Badar is arrested in Lucknow.

* March 18: SIMI activist Hasib Raja is arrested in Kolkata, West Bengal, and half a kilogram of RDX is seized from him. He was allegedly planning to blow up the Howrah Bridge.

* January 28: Police arrest eight SIMI activists from Vadodara in Gujarat.

2001

* December 28: Police in Surat, Gujarat, arrest 123 persons for their alleged links with SIMI and also recover certain incriminating documents from their possession.

* October 24: Maharashtra Police files charge sheet in a Jalgaon Court against 11 SIMI activists arrested for suspected terrorist activities.

* October 8: Police arrest the Tamil Nadu State vice-president of SIMI, Abdul Qudoos, from Madurai.

* October 5: Maharashtra Police arrest three SIMI activists from Ahmednagar.

* October 1: Police arrest nine SIMI activists in Madhya Pradesh and one in Delhi.

* September 29: After the ban on SIMI, the Police arrest another 122 of its cadres across the country.

* September 28: Delhi Police seals SIMI headquarters at Zakir Nagar and arrests four senior members of the organisation, including its national president Dr Shahid Badr Falah. Shahid Badr was subsequently charged with sedition and inciting communal disharmony in Uttar Pradesh.

* September 27: Union Government imposes a ban on the SIMI under section 3(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Following the ban, 241 SIMI activists were arrested across the country and authorities seal many of its regional offices.

* September 21: Uttar Pradesh Police arrests three SIMI activists in Bahraich for alleged anti-India activities. Five more SIMI cadres were arrested in the same town a day earlier.

* August 8: The Uttar Pradesh Police says SIMI activists arrested in Kanpur earlier have revealed that the ISI had asked one of its agents to supply explosive material for subversive activities in northern India.

* August 6: Police in Kanpur register cases against 12 SIMI activists on charges of waging war and sedition.

* May 9: Police arrest 13 SIMI activists, including zonal President Irshad Khan, in Kurla and Vikhroli in Maharashtra for allegedly possessing weapons and several incriminating documents.

* April 10: Ilyas Gausn, main accused in the Pune communal violence, surrenders before a judicial magistrate in the city.

* March 16: Six persons, including an Additional District Magistrate, are killed in a clash between SIMI activists and police in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

* March 11: Police arrest Sajid Sundke, city unit chief of SIMI, and four of his associates in Pune for their suspected involvement in the communal riots in Ganj Peth and Ghorpade Peth areas of the city.

2000

* March 12: Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Chhagan Bhujbal, discloses in the State Legislative Assembly that Pakistan-based underworld don Chhota Shakeel, in league with the SIMI, is inciting communal riots in some parts of the State.

* August 15: Uttar Pradesh Police arrest Mohammad Aquil, a former student of Aligarh Muslim University and an active SIMI member, in connection with a bomb blast in the Sabarmati Express train near Faizabad.

The story of Shilpi Jain.. and her "suicide"

2010-04-26T00:32:00.010+05:30

From my old diary dated sometime in 1999 ..

--

It is pathetic to see how short lived our memory is and how quickly we forget and forgive the criminals. If you are from Bihar, let me ask you this- Do you remember the infamous Shilpi-Gautam murder case of 1999 ? I guess not. Here is the reminder ..

On 3rd July 1999, the dead bodies of Shilpi Jain and Gautam Singh were found in a White Maruti Zen in the garage of MLA Quarter number 12 under the Gandhi Maidan Police Station, Patna. Shilpi was the daughter of Ujjwal Kumar Jain, owner of Kamla Stores, Patna. Gautam was an office bearer of thr ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal and a partner of MLA Sadhu Yadav, brother in law of Laloo Yadav, in the Silver Oak restaurent located at Fraser Road, Patna. It is also alleged that Gautam's father, Mr. B.N. Singh played a key role in laundering the money of the famous Fodder scam to Swiss banks through hawala. The couple were reported to be missing for last 7-8 hours.

The investigation was held in a shabby manner from the begining. Even before the police could arrive, supporters of a certain politician came at the spot and started agitating, it was not known how they got to know about the incident. The car along with the dead bodies was actually driven to the police station by a constable and later no finger prints could be found on the steering wheel.

This was just the begining. From the starting, the police was claiming that the deaths happened as a result of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, completely disregarding the scratches and "shoe marks" on the victims' bodies. Later when the visra report reveled that Shilpi and Gautam had been poisoned with lethal Aluminum XXXXX, the police termed it a sucide case.
The then City SP Mr. Bhatia could not explain why the post mortem report said that semen samples of more than one person were found from Shilpi's body.

Rumors were rife in Patna that the incident actually happened on 2nd July 1999, not at the Gandhi Maidan quarter but at the Valmi premises, and the bodies were brought there by certain influential people.

The case was finally handed over to CBI. The vaginal fluid of Shilpi was sent to Hyderabad for DNA test. However blood sample of a "high profile youth leader" of RJD coudnot be obtained as the person concerned "refused to cooperate". This is how law in India works, one for common people and different for those in power.

The DNA report confirmed that Shilpi was raped by more than one person before she died. Hoever the identity of these persons was not reveled. After long court proceedings, the accused got a clean chit from the court and the matter became another suicide case.

Incidently, the brother of Shilpi Jain was kidnapped a few years later when he was trying to get the case reopened. As a result the case results shut till now.
----

So this is the story of Shilpi Jain, a bubbly, intelligent and beautiful girl who became just another statistics in the suicide records. We will never be able to know whether she really committed suicide or was murdered; and if she was murdered, when will her culprits be booked under the law. The wait seems to go on forever.

==

Some news articles related to this sad story:

1. Shilpi, Gautam committed suicide: CBI

2. New turn in Shilpi case

3. Shilpi Jain's brother kidnapped

4. State in anarchy

5. Sadhu Yadav denies links with deaths

Ruchika case -will we ever get justice for Shilpi Jain?

2009-12-29T12:32:00.003+05:30

TV news channels and Newspapers are filled with Ruchika case.. made me very sad to see the abortion of Justice and Democracy. Now since the nation seems to have finally woken up to the injustice meted to Ruchika and her family, there are chances that she will get justice at last.

This reminds me of another girl who was raped and killed along with her boyfriend in Patna years ago. The case was another miscarriage of justice, closed as a suicide case while the criminals went scot free and went on to become Member of Parliament.

She has been dead all these years and the case has been shut down after a "thorough" investigation by the CBI, in which one accused was not tested for DNA because he refused to provide his blood sample.

Will Shilpi ever get justice ?

-- more about Shilpi Jain here --

The drama for Telangana- A belated response

2009-12-29T12:19:00.005+05:30

Someone wants to be a CM but finds that the competition is simply too much for him at the Capitol. So what does he do?

Unlike the great RT who went ahead and brought back the tested formula of 1960s, this gentleman decides that if he cannot be the CM of the state he is in currently, he must carve out one for himself. And what a better way to do it than go on an indefinite fast, the novel way of emotional blackmailing which flourished in a distant southern tip of the black continent about a century ago and has come a long way to become the Brahmastra of the Indian politics. We had one Neta who started his "indefinite" fast after the breakfast, ended it before the lunch after much hullabaloo. Well, this one at least, ran for days.

Can Mr. TRS claim responsibility for the anarchy and destruction which happened after his fast? His action reminds me of another "Direct Action" which resulted in not only the creation of a separate nation but caused destruction on a much bigger level. So was it that action which inspired TRS or was it just the desperation to get into power ASAP? Even god cannot read the mind of politicians, ordinary mortals like us can only make speculative guesses.

By the way, why is a new state needed? For development's sake? Is development really dependent on how much fragmentation we are actually successful to bring to India? Take the instance of Bihar, what did it gain from a partition? Bihar was left penniless and the plunderers of Jharkhand started coming with a different block of surnames. Smaller states will not solve the problem, smarter states will do. If Mr. TRS is so bothered about the development of the Talengana area, he should have worked for it constructively instead of indulging in the Duryodhana kind of stubbornness he is displaying.

Center's knee jerk reaction to the fast was even more disturbing. It made me doubt if this government even cares to show that it has a spine. It feels that they just do not care what happens to the goddamned nation! I wonder who we elected to power this time!

बेताल की साढ़े सत्ताईसवीं कथा

2009-11-29T17:10:00.003+05:30

बेताल उवाच : हे कलियुगी मनुष्य जैसा कि तुझे पता ही होगा ..हर कथा के उपरान्त तुझे मेरे सवालों के ज़वाब देने होंगे वरना तेरा सर फट जायेगा

बेताल : इस दुनिया में एक देश है .. भारत गणराज्य .. जिसका एक राज्य है, बिहार .. वैसे तो गणराज्य होने की प्रथा प्राचीन बिहार से ही निकली थी.. पर जैसे प्राचीन काल में बिहार ने भारत वर्ष को गणराज्य की प्रथा दी वैसे ही आधुनिक युग में 'गन'राज्य की प्रथा भी.

इस महान 'गन'राज्य की प्रथा को कुछ लोग जिन्होंने चारा खाया था उनलोगों ने बहुत ही आगे तक बढाया और बिहार का नाम विश्व पटल पे लहराया ..

पर हरेक अच्छी प्रथा की तरह ये प्रथा भी बिहारी मनुष्यों को ज्यादा दिन तक रास नहीं आई और उन्होंने २००५ में इस प्रथा को बदलने के लिए नितीश कुमार नाम के एक तुच्छ प्राणी को अपने राज्य का मुख्यमंत्री बनवा दिया |
श्री नितीश कुमार जी के आते ही बिहार में जो 'गन'राज्य स्थापित था वो फिर से उसी सड़ी गली और पुरातनपंथी गणराज्य व्यवस्था पे आने लगा जिसे देख कुछ परम बुद्धिजीवी लोगो को वो होने लगा जो स्वाभाविक था .. घुटन ..!!

अब घुटन भी क्यूँ ना हो .. 'गन'राज्य के चले जाने से चिकित्सा क्षेत्र में जो बिहार का परचम लहराता था वो उन्हें खतरे में दिखने लगा क्यूंकि 'गन'राज्य के समय लाशों की कोई कमी नहीं थी ..एक ढूंढो चार मिलते थे 'गन'राज्य की दया से... तो बच्चे उसपे अपने शुश्रुत संहिता के सारे ज्ञान आराम से सीखते थे .. पर गणराज्य में लाशों की घोर कमी हो गयी है और शुश्रुत संहिता अब मृतप्राय होने के कगार पे पहुँच गयी है .. हाय रे बद-इन्तेजामी ..!

'गन'राज्य के जाने से बिहार के कितने ही 'गन' कारखानों पे ताला लग लगा और लोग भूखमरी के कगार पे पहुँच गए .. हाय रे बेरोज़गारी .. किन नासपिटों ने ये गणराज्य लाया ... कितने भले और खुशहाल दिन थे 'गन'राज्य के ..!!

'गन'राज्य के जाते ही अब पुरुष अपनी नव विवाहिताओं को छोड़ दिल्ली पंजाब कमाने नहीं जाते जिसकी वज़ह से अब विरह के गीत नहीं गाये जाते .. 'गन'राज्य के के ज़माने में हर गाँव में हर गली हर कूचे में नव विवाहिताएं विरह का करुण क्रंदन करतीं थीं..

अब हर मोड़ पे विधवा विलाप नहीं होता क्यूंकि गणराज्य में गन रखना अब आम बात नहीं रही .. 'गन'राज्य के ज़माने में चलते फिरते कोई 'गन'धारी किसी भी जीवीत व्यक्ति की आत्मा को परमात्मा से मिला के उसे मोक्ष की प्राप्ति करा देता था और उनकी धर्म पत्नियाँ विधवा विलाप के अलावा कुछ नहीं कर सकती थी इसीलिए पूरे दिन विधवा विलाप करतीं थीं....

किडनैपिंग एवं "अडल्ट-नैपिंग " की वज़ह से मांओ का मार्मिक रुदन जो की 'गन'राज्य की ख़ास पहचान थी अब नहीं रही ...

हाय रे कितने अच्छे दिन थे .. विरह के गीत , विधवा विलाप , मांओ का मार्मिक रुदन .. सांस्कृतिक प्रतिभा अपने चरम पे हुआ करती थी 'गन'राज्य के ज़माने में ..!!!!

अब ये सारी प्रतिभाएं ना जाने कहा गुम हो गयीं ... बिहार की सांस्कृतिक प्रतिभा खोती जा रही है इस गणराज्य में ..

अब चूँकि गणराज्य व्यवस्था ५ साल तक बदली नहीं जा सकती थी तो इन परम बुद्धिजीवियों ने एक तरीका निकला जिससे की 'गन'राज्य वाली परम खुशहाली के दिन फिर से लाये जा सकें .. उन्होंने गणराज्य के दुष्प्रभावों का प्रचार प्रसार करना शुरू किया .. जैसे की लाशों की कमी से शुश्रुत संहिता के ज्ञान का अभाव, 'गन' कारखानों की बंदी से फैलने वाली बेरोज़गारी, विरह ना होने की वज़ह से विरह के गीतों का लुप्तप्राय होना इत्यादि इत्यादि ..! उनके इस प्रचार प्रसार से जो लोग बिहार में नहीं रहते थे उन्हें फिर से लगने लगा की 'गन'राज्य ही बेहतर था ..!

उन परम बुद्धिजीवियों ने अपने संकल्प को पूरा किया और अब बिहार में 'गन'राज्य आने की पूरी सम्भावना है ..!!!

तो हे कलियुगी मनुष्य अब मेरे सवाल का ज़वाब दे .. ऐसे महान बुद्धिजीवियों के होते हुए ओबामा जैसों को शांति का नोबल पुरस्कार मिलना किसकी बेइज्जती है .. ओबामा की .. नोबल पुरस्कार की ..या फिर ऐसे परम बुद्धिजीवियों की ?

~~श्री शतंजय जी निठल्ले महाराज के सौजन्य से

A Bihari in Pardes and the fable of Trishanku ...

2009-10-08T01:18:00.007+05:30

During my recent vacation in Patna, while trying to cope with the dust, traffic and eternal chaos of the city and enjoying being in the only place in the world I can call my home, I recalled the story of Trishanku.

Trishanku was a great king, through his education and medication he so surpassed his fellow human beings that Earth was no longer fit enough a place for him to live. So this great man of ours decided that he need not wait for death to come and take him and instead do some tapasya and go to heaven in his mortal body. And hence our king did a great deal of meditation in all sort of difficult poses and was finally able to please the gods. He was allowed to proceed towards heaven and settle down there.

So one fine day, our king bid adieu to Earth and started ascending towards heaven. While he was still halfway, Heaven was gripped with a fear psychosis. The Devas of heaven started fearing that if this human came there while still being identified by his dirty mortal body, it will be pollute the culture of heaven, and if this was allowed then these immigrants will come and take over heaven from the Deavs. They approached Raj Indra, and appealed to him to not to allow this new outsider migrant in heaven. Indra grabbed this opportunity to score some more brawny points showing him the savior of the Devas' asmita.

Using his powers Indra threw Trishanku outta heaven before he was completely settled. Now poor man couldn't even reach the Earth. He was not welcomed in the Heaven as they would never accept him with this identity of his; and could not even go back to Earth for the fear of being called a failure. Till date Trishanku is hanging between Heaven and Earth with his head towards the Earth and legs towards the Heaven. So tragic was the curse that had befallen him.

So while I was on a hard earned 10 days vacation to my home after nearly one year, I remembered Trishanku. I see him often, working in the IT companies, Textile mills, selling panipuri or working as a construction laborer. I see Trishanku every morning in the mirror when I stand infront of it brushing my teeth....

Revolution ~ Bhagat Singh

2009-09-06T10:57:00.002+05:30

'Revolution' does not necessarily involve sanguinary strife nor is there any place in it for individual vendetta. It is not the cult of the bomb and the pistol. By 'Revolution' we mean that the present order of things, which is based on manifest injustice, must change.

Revolution is an inalienable right of mankind. Freedom is an imperishable birth right of all. Labour is the real sustainer of society. The sovereignty of the ultimate destiny of the workers.

The revolutionaries must always keep in mind that they are striving for a complete revolution.

Merciless criticism and independent thinking are the two necessary traits of revolutionary thinking.

Crush your individuality first. Shake off the dreams of personal comfort. Then start to work. Inch by inch you shall have to proceed. It needs courage, perseverance and very strong determination. No difficulties and no hardships shall discourage you. No failure and betrayals shall dishearten you. No travails (!) imposed upon you shall snuff out the revolutionary will in you. Through the ordeal of sufferings and sacrifice you shall come out victorious. And these individual victories shall be the valuable assets of the revolution.

Let us declare that the state of war does exist and shall exist so long as the Indian toiling masses and the natural resources are being exploited by a handful of parasites. They may be purely British Capitalist or mixed British and Indian or even purely Indian. They may be carrying on their insidious exploitation through mixed or even on purely Indian bureaucratic apparatus. All these things make no difference. ".....The war neither began with us nor is it going to end with our lives."

PS : Tomorrow (27-Sep-2009) is Bhagat Singh's birth anniversary. About his martyrdom, he had said - "Shaheedon ki mazaaron par judenge har baras mele, watan pe marne waalon ka yahi baaki nishaan hoga"

Wonder how far has that come true ...

BHUMI turns three today :)

2009-08-15T20:01:00.004+05:30

On the Independence day of India, Bhumi completes three years of a meaningful existence. From a toddler group of 5-6 youngsters to a big organization of 1200 + volunteers, I must say it has been a heartening journey. So many hurdles, setbacks, frustrations, struggles, successes, satisfactions, elations later, today we stand proud testimony of the fact that a handful of youth can bring a big change silently if they want to.

This small post is a salute to all those Bhumians who have done it !

Thanks a lot for brining a change to so many lives.

And to celebrate the next birthday of Bhumi, we will meet not in an auditorium. I wish we need a stadium by then :)

For pics click here

Death of another whistle blower ... and we remain silent.

2009-07-03T22:08:00.009+05:30

27th November 2003:

Engineer Satyendra Dubey, an IIT Kanpur graduate (1994 batch) and a project engineer associated with National Highways Authority of India was gunned down by unknown assailents in Gaya (Bihar).

Known to be an honest and upright officer, Er. Dubey was working with the Golden Quardilateral Project in the district of Gaya. He had written to the PMO about wrongdoings in the prime minister's pet project.
In his letter to the PM, Dubey had questioned the process of procurement of civil contractors for the Golden Quadrilateral Project saying it was 'manipulated and hijacked' by big contractors who submitted forged documents to justify their technical and financial capabilities to execute the project.

The letter said the NHAI officials showed great hurry in giving mobilisation advance to selected contractors for financial consideration. Dubey also highlighted the problems of sub-contracting by the primary contractors.

In another letter to the Project Director, NHAI, he had drawn the attention to some 'irregularities' committed by contractors and consultant for the project.

However, despite an explicit request to keep his identity a secret, PMO officials carelessly passed the letter among bureaucrats. Dubey had taken care not to sign his letters to the PM and NHAI chairman, he had appended his bio-data, which was leaked.

....

several scams later ...

....

18th June 2009:

Yogendra Pandey, an Executive engineer in PWD, Department of Bihar was found dead, allegedly after a fall from the third floor roof of the Sitamarhi District Collectorate building on 18th June 2009. A "suicide note" was found with the deceased.

Er. Pandey, known to be another upright and honest officer, was under threat from the construction mafia after he refused to sanction the construction of substandard roads in his jurisdiction. He,after he was assaulted at his home, wrote to the Sitamarhi S.P. on May 26, 2008 (letter number 1282) seeking police cover. On August 27, 2008, the deputy secretary of the road construction department instructed the Sitamarhi DM to immediately provide security to the engineer. But the district police did not respond.

The sanction finally came after Pandey was actually assaulted, and the alleged attacker got bail using, as SP Chhatranil Singh cited, “big legal connections”. But the district police sat over the request until three days before Pandey’s death. No policeman was actually ever deployed to protect the engineer.

...

So here goes another one. How many honest and upright officers are we going to loose before we wake up? If this remains the trend then who will ever dare to protest against the Neta-Mafia -Police nexus?

If we do not wake up and stand to protect the whistle blowers, will not the voice of truth be silenced forever?

For the rulers and the ruled of India, this is my question :

यहाँ एक ईमानदार आदमी को अपनी ईमानदारी का मलाल क्यों है?
जिसने सत्य कह दिया है उसका बुरा हाल क्यों है?

Satyendra Dubey
http://www.rediff.com/news/dubey.htm

Yogendra Pandey
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/questions-over-engineers-death/479590/

सरफरोशी की तम्मान्ना अब हमारे दिल में है - a modern take ...

2009-06-21T17:01:00.005+05:30

No comments on this, read it and think how the writer may have been feeling when he wrote this poem:

सरफरोशी की तम्मान्ना अब हमारे दिल में है
देखना है जोर कितना बाजुए कातिल में है
वक़्त आने दे बता देंगे तुझे ऐ आसमान
हम अभी से क्या बतायें क्या हमारे दिल में है

ओ रे बिस्मिल काश आते आज तुम हिन्दुस्तान
देखते की मुल्क सारा क्या टशन क्या थ्रिल में है
आज का लौंडा ये कहता हम तो बिस्मिल थक गए
अपनी आज़ादी तो भैया लौंडिया के तिल में है

आज के जलसों में बिस्मिल एक गूंगा गा रहा
और बहरों का वो रेला नाचता महफिल में है
हाथ की खादी बनाने का ज़माना लद गया
आज तो चड्डी भी सिलती इन्ग्लिशों की मिल में है

देखना है जोर कितना बाजुए कातिल में है
वक़्त आने दे बता देंगे तुझे ऐ आसमान
हम अभी से क्या बतायें क्या हमारे दिल में है
सरफरोशी की तम्मान्ना अब हमारे दिल में है...

बावरा मन देखने चला एक सपना ...

2009-05-31T17:31:00.004+05:30

Here is a song from 'Hazaaron Khwaaishein Ais i' , a gem of a movie about three youngsters, their ideologies and the clash of ideologies, the struggle and the aftermath. Although the movie lost out to another "great" movie 'Kya kool hain hum' on the Box Office, it nevertheless was successful to remain etched in the minds of the few who watched it.

The song "बावरा मन.." seems to have got lost somewhere in the passion of the movie, I found it again thanks to that lovely ad of Airtel featuring ever adorable Abhay Deol, surreal Raima Sen and the song.

Here is the lyrics of one of my favorite songs which reminds me of the dreams I watch sometimes with open eyes in the silence of my solitude...

-----------------------------
बावरा मन देखने चला एक सपना
बावरा मन देखने चला एक सपना

बावरे से मन, की देखो बावरी हैं बातें
बावरी सी धड़कने हैं, बावरी हैं साँसे
बावरी सी करवटों से, निंदिया दूर भागे
बावरे से नैन चाहे, बावरे झरोखों से, बावरे नजारों को तकना..
बावरा मन देखने चला एक सपना

बावरे से इस जहाँ में बावरा एक साथ हो
इस सयानी भीड़ में बस हाथों में तेरा हाथ हो
बावरी सी धुन हो कोई बावरा इक राग हो
बावरे से पैर चाहें, बावरे तरानों के, बावरे से बोल पे थिरकना ...
बावरा मन देखने चला एक सपना

बावरा सा हो अँधेरा, बावरी खामोशियाँ
थरथराती लौ मद्धम, बावरी मदहोशियाँ
बावरा एक घूगता चाहें, हौले हौले बिन बताये, बावरे से मुखड़े से सरकना ...
बावरा मन देखने चला एक सपना

------------------------------

In case you haven't heard this song before or seen the movie (which I will consider a Cinematic blasphemy), grab an original DVD of the movie and watch it !

You can also watch a beautiful dance with some awesome choreography on this song here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiQ40EKu-a0

The Vagabond will start his journey soon :)

2009-05-28T09:27:00.006+05:30

Inspired by a former comrade of mine who set on a journey to all the places of India before he joins an MBA course and get stuck in the Muck of Corporate India, I am planning one of my own :)

So I am planning a trip in the search of myself, India and a little bit of solitude. There have been places etched in my memories since childhood, from Amar chitrakatha, teleserials, history books etc which I always wanted to visit, the forts of Rajasthan, the ruins and plateau of Madhya Pradesh and so on. Since I have a Rajput inheritence, Rajasthan has always been like the lost promised land (and I must agree that Gulaal has just aggravated the feeling). Now finally I realized that I cannot wait forever waiting for this journey, have to start it some day. Just want to know if Rajasthan is still the same as I have been seeing it in my thoughts or has changed like the rest of India. This time I want to go alone and without any luxury. Let's see how it happens.

So, anyway here I am, preparing my trip. There have been so many places where I wanted but due to time constraints, will have to leave a few for the next journey. So here are the places where I want to go. See them and feel jealous if you have never been to there :)

1. Bhopal
The city of Nawabs and their almost lost culture. I want to see Bhopal for all the Nawabi charm it presents. Looking forward to some delicious kababs :)

2. Ujjain

The city of Chandragupta Vikramaditya and Bhoja, Ujjain brings an old world charm rivalled only by Varanasi. I want to see the remanents of the Golden Age of India, that of the Gupta Empire. I want to take a dip in the Shipra river which, as I read in 'Ripley's Believe it or Not!' is considered so holy that fishing is prohibited.

3. Indore
The seat of the mighty Holkars and the capital of Saint Queen Ahilyabai, Indore is the remembrance of Yashwantrao Holkar who was the last Maratha to give a tough fight to the British East India Company when everything else had been lost. The places from "The great Maratha" will finally become alive.

4. Maandu

The ruined city of Mandu is called , "A celebration in stone, of life and joy, of the love of the poet-prince Baz Bahadur for his beautiful consort, Rani Roopmati. ..."
:)

5. Udaipur
The city of lakes has been the last refuge of the Sisodiyas against the Mughal onslaught. Well my reason for a visit to Udaipur its beautiful palaces and lakes and the fact that it lies en route to Chittodgarh.

6. Chittodgarh
A visit to Chittodgarh is going to be a piligrimage to the place defended for centuries by my forefathers' blood. The fort of Chittodgarh has been with me since childhood with its legends of Jauhar, Saka and extreme courage. I just want to visit the place and bow my head in gratitude to all those warriors who chose death before dishonor.

7. Ajmer
After the high adernaline trip to Chittod, time to calm down in the company of Khwaza Salim Chishti. Ajmer symbolizes the harmony of different cultures and religions that was India. I want to get a feel of it before it gets extinct for ever.

8. Ranthambhor
I still remember the story of those 36 starving defenders of the Ranthambhore fort who clad in the Saffron bana, opened the gates of the fort and charged on the 1 lakh strong Mughal army to fight till the end with the battle cry of 'Har Har Mahadev!'. That story read in 'Nandan' years ago is the biggest reason I am visiting this place. Another piligrimage...

9. Jaipur
Now what can I say about the pink city! Will update as I see it with my eyes :)

Whoof ! Another long post! Will be updating with how I see India during my journey. Thanks Mampi for setting up the mood with the Abida Parveen songs :)

The Tigers become history .....

2009-05-18T23:40:00.003+05:30

I have seen history being made. In past two decades, I have seen a motley group of "boys" graduating from being jungle guerrillas to the most fierce fighting guerrilla force in the world. Today I have witnessed their downfall.

Prabhakaran is dead along with his family, commanders, family and thousands of civilians. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is a thing of past now. However ruthless the Tigers have been in their methods of fight, the way they have struggled and fought to the last man standing has been awe inspiring. I wonder whether the world will ever see another fighting force like this ever again. I wonder if the world will ever like to see .

LTTE didn't loose the war in last one year only. The saga of their downfall started being written when a female Black Tiger assassinated Rajiv Gandhi on a similar hot night 18 years ago. Every subsequent political assassination, every bomb blast, every failed negotiation was like just another word on the epitaph of the Eelam movement. The story of Tamil Tigers is a sad story of won bloody wars and lost chances of peace. How I wish that Prabhakaran had valued peace as much as he idolized war. It was not the courage (or the lack of it) of LTTE cadres but the blood lust of the LTTE leadership which is the cause of their ultimate annihilation.

After crushing LTTE, Mahinda Rajapakse is a hero today. He has a chance to become a legend, if he manages to heal the wounds of the Sri Lankan Tamils, restore their bruised dignity and win back their hearts. I hope he does not loose the chance to immortality like Prabhakaran did not once but thrice. And if he does, it will be catastrophic !

My Life as a Tamil Tiger

2009-05-13T22:01:00.005+05:30

In 1987, aged 17, Niromi de Soyza shocked her middle-class Sri Lankan family by joining the Tamil Tigers. One of the rebels' first female soldiers, equipped with rifle and cyanide capsule, she was engaged in fierce combat.

From the Telegraph - London

December 23 1987 was a warm, clear day, and I was hiding under a plantana bush with eight of my comrades in a village north of Jaffna. With our rifles cocked and our cyanide capsules clenched between our teeth, we awaited the soldiers who had been scouring the area for us
for several hours. Our orders were to empty our magazines into them before biting into the glass capsules we called 'kuppies' that hung on a thread around our necks. As a Tamil Tiger guerrilla, there was no honour in being caught alive.

There had been 22 of us that morning – nine boys and 13 girls, aged between 15 and 26 (I was 17). Now, four of my comrades were missing, two were wounded. Ten were dead.

At dawn that day, Indian soldiers had surrounded our hideout, an abandoned house in Urumpiraay, a village in Sri Lanka's far north. As the war had intensified, our units were being squeezed out of Jaffna peninsula. We slept in different places each night: in open fields or houses taken by force.

Our sentry had spotted the enemy soldiers beyond a distant line of trees to the south, and Muralie, our unit's second in command, decided that we should flee north across an arterial road. The morning chill was still in the air and the dew dripped from banana leaves as we ran though fields and approached the road. As we attempted to cross it, we were ambushed from both sides in a barrage of automatic gunfire, grenades and mortars.

'Get on the ground!' Muralie commanded. 'Fire and break through!'

Everyone was screaming. We crashed to the earth as the gunfire grew heavier, now coming from behind as well. A helicopter gunship hovered above, strafing. We were surrounded. There was no cover other than a few palmyra and banana trees that dotted the landscape.

Lying on my stomach, I shuffled forward, following another girl, Ajanthi. My heart was pounding and thick smoke stung my eyes. In a state of panic, a few of my comrades attempted to cross the road. One by one, they fell. One was on her back, screaming, 'My leg, someone help me!'

A grenade flew over from my left. As I scrambled to my hands and knees, I realised Gandhi, our area leader, was in its path. 'Gandhi anna, duck!' I screamed. The grenade hit his head and exploded, ripping his skull apart and covering me with blood and tissue.

Ajanthi got to her knees, ready to dash across the road, then abruptly fell backwards, her arms and legs splayed awkwardly. Blood spurted from the centre of her forehead, soaking her auburn hair. In shock, the air left my lungs and I could not inhale it back. Ajanthi had been my friend since primary school and we had joined the Tigers together. She had been hit by a sniper.

I crawled forward holding my AK-47 with both hands, desperate to reach Ajanthi and drag her to safety. To my right, two comrades were trying to drag Muralie, who had also been hit, through the wet grass. His blood-soaked body kept slipping through their hands. As I reached Ajanthi our unit commander, Sudharshan, yanked me by the collar, dragging me with him.

'But Sudharshan anna,' I said, stumbling to my feet. 'We have to get Ajanthi, Muralie and the others.' 'They will follow us,' he said.

We ran through the fields and scrambled over a concrete parapet as rifle rounds flew from behind us, gouging holes in the wall. On the other side, we kept running and found five comrades. Seeing no means of escape, we took shelter under a large lantana bush.

At sunset, confident that the soldiers had moved on, we set out through fields, supporting the injured, eventually reaching a gathering of huts on a narrow lane. News of our arrival spread
quickly, and a curious crowd assembled along the sides of the lane. Most had never seen female Tigers before. An old woman flung her bony arms around me: 'Ayyo, my poor child! Wouldn't your mother's heart break if she saw you like this?' I didn't realise then how I must have
looked – a starved teenage girl with torn clothes, caked in blood, barefoot and carrying an automatic rifle. Most villagers wanted us gone. If the enemy soldiers knew we were still around, they were sure to attack the village.

On Christmas Day we arrived at a hideout occupied by another Tigers unit. I sat outside on the mud veranda, thinking about the ambush. Since joining the Tigers, Ajanthi and I – and another girl, Akila – had been inseparable. The last time I had seen Akila she had been firing her M16 rifle from behind a water tank during the ambush. Sengamalam, one of the boys, told me that more than 2,000 soldiers had been involved in the round-up of our 22-strong unit, and had dumped the bodies of those who died in the open air. My mind swum with images of Ajanthi and Muralie, their bodies being scavenged by dogs.

I heard footsteps and looked up to see the silhouette of three figures approaching our hut. I recognised the tall Akila, her hair in plaits, and ran towards her. As we embraced she told me that, after the ambush, she had survived by hiding in the water tank for two days. 'I wish I was dead, like Ajanthi,' I spluttered. 'How will I face her family again?'

'We have to keep their dream of Tamil Eelam alive,' Akila said. For me, the dream felt far from reach.

I was born in 1969 in Kandy, a Sinhala-majority town in Sri Lanka's hill country, where I spent the first seven years of my childhood. Although I had Tamil ancestry – Tamils make up 18 per cent of Sri Lanka's population – my extended family included Sinhalese, Sri Lanka's main ethnic group. In 1978 I was packed off to the northern Tamil city of Jaffna to live with my grandmother, whom I hardly knew. 'So that you can become a doctor like your aunts and uncles,' my father reasoned. 'Education in Jaffna is far superior.' I was a confident, independent girl, and my parents believed that I would cope well in a new environment without them.

Though I was unsure about becoming a doctor, life in Jaffna was idyllic. Not knowing when I would see my family again, I began to distance myself from them and focused on shaping my own life, making new friends and working hard at school. My weekends were busy with music, art and drama lessons.

Soon after, my father, an engineer, went to work in Dubai (it was becoming difficult for Tamils to get good jobs at home). My mother, a teacher, and sister, who was three years my junior, joined me in Jaffna. I had been oblivious to the deep-rooted tensions that were simmering between the Tamils and Sinhalese, and knew nothing of the anti-Tamil riots that had killed more than 250 Tamils in the country the year before. But before long the growing unrest outside my sheltered world was hard to ignore.

Tamil pressure groups were becoming more vocal in their calls for equal rights between Tamils and Sinhalese, and an end to what many Tamils felt were the government's discriminatory policies. Meanwhile, Sinhala extremism in the south was growing. There were boycotts, strikes and skirmishes. There were reports of Tamil politicians being shot dead, Tamil students being kidnapped.

The quest for equality had spawned a number of militant groups, including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), known as Tamil Tigers outside Sri Lanka. In the late 1970s they had taken up an armed struggle for an autonomous Tamil homeland – Tamil Eelam – in the north
and north-east of the country. To begin with, they carried out minor attacks on government targets, but on July 23 1983, when I was 14, they ambushed an army patrol in Jaffna, which brought them into the national spotlight.

Thirteen soldiers died that day, but about 1,000 Tamils were said to have lost their lives in an anti-Tamil pogrom in the south that followed. Large numbers of Tamil men, mostly teenagers, reacted to what they saw as the Sri Lankan government's indiscriminate persecution of innocent Tamils and joined the insurgency, which was rapidly gathering support.

By 1985 the situation had escalated into full-scale war in the north and east, with the government launching a military offensive on Jaffna to wipe out the rebellion. From a normal happy upbringing, I now found myself living in constant fear. Jaffna's library, where I spent much of my free time, was burnt down by government forces.

We lived under indiscriminate aerial bombing and artillery shelling, day and night; our movements were restricted by long curfews. We spent many days in our home-built bunker where I studied, listening to gunshots and explosions, still hopeful that my exams would go ahead as scheduled. The Tigers' television station broadcast images of war: militant training camps, dead bodies, Tamil funerals. The images began to haunt me, and I felt outraged that no one was being held to account, and that the outside world was doing nothing.

The government launched further offensives and air raids became commonplace. Bodies were sometimes strewn by the roadside on my way to school, or hanging from lampposts. I was dismayed by the attitude of family and friends who believed that they had no power to change the situation, but didn't support the militant groups either. 'These movements are run mostly by uneducated, low-caste youth,' they said. 'They are not capable of solving the Tamil problem.' But at least they were trying, I thought.

The more I listened to the militants, the more I sympathised with the idea of an armed struggle, the more it seemed like the only response. There had never been any military connections in my family but I felt that if we were going to be killed or driven from our homes, then shouldn't we at least put up a fight? With friends, I talked about joining the insurgency, though few felt the same, believing that such actions would bring disgrace to our families. Middle-class girls didn't do such things.

In May 1987, when I was 17, the Sinhala government launched Operation Liberation, declaring all-out war against the Tamil militants on the Jaffna peninsula. By now, the Tigers had gained administrative control of the region, restricting government forces to their barracks. My mother decided that we would return to Kandy until the war was over. As we prepared to leave, I made up my mind to run away to join the Tigers. I told my mother that I was going to Ajanthi's to say goodbye.

After I told Ajanthi my plans, she said, 'I'll come with you for moral support', and we set off together for the office of the Student Organisation of Liberation Tigers, a large house near Jaffna
University. We were interviewed. They were hesitant about recruiting middle-class girls, but finally relented. Ajanthi said she would miss me too much if I left without her, and was enlisted, too.

'The life of a freedom fighter is harder than you think,' Thileepan, the leader of the Tigers' political wing, warned us, adjusting his spectacles. 'We gamble with our own lives and bury our friends. There'll be none of the comforts you are used to. I'm not convinced that you are suited to this lifestyle, but no one here is held against their will.'

Knowing my mother and sister were out, I went home and wrote them a note explaining that I had joined the Tigers. The following morning, naturally, my mother and sister and Ajanthi's family came to the Tigers' camp to plead with us to return home. 'You are about to ruin your life. This is not for you,' my mother said, grasping my hands, her eyes filled with tears. Ajanthi's father said we had been brainwashed.

Thileepan sent us to work with members of the Tigers' female political wing, the Freedom Birds, contributing articles to their magazine. At the Freedom Birds' headquarters, we met Akila, who at 17 was already an active member. We immediately became friends.

A few weeks later, Ajanthi and I were selected by Thileepan for military training, and sent to an all-girls' camp in an outer suburb of Jaffna. As we were the first group of female fighters to receive military training in Sri Lanka (at this point, there were fewer than 80 female Tigers), the organisation' s enigmatic leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, wanted to talk to us personally. Prabhakaran was seated behind a table in his office as I entered. The flame from a hurricane lamp cast shadows across his round face, and his large brown eyes glistened.

Although he did not ask many questions, it felt like he knew everything about me. 'There's hardly anyone in our movement from your suburb,' he said. 'Most girls here come from rural areas. They are used to hard work, pounding rice and chopping firewood. Be in no doubt: training is going to be harder for you.'

Training, in a village south of Jaffna, was indeed gruelling. The days began with a two-hour exercise regime, followed by commando training. In the afternoons we had firing practice and lessons in explosives and camouflage. Prabhakaran would visit often, and one afternoon expressed his desire to recruit us into the newly formed Black Tigers, the organisation' s suicide bomber wing. Only a week earlier the first of the Tigers' suicide bombers, known as Captain Miller, had driven a lorry packed with explosives into an army barracks. Prabhakaran wanted to give women the same 'opportunity' , he said. I knew I could never do such a thing because I didn't have the courage.

As the war escalated, civilians were being drawn into the conflict, and a humanitarian crisis was developing in Jaffna. Eventually, the Indian government intervened. It was no secret that India had been fostering Tamil militants and providing them with training and ammunition, and the relationship between the Indian and Sri Lankan governments was strained.

Then the peacekeeping forces arrived, a ceasefire came into effect, and a peace accord was implemented on July 29 1987. The war-weary Tamils welcomed the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) with open arms, and our training came to an abrupt halt. But Prabhakaran informed us that our services would be required in a month or two – he was sure that hostilities would resume by then. Like the Sri Lankan government, he did not appreciate the foreign intrusion.

So it came to pass. In September 1987, while other Tamil militant organisations engaged in the political process, Thileepan went on hunger-strike at the Nallur Hindu Temple near Jaffna in protest against certain aspects of the peace deal. Mass rallies were organised by pro-Tiger Tamils in Jaffna and also by Sinhala extremists in the south, both parties believing the IPKF's intervention served only to assert India's supremacy in the region. Fourteen days later, Thileepan died. The Tigers blamed the Indian government for his death, and for standing aside while Sinhalese forces violated the peace deal by arresting some prominent Tigers despite the amnesty provisions, and organising Sinhala settlement programmes in Tamil areas.

The war resumed, just as Prabhakaran had predicted, though now we were fighting not only the government troops but the peacekeepers, too. A few thousand youths suited only for guerrilla warfare, we were no match for the world's second largest army. Fighting the Indians made no sense to me.

I had joined the Tigers to make a stand against my country's oppressive government, but now found myself at war with those who had come to maintain peace. It seemed that we might be destroying our only chance of resolving the situation peacefully. I expressed my doubts to Akila. Fiercely loyal and single-minded, she argued that, as foot soldiers, we were unaware of the complex politics of the situation, and that our leaders knew exactly what they were doing. 'Believe that Anna Prabhakaran is always right,' she told me. I decided to ignore the growing disquiet inside me and joined the war.

In October 1987 I was sent to the battle front north of Jaffna where, by coincidence, Akila and Ajanthi joined me in a unit of 30 cadres. The first female Tiger had died only a few days earlier, confirming that women were now firmly engaged in frontline fighting. During battles we had been trained to fire in the general direction of the enemy, not at individual targets, and I am not sure whether any of my bullets hit anyone. I'm glad I don't know. I once asked the more experienced Muralie how he had coped with the knowledge that he had shot people. 'After your second victim,' he said, 'you learn to live with it.'

The Tigers had no chance of overpowering the Indian army. Jaffna and many surrounding areas were now under their total control. We were being ambushed on an almost daily basis, becoming accustomed to life on the run. Support among Tamil civilians was waning, too. Whenever we encountered them, they pleaded with us to stop this futile war.

By early 1988 self-preservation was now our main strategy. Forced out of the Jaffna peninsula by the IPKF and following an overnight boat trip, we found ourselves in the jungles of the Vanni in the Northeastern Province, where it was easier to lie low. I was now part of a large unit of nearly 45 girls, with Sengamalam, one of only two boys, in charge. We moved around the jungle constantly, enduring primitive living conditions, while 130,000 Indian troops searched for some 2,000 Tigers on foot and by air.

After five months in the jungle, I contracted malaria; many others were ill with dysentery and typhoid. Akila stayed by my side, taking care of me, bringing medication and rice water in a rusty tin. I felt broken, physically and emotionally, constantly questioning the purpose of a war that could clearly never be won.

I had believed the militant propaganda, convinced that Tamil Eelam could be achieved within a year or two, but it was now clear that an armed conflict would resolve nothing. 'You are free to go home any time,' Thileepan had told me. It was time to walk away while I still could. One morning in June 1988, at a house near the forest where we had taken shelter following an attack on our hideout, I approached Sengamalam as he washed at a well.

'I want to resign.'

He stopped drying his face with a sarong and looked at me with alarm.

'Is someone giving you grief?'

'I just can't cope any more,' I said. 'I am tired of this war. I'm weak.'

Calmly, he said that he was sorry, that he was surprised I had lasted so long. 'I must warn you,' he said, 'your life will be in grave danger – from the Sri Lankan army, Indian forces, even rival
organisations. Your name is on their wanted lists.' I didn't care. Surrendering my rifle and kuppie, I severed all ties with the Tigers, unsure of what the future held or whether my family would take me back.

Before I left, I went to say goodbye to Akila. When she saw me wearing a dress, her jaw dropped. 'What's going on? You're leaving?' Consumed with shame, I could hardly speak. 'I can't believe you're leaving me,' she sobbed. 'We have so much to achieve.'

Before I could answer, Sengamalam hurried Akila into the forest and I watched her fade into the bright sun. I never saw her again.

Sengamalam organised for a local boy to take me to an old woman's hut in the nearby town of Kilinochchi. For the next seven days, the old woman and I did not exchange a word or a smile.

One afternoon, while I helped herd her cattle into the shed, I saw my mother running towards me down the dirt lane. The mayor of Kilinochchi, a distant relative of ours, had bumped into the Tamil boy who had taken me to the old woman's hut. The mayor was carrying a photograph of me that my mother had sent him and asked the boy if he had seen me. Once I had been identified, the mayor fetched my mother. The only emotion I felt was relief, as if I was no longer capable of experiencing happiness or sadness. My mother embraced me and sobbed while I stood numb.

'I thought you might have disowned me,' I said, finally.

'You're my daughter,' she replied. 'I'd never give up on you.'

Within two months of being reunited with my family, during which time we never discussed my experiences with the Tigers, I was sent to a boarding school in India, where I completed my studies.

Although now in the country whose army I had fought only months before, I was determined to move on, and make the best of the second chance I had been given. On the surface, normality had returned. My fellow students were girls from affluent families who liked talking about boys, movie stars and make-up. When the lights in our dormitory were turned off at night,
I cried myself to sleep.

In 1990, with help from a relative, I moved to Sydney (my family later moved here, too) and went to university. After my departure from the Tigers, and with a new life opening up to me, I blocked out any news of Sri Lanka as best I could. These days, of course, that is impossible.

The two-year war between the Tigers and the Indian forces came to an end in July 1989, with changes of government in both countries. But the fighting between the Tigers and Sri Lankan government forces continued. The primitive but effective guerrilla organisation that I left behind grew into a sophisticated and formidable fighting force. As its methods became more extreme, the LTTE's notoriety increased – not just within Sri Lanka but all over the world. (In late 2001 it was classified as a terrorist organisation by many countries, including Britain.)

The Tigers have carried out hundreds of suicide attacks over the past two decades – more than all other radical organisations in the world combined – notably the assassination of the former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and the Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993. The guiding principle of the Tigers, which is so difficult for outsiders to understand, is that the greater the sacrifice, the higher the honour. There are no bravery medals or pompous ceremonies for living Tigers. They are recognised for their efforts, and awarded a rank, only posthumously.

The past decade has seen several attempts to form a lasting peace agreement between the Tigers and the government, all unsuccessful, with the most recent deal being torn up in early 2008. Since 2006 the LTTE's numbers have fallen sharply, funding from the Tamil diaspora has dwindled while government forces stepped up their campaign.

At the beginning of this year, a number of crucial Tiger strongholds were recaptured, and the government was confident it would annihilate the remaining 1,000 or so Tigers within months. After three decades, the civil war – which has claimed more than 70,000 lives, including at least 23,000 Tigers – appears to have reached its endgame, the Tigers on the verge of a final, crushing defeat. The Tamils are, it seems, back at square one.

In fact, the situation may be worse than ever, with the UN estimating last month that 150,000 civilians were trapped in the eight-square- mile battle zone, under constant threat of bombing from government forces and being used as human shields by the increasingly desperate Tigers. Some human rights groups have condemned the Sri Lankan government for practising ethnic cleansing against them under the guise of fighting terrorism.

Although the Tigers have staged many comebacks in history, the latest government offensive may prove fatal. But the scars of this war will remain and until a political solution that recognises and respects the rights of the Tamil people is reached, I am certain that the Tamil fight will continue in one form or another.

More and more these days, my thoughts turn to the friends I have lost. Recently, for the first time, I typed Akila's name into Google and found several archived reports and court documents. Akila died on November 1 1995, in a battle against the Sri Lankan army in Neervaeli, a town for which we had fought side by side. With defeat imminent, she ordered the members of her unit to bite into their cyanide capsules, and then did the same herself. She was 24. After her death, she was awarded the highest rank achievable in the Tigers at that time: lieutenant colonel.

The most shocking detail was that she had been wanted for masterminding, along with Prabhakaran, the killing of Rajiv Gandhi. The suicide bomber and her collaborators had been members of Akila's unit, as I might have been if I had not walked away from the Tigers.

On the surface, my life goes on as a happily married mother in an affluent Sydney suburb who enjoys reading, travelling and gardening. But often, in my dreams, I am being chased by soldiers or hanging off the side of a cliff, unable to save myself. It has taken me a long time not to panic when I hear a helicopter overhead.

I rarely discuss my past. Some people cannot believe that someone with my grounded life could have done such things. Others probe deeper, asking if I regret picking up a gun with the intention of killing others. Of course, some will never understand; others may consider me
a former terrorist.

The world has changed since I left the Tigers, just as the Tigers themselves have changed. In this age of terrorism it is easy to dismiss all rebel groups as evil extremists, without considering the desperate circumstances that drive people to align themselves to such organisations.

I tell people that the only reason I joined the war was to defend my people, because I felt there was no other choice. I was not coerced to join the insurgency. As an idealistic 17-year-old, I believed in the power of the individual to make a difference.

Looking back, I recognise the elements of reckless, selfish teenage rebellion in my behaviour. Naively, I had not anticipated how much my family would suffer as a consequence of my actions, and for that, above all else, I am deeply sorry. To this day, my parents have never asked me about my time as a guerrilla. As a mother myself, I understand why: that they must somehow have felt that they had failed in their duty as parents.

I hope that my own children will grow up with firm, positive views, but without the blind idealism I had all those years ago. I will try to teach them tolerance and empathy, that the end doesn't always justify the means, and that violence always breeds more violence. I learnt that lesson the hard way. Sadly, I don't think Sri Lanka has learnt it at all.

It hurts ...

2009-05-10T02:04:00.004+05:30

We talked again after eight years . So much water has flown in the Ganga in these years ! I do not know how should I feel - sad? nostalgic? happy? ecstatic? Well, I feel none of these. All I feel is a sudden sense of hollowness inside and the worst thing is that I am not able to place correctly, the reason for feeling like this.

Am I feeling like this because something has happened which I had only dreamt about? Or is it because I do not feel any thing for her anymore? Or simply because so many years have passed and I am noticing the loss only now?

Memories, faded by time, come trickling. I remember those traumatic times of one sided teenage love. I remember the innocence. I remember the only obsession which used to fog my senses twenty four hours a day. I remember those nights when I used to shed silent tears feeling ashamed for my very existence, for being so ugly and useless, for being so unworthy of her. I remember all the effort I used to take just to get a glimpse of her face everyday - the way I would wait after her school or make rounds near her house just to see her - day by day, everyday for four years! I had convinced myself that I would die if I did not see her even for a single day. Today I realize that I lived without seeing her for eight long years!

I have moved on with my own life and my own loved ones. She is just a part of my past meaning nothing to me, or so I convince myself. She has been replaced from my life a long time back, but not from my dreams it seems. She is the only girl who has ever come in my dreams, in that world of my subconscious I still see her the way she used to be in our school days.... and I always loose her by the time the dream ends. I wonder how she looks like now, has she grown fat or still the same? Does she still look like an angel?

I do not know why am I posting this blog, it is too personal. But it hurts! Not like a stabbing- tearing pain but a mild ache which takes long to go away. The First love hurts a lot! Even for a cold hearted person like me, the pain remains ...

I wish I could sleep now ...

उनका भी अपराध

2009-05-09T11:53:00.009+05:30

सघन वन में भ्रमण करते हुए महर्षि वाल्मीकि ने एक क्रौंच युगल को प्रेम में व्यस्त पाया. अभी वाल्मीकि उनकी बाल सुलभ चंचलता पर प्रफुल्लित हो ही रहे थे कि किसी व्याध द्बारा छोड़ा गया एक बाण कहीं से आया और उसने नर क्रौंच के प्राण ले लिए.
भूमि पर गिरकर तड़पते हुए नर क्रौंच और ऊपर करुण विलाप करती हुई क्रौंची को देख कर वाल्मीकि घोर शोक में डूब गए और क्रोध के वश में आ कर उनके मुख से अनायास ही निकल पड़ा :

" मा निषाद! प्रतिष्ठाम्त्वम्गम शाश्वातिसम |
यत् क्रौन्च्मिथुनदेकम्वधि काममोहितम || "

" हे निषाद (व्याध) ! तू अधिक दिनों तक प्रतिष्ठित (जीवित) नहीं रह सकेगा क्योंकि तुने क्रौन्चों के जोड़े में से प्रेम में डूबे हुए क्रौंच का वध किया है "

इस श्राप से जन्म हुआ वाल्मीकि रामायण का जहाँ क्रौन्चों के स्थान राम - सीता ने लिए और लंका नरेश रावण बना व्याध!

जाने कितनी सहस्त्राब्दियों के बाद एक और क्रोधित कवि रामधारी सिंह दिनकर ने एक नए सन्दर्भ में उस अध्याय कि विवेचना करते हुए लिखा:

"समर शेष है नहीं पाप का भागी केवल व्याध !
जो तटस्थ हैं समय लिखेगा उनका भी अपराध ! "

कितने आश्चर्य कि बात है कि सदियाँ बीत गयी लेकिन कथा वही कि वही है. आज के परिदृश्य में क्रौंची है जनता, वधित क्रौंच है जनता के अधिकार और व्याध है हमारी व्यवस्था के ठेकेदार. विडम्बना यह है कि अब वाल्मीकि भी स्वयं जनता ही है जो कि सिर्फ प्रलाप करते हुए व्याध को कोस भर सकती है, प्रतिरोध नहीं करती, संघर्ष के लिए हुंकार भरकर उठ खड़ी नहीं होती ...

... प्रजातंत्र के इस नाटक में वाल्मीकि का वो श्राप आज कितना निष्फल प्रतीत होता है !

आरम्भ है प्रचन्ड !!!

2009-05-03T00:25:00.008+05:30

Only once in a very long time comes a piece of poetry which makes you sit up and take notice, and then makes unsettled and restless as well. Here is one such song, a piece of sheer poetry which is more like a dragon breathing fire through its flaring nosetrills.

This song his heavy in tatsam hindi and is from the hindi movie Gulaal (an equally disturbing masterpiece). However I will have serious objections if someone says this is a Bollywood product. A typical bollywood song is more with words like dil, dhadkan, saajan, ishq, piya etc etc . This song is a warcry, a challenge thrown by the Indian Cinema!

Looking at the great battle of Indian democracy, how true it feels : Aarambh hai Prachand!

Enjoy a masterpiece by a gifted poet , Piyush Mishra....

आरम्भ है प्रचन्ड बोल मस्तको के झुँड
आज जँग की घड़ी की तुम गुहार दो

आन बान शान या कि जान का हो दान आज
इक धनुष के बाण पे उतार दो

आरम्भ है प्रचन्ड ....

मन करे सो प्राण दे, जो मन करे सो प्राण ले
वही तो एक सर्वशक्तिमान है

विश्व की पुकार है ये भागवत का सार है
युद्ध ही वीर का प्रमाण है
कौरवो की भीड हो या, पान्डवो का नीड हो

जो लड़ सका है वो ही तो महान है...

जीत की हवस नहीं
किसी पे कोई वश नहीं
क्या ज़िन्दगी है ठोकरों पे मार दो
मौत अंत है नहीं
तो मौत से भी क्यों डरें

ये जाके आसमान में दहाड़ दो !

आरम्भ है प्रचंड बोले मस्तकों के झुंड
आज जंग की घड़ी की तुम गुहार दो
आन बान शान या की आन का हो दान
आज ईक धनुष के बाण पे उतार दो
आरम्भ है प्रचंड ...

हो दया का भाव
या कि शौर्य का चुनाव
या कि हार का वो घाव
तुम ये सोच लो ...

या कि पूरे भाल पर

जला रहे विजय का
लाल लाल ये गुलाल
तुम ये सोच लो

रंग केसरी हो या
मृदंग केसरी हो या
कि केसरी हो ताल
तुम ये सोच लो

जिस कवि कि कल्पना में
ज़िन्दगी हो प्रेम गीत
उस कवि को आ तुम नकार दो
भीगती रगों में आज

फूलती नसों में आज
आग कि लपट को तुम उतार दो

आरम्भ है प्रचंड ....

To get the feel you can listen to the song here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3yuxGcAghI&feature=related

If you haven't watched Gulaal yet , watch it !
Good cinema should be encouraged.

गंगा बहती हो क्यों

2009-04-24T02:00:00.005+05:30

बिस्तेर्नो वरोरे, अफंख्या अनोरे, हाहाकार सुनियो निसब्द्थ निरोवेय
भुरल हुई तुम्ही, भुरल हुई बुरा की और ....

विस्तार है अपार, प्रजा दोनों पार, करे हाहाकार , निशब्द सदा,
ओ गंगा तुम, ओ गंगा बहती हो क्यों ?
विस्तार है अपार, प्रजा दोनों पार, करे हाहाकार , निशब्द सदा,
ओ गंगा तुम, ओ गंगा बहती हो क्यों ?

नैतिकता नष्ट हुई, मानवता भ्रस्ट हुई, निर्लज भाव से बहती हो क्यों?
इतिहास की पुकार, करे हुंकार ओ गंगा की धार,
निर्बल जन को, सबलसंग्रामी, समग्रोगामी, बनाती नहीं हो क्यों ?

विस्तार है अपार, प्रजा दोनों पार, करे हाहाकार , निशब्द सदा,
ओ गंगा तुम, ओ गंगा बहती हो क्यों ?

अनापढ़जन, अक्षरहीन, अनगिनजन, खाद्योविहीन,
नेअत्रविहीन, दिग्मौन हो क्यों ?
इतिहास की पुकार, करे हुंकार ओ गंगा की धार,
निर्बल जन को, सबलसंग्रामी, समग्रोगामी, बनाती नहीं हो क्यों ?

विस्तार है अपार, प्रजा दोनों पार, करे हाहाकार , निशब्द सदा,
ओ गंगा तुम, ओ गंगा बहती हो क्यों ?

व्यक्ति रहित, व्यशक्ति निर्विघ्न, सकल्समाज व्यक्तित्व रहित,
निष्प्राण समाज, उपभोक्तिना क्यों?
इतिहास की पुकार, करे हुंकार ओ गंगा की धार,
निर्बल जन को, सबलसंग्रामी, समग्रोगामी, बनाती नहीं हो क्यों ?

विस्तार है अपार, प्रजा दोनों पार, करे हाहाकार , निशब्द सदा,
ओ गंगा तुम, ओ गंगा बहती हो क्यों ?

तेजस्विनी, क्यों न रही, तुम निश्चय, चिंतन नहीं, प्राणों में प्रेरणा देंती न क्यों?
तुम मध्यवामी, कुरुक्षेत्र गरमी, गंगे जननी ,
नवभारत में, भिष्मरुपी सुत्सम्राजेय, जनती नहीं हो क्यों?

विस्तार है अपार, प्रजा दोनों पार, करे हाहाकार , निशब्द सदा,
ओ गंगा तुम, ओ गंगा बहती हो क्यों ?

ओ गंगा बहती हो क्यों ? ....

- भूपेन हजारिका

Update:
The song is available on Youtube on the following links :

Assamese version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcO6hIcN1A0

Hindi version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzWa6yuLX2A

Ahoy its the small car ! :)

2009-03-24T13:16:00.003+05:30

Seven years back when cell phones were a luxury, one man came with an idea to provide cell phones with connection at Rs 501. He was mocked, it was said that India cannot afford the costly cell phones with such high outgoing and incoming charges, that there is no reason why someone will need to make a call using the celphone when there are PCOs everywhere, and that it will clog the already crowded spectrum.

What happened in the end?

This diminutive 500 Rs cellphone ushered the Telecom revolution in India, an unprecedented success story! The luxury of the rich became the utility of a commoner, much to the chargin of the former.

Today I wish Nano the same success and believe that it will bring the same sweeping changes which that cell phone brought to India.

Go Nano! Go !

23rd March 1931-2009 - Legacy of the three Martyrs

2009-03-23T00:13:00.008+05:30

I salute Sardar Bhagat Singh, Shivram Rajguru & Pandit Sukhdev on their martyrdom day which is 23rd March....

.... Their ways and ideology may not get along with many, but what makes them respectable is their courage and the honest love for Bharat Mata, for which they didn't hesitate to go to the gallows with a proud smile on their faces...

... Salute to all our freedom fighters from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Sindh to Chittagong... I salute them all on this Martyr's day.

INQUALAB ZINDABAAD !!!

सीने में जलन आँखों में तूफ़ान सा क्यूँ है ?

2009-03-11T23:54:00.006+05:30

Today was Holi, another one spent in Office, away from family. Papa called to wish Happy Holi and Mummy told me about the items she was making in the kitchen. She even invited me to lunch, only if I could have covered these 2500 KMs. But it seems that it’s the meals in canteen that is left in my destiny instead of the delicacies made by my mother. Life seems to be passing by and I am losing all I used to love in my childhood- my parents, friends, the lanes and by lanes of my hometown…

Today I remember the Holi we used to have with the family members and friends, the excitement which used to start one week in advance. I miss playing with colors till late afternoon and then coming back home to be treated with a delicious festive meal. I miss wearing white Punjabi Kurta Pyjaama in the evening and visiting all the relatives and friends in town to take the blessings of the elders and smear “abeer” on the faces of my cousins and friends.

The friends have all gone in their respective quests for success. The family has scattered too, the bonds don’t seem strong enough nowadays. When ever I go home on my bi-annual visit, parents seem to have grown older than before. They took care of me when as a child, I needed them. Now when they are old I am here in this big city, running in this rat race for money. This Holi makes me feel so hollow. This big city looks so alien…

I remember a few lines from that song of Gaman:

सीने में जलन आँखों में तूफ़ान सा क्यूँ है ?
इस शहर में हर शख्स परेशान सा क्यूँ है ?
दिल है तो, धड़कने का बहाना कोई ढूंढें
पत्थर की तरह बेहिसा-ओ-बेजान सा क्यूँ है ?
तन्हाई की ये कौन सी, मंजिल है रफ़ीकों
ता-हद-ये-नज़र एक बयाबान सा क्यूँ है ?
क्या कोई नयी बात नज़र आती है हम में
आइना हमे, देख के हैरान सा क्यूँ है ?

सिंहासन खाली करो कि जनता आती है !

2009-03-08T00:03:00.007+05:30

भारतवर्ष आज फिर एक दोराहे पे खडा है. एक और चुनाव सन्निकट है और जनता के सामने ये प्रश्न है कि वो अपना मत किसे दे? कौन हो हमारा नेता? क्या वो जिन्होंने अभी अभी अदालतों में अर्जी दी है कि उन्हें सजामुक्त किया जाए ताकि वो चुनाव लड़के अपराधी से हमारे लिए कानून निश्चित करने वाले बन सके? या वो जिनके जीवन का एकमात्र उद्देश्य अपनी संपत्ति बढ़ाना और ज्यादा से ज्यादा अपनी आदमकद मूर्तियाँ चौक चोराहों पे लगवाना है? क्या जनता उन्हें अपना भाग्य विधाता चुन ले जो खुले आप तरह तरह के अपराधों में लिप्त हैं? क्या भारत उन्हें अपना नेता चुनेगा जिनके लिए अपना धर्म, अपनी भाषा और अपने राज्य का कथित स्वार्थ अपने देश से ऊपर है? जनता क्या उन सत्ता के दलालों को अपनी इज्ज़त सौप रही है जिन्हें देश को बेच आने में जरा भी शर्म नहीं आती?

इस बार सवाल धर्म, जाती या भाषा का नहीं है. सवाल है एक आम आदमी के स्वाभिमान का, उस स्वाभिमान का जिसकी बलि हर रोज सत्ता के गलियारों में और सरकारी दफ्तरों की मेज पर चढ़ती है. सवाल यह है क्या जनता सचमुच उतनी दंतहिन् , विषहीन , विनीत, सरल है जितना नेताओं और बाबुओं ने समझ रखा है? क्या जनता फिर से ५ साल लुटने और बेवकूफ बनने के लिए तैयार है? क्या जनता अब ये कहने के लिए तैयार है कि बस! अब और नहीं! अब तो जनादेश बदलाव के लिए होगा? क्या जनता नेताओं और बाबुओं को ये बताने कि लिए खड़ी होगी कि वो हमारे मालिक नहीं नौकर हैं? क्या जनता इन लोगों को उनकी औकात बता सकेगी?

क्या एक आम आदमी उठ कर ये हुंकार भर सकेगा?

"दो राह समय के रथ का घरघर नाद सुनो !

सिंहासन खाली करो कि जनता आती है !!!"

India

2009-03-05T11:52:00.001+05:30

"If there is one place on the face of the earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India....For more than 30 centuries, the tree of vision, with all its thousand branches and their millions of twigs, has sprung from this torrid land, the burning womb of the Gods. It renews itself tirelessly showing no signs of decay."

-Romain Rolland (1866-1944)
French Nobel laureate,
professor of the history of music at the Sorbonne and thinker.

"So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked. "

- Mark Twain (American writer)

"There are some parts of the world that, once visited, get into your heart and won’t go. For me, India is such a place. When I first visited, I was stunned by the richness of the land, by its lush beauty and exotic architecture, by its ability to overload the senses with the pure, concentrated intensity of its colors, smells, tastes, and sounds. It was as if all my life I had been seeing the world in black and white and, when brought face-to-face with India, experienced everything re-rendered in brilliant Technicolor."

- Keith Bellows (Vice-President, National Geographic Society)

"I have declared again and again that if I say Aryans, I mean neither blood nor bones, nor hair nor skull; I mean simply those who speak an Aryan language… in that sense, and in that sense only, do I say that even the blackest Hindus represent an earlier stage of Aryan speech and thought than the fairest Scandinavians...To me an ethnologist who speaks of Aryan race, Aryan blood, Aryan eyes and hair, is as great a sinner as a linguist who speaks of a dolichocephalic dictionary or a brachycephalic grammar."

- Max Muller (Indologist)

Azad - a rememberance

2009-02-27T00:01:00.002+05:30

Time : Sometime in late afternoon

Date : 27 February 1931
Place : Alfred Park, Allahabad

The tension is palpable as the gunshots refuse to cease. The young revolutionary realizes that he has only one bullet left in his pistol. He has been surrounded by the police from all sides and although three of them have already gone to meet the gods, thanks to his sharp shooting skills, they are still too many and too well armed. Time is running out. They are closing in and will very soon overpower him if he does not act fast. He is sad, not because everything seems to be over, but because he will not be able to achieve what he and his comrades had dreamed of for so long.

He gives a last look to his 'Bamtulbukara', his pistol as he lovingly calls it. This last bullet lying in wait in his pistol will redeem his freedom. He puts the pistol on his temple. The faces of his comrades flash past his eyes. He thinks of his mother whom he will never be able to see again. He thinks of another mother who is bound in chains, waiting for her sons to free her. The finger pulls the trigger....

... This post is not an obituary. This is a remembrance to that event and the man involved. He was just Twenty Five years old when he took his own life in preference for eternal freedom.

Today I write this post to salute Chandrashekhar Azad- who lived, and died free on this very day seventy eight years back!

No Criminals in Parliament !

2009-02-22T22:36:00.003+05:30

Click at the Logo to find more about the Politicians who are Criminals or Criminals who are politicians. Knowledge is power, unless we know the Jaychands hiding among ourselves, we cannot weed them out from the system. So know your Netas and dump them if they are mere thugs and criminals.

Courtesy: Navrang

Man and War

2009-02-22T00:46:00.003+05:30

Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out…and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel ... and in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man" — with his mouth.
- Mark Twain

Love@Bible

2009-02-15T12:38:00.003+05:30

"Love suffers long, and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.... And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them."

- Hope Muthalik and his honchos enjoyed the Valentine's day ;-)

The story of three young boys and the gun battle at the Writer’s building

2008-12-12T11:37:00.006+05:30

8 Dec 1930. Calcutta Writer’s building, the administrative powerhouse of Bengal, was abuzz with daily activities. As usual there were a lot of people- British Officers, Gentry, Bengali gentlemen and clerks and the day looked like just any other day. One could hardly imagine on such an ordinary day that something extraordinary was just about to happen…

All of a sudden, the usually monotonous day was disturbed by mayhem. Three young men in their early twenties, dressed in smart European clothes, appear from nowhere and start firing a barrage of bullets from their revolvers. The target was Col. N.S Simpson, IG Prison-Calcutta, infamous for the brutal oppression of political prisoners. Col. Simpson died on spot and the three men were surrounded by British Indian Police. A brief gun battle, made famous as the ‘Gun battle in verandah’, ensued in which three police officers were injured. As the drama drew to a close and deeming it impossible to escape, one of the assailants Badal Gupta consumed Potassium Cyanide. The other two, Binoy Basu and Dinesh Gupta shot themselves. While Binoy died of the injuries after a few days, Dinesh survived only to be hanged later.

Binoy, the leader, was 22 years old; Dinesh was 20 while Badal had just turned 18. They were the members of ‘Bengal Volunteers’ an organization started by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose which aimed to “punish” the oppressive officers of the British regime in Bengal.

78 years later, looking at their innocent faces, my heart fills with wonder at the grit and determination of the generation for whom, one’s own life was the easiest thing to give away in order to attain freedom for Mother India. This post is my salute to the generation which was so precious and which is lost forever…

Is this our biggest humiliation after the defeat of 1962?

2008-12-01T01:03:00.005+05:30

Is the attack or rather say, massacre at Mumbai the most humiliating incidence in Indian history after the defeat of 1962 ? I was not born much after the China War but my parents recall how great was the feeling of humiliation in India at that time, a black stain on the conscience which was washed only after the war of 1965. What do we need to do to wash the blood stains this time?

Today as an Indian, I feel humiliated. When I see the charred remains of Taj, the blood at CST, the grief of the people and the atrocious guts of the terrorist, my head hangs in shame at the ineptitude with which we are securing the boundaries of our nation. I feel threatened more than I have been even after all those bomb blasts. Its like a big psychological jolt for me. My confidence in India as a strong nation seemed to have sagged a little.

continued...

This was not just any attack, it has showed the proverbial chinks in our Armour, has shown how vulnerable we and our lives are.

It exposes a big Security scam, from the Coast Guard to the Intelligence to the Police Forces. Just think of it, it was the Mumbai police with a so called trained "ATS". What will happen if this happens in states/ cities where we have just potbellied ordinary 303 rifle wielding policemen. NSG will again take 10 hours to arrive, how many civilians, policemen and buildings will we loose by then? The terrorists have been successful in their first experiment, next time the will come with more dynamite and RDX to blow up whole localities. Will our RAW, IB blah blah "protect" us then in the same manner they have been doing till now?

We need a big shake up in the whole structure. We still are far from being a zero tolerance nation towards Terrorism (in fact, our tolerance seems to be the highest after Iraq). I wonder when will we shake our selves up from this indifferent sleep.

Till all this is done, will our government be "potent" enough to reply back to this National Shame in a "Munich way" ? Will we Indians be able to get our revenge?

What do you feel ?

A tight slap on the face of India, that is Bharat !

2008-11-28T21:38:00.004+05:30

In all probabilities, I will be lynched to say this but this is something I must do. Yes, India has been slapped hard on face and we Indians can do nothing except smarting under the insult. When I was looking at the visuals showing the Tajmahal Hotel in flames, this was the exact thought in my mind- "this is the pride of India being gutted." The attack on Mumbai is a taunt to India, that we are helpless. We are paying the price, of being complacent with enemies and acrimonious with our own brethren. They can see through the farce that is Indian security. India is a sitting duck and the "terrorists" have shown yet again that they can hit us anywhere, anytime they wish. We won't retaliate because we are too spineless to do that.

What next ?

The media will create a huge emotional storm making an average Indian choked over the sacrifice of the brave jawans, conveniently letting them forget that this attack on Mumbai is a huge Security scam. What was our intelligence doing,? How did the terrorists reach Mumbai via sea, where were the Coast Guard and the Navy? How did they manage to enter the supposedly high security hotels? Why was ATS and Mumbai Police so ill prepared even during the encounter- that saw Hawaldars crying in terror when fired upon and top officers lost at once? Will the politicians tell us frankly why they are so soft on Terror ?

Coming on politicians, I want to see what the self styled Saviors of Mumbai did to save it. I am waiting for Mr. R. R. Patil to give the "goli ka jawab goli se". The man who was roaring in press and media after Rahul Raj was murdered, must have realized by now what real terrorism is and what real terrorists look like. This time they did not ask to be given a mobile phone to be able to call the Commissioner, they did not come with a "Katta"- they had satellite phones and AK-47s. Hope the Government, Politicians, ATS and people of Mumbai realize now who is their enemy and instead of persecuting fellow Indians, they try to combat terror (provided they can).

This anger has been seeping inside me bit by bit for past few months but now its unbearable., if I don't cry out my heart will burst. Today, I am an angry Indian ! I want revenge ! I want an eye for an eye and do not care if the world goes blind. I may be a "Bimari" for Mumbai (as they say) and will never set foot there in all probabilities, but please , someone stop these terrorists from entering our Mumbai! Time is running out...

From the pages of BHUMI, an initiative close to my heart...

2008-10-03T09:40:00.008+05:30

“Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow.”

- A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Former President, India

BHUMI is an organization of like-minded people striving to build a more influential, equal and socially conscious society. The objective to give what the lesser privileged deserve holds this guild of students and young professionals together.

BHUMI is involved in several developmental activities across the city like Computer and English learning programmes for orphaned and destitute children, Career counseling for underprivileged children etc. BHUMI is also working with school children in promoting road safety initiatives and with the youth in promoting Blood and Organ Donation.

Our mission is to Change Today... Change Tomorrow

___________________________

Call: 98942 09741

Email: mail@bhumichennai.org

Post: 13/1, Cenotaph Rd 1st Lane, Teynampet, Chennai 600018

Website: http://bhumichennai.org

______________________________

Watch this page for updates

If Inspector M.C.Sharma would have been alive.....

2008-09-24T23:30:00.010+05:30

He and his team would have been lynched by the (Pseudo)Secular and human Right wolves by now. We both know Secularists would have raised so much of stink with the ever obliging MSM digging all the records of M C Sharma’s alleged links with ‘Underworld’! By now CNN IBN would have dug up the ‘ill gotten’ wealth accumulated by M C sharma! Barkha would have called all the usual suspects in her GK studio ’splitting hair’: How these fake encounters ‘alienate’ the peace loving so innocent yet discriminated and prosecuted Minorities! By now the Deputed HM Shri Prakash Jaiswal would have dammed every one and of course Karnatka , MP and Orissa would have come handy….
Afzal Guru2 or not? Do not know, but certainly would have been another VANJARA (Gujarat cop) … hounded and hunted.

KPS Gill made a very apt remark on Friday evening in some TV show. He told that death of MC Sharma has somehow spared Delhi Police attracting the ire of Secularists and HR Activists as this death has changed the Public Mood and they shall not hear a word against Police action.

The locality in which this counter took place is literally impregnable for any POLICE force. If you and any of your reader had seen the action on TV, they just saw only a fraction of what the Area is all about. Without exaggerating, let me tell you Delhi would have been on fire. Despite the untimely death of MC Sharma, that part of Delhi is simmering.
the ‘Secular Noises’ made by the usual suspects, their ‘Fake Encounter’ theories are already doing the rounds. These ‘secularists’ can stoop down to any level even alleging that MCS was shot by his own team to make the encounter look genuine… or another absurd theory that terrorists were planted there… Blah! Blah! Blah!

All this mudslinging is well supported and effectively propagated by the 24×7 News Abuse Channels. Dime a dozen Human Terrorist Rights Atrocities Activists Supporters.

Activists Supporters, who infest Delhi city, are back in business demanding probes, picking holes, writing on line petitions. Sick!

This unholy activists and media nexus is coming in way against the war on terrorism. They are no more part of solution…they have become a ‘Problem’ on their own.

To start with we have a government who has perfected the art of NON Governance. We have a government whose Top Cabinet Ministers support SIMI and two Worthies like Ram Vilas Paswan and Laloo Prasad find ‘OSAMA LOOK ALIKE’ as a mascot of ‘Secularism’ and parade and flaunt him in election rallies in Bihar especially the Muslim majority ones! Need you more proof? By this act do these worthies not equate the whole Muslim community with Terror? Will any Muslim Intellectual answer this?

But then it is pointless to blame union ministers alone when the Prime Minister Minion himself looses sleep over the fate of a suspected terrorist!

What to say about his or her majesty - Madame Sonia ‘Maino’ Gandhi- government’s priorities when a Convicted and ‘Condemned to Death’ by the Supreme Court – not once but twice – is pampered as ‘Son in Law’ of the government but those ‘Brave soldiers’ who sacrificed their lives on December 13th protecting the lives of these ‘Honorable MPs’ (Honorable! Laloo Ji or Un Ke Bade or Chottey Sale Ji, Paswan Ji, Guru Ghantal Shibu Soren Ji, M P Subba Ji, Taslimuddin JI, Pappu Yadav Ji, Md. Shahubuddin Ji … ) were forced to return their Medals!

- A self serving, myopic and insensitive Political Dispensation.
- Highly irresponsible, shrieking, manipulative, award seeking, TRP driven 24×7 News Abuse channels.
- Dubiously funded, terrorist friendly, conspiracy theorists, verbal terrorists (most of them, if not all) masquerading as Human Right Activists or politically driven NGOs.
- Subservient and self promoting Bureaucracy.
- Inadequate and archaic laws.
- Extremely slow if not incompetent Judiciary.
All this to fight ‘Terrorism’ in a country, which for past 20 years has been under attack..

All this in a Country which comes second only to Iraq (a war torn country) having a dubious distinction of loosing more civilians?

All the above make me to urge the upright daring Police Officers to do what is needed: Shoot the bastards in head before they shoot you down. Terrorism has no religion, I agree. But do not bother which ‘religion’ bombers follow either. Period.

This time onwards we (The People of India) will speak for you collectively in one voice. Some of us will investigate for you guys just as Yossarian initiated and done a commendable job.

May the tribe of M C Sharma grow multi fold but with caution… you are no longer dealing with some small time ‘misdirected youths’ (as Mr Shiv Raj Patil make you believe). These guys are well educated, trained, motivated and committed. Be cautious and prepared and PLEASEEEEEE, you guys are needed to sweep the terrorism out and can do only when you shoot them down not get shot.

We the Prudent Indians will do our duty too. We will try and make sure that no ‘Upright Officer’ is harassed or prosecuted. This is our collective fight. Let us fight it out Decisively. For once and all and for Good.

-------------xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-------------
All credits for this article goes to a friend "RAW" who with his posts in Orkut forum raise some very serious questions.
The Link of the thread :
http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=370&tid=5249503363693656036&start=1

Waiting for Khudiram - 100 years

2008-08-10T22:22:00.007+05:30

"One & half years from now

I shall be born in the aunt's hut
if you tend to forget me then
O mother!
Look at my neck
for the hangman's halter."
(Ek baar bidaai deo maa, ghure aashhi...)

100 years ago on 11th August, 1908, a young boy of 19 years of age went to the gallows with the battle cry of "Vande Maataram!" on his lips. He was Khudiram Bose, the first and the youngest martyr of Indian Revolutionary Freedom Movement.

Don't you think that Khudiram deserves to be remembered on his martyrdom day? At least that much?

100 years have passed, you didnot keep your promise to come back, O Khudiram ! Look what have they done to the country you gave your life for! Kingsford still lives and he now wears Khadi instead of Suits. The Gora Sahebs have been replaced by the Brown Sahebs who desire nothing more than to keep their thrones intact, while the nation goes to dogs. The parasites are sucking the blood of "Shasya Shyamala" Bharatmata and the all powerful public is silent. No one cares, all are just mute spectators. When will you come back? When will you hurl the first bomb again?

We are waiting for you, our Khudiram...

Reclaiming India ~ Tarun Vijay

2008-08-07T01:26:00.004+05:30

None should say Omar is not allowed in Jammu. Let him come, listen and speak. Like any other Indian should feel free to visit Kashmir or any other part of the nation. He is welcome to visit my home even if he denies me a piece of land in Kashmir. Why should a few words uttered by him make me change my Indian-ness? If he spoke in Parliament as a Muslim, asserting his Islamic identity, let denial of land to Hindus be his Islam and my Hinduness must keep my nation as a free democracy where difference of opinion is a natural phenomenon unlike Islamic countries.

I had listened to Omar Abdullah when he was in Vajpayee's cabinet and felt he had great potential to be an influential Indian leader. He spoke for India and brilliantly too. Now, if he has chosen to be just a regional one, it's his choice.

But he must stop to think why he can own a bungalow in Delhi or Bangalore and at the same time deny that privilege to a fellow Indian in Kashmir?

Kashmiri Muslim leaders would like to enjoy the fruits and liberties of a Hindu majority democracy but vehemently deny that to Hindus in their area of influence. Why?

When they are in a minority they crave and get special privileges. But once a majority, every single right to be at par is refused to other minorities.

It's the same phenomenon all over the globe. A direct consequence of turning Wahabi. Wahabi intolerance and separatism is poisoning Muslim brotherhood too. A brilliant report in TOI elaborating how Wahabi elements are gaining ground in the small towns of Gujarat and the softer, humane version of Islam, the Bareilevi school, which is resisting their aggressive expansionism makes an interesting reading and gives a frightening picture of the inter-communal strife within Muslim society.

Kashmir is predominantly Sunni and Wahabi. Hence the intolerance that denies even the basic features of Kashmiriyat.

And see what the de-Indianised intellectuals wrote on the front pages in Delhi's newspapers: "All over a piece of land!" Really?

Then why are the Indian soldiers defending a barren piece of dead snow in Siachen? Or what's that piece of cloth known as the Tricolor? Is it worth dying for?

Jammu is witnessing a mass patriotic uprising, unprecedented till now. It's a Second Ayodhya enveloped in the Tricolour outshining the 1952 Praja Parishad movement, which demanded one flag, one constitution and one head of the state. Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee was martyred for this cause in the jail of Sheikh Abdullah, grandfather of Omar. The situation hasn't changed in the last 56 years. It has in fact worsened.

Such a mass movement goes beyond the controls of any party or organisation. For the last 20 days, the roads are empty and markets closed. The sudden eruption of protests has seen grandfathers and grandsons and mothers and grandmothers ringing bells against Muslim separatism and shouting at the top of their voice: "Har har Mahadev". Such a protest by every single member of families who had never come out for a public demonstration can't be engineered. It's an uprising, a spontaneous expression of anger accumulated in the last five decades of misrule by people of suspect loyalties. The Doctor’s Association, Bar Association and Govt. Employees Association, Sikhs, Gujjar-Bakkarwal Muslims and Congress MLAs defying their party, the Hotel Association and every single sect of Hindu society have joined and supported the movement.

One young man, Kuldeep Kumar Dogra, took his life in utter disgust after reciting a patriotic poem before the hunger strikers in Jammu. Policemen in plainclothes forcibly took his body away and tried to burn it in his village in the dead of night without even informing his family. A monk saw them burning the pyre with country-made liquor and used car tyres and managed to alert the villagers. The policemen ran away seeing the protesters swelling in number. And none of the human rightists raised a voice of dissent. Did the policemen belong to India or an enemy country?

In fact the whole movement is a revolt of Tricolour people against unpatriotic politics on Kashmir. It's an effort to reclaim India in a region where the central leaders and regional parties have abandoned the idea of pan-Indian nationalism and geographical integration. India has been reducing every day in the valley and the seculars keep on counting their votes and encouraging separatists at the cost of an Indian identity.

After all, the Amarnath Shrine Board was created on the recommendation of the Nitish Sengupta Committee formed by the state government in 1996 when more than 250 Amarnath pilgrims died in a snowstorm. That made the state government realize that facilities are inadequate and hence a committee was formed under the chairmanship of retired senior IAS officer Sengupta. The government accepted the recommendations of the committee a year later and decided to create a separate board on the pattern of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board through an act passed by the Farooq Abdullah goverment in 2000. The Secretary, Tourism Depaetment, was appointed CEO of the board.

Initially, toilets and other facilities were added but they proved inadequate as neither the office of the shrine board was set up nor any staff worth its name was appointed. It was only when Gen. SK Sinha took over as Governor in 2003 and hence became Chairman of the Shrine Board that the office was established with Arun Kumar, IAS, as its full-time CEO. Kumar changed the entire gamut and pilgrims were provided with livable camping facilities.

Earlier, mahants and local interest groups were taking home all the offerings of the shrine. Now the shrine board regulated the income, spending it on providing more facilities to pilgrims and regularizing the fare structure regarding pony hiring, collies, camping sites, toilets and emergency medical help. The chief mahant was given huge compensation and other Muslim helpers were employed in the board. Kumar also introduced bacterial toilets using the latest Japanese technology which was environment-friendly and turned night soil into usable fertilizer for local farmers. Prior to this, concrete toilets had proved a colossal waste as they would get choked and the entire structure needed to be demolished. But this had proved profitable for the local contractors; hence, when the new green technology was introduced the contractors’ lobby protested and the then Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayed, halted the work in 2005. As a result of it, the Shrine Board approached the High Court which gave a stay order and the work continued.

It's noteworthy that during the while that the Secretary, Tourism was acting as the CEO of the Shrine Board, all the toilets and camping facilities were constructed on government land and nobody objected. It was only when the bribe channels were stopped for the politicians’ protégés that they objected to government land being used for pilgrims. Hence, after the stay was obtained from the High Court, the Shrine Board asked the state government in 2005 to regularise use of government land by formally transferring a few plots of land to the board en route to the Amarnath shrine. It took three years to take a decision and finally on May 26 this year, the state cabinet passed a proposal diverting (not selling or leasing) 38 hectares of land near Baltal to the Shrine Board on a temporary basis at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore. The Minister of Forest, under whose jurisdiction the land was diverted for the Shrine Board's use, was a member of the PDP headed by Mufti.

After the order was signed, word spread that a huge amount of land had been given to Hindus and now they would come and outnumber Muslims. It's a plot against Kashmiri Muslims, it was argued. An anarchical agitation began with Mufti, the Hurriyat and Omar Abdullah uniting to deprive Hindu pilgrims a camping facility.

They needed to support their false presumptions and Arun Kumar's press briefing was used for this purpose by communalising his innocuous statement regarding environment and Hindu-Muslim solidarity. Kumar’s entire press briefing is audio recorded and though he has been suspended and an inquiry instituted, nothing can be proved against him. In fact he is being punished for providing pilgrims better facilities.

This is the genesis of the whole issue.

The same government has given hundreds of acres of land to Baba Gulam Shah Badshah University in Rajouri and to the Islamic University in Pampore. None objected. The all-encompassing nature of Hindus is taken for granted as is their timidity.

You can tell the facts to those who would like to consider them and not to those who play petty communal politics. Governor Vohra acted on the advice of North Block and not only took back the letter for land allotment on behalf of the Shrine Board without taking board members into confidence, but also gave the charge of providing facilities to the pilgrims back to the state tourism department, which means the same murky business flowering again. With the Shrine Board having no CEO at present, since Kumar's suspension hasn't been revoked, yatra arrangements are in limbo. The Governor's secretary, who has a hundred other tasks, has been asked to take care of the yatra.

Hindus have never been treated so contemptuously as is being done under the UPA dispensation. Kashmir is the land of Shiva, the greatest place of the Shaivite school of Hindu dharma. At every mile there was a Shiva temple, but most Hindu temples have been razed in the valley during the Islamic Jihad. More than 70 lakh pilgrims visit Vaishno Devi and Amarnath every year and contribute enormously to the economy of the state. Yet, Hindus have always been looked down upon and driven out of their homes and hearth. This is the Kashmiriyat of the valley's politicians and patriotism of their protectors in Delhi. The Kashmiri leaders, so possessive about a hundred acres, never raise their voice to take back 78,114 sq km of Jammu and Kashmir under the illegal possession of Pakistan of square km of land to Pakistan can be tolerated, but "not an inch" to Hindus.

It was the political expediency of the communally "secular" leaders that created the land row, but now the agitation has gone beyond the land issue becoming a symbol of the struggle to ensure India's return to the valley. The un-Indian elements have to be defeated so that the honour of the Triclour can be protected in our land. The only fear is that the politicians of Delhi may compromise, betraying the cause of the people anytime.

This is the time when a complete abolition of all those acts which segregate the valley from rest of the country are being demanded, including the obnoxious Article 370, and a grand plan to have patriots shifted from various parts of the country to Kashmir valley is implemented, with priority given to soldiers who have served in the area.

Jammu's agitation to reclaim India in J&K has to be supported by every patriotic Indian. It's a pain of Indian nationhood and not just of the Jammu region. Failing this movement will fail India.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3333783.cms

Ruled by Scoundrels !

2008-06-23T23:38:00.005+05:30

"Those who criticize politics as the last resort of a scoundrels are condemned to be ruled by scoundrels"

- Plato

It is really surprising to see how a statement as the above one made some 2000 years ago can so accurately describe the state of affairs of a country like India in 2008.

Consider this; 40% of MLAs in Uttar Pradesh are in Jail. Most of them booked under heinous crimes like loot, murder, kidnapping etc. And the rest of the nation does not present a very rosy picture either. Mob violence in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal, water wars between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Infiltration problems in North East.. all these issues along with the rampant corruption and misuse of Power and public money point out to an inefficient and dishonest leadership.

The majority of Indians are young men and women now. Then why should they be ruled by power hungry and corrupt old Netas whose only interest lies in clinging to their "Throne"? Why is India opting for an 85 year old CM whose idea of welfare is distribution of color TVs when the state is reeling under funds crisis; or another moron whose sole aim in life is to have more and more statues and parks build in her name? More than half of the nation consists of working class, then why are they allowing the Politicians to squander the hard earned public money in "Tughlaqi projects" which have the capacity to astonish even Tughlaq himself? Why is a resurgent India letting an inefficient leadership curtail its might ?

The answer lies in the attitude of a general Indian. Like me, he too wishes for a change, BUT, he doesn't want to be the carrier of change himself. In other words, he wants Bhagat Singh to be born again and bring revolution, but in the neighbor's home, not his. He, the usually argumentative Indian, becomes totally silent when it comes to join the fight against this corrupt system. And it is the silence of a common Indian which allows a mob of thousands to control a population of millions. Simply because we fail to react, and we never protest if something is wrong.

So where is the solution for this ordeal? Are we going to allow these scoundrels rule us forever? Or are we going to do something ?

I have a dream

2008-06-20T01:29:00.004+05:30

* "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"

* "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

* "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."

- Martin Luthar King Jr

Holding onto you...

2008-06-20T00:29:00.001+05:30

Moon so bright, night so fine
Keep your heart here with mine
Life's a dream we are dreaming

Race the moon, catch the wind
Ride the night to the end
Seize the day, stand up for the light

I want to spend my lifetime loving you
If that is all in life I ever do

Heroes rise, heroes fall
Rise again, win it all
In your heart, can't you feel the glory?

Through our joy, through our pain
We can move worlds again
Take my hand, dance with me

I want to spend my lifetime loving you
If that is all in life I ever do
I will want nothing else to see me through
If I can spend my lifetime loving you

Though we know we will never come again
Where there is love, life begins
Over and over again

Save the night, save the day
Save the love, come what may
Love is worth everything we pay

I want to spend my lifetime loving you
If that is all in life I ever do
I want to spend my lifetime loving you
If that is all in life I ever do
I will want nothing else to see me through
If I can spend my life time loving you...

~ Unknown

सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना - A tribute to Ram Prasad Bismil on his Birth Anniversary

2008-06-14T13:23:00.005+05:30

सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

देखना है ज़ोर कितना बाज़ू-ए-क़ातिल में है

(ऐ वतन,) करता नहीं क्यूँ दूसरा कुछ बातचीत,
देखता हूँ मैं जिसे वो चुप तेरी महफ़िल में है
ऐ शहीद-ए-मुल्क-ओ-मिल्लत, मैं तेरे ऊपर निसार,
अब तेरी हिम्मत का चरचः ग़ैर की महफ़िल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

वक़्त आने पर बता देंगे तुझे, ए आसमान,
हम अभी से क्या बताएँ क्या हमारे दिल में है
खेँच कर लाई है सब को क़त्ल होने की उमीद,
आशिक़ोँ का आज जमघट कूचः-ए-क़ातिल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

है लिए हथियार दुशमन ताक में बैठा उधर,
और हम तय्यार हैं सीना लिये अपना इधर.
ख़ून से खेलेंगे होली गर वतन मुश्किल में है,
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

हाथ, जिन में हो जुनून, कटते नही तलवार से,
सर जो उठ जाते हैं वो झुकते नहीं ललकार से.
और भड़केगा जो शोलः सा हमारे दिल में है,
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

हम तो घर से ही थे निकले बाँधकर सर पर कफ़न,
जाँ हथेली पर लिये लो बढ चले हैं ये कदम.
जिन्दगी तो अपनी मॆहमाँ मौत की महफ़िल में है,
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

यूँ खड़ा मक़्तल में क़ातिल कह रहा है बार-बार,
क्या तमन्ना-ए-शहादत भी किसी के दिल में है?
दिल में तूफ़ानों की टोली और नसों में इन्क़िलाब,
होश दुश्मन के उड़ा देंगे हमें रोको न आज.
दूर रह पाए जो हमसे दम कहाँ मंज़िल में है,

जिस्म भी क्या जिस्म है जिसमें न हो ख़ून-ए-जुनून
क्या लढ़े तूफ़ान से जो कश्ती-ए-साहिल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है
देखना है ज़ोर कितना बाज़ू-ए-क़ातिल में है.

- Bismil Azimabadi

This is a tribute to Amar Shaheed Sri Ram Prasad Bismil on his Birth Anniversary. Inqualab Zindabad !

PS : Usually we are not aware ... A few days back , Rediff organized a campaign on its site for people to wish Lallu on his birthday ... Ram Prasad Bismil is not salable so he is not wanted by them. So it's upto us, the people, to remember those who gave their lives so that we can live with dignity.

बुद्ध का अट्टहास

2008-06-13T01:27:00.006+05:30

गाँधी के भाषण बहुत सुने,
अब बुद्ध का अट्टहास सुनो !
बहुत हुई पंचशील की चालें,
अब गौरव की बात करो !
देखो इतिहास दिखा रहा है,
अपनी बातें उनकी घातें !
हैं संगीनों के साए तले,
क्या गीत प्रेम के गाए जाते ?
भारतभूमि धधक रही है,
गूँज रहा है आर्तनाद!
हे मृत्युंजय अब तो जागो,
दूर करो सारा विषाद!
तुम तो भाग्य विधाता हो,
दिखला दो उनकी औकात !
हुणों को भी धुल चटाओ तुम,
इन मलेच्छों की क्या बिसात?
भारत वर्ष अखंड रहेगा,
बोलो डंके की चोट पे !
शांति अगर लानी है तो,
लाओ बंदूक की नोक पे !
सोये हो तुम हजार साल,
अब निद्रा का त्याग करो !
भारत माँ पुकार रही है,
अब सर्वस्व बलिदान करो !
यह आह्वाहन है समय का,
यह युद्ध की ललकार है !
पूरे हुए प्रतीक्षा के पल,
क्रांति दिवस आज है !

This poem was written by me after the Pokharan Nuclear tests. This is a call to the Indian to rise and start the struggle, with violence as the weapon this time. Non- Violence is relevant when the adversary is a human. When you are fighting then you have to be the Evil with Evil. The poem draws its inspiration from Jayshankar Prasad's "तुम हमारी चोटियों की बर्फ को यूँ मत कुरेदो " written after the war of 1962. The phrase "बुद्ध का अट्टहास " may make you remember that news of the blasts was conveyed as, "Buddha has smiled !"

जनयुद्ध का आह्वाहन

2008-06-11T23:58:00.008+05:30

सुनो भारत के मजदूरों,

यह जन विद्रोह का नारा है !
कब तक ये अत्याचार सहे ?
सत्ता का तिरस्कार सहे ?
अब उठो कि वक़्त हमारा है,
सम्पत्ति का मालिक सर्वहारा है!
जन क्रांति की मशाल जले,
जनता का हर मलाल जले!
जो जोते जमीन उसी की हो,
अपना भाग्य विधाता मजदुर ही हो!
अबके होली क्रांति से मने ,
रक्त रंग बारूद गुलाल बने!
जनयुद्ध की यही आवाज़ है,
बंदूक ही हमारी मित्र आज है !

Declaration of the War!

2008-06-08T12:34:00.007+05:30

You are absolutely free to call me an insane fanatic. But I at least, have the guts to say that sane people do not make history. They take birth anonymous, attend school and college if they are lucky enough, get a job if they are luckier enough, marry, produce children, retire and then just fade away. Very few know them when they are alive and hardly anyone bothers to remember them when they are no more. I do not seek a life and death like theirs. And thats why I declare my rebellion against the existing system!

Today I declare! I am my destiny. I know my fate. I am one of those who write history. And history is written not by ordinary pen and ink but by blood and iron. So feel free to frolic in your sane world, I am happy with my insanity. I know what am I living for; and what will I die for !

Ode: Intimations of Immortality

2008-06-03T23:14:00.002+05:30

There was a time when meadow grove, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
to me did seem
Aparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of youre;
Turn wheresoe'er I may,
By night or day,
The things which I have seen I now can see no more.

The Rainbow comes and goes,
and lovely is the Rose,
The Moon doth with delight
Look round her when the heavens are bare
Wateres on a starry night
are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where'er I go,
That there hath past away a glory from the earth.

What though the radiance'
Which was once so bright
Is now forever taken from my sight
Though nothing can bring back the hour,
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find,
Strength in what remains behind...

- Wordsworth

Goodbye Monu

2008-05-31T10:16:00.008+05:30

Hello Monu,
If I would have said this to you earlier, you would never have understood. Now when you have gone so far from all of us, I want you to know this. Hope, in your new world of enlightenment you will understand what your Dada wants to tell you.
We have seen you struggling with life since you were a small child. We saw you surviving your heart surgery when you were just 6 months old. Then there so many complications, those fits and blood transfusions! No one had thought that your fragile body will be able to stand all that. But you did. In spite of all the limitations, you managed to survive, you were so stubborn in front of death. The determination of your parents to keep you alive and your own fighting spirit was really something found very rare.
You have been an integral part of our lives through these 18 years. I always used to feel that you suffered a lot. I used to wonder what maybe going on inside your mind when we used to speak all those endearments to you. May be if we meet someday there up above, you will be able to tell me then. God was quite unfair with you and your parents. You can now make him stand trial and ask him why, now when you are finally with him. You or your family did not deserve so much trauma. But now all the suffering is gone. I wish you the very best in the onward journey.
So good bye Monu. Know it that your family loves you a lot. We will remember you forever. And yes, I will take care of your parents. Don't ever worry.

- Your Brother whom you never called "Dada"

War !

2008-05-26T19:02:00.007+05:30

*Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

*We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living.

-General Omar Bradley

*Do you know what astonished me most in the world? The inability of force to create anything. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the spirit. Soldiers usually win battles and generals get the credit for them. You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war. If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.

- Napoleon Bonaparte

2008-05-24T17:46:00.002+05:30

"So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man as a
traitor, who having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to
them."
- Swami Vivekananda.

Evil !

2008-05-24T11:43:00.002+05:30

When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never tried before. I believe that what the rich have done to the poor people in this city is something that a preacher could call evil. Somebody has power. Pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people -- that is my idea of evil. Without followers, evil cannot spread. The evil that men do lives on and on...

Evil unchecked grows, evil tolerated poisons the whole system. The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it. He who does not punish evil, commands it to be done. But, he who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

Do you ...?

2008-05-24T01:47:00.005+05:30

Do you sense someone is thinking about you at this moment?

Do you ever get a sensation that someone is watching you with closed eyes, when you stand before the mirror?

Do you feel the touch as if someone has brushed by with the breeze?

Do you understand that someone has been waiting for days just to receive a "Hi" from you while you were so busy with work?

Do you ever notice someone's pain when he tries to act so cool with you?

Do you understand that someone isn't calling you not because he doesn't want to, but just so that you don't get disturbed?

Do you know that someone could have given his life to hear those three magic words from you?

Do you realize that someone needs you so much?

Do you ...?

Go to Patna, young man!

2008-05-23T00:20:00.005+05:30

~ Courtesy : http://www.bihartodayonline.com
By Suhel Seth
The author is CEO of Equus Redcell Advertising and also a well known businessman.

For starters, it is a better-looking city than most I have ever been to in India. It is certainly better than most parts of Delhi; there are more schools and colleges which have first-rate syllabi and students than the ones run in Delhi and Mumbai: most of which with dubious ownership! The Bihari people are more large-hearted and far brighter than we would have ever believed, and in many ways Bihar today is at the cusp of what I would imagine will be a boom time in its rather sordid history.

I don’t know how much real progress Lalu Prasad Yadav is making with the Indian Railways, the IIM sojourn notwithstanding, but there sure is a silent revolution taking place in Bihar under Nitish Kumar. I never ever imagined that I would visit Patna. For anything. But I did just that last week and am delighted I did. For starters, it is a better-looking city than most I have ever been to in India. It is certainly better than most parts of Delhi; there are more schools and colleges which have first-rate syllabi and students than the ones run in Delhi and Mumbai: most of which with dubious ownership! The Bihari people are more large-hearted and far brighter than we would have ever believed, and in many ways Bihar today is at the cusp of what I would imagine will be a boom time in its rather sordid history. And much of the blame for that must rest with people who’ve governed Bihar.

I sincerely feel that the rulers of Bihar have consistently damaged the cause of Bihar more than anyone else has or will ever do. There are perceptions about it being a mafia state, which are completely untrue. I saw Bihar’s chief secretary drive in a Tata Indigo without any escort, whereas in Delhi and Mumbai every third-tier secretary also uses a silly red light atop his car with fancy escort vehicles. There was none of the red tape that Bihar is so well-known for. I had gone for some work and the presentations that were made by some officers of the Bihar government were first-rate; and it was only then that some interesting trivia about Bihar became all the more relevant.

Bihar today consumes pharmaceutical drugs worth Rs 1,500 crores per annum: the largest consumption amongst any state, and yet the tragedy is, there is no pharma company in Bihar — an outcome of the negligent manner in which Bihar was run at the state-level and the treatment that was meted out to it by the Centre. Bihar today sends more people to the administrative services than any other state in the country. Of the 47,000 odd medical professionals working in the United States, 50 per cent are from Bihar. Bihar contributes 50 per cent to the patient inflow at AIIMS in New Delhi and so on and so forth.

The attitude of the Bihar government has also seemingly changed and it was no surprise that in the week gone by they’ve had Ratan Tata, Ashok Ganguly, Analjit Singh visit them, with people like Anand Mahindra and others expected this week. There is the obvious influence that the well-regarded N.K. Singh wields over the corporate world in India which plays a large role in getting these corporate honchos there. But having said that, one must applaud the changes that are being slowly brought into the very fabric of Bihar. And with N.K. heading the Planning Commission in Bihar, expect some more miracles.

The fact that you finally have a chief minister who is not a clown but a serious politician also helps, aided by people like G.S. Kang, the chief secretary whose integrity is unquestioned. I guess what Bihar now needs to do is cleanse itself of the past it so remarkably engendered and entrenched into people’s minds. In the serious talk for creating better infrastructure, for encouraging medical tourism, optimising the value of the hot sulphur springs in Rajgir, not to mention religious tourism in Bodh Gaya, you have a blend that just might work.

I believe from a marketing point too there is a lot of potential in Bihar that most of us, sadly, have not woken up to. I saw stretches of markets, not some odd number of shops, and I saw for myself the pattern of frenetic consumer buying: much more than what happens in our malls in the metros. I sometimes wonder why people have missed the Bihar bus.

Finally, the fact that the families in Bihar continue to lay a lot of emphasis on education, augurs well. I feel there may also be some merit in Bihar also becoming an important destination for the services backbone that Eastern India so desperately needs. I know Patna sounds a very incredible destination, but I guess this is what Incredible India is all about. We are so consumed by what we see and what we are fed by the so-called urbane media that we fail to observe the silent changes that are occurring right under our noses.
Go to Patna and see how India is really changing.

Are Indians racist too ?

2008-05-22T00:58:00.004+05:30

Calcutta, May 19: Two cheerleaders from London were asked to leave the ground at Mohali “because of the colour of their skin” by the Preity Zinta-hired event management company, Wizcraft International Entertainment, which handles her team, Kings XI Punjab.

One of the girls, Ellesha Newton, told the journalists, “It was okay when we reached the stadium. It was when we were going to take our positions that some of Wizcraft’s employees asked us to leave. We were surprised and asked them why and they told us it was because of the colour of our skin.”

When Shilpa Shetty faced racial abuse on the Big Brother reality TV show in the UK, angry reactions there, including censure by the media regulator, forced the broadcaster to issue a series of apologies.

With Ellesha and Sherinne, the roles have been reversed. The British would be watching to see how India handles the abuse handed to two of their girls. And we Indians should now think twice before calling others racists...

Ever been in love ?

2008-05-19T17:54:00.003+05:30

Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love..... yet can't live without it ....

In the darkness of death, I see thee

2008-05-19T17:53:00.001+05:30

Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee;
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw.

Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven

2008-05-19T17:46:00.001+05:30

Farewell, happy fields,
Where joy for ever dwells! Hail, horrors! hail,
Infernal world! and thou, profoundest Hell,
Receive thy new possessor—one who brings
A mind not to be changed by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less than he
Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence;
Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
to reign is worth ambition though in Hell;
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.

-John Milton

The Little devotee

2008-05-18T23:53:00.011+05:30

There was a child somewhere in some small village of India, who was an ardent follower of Lord Krishna. He was an exceptional devotee in the sense that even at his tender age, he had learnt the Bhagwatgita by heart and was good in singing the hymns in praise of Krishna. Precisely because of these reasons he was hated by the local priest, the reason being him belonging to a "lower" caste. He was never allowed inside the temple and instead did his "puja" under the Banyan tree outside the village where none could see him.

One day while he was in his regular puja under the tree, a vision of Bal Gopal came, calling him from a distance. Since he was but a small child he thought that the Lord may be calling him from where but his home inside the temple. So he proceeded towards the temple in due earnest. When the priest saw him trying to enter the temple, he caught the little child and cursing madly, thrashed him and kicked him out of the temple.

While the priest went to the river to take a purifying bath for touching the "lower caste being", the child, heartbroken, went back to his abode under the Banyan tree. After brooding over what to do next, he decided to take help from Lord Krishna himself. So he sat there meditating, asking for the Lord to come to him. Finally after hours of tapasya, the Lord appeared before him in the form of Bal Gopal. When asked was wanted of him, the little devotee answered that he wanted the Lord to let him enter his temple.

This got Krishna really puzzled and finally he requested the child to ask some other wish as the previous one could not be fulfilled. Hearing this, the child became even unhappier and in an agitated voice he asked if even the Lord himself thought that he was untouchable and thus unworthy of entering the temple. Upon hearing this, the Krishna replied, "Friend! Till today even I have never been able to enter the temple, how can I allow you there when I myself have never owned that place?"

Secret of Success ~ Swami Vivekanand

2008-05-18T22:26:00.005+05:30

Arise, Awake and Stop not till the Goal is Reached !
In a day when you don't come across any problems - you can be sure that you are traveling in the wrong path
To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. “I will drink the ocean”, says the persevering soul; “at my will mountains will crumble up”. Have that sort of energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the goal.
Let positive, strong, helpful thoughts enter into your brains from very childhood. Lay yourselves open to these thoughts, and not to weakening and paralyzing ones.
Never mind failures; they are quite natural, they are the beauty of life, these failures.
We must overcome difficulty by constant practice. We must learn that nothing can happen to us unless we make ourselves susceptible to it.
Take up an idea, devote yourself to it, struggle on in patience, and the sun will rise for you.
Education is the manifestation of perfection present already in man.
Strength is Life, Weakness is death

My first love note .. from an old diary :)

2008-05-18T13:14:00.004+05:30

The first time I saw you

my breath quickened
my pulse pounded
my heart raced
and time stood still.

Every time I see you
the magic still happens ...

Is this what we call love ?

Self Realization on my appraisal day :)

2008-05-16T02:52:00.011+05:30

Today I have learned an important lesson in my life, that you need to be assertive enough to make the world recognize your full potential. If you want people to see the sunny side of you, be the first to see it and believe in yourself. A person who does not believe in himself is wrong in thinking that others will appreciate his "hidden" talents and applaud his efforts. I learned it in a hard way today but it is at least not too late. I that being an underachiever is much worse than being an over estimator of self. Success is of course, not every thing,. Success is the only thing; and you have to make sure that you do not become a hindrance to your success just by not being assertive of yourself. Truth alone triumphs, and that is why winning is so important; because if you loose, you will no longer be the truth. The world will never see how gallantly you fought in the battle, it will blindly worship the Victorious. So make sure it is you who wins in the end.

दुष्यंत कुमार की अनमोल नज्मे

2008-05-16T02:38:00.005+05:30

यहाँ दरख़्तों के साये में धूप लगती है
चलो यहाँ से चले और उम्र भर के लिये...
...
कौन कहेगा हुकूमत से, कौन समझेगा
एक चिडिया इन धमाकों से सिहरती है ...
...
वो मुतमइन हैं कि पत्थर पिघल नहीं सकता
मैं बेक़रार हूँ आवाज़ में असर के लिये...
...
कौन कहता हिया आकाश मे सुराख नही हो सकता
एक पत्थर तो तबियत से उछालों यारों ...
...
एक चादर साँझ ने सारे नगर पर डाल दी,
यह अंधेरे की सड़क उस भोर तक जाती तो है...
...
सिर्फ हंगामा खड़ा करना मेरा मकसद नहीं,
मेरी कोशिश है कि ये सूरत बदलनी चाहिए।
...
मौत ने तो धर दबोचा एक चीते की तरह
ज़िंदगी ने जब छुआ फासला रखकर छुआ...
...
इस शहर मे बारात हो या वारदात
अब किसी भी बात पर खुलती नही हैं खिड़कियाँ...
...
कल मिला वो महफ़िल मे मुझे चिथरे पहने हुए
मैंने पूछा नाम तो बोला कि हिंदुस्तान हूँ...
...

मत कहो, आकाश में कुहरा घना है

2008-05-16T02:37:00.001+05:30

मत कहो, आकाश में कुहरा घना है,
यह किसी की व्यक्तिगत आलोचना है ।

सूर्य हमने भी नहीं देखा सुबह से,
क्या करोगे, सूर्य का क्या देखना है ।

इस सड़क पर इस क़दर कीचड़ बिछी है,
हर किसी का पाँव घुटनों तक सना है ।

पक्ष औ' प्रतिपक्ष संसद में मुखर हैं,
बात इतनी है कि कोई पुल बना है

रक्त वर्षों से नसों में खौलता है,
आप कहते हैं क्षणिक उत्तेजना है ।

हो गई हर घाट पर पूरी व्यवस्था,
शौक से डूबे जिसे भी डूबना है ।

दोस्तों ! अब मंच पर सुविधा नहीं है,
आजकल नेपथ्य में संभावना है ।

--दुष्यंत कुमार

हो गई है पीर पर्वत-सी पिघलनी चाहिए

2008-05-16T02:35:00.000+05:30

हो गई है पीर पर्वत-सी पिघलनी चाहिए,
इस हिमालय से कोई गंगा निकलनी चाहिए।

आज यह दीवार, परदों की तरह हिलने लगी,
शर्त लेकिन थी कि ये बुनियाद हिलनी चाहिए।

हर सड़क पर, हर गली में, हर नगर, हर गाँव में,
हाथ लहराते हुए हर लाश चलनी चाहिए।

सिर्फ हंगामा खड़ा करना मेरा मकसद नहीं,
मेरी कोशिश है कि ये सूरत बदलनी चाहिए।

मेरे सीने में नहीं तो तेरे सीने में सही,
हो कहीं भी आग, लेकिन आग जलनी चाहिए।

----दुष्यंत कुमार

यह अंधेरे की सड़क उस भोर तक जाती तो है

2008-05-16T02:33:00.001+05:30

इस नदी की धार में ठंडी हवा आती तो है,
नाव जर्जर ही सही, लहरों से टकराती तो है।

एक चिनगारी कही से ढूँढ लाओ दोस्तों,
इस दिए में तेल से भीगी हुई बाती तो है।

एक खंडहर के हृदय-सी, एक जंगली फूल-सी,
आदमी की पीर गूंगी ही सही, गाती तो है।

एक चादर साँझ ने सारे नगर पर डाल दी,
यह अंधेरे की सड़क उस भोर तक जाती तो है।

निर्वचन मैदान में लेटी हुई है जो नदी,
पत्थरों से, ओट में जा-जाके बतियाती तो है।

दुख नहीं कोई कि अब उपलब्धियों के नाम पर,
और कुछ हो या न हो, आकाश-सी छाती तो है।

--दुष्यंत कुमार

आज सड़कों पर

2008-05-16T02:32:00.000+05:30

आज सड़कों पर लिखे हैं सैकड़ों नारे न देख,
घ्रर अंधेरा देख तू आकाश के तारे न देख।

एक दरिया है यहां पर दूर तक फैला हुआ,
आज अपने बाज़ुओं को देख पतवारें न देख।

अब यकीनन ठोस है धरती हकीकत की तरह,
यह हक़ीक़त देख लेकिन खौफ़ के मारे न देख।

वे सहारे भी नहीं अब जंग लड़नी है तुझे,
कट चुके जो हाथ उन हाथों में तलवारें न देख।

ये धुंधलका है नज़र का तू महज़ मायूस है,
रोजनों को देख दीवारों में दीवारें न देख।

राख कितनी राख है, चारों तरफ बिखरी हुई,
राख में चिनगारियां ही देख अंगारे न देख।

--दुष्यंत कुमार

गांधीजी के जन्मदिन पर

2008-05-16T02:30:00.000+05:30

मैं फिर जनम लूंगा
फिर मैं
इसी जगह आउंगा
उचटती निगाहों की भीड़ में
अभावों के बीच
लोगों की क्षत-विक्षत पीठ सहलाऊँगा
लँगड़ाकर चलते हुए पावों को
कंधा दूँगा
गिरी हुई पद-मर्दित पराजित विवशता को
बाँहों में उठाऊँगा ।

इस समूह में
इन अनगिनत अचीन्ही आवाज़ों में
कैसा दर्द है
कोई नहीं सुनता !
पर इन आवाजों को
और इन कराहों को
दुनिया सुने मैं ये चाहूँगा ।

मेरी तो आदत है
रोशनी जहाँ भी हो
उसे खोज लाऊँगा
कातरता, चु्प्पी या चीखें,
या हारे हुओं की खीज
जहाँ भी मिलेगी
उन्हें प्यार के सितार पर बजाऊँगा ।

जीवन ने कई बार उकसाकर
मुझे अनुलंघ्य सागरों में फेंका है
अगन-भट्ठियों में झोंका है,
मैने वहाँ भी
ज्योति की मशाल प्राप्त करने के यत्न किये
बचने के नहीं,
तो क्या इन टटकी बंदूकों से डर जाऊँगा ?
तुम मुझकों दोषी ठहराओ
मैने तुम्हारे सुनसान का गला घोंटा है
पर मैं गाऊँगा
चाहे इस प्रार्थना सभा में
तुम सब मुझपर गोलियाँ चलाओ
मैं मर जाऊँगा
लेकिन मैं कल फिर जनम लूँगा
कल फिर आऊँगा ।

--दुष्यंत कुमार