The Picture shows US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visiting Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India in March 08.

The general elections held in Pakistan on Feb 18,2008 have thrown a mixed verdict for political parties there. Slain leader Benazir Bhutto’s PPP and Nawaz Sharif’s PML- N have bagged enough seats to cobble up a government and this is the most likely scenario which is emerging. The Prime Minister will be from PPP as it has larger share of seats.

This has not unnerved President Parvez Musharraf, though! His political party lost badly in these elections and there is a good possibility that if the opposition is able to add up a few more conglomerates, it may be in a position to impeach the President or take up other constitutional measures to unseat him. A peaceful exit for Mush is a more viable idea though, provided Mush himself realizes this!

If that happens or even with a weak President facing the wrath of the his political opponents at the helm of affairs, things will not be easy for Mush. US seems to be losing a “trusted ally”. Is it time to say good bye to a military dictator -turned -civilian President? Will the government in a partnership (PPP and PML- N) be stable? Will the elected government deliver! Will the impartial judiciary be re-instated? What kind of approach the new government take towards India? The coming months will tell us the answers!

I was viewing the website recommended to me by TLS Bhaskar (He recently formed a Telugu Diaspora: http://telugudiaspora.com/). The organization is “Association for Human Development” run by Dr Srinivasa K Rao (New York). The following useful piece of information is being reproduced:

“Dear Friends,
Here is the opportunity to speak to the government for a better India.
Government of India has an online Grievance forum at http://darpg-grievance.nic.in/

The government wants people to use this tool to highlight the problems they faced while dealing with Government officials or departments like Passport Office, Electricity board, BSNL/MTNL, Railways,etc.
So use this grievance forum and educate others who don’t know about this facility. This way we can at least raise our concerns instead of just talking about the ‘System’ in India.
Invite your friends to contribute for many such happenings.

Spread this message if u want our India to change.”

Now we have a new regional “avatar” in form of Raj Thackeray! The eagerness to become regional satraps can make them stoop to any level, and Raj is no exception! “Divide people” is their mantra!

Thus the clarion call given by raj Thackeray of a regional political outfit Maharastra Navnirnman Sena (MNS) is to pit North Indians against Maharastrians or Mumbaikars (residents of Mumbai). This is not constructive (as the name Navnirman would suggest), this is totally destructive! Not only that, Raj and his goons are taking law into their hands and causing damage to the property.
I am sure public is not going to be drawn into this divisive politics, but the government should deal firmly with Raj and his bandwagon! Click here for the news-piece.

The noted writer Mahasweta Devi has called for resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee accusing him of being responsible for ousting Bangaldeshi Muslim writer Taslima Nasreen from Kolkatta. Devi has termed the CM as a greater fundamentalist. Read more.…

This is what I call fresh air! Is Indian media listening? The Gujarat CM -Narendra Modi-has been denigrated for years, but what about the leftists and the chips of the same block (read Congress, and ilks of Mayawatis, Laloos and Mulayams who have systematically eroded the very concept of secularism and have played dirty games of communal politics)!

I was amused to see that India has asked/requested the French president- Nicolas Sarkozy who is visiting India shortly- not to confer a prestigious award on controversial exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen during his India visit. France’s Simone de Beauvoir award for Taslima was announced on January 9, 2008 for defending the ”rights of women”.

Several Muslim groups have protested against Taslima’s presence in India, as they claim her writings are offensive to Islam.

Apprehensive of yet another bout of angry Muslim protests, the government of India has said a polite ‘no’ to Nicolas Sarkozy’s proposal to confer the prestigious award on Taslima during his India visit.

This is the state of affairs in a secular democratic country as we decided to proclaim ourselves after Independence in 1947! Bend backwards because fundamental religious groups will get upset, particularly so-called minority groups! Will this kind of mollification ever end? Meanwhile it is heartening to hear that a Muslim organization has flayed restrictions on Tasleema. “ It bodes ill for a secular democratic country,” President of Dharmamukta Manabbadi Manch Giasuddin has reportedly claimed. He has further said:”If Taslima is forced to leave India, fundamentalists will target all secular and democratic people even more”.

January 1: The new year 2008 welcomes India with a new suspected terrorist attack in Uttar Pradesh. In Rampur, suspected terrorists attacked a para-military camp and gunned down 7 para-miltary personnel. Times of India observes: “By hitting security camps as well as civilian targets like temples and mosques, jihadi groups are working to a plan to stir communal tensions and bleed the forces.” The Chief Minister of UP, Ms Mayawati, has vehemently declined to bear any responsibility for the failure to prevent this attack and has infact put the burden back on CRPF stating that the State Intelligence had already given them the input for a possible attack. Taking a dig at the Central government, the chief minister said the terrorist influx was not a recent event as ”international borders of the country are unsafe and terrorists have already made inroads in different parts of the country” (source: NDTV).

What a true confession on her part! Is our national leadership- led by a Minority Mohan Singh (always busy mollifying the minorities of this country!) hearing this outcry! Our porous borders -coupled with trains running across- and amnesia-inflicted national security plan will continue to result in a increasingly unstable country. Voltaire once said: “The present is pregnant with future.” We can see our future!

Welcome to the New Year, My beloved Country!

Love for dynastyic rule is in the blood of people in Indian sub-continent. Whereas India has not been able to overcome the contagious zeal for Gandhi -family rule, in Pakistan installing a 19 years old teen to the supreme post of a supposedly democratic party has crossed all standards of ethical morality. Settling the succession issue three days after former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, the Pakistan People’s Party on Sunday anointed her 19-year-old son Bilawal to head the party. And PPP has decided to take part in next month’s general elections and has appealed that the elections not be deferred so that it could ride the sympathy waive.
Bhutto’s husband Asif Ali Zardari will be the co-chairman.

It remains to be seen whether civil activists will challenge this decision in the courts (age may be an issue if some bylaws have been laid for political parties somewhere in the legal corners of the country!)

Whereas this is purely an internal matter of a political party of a neighboring country and someone may well wonder why it seems to be such an unsettling issue to me! I would say that such kind of developmemnts portend a bad future for a civil society which aspires to come out of the shackles of extremism, fundamentalism and military rule.

Dec 27, 2007: Benazir Bhutto – a prime ministerial candidate for the upcoming elections in Pakistan has been assassinated. The extremists killed her with a suicide bomber. The news has received a world-wide attention, more so in the US media.

Pakistan is in a quagmire. World’s most dangerous nation is in pure chaos! It is a nuclear-armed state and a trusted friend and an ally of USA in the war against terrorism. But paradoxically, Pakistan itself is a hot-bed of extremism and terrorism. And Bhutto’s assassination has strengthened the forces of darkness there. President Parvez Musharraf has somehow been able to succeed USA in believing that he is the only hope for Pakistan and has been able to get flow of unlimited dollars to ‘exterminate’ terrorism and build up Pakistan. USA has been unable to insist for the accountability of the dollars Pak is spending in ‘building up’ the country and we see the turmoil now.

There are a few concerns emerging from the current situation. The way a prime civilian and a politician can be killed in a ruthless manner, shows that there is a ‘jungle-Raj’ there. Is it possible that extremists may get hold of the nuclear arsenal? The US intelligence experts say that we should take this matter seriously. Another point is that US has somehow supported Musharraf’s martial law, and despite its pressure, the civil liberties and media are still not fully liberated. The upcoming elections are believed not to be fair and free under the current situation. Will this killing spark off a diplomatic war between US and Pakistan? Has Musharraf not tested the nerves of his friend Bush? And amidst all this, India’s concerns should not be forgotten: India will be the first target of ‘nuclear mischief’ if Pakistan dares to indulge into, secondly terror export to Indian and neighboring countries is a reality, thirdly mass exodus of Pakistani people to India amid all this chaos.

US media has termed Pakistan as a strategic country in the world. what a misplaced term! Pakistan is ‘strategic’ only because US has been using it as a ‘colony’ to grow its clout and contain India and China.

The assassination of Bhutto should be an eye-opener for the world: Tackle Pakistan before it starts engulfing the world. Rehabilitate it to a civilized and democratic polity. USA can do it, because it feeds the ‘strategic country’ in the world! And hopefully, USA does not remain oblivious to the fact that China and Saudi Arabia will never like Pakistan to develop into a democratic nation, their interest are better served if Pakistan remains an unstable country. China is happy that way from obvious reasons, and Saudi Arabia is happy funding Pakistan to keep the flames of ‘jehad’ alive anywhere , every where in the world!