The Budget and the minorities (read Muslims) - The Economic Times, Mumbai, INDIA

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/The-Budget-and-the-minorities/articleshow/5756163.cms?curpg=1

The Budget and the minorities

By M Y KHAN

The minority community in India has, by and large, missed out on the fruits of the economy’s diversified growth, engaged as its members are, for the most part, in petty professions. Their problems - unemployment, under-employment, lack of education compatible with the profile of jobs available in the market - are not dissimilar to those of the majority.

The additional cause of distress in their case is paucity of those, entrenched in the system and able to offer patronage, based on caste, region, political favour, personal contacts, etc, which often determines who gets jobs in this country. Even the meritorious amongst the minorities have had to be disappointed, when they made efforts to get any good position in the government, discouraging subsequent generations to even try for such jobs.

Fortunately, the government has been, of late, trying to address the problem. Budget 2010-11 makes an effort in this regard, allocating Rs 2,600 crore for minority welfare. Some crib this is too little for a population of 18 crore, but that is not entirely justified. This paper draws upon a random survey covering nearly 400 poor and lower middle class Muslim households, staying in slums with poor infrastructure and amenities. About 25% of them send their children to non-Arabic government-aided and private schools and colleges and 35% send their children to Arabic Madrassas and remaining 40% are not interested in education. Many of them said that they send their children to Arabic madrassas only because these are cheap and the parents cannot afford tuition fees, clothes and transport for other schools.

Many students in Muslim schools and colleges come from poor parents working as labourer, carpenter, hawker, house servant, taxi drivers and petty jobbers, very few from middle class families. Minority parents are often unable to pay college fee. Adequate food and proper clothes are distant dreams for them. Freedom is far away for such people, irrespective of their caste and religion.

The Union government has shown concern about the above problems which have been reflected in the Union annual budgets. In the budget for 2010-11, the government has allocated Rs 2,600 crore for minority schemes. The most important are the prematric scholarship for minorities scheme (Rs 400 crore as against Rs 180 crore for 2009-10), post-matric scholarship (Rs 238.5 crore as against Rs.135 crore), multisectoral development (Rs 1,245 crore as against Rs 890 crore) and social security and welfare (Rs 140 crore as against Rs 130 crore).

It would be seen from the above figures that for minority communities with nearly 18 crore of population, a total outlay of Rs 2,600 crore will not be adequate. It can be used only selectively and as such a big portion of them warranting government help will have to be overlooked.

Many minority groups have shown displeasure on small outlay without understanding the far-reaching effects of this amount. This outlay will  work as useful seed money and the minority community should use it effectively. The community has to stand on its own feet and the government help can work as pace-setter. For instance, they should try to get benefits from other general schemes which have been framed by the government for all people. As a matter of fact, people in general and Muslims in particular, have very little awareness and knowledge of application of funds and financial assistance provided under other various schemes designed to help the poor.

It may be noted that minorities cannot solve their problems only by receiving government assistance. They should use it as foundation money and start their own training centres to upgrade skills and competitive capabilities. Nations and communities have progressed faster on their own efforts, hard work and sense of accountability towards their goals and deeds.

Today, India is a global centre and provides a number of opportunities for self-employment in the financial sector as well as in other segments of the economy. Muslims can set up employment bureaus in towns, cities and villages to spread awareness of employment opportunities and financial facilities available from banks, financial institutions and government. Advertisements with regard to vacancies should be available in the employment bureaus. The employment bureaus also should have details of minority unemployed youths and a good library that offers information on new industries and professions coming up. These bureaus need to provide details of various government schemes particularly pertaining to self-employment.

Muslims should not always hold government responsible for their poverty. At the same time, there should be a quantitative assessment and evaluation of implementation of schemes by the government in terms of financial as well as physical achievements.

(The author is former economic advisor to SEBI)

Terrorist fall-out of Israeli rigidity over Jerusalem By Sunanda K. Datta- Ray - Free Press Journal - Mumbai

http://www.freepressjournal.in/FPJ/FPJ/2010/04/03/ArticleHtmls/03_04_2010_005_027.shtml?Mode=1

Terrorist fall-out of Israeli rigidity over Jerusalem

BY SUNANDA K. DATTA-RAY

It looks as if Israel will again get away. The Palestinians will again be thwarted, which will mean more recruits for Al-Qaeda and intensification of Islamic militancy in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kashmir, Chechnya and in non-Islamic areas where jihadis have struck. The world may have to pay a high price for Israel's recalcitrance


The Moscow metro bombings are a warning of the intensified Islamist terrorist attacks that might be expected partly because of Israel's latest demonstration of rigidity. It bears noting, too, that Israeli forging of British, French and German passports to murder the Hamas leader, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in Dubai has incurred greater Western displeasure than the crime itself did. As long as such double standards prevail, Israel knows it can get away with literally and metaphorically murder.

Murder is not only of individuals. It is the murder of the Palestinian dream of a sovereign homeland, small and drained of all resources though it be, in the West Bank and Gaza with its capital in Jerusalem. Above all, it is the murder of the belief that Jews had drawn some worthwhile lessons from their centuries of wandering and terrible suffering at Hitler's hands. All that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appears to have learnt is that the successful victim emulates his oppressor.


Though now basking in the uncritical support of the US Congress, he must know that Congressional endorsement owes much to the persuasive funding power of American Zionists. The AntiDefamation League of Bnai B'rith constantly lobbies members of both Houses; and Fortune magazine once described the American Israel Public Affairs Committee as Washington's second most influential lobby. But the means probably interest Netanyahu less than the end, and the expectation is that no matter what President Barack Obama might have said at their recent one-on-one meeting in Washington, he will sooner or later quieten down and toe the line like his predecessors.


By all accounts the protracted discussion was a disaster. The usual trimmings of a state visit were cut out. No joint statement was issued. The two leaders were not photographed together, grinning or scowling. Even the public handshake that often goes on and on was omitted. Netanyahu's departure from America's shores was twice postponed, presumably because of hopes that extra time would allow something to be salvaged.


Next came Britain's decision to expel though couched more politely than that the head of the Intelligence services at Israel's embassy in London. This was retaliation for the 12 members of the Israeli hit team that murdered Mahmoud al-Mabhouh using forged (the preferred term is "cloned" because they were copies of genuine originals) British passports. Other Israeli assassins used similarly cloned French and German passports. They were all copied from the genuine passports of travellers at Israel's Ben Gurion airport. "Such misuse of British passports is intolerable" says Mr David Miliband, Britain's Foreign Secretary, warning that any British subject who visits Israel runs the risk of similar abuse. "The fact that this was done by a country which is a friend, with significant diplomatic, cultural, business and personal ties to the UK, only adds insult to injury." The wording of that not particularly harsh censure bears analysis. There is no condemnation of the murder. There is no reference to the heart of the matter Israel's refusal, despite the show of prolonged negotiations, to hand back conquered land that it has occupied for 43 years.


Miliband didn't even denounce the criminal act of forgery. All he asked in anguish was in effect "How can they do this to us?" Presumably, there would have been no cause for surprise or pain if Iran or Zambia or some other unfriendly country had cloned British passports. Presumably, too, there would have been no cause for complaint if Israel had cloned Iranian or Zambian passports.
Indignation arose because Miliband believed Israel had betrayed its special bond with Britain. That is not likely to worry Israel too much. Its operations to rescue Ethiopian Jews, kidnap former Nazis or destroy Iraq's nuclear capability demonstrate indifference to considerations of legality. It is convinced that survival justifies every action and that the European Union is hypocritical.


Also, the Israeli attitude to the surrounding Arabs is condescendingly European. Europe may have treated its Jews like vermin but that does not stop those Jews and their descendants from identifying with Europeans when it comes to Asians and Africans. There must also have been a special satisfaction for Israeli operatives in cloning German passports and masquerading as Germans.


The present controversy centres on Jerusalem. It makes sense for the ancient city, sacred to three of the world's great religions, to be joint capital of Israel and Palestine. But Israel wants all of Jerusalem, which reinforces the suspicion that it does not want an independent Palestine at all.
Even the moderate President Shimon Peres always wrote of a "Palestinian entity", never a "Palestinian state". The most Israel seems willing to concede is something like the "Bantustans" that apartheid South Africa created to cordon off its black population.


That view was further strengthened when Israel announced, while American Vice-President Biden was visiting the country, that it would build 1,600 more homes for Jews in Arab East Jerusalem.
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton called the decision an "insult to the US" that deliberately sabotaged American efforts to restart the stalled peace negotiations. Mrs Clinton had not forgotten that during his previous tenure as prime minister, Netanyahu did everything possible to extend Jewish settlements in the West Bank, consolidate Israel's military control and obstruct the peace process. The question now is not whether Britain is piqued but whether Israel can afford to antagonize the US which is its main diplomatic and financial supporter and arms supplier. Israel would not exist without heavy US backing. But a strategist like Netanyahu also knows that Israel's strongest card is the American Zionist lobby. Going back in history, Fraklin Delano Roosevelt promised King Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia an independent Palestinian homeland. But when he died suddenly, the new president, Harry S. Truman, bluntly told State Department officials that he had to answer to hundreds of thousands of people who were anxious for the success of Zionism but did not have hundreds of thousands of Arabs among his constituents.
Netanyahu's far-right ruling coalition would collapse if he yields to American pressure. He might be able to put together another coalition with the centrist Kadina Party, but that would not be to his liking. Moreover, he knows that with the mid-term Congressional elections due in November, Obama might find his hand forced by his Democratic supporters who fear that the powerful Zionist lobby mentioned earlier will finance their Republican opponents. 


Netanyahu has an external card too: he can attack Iran's nuclear facilities. The Americans have built up the Iranian bogey and whatever Mr Obama's feelings, he can hardly criticize an attack too much in public.


So it looks as if Israel will again get away with its gamble. The Palestinians will again be thwarted, which will mean more recruits for Al-Qaeda and further intensification of Islamic militancy in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kashmir, Chechnya and in non-Islamic areas (New York, London, Madrid, Moscow) where jihadis have struck. The world may have to pay a high price for Israel's recalcitrance.

A PAKISTANI GIRL WRITES ABOUT HER FRIENDSHIP WITH AN INDIAN GIRL: MARIA'S BLOG: 'BEING BEST FRIENDS WITH THE ENEMY'

A PAKISTANI GIRL WRITES ABOUT HER FRIENDSHIP WITH AN INDIAN GIRL:

MARIA'S BLOG: 'BEING BEST FRIENDS WITH THE ENEMY'


"The souls are (like) an army joined (in the world of spirits) whichever souls knew each other (in that world) are attracted towards each other (in this world) and whichever remained distant and indifferent (there) are disinterested to each other (in this world)."


A friend emailed me this saying by Prophet Mohammad which absolutely fascinated me. I have always wondered why one feels an almost instantaneous attraction to certain strangers in the madding throng of human beings. How people find their "soul-mates" unexpectedly through the most random coincidences.
What would the pre-existence world to be like? Kant rejects the possibility of knowledge regarding metaphysics, asserting that without both understanding and sensibility you cannot have knowledge of the Transcendent. I admit that without sensibility, I find it very difficult to conceive of a metaphysical realm of wandering souls. Even my wildest imagination (read: understanding in Kantian terms) betrays me as my mind, effectively regimented by images from Hollywood ghost flicks, does a hackneyed job of picturing a world that possibly existed before time.
This place was a bleak expanse of space where souls drifted towards and away from each other. These peripatetic "entities" searched for similar souls, in order to communicate, to commune, to find missing parts of themselves in other spirits. And it was in this space- bereft of borders and demarcations that my lost soul met Sushmita Bose. Her liberal dispensation was reflected in her amorphous shape. Unfettered by a rigid "form", she appeared a tad more ethereal than the rest of the souls. She looked at me. My capricious spirit was drawn to her. I guess I figured she was a bit crazy like me....
However, I met Ms. Bose on this planet under radically different circumstances. I was introduced to her by my line manager (LM) on her first day at work in Khaleej Times (KT), which was roughly three days after I had started working there. She was a petite Indian, dressed in black capri pants and a casual oversized t-shirt. "Hi, I am Sushmita. I just came from the airport!" she said confidently, as she shook my hand.
A couple of days later, I found her chatting with my LM in the pantry.  As I poured water in a Styrofoam cup, I noticed her smiling at me. I responded with a courteous smile but soon observed that she was checking me out. Discomfited by her scrutiny, I awkwardly gulped down the water in one sip and scurried away from the pantry. I jumped to the conclusion that the new Features Editor of KT had a serious staring problem.
A day or two later, I found Ms. Bose in the pantry again. She appeared comfortable and garrulous in the company of old-time Indian employees of Khaleej Times. Wow, these Indians seem to flock together... she just came and look she has fitted in with them, I thought. I was hit by an odd pang of loneliness. Although there were many Pakistanis in the office, I could not imagine hanging out with even one of them. They were just not my type.
A few weeks passed and I capitulated to my innate laziness by deciding to come to office by noon instead of coming early in the morning as I initially did. The company car would pick me up from my apartment in Bur Dubai by 11 a.m. along with Ms. Bose, who was temporarily lodging at Ramada Hotel in the vicinity. During our daily journey through the traffic-clogged Sheikh Zayed Road to our office in the dusty locale of Al-Quoz, we chatted about various topics: politics, Indo-Pak rivalry, Dubai, UAE, work, past professions, our lives back home etc. Yet I always hesitated in expressing myself with candour. Convinced that Sushmita had much more in common with her fellow countrymen/women, I was sure that she did not want to genuinely befriend me. I thought that for her, an Indian, I would always be the "other" -- a girl from the wrong neighbourhood, who was good for random chit-chat but not worth getting close to.
But my perception soon changed. One day, during our routine car journey to work, we happened to talk about India's development. "Well at least your country has done better than mine! It is developing quite fast," I commented cautiously. But to my surprise, she completely bulldozed over the premature pillar of political correctness that I had just erected in our nascent friendship. "What nonsense! This India Shining is such a myth. India's development has benefited only a minority," she strongly asserted. She went on to passionately speak about the contradictions of economic development in her country while I listened intently. So she was not the I-love-my-Incredible-India, Pakistan-is-my-personal-enemy and Kashmir-is-ours-Jai-Hind sort, I thought with relief. In fact, she was the antithesis of it. She was perspicacious and intelligent; with an incisive wit and a great capacity for critical self-reflection.
Later on, I realized that Ms. Bose was as further away from political correctness as one could be. One day after failing to communicate properly with a Malayali designer at work, I turned to her to vent my frustration. "They don't know English and their language is so strange!" I whined. But I regretted saying those words the second I blurted them out. After all Sushmita, too, was an Indian. I feared that she would dislike the failure to culturally cope up with her compatriots. But again, she surprised me. "Yes their language is quite a tongue twister!" she remarked and then babbled some gibberish to mimic the Malayalam language. I laughed, relieved to find out that she was actually a cool person without any hang-ups.
So this was how a strong camaraderie, which barely witnessed a day's break in nine months, was established between a girl from Lahore and a chick from Delhi. This is how two women from opposite sides of the Indo-Pak border, stuck in the lonely city of Dubai without their better halves, mutually sought comfort in gossip, conversation and cinema.
One reason why we clicked so well was because we hated and liked the same people, regardless of their nationality. And we both were indifferent to attempts by fellow countrymen/women to befriend us by using the trite nationality card. She was warned by a certain Indian at our workplace not to "trust Pakis" while a Bangladeshi photographer tried to find common ground with her on the basis of their common Bengali heritage. Similarly, lecherous Pakistani men at work often approached me with the not-so tempting proposition of a ‘friendship'.
As we eschewed membership in ad-hoc national and ethnic fraternities/sororities at work, we both realized something deeply important: nationality is irrelevant in determining the potential for a meaningful friendship. The horizon of genuine friendship lies far beyond a few common denominators of nationality, skin colour, language and ethnicity.
Nevertheless, I am utterly averse to the rather contrived notion that Indians and Pakistanis "are the same people" who were separated by evil ploys of native politicians in collusion with the British decades ago. I and Sushmita are not the same people; we are in fact radically different individuals coming from distinct worlds. But the disparity between our backgrounds has given us the opportunity to learn, adopt and adapt to each other's cultural baggage. She introduced me to Bengali cinema and I got her hooked onto Pakistani food. She educated me on journalism in Delhi and I enlightened her on political Islam in Pakistan.
Plus, the institution of friendship -- which is supposed to make us evolve into more open, tolerant individuals -- would be quite meaningless if it was bereft of debate and discussion. Hence, I feel that the repartee of arguments and counter-arguments that we engage in while shopping for groceries at Spinneys, dodging fast cars on Mankhool road and "chilling out" over weekends have helped us evolve into more considerate human beings. Ms Bose in many ways is like Nietzsche's dream-child; she is liberal, agnostic and westernized. I, on the other hand, have a bit of everything - liberalism, conservatism, religiosity -- in me. Our ideas clash, ever so often, but our minds have always been receptive to divergent views. And therefore we have found a middle-ground of sorts; she often, albeit sheepishly, asks me pray for her while I have become far less judgmental than I used to be.
Back at home in Pakistan, India possesses the paradoxical status of the enemy state as well as the culturally similar neighbour.  Ironically enough, in the neutral multi-cultural setting of Dubai, Sushmita, my purported Indian "enemy" lives only two buildings away from me! And yet, my "neighbor-foe" is also my best friend.  The contradiction inherent in these multiple categories -- this simultaneous dynamic of negative and positive, of repulsion and attraction -- shows that national and religious classifications based on difference fail to capture the complexity of human relationships.
So now I feel the need to actively assert my character as an individual in a global environment, instead of merely relying on religious and national denominations to define myself. Yes, I am a Pakistan and a Muslim. But I am also an avid cheese-cake lover; I believe that my obsession with soft mounds of cream cheese layered on crisp biscuit crust constitutes an integral part of my personality. And for me, Sushmita is an Indian, an agnostic and a Woody Allen movie fan. Our views on religion collide head-on, and our national identities seemingly contradict. Nevertheless, my cheese-cake mania and her love for Woody Allen movies gel seamlessly together. (Toss in two cups of Darjeeling tea and the combination is surely a sinful treat!)
And this is how I and Sushmita connect as individuals; as people who like Hollywood classics and calorific sweets. And as people who miss home and try to recreate it together in Dubai. And although it seems too soon for our friendship to be relegated to the virtual world of e-mail and chat messages, I have a strange gut feeling that we will soon meet again...
She prepared to exit the world of souls.  I asked her where she was going.
"To the other place," she replied.
"Will I ever see you again?" I asked her in a dejected tone.
She smiled mysteriously.
"We will meet again in the other world. But it will be different from this one; it will be a fragmented world. There will be territories, borders and partitions. And other people will try to determine who we are and where we go..but you and I will still find each other just like we did in this place.."
After uttering those words, she vanished.

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GORDON DUFF: TERRORISM, ALWAYS SUSPECT A “FALSE FLAG” FIRST - From Veterans Today

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/03/29/gordon-duff-terrorism-always-suspect-a-false-flag-first/

GORDON DUFF: TERRORISM, ALWAYS SUSPECT A “FALSE FLAG” FIRST

March 29, 2010 by Gordon Duff · 34 Comments 

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ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER COSSIGA

REAL TERRORISTS ARE RARE AND USUALLY EASILY CAUGHT

ALWAYS ASK: “WHO GAINS FROM THIS?

By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor

Every time there is a terrorist attack, the nations blamed say that it was a “false flag” operation. This is what America did to cover up My Lai. We were lying. Germans claimed Poland invaded Germany in 1939. An educated guess is that 75% of terrorist attacks we hear of were staged, never happened or were done by “radical groups” that were first infiltrated, then controlled and eventually financed and supplied by intelligence agencies. Intelligence agencies are, in actuality, the biggest terrorist organizations in the world. The CIA has blown up more buses, airplanes and markets than any almost anyone else. The Mossad may be number one, followed by, well, everyone, the RAW, ISI, MI-6, IRA and dozens of others.

Either directly or through idiots, clones (operatives using false identity to look like “terrorists”) or through simply doing it themselves, these groups promote national policy by destabilizing nations, swinging elections or defaming religious, national or political groups by staging attacks and using the press to place the blame. The popular video game Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 even has a terrorist attack on a transportation center in Moscow built into it, a “false flag” attack. Today, the real thing happened.

MOSCOW "FALSE FLAG" ATTACK IN VIDEO GAME

FRANCESCO COSSIGA, FORMER PRIME MINISTER, PRESIDENT AND MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR OF ITALY SPILLS HIS GUTS

With communism threatening to overrun Europe, NATO set up terrorist groups under Operation Gladio (short sword) to act as guerrilla armies in case Europe was overrun. As this became less and less likely, intelligence services began using the terrorist groups meant to fight Russia to manipulate politics in Europe through terrorist acts, such as bombings. We wouldn’t know the details if Cossiga, one of the planners of Operation Gladio, hadn’t spilled his guts about this and other “false flag” operations in Europe and elsewhere. This is what Cassiga told Robert Maroni, Italian Minister of the Interior about methods employed to control civil protests in Italy: 

“Maroni should do what I did when I was Minister of the Interior.

“University students? … infiltrate them with agents provocateurs … and let the agents provocateurs devastate shops, set fire to cars and put cities to the sword for ten days.

“Then, having won the sympathy of the public … the police should pitilessly beat the shit out of protesters and send them all to hospital. “ 

One of the operational leaders of Operation Gladio, representing NATO with the CIA, was Vincezo Vinciguerra who stated under oath: 

 “You had to attack civilians, the people, women, children, innocent people, unknown people far removed from any political game. The reason was quite simple. They were supposed to force these people, the Italian public, to turn to the state to ask for greater security. This is the political logic that lies behind all the massacres and the bombings which remain unpunished, because the state cannot convict itself or declare itself responsible for what happened.”

When the Italian parliament investigated, a number of allegations arose. It seemed that one of the Gladio operations was a train bombing in Bologna in 1980 which killed 85 people. This was supported by both physical evidence and significant testimony. It was also discovered that “Palestinian terrorists” operating in Europe including Abu Nidal were working for the CIA and Mossad. Investigations by the Italian parliament reported the following about Stefano delle Ciaie.

A neo-fascist group tied to extremist Masonic lodges in Italy had formed a political action cell called “P2.” Though none of this was reported in the US, this group, tied directly to NATO intelligence services was linked to terrorist acts throughout Europe and even in South America. The report reads as follows:

“In December 1985 magistrates in Bologna issued 16 arrest warrants, including at least three to P-2 members, accusing members of the Italian intelligence service SISMI of first planning and then covering up the Bologna bombing. One of these 16 was P-2’s leader Licio Gelli, who had spent most of the post-war years in Argentina. A small group of anarchists, penetrated by delle Chiaie’s man Mario Merlino, were blamed at first for the Piazza Fontana bombing, even though Sismi knew within six days that delle Chiaie was responsible, and Merlino had planted the bomb.”  

THE “BUZZ WORDS” OF MURDER

We now use terms like “Low Intensity Conflict” and “Surrogacy Warfare” to describe terrorism operated by governments against either foreign governments or, more often, their own people. Most “false flag” attacks are used to influence elections or to push through “Patriot Act” and “FISA” type legislation or to justify acts like the invasion of Iraq. Control of both the press and any potential investigation makes such operations a mainstream effort of national policy, so commonplace that those who work in intelligence or at the highest levels of law enforcement automatically write off major terrorism incidents as staged.

In Vietnam, Operation Phoenix was terrorism, meant to kill civilian “communists” including doctors, nurses, teachers and even religious leaders. We ran similar programs in Central America for years, killing thousands, nuns, reporters, union leaders and moderate politicians we were afraid would eventually join with communists. It was a horrible embarrassment to the CIA that the “communist dictatorship” in Nicaragua was voted out of office in an open election they sponsored. We had been running death squads throughout that country from our bases on Honduras for years.

Similar operations have been staged all over the world, from Chile to Korea to Indonesia, the Philippines and the United States. Half the bombings during the 60s and 70s were planned or influenced by “informants” or “agent provocateurs” as described by Cossiga. The massive infiltration of the militia movements of the 80s and 90s brings the Oklahoma City bombing into question.

EVERY DAY, ALL OVER THE WORLD

If a train or bus blows up in London, it is best to look at who is visiting, what political party is going to gain or what scandal needs to be pushed off the front page. In India, the Mumbai attacks, blamed on Pakistan, did nothing for Pakistan. Who gained? Israel gained as did India, gained massively. When a school is blown up in Pakistan and blamed on the Taliban, Pakistan doesn’t believe the Taliban had anything to do with it. When Iran is attacked from Balochistan, it knows nobody in Balochistan planned the attack.

Yes, there are real terrorists, people without hope who are pushed to extremism through exploitation, often by religious fanatics or hucksters. For every Maddrassa in Pakistan, there is a church in the US, perhaps ten, advocating beliefs that can lead nowhere but to violence.

BREEDING TERRORISM AT HOME

Radicals within the United States have always been a serious problem. A good analytical tool is the simple public poll. It reveals how gullible a population is and how easy they would be to fool. The primary groundwork for terrorism is control of the press and the molding of public opinion. With foreign governments with highly suspect intelligence agencies infiltrating the press, as they have in the United States, there is little doubt that providing cover for “false flag” terrorism is in the cards.

Reservations for Muslims in government employment and education in India By Ghulam Muhammed

Reservations for Muslims in government employment and education in India

Indian Constitution debars reservation on the basis of religion and caste. But the key word is ONLY. Reservation cannot be on the basis of only religion or only caste. If caste is identified with poverty, that becomes an acceptable proposition for reservation. In the same manner, if religion is either matched with caste or with poverty, that combination becomes acceptable. In as much as in Islam, there is no caste provision as Manu has laid down for Hindus, the only combination that will pass the legal muster, is religion plus poverty. Some Leftist groups have been making a career out of proving and imposing caste in Islam, under the pretext, that that combination will make Muslims eligible for constitutional provision for reservation. They have never come out sympathising with Muslims as a section of our citizenship that suffers from acute poverty, for reasons galore. The Supreme Court had after 63 years woken up to permit Andhra State proposal for 4% reservation to Muslim with only double disabilities: lower caste identified with menial professions as well as poverty. The need is to call for reservation for Muslim on the basis of poverty and backwardness. That will save them from the bureaucratic hassles of running around government offices and go through the corruption ridden system of granting caste certificate by bribing the officials and becoming part of the criminalising process of all state governance. That will further protect them from the Machiavellian strategies by the so called Left Liberals writers to divide Muslim community into castes and keep options for further scope for divide and discord or at worst assimilation into Hindu caste system itself.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai 

http://www.freepressjournal.in/FPJ/FPJ/2010/03/31/ArticleHtmls/31_03_2010_005_014.shtml?Mode=1

Constitution, Quotas and Courts

BY RAJINDER PURI There should be no surprise if Muslims get reservation quotas. The belief that the Constitution debarred reservation on the basis of religion was demolished earlier when the Supreme Court upheld reservation on the basis of caste in its judgment in the Mandal Case delivered on November 16, 1992. The Supreme Court allowed the government to subvert the spirit of the Constitution and grant reservation on the basis of caste. Now, how can it deny reservation on the basis of religion? Article 16(2) of the Constitution states: "No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any one of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State." This appears explicit enough in debarring reservation on the basis of religion or caste. However, there is a catch. The article debars discrimination on the basis of "only" religion or caste. Other qualifications added to religion or caste would allow reservation because these would then cease to be "only" religion or caste! Article 16(4) of the Constitution states: "Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State." So what did the Mandal Commission do? It utilized Article 16 (4) of the Constitution to create caste-based reservation. To identify backward classes the Mandal Commission assigned weight to various criteria to define backwardness. It gave many points to caste and very few points to economic status. Abracadabra! Certain castes became "backward classes". Reservation doors became open not only for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes but for any caste that could wield sufficient political clout to influence the politicians of any state. In the opinion of the Honourable Supreme Court does this conform to the spirit of the Constitution? If it does, then surely it should be possible for, say the Jats of Haryana, to one day obtain reservation by conforming to the Constitution. They too can be made backward. After all their cousins, the Yadavs, who are forward in Haryana, are backward in Uttar Pradesh. Why can't the Jats be forward in Uttar Pradesh and backward in Haryana? Given this background the Ranganath Mishra Report's proposal to grant reservation rights to Muslims should encounter no Constitutional impediment. The Supreme Court had cleared all the roadblocks. It is for people and for Supreme Court judges to consider whether the spirit of the Constitution is being upheld or not. The judges must introspect and decide for themselves whether their past judgments conformed to the spirit of the Constitution or were influenced by the prevailing political atmosphere. After the majority judgment (4:3) in the Mandal Case of 1992 eminent jurist late Nani Palkhiwala said: "Future historians of the Indian republic will regard 1992 as one of the saddest years in the history of our jurisprudence. This is the year in which the Supreme Court, by a majority continued, virtually in perpetuity, the scourge of casteism." Palkhiwala himself seemed to have had little doubt that the judges were influenced by the prevailing political atmosphere that overrode legal constraints. When Rajhbhoj, the MP from Pune, approached Palkhiwala to take up the case of minority religion Dalit members, Palkhiwala told him: "Bring 10 Lakh Dalits outside the Supreme Court when the case comes up, and I will get you your reservation!" That remark did not reflect a particularly high opinion about the Supreme Court's objectivity.As demands for reservation continue to mount unchecked, it is for the judges to consider whether the Supreme Court's past judgments on the quota issue were justified. If not, the Supreme Court must take steps to rectify the error. They would be serving the interests of the Supreme Court as well as of the nation.