stone pelters ~ and the presence of mind of Major Gogoi

Paid Media often portrays a different picture !! eulogizing wrong people !!!

Hurriyat leader Naeem Khan has been suspended from the party after an India Today TV expose showed him admitting on camera that he had received funding from Pakistan to stoke unrest in Kashmir Valley. Not just Naeem Khan, Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani even suspended the National Front led by him from the separatist organisation. Khan has continued to allege that the sting video is 'doctored' and has been unavailable for comment after the India Today TV sting operation on May 15. In the India Today TV expose, separatists Khan and Farooq Dar alias Bitta Karate confessed to receiving money from Pakistan-based terror groups.

The Hurriyat called for an emergency meeting on Saturday and summoned Naeem Khan, seeking his clarification on the remark that had exposed the separatists and left the rank and file of the Hurriyat rattled. A spokesperson of the separatist group said, 'Using his special powers (according to Hurriyat constitution), Geelani on Saturday suspended the National Front from the basic membership of the Hurriyat Conference until the clarification of all the related issues comes to the fore.'

'Even though (Naeem) Khan has raised questions over the veracity of the said clip (aired by India Today TV), his membership will remain suspended and the suspension will come into force with immediate effect in Srinagar and PoK chapter of Hurriyat.  [source : http://www.dailymail.co.uk]

Tough situations warrant tough reactions, and dangerous situations often, if not always, merit daring actions. When Major Nitin Gogoi decided (and, mind you, it could not have been anything other than a split-second decision) to use a civilian as a “human shield” to protect his men from a stone-pelting mob, he was simply reacting to a tough situation in a dangerous environment.

That our jawans are exposed to these kind of dangers every day, not only at the precarious borders, but also within the so-called protected confines of the country, is something we all know. Unfortunately, however, most of us fail to appreciate the gravity of such a situation, or deliberately choose to ignore the perils associated with it, for the army personnel, of course, but, and perhaps even more importantly, for the nation at large. And when someone does try to understand the complexities of such a situation and chooses to follow a path less treaded, he or she is accused of being insensitive to the concerns of the ordinary people of the land, in gross violation of their human rights. Or condemned for taking a stand contrary to that of the majority.

Contrarian or not, my opinion on the Major Gogoi episode is clearly and unequivocally in favour of the officer, who only did what was absolutely correct, and possibly the only sane and logical course of action available to him, in the circumstances.  The Indian Army has honoured Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi of 53 Rashtriya Rifles who had tied a local youth in front of a jeep last month in Kashmir as a human shield to avoid attack from stone-pelters.

The Army has confirmed that he was awarded COAS (Chief of Army Staff) commendation for sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat during his recent visit to Jammu and Kashmir.

Major who tied Kashmiri civilian to jeep  is rightly given clean chit, Army brass believes he saved lives

Jai Hind, Jai Jawan !!

anything against Na Mo is right for some press

In what was highlighted at ‘Reality Vs Claims’ the Hindu of date pictorially covered the speech of a person – primarily because it was anti Narendra Modi.

Na Mo is anathema to The Hindu and some sections of the press and anything against him immediately qualifies as a fact and correct statement.

The report states that human rights activist Shabnam Hashmi  called for close scrutiny of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s claims, that his State is a ‘model for development’. Ms. Hashmi challenged the numbers presented in Mr. Modi’s campaigns

Every person and the person sure have the right to comment and hold opinion of their own ~ but to say that what is presented as official figure is incorrect and the person just because one is opposing Na Mo is factually correct betrays logic and clearly exposes the side where the newspaper is coloured

Sarna tribals protect wrong depiction of mother Mary

Here is a procession of women wearing red bordered white sarees protesting something… does the Nation want to know what it was ?

Two weeks ago a group of teenage girls from a village on the outskirts of Ranchi in Jharkhand achieved something that sportspersons with the best facilities and support in cities often aspire for but don’t always succeed. On July 13, the 18 tribal girls representing Yuwa India under-14 all-girls team were placed third among 10 teams playing for the Gasteiz Cup in Victoria Gasteiz in Spain. The girls — a majority of  them  played outside their village in Ormanjhi for the first time – immediately upon the announcement they ran into the dressing room and draped themselves in traditional sarees

They are the members of Sarna tribal community from Jharkhand.  To them, Lord Dharmesh is the most powerful and most important deity. He is responsible for the creation of the Universe  besides acting as  protector. The great one Dharmesh’s purity demands that he be offered sacrifices only of things that are white.

Back in their land they are protesting depiction of Mother Mary wearing a red border sari and holding Jesus Christ in a way tribal women of Jharkhand hold their babies, by tying them to a white cloth. [full report in Times of India and Indian Expresss]. A procession was taken out by the Sarna society against this statue on Monday. The statue was unveiled by Cardinal Telesphor P Toppo in a church at Singpur village in Dhurwa recently.

Dharmguru (priest) of Sarna society Bandhan Tigga said, "Anybody can wear a white sari with red border but making Mother Marry wear it seems to be a tactic to convert the Sarna tribals into Christianity. Mother Mary was a foreigner and showing her as a tribal woman is definitely not correct." The Sarnas worship Mother Nature or Maa Sarna. Tigga said the Christians are trying to establish Mother Mary as Maa Sarna to confuse the people of Sarna society. "Red border means a lot in Sarna dharm. Our women wear white sari with red border during auspicious times. If the idol of Mother Mary is shown in the getup of a tribal woman then 100 years from now people will think that Mother Mary was a tribal from Jharkhand," he said.

Sarna society is demanding the removal of that particular statue. Tigga said, "We do not want any kind of conflict between the two communities. All we want is that either the statue should be removed or the attire should be changed so that Mother Mary doesn't look like a tribal woman. If it is not done then we will intensify the protest."

Cardinal Telesphor P Toppo, is reportedly in Rome. Talks between church representatives and the Sarna faith have broken down and the Sarna elders have set August 24 as the deadline for their demand to be met. The statue shows a dark-complexioned Mary in a white saree with a red border, her hair in a bun and bangles around her wrists. She is carrying the infant Jesus on a sling, just as tribal woman do. Bandhan Tigga, dharmguru of Sarna society, said, "We have invited all the people of the Sarna religion from across the country to join us for a massive protest at Singpur on August 25. We are expecting lakhs of people, particularly from Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh andJharkhand, will turn up to join our protest."

There have been many such attempts in the past and the way things are now is well known to all of us, who chose to be silent all the time.

Thanks to Times of India and Indian Express for the reports.

Na Mo unites .... Indian legislators petition US... ?!?!?!?

Every  morning old and poor people gather before the State Secretariat – they come travelling miles – they carry a written petition representing their grievance and seek the Sovereign authority to redress their grievances.. perfect – in a democracy, one needs to present their woes before the appropriate authorities and can expect them to addressed and redressed…. But will somebody stand before the US Embassy or Russian embassy wanting to submit a petition ~ may sound ridiculous – only when they are ordinary citizens….

USA is anathema to many political parties especially the Communists here… to some most global events are consequence of US Imperialism, autocracy, monopolistic hegemony and more…. ‘anti-people attitude’ – we condemn, we condemn…… is the slogan raised in many such platforms. To almost all of them there is another anathema – ‘Narendra Modi’…….

The idea was to cause embarrassment to Narendra Modi in perpetuity. It ended up embarrassing those who tried to ensure that he does not get a US visa instead. The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) which campaigned for a letter from Indian lawmakers against Modi and supposedly obtained their signatures, real or cut-and-paste, surely has left a lot of MPs red faced according to this report in First Post.  The controversy around the current letter, bearing signatures of 25 Rajya Sabha members and 40 from the Lok Sabha, first sent to Obama on 26 November, then on 5 December last year and re-sent on Sunday is because of its content. It says: “We wish to respectfully urge you to maintain the current policy of denying Mr Modi a visa to the United States”.

Adding to their discomfiture is a Washington Post story which begins by saying: “It is almost unthinkable that Indian lawmakers would appeal to the United States to take a stand on an internal matter. Most Indian politicians, many of whom still nurse a Cold War-era suspicion of Washington, would bristle at the very thought of it.”

CPM leader and Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yechury immediately denied  that he signed on any such letter. He appeared to be at discomfort on being publicised as being a co-author of a letter that was addressed to the American President to respectfully urge him to intervene in a domestic political and legal issue. DMK MP KP Ramalingam followed Yechury in issuing a denial. “I have not signed any letter to the US regarding Narendra Modi’s visa. I am not a US Senator. I am a Rajya Sabha MP. Why would I interfere in their things,” he said. But then the man behind the campaign, Mohammed Adeeb, Independent Rajya Sabha member, claims that it was duly signed by Yechury and others. CPI MP Sayeed Aziz, too, claims that the signatures on the letter by Yechury and other leaders are authentic.

Many thanks to Firstpost for this newsitem and here is the one of Washington Post reproduced click here to read the original : Indian legislators petition US

NEW DELHI – It is almost unthinkable that Indian lawmakers would appeal to the United States to take a stand on an internal matter. Most Indian politicians, many of whom still nurse a Cold War-era suspicion of Washington, would bristle at the very thought of it. It couldn’t have been easy, then, for 65 members of India’s parliament to fax a letter to President Obama on Sunday requesting that his government not grant a visa to thecontroversial Hindu nationalist politician Narendra Modi, the chief minister of the state of Gujarat. The lawmakers had sent the same letter last year as well.

Modi is emerging as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s likely candidate for prime minister in the national elections next year. But he has been accused by international human rights groups of looking the other way when Hindu-Muslim religious violence paralyzed his state in 2002. Over 1,000 people died in the riots, most of them Muslims. After widespread criticism, the U.S. denied him a visa to visit in 2005.

Within India, Modi’s political stature has risen since the 2002 Gujarat violence. He’s seen as pro-business and his state hosts the factories of U.S. companies such as Ford and General Motors. At a time when the national government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is plagued by corruption allegations, Modi’s reputation for administrative efficiency is serving him well. He has not expressed regret for the riots and has said that the charges against him are politically motivated.

Many European nations have renewed ties with him.

Earlier this week, the president of Modi’s party, Rajnath Singh, told reporters in New York that he will urge Washington to reconsider the visa denial. That prompted the group of lawmakers who had earlier written Obama to once again send their letter, which they released to the Indian media on Tuesday.

“We wish to respectfully urge you to maintain the current policy of denying Mr. Modi a visa to the United States,” said the letter, signed by mostly Muslim lawmakers from several parties, including the ruling Congress Party. “Given that legal cases against the culprits including many senior officials in Mr. Modi’s administration are still pending in the court of law, any revoking of the ban at this juncture would be seen as a dismissal of the issues concerning Mr. Modi’s role in the horrific massacres of 2002. It would legitimize Mr. Modi’s human rights violations and seriously impact the nature of US-India relations by sending a message that the United States values economic interests over and above the universal values of human rights and justice.”

The Times Now television news channel ran a primetime debate on Tuesday titled, “Is it appropriate for Indian politicians to drag their fight with Modi to Washington’s court?”

Jay Narayan Vyas, a senior colleague of Modi in the Gujarat government, said it was like “washing dirty linen outside the country.”

“Please maintain national dignity, we are the largest democracy in the world,” said former diplomat Gopalaswami Parthasarathy

On Twitter, it fueled humor.

Sure it appears total contradiction of parties who claim on every platform that US interferes, meddles and forces its way into the affairs of every country… but they plead to the sovereign country going against the very principle that they campaign….

If they had signed without even caring to see to whom the petition was addressed or without reading the contents – the statement itself speak volumes of their action…..

If they had not signed or had their signatures been forged, it would only be appropriate that they institute legal action against those misusing their signature….

Will any of this happen ?