The statue of unity comes at who's cost?

Would Sardar Patel in who's image Narendra Modi is trying to sell himself have approved of these high handed anti-democratic actions?
ATTACK ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS & PROTESTORS

Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti

Press Release

Date: 31 October 2013, 6.30 a.m.

• Gujarat Government cracks down on right to freedom of expression.

• Activist and villagers detained and house arrests in the wee hours of the morning of October 31 2013. Police have actually entered into over two dozen villages to terrorise villager protestors.

• Gujarat Government stiffles the Voice of Tribals and Activists who want to protest his Visit . If they speak out in Gujarat, they must go to jai., at Kevadia.

On 30 October 2013, we 4 activists, Rohit Prajapati, Trupti Shah, Amrish Brahmbhatta, Sudhir Biniwale, were put under house arrest by Rajpipal police even before they had reached the venue of the protest.

They were followed by police vehicles right form Devalia chokadi when they were travailing from Vadodara to Rajpipala. When they reached the destination at Rajapiala there are as standing guards out side the place as if they are criminals. No policemen talked with them why they are doing so, what are the charges against them.

Meanwhile our activists and villagers from more than 7 villages are being pulled out and detained from their homes by the police, again without pressing any formal charges. At midnight our activist Lakhan Musafir, Dhirendra Soneji, Dipen Desai, Rameshbhai Tadvi from Indravarna village, Shaileshbai Tadvi form Vagadia village, Vikrambhai Tadvi and 2 others fromm Kevadia and other villagers were detained illegally to create atmosphere of terror inside villages to prevent planned well-announced peaceful hunger strike in villages.

As we are writing this at 6 a.m. on 31st morning so far we know at least 10 people from 5 villages are detained and taken to various police stations.

We fear further more police action shortly. This press release is to communicate that we activist and villagers had only announced symbolic protest in our own houses by staging a day long hunger strike. Note, we were not to assemble at any public place or sit on dharana at any public place. The sit in protest is in our own homes and is aimed at protecting our land, forest, livelihood, river, (jan ,jangal jamin, nadi, janavar).

The motive behind is the crackdown is to "clear the scene" for the proposed visit of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi who is scheduled to preside over a program for his plans for what he called the world’s largest statue, ‘The statue of Unity’. Ironically, in a hasty and callous bid to deny our right to democratic protest --against the seizure of our lands and resources ---we have also been denied the fundamental right to express our rights even in our own home.

The statue of unity comes at who's cost? Would Sardar Patel in who's image Narendra Modi is trying to sell himself have approved of these high handed anti-democratic actions?

Rohit Prajapati Swati Desai

For More details Rohit Prajapati © 9426977940, Trupti Shah © 9427937162, Dipen Desai © 9427922.46

Rohit Prajapati / Trupti Shah
37, Patrakar Colony, Tandalja Road,
Post-Akota, Vadodara - 390 020
GUJARAT, INDIA
Phone No. (O) + 91 - 265 - 2320399
Email No: rohit.prajapati@gmail.com

Need to understand difference between communalism and fascism

Today i bring to you a thoughtful article By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net

A few days after Eid-ul-Fitr, which fell on August 9 in India, rediff.com did a story claiming that a top Muslim cleric somewhat linked with Deoband met the Gujarat chief minister and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, in the month of Ramazan. The story did not disclose the name of the Muslim leader.

Two months later just on eve of Eid-ul-Azha Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind chief Mehmood Madani, while speaking at a conference on the demand of reservations for Muslims in Jaipur, attacked the Congress accusing it of stoking communal fears in order to gain Muslim votes. He also blamed some regional parties for adopting the same policy and said that they are spreading fears about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi unnecessarily in order to gain votes.

That was not enough. He was approached by a number of journalists to whom he told the Congress cannot scare Muslims to get votes from them. They will have to win votes on the basis of performance and promise.

Mahmood Madani is more of a politician
 than a religious leader.

“I can say with confidence that the Congress government in Rajasthan has killed Muslims in cold blood,” he was quoted as saying. He directly held Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot responsible for it and urged Muslims not to be afraid of BJP.

His remarks were widely welcomed by BJP leaders, for example, Meenakshi Lekhi and Prakash Jawadkar.

Whether the rediff.com story was right or not the two quick developments have made it clear that some Muslim ulema––if not the non-ulema––have developed a soft corner for the BJP, especially the Gujarat Chief Minister. A couple of years back Maulana Ghulam Vastanvi too expressed somewhat similar view, which created storm.

A year later on the eve of Gujarat Assembly election he changed his stand only to be strongly criticized by the same BJP, which had earlier praised him to the sky.

But Madani’s case is even more curious. Just a couple of days after his Jaipur remarks came a statement from him that he did not say that Congress is fanning fears about Narendra Modi to secure Muslim votes. But then Madani has made flip-flop in the past too.

There is absolutely no problem in holding a particular view and expressing it. But there should be consistency––be it the case of Vastanvi or Madani or anyone else.

What they fail to understand is the difference between communalism and fascism. Any political party or individual––be it Hindu, Muslim, Sikh Christian––can be communal. In fact the word communal does not mean what we understand in India. In English communal means something social. It is in India that it suggests something negative and hatred for other community, which is no doubt wrong.

Communal riots––as we define––can take place anywhere in India or any other country. Minorities are targeted in Muslim and Christian countries too and the perpetrators deserve strongest condemnation for the crime as their counterparts deserve in India.

Yes, we can hold the state governments of UP, Rajasthan, Assam or anywhere else responsible for the communal violence. But the problem arises when the state openly becomes a party as, according to all the media reports, it happened in Gujarat in 2002. It is here that communalists’ acquire fascist tendency. This is much more dangerous.

During Emergency the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was accused of acquiring fascist tendency. She lost the election in 1977 and later realized her mistakes. Incidentally, when the Congress was strong––and had acquired somewhat fascist tendency––Madani’s family was strongly with it. Be it the horrendous riots of 1980s (Moradabad, Meerut, Aligarh etc) or the heydays of movement against Babri Masjid Jamiat’s proclivity towards the Congress is a known fact.

It was only when the Congress party became weak and more open to criticism that Madani, a former Rajya Sabha MP, has started criticizing it. It would be exaggeration to blame only the Congress for raking up the ghost of Gujarat of 2002. People remotely associated with it––not only Muslims––often raise 2002 and 1984 as they were somewhat different.

Madani may have certain political and personal compulsions. But he must not drag the community into it.

--

Soroor Ahmed is a Patna-based freelance journalist. He writes on political, social, national and international issues. His past columns here http://twocircles.net/Columnists/soroor_ahmed.html

When it comes to corruption, some are more equal than others

By Faraz Ahmad

Lalu Prasad

The day a CBI court in Ranchi convicted Lalu Prasad of fodder scam (September 30), the Supreme Court set aside the decision of the Karnataka government to replace its public prosecutor G Bhawani Singh in the Disproportionate Assets case against Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha, an Iyengar Brahmin, which when read with the recent judgements of the apex court and its subordinate courts, singularly targeting OBC leader Lalu Prasad and a Muslim politician Rasheed Masood, widely known for his financial integrity, forces us to reiterate that justice should not just be done but seen to have been done as well.

The Congress government in Karnataka through its notification of August 26 withdrew the appointment of G Bhavani Singh as the Public prosecutor, whom the outgoing BJP government in Karnataka had appointed evidently in a gesture of reciprocity for Jayalalitha’s softness towards not just the BJP but its PM candidate Narendra Modi, though at the time of Bhawani Singh’s appointment Modi had note bared fully his PM ambition. But Jaya has enjoyed a comfort level with Modi for long.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi greets Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha during his oath taking ceremony at Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, December 26, 2012.[Photo courtsey: India Today

The Supreme Court described the notification as “malafide” even while acknowledging that, “Though there is an undoubted power with the government to withdraw or revoke the appointment…but that exercise of power appears to be vitiated in the present case by malafides in law inasmuch as it is apparent on record that the switch over of the government in between has resulted in a sudden change of opinion…,” held the bench of Justices B S Chauhan and S A Bobde.

The Karnataka government pointed out to the learned judges that this appointment was tainted since his name was not among the list of lawyers deemed suitable for prosecuting the 1996 Disproportionate Assets case against Jayalalitha relating to assets worth Rs 66.65 crores over and above her accountable sources of income. The state government also pointed out that Bhawani Singh was appointed without proper consultations by the previous government. The trial is currently underway in Bangalore, where it was shifted from Chennai by the Supreme Court in 2003 after apprehending that as the chief minister of the state (2001-6) she could influence its proceedings, following the fears expressed by the prosecuting agencies. Significantly the previous BJP government appointed Bhawani Singh in February, 2013 days before the Karnataka assembly elections were announced when the BJP’s ouster from power looked near certain.

Rasheed Masood

And yet the Bench closed its eyes to the quid pro quo. Instead it found the reason put forth by the Government of Karnataka for removing Singh as SPP rather “unusual.” The bench agreed that “It might be true that his name was not in the list of four names submitted by the government to the then Acting Chief Justice of the High Court and the name originated from the Acting Chief Justice, prior to making of appointment of SPP by the Government of Karnataka; But it was equally true that the appointment was made by the government without questioning the ability or suitability of the incumbent, nor the government raised any issue in respect of the manner/issue of consultation. Apart from this, the appointment continued un-objected for almost seven months.” So if a wrong has persisted, even in Supreme Court’s eyes, the government has no business to set it right and any attempt to do that will be quashed by the learned judges by a sleight of hand. Is that just?

Anyway now the apex court has given the Tamil Nadu chief minister a sham of prosecutor of her choice, who will hopefully make a hash of the 17 year old DA case against her. It won’t be long, perhaps before the next general elections will be over, that the collusion between the BJP and the prosecution agencies will see Jayalalitha acquitted of all corruption charges ready to support a BJP-led government at the Centre.

For all you know after this she may even join the NDA alliance before the 2014 elections. That will really boost Modi’s morale. It is worth recalling that in 1998 Jayalalitha had supported the government of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the unstated condition of withdrawing corruption cases against her like the TANSI case, in which she was even convicted and consequently disqualified, though she managed to get the lower court order overturned by Madras High Court.

Jayalalitha extracted from Vajpayee the Revenue portfolio for her chosen Chartered Accountant political factotum R K Kumar to control the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), banking on Kumar to weaken the pending prosecution against her and fix P Chidambaram then a leader of the Tamil Maanila Congress, whose names figured in the 'Indian Bank scam'. Such is Jayalalitha to whose rescue the Supreme Court rushed yesterday.

Contrast this with Lalu Yadav, who was forced into Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi by CBI judge Pravas Kumar Singh. Singh is related to JD-U leader and Bihar Education Minister P K Shahi, a direct political rival of Lalu and his party the RJD. Lalu appealed first in the Jharkhand High Court and then when he got no relief there, in the Supreme Court that he feared the political rivalry may vitiate the judgment against him. The apex court too dismissed his plea without commenting whether the facts produced by Lalu about the judge were correct or cooked up. This was an open and shut case because on June 26 P K Shahi admitted to ‘The Telegraph’ that Pravas Kumar Singh was “distantly” related to him. Yet Lalu was convicted in the court’s own phraseology on “umbrella charges,” implying that though there may not be any direct evidence of Lalu having shared the loot committed by Animal Husbandry Department officials of Rs 37.7 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in the name of buying fodder for the cattle during the annual flood season. This loot had been going on for years and presumably is still in practice, because no one can possibly keep a count, but Lalu is “chara chor.” And of the Rs 900 crore fodder scam, the CBI after years of painstaking investigations by a whole lot of pro-BJP fellows like Joginder Singh and U N Biswas finally charge-sheeted him during the NDA government in the year 2000 for disproportionate assets worth Rs 42 lakhs. But Lalu is chara chor and deserves to go to jail, he is to be disenfranchised.

There is another gentleman a well known Muslim leader from Saharanpur whom Chaudhry Charan Singh groomed and patronized, Rasheed Masood. A day later he too was sent to Tihar jail by CBI judge J P S Malik for seven years and his Rajya Sabha membership forfeited for allegedly nominating undeserving candidates to MBBS seats in 1990-91. Masood, widely known for his financial integrity was briefly the Health Minister in V P Singh’s National Front government.

The story goes that the then Resident Commissioner of Tripura Gurdial Singh, a former IPS officer, and a retired IAS official Amal Kumar Roy, the then secretary of Tripura Chief Minister Sudhir Ranjan Majumdar nominated nine students from UP in the Central quota to MBBS seats in 1990-91 and one of them also happened to be Rasheed’s nephew. Rasheed claims he had neither signed nor recommended his nephew’s name. Yet if Gurdial Singh and Amal Kumar Roy committed some misdeamenour, then surely Rasheed has to pay the price. Whatever be the case Rasheed’s nephew got nominated to the Tripura Medical College in Central quota. What about Kiran Bedi? The first lady IPS officer and current crusader against corruption was then serving in Arunchal Pradesh. There used to be (I dont know if it still is) one seat in Maulana Azad Medical College here in Delhi for students of North-East and in that quota, just because she was serving a temporary posting in North East, she got her daughter a bona fide citizen of Delhi, admitted here. That year no child from North East got admission in Maulana Azad Medical College, for Kiran Bedi’s daughter usurped the seat. But Kiran Bedi is the crusader against corruption and Rasheed Masood is corrupt. That’s what our system and judiciary have pronounced, reminding me again of an Urdu couplet: “Wo qatl bhi karte hain to charcha nahin hota; hum aah bhi karte hain to ho jate hain badnam.”

--

Faraz Ahmad is a Freelance journalist with past association with several national dailies.

Schedule for Assembly polls in Ch’garh, MP, Rajasthan, Delhi & Mizoram announced

Oct 4, 8:59 PM



The schedule for assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh has been announced. Except, Chhattisgarh where polls will be held in two phases, all four states will have single phase polls. The elections in Chhattisgarh will held on 11th and 19th November. While, in Madhya Pradesh the polls will be conducted on 25th November and in Rajasthan it will be held on 1st December. The election in Delhi and Mizoram will be held on 4th December. Counting of votes in all states will take place on 8th of December.

Announcing the poll schedule in New Delhi today, the Chief Election Commissioner, V. S. Sampath said that the commission will take all steps to conduct free and fair elections. He said that the Commission, for the first time, is also taking necessary steps to make available the None of the Above option for the voters. Mr. Sampath said, Central Awareness Observers will be deployed for the first time, to oversee the efficient and effective management of the electoral process.

The Chief Election Commissioner also announced that the model code of conduct has come into force with immediate effect. He said that it will be mandatory for candidates to fill all column in the the affidavit filed by them along with nomination paper as directed by the Supreme Court.

The By elections to Surat West assembly constituency of Gujarat and Yercaud assembly constituency of Tamil Nadu will also be held on 4th December. The counting will be held on 8th December.

Afghanistan qualify for maiden ICC World Cup

Afghanistan today qualified for their maiden ICC World Cup. In the World Cricket League Championship at Sharjah, the strife-torn nation defeated Kenya by seven wickets to finish second with 19 points. Deciding to field first after winning the toss, Afghanistan dismissed Kenya for 93 in 43.3 overs and then achieved the target in 20.5 overs with seven wickets to spare.

Afghanistan were five points behind champion Ireland, which qualified for ICC's flagship event to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2015. In the ICC World Cup, Afghanistan have been placed in Pool A that includes co-hosts Australia and New Zealand, as well as Bangladesh, England, Sri Lanka and Qualifier 3. Afghanistan's opening match will be against Bangladesh at Manuka Oval, Canberra, on February 18, 2015

Proud of Rahul Gandhi

Proud of Rahul Gandhi for admitting Sonia Gandhi chided him; as we expected her to. This is the kind of honest, open leader nation wants.My mother told me the words I used were wrong: Rahul Gandhi on ordinance Words may have been wrong, but sentiment wasn't:

Some interesting tweets

@imaijazahmad2m
Modi (NaMo) for BJP and Rahul Gandhi for Congress as PM Candidate. lets see who will loot #India for Next five years.

‏@indiarightnow2m
Rahul Gandhi: #MyMomToldMe Ladki wale aa rahe hai tumhe dekhne ke liye. This time don't open your mouth

@sonoritachauhan3m
Don't blame Rahul Gandhi for referencing his mom in every speech- it's a natl prob - 40-yr-olds still seeking advice from moms Neither Rahul Gandhi Nor Narendra Modi Has Found A New Language To Gel With The Voters,

https://twitter.com/search?q=%22Rahul%20Gandhi%22&src=tren

POSTAL IDENTIFICATION CARD AS ADDRESS PROOF

POSTAL IDENTIFICATION CARD AS ADDRESS PROOF

Many Working People, Students & Bachelors often shift their houses & it is difficult to produce an address proof with latest address. In such cases, they struggle lot to establish their identity with current address.

But Now, Our India postal Department has come up with a solution. They issuing a photo id card with latest address, 

This Postal identity card is accepted as a document for proof of address by various government and private firms, including the banks.

The total cost for getting this ID card is Rs.250/ (Rs.10 for application and Rs.240/- processing fee).

Postal ID card will contain the following details,

1. Card holder Full Name

2. Latest Address

3. Card holder signature

4. Photograph

Key Benefits

1. We can use as Photo ID Proof

2. We can use as Address Proof

3. Validity is 3 years – (renewable)

4. You can approach any nearest Post office to get New Postal Identification card application form.

Mahatma Gandhi: An Ace Communicator

O. P. Sharma* Mahatma Gandhi, “The Father of the Nation” is one of the greatest freedom fighter, a revolutionary social reformer and above all an ace communicator. Not only he held lofty principles but he effectively propagated his message among the masses by using the then existing media, mostly the print as well as through public meetings. Among his other qualities of leadership he was the best communicator. His distinguish quality was that he truthfully believed in the message and skillfully conveyed his philosophy which he himself also practiced. He sent his thoughts through the life by setting a personal example. His autobiography titled “My Experiments with Truth” narrates the actual life he lived and practised his principles for setting a personal example. This was also the secret of his success as a communicator More than anyone else, Mahatma Gandhi recognized that skillful communication is the most effective tool to shape public opinion and mobilize it for popular support. He was successful because he had a latent skill in communication that surfaced in South Africa where he started during 1903 “The Indian Opinion”. Gandhi’s journalism belonged to an era where there were no modern mass communication gadgets. He did make use of his mighty pen to convey his heart to millions of his followers and admirers across the globe Successful Media Use After return to his motherland on January 9, 1913, he spearheaded the freedom struggle. Gandhiji did make best use of the nationalist press and his own journals: Young India, Navjeevan and other periodicals to reach the masses in every nook and corner of the country. He also knew that the secret of reaching out to the hearts of people living in the rural areas was through the age-old oral traditions as also public lectures, prayers meetings and padayatras (walks). He used all the available means of communication channels of the time to give a new direction to the national struggle and assumed the inspiring leadership on the national scenario and won the freedom through the unique technique of non-violence, Satyagraha, truthfulness. Gandhiji never for a moment minimized the important role of newspapers (then radio was under the British Government control and the television channels were non-existent). He would scan through all the newspapers and reply suitably to any misrepresentation or distortion of facts. It is to his credit that he did use the traditional and modern media of communication with telling effect.

Trend-Setting Style 

Gandhiji made his personality felt through the columns of Young India and other periodicals. The impending change was visible from the very beginning. He turned those into his “views papers” ventilating his point of view .The Young India sold more copies than the combined total circulation of several other newspapers in the country. There were not only new thoughts, simple but stylish language and a fresh air of fine quality of journalistic writings. It is a unique feature that Gandhiji had not been accepting advertisements for his periodicals and what is more, he had allowed his articles to be freely reproduced in most other newspapers in India or elsewhere. 

Gandhiji proved that style was the master and his writings were complete departure from the one that was in practice. His English was biblical and he was meticulous about the use of proper words at the particular moment. Above all, his sentences were simple and lucid. In fact, he wrote from his heart and directed it to the hearts of his targeted readership. Gandhiji himself declared all his journals as ‘views papers” because all of them were organs of political and social movements which discussed with intensity and concentration the public problems.

Gandhian Era

Gandhiji, in fact, brought many new elements which introduced a free life in the field of journalism. Many of his followers were moved to write and publish in the Indian languages and regional journalism began to acquire an importance and there was hardly an area in the country that did not have its newspapers.

An effective communicator, Gandhiji was fearless and eloquent with his words. He reached out to millions of people and convinced them of his cause. Gandhiji was probably the greatest journalist of all time, and the weeklies he edited were probably the great example of weeklies of that period. He published no advertisements but the same time he did not let his newspapers run at a loss. He wrote simply and clearly but forcefully, with passion and burning indignation. 

Indelible Imprints

“One of the objects of a newspaper, he said, is to understand the popular feeling and give expression to it, another is to arouse among the people certain desirable sentiments, and the third is fearlessly to expose popular defects”, Mahatma Gandhi has always stressed.

The Father of the Nation was not only one of the greatest freedom fighter with his unique technique of non-violence but was the best communicator who mobilized the public opinion for attainment of freedom. Gandhiji made optimal use of other channels of communication very efficiently and effectively as he had a rare knack of “inventing apt news events” to get the best coverage by the media. Mahatma Gandhi exercised his high moral values in his political life and practice of mass communication which stands out as a light house for all times to come.

*The author is a Freelance Journalist.