South Asia by Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal Jnu

South Asia

Pakistan's sacrifices for USA are historic: Turkey and China express solidarity! - Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

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US dictatorial President Trump is increasingly becoming insane as Pakistani ties with China are growing stronger day by day with new agreements between. Donald is bursting into angry rhetoric against Pakistan and Palestine, threatening to stop and end

the US aid, being used as powerful

bribes to woo the weak nations concerned to obey USA and support US imperialism. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain and expressed solidarity with Pakistan in the wake of allegations levelled by Donald Trump. The Turkish president assured his Pakistani counterpart of full support and cooperation "in any situation", a press release issued by the presidency said. "Trump's conduct in spite of Pakistan's great sacrifices is undesirable," Erdogan was quoted as saying. He said Pakistan had rendered historic sacrifices in the war against terrorism. US-Pakistani relations have been worsening since Trump assumed power at White House. Entire world, including the international community is scared

that a fat monkey has been given the US presidential garland and what all he would do to bring disgrace to USA in the days to come. Americans were disillusioned with Hillary Clinton and Democratic Party for their continued terror wars killing millions of humanity for fun and their inability to support the cause of Palestinians for the just cause for Palestine and her support for Zionist genocides of even Palestinians children in Gaza Strip and voted for Trump thinking he would behave. But alas, he, as speculated has proven to be the worse monster than Hillary. President Hussain said Pakistan is a responsible country and would give an "appropriate response" to the US allegations. He said Pakistan believes in a policy of engagement and cooperation and regretted that its sentiments had not been respected. Thanking the Turkish president for expressing solidarity with Pakistan, Hussain said, "This love-filled message has made us feel proud." Both the presidents reiterated that Pakistan and Turkey are brotherly countries and always stood beside each other in all circumstances. China acknowledges Pakistan's sacrifices In his first tweet of the New Year, Trump, annoyed with increasing SinoPakistan relations against US Asia pivot, deliberately and blatantly accused Pakistan - a South Asia nation that has been destabilized by USA and Nato after using it to attack Afghanistan and misusing its military facilities to work against Islamic world and killing Muslims, of basing its relationship with the USA on “nothing but lies and deceit”. “They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” he said like an old fashioned Hollywood villain. China, the real target of Trumpish USA, threw its weight behind Pakistan. A day earlier, China said that its key regional ally has made outstanding contributions to the international anti-terrorism cause and its key regional

ally has "made outstanding contributions to the international anti-terrorism cause," countering the heavy criticism that Islamabad had copped a day earlier from the top US fanatic Trump. In a clear disagreement with the American president's scathing assessment — that Pakistan has given Washington "nothing but lies and deceit" — Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said: "Pakistan has made and sacrifices in combating terrorism and made outstanding contributions to the international anti-terrorism cause. The international community should fully acknowledge it." With Pak-US relations teetering on the verge of a catastrophe, China assured that at least its own alliance with Pakistan will only keep on growing. "China and Pakistan maintain an all-weather strategic partnership," the spokesperson said. "China is willing to further deepen its cooperation with Pakistan in all fields and further benefit the two peoples." China's newly appointed Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing met National Security Adviser Nasser Khan Janjua this morning in Islamabad. Acknowledging Pakistan's "matchless sacrifices in the war against terror", the ambassador said China stands firmly with Pakistan in all situations, a Foreign Office (FO) release said. Reiterating China’s strong commitment to the security and stability of Pakistan, Ambassador Yao said that China considers Pakistan a close friend and a reliable partner for peace and stability in a turbulent region. The diplomat stressed on "the need for political reconciliation in Afghanistan and an early closure of the Afghan conflict" . Ambassador Yao expressed support for the regional and multilateral initiatives for political reconciliation in Afghanistan, including the trilateral process involving China-Afghanistan and Pakistan. While warmly welcoming Ambassador Yao to his “second home”

Pakistan, NSA Janjua expressed disappointment and concern "over the antiPakistan tweet emanating from the highest level in Washington". It was not clear if that remark was a counter-proposal to the American president's regret for having "foolishly given Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid over the last 15 years", which has given rise to speculation that aid and reimbursements from the US may not be as forthcoming in the future. Over the years, Pakistan and China have collaborated on a number of projects, including the much-touted China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. In response to Trump's tirade against Pakistan, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif through a series of tweets reminded the USA of the services Pakistan had rendered during the past several years, particularly in the war against terrorism. American betrayal The US president's tweet had come in the aftermath of an increasingly terse back-and-forth between Washington and Islamabad since Trump announced his latest national security strategy. During the announcement, Trump had been quick to remind Pakistan of its 'obligation' to help America because it receives â&#x20AC;&#x153;massive payments" as bribes from Washington every year. Trump said: "We have made clear to Pakistan that while we desire continued partnership, we must see decisive action against Muslims - â&#x20AC;&#x153;terrorist groupsâ&#x20AC;? -operating on their territory. And we make massive payments every year to Pakistan. They have to help," the Trump said. That is too silly on behalf of US President!

Pakistani foreign minister Khawaja Asif said, "The history teaches us not to blindly trust the US… You have asked what we did. A dictator surrendered before the USA on a single phone call, our country witnessed the worse bloodbath, you carried out 57,800 attacks on Afghanistan from our bases, your forces were supplied arms and explosives through our soil, thousands of our civilians and soldiers became victims of the war initiated by you," he said. The minister also highlighted the sacrifices rendered by Pakistanis in the war against terrorism. He also talked about the cost Pakistan paid for its participation in the said war. "We considered your enemy as our own, we filled the Guantanamo Bay, we served you with such an enthusiasm that we left our country with load shedding and gas shortage. We tried to please you on the cost of our economy, we provided tens of thousands of visas as a result of which the networks of Black Water spread across our country," he wrote in another tweet. "For the past four years, we have been clearing the debris. Our forces are fighting in an exemplary manner; there is an unending saga of sacrifices. The past teaches us not to blindly trust the US. We are feeling sorry as you are not happy but we will not compromise on our prestige anymore," he concluded. In fact, Pakistan and Afghanistan are infested with US state terror gangs with heavy doses of terror ammunitions that keep targeting Muslims while their media lords and intelligence wings report that the “terrorists” are still there”. So the terrorists, like ISIS, etc, belong to USA. But unfortunately nothing can be done to US super power. Most of the wreath America has today belongs to Arab world from which the Pentagon led NATO forces possibly with the help of Israel squandered their resources directly and indirectly and pumped into USA by force.

That is basics of modern US democracy! ---------How will cancelling and making it a crime help Muslim women? Will triple talaq bill benefit the Muslim women?

Anarchy has already taken roots in Indian system, its parliament and India is going back to the middle age, targeting Islam, Madrassas. Hindutva people are jealous of Muslims and their well knit true religion, their architectural heritages like Taj Mahal, dress code, beard, food, etc. Efforts are being made to divide the nation along religions. Media lords are doing everything possible to create hatred against Islam and Muslims so that Hindus and other hate Muslims and target them for their blood, their mosques. RSS promotes hatred for Muslims who fought against British imperialism in India, like Tipu Sultan of Mysore, etc. Hindutva India under PM Modi develops a cruelly anarchic mindset of Hindus. Political parties today indulged in a slugfest both inside and outside Parliament as a bill to ban instant triple talaq was tabled in the Rajya Sabha, amid uncertainty over its fate with only two days of the winter session being left. While the government wanted a debate on the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill in the Rajya Sabha, the opposition wanted it to be sent to a Select Committee for scrutiny before it is a made a law. The Lok Sabha has passed the Bill last week.

The BJP accused the Congress and other parties of running away from a debate and stalling the bill that ensures gender justice to Muslim women. The Congress charged the ruling party with doing "politics" over the issue, saying it has nothing to offer to the hapless women. With only two days left for the winter session to end and with both sides adamant on their stand, the passage of the bill appears uncertain. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said the opposition wanted the bill to be sent to a Select Committee that would help make it strong by offering support to Muslim women and by removing the criminality clause. Jaitley lashed out at the Congress for "indirectly" opposing the triple talaq bill in the Rajya Sabha and said Muslim women would continue to face injustice due to its attitude. He, however, exuded confidence that the Congress and other opposition parties would have to support the bill considering public opinion in the country. "It has become clear that the Congress party is indirectly opposing the triple talaq bill. It was a mere sham that they gave a statement and supported the bill. They tried their best to ensure that this bill is not passed in the Rajya Sabha," Jaitley told reporters outside Parliament. "Today was a golden opportunity for Parliament to end the injustice (that has been) happening with Muslim women for a long time. This injustice will carry on due to this attitude of the Congress party," he said.

Azad, on his part, said it is Parliament which decides on the floor if a bill will go to a select committee or not. He accused the BJP of "befooling" Muslim women with the triple talaq bill that seeks to make the practice a criminal offence, alleging that it has no provision for their welfare in case their husbands are jailed. Azad said 18 opposition parties, including the Congress, wanted the bill to be sent to a Select Committee for its proper scrutiny before it becomes a law but the government did not allow. Azad said the BJP is projecting itself as a "messiah" for Muslim women and claiming to be champions of their welfare and rights, but has not made any provision for their welfare. "This government is trying to mislead Muslim women and the general public," he alleged at a press conference. "What are they giving to Muslim women. They are merely projecting themselves as their 'messiah', but they are in fact only trying to befool the Muslim women," he said. Congress leader M Veerappa Moily opposed the provision of criminalising triple talaq, alleging the BJP adopted "sadistic approach" and was "taking revenge" against a community. Training his guns on the Centre, Azad said, "here is a government which wants to bulldoze bills by virtue of their strength...The BJP does not believe in democracy, in legislatures and in Parliament. The BJP government has again proved this."

Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said the BJP did not want the bill to be passed in the Rajya Sabha and its "double standards" were exposed when it "disrupted". "What happened in the Rajya Sabha was historic. The government created disruptions in the Rajya Sabha. They are not interested in passing the bill. The BJP is playing dirty politics over women, over religion. This is the only way to expose the double standards of the BJP," he said. "We believe the bill should be passed. But before that it should be sent to a select committee as the government has not consulted any stakeholder. The select committee can meet different stakeholders, women organisations, get their views and improve the bill and then the bill can be passed," he said. In the Upper House, opposition parties such as the Congress, TMC, CPI(M), CPI, SP, BSP, DMK, AIADMK and BJD, along with the BJP's ally TDP, today moved a motion asking the bill to be sent to a select committee. . Finally, triple talaq bill has passed the first hurdle of Lok Sabha. With huge numerical superiority in the lower house of the Parliament, it was a foregone conclusion that the BJP will be able to get the bill passed without a hitch. It should also pass the Rajya Sabha hurdle as well, given the fact that the numbers in the upper house of Parliament also favor the saffron camp. The BJP claims it wants to ensure justice for the Muslim women in the country. Nonetheless, the whole idea of criminalizing triple talaq, despite the fact that the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s apex court had struck down the tradition, seems rather very strange. With the Supreme Court making triple talaq illegal, there was actually no need to bring the bill, criminalize something that cannot be done and try to take credit for improving the lot of the Indian Muslim women. Union Law Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, while speaking during the discussion in the Parliament said, "My appeal is that this bill should not be seen through the eyes of political parties, religion or as a vote bank. This is

for the honor of our sisters and our daughters. This is for their dignity and justice. I want to follow the legacy of this house by seeing that India stands up for its Muslim sisters and daughters. That if they don't have justice, this house will give them justice." Religious leadership to be blamed There is no denying that the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 is a watershed moment for the Muslims in the Independent India when the religious leadership of the community lost godsend opportunity to reject a tradition that doesn’t have sanction from either Qur’an or hadith. The instant triple talaq, also called talaq-e-biddat is something that goes against the very spirit of marriage. Qur’an terms nikah or marriage ‘mithaqan ghaliza’, a strong agreement. The instant triple destroys the very sanctity of this agreement by unilaterally allowing the man to end the marriage at the spur of the moment. This tradition is already illegal in three out of the four Islamic schools of thought. The talaq-e-bidat is sanctified only in the Hanafi jurisprudence. The Hanafi scholars in the North India made it a prestige issue without deliberating it with ulama of other schools of thoughts and take a reasonable stand on the issue that has finally resulted in a bill that makes the Muslim men in the country a very vulnerable target. Criminalizing something that didn’t take place The BJP that has used the issue of instant triple talaq deftly for making political gains, has simply gone too far in its zest to make the entire Muslim community look obscurantist and backward. Many among Muslims are looking at the latest bill as a tool to divide the Muslim community. Others claim that the bill was unnecessary as it criminalizes an act that cannot be committed due to it being illegal. Faizan Mustafa, a renowned legal expert says, “The purpose of criminal law is to forbid and prevent conduct that unjustifiably and inexcusably inflicts or threatens substantial harm to individual or public interests. Since the Supreme Court has set aside triple talaq, it no longer dissolves the marriage, and thus, causes no harm at all. It no more threatens the security and well-being of society…The primary

purpose of criminal law is ‘prevention’ of an act; if non-criminal means can succeed in preventing this act, criminal law need not be used”. He goes on to add that the triple talaq shouldn’t be criminalized as there was no need to do so. “Inconsequential triple talaq, thus, should not be criminalized. The fundamental principle of good legislation is the art of conducting men to the maximum of happiness, and to the minimum of misery. A principal source of errors and injustice in legislation are false ideas of its utility. The Lok Sabha debates clearly demonstrated that government has unrealistic hopes from this bill” says he. Is BJP really the savior of Muslim women? The saffron party has been gloating over the fact that it has been able to bring the law criminalizing triple talaq and pass it from Lok Sabha. The Union Law Minister has said that the government wants to improve the lot of the Muslim women in the country. Does the party really want to improve the condition of the Muslim woman by sending the husband, usually the lone bread winner in a household to the jail for three years? There is no denying that the instant triple talaq destroyed the lives of a few Muslim women who actually suffered from it, but this was taken care of by the Supreme Court verdict making the practice null and void. If the sole bread winner of the family goes to jail for committing a crime that cannot really take place, who will look after the wife and children. The woman, following the apex court verdict will remain his wife despite him pronouncing triple talaq. If the BJP was really eager to see the Indian Muslim women develop, as the Union Law Minister so grandly claimed, his government should have passed legislation providing special provision of reservation for the Muslim women in job and education. By ensuring that the sole bread winner of the family goes to jail, the BJP government at the center has hurt the Muslim woman the most, whose interests it claims it wanted to safeguard.

Observation

The Modi regime has given full freedom to Hindus to whatever they want and Hindu criminals and frauds on the rise doing exactly what they want because the government would maintain a blind eye to everything that the Hindus who are the only â&#x20AC;&#x153;patriotsâ&#x20AC;? do. BJP's Triple Talaq drama: If someone insults his wife by sending her an email seeking divorce he is in fact insulting his religion and community and he should be jailed instantly. Anti-Islamic forces use such fake instances to deny safe and secured Triple Talaq. Hindus and their media lords should not interfere with Islamic laws. They have nothing concrete suggestions to make. They only want to confuse the nation and judiciary. Muslim women are most secured people on earth. Men and community protect the women. . Why do the Hindus, their media target Muslims? Indian regime must strengthen the Triple talaq with new ideas but scraping or making it a criminal law is itself is a criminal offense against Muslims. If India has more criminals and frauds today should we scarp all criminal laws? What should we do for genuine redressal? It is awful if not immoral and illegal on the part of Indian a core media, particularly the TV monsters, to present Indian Muslim women also as terrorists with their defensive veils on their bodies as per Islamic practices. The Hindutva core media lords are so cheap to target Muslim women also in that ways. RSS is in full swing. The TV media lords pick every little and insignificant incident to project Islam in ugly manners. Muslims have no power to protest against them. The way the Hindutva media lords in Mumbai and Delhi parade misguided and selfishly greedy Muslims, including women, on TV

channels in order to make Islam look like nothing as if it works against neoHindutva - is simply disgusting. These misguided Muslims think they get an opportunity to target Islam but they must know they are being used as a useful to against Islam and later they would also be finished too. . This is the shame way the Indian majority people treat Muslim minority community. Supreme Court should monitor the Indian TV channels in English, Hindi other Indian languages for their anti-Muslim focus. The Court must punish them as they insult and make others attack and hate Muslims and Islam.

-----Indian Hindutva objections to Muslim divorce practice: Is Modigovernment really sincere about the “fate” of Indian Muslim women? - Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

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[“In order to prove that Indian regime indeed cares for Indian women Muslims, a minimum of 20% seats in academic institutions and jobs must be reserved for Muslim women. Also a minimum of 10% seats in the parliament and state assemblies should be reserved for Muslim women and there should at least be one women judge in every court of India”. That is the real

empowerment of Muslim women in India which would make difference in community andantino at large”].

For Hindu politicians in Indian political outfits, Hinduism perhaps is a source and cause for instant and perpetual entertainment. As the majority community they can play as much as they like. Muslims cannot have any serious objections. But when the Hindutva leaders using Hindutva as a cheap political resource use Islam also like that for entertainment purposes, we have serious objection to that nonsense. The Congress-BJP duo that fights for power should not trespass the Islamic territories by misusing some senseless Muslim individuals. Indian national political outfits, particularly the Congress and BJP- the former and incumbent misrulers that promoted rampant corruption and crimes, continue to play dirty religiously communal politics for garnering their Hindu votes. Indian government run by the BJP led Hindutva parties, on the strength of Shi’a sect of Islam that foolishly fights Sunni sect, is on its way to make Islam irrelevant possibly by ban it altogether after creating problems for the latter. The BJP is keen to get the anti-Islam issue Triple Talaq passed in the parliament to show to the Hindu voters that Triple Talaq has been imposed on Muslims in order to keep the Hindu voters in good humors. Triple Talaq Qur’an terms nikah or marriage ‘mithaqan ghaliza’, a strong agreement. Divorce is not a good thing.

Women in Islam are the most protected female population on earth but the anti-Islamic forces try to disrupt the tranquility and make the women vulnerable external pressures. The venomous RSS-BJP duo and their secret Hindutva ally Congress, among others have recently “discovered” that Islam in India is against not only Islamic women but even their own religious women. Hindutva forces have been at work for quite some time to tarnish the image of Islam and target Indian Muslims and with power in hands thanks to the Muslim community in India, they now go all out to do maximum harms to them. They have several cases in Indian courts seeking to support Hindutva ideology and punish the Muslims who do not support the RSS-BJP. This is misinformation spread deliberately by the Hindutva media lords to insult Islam as a terrorist religion without any humanness and threaten Indian Muslims - both male and female. Injustice is committed to women in India is not by Muslim men but by the ruling regime that targets Islam and Muslims. As such the RSS=BJP seeking to destroy all mosques in the country cannot be “well-wishers” of either men or women of Islam. The Islamic law Triple talaq requires a long procedure of divorce

if the

partners have developed strong hatred toward each other and onetime simple Talaq is not enough but three times of talaq needed to obtain a divorce so that the partners have enough time and opportunities to reverse their rigid stance and come back to live together, avoiding unnecessarily separated lives against the wishes of Islam. There is clear misunderstanding among non-Muslims about the message of Triple Talaq and some of the anti-Islamic people argue in TV channels that

Muslims just say instantly the Triple Talaq once or twice or thrice and end the marriage abruptly. That is not the case. If there is a problem with a married couple, the concerned families and community intervenes and find a amicable solution. They meet regularly, discuss the issue and finally decides whether divorce is good enough for them.

The husband does not pronounce Triple talaq

instantly and end the problem. That doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t happen in Islam, may such â&#x20AC;&#x153;instantâ&#x20AC;? thing happen in other communities. Islam honors and cares for the sanctum of marriages and ties to save the marriage even if the couple has serious misunderstandings and crises. Like in any other religion, some Muslim men could be dangerous guys and even criminals and could harm wives but that is a criminal case the court should solve it. Preferably Triple talaq process could have some days between them to be able to pronounce the final talaq by the relatives and their common well wishers. There could be instances of deviations and such cases should be dealt sternly with but using one of two such wrong instances, if at all, to negate the triple talaq philosophy is totally foolish and to fanatic. Duplicates do not become originals. Those who try to disturb the religious laws cannot pretend to be the well wishers of Muslim women. Only Islam and Muslim men alone can provide real security to Muslim women. Triple talaq is already declared by Supreme Court as null and void. It has become the law of the land. Then what is the need for any further legislation on that?

Why are they against Islam and Muslims? It is a sheer habit. By nature and in essence the Hindutva people fear and hate Islam- unnecessarily. They should fear God and not Islam. If they are god fearing, they wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hate Islam or any other religion. That is a fact. Islam is the most humane religion on earth guided by the Holy Quran but the foes of Islam across the globe try find faults with Islam and concerning Islamic faith. The anti-Islamic forces and media lords y always work to prove that Islam is a terrorist religion where women do not have any right to live in male dominated society and as if every Muslim woman commits suicide due to restrictions imposed by men on their â&#x20AC;&#x153;carefree movementsâ&#x20AC;?. And so much so they behave as if more and more Hindu women and ladies from other religions come to Islam to fill the gap. Is that so? Mere sympathy does not bring adherents to Islam but true faith in Islam does that. The Hindutva forces not only plan secret communal agendas to garner Hindu votes for the Hindutva parties, but worse, also now try to divide the Muslims community along nonsensical lines by declaring that Women in Indian Islam do not have freedoms to enjoy life as they wish. . Today, the BJP can pass any resolution in both houses of the parliament. BJP has as per its plan has passed the triple talaq bill in the Lok Sabha.

Are these foes of Islam really worried about Muslim women? If so why are they not doing anything about the plight of their own women? RSS dictates Indian Parliament As a “historic” Indian anti-Muslim step, the lower house of Indian parliament (Lok Sabha) has passed the contentious bill making instant triple illegal with up to three years in jail for the husband, a development hailed by the government as "historic". Congress ad its close allies rejoice at the BJP‘s bold step. The bill was passed after the House rejected a string of amendments moved by Asaduddin Owaisi from the AIMIM and Bhartruhari Mahtab from the BJD. MPs from the RJD, AIMIM, BJD, AIADMK and All India Muslim League opposed the bill, calling it arbitrary in nature. One of Owaisi's amendments saw 241 voting against it, and only two voting in its favour. With BJP MPs behaving like owners of the parliament, huge numerical superiority in the lower house of the Parliament, it was a foregone conclusion that the BJP will be able to get the bill passed without a hitch. It should also pass the Rajya Sabha hurdle as well, given the fact that the numbers in the upper house of Parliament also favor the saffron camp. PM Modi is engaged consensus to target Muslims in getting the Bill passed by Upper House while Congress is ready for that. . . The BJP government argues that the tradition is already illegal in three out of the four Islamic schools of thought. The talaq-e-bidat is sanctified only in the Hanafi jurisprudence. The Hanafi scholars in the North India made it a prestige issue without deliberating it with ulema of other schools of thoughts and take a reasonable stand on the issue that has finally resulted in a bill that makes the Muslim men in the country a very vulnerable target.

Criminalizing something that didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take place? The BJP that has used the issue of instant triple talaq deftly for making political gains, has simply gone too far in its zest to make the entire Muslim community look obscurantist and backward. Many among Muslims are looking at the latest bill as a tool to divide the Muslim community. Others claim that the bill was unnecessary as it criminalizes an act that cannot be committed due to it being illegal. Faizan Mustafa, a renowned legal expert says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The purpose of criminal law is to forbid and prevent conduct that unjustifiably and inexcusably inflicts or threatens substantial harm to individual or public interests. Since the Supreme Court has set aside triple talaq, it no longer dissolves the marriage, and thus, causes no harm at all. It no more threatens the security and wellbeing of societyâ&#x20AC;Ś The BJP and its media lords clam with the Bill the life and status of Indian Muslim women have been upgraded and they gain full justice. How? Will Indian Muslim women get something extra from Indian regime so as to ensure their safety and security? Every aspect of Islam is much better than in other religions. Some problems crop up in rich Muslim families where women seek more freedoms that men have. In fact some women want to be totally free and their husbands are scared of telling them something unpleasant for the sake of unity of families. . The Bill The BJP government is determined to intrude into the personal lives of individuals with anew Bill on Muslim women. It aims at making every citizen to behave as the RSS wants and dictates.

Parliament has to decide whether the victims of triple talaq have fundamental rights or not, government said, after some Opposition members claimed it violated the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. With the Supreme Court making triple talaq illegal, there was actually no need to bring the bill, criminalize something that cannot be done and try to take credit for passing the Bill if not improving the lot of the Indian Muslim women. The BJP claims it wants to ensure justice for the Muslim women in the country. Nonetheless, the whole idea of criminalizing triple talaq, despite the fact that the country’s apex court had struck down the tradition, seems rather very strange. Union Law Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, while speaking during the discussion in the Parliament said, "My appeal is that this bill should not be seen through the eyes of political parties, religion or as a vote bank. This is for the “honor” of our sisters and our daughters. This is for their ”dignity and justice”. I want to follow the legacy of this house by seeing that India stands up for its Muslim “sisters and daughters” whose brothers and sons the RSS criminals kill by lynching for eating beef or not fowling ‘ghar Wapsi’ law. . Fulfilling its electoral promise, the BJP-led government moved swiftly to draft the legislation following a Supreme Court order in August, striking down the practice as unconstitutional. The apex court asked the government to come up with legislation within six months. "It is a historic day. We are making history today," Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the House after tabling the Bill. A major bill restricting the Islamic practices to suit the common code was passed in Lower House within a day and it would go for the approval of the Upper house.

The Bill must provide justice, security and honour to women. The bill, its framing was faulty and flawed. if the proposed law makes the practice of instant triple talaq illegal and void, how a person can be jailed for pronouncing 'talaq-e-biddat?' Members from Congress and the Left were not allowed to speak on the Bill as they had not given notice. SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav was also seen opposing the Bill. RSP leader Ramachandran said: "The main apprehension is the over enthusiasm of the NDA government led by the BJP. There is a cloud of suspicion. AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi said Parliament lacks the legislative competence to pass the law as it violated fundamental rights. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Owaisi said that while the Bill talks only about Muslim women being abandoned, the government should also worry about nearly 20 lakh women of various religions who are abandoned by their husbands, "including our bhabhi from Gujarat." BJP government is least bothered about what the Muslim MPs say or do not say. Owaisi MP slammed Law minister Prasad who as Union law minister has failed to discriminate between civil law and criminal law. Not a single Muslim country has a penal provision. Triple talaq is a form of verbal and emotional abuse," he said. Owaisi alleged that the Centre was giving an advantage to the offenders and was not helping the situation. "Your dream of having more Muslims in jail will be achieved. Please send the Bill to the Standing Committee. You are forcing a Muslim woman to file an FIR against her husband. You are giving a handle to the Muslim man, who will have 90 days. If you are true to your intentions, create a corpus of 1,000 crore," he said.

Though Congress supported the Bill, senior leader Salman Khurshid, a former law minister, said the proposed law is an intrusion into the personal lives of individuals, and would bring the civil issue of divorce into the realm of criminal law. Islam wants Triple Talaq not in one go or instantly but in a process of several meetings while the BJP/RSS supporters might want just one Talaq in one go instantly! The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill would only be applicable on instant triple talaq or 'talaq-e-biddat'. It gives power to the victim to approach a magistrate seeking "subsistence allowance" for herself and minor children. A victim can also seek the custody of her minor children from the magistrate. Religious leadership to be blamed there is no denying that the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 is a watershed moment for the Muslims in the Independent India. The instant triple talaq, also called talaq-e-biddat is something that does not go against the very spirit of marriage. But the process should be followed. The RSS and BJP are in a hurry as if they won’t survive next general poll. . The fundamental principle of good legislation is the art of conducting men to the maximum of happiness, and to the minimum of misery. A principal source of errors and injustice in legislation are false ideas of its utility. The Lok Sabha debates clearly demonstrated that government has unrealistic hopes from this bill. The triple talaq shouldn’t be criminalized as there was no need to do so. “Inconsequential triple talaq, thus, should not be criminalized. The primary purpose of criminal law is ‘prevention’ of an act; if non-criminal means can succeed in preventing this act, criminal law need not be used.

The BJP law minister says if the Muslim women don’t have justice, this house will give them justice. The “instant” triple destroys the very sanctity of this agreement by unilaterally allowing the man to end the marriage at the spur of the moment. But who does triple Talaq instantly? - Not Muslims as they discuss in the community before taking a decision. While many were not happy, especially regional and Muslim parties, the Congress said it supports the Bill but with strengthened safeguards for divorced Muslim women. It asked for the Bill to be sent to a Standing Committee, instead of being decided on Thursday itself. Lalu Prasad would have protested vehemently but he is in jail. Soon after the introduction of the Bill was approved, Prasad wondered whether Parliament could remain silent if the fundamental rights of women were being trampled. He said the legislation was not aimed against any religion but was framed to provide a sense of justice, security and honor to women. He said the law was required as even after the Supreme Court had struck down the practice of 'talaq-e-biddat' in August. He claimed that as recently as today, a woman in Rampur reported that she was given “instant” triple talaq by her husband for getting up late. That is absolute nonsense.

Why is much ado about nothing? What exactly the Indian government and judiciary talk about “Triple talaq”? Since the Supreme Court’s judgment declaring valid a recent marriage of Hindu girl and Muslim boy that took place in Kerala, the Hindutva forces have been on their dirty toes to take revenge on Muslims.

A marriage should be saved at all cost and separation could be recommended only when the partners cannot live together any long. Does the BJP really the savior of Muslim women? Please donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t laugh! The saffron party has been gloating over the fact that it has been able to bring the law criminalizing triple talaq and pass it from Lok Sabha. The Union Law Minister has said that the government wants to improve the lot of the Muslim women in the country. Does the party really want to improve the condition of the Muslim woman by sending the husband, usually the lone bread winner in a household to the jail for three years? The instant triple talaq may have destroyed the lives of a few Muslim women who actually suffered from it, but this was taken care of by the Supreme Court verdict making the practice null and void. If the sole bread winner of the family goes to jail for committing a crime that cannot really take place, who will look after the wife and children. The woman, following the apex court verdict will remain his wife despite him pronouncing triple talaq. If the BJP was really eager to see the Indian Muslim women develop, as the Union Law Minister so grandly claimed, his government should have passed legislation providing special provision of reservation for the Muslim women in job and education. By ensuring that the sole bread winner of the family goes to jail, the BJP government at the center has hurt the Muslim woman the most, whose interests it claims it wanted to safeguard BJP-Congress duo must debate the divorce in vogue in other religions. Triple Talaq in Islam is the best opportunity for the partners to decide on the issue without hurry. Triple talaq need not be done in one go and can be done on different days one after another and only third talaq could enable for a divorce to come into force only if both agree.

What is the objection from enemies of Islam? Why do the RSS-BJPP target the Triple talaq to get more Hindu votes? Islam insists on a careful Triple Talaq allowing enough time fro the married couple to decide their separation if the married partners cannot live any more together. Once divorced, the partners cannot rejoin just like if they feel for their mistake of divorce that but for that to happen the women must get married again to another man before the first husband takes her back. So, the Triple talaq is a safe method of taking correct decision. But the RSS/BJP and their Hindu boys and girls seek just one Talaq and be free to enjoy life “in full”. They want a “single talaq’ pronouncement in secrecy on the bed itself to end the marriage bond. Secretly Muslims want triple talaq only when the men and women decide they cannot live together. Three times would give them an opportunity to think thrice before deciding on the break up. He or she can say no after Talaq twice. But Hindus want just one talaq and break the marriage. Foolish people argue foolishly because they are majority and the media are theirs. How can the government improve the lot of the Muslim women in the country? In order to prove that Indian regime indeed cares for Indian women Muslims, a minimum of 20% seats in academic institutions and jobs must be reserved for Muslim women. Also a minimum of 10% seats in the parliament

and state assemblies should be reserved for Muslim women and there should at least be one women judge in every court of India. â&#x20AC;?. That is the real empowerment of Muslim women in India which would make difference in community andantino at large. Will the patriotic people who claim to be interested in Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s over all development do it now? Or let them shut their wide communal mouth. They need to kill or insult Muslims to get the Hindu votes. One of the worst embodiments of Hindutva is the criminalized dowry system that has harmed not only most Hindu women but also Muslim women, epically poor sections of lower strata of population. Some of the insane practices in Hinduism/Hindutva have negatively influence Muslim community. One of them is the dowry system considered to be the basis of their economy. Men ask and get huge sum along with cars, etc, as dowry to marry a girl. Marriages have been halted and women committed suicide when some marriages stopped due to the non-payment of dowry money promised. Most of Muslims are with poor background. Without enough sound economic backups, Muslim women dins difficulties in getting married. . Maybe the PM Modi is not aware of such cruel practices but the Law minister should know it. Indian parliament must end dowry menace that makes men parasitic worms. Will PM Modi take pity on Indian women who are the victims of deadly dowry system and the resultant crimes? What is problem in passing law on the issue and save every woman from injustice in the country? These women certainly include Muslim women too.

But India is in a hurry to fix Muslim community and probably force them to become Hindus by changing their names. . Why is Modi- Hindutva government worried only about Indian women? It is a known fact that Indian regime and media lords hate Muslims and they want to fix Muslims and insult Islam. Indian government is now busy fixing Indian Muslims by mischievously trying to hurriedly pass a law to cancel the Islamic Triple Talaq policy meant for save even a troubled marriage. Now the BJP government wants to free Indian women from the clutches of men and society. Some wild wolves are worried about the cows getting trenched in rains. Why? Is that because of concerns for Islam or women? Why? With the backing from USA, Israel and other anti-Islamic forces, India actively pursues policies to target Muslim community, mosques, and its faith. BJP is using Indian women to target men next Muslim men would used against women afterworlds, police and military would be used to kill Muslims- both men and women , and children as well as Israelis doing in occupied Palestine.

Observation

Will the regime guarantee jobs and economic status for Muslim women in India? Will India pass the Women Reservation Bill? Will India abolish dowry system as it badly affects poor Muslim women? Dowry system is bad for Islam and it is not practiced in Arab nations or other Muslim nations but only in India Muslim community suffers due to the dreadful dowry system. . Since its independence from UK, India has actively pursued anti-Islamic path in a systematic manner and most political parties, especially Congress as a part of its own hidden anti-Islam policy supports the Hindutva designs secretly. After Ghar wapsi, Beef, lunching, etc now the RSS-BJP has touched a crucial issue of Islamic divorce practices. India claims Saudi Arabia has cleared the matter in favor of Indian Hindutva so that India could buy more oil format. Like what the Hindutva minded Congress party did before, the Modi led BJP government is also playing to the gallery of Hindutva lords by making politics a mere entertainment in the country and the parliament a forum to keep the Hindutva lords in good humors. The process started as soon as BJP came to power in 2014 by defeating the communal Congress led NDA coalition. Now that the Hindutva criminals are sure that Muslims would get back their legitimate Babri Mosque, they accelerate their ill designed agenda against Muslim community because they are in brute majority and many parties support their misrule, Indian Parliament and state assemblies have their own communalized Hindus, etc The Triple talaq is one of the weapons of foes of Islam to target both Muslims and judiciary. Clearly, the Congress BJP duo is secretly working to defame Islam and ban even the Holy Quran by taking the issue to Hindutva led Parliament that would clear anything anti-Islam quickly even without any debate.

Indian BJP government says they are worried about the "fate" Indian women but not in the true spirits and ease the plight of all Muslims under Hindutva rule and their status. In fact, they are least bothered about the plight of Hindu women but are keen only to insult Islam. Yes, some wild wolves are so much worried about the cows getting trenched in rains. They say Indian Muslim women want freedom from husbands but, they argue, Muslim husbands do not let them leave them to do whatever they want to do on streets. They want to make the West happy by saying that Islam is not a good religion but Hindutva and others are super religions offering too many freedoms to women to enjoy life freely... Interestingly, the BJP India gives priority to Muslim women’s status rather the women reservation Bill hanging in the parliament for decades, affecting the Indian women in all respects. Indian polices on liquor-gambling laws concerning liquor and lottery sales etc have been harming women, including Muslim women. But neither the Congress nor its secret Hindutva ally BJP bothered to help the women who toil and suffer because of male dominations and their liquor behavior. Strangely enough, of all formations, it is RSS-BJP, rather than the Congress party, that has come forward to protect the status and strength of Muslim women in India, making them lawfully independent of “dominant” Muslim men who impose their will on the weaker women. RSS/BJP now has majority in the parliament and so they are pushing hard for targeting Islam and Indian Muslims Even in protecting the Muslim men and women of India has proven to be fanaticism.

Babri Mosque issue is still pending but Indian regime and judiciary are playing dirty politics with Muslims while Intelligence-media rods target Muslims and Islam so vulgarly so that the judiciary would be cowed down in favor of Hindutva criminalism. Now the Hindu parties and judiciary are quick to point fingers at the Muslim women in order to target Islam and Indian Muslims and Islam. . Hindus and others would certainly rejoice at the Triple developments but those Muslims who also rejoice the BJP’s “care” for women in Islam should know that these elements who pulled down Bharatmata’s historic Babri Mosque built by emperor Babur as part of Indian Islamic cultural assets , have no reasons to do anything good for Muslims - male or female. The proposed law was violative of personal laws and was a politically motivated move. Given the population of Muslims in the country, triple talaq cases were negligible. The BJP-RSS duo is unnecessarily taking gun to kill a mosquito. They have jeopardized the sanctity of the House. Under the proposed law, instant triple talaq in any form — spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as email, SMS and WhatsApp — would be illegal and void. It will make instant talaq punishable by a jail term of up to three years and a fine, and would be a cognizable, non-bailable offence. The Bill will now be sent to the Rajya Sabha for passage before it is forwarded to the President for signing it into law. The Bill's prospects in the Rajya Sabha are uncertain as the government lacks majority and the Congress' support for the Bill is conditional. Tomorrow the BJP-Congress led Hindu forces would enact laws against Islam, Muslims, mosques etc.

The Congress-BJP governments that force Muslim employees to quit their hard earned jobs in order to possibly appoint Hindus in those vacant places and also refuses to give pension and other retirement benefits as agreed by the administrations, cannot be expected to be good to Muslim women. At the national level, Indian regime pledged to rebuild the Babri Mosque at the very site where it stood for centuries as an important example of world cultural monuments and Hindu-Muslim unity in the country has not been kept either by the Congress or BJP. How can Muslims expect this hypocrite regime to upgrade in status and take care of women of Islam? One has no ideas as what all left in the secret bags of RSS to be used against Indian Muslim and Islam. Devil moves in mysterious ways. One must wait for their next move. India knows well as to how to divert the attention of the nation and world at large it can do that by enacting another bigger drama than demonetization. By passing a new “Muslim law”, the BJP government has possibly has vetoed any possibility of Muslims taking the case to the special benches of Apex Court. Indian Parliament today with Hindutva majority with Hindutva minded Congress backup can pass any law. If the BJP decides to destroy every mosque parliament will pass it. If RSS wants to deny work for Muslims, that would be done and if they want to kill every Muslim or destroy the houses and shop of Muslims, Indian parliament would give its consent. So, the BJPCongress duo can achieve anything they want in the parliament. Triple Talaq gimmick is only the tip of the iceberg. That is today’s Indian Hindu mindset that follows the USA-Israeli fanaticism as a part of Indian hate model.

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Indian corruption: Tamil Nadu Politics: Does Rajinikanth love Tamils? If yes, why canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t he help the poor economically and financially? - Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

_____ Rajinikanth today is a big billionaire with huge assets in Tamil Nadu, in other states and abroad. He earned all these in Tamil Nadu and Tamils have made him rich purchasing tickets for his films by standing in long queues. True he entertained the people who otherwise are hungry and ill-treated and most of them drunkards. Spiritual politics demands that he is genuinely helpful to the people. In fact, there should not be curtain between him and people. Transparency is a must. The major function of all governments is to serve the people to help them overcome difficulties and become prosperous. Peace is impossible if the people continue to suffer while the rulers enjoy all benefits and comforts of life. The party programs of a couple of parties clearly say that people are their aim for progress, development and empowerment and they exist only to serve the people. . CM and PM are made not in a day and they must toil for years before becoming a minister and move upward in the career ladder.

But actor Rajinikanth wants to become CM over night by using the vacuum created by Jayalalithaa. He has enough money to float a party and to spend on the campaigns by bribing the voters sumptuously.

---Indian corruption: Tamil Nadu Politics: Will Rajinikanth distribute his money to the poor Tamils? - Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

_____

While India for some vague reasons is fast becoming a â&#x20AC;&#x153;close friend and allyâ&#x20AC;? of imperialist-colonialist powers like Israel and USA, Tamil Nadu, a state in India, is now reeling under rampant corruption. Corruption has never been an important issue in the polls because all parties are immersed in corruption. Film actors use the mudded scenario in the state to exploit the people for their votes. Tamil Nadu has been the venue for the rich with huge black money, greedy and self-centered film heroes. MGR from Kerala, Jayalalithaa from Karnataka have ruled the state for years and a billionaire Rajinikanth from Maharashtra is trying to use his popularity to do politics and become the ruler of Tamil Nadu. Money plays most important aspect of any poll in Tamil Nadu.

Without doing anything for the people, actor Rajinikanth wants to start a new political party obviously to further mint money for him and his supporters as fans association. One is not sure if people of Tamil Nadu, fed up and disappointed with the government and opposition, would let Rajinikanth and his fansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; association people to make the next government. If at all that happens, nothing is going to change in the life of the people and the state. He would lead a routine government with a few gimmicks off and on to keep the voters in good humors. After all, the rule of MG and Jayalalithaa did not result in any change in the lives of people. In the films, hero MGR propagated against liquor but in real life as CM he also promoted liquor sales for raising revenues. Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa gave some freebies to get the votes but have not done anything to improve the lots of the poor and common people. More and more people take to liquor culture and did not bother about corruption. . Actors entering politics is nothing new in Tamil Nadu where actors have become chief f ministers and many actors are dreaming of becoming one. Senior Tamil actor Rajinikanth and Kamal Hasan have been talking about entering politics and now Rajinikanth has declared to enter it. In fact Rajinikanth does not keenly interested in politics but his fans association members, seeking posts and positions, money, wealth by illegal means MLAs and MPs and ministers are pushing him to start party and do politics. The fans association office bears calculate that if Rajinikanth becomes CM, they could be ministers and important people in the state like during the MGR era. Rajinikanth never took part in politics directly and also did nothing for the people of the state. He belongs to Maharashtra and spent his life in

Karnataka until he came to Chennai to act in films. Before coming to acting in Tamil, Rajinikanth was a bus conductor. The Tamil people are not unhappy about the government and ruling AIADMK. For years their psyche has been completely molded to take any glamorous person for granted because that hero doe n a lot of fighting and love affairs, helping poor, etc, but also spoiled minds of youth by showing how to smoke stylishly. MGR and Jayalalithaa have made them corrupt in thinking and doing, and they never made any efforts to end corruption. They very tactfully used their filmy images and Rajinikanth also is eager to follows it. Corruption is a serious issue and MGR and Jayalalithaa did nothing to root out that evil form the state, in fact Jayalalithaa and Sasikala encouraged corruption and made huge fortunes. If Rajinikanth is sincere about spiritual politics, he must first declare his total wealth frankly as people very much like to know such details. He must declare his money be distributed to the people who made him rich and popular actor. Politically experienced MGR and Jayalalithaa have not done that at the time of their swearing in. But Rajni should not make these examples to justify if he refuses to declare assets. If and when he gets the golden opportunity to become TN chief minister, he must accept the salary meant for the CM post and spend that amount for his day today needs as he would have given away his money and other assets to the people at the time of his launch. He could keep the money he needs to live but remaining money he should give to the poor. If Rajni and supporters helps the poor with money, people will vote for him and party. In fact, if Rajinikanth helps the poor with money, people will themselves come to canvas for him and his candidates.

Apparently, without doing anything for Tamils Rajni would like to reap all poll benefits, in terms of power the Madras Fort, MLA, etc. After that he can join politics. People would trust him that he wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t cheat them like other CMs governments that came after the Golden era of Great Leader K Kamaraj. The Tamil Super star announced his decision opt to plunk in to politics only after the result of RK Nagar came out that resulted in a big disappointment for the main opposition DMK and ruling AIADMK parties as both lost the bypoll to an independent candidate Dinakaran who won the seat to TN assembly with a big margin. He may have understood that people reject the main parties and BJP is among many others that lost deposit money. Dinakaran has already taken the oath as the new MLA in the Assembly. Possibly Rajinikanth calculates that if people of RK Nagar have opted for a new member Dinkaran in preference to big parties like AIADMK, DMK and BJP, a new party by him would fill the political leadership vacuum and his new party candidates, including would win all the 324 seats. Only the future would tell whether Tamil Nadu people are obsessed with film heroes. Rajinikanth has never shown any concern for Tamil Nadu, let alone contributing anything for the state that made him a super star and strong billionaire. If by chance he wins the next assembly poll, Rajni should not take bribes but if money comes to him as â&#x20AC;&#x153;free giftsâ&#x20AC;? for his services, he must transfer the amounts to a special budget, meant for providing free ration, pension for those who do not get pension from s government or private sectors and free electricity to the poor and things like that.

It is quite likely that people would accept or reject him and his party in the polls because they are annoyed with the divisive politics of AIADMK. Unfortunately, Tamils have remained innocent while they are the target of greedy politicians. Tamil politicians, who wants to loot the state resources without any control mechanism from above, refuse to institute Lok Ayukta corruption at higher levels. (Part-1)

RK Nagar victory cannot guarantees political stability in Tamil Nadu! Sunday saw a shake-up in Tamil Nadu politics as TTV Dhinakaran won relatively easily in the RK Nagar bypoll in Chennai. This could signal a fracturing in the factions within the party in particular and might cast a doubt on the DMK’s chances going forward. The rebel leader of the AIADMK declared himself to be “real successor of Amma” after clinching victory by a 40,000 vote margin. The Hindu editorial spelled out how the results of the bypoll spell political instability for Tamil Nadu in the months to come –

“The R.K. Nagar result could set off another round of churn in the AIADMK; many of the MLAs may now see the Sasikala family as the only force that could keep the party together and command wider voter support. The worstcase scenario for the DMK was a victory for the official AIADMK candidate E. Madhusudhanan”. “What the runaway victory of Mr. Dhinakaran does is sow

the seeds of confusion in the ranks of the AIADMK; it even has the potential to bring down the government led by Edappadi K. Palaniswami”. This is the first election to be held after the death of former Chief Minister and AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa last December. With respect to the AIADMK, this victory for Dhinakaran could shake things up for the ruling faction headed by chief minister K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam.

With limited time and a pressure cooker as an election symbol, he worked to popularize his name in the district and pulled out a victory. Chennai based political analyst Sumanth Raman, in a column for the Hindustan Times, points out the significance of the victory – “He succeeded in making himself the focus of the campaign. Smiling and unflappable under pressure (he was seen performing a puja during the recent IT raids against him), his leadership qualities and composure stood out”. “The principal opposition party suffered the humiliation of losing its deposit in a seat in Chennai for the first time in more than 50 years, raising doubts about its claim to be the party-in-waiting to form the next government”. Regarding what this wins means for the ruling party which has 3 years left to be in power; Dhinakaran could offer a compromise between the two factions within the party. “The AIADMK government has more than three years left in office and TTV would gain nothing by pulling it down. A compromise formula can see him wield greater power in the party and the government. It will also give him time to consolidate his position”. RK Nagar has long been a bastion for the AIADMK in general and the late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in particular. While DMK remained popular in Chennai, RK Nagar was one constituency that could not be touched. This district has largely remained backward with little to no development for decades. A majority of the voters are daily wage earners

and fisherfolk, with the literacy rate being low. Regarding the DMK’s poor showing, the party constituted a three-member committee to identify the reasons for its failure. The party’s candidate N Maruthu Ganesh placed third securing 24,651 votes. The official reaction to the defeat was blamed on money power used by Dhinakaran. The Deccan Chronicle editorial termed this the most corrupt election ever in the history of Indian polls – “The fight for the Jaya legacy may have been settled even though its main claimant Sasikala has been convicted making her ineligible to contest polls for 10 years. Fighting her proxy battle, Mr. Dhinakaran managed to win nearly twice as many votes as the official AIADMK”. In documents seized during an Income Tax raid on the Tamil Nadu health minister's residence, it showed that the AIADMK planned to allegedly distribute Rs 89 crore among the two lakh voters of RK Nagar. “The RK Nagar voters, who freely imbibed the cashfor-votes, may have made this the most corrupt election ever in the history of Indian polls. And yet they were only reaffirming that graft, among politicians and leaders, is no big issue with the people”. The party president said in part, “Both the candidates of AIADMK factions spend money in crores in RK Nagar to purchase democracy. The constituency fell victim to money power” The Economic Times editorial stated that the result could provide an opportunity for the DMK – “That the DMK, fresh out of the 2G verdict, has found itself back in the ring gives it enough elbow room to choose its allies from a more advantageous position, rather than being forced to team up to ward off an existential crisis”. In an interview to the Tamil news magazine Vikatan, MK Azhagiri, the DMK Secretary of the Southern Regional Division, who was removed from the party after a confrontation with Stalin, strongly criticized the party after its defeat in the RK Nagar bypoll. He said there isn’t anyone in the party willing to do the work for winning elections as there no loyal party people getting behind the leader as he sees it being Karunanadhi. One of the most surreal aspects of the bypoll happened a day before the vote, where P Vetrivel, an aide to Dhinakaran released a video of the late

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in a room looking frail. The election in many ways was about her and her legacy; it revolves around her – the party, the cadre and the politics. Each faction is actively trying to stake claim as the rightful heir to their beloved ‘Amma’.

“Rumour, gossip and speculation” was what the 2G spectrum case was based on according to special judge OP Saini when he read out the judgment that acquitted all 35 accused including former Telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi. The court criticized the prosecution for failing to turn up evidence and prove any of the charges. The special judge overseeing the case since 2011 said the nearly seven year wait to turn up evidence was in vain.

Raja, felling vindicated after the verdict said in part, “I brought a revolution in the telecom sector. It is not unknown in history that a person who did revolution is tainted as a criminal”. Kanimozhi said the verdict ended a six year period that was “harrowing and excruciating”. She added “I was made an accused just because I was a director in a company and for only about 20 days, where I had not attended even a single board meeting and where I had not signed a single document”. DMK president MK Stalin said in part, “Now, all the accused in the case being acquitted is a great reprieve for us, especially for the DMK that committed no mistake”. The scam dates back to 2008 when telecom companies were allocated licenses and spectrum. The allegations made were that the cut-off dates for submissions from companies were altered to help certain companies such as Swan and Unitech who were initially ineligible were allowed to participate and a certain amount of money was given to Kalaingar TV which is promoted by DMK leader MK Karunanidhi whose daughter is Kanimozhi. The CAG report stated that due

to the irregularities, the losses amounted to 1.7 lakh crore. The CBI made an arrest in 2011 and the following year, the Supreme Court ruled the allocation of licenses and spectrum to be unconstitutional and cancelled 122 licenses. The Hindustan Times editorial states that the judgment must be taken at face value and not be conflated with the apex court order of cancellation of licenses – “In his (special judge) order, he has been severely critical of the prosecution’s inability to do so — which, once again, asks the same questions of the investigative processes of the CBI and the ED that have been asked before”. “The apex court’s decision was not based on whether or not Raja, felling vindicated after the verdict said in part, “I brought a revolution in the telecom sector. It is not unknown in history that a person who did revolution is tainted as a criminal”. Kanimozhi said the verdict ended a six year period that was “harrowing and excruciating”. She added “I was made an accused just because I was a director in a company and for only about 20 days, where I had not attended even a single board meeting and where I had not signed a single document”. DMK president MK Stalin said in part, “Now, all the accused in the case being acquitted is a great reprieve for us, especially for the DMK that committed no mistake”. The scam dates back to 2008 when telecom companies were allocated licenses and spectrum. The allegations made were that the cut-off dates for submissions from companies were altered to help certain companies such as Swan and Unitech who were initially ineligible were allowed to participate and a certain amount of money was given to Kalaingar TV which is promoted by DMK leader MK Karunanidhi whose daughter is Kanimozhi. The CAG report stated that due to the irregularities, the losses amounted to 1.7 lakh crore. The CBI made an arrest in 2011 and the following year, the Supreme Court ruled the allocation of licenses and spectrum to be unconstitutional and cancelled 122 licenses. The Hindustan Times editorial states that the judgment must be taken at face value and not be conflated with the apex court order of cancellation of licenses – “In his (special judge) order, he has

been severely critical of the prosecution’s inability to do so — which, once again, asks the same questions of the investigative processes of the CBI and the ED that have been asked before”. “The apex court’s decision was not based on whether or not there was a criminal conspiracy to defraud the exchequer, but on irregularities it saw in the process by which licenses and radio waves were allotted”. “Irregularities and ad-hocism do not a scam make, which is why Saini’s order has to be taken at face value. It is now up to the CBI and the ED to, on appeal, make a better case in the High Court than they did in the lower court”. The CBI presented 155 witnesses to the court. Some of the notable names that were deposed include Dayalu Ammal wife of Karunanidhi, ADAG chairman Anil Ambani and his wife Tina, former governor of the RBI Dr D Subba Rao, corporate lobbyist Niira Radia among others. Journalist Sanjiv Shankaran, in a column for the Times of India writes that the nation’s civil servants are a weak link in its governance in light of the prosecution failing to turn up evidence – “The controversial allocation of 2G spectrum to telecom operators in 2008 has for a decade served as an exemplar of an alliance between crooked business interests and corrupt politicians. More than any other controversy, the 2G case came to symbolize the permissiveness of UPA government”. “Poor drafting of legislation has been the bane of India’s legislative framework. The telecom rules were a particularly appalling case. Definitions of critical terms such as “associate companies” are not clear”. “Unsurprisingly, the prosecution is shown up in poor light. Their incompetence is another incalculable cost imposed on society. CBI’s performance needs closer scrutiny. Given their track record in high profile cases, they represent another weak link in the governance chain”. The news and the noise around the scam plagued the Congress before the 2014 elections and were effectively used by the BJP in the course of the campaign to bring them great success. The stain from this may still be on the Congress, but they may be able to use this in their narrative, perhaps using the judges’ own words in stating that no evidence

was provided by the prosecution. Whether it will be enough to swing voters to their side remains to be seen. The Times of India editorial looked at the system and how the scandal affected the economy, governance and politics – “It was hard to miss the neat mix of politicians, bureaucrats and corporates in CBI’s allegations of crony capitalist nexus. But yet again CBI has come a cropper in producing evidence that could withstand judicial scrutiny”. “Auctions are a good way for transparently allotting spectrum and should have been adopted much earlier. But the obsession with revenue maximization through auctions at high base prices rejects the possibility of organic growth through lower tariffs, greater capital investment”. Valid questions can be raised on the role the CAG Vinod Rai and his report in estimating the losses. Was Kapil Sibal’s right in his zero-loss theory? After the Supreme Court cancelled the licenses, A Raja was in jail on the charges of forgery and criminal conspiracy. A special CBI court was not happy with the evidence provided which alleged that some of the licenses had been allocated to applicants who did not give complete information and submitted fake documents in order to get access to the spectrum. The Hindu editorial stated that the verdict calls into question the political, investigative narratives of the past decade – “What is illegal from the point of view of administrative law may not necessarily be an offence from a criminal court’s perspective. With the trial court’s en masse acquittal of all those arraigned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the 2G spectrum allocation case, the claim that this was the biggest scam in India’s history lies in tatters”. “The CBI’s image has taken a beating, with the court calling it out for its waning enthusiasm in pursuing the case. There is a cloud over the present government’s commitment to fighting corruption”. In a letter to DMK head Karunanidhi, A Raja writes in part, “You preserved me in snow. You stood behind me. I am waiting to hear your words”. With an appeal certainly coming, time will tell how the BJP, Congress, DMK and the AIADMK will use this verdict and all that has come before it.

Read more at: http://www.sify.com/news/2g-case-verdict-raja-kanimozhiacquittals-raise-more-questions-than-answers-news-columnsrmymFzhfaidid.html there was a criminal conspiracy to defraud the exchequer, but on irregularities it saw in the process by which licenses and radio waves were allotted”. “Irregularities and ad-hocism do not a scam make, which is why Saini’s order has to be taken at face value. It is now up to the CBI and the ED to, on appeal, make a better case in the High Court than they did in the lower court”. The CBI presented 155 witnesses to the court. Some of the notable names that were deposed include Dayalu Ammal wife of Karunanidhi, ADAG chairman Anil Ambani and his wife Tina, former governor of the RBI Dr D Subba Rao, corporate lobbyist Niira Radia among others. Journalist Sanjiv Shankaran, in a column for the Times of India writes that the nation’s civil servants are a weak link in its governance in light of the prosecution failing to turn up evidence – “The controversial allocation of 2G spectrum to telecom operators in 2008 has for a decade served as an exemplar of an alliance between crooked business interests and corrupt politicians. More than any other controversy, the 2G case came to symbolize the permissiveness of UPA government”. “Poor drafting of legislation has been the bane of India’s legislative framework. The telecom rules were a particularly appalling case. Definitions of critical terms such as “associate companies” are not clear”. “Unsurprisingly, the prosecution is shown up in poor light. Their incompetence is another incalculable cost imposed on society. CBI’s performance needs closer scrutiny. Given their track record in high profile cases, they represent another weak link in the governance chain”. The news and the noise around the scam plagued the Congress before the 2014 elections and were effectively used by the BJP in the course of the campaign to bring them great success. The stain from this may still be on the Congress, but they may be able to use this in their narrative, perhaps using the judges’ own words in stating that no evidence

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Indian politics: Gujarat reluctant to triple talaq Hindutva BJP and refuse remarry corrupt Congress! -Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

______

The general poll just held in Gujarat shows that Gujaratis are no more angry with Congress party and the PM Modi and BJP have lost the impressive steam with the people, though they have not yet completely written off the Hindutva parties. . While the AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal could not earlier make any difference to the BJP’s position in Gujarat, the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seems to have made a big difference as BJP won now with reduced majority while the Congress party improved its tally considerably.

The BJP took 99 constituencies while the Congress

has got 80 seats.

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Kashmiris hail Palestine’s UN victory, relieved by the Indian support to Palestine over Jerusalem! Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal __________

Those nations that have lost their sovereignty and freedoms to foreign colonialist powers have undergone similar tyranny, oppression and other inhuman problems have similar mindsets, though they do not communicate with each other or organize joint actions to fight the occupation powers out of their nations. Palestinians and Kashmiris have undergone similar fare though Palestinians suffered much more than Kashmiris. The foreign governments that occupy these nations deliberately call the freedom fighters as “separatists”. They only seek to get back sovereignty from the foreign yokes. However, Palestine is nearing full independence from Israeli fascists. Having obtained defacto sovereignty and UN membership, Palestinians are now seeking to get full sovereignty and full UN membership so that Israeli terrorists could be kicked out of their lands. Meanwhile, Trump who completing his first year in the office of White House has decided to give Jerusalem to Israel as a new gift for its crimes against humanity. He said Jerusalem would be the new capital of Israel and he would shift the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This American madness annoyed entire world, beyond Islamic nations. Both Trump and Netanyahu stand isolated globally. Separatists as well as mainstream politicians here welcomed the resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Jerusalem that called upon United States to drop its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. A resolution, December 21, was adopted by a recorded vote of 128 in favour to nine against, with 35 abstentions. Kashmiris are very glad that the UN has rejected the Resolution of TrumpNetanyahu plan for Jerusalem. They have expressed happiness and India also supported the Palestine cause this time. Both pro-India and proPakistan leaders as well as neutral Kashmirs also praised India’s positive gesture. India for the first time in recent history became a friend of humanity. Kashmiris affected by India military attacks and genocides in Kashmiris wonder if India is fast changing its overall policy at all. They even wonder if India would soon surrender sovereignty to Kashmiris for peace in the region But that is perhaps not so near…..

JK Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, December 22, said that she was proud of India’s decision to vote in the UNGA. “Very proud to see that India joined over 100 countries at the UN to vote against recognizing Jerusalem as the official capital of Israel. This vote further reaffirms our stand and support to Palestine,” she said in a statement on Twitter. Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, December 22, wrote on Twitter, “Well done MEA for not taking the easy/safe option of abstaining like the 35 others. On December 22, National Conference president and Member of Parliament, Dr Farooq Abdullah said “I thank all countries that voted to support the resolution. The move to declare Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the United States was an arbitrary, unjust and baseless move that defied history and tenets of justice.” India, by voting in support of the resolution along with other countries, has upheld its considered and principled stand on Palestine. No such steps should be allowed that would hamper peace and stability in the Middle East and deprive the people of Palestine of their rights. “India has traditionally and consistently considered East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine and India’s support to the UNGA resolution re-affirms that stand and commitment.” Donald Trump’s threat backfired spectacularly. Entire humanity wishes him and Netanyahu permanent hell. Israel keeps killing Palestinians, including their children. UNSC has no word of sympathy for the fate of Palestinians and the future of their children. The majority vote in UNGA has proved that USA President Donald Trump’s decision was unjust and discriminatory. “The majority vote in UNGA against him has left Trump isolated and vindicated the just cause of Palestinians,” said Mirwaiz in a statement here on December 23. Welcoming the world body’s move to denounce the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem, senior separatist and president Anjuman Shar-ee Shian Aga Syed Hasan the resolution as “encouraging” and described it as a moral victory of Palestinian people and “a setback to the American imperialism and hegemony in the world and also extension of its support to ruthless Israel by ordering the shifting of its embassy from Tal-Aviv to Jerusalem.” The resolution showed how international community was committed to the cause of Palestine. Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association (HCBA), in a statement here December 22 described the resolution as a moral victory of Palestinian people and a setback to the American imperialism and hegemony in the world. “HCBA welcomes the backing of the resolution, calling USA to drop its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, by 128 countries of the world, at

the UNGA despite the threatening given by USA President Donald Trump to cut off financial aid to countries which may vote in favour of the resolution.”The Bar Association further observed that ‘if America has any respect for the world opinion, it should, immediately drop its idea of shifting its embassy from Tal-Aviv to Jerusalem and not to endanger the world peace by sticking to its immoral and illegal decision.” Details of UN vote The United Nations General Assembly has voted by a huge majority to declare a unilateral US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital "null and void". At an emergency session of the General Assembly on Thursday, 128 countries voted in favour of a resolution rejecting US President Donald Trump's controversial decision on December 6. Nine countries voted against, while 35 abstained. Trump had earlier threatened to cut aid to UN members who would vote against his decision. Here is a country breakdown of the General Assembly vote:

1. Member states that voted for the resolution A: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan B: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi C: Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, China, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica E: Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia F: Finland, France G: Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana I: Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy J: Japan, Jordan K: Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan L: Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg

M:Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Monaco, Montenegro, M orocco, Mozambique N: Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway O: Oman P: Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Portugal Q: Qatar R: Republic of Korea (South Korea), Russia S: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria T: Tajikistan, Thailand, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Turkey U: United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan V: Venezuela, Vietnam Y: Yemen Z: Zimbabwe

2. Against the resolution

G: Guatemala H: Honduras I: Israel M: Marshall Islands, Micronesia N: Nauru P: Palau T: Togo

U: United States

3. Abstentions A: Antigua-Barbuda, Argentina, Australia B: Bahamas, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina C: Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic D: Dominican Republic E: Equatorial Guinea F: Fiji H: Haiti, Hungary J: Jamaica K: Kiribati L: Latvia, Lesotho M: Malawi, Mexico P: Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland R: Romania, Rwanda S: Solomon Islands, South Sudan T: Trinidad-Tobago, Tuvalu U: Uganda V: Vanuatu

Interestingly, none of the allies of USA and Israel voted against the resolution meant to support Palestine and those 6 nations are tiny and weak ones that get aid from USA and cheap terror good from Israel. Obviously, Trump and Netanyahu had coerced them to vote for Trump and against the Palestine resolution.

The vote outcomes reveals the fact that Israel is hated by the world and so is its Zionist ally Trump. --------

India: PM Modi inaugurates Delhi Metro's driverless line! - Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

_______

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the first phase of the magenta line of the Delhi Metro from South Delhi Kalkaji Mandir to Botanical Garden on December 25, 2017. Prime Minister Modi, along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath travelled on a patch of the new route - from Noida to the Okhla Bird Sanctuary station. Delhi Metro's Magenta Line reduces the travel time between Noida and south Delhi to 19 minutes avoiding the busy roads in Delhi state. The line will consist of 25 stations with the interchanges of the Yellow, Blue, and the Violet lines. Cost of ticket is Rs 30. The 12.64-km stretch runs between Kalkaji and Noida's Botanical Garden and accounts for a travel time of 19 minutes, thus facilitating easy access for commuters from South Delhi to Noida, and vice versa. The coaches will reportedly have an LED display, power charging capacity and colorful seats, while the stations will portray themes of nature, yoga, and cultural landmarks. Further, driverless trains are to be introduced along with the Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) signaling technology, which would facilitate the movement of trains within a frequency of 90 to 100 seconds. The Magenta Line also marks the usage of the first platform screen doors (PSDs), which are glass-made screens installed near the edge of platforms that open only when a train arrives and shut after it departs. Prime Minister Modi addressed the gathering at the Botanical Garden Metro Station after taking ride.

Delhi Metro's Magenta Line is indeed an important achievement as it saves time and energy of the people working in different parts of Indian capital with over load of motor vehicular movements and consequent regular traffic jams. In fact, travelling by the speed metro trains is a thrilling experience for those who struggle and toil in the sun on bikes, bicycles, on foot and by cars, etc. By bus the travel takes at least two hours but metro takes place in just 19 minutes and it runs on schedule so that the Delhiites could reach their offices or work places on time. Now a new experiment of Magenta Line has been tried by running metro trains without drivers. Earlier, a trial run crashed and the department corrected the shortfall and later made a successful run. The inaugural ceremony has taken place on schedule. Alongside such needy transport system, the Indian government must also consider the improvement of economic requirements of the people of Delhi and India at large and fulfill the pledge given to nation of depositing money in the banks for every citizen of the country now that the Indian black money concealed in foreign banks has been successfully tracked abroad by the Modi regime. Development and justice should go hand in hand. PM Modi is mandated to serve the cause of the common people. But like the Congress party, his BJP is also serving causes of MNCs, corporate lords that fund the party and poll campaigns. Metro system somehow assists the common people. Government and state should keep the promises they give to nation and citizens. Cheating and betraying the people goes against the democracy and rule of law. It is a crude fact the Indian government institutions, departments and agencies create problems for some Muslims and force them to quit or seek voluntary retirement. But the institutions and departments refuse to provide the pension and cause immeasurable pains and agony for those who work sincerely for the nation. That is bad and sad. A government can do any illegal thing without worry or fear and nobody would question in the country or foreign countries can or would not intervene. Insensitiveness of Indian regime now controlled by PM Modi does not show serious governing of his government. ------

South India: RK Nagar (Chennai) verdict against AIADMK and DMK, an independent Dinakaran wins! - Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal _______

Considering the by-poll outcome of RK Nagar in Chennai It seems Tamil Nadu politics is making a pointed departure from the usual path for several decades so far pursued by the Tamil Nadu state to give DMK or AIADMK mandate to rule, by rejecting both and electing an independent candidate Dinakaran - a close relative of jailed Sasikala. In RK Nagar bypoll, TTV Dhinakaran defeated AIADMK's Madhusudhanan and DMK's Marudhu Ganesh. Voters seem to have reacted to BJP governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interference in the state. In what seems like a setback for the opposition DMK and their leader MK Stalin, VK Sasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran has taken a huge lead as votes are being counted today for the by-election in Chennai's RK Nagar, the key constituency that fell vacant after the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in December last year. None of the candidates other than independent TTV Dinkaran has won any round of countering. After 15 rounds of counting, Dinakaran is ahead with 81,317, followed by AIADMK's Madhusudhanan who has 44,522 votes and DMK's Maruthu Ganesh, who has 22,962 votes. Dinakaran polled 89013 votes and got 50.32% of the total votes polled, won the by 40707 votes. Ruling party candidate Madhusudanan got 48306 votes less than half mark. DMK has been shunted to third position with 24581 votes and lost the deposit. BJP which also said would win the constituency has been pushed to a pathetically distant fourth position with just 1714 votes. NOTA have a respectable 2373 votes. The constituency was earlier represented by former CM late J. Jayalalithaa who passed away in December last year. Around 77.68 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the battle for this prestigious assembly seat in Tamil Nadu. TTV Dhinakaran continued to lead right from the beginning of counting the first round. "The people of RK Nagar have given me a big victory. I am an independent candidate just for name sake, all party (AIADMK) workers are with me. I also have Amma (Jayalalithaa)'s wishes," says TTV Dinakaran.

Dinakaran thrash DMK, AIADMK In a bitterly fought election which can have huge political implications in Tamil Nadu, sidelined AIADMK leader and independent candidate TTV Dhinakaran on Sunday secured a comfortable win in the RK Nagar bypoll. Dhinakaran polled 89,013 votes out of total 1,76,885 votes while his nearest rival, official AIADMK candidate E Madhusudhanan, secured 48,306 votes. All other 57 candidates, including DMK's Maruthu Ganesh, 24,651 votes, and BJP's Karu Nagarajan, 1417 votes, lost deposits. Dinakaran won the constituency by a majority passing even the lead record of former CM Jayalithaa. All candidates including BJP other than ruling ADADMKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lost their deposit. Interestingly BJP fell behind the NOTA. DMK which look forward to win the seat to claim it as a mandate for ruling the state came third with a poor showing. 54-year-old Dhinakaran, who contested as an Independent candidate, was always leading by a big margin followed by the ruling AIADMK's E Madhusudhnan; DMK candidate common man Marudhu Ganesh at number 3. With Ganesh, as its candidate, the DMK had hoped to send a message to the party cadre that ordinary workers too could rise to important positions in the party. Ganesh comes from a family of DMK card holders; his mother was a municipal councilor between 1996 and 2001 when DMK working president Stalin was the mayor. By defeating the ruling AIADMK, Dinakaran has shown that name of the party and symbol do not matter at all. And only the candidate is important. Dinakaran reached Chennai and traveled straight to the Amma memorial in Marina Beach. As he was leading the RK Nagar by-polls with a huge margin and is likely to win the seat. Dhinakaran also paid floral tribute to late AIADMK founder actor MG Ramachandran on his 30th death anniversary at MGR memorial in Marina Beach

DMK and BJP The DMK tried to make it a triangular contest, fielding N Maruthu Ganesh. The bypoll was first scheduled to be held in April this year, but was cancelled due to complaints of large-scale voter bribery. This round of voting was also not devoid of controversy. A Dinakaran loyalist released a video on the eve

of the by-election purportedly showing Jayalalithaa in a hospital few days before her death. Ganesh's chances of winning were the brightest during the cancelled round of by-polls in April when the DMK had hoped the AIADMK votes would split between the two factions led by Chief Minister E Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam; the two sides merged in August this year. But the election was cancelled by the Election Commission after videos showing cash being paid to voters had emerged. The RK Nagar battle symbolizes the larger fight for the legacy of Jayalalithaa between her long-time friend VK Sasikala and her party the AIADMK. Mr Dhinakaran, who was the number 2 of AIADMK, was sidelined by the party after his aunt VK Sasikala got jailed in a corruption case, but both Ms Sasikala and Mr Dhinakaran claim to the legacy of Ms Jayalalithaa owing to Ms Sasikala's long association with "Amma". DMK did not criticize Dinakaran but only targeted the ruling AIADMK because DMK wanted to finish off AIADMK and come to power as early as possible. It is eager to see the ruling party is under pressure and lost it majority. The ruling AIADMK is worst hit party as its prestige and future said to be depended on the winning of the seat. The bypoll held on December 21 had seen a record 77.68% voter turnout. RK Nagar, represented twice by Jayalalithaa, has an electorate of 2, 28,234, comprising 1, 10,903 men, 1, 17,232 women and 99 transgenders. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy on Sunday questioned his party's accountability after it scored lesser votes than None of the Above (NOTA) in RK Nagar by-polls. Criticising the state BJP leadership for a poor show, Swamy tweeted, "TN BJP record: A national ruling party gets a quarter of NOTA's vote. Time for accountability".

End of MGR-Jayalalithaa era? Dinakaran is not known leader but promoted by TV channels as he faced corruption charges and was sent to jail. He and Sasikala la are known corrupt leaders.

Dinakaran, who has won the RK Nagar constituency earlier represented by Jayalalithaa, knows well all weaknesses of Indian politics and poll system and has misused them to win. He knows money makes wonders for the greedy people. Dinakaran who says the bypoll is a referendum the performance of EPS-OPS duo in the state, has declared himself as the “true political heir” of the late J Jayalalithaa after being assured victory the by-election to RK Nagar assembly seat in Tamil Nadu. Thanking voters, the sidelined AIADMK leader has vowed to bring down the EPS-OPS government in the state “within three months”. It appears Dinakaran and Sasikala have planned and executed the RK Nagar by poll by many strategies. They created the impression that Dinakaran and she are the victims of conspiracy by BJP. They have spent huge money through foolproof strategy. Dinakaran his supporters maintained close touch with voters in the bypoll campaign earlier and after the poll was postponed they continued their work to influence the voters with money with a common religious promise that they would not cheat Dinakaran and Sasikala after taking the money. Many say people have only kept their word. The vote, if genuine, against the AIADMK and for Dinakaran the person who harmed the government enough damages shows their real anger for the government and party. AIADMK has a few leaders who want to have truck with BJP, giving it a lot seats to help make a comeback but people have rejected both AIADMK and BJP in RK Nagar. But the leaders need to know that people in Tamil Nadu do not support the Hindutva hate agenda of BJP. Stalin has alleged that Rs. 100 crore were given to voters by the ruling AIADMK ahead of the by-election, adding that the ruling AIADMK has given Rs. 6,000 to each voter, and the operation, he insisted, had the support of the police. PMK leader Anbumani Ramadas has said Dinakaran has won RKN but people lost the election. When the CM E. Palanisamy refused to visit the areas affected by the recent natural calamity that claimed hundreds of life it revealed to public that the government has ignored the suffering of the common people, especially in fishermen community which goes against the philosophy of politician as a public servant working only for the people. The government’s decision to float more liquor shops went against the promise of Jayalalithaa to the people. . By rejecting the ruling AIADMK, voters of RKN constituency seems have expressed anger and disappointment with the Jayalalithaa’s party. Possibly,

unlike the party members and active supporters, common people are unhappy about her illicit relations with a film star and giving birth to a female child and keeping the matter very secretly till her death. The by-election became a prestige battle between the two factions of AIADMK on the one hand Edapadi Palaniswami – his deputy CM O Panneerselvam and TTV Dinakaran. Dhinakaran, M Ganesh of DMK and E Madhusudhanan of AIADMK are main candidates in the fray for the bypoll. The bypoll campaign was marred with reports of distribution of cash for votes by different groups. Now it is clear that the bypoll was primarily a contest between Dinakaran and the merged faction of chief minister E Palaniswami and deputy CM O Panneerselvam, with the result deciding the battle for Jayalalithaa’s legacy. While Dinakaran contested as an Independent candidate, the EPS-OPS faction had fielded Madhusudhanan. People could not digest the way the TN government is being controlled by Federal government of BJP. So, if AIADMK wins, that would amount to victory for the BJP even though BJP faired extremely bad. One important outcomes of the RK Nagar poll is that people have voted against the communal parties and Hindutva agenda. In fact the RK poll outcome has not made any promise that Dinakaran c would be made CM by people and there won’t be any change in politics. Had AIADMK or DMK won the position would be the same as the win won’t be a clear cut certificate for future victories. . Next general poll in the state is entirely different issue. Dinakaran hopes for getting more MLAs and even MPs from the ruling Party and has said the AIADMK government would be removed in three months. In politics anything can happen. Both MGR and Jayalalithaa catered for the women constituencies and the RK poll results show, if they are indeed genuine, that the current ruling AIADMK party has caused erosion of the women votes that may have w gone to smart looking Dinakaran. Getting back the party symbol Two Leaves has not saved the party though it could come second head of DMK. The big show of the NOTA (against support for any candidate) getting more votes than the BJP reveals that Tamils are annoyed about the political drama in the state.

DMK could not make any profit out of death 0f murder of Jayalalithaa. Ruling AIADMk is the prime target of DMK as it is eager win the next general poll to make Karunanidhi take power at the Madras Fort and on Marina Beach if he dies while in office. It is alleged DMK has transferred parts of its vote bank in favor of Dinakaran so that the AIADMk loses. AIADMK lost but is it because of transfer of DMK votes? Jayalalithaa worked against the 2 G spectrum scam but Dinakaran welcomed the court d verdict in favor of DMK and O Panneerselvam sees the hidden nexus between DMK and Dinakaran and vote transfer could be a fact. AIADMK must cater to the women constituency by a few steps. One would be to invite the daughter and niece of Jayalalithaa to join the party and lead the women wings to further strengthen the party and save the government until the next general poll and after that. As long as Jayalalithaa was alive, women vote-banks were ensured by her own presence even without meeting them during her illness but also after her death the party has no proper popular women face. OPS and EPS could replace Jayalalithaaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s image. AIADMK met at the party HQ on December 25 in Chennai to discuss the poll debacle and removed 6 party district level chiefs, who support Dinakaran and Sasikala, from the party and replaced them with new office bears. There were not removed till now may be because EPS-OPS thought they would bring Dinakaran back to the party. Now that hope has vanished and hence the party axe on them. . All said and done, now the government has got the opportunity and time to serve the people directly, cut further the liquor shops and stop liquorization of the society in favor of women, and cut corruption in offices, including in police stations where money si making services as business. Make the offices accountable for corrupt practices by punitive measures and instruct the party cadres not to take bribes and worked for party and government sincerely. _____

Nepal: Left alliance wins majority in parliament, economy main thrust! Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal __________

A Left alliance between former Maoist rebels and moderate communists will form the next government in Nepal as it won a clear majority of 91 seats out of 165 seats in the historic polls many hope will bring political stability to the country. The CPN-Maoist led by former premier Prachanda and CPN-UML led by former prime minister KP Oli have forged an electoral alliance for both the provincial and parliamentary elections under the first-past-the-post election system. Nepal will elect a federal parliament, which will elect a prime minister, president, and vice president for the country. Provincial assemblies for each of Nepalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seven provinces will also be elected, which will then choose the chief ministers of the provinces. Nepal has a parallel voting system, which sees different candidates selected in two ways. Under the proportional representation category, in which voters select a party, as many as 6,094 candidates are contesting the federal and provincial elections to be held on November 26 and December 7, according to the Election Commissionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s publicly released list of PR candidates. The house of representatives consists of 275 members, of which 165 were elected directly under the first-past-the-post system while the remaining 110 come through the proportional representation system. As the Left alliance has secured a clear majority in the 275-member Parliament, Oli was being projected to succeed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Oli won from the Jhapa-5 constituency by more than 28,000 votes as he defeated Nepali Congress candidate Khagendra Adhikari. He polled 57,139 votes, the highest number of votes so far secured by any candidate in the election. More than 12.2 million people were eligible to vote in the second phase elections, which come 10 days after the country's mountainous north cast their ballots. The streets of Kathmandu were eerily quiet as polls opened, with vehicles banned from the roads due to security concerns. The vote

elects the country's first provincial assemblies, devolving power away from a top-heavy central government that has cycled through 10 leaders in the last 11 years. "Now there will be specific people responsible for different parts of the country it will be more accountable," said Bishwa Shrestha, 46, after casting his ballot in Kathmandu. Voting in two-phased parliamentary and provincial assembly elections were held on 26 November and 7 December. In the first phase, polling was held in 32 districts, mostly situated in the hilly and mountainous region, in which 65 percent of voters had exercised their franchise. In the second phase, 67 percent voter turnout was registered. A total of 1,663 candidates contested polls for parliamentary seats. Right from the beginning of the counting, the left alliance made progress and it has secured a resounding victory in the first ever state assembly and federal parliamentary elections held on Dec 12, 2017, obtaining a clear mandate to rule the country for the next five years. The victory will help the alliance focus on core development issues, which could put an end to the economic inertia witnessed over the years. Two Madhesi parties, Federal Socialist Party Nepal and Rastriya Janata Party, have so far secured 11 Parliamentary seats each. The Rastriya Prajatantra Party, the Naya Shakti Party led by former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and an independent candidate have secured one seat each. Thousands of police and soldiers had been deployed ahead of polling day in the capital Kathmandu and the populous lowlands, with the build-up to the vote hit by violence that has left one dead and dozens injured.

Issues Years of political turbulence have hampered development in the impoverished Himalayan nation, which is still recovering from a powerful earthquake that hit two years ago, killing 9,000 people and destroying over half a million homes. The least developed Himalayan country held elections for its parliament and provincial assembly simultaneously in two phases on November 26 and December 7. The results of elections will fully operationalise the federal system cemented by Nepalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new constitution in 2015, thus marking the

concluding chapter of the constitution implementation process that began two years ago. It took nine years after the end of a decade-long civil war to agree to a new constitution. The charter adopted in 2015 mandated a sweeping overhaul of Nepal's political system to give greater autonomy to the provinces. But it also sparked deadly protests in the south by ethnic minority groups who say it leaves them politically marginalized, and have demanded amendments to the charter. The Communist CPN-UML party was expected to sweep the polls, buoyed by its alliance with the main Maoist party comprised of former rebels who fought government forces for a decade. But the nationalistic CPN-UML has strongly opposed amending the constitution to address the demands of ethnic minorities that it views as being more closely aligned with India. Many in the southern lowlands share close linguistic and cultural ties with Indians across the border. In the last three decades, the country has witnessed chronic political instability, including a 10-year violent insurgency, which badly damaged Nepalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s development and economy. Today, high-level unemployment persists. According to government data, over 2 million Nepalis were working abroad in 2011, as they could not find employment at home. Young people in particular often go abroad either to study or to work, as they see no future in their country. The far-western region, which is less developed than the rest of the country, said that roads, food security, health, safe drinking water, and education are their key priorities. There are several villages in western Nepal that are still untouched by roads and several rivers are without bridges. Though parties have promised a lot in the past, they failed to deliver. Nepal adopted a multi-party parliamentary system in 1990, but all the early parliaments were dissolved before they completed their five-year term, leading to political instability in the Himalayan nation. The parliamentary system adopted after 1990 also witnessed several malpractices, including horse-trading.

The last parliamentary election took place in 1999, but the parliament was dissolved in 2001 with the declaration of a state of emergency. For a long period, Nepal remained without any elected body, which sabotaged the governance system. After the signing of a peace deal with the Maoists in 2006, the first Constituent Assembly (CA) election was held in 2008. A second CA was elected in 2013. The CA also served as a legislature during that time, but its main mandate was writing a new constitution for Nepal. In this sense, the upcoming parliamentary election is Nepalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first in 17 years. The new constitution incorporated some provisions aimed at improving the drawbacks of parliamentary democracy. The number of parties represented in the parliament will thus decrease due to the new law. According to the Election Commission law, parties need to secure three percent of votes in the proportional representation (PR) category and one seat elected through first-past-the-post rules to sit in the federal parliament.

Political Stability Over the last 30 years, not a single government has completed a five-year term. In fact, the average tenure of a government is one year. With the formation of new federal and provincial parliaments, there are expectations that Nepal will finally get a stable government that at least will last for at least five years, which will contribute to improving the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fragile economy. The joint election manifesto of the left alliance, combining the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center), focused on stability, good governance, and economic prosperity. The left alliance claims that under its government, per capita income will reach $5,000 within five years. The alliance also pledged to create a massive increase in jobs for young people. One of the cornerstones of the constitution promulgated in September 2015 is fiscal federalism. This constitutional provision has empowered local bodies and states, and enabled them to design policies, make decisions and introduce budget. This devolution of power has paved the way for local bodies and states to pursue development activities on their own, which will require huge resources.

It is well known that most of the local bodies do not generate adequate resources to finance their expenditure needs. For example, tax income of now-defunct district development committees and municipalities, and income of village development committees accounted for less than 2 percent of the central governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tax revenue. This is unlikely to change drastically in the federal set-up because local bodies have not been assigned buoyant revenue sources. This is the same for states. This indicates most of the local bodies and states will rely on the central government for grants to meet their expenditure needs. The constitution has envisaged four types of grants for local bodies and states: fiscal equalization, conditional, matching and special. The government, in the current fiscal year, has allocated funds to provide two of the four grants to local bodies and one of the four grants to states. These allocations have consumed over 18 percent of the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual budget. If all the grants are extended in the next fiscal year, their share in the budget could exceed 50 percent. This will leave the central government with very little funds to cover other crucial expenses related to national security, management of federal administrations and embassies, higher education, debt servicing, pension, social security, reconstruction, implementation of national pride projects, and response to natural disasters and other emergencies.

Some of the demands of marginalized groups in the Terai region, including Madhesis and Tharus, are still unaddressed and the new government of Lefts should be addressing the grievances of them so that no fresh conflicts surface. So, the cost of implementing federalism will be huge and they cannot be covered unless economic activities expand rapidly. It is well known that funds mobilized by the government would not be adequate to give desired impetus to economic activities. A Maoist leader said that though the Left alliance is tilted towards the northern neighbour (China), the new government needs to strike a balance between the country's two giant neighbours (India and China) while pursuing its foreign policy. The two parties are also considering merging to form the largest communist party in Nepal. If they merge, the post of party

president and the country's president will be shared between Maoist chief Prachanda and top UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, according to party insiders. There was a tacit understanding among three key leaders of the alliance to share the three top posts

Future Nepal's troubled south votes in historic elections many hope will bring muchneeded stability to the desperately poor country, but which have been marred by violence and fears of ethnic tension. The watershed vote marks Nepal's transition from a monarchy to a federal democracy, after emerging from a brutal decade of civil war only to stagger through political turmoil and natural disaster. The new federal government will face considerable headwinds, especially because Nepal is experimenting with federalism for the first time and huge resources would be required to run the country. The common agenda of all the political parties is advancing economic prosperity and development. Nepal aims to be elevated from least developed country status to a developing country by 2022; the various parties have promised to achieve this goal. In their election manifestos, each party presented a plan for prosperity and development, including commitments to create jobs to tackle growing unemployment. Parties have also made promises to ensure social security and expand health and education facilities. The newly-elected assemblies will be tasked with naming their provinces, which are currently referred to by number, as well as choosing capitals and negotiating budgets with Kathmandu -- all sensitive considerations that could rekindle tensions in the ethnically-diverse south. How the politics will unfold will depend on how the new parliament addresses the problems and how well the provinces can function, the challenges facing Nepal as it enters uncharted territory as a federal state. If they cannot fulfill their promises then the groups that have been part of the struggle will not stay quiet. There is possibility of conflict again. Nepalis now want to see a complete overhaul of the economy, which has expanded by an average of around 4 percent per year in the last 45 years,

except for some instances like in the last fiscal year when growth rate stood at 6.8 percent. The healthy margin of victory will definitely help the new government introduce favourable policies to attain this goal and raise the living standards. The south is home to a mosaic of ethnic minorities who say a new post-war constitution denies them political representation, a cause that has sparked bloody protests in recent years. The government must attract private investment, both domestic and foreign. In this regard, the new government should not embrace rigid Left policies, but take a moderate reformist path to create a level-playing field for the domestic private sector and foreign investors. In recent years Kathmandu has played diplomatic ping-pong with its two large neighbours, India and China, who use big-ticket infrastructure projects to vie for influence. While Nepalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s southern neighbor India has lost hopes of controlling its Hindu neighbor on Hindutva basis, Nepalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s powerful neighbour China has long played the role of a very big brother in that landlocked country. Nepal could adopt a neutral policy towards all its neighbors to gain maximum from both as India has been doing by playing USA and Russia through purchases of terror goods from both. China has a UN veto while India tries for global influences by claiming to be terror victim while Hindutva forces in the country have been attacking Muslims, other minorities in order to ensure Hindu vote banks for the next elections. Sino-Nepal relations would shield it from any Indian designs.

--------India: Fodder scam judgment by CBI: Former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad found guilty, sent to jail! -Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

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The former Bihar Chief Minister and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on 23 Dec, 2017 was found guilty in second fodder scam case along with 15 others by a special CBI court judge Shivpal Singh in Ranchi and was convicted even as six others including former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra were acquitted in the case. The court, however, acquitted six people including another former chief minister Jagannath Mishra. Subsequently, Lalu Prasad Yadav has been arrested and sent to jail. The quantum of punishment would be announced on January 03, the judge said. CBI judge Shivpal Singh pronounced the verdict in a packed courtroom in the case pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar Treasury between 1991 and 1994. On Saturday, the CBI judge first read the six names who were acquitted, which included Mishra, former Bihar minister Vidya Sagar Nisad and then Public Accounts Committee chairman Dhruva Bhagat. Apart from Yadav, the court also convicted political leaders Jagdish Sharma and RK Rana, IAS officers Beck Julius, Phoolchand Singh and Mahesh Prasad, and government officials Krishna Kumar and Subir Bhattacharya. The others convicted are suppliers/transporters Tripurari Mohan Prasad, Sushil Kumar Sinha, Sunil Kumar Sinha, Raja Ram Joshi, Gopinath Das, Sanjay Agarwal, Jyoti Kumar Jha and Sunil Gandhi. Following the conviction, Yadav and other convicts were immediately taken into police custody and sent to Birsa Munda Central Jail. Yadav is likely to stay imprisoned until the quantum of punishment is announced on 3 January, media reports said. Angry RJD workers tried to stop the police vehicle when Yadav was being taken to jail.

Just before the verdict, Lalu Prasad Yadav said he would get justice and truth shall prevail. After the verdict, the BJP said that truth has prevailed. Lalu Prasad Yadav said BJPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plan has worked well. But he would fight back to see that BJP is driven out Bihar.

RJD refuses to accept verdict Lalu Prasad Yadav, a milkman (doodwala, selling milk in the streets) turned successful politician and then CM of Bihar and a powerful federal minister of Indian Railways, forgot his past and began minting money from all sources. The case is just one of many he has faced and still pending in courts. He spent aobut 100 croes on his daughterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marriage. Now all these properties belonging to Yadav after 1990 will be attached by the probe agency. Soon after the judgment, RJD criticised the court, alleging a "clear bias" against Yadav and said that the party would approach a higher court to seek justice for its leader. Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, RJD leader Manoj Jha said that it was Lalu who alerted about the scam. "You are convicting the person who has helped expose the scam. It is a tragedy of errors. This is a clear bias against Lalu." Jha said that the "caged parrot" (referring to the CBI) has been "unleashed on political rivals" who do not bow before BJP and said that the decision would not weaken the RJD workers' resolve to fight back its rivals politically. Targeting BJP, Jha said that 11, Ashok Road (BJP headquarter in Delhi) was a "washing machine" that washes away all the taints of any person who bows before the party. Jha alleged a political conspiracy and claimed that the victory "will be ours".

Outside the special CBI court in Ranchi, senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said that the party was disappointed but assured that "the legal fight will continue". He said: "We are disappointed with the judgment. In the same case Jagannath Mishra has been acquitted. Lalu had got jail, while Mishra has got bail. This is the game of Narendra Modi." "We will move the high court. There is no other alternative," said Singh, adding that the party would also go to the people and fight it politically. Senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui, a confidant of Prasad, said it was not right to comment on a judgment but the people were discussing how it is freedom for some people and jail for others in the same case. "The layman is asking why it is jail for some and freedom for others? It is baffling how BJP and JD(U) had predicted the verdict. This has created confusion among the people also," he said. Siddiqui further said that the case against Lalu was not "direct". "The case was on excess withdrawal from Deogarh treasury. Lalu has been charged with connivance as he was the finance minister then; the charge is not direct. The withdrawal had been taking place since 1977. There were several chief ministers who were in charge of the finance department when Lalu was not the finance minister or the chief minister so why is he being singled out?" Siddiqui asked. He also said that it was not the first time that the RJD chief was being jailed. "He had been sent to jail on earlier occasions and each time RJD bounced back with double the strength. That is why we are still number one in Bihar," Siddiqui said, adding that the party would decide its course of action once they are made aware of the quantum of punishment.

The case

In 1996, the Patna High Court ordered an inquiry into the fodder scam cases and a charge sheet in the Deogarh treasury case was filed against 38 people on 27 October, 1997. Eleven of them have died and three turned approvers while two other accused confessed and were convicted in 2006-07, a CBI official said. Here's a detailed timeline of the case: The accused faced charges under various sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The first conviction in the 1996 fodder case came on 30 September, 2013, when Lalu, Jagannath and several others were convicted in another case pertaining to illegal withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from Chaibasa Treasury in the early 1990s. The Supreme Court had granted bail to Lalu on 13 December, after being behind the bars for two months. He had moved the apex court challenging the order of the Jharkhand High Court which had dismissed his bail plea. The verdict was related to the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 84.5 lakh from Deogarh district treasury. The hearing was completed on 13 December in a special CBI court of Ranchi. Lalu faces four more cases in the fodder scam including three cases of illegal withdrawal of Rs 3.97 crore from the Dumka Treasury, Rs 36 crore from the Chaibasa Treasury and Rs 184 crore from the Doranda treasury. The trial in three cases of Lalu and Jagannath gained momentum in May after the Supreme Court directed the special court to complete the trial within nine months.

Congress-RJD link Though Congress refused to speak on the fate of its alliance with RJD after Lalu's conviction, addressing a press conference, Congress leader Manish Tewari said: "As far as today's verdict is concerned, both Lalu and his lawyer

are prepared to fight this." Tewari slammed the Nitish Kumar government and further said: "The central charge is embezzlement from the state treasury. And the alleged embezzlement took place when the current chief minister Nitish Kumar was the chief minister."

Sixty-nine-year-old Lalu lashed out at BJP and alleged that he was a victim of vendetta politics. "To hide its failures, false rhetoric and to get votes, the BJP uses every dirty immoral trick in politics to change the public perception of its opponents," Lalu said in a series of tweets. The RJD supremo also said that BJP was "propagating false rhetoric" and warned them that he was not alone in this war. "Bihar stands with me," he said. Union minister JP Nadda criticised Lalu for politicizing the issue instead of accepting the verdict. He said that the RJD chief's allegations of conspiracy on BJP were an attempt to deviate. Nadda cited other graft cases involving Congress and its allies, claiming that the UPA was an alliance of "corruption" and it had been exposed badly. "It has been proved that Lalu indulged in corruption and the decision has been given by the court. How does BJP figure in it? It is the alliance between Congress and Lalu's party when all such actions have taken place. "Over three years after it was ousted from power, we still see one case after another coming out and courts are indicting and convicting them. So, this itself speaks of the deeds done by them," the senior BJP leader told reporters. Meanwhile, BJP's national IT in-charge Amit Malviya said that the "long fight against corruption will continue". Corruption should be driven out of India. The case pertains to fraudulent withdrawal by Lalu Prasad Yadav of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar Treasury between 1991 and 1994. A charge sheet was

filed against 38 persons on October 27, 1997. Eleven of them died and three turned approvers while two other accused confessed and were convicted in 2006-07, a CBI official said. “Lalu Prasad Yadav is even now politicizing the issue instead of accepting the verdict, just to deviate he is leveling allegations of conspiracy on BJP. The alliance between Congress and Lalu Yadav's party is an alliance of corruption, connivance and cheating the people of India, it is clear from the verdict of the court” -BJP.

“Truth can be made to appear as a lie, as ambiguous or a half lie by concerted onslaught of bias driven propaganda. But blurred layer of bias and hatred will still be removed, come what may! In end Truth will win”- Lalu Prasad Yadav Lesson of today's conviction of Lalu Prasad is that law will catch up with you if you commit corruption. Indian system is corrupt and corrupt people easily can escape punishment only a few are punished. Besides the systemic lacuna, the corruption in courts involving the judges helps the corrupt people get the cases quashed. Government also tries to help the guilty people to escape punishment for their economic crimes. Police system is totally corrupt at all levels. . Judiciary should be the genuine place for genuine justice and should not be a convenient place to make payments to judges for justice and for favorable judgments ------

Trade agreement: Pakistan for FTA with Pacific South East nations

-Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

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Pakistan aims initiate negotiations with Pacific and South East Asian nations on a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to enhance multilateral trade. Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines in the Pacific region are among the countries in the list to start a dialogue on Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) which will pave the way towards FTA for promoting trade liberalization, a senior official of Ministry of Commerce told APP here on Tuesday. Replying to another question, he said Pakistan and Indonesia had already agreed on concessions for 20 different items during bilateral negotiations under a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA). Both sides discussed 20 tariff lines and Indonesia agreed to give concession on major exports from Pakistan including rice, textile, ethanol, Citrus (Kinnow) and mangoes during renegotiation on PTA, he said. Concession on 20 tariff lines was a major success for Pakistan; as a result, Pakistani citrus exports to Indonesia will increase from 18 to 35 million tonnes and mango exports will increase to 10 million tonnes in a year, he said. The official added that an earlier restriction on year-round exports to Indonesia had also been removed. Pakistan and Indonesia had a currently enjoy an annual trade volume of $170 million which is expected to increase after renegotiation on PTA. Both countries agreed to expand PTA and move forward towards a Free Trade Agreement, the official said. He said the IndonesiaPakistan Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) was signed in February 2012. The official said the activation of the PTA followed the signing of a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) on plant quarantine and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures between Indonesia and Pakistan. He said through these steps, Pakistani agricultural products will gain greater market access in Indonesia.

Kyrgyzstan and EU for new agreement Kyrgyzstan and EU are eager to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which has been in force since 1999 with an

enhanced agreement that would allow to to build stronger political and economic ties The Kyrgyz Republic and European Union are opening negotiations on a new agreement. Negotiations towards a comprehensive framework that will strengthen bilateral relations were launched by Luc Devigne, Director for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia and OSCE, Chief Negotiator on behalf of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic The Vice-President, Federica Mogherini said that during his recent visit to Bishkek, the leaders of the Kyrgyz Republic shared with him their ambitious reform agenda and their commitment to strengthen democracy, promote transparency and good governance, and develop new economic opportunities, A new, enhanced agreement will allow us to further support these aspirations, to build stronger political and economic ties, and to create more possibilities to bring benefits both in the EU and in Kyrgyzstan." The future Agreement will replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which has been in force since 1999. In the first round, the EU and the Kyrgyz Republic will look to agree on procedural aspects of the negotiations process and exchange views on foreseen objectives and general principles of the new agreement. It is expected that the new agreement will focus on political cooperation, trade and investment relations, economic cooperation in support of sustainable development, and other aspects of bilateral relations. The aim is to make swift progress during negotiations and to work towards concluding an ambitious agreement as soon as possible, with negotiating rounds foreseen to alternate between Brussels and Bishkek.

China forces Maldives to sign FTA Meanwhile, the Maldives president Abdulla Yameenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rushed into the agreement without following legal norms which created considerable antiChina sentiments among his people.

It appears that the Chinese embassy in Male had made it clear to the Maldives that in future all financial assistance to the country would be linked to the signing of the FTA. The FTA would further open the floodgates for Chinese imports adversely affecting Maldives’ fragile balance of payments situation. In its entirety, the FTA would make Maldives an offshore hub for China. The FTA is unlikely to boost Maldives exports to China, given its narrow export base. However, the inclusion of trade in services, especially mode 3 (commercial presence) and mode 4 (movement of natural persons) would enable China to open tour and travel related representative offices in the Maldives, operate cruise/line-abroad tourist accommodation vessels with 40 bed capacity or more. Opening of the tourism sector to the Chinese would result in loss to Maldivian tourism revenues apart from cutting employment opportunities for locals. President Abdulla Yameen’s rush to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China during his recent visit to Beijing without following constitutional/legal norms has generated considerable anti-China sentiment in the Maldives. The lopsided nature of the FTA, loaded as it is heavily in favour of the Chinese, would adversely impact on virtually every segment of Maldivian economy. The people of Maldives and its business community are alarmed on the implications of the FTA and view it as an aggressive act by China to pursue its own agenda. There is no doubt that Yameen has rushed into signing the FTA, a document that has neither been thoroughly reviewed, nor feasibility studies done or discussions held with stakeholders. According to sources within the Maldives government, there was pressure from China on signing of the FTA, the first by Maldives with any other country. A cursory study of the FTA document will be enough to understand that the FTA is Beijing driven, with little in it for Male. The preamble of the document includes ’strengthening cooperation on jointly building the 21st century Maritime Silk Road’, one of the key goals of the Chinese government under President Xi Jinping. The FTA gives Maldives full market access in China for fish and fishery products, coconut, cotton seeds, processed cheese, eggs,

soyabean, etc. at zero duty. In return, Maldives will open up to China its construction, tourism and travel, education, waste management, water management, insurance, traditional medicine, transport including maritime transport services. The opposition parties in Maldives and the business community have united in their opposition on the FTA, they attribute the deal also to President Yameenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s underhand dealings in award of contracts to Chinese companies and an effort by Yameen and the China to protect the latterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s investments in the Maldives. In this regard, they handed over (Dec 6, 2017) a signed letter to the Chinese Ambassador in Male Zhang Lizhong, where they expressed deep concern over the signing of FTA. The opposition leaders highlighted that the Maldivian government followed unconstitutional and illegal process in the Parliament to approve the FTA and as such Members of Parliament of the opposition could not recognize the FTA in its current form. The FTA and similar other steps taken by the Abdulla Yameen government that has blatantly favored China has generated anti-Chinese sentiments in the country. It is to be seen, as to how far the Yameen government is ready to play with local sentiments in his efforts to placate China. China, like other veto powers like USA, UK and Russia, conduct trade with other nations s only to promote its own economic plus financial interests and not to promote other economies just like that. They are obviously opposed to subsidization of alien economies. The above mentioned FTA talks are only a part of several such FTA negations and implementations. ----Indian politics: Will Gujaratis triple talaq criminal Hindutva BJP and remarry corrupt fanatic Congress? -Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

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Indian state of Gujarat, the home state of Indian PM Modi, is on its way to elect a new government for a term and ding the poll an impression was created tat BJP is losing and Congress might get the consequent advantages and from the government. However, the exit polls after the poll have given a different picture by which the ruling BJP would scrap through while Congress would have improved its present standing in the assembly. Unfortunately, India is very unlucky to have only these two parties â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Congress party and BJP- as two sides of the Hindu identity at national level to alternate the governments both at the centre and in states. If BJP loses, the BJP government at the centre would face difficulties and PM Modi would have to face desertions, eventually leading to the collapse of Hindutva government and party. Hence PM Modi is taking extra care to make people vote for his party candidates and save him. . Congress party is still hoping to take back Gujarat. Will that be possible? Tamil Nadu politics: RK Nagar by-poll The campaigns or the RK Nagar bypoll in Tamil Nadu are in ful swing and the candidates are at the door steps of every voter to seek their votes. They know that the politicians do not come to them after the poll and the voters would be forgotten by the politicians once they get elected. And only during the elections that the leaders come once in their political life to meet them and after that thy all would be very BUSY making money and wealth. . The RK Nagar constituency was eerier won by AIADMK supermo Jayalalithaa and the ruling AIAMK hopes people would vote for their candidate. But a

rebel of AIADMK Dinakaran, who has been removed from the party for antiparty activities and on corruption charges, is trying to split the vote bank of Jayalalithaa. He cannot win but can reduce the winning margin of the ruling party if at all it wins. But DMK is better placed to win it. Many parties are supporting the DMK party candidate, making probability of his changes strong. The RK Nagar by-poll was postponed because of the complaints of candidates paying cash to the voters. But even now there are allegations of money payment by the candidates to the voters. Some critics argue unless eh nefarious practice of house-to-house campaign is scrapped the â&#x20AC;&#x153;pocket moneyâ&#x20AC;? menace would continue. Every party blames others, including the ruling AIADMK of giving money to the votes. Dinakaran and DMK say the ruling party is using the police vehicles to shift money to the constituency. AIAMK says Dinakaran ahs already ordered bulk of pressure cookers -his poll symbol- and some people have already got them. About all such allegations and other ones only the election commission is the competent authority to clear doubts and make a statement on the issue. India allows the people to sell their votes for peanuts but that system. . The chance for the ruling AIADMK candidate depends on how many votes Dinkaran takes away from the official candidate.

Color code politics in cricket and sports Sports people believe that the color they choose to wear during the tournament decides their winning or losing fate. To determine the color

choice the intelligence does all money job and offer them with tips of color and other issues. In cricket, for instance, whether to bat or field would be dictated by the intelligence to the cricket board and caption who in turn would decide the everything accordingly but never reveals that to the public even in their regular interviews. In badminton, intelligence tells the players which color code should be used for the tournament. The scheduling and timings also play very important role and the intelligence tells them when to play and India gets preferential treatment to choose its opponent in order and timings etc. There seems to be no objections from the opponents not even from China or Japan. In cricket and badminton Indian is boss because it holds IPL and IBL and also IFL (football) joint exercises annually and pays huge sum to foreign players. Thus India ahs all advantages to know and communicate with every player when their national teams face tournaments. In Badminton Indian players now do not use their favourite blue color but use colors as recommended by the corporate intelligence. If Indian players win the matches by using one set of colors they would continue with that color code until they lose games. But once the Indian players lose game then intelligence asks them change the colors and recommend different colors and players continue those colors until they lose games. Indian victories in sports depend exclusively on the choice of colors as dress code rather their on their training. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t trust their own skills and talent but only the color code. Interestingly, China and many other teams have opted for Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favourite color blue that has been abandoned by Indian players. One wonders as to

why China is scared of their traditional color red! One is not very sure if India imposes blue color to other teams to lose matches as blue has become unlucky for Indian players. Now while or yellow or even black is being chosen by Indian players on the recommendations of the intelligence that monitors all other players and collects the needy info for poor Indian players. . Cricketer wife’s desires Camera boys are thrilled if the wives of cricketers come to watch the matches and keep focusing on their faces and movements. At times the camera boys avoid the Indian flag holders waving it and spend a lot of time on wives. Possibly they get extra cash from the concerned cricketers for their special, and possibly, unsolicited services. Batboy Rohit’s wife wants more 200 and 300 for her dear husband and she would like to watch the match to inspire him to hit 6s and 4s. In the send ODI, Sri Lankans offered a nearly 4oo run which is historic. BCCI would expect Lankans to offered 5oo runs in third ODI so that Indian batboys are prized by the media. Will Sri Lanka offer 500 score to India with a triple hundreds (300) to Rohit Sharma next time? Rohit’s wife expects her husband to be honored with a 300 in her presence there. Like cricket which it entirely controls in all aspects, the badminton field is also being controlled by India that promotes only its interests through managing schedules and timings etc, by using other players of its IBL team members. In fact, Indian compote intelligence is the best in sports and helps Indian players with valuable tips which other countries are unable to or refuse to execute. India has rejected blue color for its players but it forces

other players to use blue color while playing against Indians. That is Indian success of its badminton strategy. Most players lose because of blue color. . Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t promote cricketers, others just for awards. Upon successful execution of its plan to make a fake sportboy Tendulkar a Bharatratna, an honor meant exclusively for great Indian thinkers doing serious work for the nation and not the entertainers, Indian regime is eager make some more cricketers Bharatratana holder. One does not know if India is eager to offer some more Bharatratnas to Tendulkar under some other categories so that India media could shine more. India launched IPL in football and made Tendulkar the owner of Kerala Blastards team and has been tirelessly promote its wins but so far no success though has got best variety players for Kerala Blastards team. Last match, Kerala Blastards was crushed by Goa by 5 goals and now India wants the Blastards to defeat another team by the same 5 goals. That is imposable because none of the teams is worse than Tendulkars Blastards team. Kerala team urgently needs a five goals win against any team to avenge the defeat by Goa blasters. But who will help Tendulkar who has a lot of ready cash?

Status of Muslims today in Hindu majority India! -Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

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Today the Hindutva forces, that have been promoted, fueled and encouraged by the ruling Congress party as a strong ploy to threaten and control Muslim vote banks, openly threaten the Muslim community for some false reasons but for Hindu votes. As a result of communalization of Indian politics that targets Muslims and Islam for Hindu votes, Muslims are hit badly and are terribly vulnerable. The Hindu India offers its Muslim citizens the status of beggars, political agents and Muslim vote bank controllers and worse, the so-called terrorists. The status of terrorists makes every Muslim vulnerable to Hindutva attacks. Hindu India reluctantly offers some small jobs to Muslims to show tha they are great , and then force them to quit job and government refuses to give them even the retirement , thus making Muslims suffer perpetually for the only reason of being Muslims. Indian Constitution asks the government to protect Muslims as minority community in Hindu India and give them preferential treatment but what the government of all communal combinations does? In countries like India regular polls harm the cause of genuine unity of people and Hindutva communal forces target Muslims for Hindu votes. If elections are not conducted to elect a government, most probably, Hindutva communalism would die a natural death in this secular nation. Muslims in India have got no national leader and that has made the life of Indian Muslims miserable as majority Hindus and their extremist version Hindutva which means anti-Islam Muslim agents deny peace and prosperity to Muslim community and harm their genuine interests, threaten them with life and destructions. Unfortunately, Muslims by and large are not conscious about their pathetic status as Muslims and are not fully Islamic by their behavior and outlook.

The Hindu parties sue them as paid agents for “field work” for ensuring votes for their parties and candidates. Like their masters, these Muslim leaders also view the Muslim community as vote bank stuff. As a result, these Muslims argue their political parties and leaders forcefully for than for the genuinity and worth of their own religion because they are not committed to Islam, Muslims, mosques, and all that they want is money and wealth. This explains why the many Muslims, including the Muslim League leaders in Kerala, care nothing for the rebuilding of Babri Mosque, pulled down by Indian state and Hindutva forces- backed jointly by core media lords and intelligence guys. Muslim league follows the footsteps of Congress party so that BJP does not call it anti-national and does exactly what the Congress leadership instructs to them. They view money and wealth are more important than an old Babri Mosque. Shia faction is with the BJP led Hindutva forces and support the Hindu structure over the Mosque. That is level Muslims have stooped down now. Obviously, it is because of these essentially anti-Islamic elements that Indian government is slow peddling the Babri mosque case in the courts. Already 25 years have passed since the 16th century historic Mosque was made to disappear by the majority criminal forces in the broad sun light on 06th December of 1992. . . India has conveniently “acquired” the rights of suing and misusing the Muslims in the country and for which the Muslim agents are responsible. . . Most of Muslims are politically indebted to political outfits run by rich Hindus leaders who make money by all means. A survey showed that most Muslims, fearing Hindutva forces, had earlier supported the Congress party and but now they have stopped such blind voting in favor of Congress just

because they fear BJP and other Hindutva communal outfits. These Muslims betray the Muslim community as they serve the Hindu parties as vote bank agents to garner Muslim votes for the polls whenever announced. Muslims in India, being the target of Hindutva and Congress parities, today are more and more conscious of the fact the Congress party exploits the Muslims by suing the Hindutva threat and also use the BJP and RSS to raise anti-Muslim and anti-Islam issues to threaten defenseless Muslims community. Most Muslims, as a punishment for the national party for their secret betrayal of Muslims on Babri Mosque and other important issues concerning Muslims and Islam, have stopped voting for the Congress party, resulting in the falloff Congress party. However, knowing the loss of solid Muslims vote banks, Congress is now eager to use the non-BJP parties to come back to power and wooing left and centric parties for alliances. But BJP is gradually taking away the Congress party’s Hindu vote banks in a systematic way by using the weaknesses of its secret ally. There are quite a lot of Hindutva minded people in Congress that support the BJP even as the Congress is trying to forge an alliance with “likeminded’ parties. . Muslims finally saw through the secret nexus between RSS-BJP and so-called secular parties like Congress party that have deliberately betrayed them since 1947 when India achieved independence with the help of Muslim community that stood in the front to fight the invaders and exploiters. Now the BJP and RSS fanatics say the Muslims are a problem for them as they want to live as humans with dignity. .

Unlike the previous avatar of BJP regimes, the Hindutva BJP today deadly anti-Islam and anti-Muslim, targeting almost everything Muslims cherish as their own. More than hatred for Islam, the Hindutva forces target Islam, mosques, Common civil code, beef, Ghar vapsi, etc in order to secure their Hindu vote banks to be snatched from other political outfits. BJP and other Hindutva allies raise all sorts of anti-Islamic issues with threatening tones to force Hindus to vote for them. From Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kashmir, to gar vapsi, beef, uniform civil etc are the major tools in their arsenals, in fact targeting Hindu votes. Uniform civil code denies freedoms to religions. Hindutva forces are deadly ill focused on dividing the nation and people just to get the Hindu vote banks from Congress and other parties. They have devised schemes to push through Hindutva agenda without believing in Hinduism and god. They are dirty politicians who want to rule and loot India. In fact, the Hindutva forces are keen to impose Hindutva principles on to other religions in India and abroad. Uniform civil code is redundant in a society of multilingual and muliticulrual, multi-religious, multi caste ethos. Pushing uniform civil code a part of anti-Islamism is funny and immoral and illegal. Religious matters should be decided and dealt with only by the religious rules. Refusing accept the court orders on the Babri Mosque, BJP and RSS duo think judges are fools like the voters who have just voted for them when the Hindutva leaders spread fear of Islam, Pakistan, Kashmir, terrorism etc. These voters may have thought only Hindutva partied s can save them and serve them well but the fact BJP people are also corrupt and criminal minded. . Religious bigotry has official sanction in the new India. It is fashionable in saffron circles and common among the middle class that seeks to snatch the part of privileges Muslims have like reservations, etc. The common refrain is

that India is a â&#x20AC;&#x153;proudâ&#x20AC;? and hence arrogant Hindu country and finally the majority community need not be apologetic any more about it. Brazen bigotry is the zeitgeist of the ruling Hindu right-wing BJP, whose icons, such as Uttar Pradesh CM saffron Adityanath, openly trash secularism and want those who introduced the concept in independent India to be penalized. Apparently, the CM has secret squad to target the Muslims. Since Modiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arrival in New Delhi as PM, terror attacks have stopped. What does that mean? In order to win the elections in Gujarat PM Modi tells that Pakistan and Congress party have common agenda against India and people must vote for his party to save India. Is it not a bluff?

How can that be when Congress

sis the root cause of all troubles for Indian Muslims, Kashmiris and Pakistan? Hate crimes are fine, too, in new Hindutva India. Crimes that are committed against Muslims for the way they dress and look, the food they eat and for the work that they do. (Sometimes the targets are also the Dalits -considered untouchable by High caste-bound Hindus). Muslim cattle traders and dairy farmers are periodically lynched in the name of cow protection and the gruesome murders, committed often in broad daylight, are recorded in videos and boastfully posted on social media where unbridled majoritarianism is celebrated in offensive language and images. If the lynchings of Muslims as new Hindutva trend are part of a systematic plan to deprive Muslims of one of their remaining avenues of traditional livelihood, the overall message being conveyed is that they are not equal citizens.

Worst, the general citizenship is under serious threat. In Assam, nearly 90,000 Muslims have been declared illegal immigrants and 2,000 others have been locked up in detention camps in a tragedy that has largely gone under the radar. Thousands of others — most of those arrested are poor laborers — are running from pillar to post trying to prove their bona fides. Illegal immigration and the ‘Muslim’ question has been a long-festering issue in Assam but the drive to arrest and deport ‘foreigners’ got fresh impetus after the BJP came to power for the first time in May last year. Muslims are on notice that their life, livelihood and religious freedom are not secure. The exercise to arrest and deport Muslims termed Bangladeshis is “one of the world’s largest efforts at disenfranchisement”, according to IndiaSpend, a data journalism website which investigated the issue. It said hundreds of crores of rupees and over 100,000 staff were being deployed to weed out ‘doubtful Muslims’ or ‘Bangladeshis’. Harassment to prove citizenship is widespread and even a retired soldier who had been in the India Army for 30 years has not been spared. In its treatment of minorities, the BJP has drawn its ideas from its parent organisation, the RSS. And the RSS viewpoint mirrors the two-nation philosophy of conservative Muslim ideologues who propagated the concept of zimmi, which treats religious minorities as second-class citizens — zimmis, or the protected, who would enjoy property and contractual rights and be subjected to their community laws but not enjoy some of the political rights allowed to Muslim citizens. M.S. Golwalkar, the most influential chief of the RSS whose ideas inspire Prime Minister Narendra Modi, goes a step further to say that rights of the foreign races as he termed the minorities should be strictly circumscribed. Golwalkar declares that “they must lose their separate existence to merge in the Hindu race, or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu

Nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment not even citizen’s rights”. Last week, as India marked the 25th anniversary of the demolition of the mediaeval-era Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the first shrewdly orchestrated mass movement by the extremist elements among all caste Hindus to assert Hindu supremacy and put Muslims in their place, it was clear that BJP have come audaciously close to implementing Golwalkar’s agenda. The trajectory has been more sharply etched in the three years since the Modi regime came to power. RSS wants the judges to promote Hindutva by handing over the Mosque for a constricting Hindu structure there devoted to Rama, the pious hero of one of the historic novels Ramayana penned by Valmiki, who deserted his wife Sita for none of her own fault. . . Judges after all are human and as prone to prejudice as anyone else as Bombay High Court Judge Mridula Bhatkar revealed when granting bail to men accused of beating a young Muslim man Mohsin Sheikh to death in Pune. She said they had been ‘provoked’ by his religion as they hate Islam. Her order which did not dispute the prosecution’s claim that the men had been identified as the assailants makes for chilling reading. “The accused had no other motive such as any personal enmity against the innocent deceased Mohsin. The fault of the deceased was only that he belonged to Islam religion. I consider this factor in favour of the accused. Moreover, the accused have no criminal record and it appears in the name of the religion they were provoked and have committed the murder.” As there is always an excuse in India media for religious hate crimes, BJP and RSS have reinvigorated the Godse murder ideology. Hindutva forces began attacking and killing Muslims as soon as the Modi government came into force as per the RSS plan. Mohsin of Pune was killed in 2014 soon after

the BJP came to power with a sweeping majority with MPs who have no knowledge t all and could not be sued a ministers. It turns out the killers had been primed by the leader of the Hindu Rashtra Sena, one of the countless extremist Hindu organisations that have sprung up, to wage war on Muslims and to create terror in the area. The Pune case reflects a more widespread bigotry against the minorities or Dalits in which identified assailants are either let off by the police or whose actions are justified by the political establishment. Bigotry under the new dispensation is impervious to either parliamentary etiquette as the unseemly attack on the outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari showed or even judicial circumspection. For flagging concerns over such divisive and discriminatory trends, outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari was mocked by someone no less than the prime minister for what were termed his “core beliefs” and his leaning towards “certain circles”. Modi was referring to Ansari’s career as a diplomat, mostly in West Asian countries and to the fact that he had been vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University. What the former diplomat and outstanding humanist Vice President Hamid Ansari had highlighted during a convocation address was that India has become “a polity at war with itself in which the process of emotional integration has faltered and is in dire need of reinvigoration”. He said Indian secular democracy facing a serious threat and suggested that measures should be taken to assuage the heightened insecurity amongst segments of the citizenry, “particularly Muslims, Christians, Dalits”. But bigotry does not like a light being shined on its darkest corners. But RSS and BJP have their own political agenda stay in power.

Indian hate for Muslims is so deep that the state sponsored military genocides of Muslims in Myanmar are a welcome phenomenon for the BJP government and RSS. They have not criticized the Burmese criminal regime for the crimes committed against the humanity. Indian government, now worried about the strong unrest in occupied Kashmir, even decided to declare the Burmese Muslims as terrorists. The status of Indian Muslims is what the regime and society want to provide them and as a minority community they cannot earn or take it on their own. In fact, the Indian Constitution stress for special treatment of Muslims and other minorities so that they do not leg and behind and are protected in true spirit of the term. They are a part of the nation and system- and not outsiders and the political RSS-BJP people try to tell the Hindu voters. Indian Muslims are Indian citizens, first and last. Indian regime, ruled by any party or coalition, must ensure the safety and security of them. Insulting and attacking, lunching or murdering for political and poll reasons must end and India judiciary has pivotal role to play in this regard to make India a truly secular democracy. _____