A limited strike against Pakistan may lead to a warm war which may esclate into a mushroom cloud
The Voltaires of India are quiet, too scared to question the carnage. The mighty Indian media controlled by corporatism has become more obsequious than Pravda or Izvestia. Icons of the press freedom like Tehilka cannot survive amid the tough commercial environment. Bigotry sells. Pakistanphobia sells even more. The words of Arundhuti Roy are either marginalized or ignored because she is labeled as a communist.
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(Reuters) – Tension is running high between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan after militants attacked Mumbai.
India says it has proof of a Pakistani link to the Mumbai attacks that killed nearly 200 people, raising the prospect of renewed confrontation between the countries.
Pakistan condemned the assault, denied any state agency was involved and assured India of full cooperation in investigations. Highs and lows in Pakistan-India ties, Sun Nov 30, 2008 3:11pm IST
Mumbai: Intoxicated India deaf & blind to internal terror. Unable to introspect, resolve its huge race, caste & religious problems

This isn’t Indias 9/11. This is Indias Oklahoma City, said Ms Fair, referring to an April 1995 domestic attack in the US that killed 168 people.
the 9/11conjob
Calling them “pseudo-moderates,” the Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan Commission of Inquiry has indicted former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee along with current Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani and former BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi, among others, for the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
Citing the evidence it gathered, which includes witness statements and official records, one of the key conclusions of the Commission is said to be that the entire build-up to the demolition was meticulously planned. And there was nothing to show that these leaders were either unaware of what was going on or innocent of any wrongdoing.
The one-man Commission probed the “sequence of events leading, and all facts and circumstances relating, to the occurrences at Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex on December 6, 1992” — the day the Babri Masjid was brought down by kar sevaks.
Sources in the Union Home Ministry have confirmed to The Indian Express that the report is also severely critical of many Muslim leaders representing organizations such as the Babri Masjid Action Committee and the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee.
The elite leaders of these Muslim organizations, the report is learnt to have observed, constituted a class of their own and were neither responsible to nor were they caring for the welfare of those they claimed to represent. These leaders failed the community by failing to put forth a logical, cohesive and consistent point of view on the dispute, both inside and outside the courts, the Commission is said to have stated.
The Home Ministry, which is giving final touches to the action taken report (ATR), intends to table the ATR in Parliament along with the report of the Commission during the ongoing Winter Session.
The Commission was set up 10 days after the demolition as communal riots rocked several parts of the country. After 17 years and 48 extensions, it submitted its report on June 30 this year.
It is learnt that among others indicted and found culpable — for what the Commission calls pushing the nation to the brink of communal discord — are the entire top brass of the Sangh Parivar. These include the leaderships of the RSS, VHP and Shiv Sena.
It is learnt that Justice Liberhan has not come down heavily on the then Union Government headed by P V Narasimha Rao. Its argument: as per the Constitution, the Union Government can act only after it receives the recommendation of the state Governor. In this case, the Governor didn’t do much and also didn’t seek the Centre’s intervention.
The report is learnt to have said that despite claims to the contrary, the Ayodhya campaign did not enjoy the willing and voluntary support of the common masses, particularly Hindus. In fact, Liberhan is learnt to have said that the demand for a temple never became a mass movement. The campaign only ended up silencing the voices of sanity and shaming them into joining the movement.
Liberhan is learnt to have said that despite claims by Advani and Vajpayee that they had no role in the demolition, the two leaders cannot be absolved of their responsibility for the same. When he appeared before the Commission, Advani had said he was pained by the events at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
Liberhan is said to have stated that while Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi could have been used by the Parivar as the publicly acceptable faces of the movement, they were still party to all decisions.
And that none of them had the capacity to defy the orders of the RSS without damaging their political future. In fact, the Commission calls them tools in the hands of the RSS.
However, drawing from history, particularly from the trials of Nazi soldiers, at which the plea of having acted on the orders of superiors was not accepted, the Commission is learnt to have concluded that these leaders can’t be given the benefit of doubt or absolved of culpability. Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi have also been indicted for having violated the trust of voters.
Rath yatras by Advani and Joshi, Liberhan is learnt to have concluded, were targeted at making the emotionally-charged common man join the movement.
In sharp contrast to the BJP and the Sangh Parivar stand that the demolition was a spontaneous outburst, Liberhan is said to have argued that the events resulting in the demolition were carefully planned.
The Commission is also said to have concluded that diversion of funds to Faizabad and Ayodhya just before the kar seva, mobilization of kar sevaks as well as arrangements made at the site with military-like precision, clearly proves that the plan was not just limited to symbolic kar seva, as stated by Sangh and BJP leaders.
To substantiate this argument, Liberhan is learnt to have pointed to the mode of assault on the disputed structure as well as easy availability of instruments and material. The small number of kar sevaks who actually carried out the demolition, the hidden faces of such kar sevaks, the removal of idols and cash boxes from under the domes and the eventual installation in the makeshift temple clearly show that demolition was carried out with painstaking preparation and planning, he is learnt to have said.
The report is said to suggest that the emergence of a host of leaders to lead the movement from among the ranks of the BJP, RSS, Bajrang Dal and other Sangh Parivar groups was because of the lure of wealth and power rather than ideology.
Liberhan is learnt to have written that these leaders saw the Ayodhya movement as their road to success, and they acted as executioners wielding swords provided by the ideologues.
Referring to the funds collected by leaders of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, the Commission has reportedly said that many tens of crores of rupees collected from the people were deposited into bank accounts operated by these leaders. These funds were used to provide infrastructure and other amenities for kar sevaks in the days leading to the demolition. Babri demolition meticulously planned, says Liberhan, indicts Atal, Advani
Let’s stop jabbering about 26/11
Pritish Nandy Monday November 23, 2009
The sole purpose of terrorism is to terrorise us. It is to create fear, gut wrenching fear, and spread panic everywhere. If terrorists can’t get that right, if they can’t whip up enough fear and hysteria, their entire purpose is defeated. All the bloodshed, all the deaths add up to nothing and people forget the tragedy as quickly as they forget a bus falling into a ravine or a train toppling over at high speed. The statistics of death don’t scare us any more. What scares us is the way it happened.
That’s the difference between an accident, an Act of God, and a terrorist strike, though some fanatics would like us to believe that a terrorist strike is an Act of God. It is not. It is just another criminal act, plotted and planned by criminals, and often executed by some foolish, misled young men who are angry with life and society. There was a time, when I would have added the word poor to describe them. No longer. The kind of people who plot, plan and execute terror acts are no more poor, illiterate, foolish people who have been misguided by criminals masquerading as religious or political leaders. As Kasab told the courts, he was sold off to the Lashkar by his father when he was a kid. He grew up indoctrinated.
Today’s terrorists are a different lot altogether. They are smart, educated, well brought up young men and women who have wilfully taken to terrorism to fight for what they see as their cause. To defeat them is not easy and, as time goes on, it will become even more difficult because they are no longer people you can easily recognise or would even suspect as potential terrorists. Many of them are white. Some come from affluent Western families. No, they are no longer recruited from poor, third world nations. Terrorists come today dressed in Armani suits, flaunting Ivy League badges. Surprise is their secret weapon. That’s how their first axiom is best served, to spread gut wrenching fear. That’s what gets them the headlines.
Headlines are what terrorists die for. Headlines and non-stop television coverage. That’s why 9/11 was such a great success for them. That’s why 12/10 in Bali, 7/7 in London, 26/11 in Mumbai were such famous strikes. The recent bomb blasts in Peshawar and Rawalpindi are no match. They were just messages to the ISI from their former protégés, to warn the Pakistan establishment that they won’t let them rest in peace as long as they play surrogate to the US army in return for billions of dollars in aid. It’s never easy to pull back the demons you unleash. Yes, people are dying in these terror attacks. There’s lots of bloodshed. Women, children, ordinary people are getting drawn into this tragic vortex of violence. But none of this is as important as headlines. Headlines create fear, panic, terror. For terrorists, headlines are everything.
So every time we revive memories of 26/11, show hours and hours of TV coverage, write long scary articles on how terrorism has destroyed our lives and liberties, we are actually encouraging the terrorists, helping them build their superstructure of fear. Terrorists do not need to celebrate the success of 9/11 or 26/11. We are doing it for them, even as we weep for the victims and tell the world that we are better prepared to face future strikes. Let’s not kid ourselves. Terrorism is the scourge of our times and no Government, no police force is ever adequately equipped to anticipate it. The more we talk about the pain, the horror, the memories of these terrible events, the more the perpetrators celebrate, the more they go down in history as villains or heroes, depending on who is providing the perspective, and to whom. In the wilds of tribal Pakistan where the Taliban is schooling its recruits, Kasab is a hero and his dead colleagues, martyrs to the Cause.
It’s important, therefore, to treat such anniversaries with caution and circumspection. We don’t really need to overload the nation with cardiac stress. 26/11 was a terrible tragedy and also a moment of amazing heroism. We lost some of our finest policemen and many innocent people who had no reason to die. But our future lies not in recalling its memories and reassuring the rascals who perpetrated it that they had struck home and caused us unforgettable pain. It’s no use crying over our failures, our mistakes. It’s important to be prepared for the future, as prepared as we can possibly be, but it’s even more critical to move on with our lives, show the world we are not afraid. Terrorism may hurt us but it cannot break our spirit, our resolve. Therein lies our courage, our wisdom as a nation.
And therein lies defeat for those who use terrorism as their weapon.
Let’s stop jabbering about 26/11Pritish Nandy Monday November 23, 2009 The sole purpose of terrorism is to terrorise us. It is to create fear, gut wrenching fear, and spread panic everywhere. If terrorists can’t get that right, if they can’t whip up enough fear and hysteria, their entire purpose is defeated. All the bloodshed, all the deaths add up to nothing and people forget the tragedy as quickly as they forget a bus falling into a ravine or a train toppling over at high speed. The statistics of death don’t scare us any more. What scares us is the way it happened. That’s the difference between an accident, an Act of God, and a terrorist strike, though some fanatics would like us to believe that a terrorist strike is an Act of God. It is not. It is just another criminal act, plotted and planned by criminals, and often executed by some foolish, misled young men who are angry with life and society. There was a time, when I would have added the word poor to describe them. No longer. The kind of people who plot, plan and execute terror acts are no more poor, illiterate, foolish people who have been misguided by criminals masquerading as religious or political leaders. As Kasab told the courts, he was sold off to the Lashkar by his father when he was a kid. He grew up indoctrinated. Today’s terrorists are a different lot altogether. They are smart, educated, well brought up young men and women who have wilfully taken to terrorism to fight for what they see as their cause. To defeat them is not easy and, as time goes on, it will become even more difficult because they are no longer people you can easily recognise or would even suspect as potential terrorists. Many of them are white. Some come from affluent Western families. No, they are no longer recruited from poor, third world nations. Terrorists come today dressed in Armani suits, flaunting Ivy League badges. Surprise is their secret weapon. That’s how their first axiom is best served, to spread gut wrenching fear. That’s what gets them the headlines. Headlines are what terrorists die for. Headlines and non-stop television coverage. That’s why 9/11 was such a great success for them. That’s why 12/10 in Bali, 7/7 in London, 26/11 in Mumbai were such famous strikes. The recent bomb blasts in Peshawar and Rawalpindi are no match. They were just messages to the ISI from their former protégés, to warn the Pakistan establishment that they won’t let them rest in peace as long as they play surrogate to the US army in return for billions of dollars in aid. It’s never easy to pull back the demons you unleash. Yes, people are dying in these terror attacks. There’s lots of bloodshed. Women, children, ordinary people are getting drawn into this tragic vortex of violence. But none of this is as important as headlines. Headlines create fear, panic, terror. For terrorists, headlines are everything. So every time we revive memories of 26/11, show hours and hours of TV coverage, write long scary articles on how terrorism has destroyed our lives and liberties, we are actually encouraging the terrorists, helping them build their superstructure of fear. Terrorists do not need to celebrate the success of 9/11 or 26/11. We are doing it for them, even as we weep for the victims and tell the world that we are better prepared to face future strikes. Let’s not kid ourselves. Terrorism is the scourge of our times and no Government, no police force is ever adequately equipped to anticipate it. The more we talk about the pain, the horror, the memories of these terrible events, the more the perpetrators celebrate, the more they go down in history as villains or heroes, depending on who is providing the perspective, and to whom. In the wilds of tribal Pakistan where the Taliban is schooling its recruits, Kasab is a hero and his dead colleagues, martyrs to the Cause. It’s important, therefore, to treat such anniversaries with caution and circumspection. We don’t really need to overload the nation with cardiac stress. 26/11 was a terrible tragedy and also a moment of amazing heroism. We lost some of our finest policemen and many innocent people who had no reason to die. But our future lies not in recalling its memories and reassuring the rascals who perpetrated it that they had struck home and caused us unforgettable pain. It’s no use crying over our failures, our mistakes. It’s important to be prepared for the future, as prepared as we can possibly be, but it’s even more critical to move on with our lives, show the world we are not afraid. Terrorism may hurt us but it cannot break our spirit, our resolve. Therein lies our courage, our wisdom as a nation. And therein lies defeat for those who use terrorism as their weapon.
November 23, 2009 The sole purpose of terrorism is to terrorise us. It is to create fear, gut wrenching fear, and spread panic everywhere. If terrorists can’t get that right, if they can’t whip up enough fear and hysteria, their entire purpose is defeated. All the bloodshed, all the deaths add up to nothing and people forget the tragedy as quickly as they forget a bus falling into a ravine or a train toppling over at high speed. The statistics of death don’t scare us any more. What scares us is the way it happened. That’s the difference between an accident, an Act of God, and a terrorist strike, though some fanatics would like us to believe that a terrorist strike is an Act of God. It is not. It is just another criminal act, plotted and planned by criminals, and often executed by some foolish, misled young men who are angry with life and society. There was a time, when I would have added the word poor to describe them. No longer. The kind of people who plot, plan and execute terror acts are no more poor, illiterate, foolish people who have been misguided by criminals masquerading as religious or political leaders. As Kasab told the courts, he was sold off to the Lashkar by his father when he was a kid. He grew up indoctrinated. Today’s terrorists are a different lot altogether. They are smart, educated, well brought up young men and women who have wilfully taken to terrorism to fight for what they see as their cause. To defeat them is not easy and, as time goes on, it will become even more difficult because they are no longer people you can easily recognise or would even suspect as potential terrorists. Many of them are white. Some come from affluent Western families. No, they are no longer recruited from poor, third world nations. Terrorists come today dressed in Armani suits, flaunting Ivy League badges. Surprise is their secret weapon. That’s how their first axiom is best served, to spread gut wrenching fear. That’s what gets them the headlines. Headlines are what terrorists die for. Headlines and non-stop television coverage. That’s why 9/11 was such a great success for them. That’s why 12/10 in Bali, 7/7 in London, 26/11 in Mumbai were such famous strikes. The recent bomb blasts in Peshawar and Rawalpindi are no match. They were just messages to the ISI from their former protégés, to warn the Pakistan establishment that they won’t let them rest in peace as long as they play surrogate to the US army in return for billions of dollars in aid. It’s never easy to pull back the demons you unleash. Yes, people are dying in these terror attacks. There’s lots of bloodshed. Women, children, ordinary people are getting drawn into this tragic vortex of violence. But none of this is as important as headlines. Headlines create fear, panic, terror. For terrorists, headlines are everything. So every time we revive memories of 26/11, show hours and hours of TV coverage, write long scary articles on how terrorism has destroyed our lives and liberties, we are actually encouraging the terrorists, helping them build their superstructure of fear. Terrorists do not need to celebrate the success of 9/11 or 26/11. We are doing it for them, even as we weep for the victims and tell the world that we are better prepared to face future strikes. Let’s not kid ourselves. Terrorism is the scourge of our times and no Government, no police force is ever adequately equipped to anticipate it. The more we talk about the pain, the horror, the memories of these terrible events, the more the perpetrators celebrate, the more they go down in history as villains or heroes, depending on who is providing the perspective, and to whom. In the wilds of tribal Pakistan where the Taliban is schooling its recruits, Kasab is a hero and his dead colleagues, martyrs to the Cause. It’s important, therefore, to treat such anniversaries with caution and circumspection. We don’t really need to overload the nation with cardiac stress. 26/11 was a terrible tragedy and also a moment of amazing heroism. We lost some of our finest policemen and many innocent people who had no reason to die. But our future lies not in recalling its memories and reassuring the rascals who perpetrated it that they had struck home and caused us unforgettable pain. It’s no use crying over our failures, our mistakes. It’s important to be prepared for the future, as prepared as we can possibly be, but it’s even more critical to move on with our lives, show the world we are not afraid. Terrorism may hurt us but it cannot break our spirit, our resolve. Therein lies our courage, our wisdom as a nation. And therein lies defeat for those who use terrorism as their weapon.
Amnesty International (AI) 2008 report on issues within
The reason for the carnage against Christians is because the Dalits have converted to Christianity and Hindu fundamentalists want to keep the Dalits as Untouchables and within the caste system.
Sudra Holocaust: Genocide of 1 million Dalits in India since 1947: About three million Dalit women have been raped and around one million Dalits killed from the time of Independence. This is 25 times more than number of soldiers killed during the wars fought after independence. That is why Dalits do not need Aryan culture or Hindu Dharma based on caste any more. …” [Dr. Tulsiram]
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Fear and fundamentalism in India
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In the Indian state of Orissa, Chris Morris finds communities in shock following a wave of anti-Christian violence, which has forced thousands to flee.
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Two hundred churches and prayer houses have been destroyed
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They call Bhubaneshwar India’s temple city.
Over two millennia, thousands of intricately carved Hindu temples have been constructed in Orissa’s state capital.
Many of them still stand testimony to the faith of the people. They are often places of serenity and calm.
But travel for five hours into the interior, into the lush green hills of central Orissa, and Hinduism takes on a new and more menacing form.
In the remote district of Khandamal, fundamentalists have been at work.
Militant groups who say they speak in the name of Hinduism, have been burning Bibles and killing Christians.
Mob rule
Horror stories have emerged from the worst anti-Christian pogroms since Indian independence.
At one of the many relief camps dotted around the region, I was told of a man named Parikkit Nayak, who escaped from the initial surge of violence.
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Across Khandamal tens of thousands of Christians are now living in fear
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Two days later as he tried to flee from his village with his wife and two children, he was caught by a local mob.
They tied a rope around his neck and dragged him along the ground for 400m (1,312ft).
Bruised and battered, he was then paraded through the village like an animal and asked if he would renounce Christianity. When he said no, he was cut to pieces with knives, while his young family had to look on.
Deserted villages
Across Khandamal tens of thousands of Christians are now living in fear.
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For many, returning to their homes is too dangerous
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Many have moved into camps set up by the government, with armed guards at the gate.
Others are living in the shadows, spending the nights hidden in the forest before venturing back to deserted villages during the day.
In one such village, littered with empty, burnt-out houses, we were speaking to a nervous elderly woman, when the sound of a conch shell being blown echoed through the trees.
“They’re coming,” she cried. “You must leave now.”
She pushed us away, picked up the folds of her dirty blue sari, and ran for her life.
Intimidation and terror
For others, returning to their village is still too dangerous.
I met a young priest named Manoj, now in temporary exile, who related the story of his father.
“They came to our house and held an axe to his neck. ‘If you stay Christian’, he was told, ‘you will be killed.’ He was taken to a local temple and forced to convert.”
“To live in this world today,” Manoj’s father relates in a letter smuggled out of his village, “we have to live as Hindus.”
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Hindu activists talk of retaliation for a Christian campaign to convert poor Hindu villagers
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Part of this organised campaign of intimidation and terror has been the destruction of local churches and prayer houses.
More than 200 have been attacked and burnt.
Some of them now have saffron Hindu flags flying above desecrated altars and broken roofs. A sign of conquest.
‘Retaliation’
As we walked through one abandoned house, a Hindu couple from the neighbouring village appeared.
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Christians make up 2.5% of India’s 1.1 billion population
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There was no hostility here, only a sense of regret as they looked at half-burnt photographs in broken frames – the faces of the people who used to live here.
“There’s not much we can do to help, but we never had any problem with them,” the woman said. “This was the work of extremists.”
Why is it happening? As ever, it depends on who you ask.
Hindu activists talk of retaliation for a Christian “campaign” to convert poor Hindu villagers.
Others speak of complex caste and tribal rivalries in one of India’s most backward and isolated places.
“The cake has several layers,” says the government representative in Khandamal, Kishan Kumar.
“There’s a tribal layer, and there’s a layer of economic rivalry. But the icing on top of the cake is organised religious violence. And that’s what we’ve seen here.”
Belatedly, the central government has acted against the instigators.
Hundreds of people have been arrested, and there have been calls for a nationwide ban on groups such as the Bajrang Dal, the self-styled warriors of militant Hindu nationalism.
There is a strong suspicion that the brutality in Khandamal, and a series of attacks against churches elsewhere in India, is part of a deliberate political plan to stoke communal tensions before a general election next year.
The immediate trigger for the violence may have been the murder of a controversial Hindu leader, for which Maoist rebels have claimed responsibility.
But the finger of blame was pointed at the Christian community and the mobs unleashed their savage response.
So Khandamal is now watching and waiting, awash with stories and people who want to tell them.
In hiding
Late at night we sat with one young woman who has been hidden for her own protection.
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Some Hindus have also been attacked if they have Christian relatives
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Even though she herself is a Hindu, she was gang-raped by her grandparents’ neighbours because her uncle refused to renounce his Christian beliefs.
As a nun held her by the hand, she choked back tears and looked up.
“Why did they do this to me?” she asked. “For what?”
“They’re threatening to kill all of us – me, my uncle, my brothers.”
“But we won’t lie about it. Even if they throw money at our feet, we will continue to tell the truth.” |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7672228.stm
Isha Khan bdmailer@gmail.com
- It may surprise many, but the are of highest concern is not Kashmir, but the rising tide of communalism, Anti-Christian, Anti-Dalit, and Anti-Muslim. The Naxalite insurrection led by Dalits and Maoists that comprises more than 40% of the landmass of the country.Three major groups – Maoist Communist Centre, People’s War Group and CPI (ML) – have merged to form a united outfit called CPI (Maoist). It affirmed: The revolution will be carried out and completed through armed agrarian revolutionary war; that is, protracted people’s war with the armed seizure of power remaining as its central and principal task, encircling the cities from the countryside and thereby finally capturing them.”
- Kashmir was concerned as the biggest threat to the country’s unity but in recent years, many in New Delhi thought that they had swollowed Srinagar. Kashmir is in fever pitch. This year’s insrurrection caught them by sruprise. the Divide between Jammu and Kashmir now is irrerable and even the puppet Farooq Abdullah who sold his soul to Delhi for a few Dollars and a title, says “Kashmir will go on a platter to Pakistan.”
- The third are of security conern for New Delhi is open rebellion in the Northeast. These insurections do not make it to the daily headlines on CNN, but the fact is the New Delhi has very little control of Assam and the seven sisters that lie East of Bangadesh. Even Chinese occupied territory mislabeled “Aranchal Pradesh” has a huge body of rebels that want nothing to do with Delhi.
- Communalism is a big threat to the so called “secular” country. Brahmans in Jammu in 2008 led a boycott of Kashmir forcing the Kashmiris to strive to trade directly with Pakistan. Church burning in Orissa are problem exacerbated by the sepratists who strive for freedom from Delhi. The Gujarits Hinduvata massacred 3000 Muslims and hundreds of thousands are scared to goback to their homes.
ALSO SEE
Hindu Fascist Violence Against Christians
India: Genocide Nation
Can A Pakistani 7-year-old Say ‘Hindu Kutta’?


Meanwhile, to Bala: Stay safe, cos you seemed a marked man now.