Can Pakistan ever change ?

Pakistan is a strange country. On one side it has been ravaged by terrorism from within and from Taliban sponsored terror from Afghanistan and on other side it continues to favor terror, although indirectly by not acting against groups such as LeT which targets India.

Here’ a report by Pew Global Attitudes Project about how extremism is on the rise in Pakistan society. All of us in India get to hear things like how ‘civil’ society in Pakistan is moderate but the survey shows something different. Not only an average Pakistani support organizations like LeT but they disapprove of anyone who tries to improve relationships with India. An average Pakistani respect their army and Army Chief Kayani, who has no interest in improving relations with India and see India as a major threat. But the same Pakistani disapprove of President Zardari, who has tried in past to improve relationships with the big neighbor.

The survey also shows that an average Pakistani is turning more and more hostile towards America in spite of receiving millions of dollars of aid and arms from USA.  Most Pakistanis think that terrorism is a big problem however what they mean is the terrorism which affects them is a problem, as they continue to soft support terrorists affecting neighbors.

The report clearly shows that Pakistan society is accepting more and more extremism as the way forward,  something which Indian right-wingers have been saying for years. There is absolutely no change happening in Pakistan’s attitude towards west and India, on the contrary it is going the other way. Would moderates and Pakistan sympathizers in India and the West ever listen?

Amit Shah Case – BJP speaks on the Tapes and the Case

This is further to my earlier posting about how CBI selectively leaks the so-called evidences in Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah case and how media channels play it up as ‘Exclusive’ and ‘Breaking News’. It is a clear case of puting so much unwanted and unclear data in front of public so that a common man with no  knowledge of the case and with a clear bias towards any Indian politician would be forced to think that ‘ since Amit Shah is a politician, a minister, he must be guilty !!’ This is clearly an agenda put forwarded by CBI, the ruling party in the centre and media channels shamelessly support it.

Here is a question- answer interview of prominent Gujarat based lawyer Devang Nanavati, who is officially not a lawyer in the Amit Shah case, but as a BJP spokesperson has given his and his parties views on the case. The Interview is by Ms. Sheela Bhatt of Rediff.com. Sheela Bhatt has earlier written this unbiased piece about Amit Shah and presented the true picture of the case. Incidentally Devang Nanavati was the first runner up of the LEAD India Campaign Show conducted by TOI group few years back.

Q : Those who have read news reports about the Sohrabuddin encounter case and have seen five videos of the sting operation would like to believe that Amit Shah’s case is not even defensible.

First of all, I can’t comment as his lawyer. I will speak as a BJP member. First, these cassettes are subject to verification. Second, they are showing only bits of it. We don’t know in which context the conversation is taking place. Shah has already given the statement that these tapes are apparently doctored. The court should decide its authenticity and we must know when these sting operations were carried out. Was it before the encounter or after? And under whose instruction were these operations carried out? Let us not pre-judge the issue, let the court decide.

Q : The tapes may have been doctored, but the details of the phone calls Shah made suggest his links with the accused.

A home minister talking to police officers, it is possible. Whether it is against protocol or not we can keep arguing, but the fact that phone calls from person A to person B don’t establish what the subject of the conversation was. It is a bit far-fetched to imagine what conversation could have taken place. A mere list of phone calls is not sufficient evidence to convict somebody. I think it is not even sufficient enough to ‘charge’ somebody who was the minister of home in the state.

Q : What about the statements made by Raman Patel and Dashrath Patel, the Ahmedabad builders, indicting Shah?

The BJP has already stated that the Congress and central government is pressurising the CBI. It is easy to manipulate two builders in Ahmedabad who themselves have a long record. Their past is murky. Why did they not come out till now? They have not said there was pressure to keep mum. According to their own story, they carried out the sting operation long ago. Till Shah was arrested they didn’t speak to the media. Whatever the Congress spokespersons say today, the next day those events will be presented either by the media or CBI. Is it a coincidence? This is creating doubts and giving credence to what we have been saying — that this case is entirely stage-managed by the Congress.

Q : What about the broader issues? One, the Gujarat government has accepted before the Supreme Court that the Sohrabuddin encounter was fake.

There is such talk in the affidavit filed at that stage. I don’t have the records to let you know more about it. I also don’t know in what context the affidavit was filed. Whether it was a fake encounter or not is one thing, and whether the home minister is involved or not, is a separate issue. We should differentiate between the two. Are we talking of an encounter or the minister’s involvement? Just because the encounter is fake doesn’t mean the minister is involved.

Q : The issue of men in khakhi taking the law into their hands…

Let me ask a counter question. There have been more than 5,000 encounters in this country. Over 1,700 encounter-related complaints are pending in various courts and before the Human Rights Commission. More than 800 encounters took place in the last few decades in Uttar Pradesh alone. More than 400 police encounters took place in Maharashtra. At least 900 encounters took place in Punjab. None of these have come to trial as has the Sohrabuddin case. We have never heard that anyone has been convicted for these thousands of encounters. No policemen have been found guilty or even arrested as it has happened in Gujarat. In Gujarat, the controversy is being created about nine encounters. We are making a hue and cry about Sohrabuddin who was a known confidante of (fugitive gangster) Dawood Ibrahim and (slain gangster) Abdul Latif.

He was wanted by the police in at least five states. Many more AK-47s was recovered from him than were recovered from (26/11 terrorist Ajmal) Kasab  and his gang. Why are you not talking about 1,700 encounters about which strong suspicions have been raised? You want to pick and choose. You are selective in applying the law. When it comes to Gujarat, when it comes to Mr Modi, you want a different set of laws to be applied. Please ask this question to those governments in power who have known about more heinous and more number of encounters.

Why is Gujarat being targeted? The Supreme Court said that because the investigation requires to be done in five states, let it be done by the CBI. The apex court was right. But where is the investigation in Andhra Pradesh? Sohrabuddin was also wanted by the AP police.

Q : (Gujarat police officer) Geeta Johri has done an intensive investigation into the Sohrabuddin case and the details of the Kausar Bi murder also came to light.

(In a quick tit-for-tat tone) Did you read Geeta Johri’s investigation report?

Q : No. I have known whatever became public when the Supreme Court heard the case. And we have read the news reports that carried reliable reports of the case.

You have not read the actual report filed by Johri nor have I read it. Why comment on it?

Q : But we have covered the case…

I am sure you were briefed by the CBI.

Q : How do you explain the killing of Kausar Bi?

Who says Kausar Bi was killed? She is ‘alleged’ to have been killed.

It is not proved in a court of law that she has been killed. That is a charge, and that charge has to be proved. We can’t have it both ways.

Once the matter is in court, then you should go by the rule of law and the court.

These are allegations and the charges. There is an allegation that Kausar Bi was killed. It has not been established as a matter of fact that she has been killed. The fake encounter case is related only to Sohrabuddin.

Q : Amit Shah took such a long time to appear before the CBI…

Let us decide the timeline. On July 21, the summons was served at the residence of the minister of state at 11 am to appear before the CBI in two hours. Is it a long time?

How would you know ahead of time that the CBI is going to send you a summons? When we said it is a short time for us, then they said they can give time for the next day. Amit Shah asked for the copy of a questionnaire. He wanted to consult his party leadership, his government and his lawyers. This is a five-year-old case. He wrote to the CBI that he wants to cooperate. He wanted to verify his ministry’s records.

The CBI was so eager and impatient to question Shah that they gave him just two hours notice. But when he appeared before the CBI, they arrested him within three minutes and produced him before the magistrate in 15 minutes, and for the next two days they didn’t even ask him a single question. Without questioning Amit Shah they prepared the chargesheet of 30,000 pages and it was kept ready before he reached the CBI office.The exercise was a facade by the CBI. This proves that the CBI’s charges against Amit Shah were politically motivated. Our allegation against the CBI is absolutely correct, that the Congress manipulates it.

Q : Former Deputy Superintendent of Police N K Amin’s lawyer has requested the court to allow him to turn an approver. Is it worrying Amit Shah?

Amin has filed an application that will be heard on August 2. We will have to see on what ground he is acting. The Supreme Court has laid out certain guidelines regarding Section 306 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which has a section relating to the turning of an approver. After so much time that has gone by after the investigations started, if someone wants to be an approver, then the court has to see with great circumspection. Because if an accused wants to go free at the cost of another co-accused, the matter can’t be taken lightly.

We have full faith in the court that they would see the point here. I would not like to discuss the merits or demerits of the case.

Q : There was a sting operation recorded inside the jail where arrested police officer D G Vanzara is talking about Shah’s involvement in the case with another arrested police officer.It was allegedly a CBI sting operation where the tape recorder was smuggled inside the Sabarmati jail by another accused.

Again, I have not had the benefit of hearing that recording. One has to verify the audio. One has to see the legal evidentiary value. The CBI can present anything as evidence. But the court will decide its evidentiary value.

See, hypothetically, even if we say that two co-accused are talking to each other and a third accused is overhearing and secretly recording the conversation, still the conversations of the co-accused cannot become ground for conviction. Here we are going into the legality of the case. The matter is pending before the court. Let’s not discuss them.

Q : Mr Nanavati, you must have gone through the chargesheet.

No. I haven’t gone through it. It was given to Shah’s lawyer. It will take time to read 30,000 pages. The CBI has given it to the media in advance, and that’s what we can see.

Don’t you see the game that the chargesheet was given to the media much before the court ordered the CBI to give it to Shah? Only when Shah’s lawyer said that unless you give the chargesheet, Shah would not be able to cooperate in the case was the chargesheet handed over to him.

Q : How is Amit Shah doing?

He should be alright. Amit Shah is a fighter.

The above Interview was published originally on Rediff.com

Foodgrains Rot and Government Plot

Price Rise, Farmer Suicide, people dieing of hunger and what does our government do? Nothing. To top it all foodgrains worth Rs. 17,000 Crore which could practically feed 1.4 Crore hungry people for a month are rotting in hell simply because the ogvernment does not know where to store them and how to distribute them !! About 50,000 tonnes of food grain is lying under tarpaulins ( for lack of storage space) since last 3 years and government hasn’t bothered to distribute it to people.  The grain could have been stored elsewhere or exported or just distributed or just given away for free to all the needy people. All that grain will now be destroyed as it is rotten and government needs space to store more grains under the same makeshift tarpaulins !!

Read the shocking report HERE

As the food grains rot, there are floods in parts of India and severe water shortage in some, inflation is in double digits, the government is busy plotting against the Opposition parties, mismanaging the CWG games and planning on how to tackle issues and opposition unity in Parliament.

Amit Shah Case- Media Bias and Tapes

Amit Shah, the Minister of State for Home In Gujarat Government has been in Judicial Custody after CBI issued summons and filed a charge sheet against him last week in the Sohrabbudin fake encounter case. The entire episode was hyped up and portrayed by most of our media. The media ran its own trial and tried the accused and even hanged him even before he was interrogated by the CBI. On Sunday 25th July 2010, Amit Shah himself presented to the CBI and was taken to a magistrate. CBI did not even ask for the custody of Amit Shah, who by now had resigned as the minister from the Gujarat Cabinet. Amit Shah was taken in judicial custody.

Since today morning reputed news channel CNN-IBN announced that it would be ‘exclusively’ showing the video tapes which provides evidence against Amit Shah, the ex-home minister of state for Gujarat, which would throw light on the Sohrabbudin fake encounter case. No one tried to find out what these tapes were and how did a news channel got access to it when the case was still on and CBI was yet to interrogate Amit Shah.

The event was hyped and was supposed to be ‘make or break’ in the case against the ex-minister as pointed out and advertised by the  channel. It even leaked a part of the transcript on its website ibnlive.com suggesting something but revealing nothing. People were hooked and glued to the Television at 8 pm and then the videos were shown.

The videos were some sort of ‘sting’ operation captured by the 2 builders who themselves have plenty of cases pending against them. The not so clear videos show the builders talking against themselves and the policemen, who are also behind bars in the same case, something about money changing hands, them complaining to Amit Shah,who didnt listen to them and so on. The video was shabby to say the least. It was on par with what any 8 year old would have shot in a birthday party. Considering that it was supposedly a ‘sting’ operation we can give benefit of doubt to the quality of video and audio recorded, however it was a clear case of 4 people discussing sitting and speaking about a 5th person who is not even present in the video. None of the audio ever revealed anything related to the case. We do not even know when and where the video was shot, was it shot last week? or 2 years back? No proof of that.

Coming to the crucial point, How can these “sting” tapes be considered “proof” against Amit Shah? 4 people are talking about a 5th in his absence – this can easily be ‘created’. The persons discussing themselves are from dubious background. Is this the evidence CBI has? If so is the case, then Amit Shah has nothing to worry.

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Larger question is how can media allow itself to be used this way & expect its credibility to go unquestioned? Media bias is so obvious and any sensible person will take any news with pinch of salt. But today, namak zyada ho gaya.Bahut zyada.

Dear Media, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah may be whatever they are, but please don’t peddle conversation between 4 people as proof of something. It’s just another home video from Youtube.

Mumbai Girl wins gold at International Physics Olympiad

Read the news today about Mumbai girl Aakansha Sarda winning the International Physics Olympiad held in Zagreb,Croatia. Read the Article Here.

The important news which is printed in the 2nd last paragraph is that she flunked her 9th standard Physics exam, only to top the 10th standard ICSE exams and now this International Award. Thats a massive achievement and amazing turnaround and truly inspiring story. Bravo !! Girl.

Pakistan aids Afghan Insurgency

Pakistan plays the game of chess in Afghanistan in such a way that it can never lose, as it plays from both sides. At one hand its army assists US Army in combating terrorists, dirty talibans and whoever is fighting and on the other its primary intelligence agency ISI aids and helps to plot the Afghans to fight against the same US Army. Wow !! This is one game they can never lose as the reports on This Wikileaks site and a report in New York Times points out.

The Americans, who are chiefly responsible for the mess they have created by first creating the Taliban in the 1980s and then powering ISI and Pakistan Army by millions of $s of aid money, themselves are playing safe as they are bound to withdraw from Afghanistan beginning July 2011. Only 1 can win this dirty game and certainly Pakistan with its 2 faced approach, cannot lose. But didn’t we all know this?

Meanwhile, predictably Pakistan has already denied the Wikileaks Report Here

Here’s the first response by USA

And for the people wondering Who is Wikileaks?

Given Here is the one of the most shocking part of the leaked reports, which talks about attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul in 2008. The ‘project’ is described in details, with allocated budget and the reason behind the attack and full modus operandi.

Here is the view from Time Magazine about US response on the same

Continuing with the Wikileaks documents, after their revelations the US Govt. is shocked and so are lot many people around the world, however not so us Indians, as we had been saying this since years. Apparently, USA Taxpayer’s money is used to aid Pakistan by giving them military aid and weapons, which in turn are used by a wing of that rogue army to kill US Army fighting in Af-Pak region. Its one big massive scam.

Here’s an Article about what USA should do. It is high time USA realize whats going on in Af-Pak !!

IndoPak – Water is the Key

Here’s a nice article I found in New York Times which describes one of the core issue between India and Pakistan. Not Kashmir, but Water.

According to the 1960 Indus water treaty, Pakistan is entitled to 80% of water flowing in Indus river, India is however allowed to use some for its own needs of drinking, farming and power generation. Now that India is planning and building several dams over Indus at various parts in Kashmir, particularly Kishenganga Project, Pakistan is worried that India would control the flow of water in Pakistan. India is entitled to create these dams for hydroelectric power generation and can pass of the water easily to Pakistan, however Pakistan is worried that India would now control the timing of passing of river water and indirectly affect the planting and farming of crops in Punjab, the bread basket of Pakistan.

I think India certainly hold a trump card in this issue as an upriver nation it is ought to have right to use its water before passing on to Pakistan. China does this and even smaller nations like Nepal do it to India. Nice way to get some control over Pakistan.

$35 Tablet Computer Unveiled – Great for Indian Education

It looks like an iPad, only it’s 1/14th the cost: India has unveiled the prototype of a $35 basic touchscreen tablet aimed at students, which it hopes to bring into production by 2011.

Here’s a detailed report on it in Huffington Post

This could be an answer to millions of Indians deprived of a Computer simply because they couldnt afford it. Plus this could be a great tool for mass education, where every child in a government school can own this and can access the best of the world through it. Way to go India. Hope this one goes in production soon.

Afghan-Pak getting close, should India be worried?

Here’s a link from Washington Post that describes how Afghan government led by its President Hamid Karzai is getting closer with Pakistani establishments at the cost of India.

India who have invested Billions in rebuilding Afghanistan have lot to lose and lot more to worry if Pakistan supported Taliban hobnobs with Karzai government. Importantly USA is supporting the move of Pak and Afghan getting closer inspite of being aware of India’s contribution in Afghanistan.