Appeal to the Nation from Government of India

Appeal to the Nation

Union Cabinet passed a resolution in its meeting today (16-09-10) on the High Court judgement on the Ram-Janam Bhumi-Baabri Masjid title suit expected on 24.9.2010. Following is the text of the appeal:

“The High Court judgement on the Ram-Janam Bhumi-Baabri Masjid title suit is expected on 24.9.2010. The Judgment will be the outcome of a long judicial process.

It goes without saying that the judgement needs to be treated with the utmost respect. At the same time, we must remember the fact that the judgement, at this stage, is one step in the judicial process. The determination of the issues need not necessarily end with this judgment unless it is accepted by all parties. In case any of the parties feels that further judicial consideration is required, there are legal remedies available which could be resorted to.

Keeping this in mind, it is necessary for all sections of the people of India to maintain equanimity and tranquility in the aftermath of the judgment. There should be no attempt whatsoever made by any section of the people to provoke any other section or to indulge in any expression of emotion that would hurt the feelings of other people.

The Cabinet appeals to all the people of India to ensure that the delivery of the judgment is seen in its proper perspective as part of a judicial process. The Cabinet further appeals to all sections of society to maintain peace and order after the delivery of the judgment. It is important for all to ensure that the highest traditions of Indian culture and respect for all religions are fully maintained. India is firmly and resolutely on the path of inclusive growth. This is recognized all over the world. Nothing must be said or done and nothing must happen that may cause us to deviate from our goals and our objectives.
The Union Cabinet passed the above resolution at its meeting on 16.09.2010.”

THIRUVOTRIYUR MUNICIPALITY: Municipal chairman, councillors trade charges

Picture courtesy: dailymirror.lk

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on September 15, 2010:

CHENNAI: The emergency meeting of the Thiruvotriyur Municipality on Tuesday witnessed chaotic scenes after opposition AIADMK councillors and chairman Jayaraman traded bribery charges in the open house.

Tense moments prevailed after a ruling DMK councillor S Soundararajan (Ward-48) rushed towards the opposition leader K Kuppan (AIADMK) for asking too many questions about the functioning of the civic body. However, timely intervention by other DMK councillors prevented any untoward incident.

The last meeting of the civic body held on August 31 was postponed due to lack of quorum after ruling DMK councillors walked out en masse in protest against the chairman’s attitude.

Within minutes after the meeting began, Kuppan was on his feet lambasting the civic body’s poor administration and its failure to attend to basic amenities.

Refuting his allegations, the chairman said the civic body had completed several public welfare projects,including laying of roads, in the last few months.Irked over the chairman’s claim, AIADMK councillor R Manikumar asked the chairman to show the completed roads in his ward-43 and said the roads in his wards were badly damaged and unmotorable.

Baffled by the counter-attack by a councillor, the chairman asked, “how the newly-laid roads would remain perfect if you (Manikumar) forcibly collect bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh from contractors.”

Supporting his colleague, Kuppan challenged the chairman to clarify the issue of forcible kickbacks collected by councillors.

With the debate turning more ugly, DMK councillors forced the chairman to pass resolutions laid on the table for the day.

Despite the raging debate among the members on the bribery issue, the council meet passed about 92 resolutions without discussing any.

DELHI POLITICS: Unease in power hub

Source: http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/columnists/unease-in-power-hub/206462.html

There is a sense of unstated unease building up on Raisina Hill. It has everything to do with the deteriorating situation in Jammu and Kashmir but the reasons for it go beyond Kashmir.
It was unusual for the prime minister to admit that the government was “groping” for a way out in Kashmir. His choice of words connoted a lack of clarity in the government, even a helplessness. But what he said was probably close to truth.

Few remember the eruption of violence on a festival like Eid — as happened in Srinagar last Saturday. The arson, the leaping flames devouring government buildings gave the impression that there was no government worth its name in the state. The Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, was once again not in Srinagar, when the town was up in flames, but in Delhi, even though he had come in for sharp criticism in recent weeks for spending as much time in Delhi as in Srinagar.

Omar Abdullah charged the separatist leaders Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Yasin Malik with going back on their promises — that there would not be any violence if they were given permission to hold a protest rally. While the government has now slapped charges against the Mirwaiz, for the first time ever, for inciting violence, the separatists have voiced suspicion that the fire started from the top floor of the building and that it was not done by any mob on the rampage. Without saying it in so many words, they are hinting that elements behind the fire were those who might be interested in stopping the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from certain areas, as was being contemplated by the Centre. It is another matter that these very separatists have said that they demand not the withdrawal of AFSPA but the resolution of the political issue of Kashmir.

Undoubtedly, the Eid day arson would go to harden opinion against the withdrawal or amendment of the AFSPA. As it is, the armed forces were opposed to it and feel that the situation has deteriorated more because of the political failures of Omar Abdullah than because of the army or the AFSPA. They have the backing of Defence Minister A K Antony whereas both the prime minister and the home minister have been in favour of withdrawing the AFSPA from some districts in Jammu and the Valley. The home-versus-defence tussle in the government, on the approach towards J&K, is an open secret, with P Chidambaram being the so-called dove in this case, as opposed to being the hawk on the Maoist challenge.

The central question that confronts the government today — and this has resurfaced after the Eid violence — is a political one. Should Omar Abdullah continue as CM? He is not able to bring the situation under control. If anything, it is getting increasingly out of hand. It seems that at one stage Omar Abdullah had himself made an offer to quit if this would help control the situation. But father Farooq Abdullah had ruled this out, though initially it was he who was tipped to take over after the 2008 elections. But overnight the situation had changed in favour of Omar.

The Centre finds itself in a logjam today, in the absence of a clear alternative to Omar Abdullah, even if it were to plump for such a course of action, and were Omar to agree to quit. No wonder the prime minister talked about “groping” for a solution in Kashmir.
To impose central rule is a bad option in J&K at any time but more so at this time. It brings the Centre directly in confrontation with the state that much more, which should be avoided at all costs.

A Congress CM would not be acceptable to the National Conference. Even if the party pitches to restore the rotational formula, which was in force last time, it would have to wait another year-and-a-half for its turn to come. So the choice would narrow down to someone from the NC replacing Omar Abdullah, either Farooq Abdullah or someone like the present state finance minister, Abdul Rahim Rather, who is an old and experienced hand of the party and knows the state well. It is not clear that Farooq Abdullah, comfortable as he is at the Centre now, would want to move into what is clearly a minefield. As far as Rather is concerned, he represents the old guard of the party, but Omar’s aides have let it be known that he would not be acceptable to the NC’s younger members. The move would entail the first family of Kashmir taking a backseat.

Senior Congress members of the government are believed to have expressed their strong reservations about the ability of the young Abdullah to manage a bad and a complex situation, during discussions in the internal fora of the party.

When Omar upstaged his father and took over as CM, it was widely believed that he did so because of the backing of both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Sonia Gandhi’s views on Omar Abdullah then, or his continuation as CM now, are not known publicly, though going by past record, she has not been inclined to interfere in the selection process of the leader of another party.
The immediate challenge is to bring a semblance of normalcy in the state, which could do with an experienced and calming touch. It is only after that that the government can get around to addressing the more substantive issues agitating people, through a process of dialogue.

The growing unease in Delhi’s corridors of power is also on another count, and that is the judgment which is due on September 24 in the Ayodhya matter, to determine the title suit which has been hanging fire for six decades. If the judgement goes in favour of the Sunni Waqf Board, which is possible, the BJP can be expected to go to town to cash in on it politically as another anti-Hindu step. Depending on how it moves, it may provide the saffron party the “sanjeevini” it is looking for.

The mandir issue had died a naturally death — even though the Vishwa Hindu Parishad tom toms it from time to time — and had ceased to gather votes even in a state like Uttar Pradesh. And now it is likely to be raked up once again, and we can only guess its impact on the law and order situation in the country, or in the BJP-ruled states, or in generating tensions and widening the communal divide.

Telangana is also a bomb ticking away for the ruling party and the genie will be out of the bottle, come December when the Sri Krishna Report is due. Sentiments in the region, for a separate state, run as high as they are in the Valley in Kashmir, again with all its ramifications for law and order and unity of not only Andhra Pradesh but also of other states.
Clearly, the Centre will have its task cut out in the coming months and it promises to be a hot winter for Manmohan Singh and his team.

neerja_chowdhury@yahoo.com
About the author: Neerja Chowdhury is political editor, The New Indian Express

உங்களுடன்: துணைமுதல்வர் தொகுதியில் சிறுநீர் சட்டி சுமக்கும் அவலம்

உங்களுடன்: துணைமுதல்வர் தொகுதியில் சிறுநீர் சட்டி சுமக்கும் அவலம்

For Kalaignar TV, Saturday is Vidumurai Dinam, not Vinayakar Chathurthi

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on September 11, 2010:

COONOOR: Kalaignar TV refuses to admit that it is coming out with special programmes on Saturday for ‘Vinayakar Chathurthi’ but claims that it is for ‘Vidumurai Dinam’ (holiday)!

For past two days, it has been repeatedly announcing the list of special programmes as Vidumurai Dina Sirappu Nigazhigal (holiday special programmes). Except for nadaswaram concert at 6 am, all programmes have cinematic connection — new cine songs (8 am), review of film Puzhal (9 am), Nagaram film’s music CD release with CM Karunanidhi (9.30 am) and interview with actors Arya and Nayantara (5 pm). Four movies, Kanthakottai (10 am), Yegan (2 pm), Naan Kadavul (6 pm) and “Superman Returns” (9.30 pm) will be telecast. For Friday’s Ramzan, , there had been mentions of greetings from the CM, besides special interview with B H Sahul Hameed, TV/AIR personality.

“Why no such packages for every holiday? If there are compulsions due to competition, they must admit that the occasion is Vinayakar Chathurthi. Otherwise, its hypocrisy is blatantly visible,” Lalitha Ramani, president, Hubbathalai Residents’ Circle, told Express on Friday.

CHENNAI: Washermen at Chepauk face eviction

By G Saravanan
Published in The New Indian Express, on September 10, 2010:

CHENNAI: More than 20 families of washermen community settled specifically for cleaning clothes used by MLAs at Omanthoorar Government Estate at Chepauk now face an uncertain future after the state government became adamant in evicting them to make more land for the new Secretariat.
According to the families, the state government had served a notice asking them to vacate the area by July first week to pave way for construction of additional buildings for the new secretariat.
However, these families, which include about 10 newborn kids and a few school-going children, stayed put expecting a last minute ‘change of mind’ from the government officials as they only settled them about four decades ago to clean clothes used by MLAs.
“We don’t know what to do in the coming days and the 20-odd washermen families are now facing an uncertain future due to impending dislocation and loss of livelihood,” said G Murali, one of the washermen.
Serving the final ultimatum to the washermen families, M Selvaraj, Legislative Assembly Secretary, on Tuesday informed them to vacate the area by September 10, as they need to hand it (land) to PWD the next day for development.
Though these families tried their best to meet their MLA (Chepauk) and the Chief Minister M Karunanidhi several times to air their grievance directly, CM’s security men stopped them from reaching anywhere near Gopalapuram (CM’s residence).

“We are helpless and all the families are in a state of shock due to the categorical denial by the state government of their pleas,” said Munusamy, another washerman.
In fact, these families had suggested four alternative places to shift them in the close vicinity, but the government rejected it and made a final push on Tuesday to evict them from the Omanthoorar Government Estate. They appealed to the Chief Minister to consider their case and protect their livelihood.

சத்துருக்கொண்டான் படுகொலை: வெளிவராத சில கசப்பான உண்மைகள்

Source: http://www.athirvu.com/target_news.php?getnews=news&action=fullnews&showcomments=1&id=5119

இராணுவத்தினர் படுகொலை செய்யும்போது, அங்கு எழும் மரண ஓலங்களை, பிள்ளைகள் கேட்கக் கூடாது என்பதற்காக தமது பிள்ளைகளின் காதுகளைப் பொத்திக்கொண்டனர். யாரேனும் உதவிக்கு வரமாட்டார்களா என்று பதறினர்.

இது இவ்வாறிருக்க சத்துருக்கொண்டான் கிராமத்திலும் அதனைச் சுற்றியுள்ள பகுதிகளிலும் இராணுவத்தினர் வீடு புகுந்து பல தமிழர்களைக் கொன்று குவித்தனர். பெண்கள் சிறுவர்கள் என பலரையும் ஈவு இரக்கம் பாராது இராணுவத்தினர் கைகளைக் கட்டி பின்னர் கத்தியால் குத்திக் கொன்றனர்.

நிலா வெளிச்சத்தில், முழுமையாக இரவு படராத அந்தவேளையில் இராணுவத்தின் கத்திக் குத்துக்கு இலக்காகி குத்துயிரும் குலையுமாக இருந்த அரை உயிர் பிணங்களைக்கூட தேடி, அவர்கள் பிழைத்துவிடக் கூடாது என்பதற்காக எங்கு வெட்டினால் உடனே உயிர்பிரியுமோ, சிறிய ரக கத்திகளைப் பாவித்து வெட்டுகிறான் சிங்கள காடையன்.

ஏதும் அறியாத பாமர மக்கள், ஒரு புழுவுக்கு சமமான, சாதாரண தமிழர்களின் உடல்களை சிங்களவன் கத்திகள் பதம் பார்க்கின்றன்.

47 குழந்தைகள் உட்பட 184 பேரை ஈவு இரக்கம் பாராது கொலைசெய்தது சிங்கள இராணுவம், இவர்களோடு மறைந்த அஷ்ரபின் (இலங்கை முஸ்லீம் காங்கிரஸ் முன் நாள் தலைவர்) ஊர்காவல் படைகளும் இருந்ததாக ஊர்ஜிதமற்ற செய்திகள் கூறுகின்றது.

இலங்கையில் ஜிகாத் அமைப்பை நிறுவவும், அதற்காக முஸ்லீம் ஊர்காவல் படை ஒன்றை அமைத்திருந்தார் மறைந்த முன் நாள் முஸ்லீம் காங்கிரஸ் தலைவர் அஷ்ரப்.

இராணுவத்தோடு அப்போது இருந்த முஸ்லீம் ஊர்காவல் படையினரும் இருந்ததாகக் கூறப்படும் கசப்பான செய்திகளை மறைப்பதில் நியாயம் இல்லை. இச் செய்திகள் ஊர்ஜிதமற்றவையாகவே இருந்தாலும், அன்று நடைபெற்ற சம்பவங்கள் குறித்து மக்கள் அறிந்திருப்பது நல்லது.

இப் படுகொலையின்போது கந்தசாமி கிருஷ்ணகுமார் என்பவர் மாத்திரமே சம்பவ இடத்தில் இருந்து சாதூரியமாகத் தப்பிச் சென்றுள்ளார். கண்ணால் கண்ட சாட்சியும் இவரே. இவர் இதுவரை சாட்சியங்கள் எதனையும் வழங்கவில்லை. அன்று சம்பவ இடத்தில் இருந்து காயங்களோடு தப்பிச் சென்ற கிருஷ்ணகுமார், ஒரு வீட்டின் கதவைத் தட்டி தாகத்திற்கு தண்ணீர் குடித்துவிட்டுச் சென்றுவிட்டதாக அறியப்படுகிறது. பின்னர் அவர் வைத்தியசாலையில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டதாகவும், அவரைத் தேடி அங்கு இராணுவம் சென்றதால் அவரை கத்தோலிக்க குருமார் காப்பாற்றியதாகவும் சொல்லப்படுகிறது.

இச் சம்பவம் குறித்து ஆராய்ந்த, மற்றும் பிற சாட்சிகளை விசாரித்த கொலம்பிய பல்கலைக்கழகம் இதனை ஆவணப்படுத்தியது, இருப்பினும் அது குறித்த தகவல்களை அது தற்போது தனது இணையத்தில் இருந்து நீக்கியுள்ளது. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/data/indiv/area/idsas/LAWRENCE,Patricia.htm அமெரிக்காவில் உள்ள கொலராடோ பல்கலைக்கழக சட்ட விரிவுரையாளர்களும் இப் படுகொலை குறித்து ஆராய்ந்துள்ளனர்.

இப் படுகொலை நடந்து 20 ஆண்டுகள் ஆகின்றன, இதுவரை அக் கொலைகளைப் புரிந்தவர்கள் தண்டிக்கப்படவில்லை. அன்று நாதியற்று தமிழன் அவலக்குரல் எழுப்பியபோது வேடிக்கை பார்த்தது உலகம். தாம் ஒவ்வொருவராகக் கொல்லப்படப் போகிறோம் என்று நினைத்த அம்மக்களின் நிலை எவ்வாறு இருந்திருக்கும், ஓடிவிளையாடும்போது சிறு காயங்கள் ஏற்பட்டாலே தாங்கமுடியாத சிறுவர்கள் அன்று எத்தனை துன்பத்தை, வேதனையை அனுபவித்து துடிதுடித்து இறந்திருப்பார்கள், அன்றைய இரவு தமிழர்கள் சிந்திய இரத்தத்தால் சிவப்பாக அல்லவா மாறியது. எம்மைக் காக்க ஒரு ஆயுத அமைப்பு தேவை என்று தமிழன் நினைத்ததில் என்ன தவறு?

அதனால் தான், தம் இனத்தைக் காக்கப் புறப்பட்ட வீர மறவர்களை தமிழர்கள் காவல் தெய்வங்களுக்குச் சமமாக மதித்தனர். ஆயுதப் போராட்டம் அழிக்கப்பட்டாலும், தமிழர்களுக்கு இன்னும் ஒரு பேரவலம் வரும்போது அது தானாக முளைவிடும்!

அப்போது தோன்றும் வித்துகள் யாராலும் அழிக்கப்பட முடியாதவையாக இருக்கும் என்பதை உரக்கச் சொல்லுவோம், அதை ஊருக்கும் சொல்லுவோம்!

அதிர்வின் ஆசிரியபீடம்.