At around 4 PM, a group of 15-25 Shiv Sena activists armed with sticks and baseball bats barged into the office of IBN7 Hindi news channel and the IBN Lokmat Marathi TV channel and attacked journalists and employees. The female receptionist was slapped, and the Shiv Sena men went around looking for Nikhil Wagle, editor of IBN Lokmat. They threw a chair at him and slapped him. Reports also say that several women journalists were also attacked. LCD TVs and computers were trashed, chairs were toppled and glass panels were broken.

Many of the attackers escaped before the police arrived. However, it seems that the IBN journalists and technical staff counterattacked, and 7 of the attackers were caught and handed over to the police.

Photo: IBN Lokmat, IBN7 offices after Shiv Sena attack

Shiv Sena MP and editor of the Sena newspaper Saamna told reporters that it was a spontaneous attack, and as the people who attacked said they were Shiv Sainiks’ he was accepting it. He justified the attacks saying that the IBN7 and IBN Lokmat channels were consistently biased against the Shiv Sena. He also said that the attacks were justified, as the TV channels attacked Bal Thackery over his Saamna editorial criticising Sachin Tendulkar for saying that Mumbai was for everyone, and that he was an Indian first. “Media is not God–criticism of Balasaheb Thackeray will not be tolerated,” said Sanjay Raut. “If you target Sena, we will attack. Criticism of Sena is also criticism of Marathi Manoos.”

Photo: Shiv Sena chieftain Bal Thackeray

IBN Lokmat editor Nikhil Wagle said that he believes that Sanjay Raut organised the attacks. He said that this was not a spontaneous attack, and it was pre-planned.

One of the Shiv Sena’s grievances was that Nikhil Wagle has been insulting Bal Thackeray and Marathi sentiments by calling Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena chieftain, an “old man”. It did not look like Nikhil Wagle was in any mood to give in, though, even after the attacks. Speaking to the media, he repeated the phrase, saying “”Bal Thackeray has become old. Uddhav Thackeray has lost control over Sena and elements like Raut are flourishing in that party.” It should be noted that many Maharashtrians believe that Sanjay Raut has been penning editorials in Saamna which go under the name of Bal Thackeray, damaging Marathi sentiment. For example, post the Maharashtra Assembly election loss, Saamna editorial ostensibly written by Bal Thackeray said that he did not trust Maharashtrians anymore, and that they had stabbed him in the back by voting for Raj Thackeray’s MNS and thereby enabling Congress and NCP to win.

Nikhil Wagle has been aggressive in attacking the Sena brand of politics, and the Sena has never taken kindly to criticism, especially of its ageing leader. He said that the Shiv Sena has attacked Marathi sentiments by attacking a Marathi TV channel.

The Shiv Sena has often said criticism of Bal Thackeray would not be allowed. Bal Thackeray is ageing, and he is becoming something of a holy cow for the Shiv Sena. Raj Thackeray, who split from the Shiv Sena and set up his own party – the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) – too refused to comment on Bal Thackeray’s editorial which was critical of Sachin Tendulkar. In 2005, the Shiv Sena reacted violently every time there was any impolite mention or criticism of Shivaji. In 2009, it seems Bal Thackeray too cannot be criticised in Maharashtra.

CNN-IBN’s editor in chief, Rajdeep Sardesai, came on TV soon after the attacks and said that media has been increasingly facing such attacks, and blamed the Shiv Sena for the attack on IBN7 and IBN Lokmat. He said that the attacks marked a new low in Maharashtra politics.

Deputy commissioner of police RM Vhatkar said: “The arrested men have been booked for assault and rioting. We are on the lookout for the others.” He did not say whether the arrested men were indeed Shiv Sena men.

Criticism of the attacks came in immediately from Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who said that those arrested would be dealt with harshly. He said that the attacks on the IBN7 and IBN Lokmat TV channels showed the frustration of Shiv Sena after losing Assembly elections. NCP Chief Sharad Pawar said that strong action should be taken against those who attacked media.

CNN-IBN said that the attackers claimed they were agitated over misquoting Bal Thackeray. Thackeray’s criticism of Sachin Tendulkar did not go down well with most politicians and across India, and it is likely that the IBN channels were declaring that disgust, which obviously was not to Shiv Sena’s liking.

There were two other incidents of attacks by Shiv Sena – the IBN office in Pune was attacked, and an outdoor broadcast van of the channel was also not spared.

In 2008, senior journalist Kumar Ketkar’s house was also attacked by those claiming to be angered by his comments about a proposed Shivaji statue. He told the media political parties indulge in violence because they are certain of getting away.

Rahul Narvekar, the head of Shiv Sena’s legal cell refused to apologise for the attacks when asked, and said that his party would always defend Marathi pride.

Raj Thackeray's MNS' rise has unnerved the Shiv Sena, which has had the Marathi Manoos plank stolen from its creator.

There has been no reaction from Shiv Sena ally BJP, which has often been embarrassed by the violent behaviour and obvious justifications of such violence by Shiv Sena. As a national party which needs the Shiv Sena to have a foothold in Maharashtra, it has always found it convenient to close its eyes to Shiv Sena’s parochial and violent behaviour.

The Shiv Sena has always made it clear that they would not stay away from violence if they think their leaders or the pride of Maharashtra was offended by anyone. It is obviously not a defender of press freedom, and has never claimed to be so.

All this comes right on the heels of the recent slapping of SP MP Abu Asim Azmi by MNS legislators in the Maharashtra assembly, senior Thackeray’s editorial against Sachin Tendulkar, and yesterday’s editorial in the Saamna which proudly claimed that those who demolished the Babri Masjid were Shiv Sainiks, and exhorted all Hindus in India to unite against Muslims. Bal Thackeray has always been caught between Marathi chauvinism and Hindu chauvinism, never really able to make a choice while his nephew Raj has positioned himself as the champion of Maharashtrian rights above all – and so far, that seems to be working, making the Shiv Sena and Bal Thackeray ill-at-ease.

Bal Thackeray's editorial against Sachin Tendulkar angers many

Sachin Tendulkar had a told a news conference the other day, in connection with his completing 20 years in international cricket, that that “Mumbai belongs to all Indians.”  He added that, while he is a Maharashtrian and is “extremely proud of that,” “I am an Indian first.”

In an editorial in Saamna, the mouthpiece of Shiv Sena, Bal Thackeray advised Tendulkar to focus on his international cricket and said that he has “hurt the feelings of Marathi Manoos.”

Thackeray went on to say: “Sachin may not know what Marathi Manoos went through to get Mumbai. You were not even born then.”

In a tone of warning, the Shiv Sena supremo wrote in the editorial: “Sachin, please keep it in mind that we praise you for your fours and sixes on the field, but if you use your tongue as a bat to hit boundaries against Marathi Manoos, we will never tolerate it. Please don’t lose on the ground of politics whatever you have earned on the cricket pitch.”

Sanjay Raut, Spokesman of the Shiv Sena, has come out with a clarification that Bal Thackeray has “not criticised” Sachin Tendulkar.

According to Raut, Balasaheb only “commented in his capacity as an elder” and his remarks in the editorial in the Saamna were “an elderly advice to Sachin.”

Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar is receiving support from various quarters and Bal Thackeray is being slammed for his outbursts again the cricketer.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has strongly defended Sachin, saying that the ‘Master Blaster’ had “spoken from his heart” and that “his statement will unite the country.”

The statement by Sachin, Ashok Chavan told reporters, was made in true sportsman spirit. Sachin may be a Maharashtrian, but he plays for the country.

Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, while criticising Bal Thackeray for his editorial, praised Sachin by saying that the “cricket icon” had raised further the “image and prestige of the country” by having said that Mumbai is for all Indians.

Shiv Sena’s ally in the NDA – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – too came out in support of Sachin Tendulkar saying that Sachin said only what a patriotic Indian would say.

What is interesting is that both Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and BJP are allies of Shiv Sena in the NDA. Sena’s regional chauvinism has oftne embarrassed its allies like the Sena – the common factor between both remain Hindu majoritarianism, and Marathi chauvinism is often awkward for the BJP.

Several Maharashtrians however believe that what appears in the Saamna editorials are often not Thackeray’s thoughts but someone else’s. Conspiracy theories about someone out to destory the Sena are often mentioned. Post Assembly elections for the Maharashtra State Assembly, Bal Thackeray’s editorial in the Saamna lambasted Maharashtrians for backstabbing the Sena, something which the Shiv Sena has been at pains to deny afterwards.

Raj Thackeray: Silent on Sachin

This is likely a case of over-reaction on Bal Thackeray’s part. Sachin Tendulkar’s statement was in response to a question from a reporter on a day when he has been giving press conferences and meeting the media since morning, and it is natural that he would not have thought about the political implications of a statement which could be interpreted as a snub to the Sena. Bal Thackeray too was not exactly wise about letting the statement go, instead of reacting to it angrily in Saamna – a reaction borne out of the fear that the Sena has to be the first to talk about Marathi Manoos issues. If it did not, there was always the chance that Raj Thackeray’s MNS would be quick to capitalise on that. As it went, Raj Thackeray stayed mum on the issue, and his party explained that this was an issue between the Shiv Sena and Sachin, and their party preferred not to talk about what the senior Thackeray says.

Lalu Prasad, the chief of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), said Bal Thackeray had no “moral authority” to comment on a national hero.

“Sachin Tendulkar is a national hero, and who is Bal Thackeray to comment on him?” Lalu Prasad told reporters.

Besides political leaders, several top sportsmen and sports officials have come out in support of Sachin Tendulkar.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was the first to react to Bal Thackeray’s criticism of Sachin’s statement.

Rajiv Shukla, spokesman of the BCCI and chairman of the BCCI’s finance committee, said Bal Thackeray was “talking like Mohammad Ali Jinnah.”

Sachin Tendulkar, Shukla stressed, is a nationalist. “Sachin is for Maharashtra, and he is for India, and if someone calls himself an Indian, is it a crime?” Shukla asked.

Olympian Milkha Singh, the sprint legend, remarked that Sachin did not say anything wrong and that he is “very happy” with what Sachin has said.

Ajit Wadekar, former Indian cricket captain, reacted to Bal Thackeray’s criticism of Sachin by saying that Sachin is playing for his country and “that has exactly what has motivated him to get the record.”

These sites have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes that cause dengue, according to Kanwar Sain, Mayor of Delhi.

Kanwar Sain told reporters that an inspection conducted by the officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi a week ago found that the Commonwealth Games Village in East Delhi has turned into a breeding place for mosquitoes.  Other news: Commonwealth Games accommodation preparations

Sain rejected the allegation raised by Kiran Walia, Health Minister of Delhi, that the MCD has failed to curb the mounting number of dengue cases in Delhi, by saying that the Municipal Corporation is “doing its best” to restrain the spreading of dengue.

Health Minister Kiran Walia also accused the Municipal Corporation of not taking proper measures to check the breeding of mosquitoes in Delhi, in spite of “several reminders” and that the Health Officer of the MCD of not bothering to inform the government of Delhi about the total number of dengue cases in various hospitals.

Kiran Walia said the Delhi government has decided to issue public notices, advertisements as well as the dos and don’ts intended to create awareness among the residents about the way the vector-borne dengue spreads.

She added that three hospitals run by the Delhi government – Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital, Hedgewar Hospital, and Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital – will prepare and formulate the blood platelets.

In addition, emergency services in all hospitals will function round the clock to attend to dengue patients, and those hospitals which fail to furnish reports on dengue patients face prosecution.

The Health Minister appealed to the residents of Delhi not to wash their cars and two-wheelers in order to prevent accumulation of water on the streets and in pits.

Already, two persons have died of dengue in and around Delhi, and about 550 people are suffering from the vector-borne disease.

There has been an increase this year in the number of people afflicted by dengue because of late rains in Delhi, according to Mayor Kanwar Sain. The situation will be brought under control next year, and there will be no dengue problem during the Commonwealth Games, he added.

According to the guidelines of the Central Government, the standard test for dengue is the IgM Capture ELISA test. Any patient who is confirmed to be suffering from dengue, after undergoing this test, is notified to the Municipal Corporation by all leading hospitals of Delhi, the Mayor said.

There has been a spate of activities related to building and renovation all over Delhi in the run-up to the 2010  Commonwealth Games, to be held from October 3-14, 2010. This has resulted in the buildup of a lot of rubble, which has eventually become breeding grounds of dengue-causing mosquitoes.

The Islamic seminary at Deoband, located 150 kilometres north-east of Delhi, maintains that singing Vande Maataram violates Islam’s faith in monotheism.

A resolution adopted by the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind at its 30th general session also said that Muslims were being “targeted over the issue,” adding that “we love our country and have proved it many times, but we cannot elevate it to the status of Allah, the only one worshipped by the Muslims.”

Asserting that the ‘fatwa’ issued by the Darul Uloom is “correct,” the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind said that referring to the nation as mother and singing an ode to motherland is “un-Islamic” and violates “our faith in monotheism that is Islam’s foundation.”

It may be noted that the Jamiat’s move comes at a time when a few states such as Madhya Pradesh, ruled by the BJP, has introduced singing Vande Maataram in state-run schools.

Jamiat’s endorsement of Darul Uloom’s stand on Vande Maataram came a on the same day the ‘general session’ of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind was addressed by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.

In his speech, P Chidambaram had taken care to stay away from any controversy and praised Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind for the resolution it adopted against terrorism in Deoband in 2008.

Chidambaram said that the Jamiat’s call against terrorism was a call to all citizens of the country, and not just Muslims, to oppose terrorism and violence. While condemning the demolition of the Babri masjid, the Home Minister said “it is the duty of the majority to look after the minorities.”

The Union Home Minister has since clarified that he was not present when the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind adopted the resolution against the recital of Vande Maataram.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reacted to the Jamiat’s stand by saying that the presence of the Union Home Minister had “legitimized” the attitude against Vande Maataram.

In a statement, Murli Manohar Joshi, BJP leader, said that the party opposes the resolution passed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind.

Mukhtar Naqvi, vice-president of the BJP, said that while the singing of Vande Maataram was not compulsory, the way in which the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind opposed the song – “immortalised in Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s classic” – is unacceptable.

Naqvi also criticized P Chidambaram for having addressed a gathering where the singing of Vande Maataram was being opposed, arguing that the Minister’s speech would be construed as supporting the “retrograde” viewpoint of the Jamiat.

The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, in other resolutions, disagreed with the proposed Central Madrasa Board, saying that such a body would be an “intrusion” in the running of madrasas.

The Jamiat demanded that that education of girls after the age of 10 should be “completely according to the norms of the Sharia.” Though the Jamiat did not specify what it meant by “Sharia norms,” it is generally believed that the radical Muslim outfit was referring to the use of the veil and the hijab as well as separate classrooms for boys and girls.

Darul Uloom has repetitively described co-education as “unlawful” and even opposed a ruling recently by a senior cleric at the much-respected Al Azhar, of Cairo, that face-veils were not needed in all-women classrooms.

Vande Mataram has always been a point of controversy ever since it was adopted by the freedom movement against the British Raj in India. Muslims had opposed it even then, and several leaders of the Congress were uncomfortable with some of the supposed ‘anti-Muslim’ tone of the novel in which the song had first appeared.

In the last twenty years, the RSS, BJP and its allies have attempted to use the Vande Mataram as a touchstone to Indian Muslims’ patriotism. This has predictably led to even more angry denunciations from Muslim organisations. After the endorsement of the Vande Mataram Fatwa, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray said that those who do not sing the song were traitors and they should go to Pakistan or Bangladesh. That is definitely not a very helpful attitude in convincing Muslims to sing the Vande Mataram, we believe.

On the other hand, focusing on such symbolic issues other than on more substantive issues such as education and women’s rights have always been a tactic adopted by Islamic leaders – both religious and political – in India to keep the community under their thumb.

What is clear is that ‘Love Jihad’ refers to an allegedly well-organised campaign, being fanatically and fervently executed by young Muslim men, in which they intentionally lure women from different faiths, especially Hinduism and Christianity, into love and marriage and then forcibly convert them into Islam.

The “clandestine” campaign called ‘Love Jihad’ or ‘Romeo Jihad’ first came to light in September 2009,  when two young Muslim men from Pathanamthitta, a town south-eastern Kerala, reportedly beguiled two women, one a Hindu and the other a Christian, into marriage and later forced them to convert into Islam. 

Though at first the two women insisted that they embraced Islam of their own free will, later, after returning to their own homes, they said they had been abducted and been forced to convert to Islam.

The two young Muslim men in question reportedly belonged to Campus Front, the student wing of Popular Front of India (PFI), a radical Muslim outfit. 

The incident at Pathanamthitta triggered a plethora reports in the media on the so-called Love Jihad – covering it from various angles, and describing and defining it in different ways, so much so that the subject started weighing heavily on the minds of Malayalees in general within and outside Kerala.

At the same time, various organisations of Hindus and Christian came up with their own opinions and explanations.

The radical Hindu group called Sri Ram Sena says that thousands of non-Muslim girls, after getting married to Muslim men, have been converted to Islam by force in the last few years. Further, the Sri Ram Sena alleges that those women who have been thus converted are being trained to do “anti-national activities.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the country’s main Opposition party, maintains that the members of ‘Love Jihad’ are supported by funds from abroad, especially the Islamic countries in West Asia.

Christian organisations, too, are seized of the alleged threat from ‘Love Jihad.’

The powerful Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) – an alliance of the bishops of the Catholic Church in Kerala – has come out with vivid data and description of the deeds of the radical Islamic outfit.

An article was published in the newsletter of the KCBC asserting that about 4,000 girls have been forcibly converted to Islam since 2005 after they fell in love with Muslim men.

The article, written by Father Johny Kochuparambil, secretary of the Commission for Social Harmony and Vigilance – which is a wing of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council – lists 2,868 non-Muslim girls who were “trapped” in the “Love Jihad net” from 2006 to 2009. The writer of the article did not specify where the data was obtained from, but insisted that it came from “highly reliable sources.” 

The Kerala Catholic Bishops Council has even issued guidelines on how to protect girls from the menace, by asking parents and authorities of school and colleges to keep a close watch on the activities of the children and to discourage them from over-use of mobile phones and internet.

It appears that the alleged Islamic campaign has spread from Kerala to the neighbouring state of Karnataka.

In October 2009, the father of a woman, who converted to Islam in order to marry a Muslim man, filed a habeas corpus petition in a court in Karnataka complaining that his daughter was the victim of Love Jihad. However, the woman informed the court that she converted to Islam on her own free will.

All the same, the court observed that it has “serious suspicions” about the woman’s statement that her conversion was voluntary and that the case has “ramifications for national security.” The court went on to state that the case of the converted woman raises questions of unlawful trafficking of girls and women in Karnataka and ordered that the case be investigated by the police. 

According to the Karnataka court’s order, police in both Karnataka and Kerala initiated an investigation into whether an outfit named Love Jihad, or Romeo Jihad, did exist or not. The police of both states reached the conclusion that such a group does not exist.

Jacob Punnoose, Director-General of Police, Kerala, informed the High Court of Kerala that no organisation named ‘Love Jihad’ existed in Kerala, but added that the police have reasons to suspect that there have been “concentrated efforts” by Muslim men to persuade non-Muslim women to convert to Islam after falling in love. 

The alleged threat of ‘Love Jihad’ has brought Christian and Hindu organisations to work together to combat the “menace” since women from both the communities reportedly have become victims.

The media in Kerala quoted an office-bearer of the Christian Association for Social Action (CASA), based in Kochi, as saying that girls from both the Christian and Hindu communities are “falling prey to the Love Jihad campaign” and so the CASA is cooperating with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on this issue.

New Delhi: The capital city of India has become a daily nightmare for women from the North-East of the country who are here to study or for work.

A close study of reports shows that the community of about 100,000 people from the north-eastern states is under threat – virtually any day, any time – of assault, molestation, or murder.

As many as 16 severe cases of molestation, rape and other forms of extreme cruelty perpetuated in Delhi against people from the North-East have been recorded so far in 2009. And, 4 of these incidents took place in the last two weeks.

The worst cases of recent atrocities against people from the North-East staying in Delhi include the murder by Pushpam Kumar Sinha, 34, of a young girl from Manipur; molestation of a girl from Arunachal by school boys; molestation of a girl from Nagaland; and assault on a couple from Nagaland.

On October 24, 2009, Pushpam Sinha, 34, a PhD scholar working at the India Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, assaulted and strangled to death Ramchanphy Hongray, the 19-year-old girl who is his neighbour, in her home in south Delhi. The man then burnt the girl’s face in order to mislead the police.

At Sarojini Nagar in Delhi, on October 12, a girl from the North-East was dragged into a van. However, the presence of mind of the victim, who is an employee of a 5-star hotel, saved her life. After the girl raised a hue and cry, passersby caught hold of one of the assailants and beat him up.

On October 17, a couple from Nagaland was assaulted by some young men, who were allegedly drunk, at Safdarjung Enclave.

The same day, a 5-year-old girl from the North-East was allegedly molested by her tuition teacher.

Earlier, in April 2009, a girl aged 6, was raped and murdered by her neighbour. The girl’s body was later fished out from a water tank nearby.

These terrifying incidents have prompted YS Dadwal, Delhi Police Commissioner, to call for a ‘zero-tolerance policy’ towards any crime committed against women from the North-East. He has ordered that crimes committed against people from the North-East be given top priority, and asked 3 Deputy Commissioners from east, south and north Delhi to act as nodal officers for the safety of women.

However, many members of the North-East community complain that the police have been slow to act.

According to Madhu Chandra, spokesman for the North-East Support Centre and Helpline, a help centre for the youth from the north-eastern states living in Delhi and the National Capital region (NCR), there have been several cases of atrocities, but police are doing little about them and demanded that the Delhi government act sternly to check these incidents.

About 4,000 students from the North-East take admission to various courses in Delhi University (DU) each year, and for them, every day in Delhi is like a nightmare, Madhu Chandra says.

A survey conducted by the North-East Support Centre and Helpline has revealed that 86% (or about 86,000) people hailing from the north-eastern states and living in Delhi face some sort of discrimination or the other “on a daily basis.”

The North-East Support Centre alleges that nearly half the number of women sexually harassed in Delhi and neighbourhood is from the North-East. He says that the Northeast Support Centre and Helpline is “flooded with complaints related to sexual harassment.”

Most members of the north-eastern community are not happy with the police. Kamakshi Sinha, who hails from Assam and doing her undergraduate course in Delhi University, says that that the police circular is “just a piece of paper.” She complains that people in Delhi call them ‘Chinky’ and such other derogatory names, and the policemen ridicule them when they go to the police station to lodge a complaint.

Another female student of Delhi University says that most girls from the North-East are even scared of approaching the police. “Police do not respond to our pleas, and we are treated like outcasts,” she laments.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi, MP and Congress general secretary, has said he will totally cooperate with the North-East Students Union in its efforts to curb the increasing menace of crime against both men and women the north-eastern states.

Rahul Gandhi gave this assurance to a team of members of the North-East Students Union which met him to seek his support and intervention in the matter.

Photo: Rehman Malik, Pakistan's interior minister

Pakistan has accused India of funding the Taliban fighters located along the Pak-Afghan border in order to create mayhem in Pakistan.

Rehman Malik, Interior Minister of Pakistan, in an interview to a television channel, went to the extent of saying that he is prepared to furnish the government of India with evidence to that effect.

Rehman Malik asserted that he is “convinced” about India funding the Taliban and that there are “elements” that do not want Pakistan to be stable.” When asked whether India was among those “elements,” he replied: “Of course.”

He went on to say: “If the Interior Minister of India or anyone else wants to confront me, I will be happy to confront them since I know what I am saying.”

In addition, the Pakistan Interior Minister reiterated that India is fomenting Pakistan’s problems in Balochistan.

There are many political commentators in Pakistan who agree with what Rehman Malik said about India’s alleged role in trouble in their country. Fozia Saeed, renowned academic, has been quoted by the media as saying that there are more Indians in Afghanistan than foreigners from any other country and that he feels “there may be more than meets the eye.”

The Pakistani media had reported that one of the Taliban militants who was killed was found uncircumcised. However, this has not been officially acknowledged.

India has strongly rejected Pakistan’s charge that it is helping and funding the Taliban militants against Pakistan.

Minister for External Affairs Minister S M Krishna stressed that India in fact wants the Taliban and “Talibanism” to be completely eliminated.

A K Antony, Minister for Defence, rubbished Pakistan’s allegations as “totally baseless and absurd.” He asserted that India will not and cannot back Taliban, which is “the greatest threat to peace in the world,” Antony told reporters in New Delhi on the sidelines of a function connected with Defence.

Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said the government of India is “not at all in the business of destabilising its neighbours.” India is not interested in creating trouble in Pakistan, Shashi Tharoor said, adding that such acts are “not our style” or the kind of policy that India pursues.

Many political observers in India sees Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s invective directed against India as Islamabad’s bid to add insult to India’s injuries. Malik’s comments have come at a time when hostility towards India has been widely recognised as one of the driving forces behind the very existence of the Taliban.

It may be noted that Rehman Malik’s outbursts against India came close on the heels of  India’s Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao saying the other day that India had conveyed its displeasure and disappointment to Pakistan over that country’s “slow and tardy’’ progress in probing the Mumbai attacks.

Nirupama Rao had also said that the recent blast outside the Indian embassy in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, appeared to have been executed by “forces from across the border.’’ However, she had hastened to add that the Indian government would wait for the final investigation report on the incident from the authorities in Kabul.

While anything is possible – in theory – it is extremely unlikely that India has found a faction with the Taliban that it can manipulate for its own objectives. Taliban may hate the Pakistani government of aligning with the United States in its battle agaist the Taliban and Al Qaida – but do even a small faction of them dislike Pakistani government enough to ally with India? We can’t wait to see the “evidence” Rehman Malik claims to have to support his allegations!

The election results have left the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main Opposition, more weakened in the first electoral test held after the general elections to Parliament in May 2009.

In Maharashtra, a state having much political significance, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance won 144 seats in the 288-member Assembly.
The BJP was victorious in 46 seats.

In the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress had a thumping victory – by bagging 42 seats of 60 seats.

However, in Haryana, the Congress could not put up a good performance, with the main Opposition party, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), climbing from just 9 seats in the 2005 Assembly elections to 31 seats this time. The Congress won 40 seats.

Though the Congress is the biggest party in Haryana, having won 40 out of the 90 seats, it is still being short of the halfway mark.

Many senior Congress leaders said they are happy with the outcome of the polls overall, but admitted that they had expected a more emphatic win.

There were wild scenes of jubilation outside the national headquarters of the Congress in New Delhi.

V Narayanasamy, Congress party general secretary and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, reacted to the poll outcome, saying that the results in Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh and Haryana have shown that the Congress is “the only party working for the welfare of the people.” The BJP, he added, is not just “down’ but also “almost out” of the national political scene.

According to him, the poll outcome is also a mandate given by the people for the “able leadership” of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as party general secretary and MP Rahul Gandhi.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, BJP spokesman, blamed the electronic voting machines for the party’s debacle, remarking that the electronic voting machines had turned out to be “electronic victory machines” for the Congress.

However, Ravi Shankar Prasad, another spokesman for the BJP, said the party is “conceding the defeat with humility,” adding that the results were unexpected and the party should “honestly ponder over” its weaknesses and should act fast.

In a major upset in Maharashtra, Ramdas Kadam, Shiv Sena’s Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, lost to the NCP candidate.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the ruling Congress party will form a government on its own, after having swept the elections.

The results in Haryana turned out to be rather embarrassing for Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had called the elections seven months ahead of schedule, in the hope of benefiting from the Congress’ win in the May 2009 Lok Sabha elections, when the party had bagged 9 seats out of 10 seats.

Four ministers in Haryana – Transport Minister Mange Ram Gupta, Finance Minister Birender Singh, Cooperation Minister Meena Mandal and Education Minister A C Chaudhary – got defeated, as did Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president Phool Chand Mullana.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda says he is confident of forming government, but Om Prakash Chautala, president of the Indian National Lok Dal, is of the opinion that the State Governor should invite the Opposition parties first and give them a chance to form government.

Photo: Suresh Kalmadi

The local organisers Indian Olympic Association, after being severely criticised for the lousy preparations for the Commonwealth Games, to be held in Delhi on October 3-14, 2010, insisted on the removal of Mike Hooper, from New Zealand, arguing that he is “of no use” in spite of having been in Delhi for the last two years.

A meeting of the executive committee of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) passed a resolution saying that there is no need for a monitoring panel for the Games and also questioned the role of Mike Hooper in preparing for the mega-event.

The Indian Olympic Association recommended that the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee ask the Commonwealth Games Federation to strengthen the Coordination Commission (CoCom) by adding to it technical experts – so that CoCom’s authority is not diluted – instead of setting up yet another body.

Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee and president of the Indian Olympic Association, told the media that “we do not want a multiplicity of agencies.” The existing agencies, including the Co-ordination Commission, are monitoring the preparations for the Delhi Games, he added.

The Commonwealth Games Organising Committee also accused Mike Hooper of “misbehaving” with an official of the committee in July 2009.

Over two months after the alleged incident, the Organising Committee has distributed copies of a letter that Suresh Kalmadi wrote to Michael Fennell, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, complaining that Mike Hooper threw keys at the face of a director in the secretary-general’s office.

The Indian Olympic Association also advised the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee to hire foreign experts, if need be.

Kalmadi said the Indian Olympic Association would welcome hiring foreigners in crucial fields such as technology, project management, overlays, catering as well as in sports like Rugby 7s, Netball and Lawn Bowling since the IOA does not have the required expertise in such events. However, Indian experts are well-equipped to manage events such as badminton and shooting and the country has proved its expertise by hosting the badminton World Championship in 2009, he asserted.

Kalmadi said that Mike Hooper “has been of no use to us” but instead is an “impediment” to the organising committee’s functioning and so he must be replaced with someone “who can be useful to us.”

Hooper reacted to the harsh outbursts against him saying that he was “shocked” and retorted that the local organisers are “turning their backs on the real issues” which the Games face by focusing on “trivial matters.”

He said he was “very disappointed” about the comments that Suresh Kalmadi has made. “I view that my role in Delhi has been independent in the past two years, and launching a personal attack was most unfortunate and totally inappropriate,” Hooper added.

With these new, unhappy developments and the infighting and the delays to boot, the prospect of the Delhi Games is getting darker.

Randhir Singh, secretary-general of the Indian Olympic Association, told reporters that he was surprised at the decision of the Commonwealth Games Federation to set up a separate technical committee. The Commonwealth Games Federation, according to Randhir Singh, should have more faith in the Co-ordination Commission since it is the Co-ordination Commission that checks and seeks reports from the organising committee in the case of big sporting events like Olympic Games and Asian Games.

The response from the Indian Olympic Association came just a few days after Michael Fennell, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, suggested that an independent review committee be set up to oversee the preparations for the Delhi Games on a “monthly basis.”

Fennell had said, after inspecting all the sporting venues as well as the Games village, that he is satisfied with the pace of construction of the different stadiums, adding, however, that he is more concerned about the “operational areas” than the infrastructure.

Officials and members of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) have inspected the venues for the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi in October 2010. They also took a tour of the Games Village.

The visit by delegates from 71 countries comes in the backdrop of widespread criticism that the construction of the facilities are going on at a slow pace.

The general assembly of the Commonwealth Games Federation is being held in New Delhi next week.

The media was denied access to the delegates while they were taken by the local organisers on a tour of the stadiums and the Games Village. There was tight security, and the delegates were always surrounded by the officials and volunteers of the Organising Committee.

However, the local organisers later issued a statement, which included remarks from many of the visitors who praised the facilities and venues they inspected.

A month ago, Michael Fennell, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, had said that he was “extremely worried” about preparations for the Games, adding that there was a “serious risk” that the facilities “would not live up to the organisational standards” of the two previous Commonwealth Games held in Manchester in England and Melbourne in Australia.

Sheila Dikshit, the Chief Minister of Delhi, claimed that the delegates of the Commonwealth Games Federation were “happy” and “impressed” with the facilities being built for the 2010 Delhi Games.

She told reporters that the members of the inspecting team had their doubts cleared with the Organising Committee as also with the Delhi Government.

After the visit, at a presentation arranged by the local organisers, a few of the delegates did make adverse remarks about what they saw. While one delegate commented that New Delhi’s preparedness was “not up to scratch,” another team member, from the British Virgin Islands, said that thought the preparations were progressing at a fast pace, there is a lot more that needs to be done.

When asked by a reporter if everything was going on in the positive direction, Michael Fennell, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, was not very forthcoming. Fennell just said that the day was a busy one and that he did not wish to make any further comments as “we are not two sides. “It is a process,” he added,” and “everyone is trying to make it work for the 2010 Games.”

Fennell said the delegates will make a statement after visiting all the venues and facilities.

It seems that the slow speed of the work was what worried the visiting delegates most, and many of them wanted to know how long it would take for all the sporting venues to be all set.

However, almost all the delegates were happy with the Commonwealth Games Village, and some of them praised that the Village for the Delhi Games would turn out to be one of the best Games Villages in the history of the Commonwealth Games.

The visiting team was also happy with the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the Indira Gandhi Stadium and the Thyagraj Stadium.

The delegates also paid a visit to the National Stadium, the S P Mukherjee Aquatics Pool (this venue is one project that is progressing at a slow pace), and the Talkatora Indoor Stadium.