Assorted Thougthz

The Death of a Dream

2010-06-03T01:30:00.000-07:00

We are living in strange times today. Times where leaders come up piggy bagging on principles of Democracy, Gandhism and Non-violence, and as soon as they reach the podium, these very big words end up becoming advertisement symbols for the parties, their usp to motivate their masses, the tunes for the masses to hum, but something which ends up being discarded away into oblivion in real practice.

It was not long back in 2007 when a party was formed in Darjeeling. A party which, rode high on public sentiment for the creation of a separate state of “Gorkhaland”. The party did not create the name; neither did it create the public sentiment behind its rise to fame. On the contrary, they used the suppressed emotions of the people and pledged to raise the voices of the people in front of the Government. And today here, we have them dictating the people that they should no longer cry for “Gorkhaland” but instead an alien name of “Gorkha Adivasi Pradesh”. Indeed who gave them, the mandate to change the dreams of the millions of its followers? Was it the party that created the emotions or was it the other way round? To answer this we need to delve in some aspects from the past.

It all started with a local boy wanting to try his hand at a national singing competition. Although, talent and hard work should have dictated his fate, it was community aspirations and pride which ultimately took over. People flocked in and did their best to make sure that he was judged the winner, without anyone showing the slightest concern if talent and hard work were the criterion for this mass hysteria. This was only the beginning, this mass hysteria gave way to an organized institution which soon started dictating that people come forward and contribute to the local lad’s victory, and that no one dare say anything against him. Dissent was not tolerated, and anyone who spoke his mind was met with violent repercussions. No one bothered to introspect on this dictum, as no one could deny the inner happiness at a self attained community pride.

This mass hysteria now turned a different angle, community pride for a local boy, now turned into community aspirations for a long denied and suppressed goal of “Gorkhaland”, the statehood call which would be the “be all, end all” solution for all the problems being faced by the Gorkha people of India. So much so that problems and issues were dug up and highlighted to legitimize this cause. People who had been carrying on their lives for over two decades without complaining against the state suddenly rose up to demand “Gorkhaland”, the long cherished dream of the Gorkhas. Reasons were given, circumstances were shown and proven how this Gorkhaland was “economically feasible”, how it was “a hundred year old demand”, how it was absolutely necessary for the identity of over a crore Gorkhas, discounting the fact that over a crore Gorkhas have been living their lives in this country since before independence, and that the language of the Gorkhas was listed in the 8th schedule of our constitution, and all this while Gorkhaland was not even on the sight. This was all okay till, this aspiration turned into an agitation, led by the very same people behind the mass hysteria for community pride. Soon everything was tolerated in the name of the movement. Social orders were dictated, dress codes enforced, moral policing started, social boycotts called. All this in the name of “Gorkhaland”, the greatest dream for all the Gorkhas of India, or so as it was made out to be.
In the name of the movement, which was vowed as being Non-violent, Gandhism, and peaceful, violence was committed, principles of Gandhi was not even looked at seriously, peace was enforced forcefully, ofcourse by non-state actors, And like before, dissent was not tolerated. All this was fine until one day the people suddenly woke up to the news that their long cherished dream had now been bargained away for a more economically and politically viable arrangement which, also promised to end the woes of the people. Then came the ultimate test, as people or a few of the many started raising voices and objections, people started getting silenced all of a sudden All this, and more in the name of Gorkhaland, the Sanctum Sanctorum of all Gorkhas in India.

But the icing in the cake was when finally the leaders suddenly told the people that they should no longer ask for “Gorkhaland”, but a new place called “Gorkha Adivasi Pradesh”. All this in the name of “Gorkhaland” for which Social boycotts, dress codes, hunger strikes, Bandhs, moral policing was tolerated. The Gorkhaland for which sacrifices were made, the Gorkhaland which created the leaders and the very movement is today no more. The leaders who were created for Gorkhaland had now killed Gorkhaland and even held its funeral, and what is surprising is that the people were not even invited in it.

Perhaps, “Gorkhaland” died the day Late Shri Madan Tamang was killed, perhaps the funeral which was attended by thousands of people was not for Late Shri Madan Tamang alone, it was for Gorkhaland as well, why else would you explain a leader who was never taken seriously by his own people have so much attendance now that he had left them, maybe the funeral for Gorkhaland was what had caused so much compassion, so much respect and such a great turn around.

In the end, it must be worth mentioning, it isn’t the leaders that are to be blamed, it is the very people who could not differentiate between a game show and community pride, it is the people who encouraged social boycotts, dress codes, moral policing and who ridiculed and silenced dissenters who are responsible for it. And like every other dream, this dream also had to come to and end the day people woke up. The problem today is, the dream is silently getting over but the people are yet to wake up from their sleep. If they don’t, only they will be responsible for coming decades when they will be forced to sleep, like the two decades they just left behind.

Follow up to my poem "Memories of Broken Promises"

2009-10-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

This is the lyrics of a song, which my friend Aishwarya pointed out to after reading my poem "Memories of Broken Promises". Please read the poem before you go through this song.

The Call - Regina Skeptor

It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder
'Til it was a battle cry

I'll come back
When you call me
No need to say goodbye

Just because every thing's changing
Doesn't mean it's never been this way before
All you can do is try to know
Who your friends are as you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon
And follow the light

You'll come back
When it's over
No need to say goodbye

You'll come back
When it's over
No need to say goodbye

Now, we're back to the beginning
It's just a feeling and no one knows yet
But just because they can't feel it too
Doesn't mean that you have to forget

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger
'Til they're before your eyes

You'll come back
When they call you
No need to say goodbye

You'll come back
When they call you
No need to say goodbye

Memories of Broken Promises

2009-10-05T04:38:00.003-07:00

Life’s farthest from being normal rite now...
Just trying hard enough, not to lose it.
It has become like a see saw,
It keeps bouncing back;
Sometimes the emotions
Sometimes the memories
Sometimes the dreams
Sometimes the anger
Sometimes the hate
Sometimes the love
Just changes color n keeps hitting me back.

It’s a strange feeling now,
Donno if this is love,
Or donno if its hate.
All I had is all gone away now,
Wonder why the shadow still remains.
If this continues for long,
All I will end up is pain,
And yet these feelings refuse to die out,
And keep coming back again.

All I am left with are memories,
But donno if I should cherish them.
For, they were the most beautiful things to ever happen to me,
And yet today it’s the same memories that come and haunt me.
Am I guilty in running away from them,
Will I be forgiven for trying to forget them?

For I was lucky to ever have experienced that joy,
And yet today I feel so unlucky for having lost all I had.
Maybe the circle will come around,
But will it be worth it without my love being around?
What good are those memories if the one they
lead to has gone away now, and I am left all alone;
Salvaging the pieces of a promise; that never saw the light of dawn.

- Anant

A moment of peace

2009-10-05T04:21:00.001-07:00

The most peaceful moment I felt in a long time, was last week,
It was 2:00 am at night, I was driving at night on the highway returning back from Tirupati. With my mission of having to be there and get a darshan accomplished against all odds, I was at peace with myself.

It was Thursday morning when I was doing my regular Puja when the idea struck me of heading for Tirupati, 12 hours and much persuasion later, I was on the road with my office colleagues, Nitesh and Vinod heading for Tirupati. With no prior appointments we knew getting a darshan would be tough if not impossible, but after 8 hours of driving when we finally reached Tirumalai, the hill where one of the most religious temples in South India exist, we were in for a crude awakening.

We were unable to get the tickets for the darshan, as the Special tickets were not available, and the regular tickets were computerized hence tamper proof, which means, all the tickets for the day were already sold off by the time we reached the gates. The only other darshan available was the free darshan, for which we would have to stand for a minimum of 12 hours on the queue.

After 8 hours of continuous night driving without a single minute of sleep, all we could see was a bleak possibility to get a darshan anyway. So we finally checked into a hotel and consoled ourselves that darshan was impossible, but just sitting by the side of the temple, alone in peace would be the next best thing that we could do.

So finally after down scaling our hopes we proceeded to the temple, accepting our fate that darshan would not be possible. We just wanted to cherish the moment, the moment of being in a special place, completely at peace with ourselves. I was just trying to figure out a way, to be at peace in my mind. And just then when we had all accepted our fates, something amazing happened. Suddenly we could see two elephants appearing outside the temple followed by a Golden palanquin on which lay the statue of Lord Balajee, the deity of Tirumalai temple. The god whose darshan we had come to seek. It was like a miracle to us, for here we were standing there accepting that there was no possibility of entering the temple to get a darshan and all of a sudden the lord himself appeared to give his darshan to his followers.

It was a special moment for me as I along with my friends had no idea that the idol would be brought out for the Aarati to take place in the open. No one told us about the event, and we had no clue that such a good long darshan, especially during Aarati would be possible. We had taken a risk by going too near to the temple without a ticket and finally our wishes had been fulfilled. I felt a sense of joy, a sense of happiness, and a sense of fulfillment. I had come for a purpose and against all odds, we lived up to it. Nevermind the fact that we couldn’t make it all the way on our own. We had travelled so far, drove all night without sleep, and the lord himself came out to bless us. It was a wonderful feeling.

So as I drove that night returning back from Tirupati, I was at a deep peace with myself. As I drove on the highway, cruising into the night. My companions lay asleep at night. All I had for my company there was myself. It was a great feeling, with my objective clearly in front of me, my destination clearly defined, there I was heading towards my objective, and I had nothing to distract me. I was all alone with my thoughts and my inner self. I had company and yet I was totally self-involved, enjoying the beauty of the night, the beauty of the speed, and lastly the happiness of making it to my destinations.

Sometimes the greatest happiness we can ever seek lay inside us. All we need is a trigger to unlock that happiness. The trip to Tirupati was one such trigger to give me a shot at happiness and a peace of mind after a really long time.

Assorted Thoughtz

2009-08-18T05:23:00.001-07:00

Cant stop this feeling!
To stop I must understand it.
But how can I stop something
That I can’t understand.

Am I missing something
Or is it the feeling of losing,
That is making me feel this way.
I have no answers for now.

There is nothing new that has happened.
It’s just me and my thoughts.
Sometimes I feel why must my mind
Work so much.
And cause so much pain
When there is no purpose.

I am having a tough day I know,
But the reasons for it elude me.
Maybe it’s the assortment of feelings
That make me feel this way.

Or maybe it’s just who I am
An assortment of mixed feelings.
An opening for vented anger.
And a disaster for myself.

I donno what is in store for me.
Maybe that is what adds to the misery.
The veil behind what’s tomorrow.
The cloud that hides the rain.

I wish this phase gets over me,
So that I can find that cloud behind the rain.
But then again, how can I have sunshine
Without the rain?
Its very hard to convince myself,
When the only one I have to convince
Is myself.

Chronicles of Our Lives

2009-08-10T05:10:00.000-07:00

Life is but such a beautiful experience,
We get everything we really choose.
All we need is that zeal to learn,
And knowledge itself becomes so profuse.

We come to this Earth bare naked and crying,
We observe and learn and start our own life.
Life gives us so much a chance to make a living,
And what we become is the gift of that jive.

We laugh, and we cry,
It’s an experience that teaches us,
Without that laughter, life wouldn’t be beautiful,
And without those tears, that laughter wouldn’t be meaningful

It is ironic how we strive, to keep away from sorrow,
And work tirelessly to bring that happiness we seek,
One thing we fail to realize amidst the entire harrow
That life isn’t just about things that are so meek.

As we travel this oblivious tunnel of life,
One thing we must remember is to never lose hope,
That there surely is light at the end of the tunnel.
All we need is for someone to show us that end,
And walk us through with the ray of light shining in our minds.

The facets of life

2009-07-31T03:50:00.000-07:00

Well after a lot of soul searching, I finally thought of penning some feelings. This is the first time ever in my life that I made an effort to pen down my thoughts this way. Please let me know if I should just stop here, or let me know if I have made a new beginning. This is something that I felt today, and I hope the words make your day! Happy reading!

The facets of life

The facets of life, move like waves in the ocean,

While one colossal wave engulfs you,

A gentler one comes n cheers you.

These change come, and these changes go,

What remain constant, are the lives you sow.

As part of this change, I had but a life,

That was so beautiful, that I begun betraying myself.

I became a person, I didn’t but know,

That I was a man, with a dream of my own.

Suddenly the life, just vanished from there

And I was left with all my dreams, hanging in the air.

I wept and cried in the loss of my life,

Reached out to God; and all my friends in time.

As I laid down before, to recover my life,

I realized what not, I had just left behind.

That I was a different man to begin with,

How could I have changed so much that I didn’t notice it?

Looking back now, I still dream of that life,

But in haste I try to cover it up with a lie.

That I feel everything, will all be alright; and life will go back

To what I had begun with.

The reality again, is far from the truth,

That life once gone, will never be the same again,

What I have today is what I had started with,

But it seems so small now that I don’t know if I can make with it.

It is but no one’s; but my own fault,

Forgetting my dreams and covering up with lies.

For taking a chance I knew I couldn’t take,

For ignoring the dreams I had once made.

As I stand today, with yet another life to begin with,

I wish I will always; remember the one I parted away with.

That I pray her soul, will always be happy,

And never again feel, the void that I am feeling,

That our coming lives may bring us the happiness

And once more the waves will bring us the cheer,

Waiting one day for that big colossal wave

To come back again, and wash us all away.

Anant writes :)

2009-07-21T00:39:00.000-07:00

Couldn't believe I could, but here you go, presenting a song supposedly written by me... Actually I just spoke these words and Prashantee my good fren compiled them, edited them and presented it in a beautiful and presentable manner. All credits goes to her, although most of the words were mine. Still haven't figured out the name though....Here you go....

I write
I sing
I speak
I preach
It's me
Oh It's me
Blabbering about humanity

Meagre-powerless helpless me
Yet thinks I am great
When i sing this song of tragedy

I think this
I think that
I pen this
I paint that
I look around
And wonder
My brains at work
I present you this song
Of poverty

Everyday is the same story
Of wars and crimes
Of evils and the sublime
Of love and romance
And the pangs of changing times
I just write
I just sing
In different hues of pink
It's but the same old song
Of humanity

Yeah you can pack it up in whichever flavour you want
It's still the same
I dont bother about the glass
It gets awfully monotonous
Life
Death
Poverty
Helplessness
Tragedy
Sorrow
Blood
Wound
Lastly
Humanity.

General Election 2009 Result analysis for Darjeeling PC

2009-05-18T05:54:00.000-07:00

For all you folks who want a detail analysis of the election results for Darjeeling Parliamentary Constituency, here it is a detailed, Assembly constituency wise break up of votes for different candidates for the parliamentary seat.

		Elections	2009

	Jaswant Singh	M	BJP	497649	52.21%
	Jibesh Sarkar	M	CPI(M)	244360	25.64%
	Dawa Narbula	M	INC	187809	19.71%
	Haridas Thakur	M	BSP	5083
	Abhijit Majumdar	M	CPI(ML)	3818
	Niranjan Saha	M	AMB	3717
	Baidyanath Roy	M	IPF	2686
	Arun Kr Agarwal	M	IND	3177
	Nitu Jai		IND	4786


	Electors	1204581
	Voters	953085
	Valid Votes	953085
	Poll Percentage	79.12%


	Kalimpong	Darjeeling	Kurseong	Siliguri	Matigara-Naxalbari	Phansidewa	Chopra	Postal Ballot

Jaswant Singh (BJP)	116244	153989	141506	24188	31736	19831	9441	714
Jibesh Sarkar (CPI(M))	2567	3261	5593	66187	64776	51667	49715	594
Dawa Narbula (INC)	5915	3716	3501	37721	34251	37177	65274	254
Haridas Thakur (BSP)	307	188	255	693	893	1206	1540	1
Abhijit Majumdar (CPI(ML)	201	146	193	797	698	1160	621	2
Niranjan Saha (AMB)	213	164	194	1259	723	617	543	4
Baidyanath Roy IPF	203	163	215	354	477	578	696	0
Arun Kr Agarwal	263	242	298	404	654	709	606	1
Nitu Jai	388	306	423	706	1230	1064	669


No of Voters:	126301	162175	152178	132309	135438	114009	129105	1570
Total No of Voters	159334	212006	186250	169905	172236	150496	154354
BJP	92.04%	94.95%	92.99%	18.28%	23.43%	17.39%	7.31%	45.48%
CPM	2.03%	2.01%	3.68%	50.02%	47.83%	45.32%	38.51%	37.83%
INC	4.68%	2.29%	2.30%	28.51%	25.29%	32.61%	50.56%	16.18%
Total Votes %	79%	76%	82%	78%	79%	76%	84%

Gorkhas win Hands down in Darjeeling!

2009-05-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

Our people have shown the way and triumphed! Look at the election results for Darjeeling Parliamentary Constituency. The total number of votes for Jaswant Singh is more than the combined total votes of the opposition in Darjeeling, leaving skeptics way behind. Surely this is a great triumph for Gorkhas in Darjeeling, and a much needed mandate for the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in Darjeeling. This will surely send the left totally in the back foot as far as total Darjeeling district is concerned.

Darjeeling, West Bengal: Election Results
Candidate Party Votes Total Votes

Jaswant Singh BJP 497649 961583
Jibesh Sarkar CPM 244356 961583
Dawa Narbula INC 187809 961583
Haridas Thakur BSP 5083 961583
Abhijit Majumdar CPI(ML) 3818 961583
Niranjan Saha AMB 3717 961583
Baidyanath Roy IPFB 2686 961583
Arun Kumar Agarwal IND 3229 961583
Nitu Jai IND 0 961583
Ram Ganesh Baraik IND 13236 961583

Nepal and its Crisis - A view

2009-05-14T00:56:00.000-07:00

Last week saw political temperatures rise in one of the capitals of our immediate neighborhood. The headlines were ripe with first, the sacking of the Army Chief of Nepal by the Cabinet, and then the subsequent re-instatement; and yet again the resignation of the popular Prime Minister of the country. The spate of events led to uncertainty about the future of democracy in the country, and also jeopardized the already fragile democratic institution in that country. While factions and parties have their claims and counter claims about the legitimacy of the respective stands taken, I would like to point out some of my observations which I see as the ones, most pertinent to solving the issue at hand.

The sequence of events which led to sacking of the General
Here, the Prime Minister was of the view that the General had undermined civilian supremacy by refusing to toe the verdict of a democratically elected government. The reasons for taking the line were,

a) Refusal of the General to accept the Government’s verdict on sacking eight Brigadiers of the Nepal Army.

b) The General authorized the filling up of upto 3000 vacancies of the Nepal Army in violation to the ceasefire agreement reached with the Maoist forces.

c) Refusal of the Nepal Army to participate in Annual Games which were manipulated midway to enable the participation of Maoist Cadres.

d) And most importantly, the staunch refusal of the General to integrate his Army with the Maoists which he claimed as a politically indoctrinated force, which would have jeopardized an independent and impartial functioning of the Army.

Let us now analyze each issue case by case.

a) The key to having an impartial and independent dept in any branch of the Government is to providing it with a degree of autonomy. The dept should have an independent functioning where the Head of the Dept directly reports to the elected head of the Government. The political leadership in turn should desist from interfering in the day to day functioning of the Dept, thus to enable that the right people who are incharge of the day to day affairs of that Dept are as much responsible as accountable to working of the Dept. This is more so important in case of powerful forces such as the military which because of their trained and motivated human resource can easily be manipulated to serve vested interests should they be used to. Hence, in modern democracies, the political representatives desist from interfering in the functioning as well as the inner leadership of the Military, and instead rely on the Army General as a single point of contact with the force. All decisions pertaining to the functioning of the Army as well as planning and budgeting are done by the Army Generals themselves with the political appointee directly working with the Army Chief.
In case of Nepal Army, the political leadership clearly violated this protocol and went into sacking of the eight Brigadiers without the concurrence of the Army Chief who was responsible for his men. In essence, the political leadership breached the democratically laid out norm and interfered in the working of the Armed Forces which as yet was an independent institution of the Government.

b) The General had authorized the recruitment of the Army in violation of the peace deal signed by the political parties and the Maoists and hence, the Government had a legitimate authority to seek explanation from the Army Chief and thus reprimand him for the violation.

c) The refusal of the Nepal Army to participate in the Annual Games was justified as the Maoists Government had manipulated the laid down norms and included Maoist cadres to participate in the national event at a later stage. This amounted to open manipulation of the state machinery, and hence would have been unacceptable to any participant of the said games, let alone the Army.

d) The most brazen violation of the authority of the Government came in the way of refusal of the Army Chief to integrate what he called politically indoctrinated volunteer force, into a clean and impartial national Army. While analyzing the situations here, the Army Chief cannot be totally blamed for the impasse. He is correct in taking a stand to oppose the dilution of his independent, motivated force which is solely meant for the purpose of protecting the territorial integrity of Nepal with a political indoctrinated force whose sole purpose is to convert the Country from a Democratic country, into a communist indoctrinated people’s republic. It is imperative for him to maintain his force’s morale and discipline, and integrating his highly trained and professional force with a non-professional Insurgent Army would not only adversely affect the morale and professionalism of the army but also lead to politicizing the Army so much so, that it turns into a private army run by a political party. This would not only have an affect on the Army, but the nation itself. As mentioned elsewhere, the Army is one of the most powerful tool of the state, and if used adversely to further one party’s political objectives, it can very well turn a country from a democratic free republic into an authoritarian dictatorship, much to the wishes of the party that controls it. Therefore it is imperative for a National Army to remain outside the control or interference of any political party.
Moreover, integrating a volunteer force also requires its rank and file to be integrated into the Army, and one such proposal of inducting ex-maoist commander as a Major General into Nepal Army would be something no self-respecting Army officer would ever accept. How could a commissioned officer sworn to protect his country against all enemy foreign or domestic, and who has served his force for over 25 years suddenly take orders from a untrained, unprofessional personality who had till recently been living in the jungles as a terrorist, and who had little over 10 years of any combat experience as an insurgent. This would not only be undermining the professional integrity of the force but also ridiculing the dedication, the sacrifice and the service he and others like him have made for the institution of the Army and his motherland. This is something no self-respecting individual let alone an Army man would ever accept. In contrast for whatever may be claimed, the Maoist fighters are still, a force of insurgents who owe their allegiance to a Maoist ideology of grabbing state power, and who till the other day were terrorizing people to accept their dichotomy.

However, having said that, it is as much the fault of other political parties who entered into an agreement with the Maoist parties without ever consulting or taking consent of the Military brass. The Maoists signed an agreement with the then political parties, who were or seemed to be in power. They signed a treaty and it was a duty of the signatories to honor it. The institution of the Army was never consulted while signing the agreement and hence is not obliged to accept it. Yet, the issue could have been amicably solved by dialogue and by accommodating the Ex-Maoist fighters into some other para-military force who would be subservient to the Government and yet would not interfere with the institution of the Army.

Having seen all the points of contention it is obvious to assume that all sides had committed some errors and excesses in their own functioning. While the Army has remained fiercely stubborn in remaining independent and opposing all forms of interference into its working, the Maoist party which like any other party or more has tried to influence the Army, as well as the whole state to further its influence in power. While the extent of all parties to remain democratic can be questioned according to the merits and demerits of each case, what is clear is none of them, least of all the Government has been democratic in its style of functioning. In such case, the call of the Prime Minister that the Army had undermined civilian supremacy by refusing to follow orders of the Cabinet seems far fetched. The PM should take note that democracy doesn’t just mean winning ballots. It means, giving voice to all parties to raise valid grievances. In this case, the Army Chief was right in protecting his turf and force from unnecessary political influence which the party in power exercised. Also, the PM and his party refused to accept other political party’s opinion of not sacking the Military chief and took it as a purpose to take on the Military head on. This amounted to more of ascertaining one’s power and supremacy over the other rather than a functioning of a true democrat. Maybe a party which has only very recently adhered to democracy and who till recently believed in power flowing from the barrel of the gun cannot understand it, but democracy cannot just come by ascertaining civilian supremacy but by encouraging free speech, accepting consensual views, free and frank expression of opinion on public policies by functionaries occupying all echelons of the Government and most of all by accepting dissent as a way to functioning of a democracy.

If at all the Prime Minister is so determined in ascertaining civilian supremacy over the Army, it is time he and his party start behaving and thinking like a civilian and stay away from the extremist mindset he and his elks had for over a decade of insurgency that they led.

Hillarious Taliban Maths Question paper!

2009-05-13T02:11:00.000-07:00

TALIBAN MATHS QUESTION PAPER.

Instructions:

------------ -----
i) Students found copying will be hanged or flogged on the spot in accordance with shariat law

ii)AK-47's and Grenades are not allowed in the exam hall. Students may keep their daggers, Revolvers and pack of anthrax bombs only for self defense.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ----
Math Exam Time 3 hours Full Marks 100 - Pass Marks 10
All questions are compulsory.

1. Abdul was sent to jail for murder for honour killing .He has 7 wives in his house.
Abdul distributed money to his wives in such a proportion that the youngest and most recent wife receives maximum and oldest wife gets minimum, and each wife gets double of her former competitor. Abdul has 1700 Rupaye left in his house. Abdul's oldest wife needs atleast 25 rupaye per month. Find out the time when Abdul will have to become a jihadi so that his wives do not starve.

2. Karim is a highly respected Drug seller. Prices per gram of Marijuana, hasish, heroin and LSD s are 50, 60,70,80 Rupaye respectively. Karim offers a discount of Rupaye 20 for his buyers who buys more than 50 grams of drug. If Rahim , a buyer gets Rupaye 37 discount , find out the grams of LHD he bought.

3. Sarfraz tampers the ball thrice per over. He deforms the ball .02% of its original shape each time . Find the percentage deformation the ball due to tampering in a FAKE IPL series in which Sarfraz bowled 3.3 overs.

4. Rauf has a Company named Mullah Omar Kidnapping & Extortion Private Limited. He has to threaten 10 people per day over Telephone. 40% of the people he threatens are cinema stars in Mumbai, 30% are Businessman in Delhi, 20% are Cricket Players in Madras and 10% are shopkeepres in Calcutta . If ISD charges are rupaye 15, 25, 40, 50 per minute from Rauf's city Karachi to Bombay, Delhi,Calcutta and Madras respectively and he gets a Telephone bill of 10,230 Rupaya in a month Find out The No of Cinema stars in Mumbai ,threatened in that particular month.

5. Dawood group has to provide one Ak 47.one AK 74,one Rocket Launcher, 50 Grenades and one pack of RDX to its Ron roots for training.One AK 47 costs 100$; One Ak 74 costs 150 $,an RPG-7 rocket Launcher costs 250 $ , grenade is 3 $ each, a pack of Rdx Bomb attached with remote Control is 500 $.
The D-Company admits 2000 new people every year out of which 10 % are sent to Bollywood and another 20 % trained as camel jockeys. Find the amt of Foreign Aid Obama Govt has to provide each year as a subsidy to run such a group.

6. If stabilty of democratic Govt. in pakistan is given by the following equation X exp3 +X exp2 -16 = i, where the notations have their usual meaning; Find out x.

7. Probability of a Pakistani prime minister to be shot is 78 %.
Probability of a Military general to be shot is 80% .
Find the joint probability of a Prime minister to be shot who is also a Military general.

8) Find out geometrically the area of Paktunistaan using PI Theorem with Osama BIn Ladens Correction (That is taking the value of PI = 786 instead of 3.14....), if Paktunistaan is taken as a heptagon.

9) A 'GHAURI' missile tries to fly from Drass to Kargil which is not too far from Drass (say 100 miles) and is exactly to the East of Kargil . The wind is blowing from the South and the speed of the wind is exactly equal to the speed of the airplane. (The speed of the airplane is measured with respect to the air!) The pilot decides to steer straight to Kargil all the time during the flight.
Will the airplane ever reach Kargil ? What if the speed of the wind is k times the speed of the airplane, where k is a positive number (can be greater or less than 1)? Try to sketch the trajectory of the airplane (with respect to the ground, of course) in each of the three cases:
k=1, k1 and k<1.

10) Briefly discuss the Unsolved problem of "Bisection of a Triangle" with a Compass and an unmarked ruler if the triangle is named as KASHMIR.

Students wishing to detonate themselves and the invigilators with their backpacks are forbidden to do so within classroom premises.

Note: This joke should be taken in the right spirit, it is not meant to offend anyone.

Pakistani offensive in Swat and the Indian Army Operations in Kashmir

2009-05-12T05:23:00.000-07:00

The air waves in India have recently been ripe with the hot battle being fought between major political players in India for the elections to the Parliament. But amid the High Poll drama taking place, what is being missed is the action unfurling in our immediate neighborhood. For the past two weeks now, Pakistan Army has begun a major offensive to clear some of its Districts in the NWFP from the dreaded Taliban fighters. The Army has thus moved in and with Artillery guns, helicopter gunships and combat jets to win back the area from the influence of the Taliban and to reinforce the writ of the State of Pakistan on those remote corners of that country.

Surprisingly, for whatever good reasons the Army might have started the operations, the likely outcomes seem different. For starters, whatever the Pakistan Army might claim, sources mention that it is the Taliban and not the Pak Army which is on the major offensive. The Pakistan Army while from the very beginning has been concentrating on the use of Artillery, combat jets and Helicopter Gunships for the operation, what is surprising is the blatant disproportionate use of force by the Pak Army. For starters it is a known fact that the heaviest weapon the Taliban uses are 12.7 mm guns and few mortars, from whatever is known, the Taliban is an insurgent force, and any professional army would know that it is not Artillery Guns and Combat jets that win a Counter- insurgency operation, it is the boots on the ground. From information published in news sources such as www.orbat.com, the Pakistan Army has just over 15,000 troops stationed in and around Swat to fight some 5000 plus Taliban fighters. Compare that to a figure of over 250,000 that the Indian Army maintains in order to fight insurgency in Kashmir.

The absence of large number of ground troops to fight insurgency in SWAT and the reluctance of its soldiers to fight the so called “Soldiers of Gods” has compelled the Pakistan Army to rely mostly on Artillery and Air power to fight the Taliban. This has led to a situation where the real people being affected by the offensive are not the Taliban fighters, but the innocent civilians living in that part of the world. Human Rights groups have already spoken that over half a million refugees have already been displaced by the offensive and another half a million are on their way. What is more grave is that the Pakistan Army has been practicing shoot on sight order against any vehicle that approaches its check points which means civilians have to get out and walk the whole way while constantly dodging Artillery shells and bombs.

What implications does this have on India? Well what needs to be learnt from this whole episode is for the people of Pakistan, Kashmir and rest of India to know what Counter Insurgency really is. For over two decades of CI operations that the Indian Army fought in Kashmir, our Pakistani friends, the Western world and our Secular and liberal media went all out ballistic about the crimes being committed by the Indian Army on the innocent civilians. More than a hundred thousand Kashmiri Pundits were displaced by the insurgents, and yet the Indian Army dealt with the situation with such humility that no mass exodus of innocent civilians was ever reported from Kashmir among the Muslim population. Through out its history of CI operation in Kashmir the Indian Security Forces lost thousands of its troops, but never used Artillery or Air power against Militants which would have in anyway jeopardized the safety of the innocent civilians. And yet the Pakistani establishment cried hoarse about India’s human rights abuses and atrocities against Muslims in Kashmir. And yet today we see the same Pakistani establishment using Artillery and Air power indiscriminately with little regard for civilian safety against its fellow Muslims in Swat. Isn’t the Pakistani establishment responsible for the mass exodus of a million refugees from their homes in their own land? Isn’t the Pakistani establishment responsible for the death of innocent civilians as a result of the disproportionate use of force against its own people? And doesn’t this amount to Human Rights violation and atrocities against their own people and most importantly their fellow Muslims.

These are the questions we Indians today need to pose to the Pakistani leadership. The Pakistani leadership didn’t waste anytime in accusing Indian Security Forces of Atrocities through out the 20 plus years of Counter insurgency in the valley when the Indian Army never use such heavy weapons to kill some insurgents there, while the Pakistan Army is using Artillery, helicopter gunships and combat jets with little regard for civilian safety in its own fight against the insurgents. This is something the Indian Army should be proud of. It has fought and subdued insurgency for over two decades with utmost care for its people and their lives by jeopardizing their own safety and concerns; such is the valor and chivalry of our Armed Forces.

This is indeed a question to our Kashmiri friends, who cry out for Azadi and Pakistan every time they get a chance. Is this what the people of Kashmir crave for? Has Indian Army ever treated the Kashmiris like what the Pakistan Army has treated its own country men in Swat and surrounding districts? Has there ever been a mass exodus of refugees from the Kashmir valley to other region as a result of indiscriminate attack by the Indian Army? Our fellow country men in Kashmir should remember this while pointing out the excesses of the Indian Army in Kashmir. While it is no doubt that the Indian Security forces have committed many excesses in Kashmir over nearly 2 decades of CI operation, it doesn’t even come close to what the Pakistan Army is currently doing in and around SWAT in just over 2 weeks of operation against the Taliban. It would be well to remind our Kashmiri friends the lies and deceit the Pakistani establishment had in store for them. Most importantly it should be an eye opener for the Kashmiris about the humility with which the Indian Army treated the Kashmiri people compared to ruthless atrocities being committed by the Pakistan Army against their own.

GJMM the new ally of NDA

2009-04-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

The inclusion of the grievances of the Gorkha people of Darjeeling in the BJP manifesto in some form or another was highly anticipated by the population of the Hills of Darjeeling. What surprised some of the major political analyst was the announcement of GJMM as the new ally of NDA by the BJP central leadership. By becoming the new ally of the National Democratic Alliance, NDA for short, the GJMM has created major ripples in Darjeeling and West Bengal as a whole. This definitely shows a new beginning in the political chapter for people of Darjeeling Hills.

The major change that has now occurred in Darjeeling is that the politics of Darjeeling has now finally moved beyond Siliguri and Kolkata to the places where it matters the most. For starters let me give a brief background of the political hierarchy prevalent in Darjeeling as is any where else in the country. Every major political party in India including the Congress, CPI (M), BJP etc have what is known as Central level committees which take major decisions at the national level; subordinate to this is the State level committees, followed by District level committees. District level committees are then made up of various local bodies of the respective parties based on the region, the popularity of the party in the region and its party functionaries. Suffice to say that the District level committee forms the last most significant chain in the decision making hierarchy for any political party in the country. In case of Darjeeling also there is a district level Committee, but here, there is a sharp division in the representation of its leaders from the region. The Darjeeling district is made up of four Sub-division, three of them from the Hills made up of mainly Nepali Speaking population and one, Siliguri made up of mainly Bengali speaking population. The problem lies in the fact that this one sub-division makes up nearly 51% of the population of the region. Hence, all political parties have their respective party office in Siliguri and are mainly made up of Bengali speaking leaders. The matter is made worse by the fact that the pre-dominantly Hill people favor a separate state for the Nepali-speaking population creating a sharp political division between the people of the plains and the Hills.

This has led to the Bengali speaking leaders from the plains dominating all the voice in the political parties of the region. This leads to loss of voice for the remaining 49% population of the Hill people, strangulating their reach in both the state as well as the national level politics. The only way to enable the voice of the Hill people to be heard is to ensure the Hill people vote in unison thus enabling the single undivided vote of the Hills to change the fate of the candidates in the plains. Even though this is effective in promoting a Hill based candidate among the major parties, even his political voice, is rarely heard lest he antagonizes the State party bosses. This is the main reason why political campaigners from the state only head for the Hills at the time of the election to woo the Hill voters to vote for them to swing their fate. Every other time the political rights of the Hill people is over shadowed and pushed behind by these political figures in the plains, so much so that the concerns and demands of the Hill people rarely made it outside the District party office of Darjeeling located in Siliguri, one that made out farther, got lost after approaching Kolkata. In the past the issue came to head when the Congress members from the Hills created a separate Hill congress without the approval of the PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee for the state) because of the apathy and high-handedness of their comrades in the plains who always had an “I know best” attitude towards their Hill comrades. The situation was no better for other parties whether BJP, CPI(M), or Trinamool Congress.

Thus the recent inclusion of the GJMM as an ally of the NDA; has changed all this for good. The BJP which much like other party, had always toed the posture of its State level committee vis-à-vis all decisions pertaining to the Hills of Darjeeling. All decisions to be taken were made in approval of the State committee which rarely cared for the concerns or demands of the Hill people lest it antagonize the majority plains people of Bengal. No other Hill party could ever make its voices heard beyond Siliguri. But with the inclusion of GJMM as an ally of NDA, the people of the Hills finally have a direct ear among the political circles of India. The decision now bypassed the State committees of West Bengal without rupturing the decision making hierarchies of the state BJP. This means that whatever decision the future NDA takes on Darjeeling will be dictated by GJMM and not the state unit of the BJP. The point of contact of the NDA for decisions related to not only Darjeeling but even the whole Gorkha population of India can now be GJMM. This again fills the crucial vacuum that existed relating to the political voice of the Gorkhas as a community across India. Although the population of Gorkhas in India is in excess of 1.25 Crores, the political power of the community vis-à-vis its strength is highly disproportionate. This has led to inadequate redressal of the various grievances faced by the Gorkha community across India. The main reason for this was the sharp geographical divisions among the Gorkha populated regions of India as well as the sparse population of the Gorkhas in a single contiguous location anywhere other than Darjeeling or Sikkim. While on the one hand the Gorkha people of Sikkim do have a separate political voice in the national level, their cousins in Darjeeling and elsewhere were not quite fortunate.

Now, with the announcement of GJMM as an ally of the NDA, the Hill population of Darjeeling has broken the long held political shackles around it. The voices of the people here can now be freely heard, without being misrepresented or misinterpreted by the bosses in Kolkata. Now if an all party meeting is called elsewhere outside Darjeeling, the political big wigs there will no longer be able to pass a unanimous decision opposing “Gorkhaland” without consenting with GJMM or its ally the NDA. Elsewhere in the country, the grievances of the Gorkha population can be now channeled through the GJMM to be taken seriously, and their issues resolved amicably. While, we must not be made to believe that by fielding Jaswant Singh as the LS candidate of Darjeeling or by including GJMM as the ally of NDA, Gorkhaland will come naturally, it is also true that the hurdles we have faced in the past owing to our micro population in a state already at the brink of exploding due to over population, will indeed be lesser than before. The NDA might not even form a government yet its power and influence will be enough to avoid any false misinterpretation of the concerns of the Hill people of Darjeeling, the same way that the Sixth-Schedule Bill had been pushed down the throat of the Hill people. The people of Darjeeling Hills as also the Gorkha population of India now finally have a voice of its leaders being heard directly at the center, a position they had naturally deserved all along but one they never had. Thus, with one single master stroke, the GJMM has declared it to the State as well as the center that even though Gorkhaland may be a distant dream, the Gorkhas have finally arrived!

Gorkhaland, elections and priorities

2009-03-27T23:51:00.000-07:00

The political atmosphere in the hills along with the rest of the country has been warming up for quite sometime now. The principal political party in the hills has been shuffling from pillar to pillar trying to garner enough support for the Gorkhaland demand, and include the same in the respective parties manifesto. This might have come up with some success. Even though the appearance of “Gorkhaland” demand in the manifesto of the major national parties seem quite distant, the fact that most of them stood up, and tried to understand the issue is an achievement in itself. Contrast this with the time when we wanted the Sixth-schedule bill to be stalled, when top leaders of the country were hardly aware of the realities and intricacies of the “Gorkhaland” demand. Although the real benefit of such an exercise may not seem to come outright, even a small step in making major stakeholders of the country aware is, of utmost importance lest it is needed when the time comes for them to actually make a choice.

Having said that, to expect that the age old issues of separate state, development and identity will be solved in just one General Election, is only but wishful thinking. This is a long process and to address all of the issues will take time, patience and proper political maneuvering. While some of our issues maybe addressed to in the short term, for all of it to be solved we will require a proper long term vision. The key is to lay our eyes on our long term goal without losing focus of our short term priorities. If any one of it is sacrificed for the sake of another, we may just end up losing all we had to begin with.

For starters we need to get our priorities right. The pressing issues plaguing Darjeeling hills today is more of Socio-economic in nature. Along with this is the issue of identity for the millions of its residence within the state and nation, and the political power these residents possess in the corridors of power to make a difference. These cannot be solved overnight, and thus two prolonged approach should be taken to address them.

1. The issue of Political power to safeguard the political rights of our people as a community.
2. The issue of Separate state to address the long term solution to the woes of its people.

While these are still two distinct issues, they are not exclusive of one another. Conversely assuming that both the issues are the same is also grossly overlooking what we have at hand. It is true that Political power can up to some extent ensure a separate state, also a separate state will ensure political power, but what is different is while we have control over the former, the later is totally dependent on outside forces beyond our control. What we have at hand today is the political power to make a difference (provided we play our cards right), to have our voices heard, and to make a small but token difference in the corridors of power. What we do not have is a power to create a separate state. We need to understand that while we have a right to demand a separate state based on our grievances and our needs, what is more important is for the people in power to understand and be willing to accept that the demand is in the country’s national interest. Now, what would be in the country’s national interest would differ based on various geo-political realties prevailing in the country. How it would affect the region in which the demand is being made, and how it would affect the demand for other such movements across the country. Only after we have a consensus on the legitimacy of the demand, can it be met. As of now, we do not have the power to influence that consensus.

What we do have is the right entitled to every citizen of a democracy, the power to choose a leader who can best meet the solutions to the various problems being faced by the people. For this very reason we need to separate the two issues at hand. For now, what we need to do is to retain the political power we have. This might not lead to any significant achievement on the separate state issue; however we will still be retaining a power to be heard, a political voice for the Gorkha citizens of Darjeeling and West Bengal. Conversely, we will also be keeping the political opponents of the Gorkhaland movement at bay so that those forces opposing us do not crush our voices in the corridors of power. With this move, while we will be able to achieve immediate results on some of the economic and political fronts, the larger issue of a separate state can thus be achieved later in due time with the proper political maneuvering.

What needs to be understood is the importance of what the exercise of getting the demand included in the manifesto of the major national parties has given us. Even if the demand is not included in any manifesto, the consideration shown by political parties itself brings the demand into mainstream glare. The fact that GJMM was so interested in siding with the BJP itself has caused the Congress to at least take a second look at the demands of GJMM. In politics this it self adds a lot of weight. Ultimately a separate state may not be a reality without significant amount of public pressure from the Hills. No one will hand it over in a platter; it demands perseverance and action from the people, the people in power need to understand the gravity of the situation and act, but even a small political compulsion will significantly reduce the time and energy needed to achieve it!

Life of a young and brave soldier

2009-03-25T23:50:00.000-07:00

Soldier in grave, on 20th birthday
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Extracted from the Telegraph Kolkata dated 25-03-09

Dhab (Ganderbal), March 25: Shabir Ahmad Malik was laid to rest on a day he would have turned 20 in a Tricolour-wrapped coffin borne by fellow soldiers, his village turning out in strength to salute its son.

“Shabir would have been 20 today but, look, he is no more,” wept elder brother Ghulam Mohammad Malik.

“He was born to die this way. He studied in Sainik School Manasbal up to Class XII and then joined the army, where he was trained as a commando. We are pained at his death but he has also made us proud.”

The words could have been K. Unnikrishnan’s — the proud father of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, the commando felled by terrorists from across the border during the Mumbai attack in November last year.

Shabir, like Sandeep who was 11 years older, died fighting militants. The commando from 1-Para regiment was killed on Monday during the encounter in the Kupwara forests that lasted five days.

By the time the shootout that kept hundreds of security forces on their toes ended yesterday, eight soldiers had died. Seventeen militants were also gunned down. The operation was declared over by the army yesterday but “the combing and search operation” is still on.

At Shabir’s home in Ganderbal, where his family would have celebrated his 20th birthday, villagers were gathered in mourning. Women beat their chests and showered confetti and flower petals on his coffin, and men accompanied it to the graveyard chanting slogans. All roads in Ganderbal appeared to lead to the village.

On the way to the graveyard, the coffin was placed in the compound of a one-storey house for people to catch a last glimpse of the soldier who had united the Indian Army and the Kashmiri villagers in grief.

“This is only the second time I have seen so many people joining the funeral of an Indian soldier and the reason could be primarily that he was a local boy,” a police officer said.

“The last time so many people had turned up was during the funeral of Muzaffar Ahmad, a Shangus resident who was also a soldier and died fighting militants.”

But unlike then, pro-India slogans rent the air yesterday as the army gave Shabir a gun salute.

“It could be because the village is Shia-dominated,” the officer said.

Kashmir villages usually reserve a hero’s send-off for militants killed by security forces, not Indian soldiers.

Defence spokesperson Lt Col J.S. Brar said: “The militant group most likely consisted of an infiltrating column as well as the terrorists who had gone to receive them. The operation was based on sound intelligence inputs as well as human intelligence provided by own sources.”

A large cache of arms and ammunition was recovered. Seventeen assault rifles, four under barrel grenade launchers (UBGL), 13 AK magazines, 207 AK ammunition, 19 UBGL grenades, two grenades, two GPS sets, one Thuraya radio set, one Kenwood radio set, three map sheets, three matrix sheets, two haversacks and Rs 9,200 in Indian currency were recovered in the operations.

Article on the recent fire fight in Kashmir

2009-03-25T23:47:00.000-07:00

LoC breach: Alerted, Army laid a trap for Lashkar men before 5-day firefight began
Posted online: Mar 26, 2009 at 0214 hrs in the Indian Express
MUZAMIL JALEEL & MIR EHSAN

SRINAGAR : At the end of the five-day Kupwara encounter that killed eight Army personnel and 17 Lashkar operatives, all evidence points to “extremely sophisticated planning and logistics” behind the biggest infiltration attempt across the Line of Control this year, security officers involved in the operation said.

Army chief General Deepak Kapoor said the high casualties of Indian Special Forces — all eight from the crack 1 Para — indicated a “high level of military training.” As did the nature of the infiltration attempt — through treacherous terrain and the recovery of highly detailed maps of the forests, along with GPS devices, radios, satellite phones, snowboots and ice axes.

At 10,273 feet, a narrow, winding road over the Sadhna Pass — its surface covered by frozen ice — is the only entrance into the stunning valleys of Karnah in the Kashmir Valley. To its left, in the vast isolated swathe, walled by the snow-capped peaks of the Shamsabari range, is the heavily guarded Line of Control. It was here on March 19, that 25 militants sneaked in — watched by both the Army and the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Sources have confirmed to The Indian Express that militants who crossed over were well on their way to hideouts in Rajwar where Lashkar’s commander Abu Saad was waiting. Saad, it’s learnt, had sent three of his experienced militants to “receive” this new group. But this time, the Army knew and it had Lashkar’s key OGWs (Over Ground Workers) under watch.

Sources said intelligence from across the LoC had alerted security agencies a week in advance. Moreover, early this month, two smaller groups of militants had already crossed over into the Rajwar area and a third group of 10 had sneaked into the valley through Gulmarg. “So we were expecting them. We knew they were coming but our information was about a group of 10 militants,” a source told The Indian Express.

Army officials say the infiltration was launched most probably from somewhere in the Lepa valley. After they crossed over, the militants trekked the Shamsabari’s high ridges that divides the Keran sector from the Kashmir bowl.

In parallel, the Army began moving to lay an ambush. The plan was to avoid engaging the militants near the LoC and thus prevent them from retreating. “They were allowed to sneak in under constant watch,” a source said. The infiltrators were first spotted at Ragni post where one militant was killed. The first major contact with the militants took place at around 3 am on March 20 at Drangyari. “Three were killed there,” said Army spokesman Col J S Brar, “one of them escaped and was killed at Chamb”.

By then, the group had scattered under night’s cover and the Army had expanded its operation across the Shamsabari range, pushing reinforcements into the dense Hafruda forests — one of the thickest stretched across Kupwara and Handwara districts. The Army’s Trehgam Brigade, two battalions of the Rashtriya Rifles and para commandos were deployed. Sources said the Lashkar “reception party” had already joined the infiltrators but somehow the guide possibly lost his way.

The next afternoon, on March 21, Major Mohit Sharma along with a party of para commandos, decided to go deep inside the Hafruda forests. A group of militants, however, had been hiding over the ridge — which gave them an immediate advantage. Major Sharma and three of his men were killed in the firefight.

By Monday, the Army had sent out dozens of parties inside Hafruda, expanding the operation to almost an area of 20 sq km. Fierce gunbattles raged across the area. Close-quarter encounters took place at two places — one inside the Hafruda forests and another in Drangyari. Five militants were killed while four Army men, Havaldar Rakesh Kumar, Nayak Sanjay Anna and Para troopers Manoj Kumar and Shabir Ahmad, were killed. All were officers and men from the Para unit — equipped with AK 47 and Israeli Tavor rifles, new generation night-sights and tracking equipment.

On Tuesday, the troops were again in control and the cordon had been tightened around the militants holed up in Hafruda. Seven militants were killed that day.

Army officials said they found this group of infiltrators “exceptionally trained” and “well-kitted” wearing multilayered warm clothing, jackets, snowshoes and even armed with ice axes. The militants also had modern communication gadgets and were using GPS, compasses, one Thuraya set and Army maps. “They had 10 radio sets as well. We also recovered 23 AK rifles,” said Col Brar. “They had boots and axes, the kind we use in Siachen. The boots were made in Iran.”

The militants, who communicated in codes, also had elaborate maps of Kupwara and Handwara especially of the dense forest ranges. The seriousness of the plan was evident in the specially tailored T-shirts for this group. The T-shirts had “Jihad is my life, Shahadat (martyrdom) is my real life” printed on them. There were T-shirts which “Commando” inscribed as well.

The Army estimates that the level of infiltration will go up in coming months as the snow starts melting in the passes. “Over 300 militants are waiting to infiltrate from 40-50 terror camps across the LoC,” the Army Chief said. Army officers said that with less than 400 active militants estimated in the valley, handlers across the border are getting desperate to send in more foot soldiers.

(with Manu Pubby, New Delhi)

Why I feel that Gorkhaland is not possible in the near future. – Part 2”

2009-03-25T10:09:00.001-07:00

In continuation as a sequel to my earlier article titled “Why I feel that Gorkhaland is not possible in the near future. – Part 1”

As I have already mentioned, the prospects of the centre taking the demand for separate state of Gorkhaland to its logical conclusion, seems rather bleak for now. One can understand the compulsion that the center is in considering the fact that there are more than a dozen such demands currently being raised in India for various reasons. What we need to do now is to focus on a long term strategy to build a gradual case for the creation of a separate state. Considering the size of the envisaged new state, it would be logical that even if new states are indeed formed in India, the inclusion of Gorkhaland in the group of new states may not be fruitful.

For Gorkhaland to be eventually realized there are two things that need to be done,

1. Firstly, separate the ‘Gorkhaland’ issue from other such demands in the country and maintain it as an exclusive case, like one enjoyed by the North Eastern states.
2. Secondly, go for a step by step approach so that the Central Govt is constitutionally, obliged to grant a separate state.

For this, what we need is to analyze the correct political atmosphere, see how much is the center and the state willing to go to satisfy the demand. This requires building extra pressure on both the state govt as well as the center by way of non-cooperation and home rule. Make the pressure such that the govt is forced to take a stand on it. However, there is a limit upto which such agitation can be taken. Going over-board would invite deployment of para-military forces and a ruthless attempt to crush the movement. This would be detrimental to both the democratic movement, as well as the people participating in it. We need to understand that in such case, it is better to put pressure on the state govt, as it will have more compulsion to act, keeping in mind the public attention it would get in the state. However we must maintain the upper hand in terms of calling on and off the movement rather than being compelled to sit for negotiation out of necessity.

The state govt in the start of the Gorkhaland Agitation in 2008, had publicly announced that they were willing to give more power to the Sixth-schedule and increase its area to beyond the present hill sub-divisions. Similar offer once made by the state govt should be accepted as a last resort, while still insisting on the statehood demand, this will give us the leeway for us to demand a more respectable form of Sixth-schedule with more legislative and executive powers as enjoyed by the likes of Bodoland Territorial Council. Another thing to add would be to bring the Council under the banner of the North-Eastern Development Council. This is a much more realistic possibility, as the Center and the state have in-fact endorsed the Sixth-schedule imposition in the Darjeeling Hills, what was lacking in the proposed Sixth-schedule legislature was the comprehensive powers for it to be an accountable and credible alternative to satisfy the various socio-economic problems being faced by the people of the hills. Once the required aberrations are cleared out and newer areas included to its responsibility, the current economic problems can be solved and the region and the people can benefit from the development, for the immediate future.

This will lead to realizing two aspects,

1. The implementation of Sixth-schedule and inclusion of the same in the North-Eastern council would make the Gorkhaland demand exclusive of other similar demands being made in the country. This would ensure, that Gorkhaland demand is looked as any other issues in the North East would be dealt with, which is preferential as compared to other such demands in the rest of the country.
2. The implementation of Sixth-schedule would lead to the de-facto acceptance of Darjeeling as a separate entity within West Bengal, a term like State within a state. This would more or less oblige the center to give Darjeeling the statehood status on a later date, as the logical conclusion of Sixth-schedule as is seen with other similar cases in the North-East like Mizoram and Meghalaya, which were changed to states from being Autonomous Councils.

This would have major implications, one being that it would take lot more years to achieve the real goal of statehood, and the loss of trust from the people because of what we achieved previously from the infamous D.G.H.C. The positive aspect of it would be we would be assured of a separate state someday. The immediate agitation for a separate state either way could be long. Other such popular demands fail because, pro-longed dragging of the movement causes serious economic harship among the people of the region. Being pro-longed the people lack focus of the agitation, thus giving rise to un-scrupulous elements that play havoc with not only the general populace but also the economic resources of the region.

Implementation of the Sixth-schedule for the short term would thus solve some of the severe economic problems plaguing the region, and help people move forward to a better economic and social condition. At the same time, the Autonomous council and the region in it will get the necessary constitutional guarantee for qualifying as a separate state, which no other region in India outside the North East can get. Once the economic woes of the people are met, proper resources and ideas can be utilized in achieving the goal of statehood by means of legitimate constitutional guarantees. Thus, if we take a long term approach, this will help us in achieving the long cherished dream of a separate state for the people in the region.

The formation of a separate state in India is a major issue for the country. It has serious implications for the concerned region as well as the rest of the country. It has to be made by the Government in the national interest and not under compulsion by a mere segment of population of a region. Considering these logical reasons, it would be appropriate to take a serious approach. An in depth long term planning is necessary for us to achieve the logical conclusion. One that has constitutional and legal legitimacy. Being a small region with small population, political power alone cannot guarantee us a separate state, thus we need to use the correct privileges and powers that have been guaranteed to our community and region by the Constitution. We might find the process long, but the possibility of our dream coming true at minimum economic and social loss is the benefit that can offset any time overruns in the future.

A Classic Indian Intelligence Operation

2009-03-24T04:30:00.000-07:00

The article has been reproduced as printed in "The Hindu" dated 17th June 2004, as one of few example of India's victories against Pakistan Sponsored terrorism in Kashmir.
A secret hunt that trapped top Jaish militants

By Praveen Swami

NEW DELHI, JUNE 16. If it had not been for a chance traffic accident, an alert Border Security Force signals intelligence monitor, and a superbly-crafted intelligence operation, Srinagar could have been the midst of a bloody suicide-bombing offensive this summer.

Three months ago, the Indian Army announced that it had eliminated the overall head of the feared Jaish-e-Mohammad's military operations, Qari Mohammad Asif. Operating under the code-name `Sehrai Baba', Asif had been responsible for a string of terrorist attacks since he took office in September 2003. Now, an investigation by The Hindu has found Asif was killed more than three months before his elimination was made public — leading to a top-secret covert operation that secured the liquidation of almost the entire top leadership of the Jaish-e-Mohammad.

On April 8, the Indian Army announced that it had killed Asif, along with four other senior Jaish-e-Mohammad commanders, in northern Kashmir. Those killed included Malik Salimullah, a resident of Gujaranwala in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Nazaqat Zaman, a resident of Haripur in the North West Frontier Province, Yahya Khan of Karachi, and Zubair Ahmad. In one single blow, the terrorist group had lost almost its entire field command: an event unprecedented in the history of counter-terrorist warfare in Jammu and Kashmir.

In fact, The Hindu 's investigation has found, Asif died a full five months before this encounter in a chance shoot-out in Srinagar's Bemina area. The shootout followed a minor traffic altercation involving Asif, after which he opened fire on BSF personnel who intervened. BSF intelligence personnel learnt that the killed terrorist was referred to within his organisation by the wireless code-sign `Tango-4'. The organisation's sources were also able to determine that `Tango-4' was a senior figure in the Jaish-e-Mohammad hierarchy.

BSF signals personnel then made a chance discovery: `Sehrai Baba' had disappeared off the airwaves after the death of `Tango-4'. This led to the suspicion that `Tango-4' and `Sehrai Baba' were the same person. No one in the Jaish-e-Mohammad's Srinagar apparatus, investigators discovered, had seen or heard from their supreme commander in weeks: all they knew was that he was on a secret mission and would establish contact only when absolutely necessary.

Since the Jaish-e-Mohammad did not know that `Sehrai Baba' had been killed, Indian officials believed the situation could be leveraged to their advantage. By mid-January, a detailed plan was in place, known only to the BSF's in-house intelligence organisation, the G-Branch, the Intelligence Bureau, top police officials, and the commander of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lieutenant-General Nirbhay Sharma. An Indian intelligence asset planted deep within the Jaish-e-Mohammad was now put to work executing the covert operation.

In late January, the source made contact with the Jaish-e-Mohammad's Pakistan-based chief, Maulana Masood Azhar — the terrorist released in the Indian Airlines flight IC184 hostages-for-prisoners swap at Kandahar. The source claimed to be passing on messages from `Sehrai Baba' to Azhar. `Sehrai Baba,' he said, had planned a series of large-scale operations inside Srinagar, but needed logistical support and personnel. Since Indian intelligence had in the past demonstrated the ability to break terrorist communications codes, the Jaish-e-Mohammad would have to take the risk of arranging a physical meeting on the Indian side of the LoC.

It worked. When the Jaish-e-Mohammad group reached their liaison point near Sogam, having used multiple routes across the Lolab mountains, Indian troops were waiting. "The whole thing had to be arranged with care," says a senior military source. "We had to make sure that, first, the source could be moved around by the Intelligence Bureau without hindrance by our own troops, while at once maintaining secrecy. We had to make sure the LoC crossing was trouble-free, but also monitor it at each stage. Finally, the ambush had to be laid with great precision. The slightest error could have jeopardised months of hard work."

Soon after the Sogam incident, Indian forces moved rapidly to eliminate the last two Jaish-e-Mohammad personnel drawn on to the Indian side of the LoC by the source, Multan resident Tassaduq Irshad, and Mohammad Iqbal Baksh. While the Jaish-e-Mohammad continues to have a formidable ground presence in Jammu and Kashmir, it is an Army without Generals.

Why I feel that Gorkhaland is not possible in the near future. – Part 1

2009-03-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

The happenings of the last few weeks have posed some serious questions to the overall agitation for the separate state of Gorkhaland. The frequency with which many executive members from the principal “Pro-Gorkhaland” party, the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (Gorkha People’s Liberation Front) switched back and forth, pillar to pillar between various leaders of the leading national parties including BJP and Congress, have yet again proved that the question of Gorkhaland is far from being answered by any of the major stake holders of the nation. Even if some party may give moral support to the demand, the likelihood of all out support by way of including it in the election manifesto of the parties remains bleak. This has not only to do with the principal opponents of the formation of Gorkhaland, the political elite of the state of West Bengal, but also to the general mindset of the people of rest of India, who resent any more division of the state especially on ethnic lines.

Through out the modern history of the Indian Sub-continent, the ethnic- Nepali people of Darjeeling have always been side-lined in the corridors of power by the ruling elite of West Bengal. This is evident from the fact that although Darjeeling was a “Partially-excluded district” until 1954, and enjoyed some independent status vis-à-vis West Bengal till the said time, it was subsequently absorbed into the state of West Bengal under the Absorb Area Act, when all evidence proved that Darjeeling and the adjoing areas of Dooars along with its people shared a commonality to other various ethnic groups in the North-East which were then mostly made part of the state of Assam. Further, while most other regions of the North East which were absorbed into Assam were given a distinct Status according to the provisions of the Sixth-Schedule of the Constitution of India, the said provision was over-ruled in Darjeeling although it enjoyed the same status as a “Partially Excluded District” under the Govt of India act 1936 as other Partially Excluded Districts such as the then, Lushai Hills and Naga Hills. Such was the power and influence of the Ruling elite of West Bengal that, even though a powerful pitch was made by the people of Darjeeling infront of the State Re-rogansiation committee of the time to accept the demand for a separate administrative unit on linguistic lines, the proposal was rejected and the Govt of India even failed to recognize the Nepali language as a scheduled language of India as per the Eight- schedule of the constitution. The same power and influence is today being noticed where the major political powers of India are refusing to even speak in favor of the Gorkhaland lest they antagonize their electorates in one of the most powerful states of India.

To analyze this we need to see that West Bengal alone sends a total 42 Member of Parliaments to the Lower House of the Parliament. This is little below 10% of the overall strength of the House. It is obvious that every party worth its salt wants to have a share of this huge pie, in order to claim its strength in the corridors of power, and no matter what the final outcome, no one wants to antagonize the electorates by working against the majority of the people in the state. This is true more so when State assembly elections and National General elections happen simultaneously with a gap of nearly 2-3 years. Any decision taken after the General Elections quickly reflects into the State Assembly elections two years later and vice-versa. Thus with the kind of power equation and the emotional perception of the people against another “Partition of Bengal”, it would be foolish for any political party to support or even contemplate supporting the Gorkhaland Demand whose voters have impact on only a Half of the Lok Sabha seat of Darjeeling. Thus with the political possibility out of the equation, what else could result in the formation of another state? The answer is indeed a mystery, as the political expediency with which our successive Governments have resolved urgent national issues is something to loathe about. And nothing, not event questions of national security have been implemented without something as big as Kargil or 26/11 happening. Expecting such a “People’s government”, suddenly sitting up and solving the issue of a separate state for a significant minority of an ethnic group, is indeed wishful thinking.

Moreover the general opinion of the masses of intellectual India, who live in Air-conditioned homes in the newly developing metropolises such as Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi which enjoy near world class facilities have no clue to what people face when they live in a neglected, insignificant part of a state whose economy is in shambles as a result of years and years of militant Communist ideology. For them the real problem faced by India is the new Prahmod Muthaliks and MNS followers who use cultural and regional nationalism to further their propaganda of hate for Western and non-conformal ideas. They view regionalism and a question for one’s rights and space as another growing example of the likes of regionalist destroying the integrity and peace of the nation. As a result of this, they look at people demanding their right with contempt. They look at every demand for one’s right, be it demand for a separate state or a demand for reservation for them within a narrow prism of suspicion, not realizing the fact that beyond the luxuries of city life there are various regions in India which suffer from neglect, discrimination and abject poverty.

The option of leading a more militant and violent agitation for the fruitful realization of the demand is futile, as this would lead to even more degradation of the social fabric of the region. It would lead to Human Rights abuses, excesses and something far more sinister than any thing imaginable. Moreover, the presence of heavy security forces along various key border regions of the area makes it even more improbable that anything violent can be planned or executed in the region. Hence, forcing the government to concede to the demand by positioning oneself in a strong position is again ruled out. The result was amply clear when during one of the violent times in the recent pro Gorkhaland agitation, the center refused to actively intervene or even speak on the situation. The resultant Tri-partite meetings were convened after the incumbent Chief Minister of West Bengal pushed the center to hold the meeting. The successive powers of Delhi have refused to take the agitation seriously and have refused to play any significant part, lest it opens a pandora’s box, with similar movement being launched across the nation. We have to remember that as we speak there are more than a dozen such groups demanding a separate state within India , highlighting various, ethnic, regional, and economic grievances. Heeding to one such demand by a numerically insignificant group would make the voices of other such demands more stronger and as a result this will add to the woes of the Government in the Center.

India - Its states and its people

2009-03-10T00:04:00.000-07:00

The advent of various ethnic groups in India demanding separate administrative states within India, for their social and political well being has created an equal number of arguments and counter-arguments on the topic. While the proponents of the separate state theory claim, political and economic neglect by their parent states on the basis of ethnic and linguistic dissimilarities, the opponents argue that creation of more states will go against the whole argument of a United India. Many have argued in length about how the previous generations of leaders made a historic blunder by creating states on the basis of linguistic lines and thus paving the way for future Balkanization of India. People have argued that this should not be allowed to proceed, and should be stopped immediately to prevent jeopardizing the integrity of the nation.

What one fails to see is that it was these very policies of separate states that were able to hold the Indian Union strongly in one of the most testing times for the country. It has been well documented that during and after 1971, secret transcripts of conversation between US president and his Secretary of State had predicted a disintegration of India in no time owing to the diverse ethnic, linguistic and economical fabric of the Indian society. And here we are today, more than 6 decades after our Independence, and moving ahead with a strong economy whereas even the so called super power is reeling through crushing economic times. One needs to look back in history and judge how Tamil Nationalism was contained after they achieved Self-determination in the 1960s. One needs to see and judge how Naga and Mizo movements for secession were contained by granting them Self-determination in the 1980s. The list is endless, and yet we fail to see the most important lesson in it all. That cultural nationalism is an un-alienable part of any community, and yet this can be contained by the right to self-determination as enshrined within the constitution of our country. It is the very reason, ‘that our Constitution is so accommodating to these aspects of democracy’ that we have been able to overcome the greatest challenges to our existence.
The idea of a unified Indian union with only administrative divisions, and no linguistic or ethnic connotations is a very novel one, but impractical. Everybody agrees to the idea of one unified identity of India above all other identities. The problem is in accommodating every community’s aspirations within the single unified image of India. Can a Hindi speaking gentleman from the North of the country accept Tamil to be the Official language of India? Will a Malyali speaking lady from South of the country accept Bengali script as the official writing script for India? The list again is endless. The idea of a unified Indian identity is impractical in domestic affairs; this notion is good in paper but impractical considering the size, diversity and economic disparity of the country. Neither today nor before, could we ever have two diverse Indians from differing ethnicity in one room and expect them to have a cordial exchange of views on the others cultural brilliance. The list is endless. This is a fact we have to live with, and not deny it.
If people want to really understand what would have happened to India if the present number of states were not created in Independent India, one should look at the disparate state of affairs today Pakistan is in. The divisions and feelings of one community’s cultural dominance over others is so much there that only the Army has been able to stop the divisive sentiments of the people there. One must not forget that the creation of Bangladesh was due to a feeling of cultural dominance of the Bengali speaking Pakistanis by the West Pakistani Punjabis in that country. The Pakistanis had adopted the idea of a unified Pakistani federation based on a Pan Islamic identity and yet Islam could not hold two diverse ethnic races together. One can only predict what this can do to the already fragile religious and linguistic fabric of Indian society.
Given the size, diversity and economy of India, had we not created so many states, and thus the feeling of self-rule and respect among the various ethnic groups in our country, Pakistan would have surely used the fault lines which would have been created because of that resentment, to fuel an even bigger internal strife in India and thus weaken the whole Union of India. This was indeed exploited by it, and the examples are there for all to see.
We have to understand that while such paper book ideologies are brilliant on paper and in countries such as the U.S.A, (whom we look upon as the most perfect country on Earth) the same philosophy and ideology can create the downfall for India. What works in the West cannot work here in India. As it has been said, we are a very different country with great diversity, it is imperative that we understand and satisfy the needs, social, political and economical of all our diverse residents to build a strong India. It is for these reasons that our great and visionary leaders laid a foundation for creation of different states based on linguistic or cultural or socio-economic lines. One must appreciate the visions shown by those great leaders in bringing about the constitution of our country, which is so accommodating to the extent that we have been able to fight against all odds to preserve this national integrity of our nation without having to resort to anything else outside the framework of our democracy. Ultimately the National integrity of our nation is of utmost importance but at the same time ignoring the aspirations of its people will never yield an integrated nation. The two need to go hand in hand.

26/11 The unseen facts

2009-03-06T00:44:00.001-08:00

The history of the Indian sub-continent has always been filled with a deep animosity between two of its largest neighbors; India and Pakistan. But the night of 26th Nov 2008 wrote a new chapter in the history of the sub-continent. A new low had been reached in the chapters of humanity and a new high had been reached in the levels of tolerance for extremism. The asymmetric warfare that had been going on between the two neighbors reached new heights. While India struggled to contain as much as it could, the terrorist who unleashed the terror on its soils, power mongers hurried around the corridors of power to make sense of this new battle zone between the two neighbors.

Many people have gone to lengths debating the role of Pakistan’s notorious ISI in the said event, some argued that the military precision by which the attack happened, could not have been done without significant state co-operation. Yet while debating all these issues, one fails to realize, under what circumstances this heinous crime had been committed. For that we need to go back a few years in time. Ever since Sept 11 2001, and the starting of the War on Terror, Pakistan has been involved as the key ally of the so called coalition of the willing, its troops had been amassed in large numbers on its western borders to fight the so called Islamic extremist, the ones lead by the famous “Taliban”. But over the period of the war, having sustained huge losses in terms of not just operating expenses but also human resources, the average Pakistani and his comrade in the Army have begun to ask questions. Why were they killing their own people? Their fellow Muslims, people with whom they had no differences in faith and belief. Especially after the fact that the Pakistan Army over the years have been groomed to fight the one and only The “Saffron Bandits” to their East, the overwhelming loss and death of fellow Muslims on its Western borders did not quite go down well with its people as well as the Army. Having seen India gradually grow its influence in Afghanistan, a country which Pakistan regarded as its “Strategic Depth”, it was quite natural for the Pakistani general to grow insecure. For them, while their own forces were killing and getting killed by fellow Muslims, the Indians were continuously growing more and more influence in their strategic depth. Moreover the coming of the new establishment in Washington D.C further complicated matters, with a vocal US President increasingly aware of the safe heavens of the Islamic Insurgents, and his vow to finish them all. The time had come for Pakistan to finally act, to relieve the pressures off its back, and re-focus the world attention on the great ball game that it had been playing ever since its birth.

The 26/11 attack on Mumbai, was instrumental in relieving the pressure off Pakistan, as now, it got to play its favorite plank. The big bad Indians were about to attack Pakistan with surgical strikes, and Pakistan as a country had to do everything possible to protect its national integrity. No sooner had the last terrorist in Mumbai been killed, Pakistan and not India was now the victim. It finally got the justification to remove its non – performing military formations from the Al-Qaeda infested Western Borders, and bring it back to the eastern borders against India where it was always meant to be. The world went back to hectic diplomacy between Delhi and Islamabad to cool off the Nuclear conflagration between the two neighbors, and the people and Army of Pakistan went back to their favorite time pass, India bashing. As for the innocent people who died in the Mumbai tragedy, well they lived in a country with more than a billion people, as each day passes by the memories of that fateful night and the people it took with it will forever go down into history of the dusty South Asian subcontinent. Just as everybody else before them.

Politics of the 15th Lok Sabha elections and the implications on the People of Darjeeling

2009-02-26T04:05:00.001-08:00

For a long time I have been studying the political scenario in the Darjeeling Hills vis-à-vis the whole district and the state as a whole. Darjeeling Hills, the so called home, for the more than 1 crore Gorkhas of India does have a distinct parliamentary constituency by its name. And because of this, we have had our representatives elected to the parliament to the country. This has given us a trickle if not major political voice for our needs and grievances. Along with the lone Sikkim Parliamentary constituency and maybe one Parliamentary constituency from Assam, the entire Gorkha community in India is represented by these three key parliamentarians of Gorkha ethnicity.

Today as things unfold, only one constituency among the three which sent Gorkha parliamentarians may be able to send another Gorkha MP to the 15th Lok Sabha. That might be the Sikkim Parliamentary constituency. The outcomes for Tezpur parliamentary constituency are unsure as Mr. M.K. Subbha has been implicated in a foreigner issue. The other parliamentary constituency apart from Sikkim and Tezpur is the Darjeeling parliament constituency. This is the constituency which has been historically the only one which has sent a Gorkha MP to our Lok Sabha before the Nepali majority state of Sikkim was incorporated to the Indian Union. It has been the voice of the Gorkha people of West Bengal. A voice to assert their identity and a voice to air their grievances, which today in the colossal complex of West Bengal Legislative Assembly has been lost forever. But today as things stand even this constituency stands to lose this historic identity. The news flashing over major newspapers in Siliguri is Mr. Jibesh Sarkar as the potential CPI (M) candidate for the Darjeeling Parliament Constituency. What is peculiar about this news is that it is one of the few times in history when a Non-Gorkha was elected as the MP from Darjeeling. (The other times being when Mr. Inderjeet was elected at the insistence of Mr. Subash Ghising etc.) Moreover, every time we have gone to polls, all parties have respectively gone ahead and fielded a Nepali speaking (Gorkha) personality from their respective parties so much so that we had begun to think that the Darjeeling parliamentary constituency was completely Darjeeling’s. Today even after this announcement most of the people in Darjeeling Hills feels that it is a non-issue as the constituency is that of Darjeeling and only one chosen by the people of Darjeeling will be elected. The truth is far from it. At a close look at the demographic break up and population of the electorates of the respective assembly constituencies under Darjeeling PC will tell us other wise. I have listed below the assembly constituencies which fall under Darjeeling PC, and also as per the 2004 14th Lok Sabha Constituency figures, the number of electorates for the some of the constituencies

Darjeeling Parliamentary Constituency is made of the following assembly constituencies

1) Darjeeling Assembly Constituency
2) Kalimpong Assembly Constituency
3) Kurseong Assembly Constituency
4) Siliguri Assembly Constituency
5) Matigara-Naxalbari Assembly Constituency
6) Phansidewa Assembly Constituency
7) Chopra Assembly Constituency

The number of electorates for the three Darjeeling Hill constituencies in 2004 was as follows,

Darjeeling: 176498
Kurseong: 166846
Kalimpong: 150858

Total : 494202 ( All figures 2004; 2009 has revised figures )

Total no of electorates Darjeeling Parliamentary Constituency: 1249238 (2004 including Islampur)

The above figure gives a rough figure of 40:60 ratios among Hill electorates (Pre-dominantly Gorkhas) and Plains electorates (Pre-dominantly Bengalis). One thing to be considered is that Islampur Constituency which was a large constituency in terms of population has been removed from the Darjeeling PC this time.

Now considering the decadal growth rate of the Siliguri Sub-division which was 38.9% between 1991 – 2001, and a decadal growth rate of 8.8% for the three Hills Sub-divisions of Darjeeling between the same periods, we can roughly understand what the outcome would be to the ratio of electorates between the Hills and the plains. No doubt the exit of Islampur will impact favorably for the Hill electorates but considering the explosive population growth rate of the plains with respect to the hills, this effect can be offset and we can deduce the same population ratio for the Hill vs. plains electorates.

Now coming to the question of outcomes of 15th Lok Sabha elections for Darjeeling, the results can be seen that whoever the plain’s people chose will definitely come out as the clear winner of the outcome based on statistics alone. This is where quick thinking and strategy comes into picture. What do we do to protect the last vestige of our political power? What do we do so that our political power is retained intact so that our voices are heard, and we are able to make a favorable impact on the nation’s political structure to squeeze out a favorable consensus for ourselves?

As you know in the past the candidates standing up for election from this crucial constituency were of ethnic Nepali origin. As such, even if not Gorkhaland, other political grievances of the Gorkha population were expected to be fulfilled. That fact that all political parties cared for the sensitivities of the Gorkha populace whether from Hill or plains was evident. Even the CPI (M) had till then fielded a Gorkha face which helped them capture the Nepali vote bank from the plains. But this time CPI (M) has fielded an Ethnic Bengali candidate from the Darjeeling Parliamentary constituency clearly upsetting the delicate ethnic balance in the Darjeeling constituency. The move seems to be that of clearly marginalizing the Gorkha community, and totally wiping out the political power of the Gorkhas from the national scene. This seems to be a clever move on the part of CPI(M) to tap into the Gorkha-Bengali divide, and take the Gorkhaland protagonists head on, with the brute majority of the Siliguri, Matigara, Phansidewa and Chopra assembly constituency (whose electorates out number the remaining three Hill constituencies) to finish off the political prospects of the Gorkhas. This way they are completely marginalizing the Gorkha/Nepali population of Darjeeling politically, ones and for all. This is a clever move to stall any aspect of any political party from supporting the GL issue after the elections, thus ending the prospects of GL once and for all. If things go this way then there will be no other option left for the Gorkhas of Darjeeling to put whatever they have into GL agitation. Its like do or die. If GL agitation doesn’t bear fruit, then the people of Darjeeling will forever be marginalized politically in India by the ethnic Bengali majority of West Bengal.

Now the question is what can GJMM or any other party which represents the Gorkha interest do in order to protect the political rights of the Gorkha people? For that, the people of Darjeeling Hills will really have to ensure that every eligible living soul in Darjeeling votes, and votes for one party. Their votes should not be divided and there should be a mass consensus on the candidate to vote. It is the opinion of the author that only GJMM putting up its own candidate will be able to take on CPI(M) head on. As per 2004 elections, the ratio of electorates between the hills and the plains stood at 60:40 in favour of the plains. The plains votes can be divided by using the Congress to divide the votes between CPI(M) and them and perhaps other political parties. While the Hills should stand firmly behind one GJMM candidate. It is imperative that GJMM fields its candidate so that there is no division of votes in the hills, and absolute majority of the people vote for GJMM and GJMM only. That is the only possible way of electing the desired MP from Darjeeling Parliamentary constituency. Any other party supporting GL will not get the ethnic Bengali votes in the plains, so even if Congress or BJP support GL, their candidate will get no votes from among the Non-Gorkhas of the plains, on the other hand the Gorkhas residing in the plains will have to favour and caste their votes to the GJMM to ensure our political survival. Moreover the fielding of an Ethnic Bengali candidate will upset the Nepali sentiments in the plains, and this can be tapped in by GJMM. So its better to use multiple parties that don’t support GL to break the CPI(M) hold in the plains at the same time keeping a decisive edge by holding all the Hill electorates under one roof. This will ensure we divide the plains vote among leading National political parties based on ideology, and at the same time keeping our Hill’s votes under one political party based on ethnicity. This way we use the oldest trick in the book “Divide and Rule” to ensure the political survival for our race, so that our grievances and our demands are looked upon, and one day eventually our long cherished dream of Gorkhaland is met using non-violent and democratic means. Hope someone is listening!

We the Indian Gorkhas and the so called Greater Nepal Theory

2009-02-03T01:23:00.000-08:00

I was just going through my regular dose of surfing the net today, thats when one of my dear friend Arnav, whom we fondly call BBG ("Bengaluru ko Bimal Gurung" for his deeds on working for the welfare of Gorkhas in Bangalore), pointed me to support him in refuting a serious allegation made in a particular forum by a poster who had posted his logic on The Greater Nepal theory. According to the author of that thread, he alleged that many parts of India including Sikkim and Darjeeling were parts of Greater Nepal, and should be returned back to them. He further went on to claim that people leaving in these regions supported his claim. We, Arnav and me being residents of both Sikkim and Darjeeling on behalf of all us Indian Gorkhas immediately refuted his claim. At this juncture in India, where we are fighting for a separate state for the Gorkha population of Darjeeling, when one of our most respected political leaders in Sikkim, have been branded a foreigner, some nobody propping up from some foreign land and spreading these weird and false rumors to shake up the very sovereignty of our beloved country is totally unacceptable. To top that, claiming he has the support of us Indian Gorkhas shows us totally in a bad light. I as a sane Indian had to refute it in all possible way.

To start with, this whole Greater Nepal theory is nothing but a fallacy of great proportions, which has been brought up by people who have nothing else to do but fantasize about the past. These are people who live in a very hypothetical world. To understand this we need to notice the basic fact. Nepal and India are two separate countries today, one (India) is an aspiring economic and military power in the world, the other (Nepal) is an economically impoverished and politically on the brink of a failed state. The comparison between the two is totally asymmetric. And to profess a theory where the former will cede to the later a significant part of its territory on the basis of some weird historical logic is nothing but day dreaming. Everybody has to understand hundreds of years ago, there was no Nepal or India, there were hundreds of princely states which were later unified together under a single political entity of Nepal and India by their respective rulers, that was a process and not the end, what we have today is the final border and territories based on those unification process, these process involved wars, fighting over territories and winning and losing battles. What happened happened, and because of what happened then, today we have what we have, nobody can change this. India inherited all its territory which was part of British India at the time of Independence, and which had not been transfered to Pakistan. Unless, ofcourse Nepal wants to wrest those territories from us like Pakistan or China, there is no other way that it can be done. As for the Sugauli treaty, it's better to accept the fact that Nepal had signed the treaty when they lost a war, they should be grateful the British didn't annex their country like they did with the rest of India, had they done that, which they infact could have done, Nepal would have been a state of India. So it's time people stopped living in a dream world and stop cooking up weird logics. The politicians in Nepal should first deal with those parts of their country which they have; establish a good state, with a strong economy, and a happy and satisfied population. It’s an irony that the leaders there are barely able to lead their own country and yet they want what’s ours.

As for some people arguing that the large segment of Nepali speaking people in India want to join Nepal, well it’s a falsehood of the greatest kind. We are Indians, we are one of the 2nd largest developing economies of the world, and our country is an aspiring military power. We live in a democracy, where even though things take a longer time to happen, the truth and the people do always win. Ours is the largest democracy in the world and our values in upholding that democracy is second to none. Yes, we have a rich cultural exchange between Nepal, and India, and both have mutually benefited as a result of this exchange. While we in India, value the yet prevalent rich cultural heritage of Nepal, people in Nepal benefit from the great talents that Indian Nepalis have brought to Nepal, (even their former Royal was educated in Darjeeling). But then cultural ties are a different issue and political reality a different one. We are Indians, and nothing else, no further argument is necessitated after this, what language we speak or what ethnicity we belong to is a matter among us Indians, and none of any business for foreigners. Yes, a lunatic of an Indian Nepali politician might have written to one of their kings or whatever, but that was for his own political mileage, and perhaps our generation has learnt, the outcomes of such futile exercises. We have our politicians who are able to stand up for us and that’s that. We have no desire to be part of any failed state, our argument has been simple right from the beginning, we are Indians, and not Nepalese, as made out to be, and as claimed by the likes of these Nepalese politicians. We are Indians, our ancestors have given their blood and sweat to make this country what it is today, and we want to be there to reap the benefits of the fruits. Nobody from any foreign country can stand in our way, just because some lunatic people staying in some other country, fantasizes about his own so called interpretation of history.

Of Gorkhas and Gorkhaland

2008-09-17T11:42:00.001-07:00

I was going through my regular dose of news everyday and I just came upon this news article which said “BIMAL GURUNG, GJMM LEADER, SUMMONS BY THE CALCUTTA HIGH COURT” I couldn’t help thinking what was wrong with everyone? It was about time, that the GJMM put up a PIL against the BOBBBS and Jana…whatever, for calling all Gorkhas foreigners and inciting communal violence against Gorkhas. They should have argued that even Nepalis from Nepal are legally allowed to reside in India, and starting a hate campaign against Gorkhas and Nepalis is against the law of the land. I donno about the BOBB…’s case but the case against them would have been really strong. But when would our leaders think of that? They are busy issuing diktats to our own people about what we should and shouldn’t wear. They ask the public to use GL number plates and themselves go to Siliguri/Dooars in WB number plates. These people can only go ahead and terrorize their own people while shying away in the plains… If they call themselves leaders then it is time they proved it by doing something different, other than terrorizing our own people and issuing diktats in Darjeeling to innocent people. They should stand against the real problems which are threatening the peaceful lives of the Gorkhas there.

Ofcourse, this statement wouldn’t go down well with most of the people reading the site. And when I posted the same comment there, it was quite obvious, and I knew what the reaction of our own people would be to these kind of statements. We have been brought up seeing our people worshiping our so called political leaders with one’s monopoly passing on to the other in a flick of light and the former forever going down in history as the villain of the era. But what this topic lead to was another interesting topic, the issue of Sikkim – Darjeeling merger. And how it would affect the whole Gorkhas in India if that happened. I have always been a supporter of this theory. Growing up I could never understand the reason why Darjeeling was West Bengal while Rangpo and Gangtok was Sikkim. My logic was that all the people are the same, the topography is the same and so is the language, so why the difference?

But some people on the forum thought otherwise and pointed out that it would not help the cause of the Gorkhas if that were to happen. Some even asked if people of Sikkim would accept the name Gorkhaland given to the merged state instead of Sikkim and if they would agree to shift the capital to Darjeeling? Well all I can say is What is the problem with the so called merger? Majority of the people in Sikkim are Gorkhas/Nepalis they call themselves Sikkimese, so whats the problem? As long as people get a better life with better opportunities and the political freedom to be able to decide your own leader, that is what is important. The problem in Darjeeling is more of Administrative negligence and social and economic deprivation because the people there happen to be a minority within the state. It's compounded because of racial labeling and ethnic discrimination. The people of Darjeeling on account of being Gorkhas are not able to compete with the rest of the majority ethnic groups In West Bengal, as a result they are deprived socially, politically and economically. This can be sorted out by having a state or Union Territory of our own, where our own people are the rulers and the ruled. Whether that place is called Sikkim or Darjeeling is not the grass root problem plaguing people of Darjeeling. All this talk of Gorkha identity comes second although it is also a major issue. If we talk of Gorkha identity then it was Mr. N.B Bhandari the then Chief Minister of Sikkim who was instrumental in getting ‘Nepali’ language recognised under the 8th schedule of the constitution. It doesn’t require a state by the name “Gorkhaland” to ascertain our identity. All we need is the correct people in the correct place to voice our rights. If this logic can be understood, even Darjeeling - Sikkim merger or Darjeeling as a state can be more than sufficient. If not, then all that Gorkhaland can give us is a bunch of overzealous political leaders who will continue to grow richer, while the Gorkhas all over India will be happy only to ascertain that there is a state called “Gorkhaland”.

Well to be honest, the actual problem is not Gorkha identity, atleast not in Sikkim or Darjeeling. Why should it be? Almost everybody in Darjeeling and Sikkim is a Nepali/Gorkha, where is the question of Gorkha identity in your own place? Questions of Gorkha identity comes in places where you might be a minority. Ashok Babu.. can say what he wants in Siliguri, but the fact is everybody right from Kolkatta to Delhi know that Gorkhas/Nepalis are the residents of Darjeeling and Sikkim. Problem atleast in Darjeeling is more political, social and economical. We do not have any political control and hence we have all sorts of problems. Whatever the politicians might say to polarise public opinion, that is the fact. Do you think a person in Algarah or Singla Bazar gives a damn of Gorkha identity in Delhi? No he just wants his life to be better. Yes, of course people will say whatever they have been meant to believe, and if they are told they can get more self respect because of Gorkhaland they will believe that. It is the nature of our people, they believe whatever they are told by politicians. They gave up Idol worship for Ghisisng, they are willing to wear Daura Sural for Bimal Gurung , and they will give up their life for Gorkhaland. But we need people with more vision for the upliftment of our people. People who can give us a better future with or without the name of Gorkhaland. If Bimal Gurung can do that hats of to him. But I don’t agree with the fact that the name Gorkhaland would be the end of all the problems faced by Gorkhas.

As for changing the name of Sikkim to Gorkhaland and having the capital at Darjeeling. This is the exact reason why Ministers of Sikkim do not speak for Gorkhaland. It is the over arrogant and in some way ignorant attitude of some of the people in Darjeeling. Would it matter if the name is Sikkim or Gorkhaland as long as we have our own state? Does it matter if the Capital is at Gangtok or Darjeeling as long as the Chief Minister is one of your own? Both the people in Sikkim and Darjeeling are the same, all are Nepalis, Bhutias and Lepchas, in both the places, the majority are the Nepalis and yet here we are divided by the borders of Sikkim and Darjeeling. The people in Darjeeling think Sikkim’s people should speak up for Gorkhaland as its an issue of identity. The point is if the people are satisfied economically, and politically will you feel there is an issue with identity? I don’t think so. Yes, the people in Darjeeling are suffering under the West Bengal government, and that can only change if we get a government ruled by our own people. But is the name that important? On the other hand the people of Sikkim think that people of Darjeeling are too arrogant and they will be submerged if they are merged with Darjeeling. Why such such suspicion among are own people? I am not supporting any group of people or a state or government. I am merely pointing out that we are the same people, with the same ties and yet we are too arrogant to look at each other in times of need. Fact is if despite being so common as people of Darjeeling and Sikkim we still can't stand together then, no Gorkhaland or any thing else will ever be able to help us mark an identity in this country. Come on, we can't even stand hand in hand together two same people and we talk about identity for the millions of Gorkhas across the nation? To mark a name in this nation we need to stand united, together, so that we can make a difference. It will not make a difference what we call our state, Gorkhaland or Darjeeling or Sikkim, as long our people can live together in a life of prosperity and respect.

On hearing this people started questioning my identity and if I was really a Gorkha from Darjeeling or Sikkim? They even told me that I should be calling myself Gorkha instead of Nepali so that my fellow Indian’s do not mistake me for being one from across the border. Well to be frank I am as much a Nepali as I am a Gorkha. I have been born and brought up with the “Nepali” identity and I will continue to be a “Nepali”, no Ghising or Bimal Gurung can change that. We are Indian’s of Nepali ethnicity. I dont care what the average Indian thinks, if they don’t understand, I take the care of making them understand. We dont need an artificially created identity of some person to hide behind in this nation. We can call ourselves Indian Nepalis and yet hold our head high. We held it high when our language was included in the eight schedule of our constitution. We can hold it yet. And please go and ask anyone in Darjeeling or Sikkim what he is and the first answer is Nepali. This Gorkha identity came only after the Gorkhaland agitation on the 80s. Even today we still call ourselves Nepali among ourselves and Gorkhas infront of outsiders. Why should we be ashamed to say that in our own country? Gorkhas or Nepalis we are still Indians and we are as much the son of this soil as any other Indian. We dont need to prove that by using a new identity. As for people of Nepal, they are refereed to as Nepalese as against Nepali that we use for our countrymen.

I am not against the term Gorkha or Gorkhaland. Its ok if we call it Gorkhaland, I along with every other Gorkha/ Nepali will be proud with it. I am just putting forward an arugument that the solution to our entire problem isn’t just “Gorkhaland”. We are today made to believe that Gorkhaland will automatically solve all our issues, more importantly the identity one. But the real fight is not just for identity, infact identity is a case which we have created ourselves, we can call ourselves citizens of Darjeeling and yet be a proud Indian. The real issues are social, economic and political, once that is solved, a prosperous and economically successful Gorkha/Nepali can ascertain his or her identity without the Gorkhaland name tagged to his or her state. And I also do not agree to us being labeled as Gorkhas which I feel is an identity we have been tagged with artificially. However having said that I don’t believe in shedding that identity as well, rather that identity can co-exist among us we can call ourselves Gorkhas yet feel free to call ourselves Nepali as we are commonly referred to in Darjeeling/Sikkim, and as we have grown up calling ourselves. If we start shedding our identity today for the sake of Identity in our own homeland , then that day is not far away when we will again start cutting Bhanu Bhakta statues just to prove we are Indians. Do we wanna do that? It is our duty to always keep our eyes open to understand whats going on . And we shouldn’t just remain mere spectators to react only when the situation has gone out of our hands, as has been happening in the past. But unfortunately all that we can do today is sit and watch while our society dances to the tunes of new found Social and political heroes who enforce their whims and fancy to the common people while they themselves enjoy their life of luxury and power bought from these very people . Lastly lets hope for the best, and let our dream of self rule come true.

Gorkhaland -- The good the bad and the ugly!

2008-08-22T02:28:00.000-07:00

Well here we are today, people across India shocked at friendly tourists being given an ultimatum to quit a hill station which they had gone to in search of bliss.. What was their fault? Why should those innocent people pay for some overzealous political parties political agenda? These were some of the questions many people asked me. Everyone was unanimous in condemning the act of the Gorkhas against the innocent tourists. And then there were the great Ministers of Bengal who were ready to say "I told you so!". The media was happy to give live coverage to the incident and news room vehicles were busy reporting live from the scene. But amongst this chaos, one wonders if the people in this country were interested in learning why the people had come out on the street for this agitation. Most of the comments I read in the internet forums were, that Gorkhas should ask for a separate state in Nepal, and it is illegitimate for them to ask for a state in India.

Well its unfortunate that living is this vast country, the people of this country have no idea about the people that live here. Everywhere the people are busy worrying about making there own living while the rest of there country men just wait for better times. Of course its easy for some as they have a means to make a living in the first place. But has any one thought about the not so lucky people living in this country, those communities who have been languishing in the not so developed areas of our country? For whom just making a living is an almost impossible task? People who have no access to safe drinking water, no access to sanitation, living in a place city where the last sewage and water supply construction was done by the British who left India almost 60 plus years ago?

As the whole country got up to celebrate the 62nd Independence day proudly, celebrating there freedom, there were over 50,000 people living in this same country who have been reduced to life as bonded laborers working for numerous tea gardens, which produce the Champagne of teas, the world famous Darjeeling Tea. Its surprising to know that, the Darjeeling Tea fetches over Rs 5000 per Kilo while the workers who work to produce the same tea are committing suicides because of their economic conditions. Its the irony of biggest proportions, but while we have a democratically elected government to boast of some how one wonders, whats democracy for if we cant safe guard the liberties and rights of our own people? Worst, our democratically elected representatives are busy squandering money all around the parliament to win a battle, which theoretically needs to be fought with ideologies. “Ideologies indeed” speaking of which we also do have a politically party ruling the very same state where Darjeeling lies, claiming that their party constitution is more important than the constitution of the country, strange indeed.

Then we have a bunch of people, who were born n brought up with the belief that they were Indians, they sang India's national anthem, they celebrated Independence day better than any festival is celebrated in India, and sent in their sons to swear to defend the country against any enemy foreign and domestic, only to one day wake up and hear one of the Ministers of their state saying these people are not Indians, they are foreigners who came to India, before the existence of India itself. We have Ministers coming out and becoming Historians, speaking how 200 years ago some people came to a place what 100 years later would become part of India, and so by his own logic makes them foreigners. I wonder whether the Minister had indeed read that part of history while he was in High school or did he suddenly realize that when the people there started becoming aware of there political rights? This was the same government that sent in the state forces to beat up a group of peaceful senior citizens who had come out seeking for the rights of their people, perhaps the government forgot that it was those very people who till a few years ago had been on the borders of this country defending the democratic and political institutions of this country. Which brings to me another conclusion, for the people and their political masters in Bengal, all that matters is Darjeeling should be an integral part of the West Bengal, where their sons and daughters can enjoy a romantic honeymoon, walking on the clouds as they put it singing among the beautiful tea bushes. These people laud the beauty of Darjeeling, the honesty of the people there, and go on record to praise their bravery, to recruit them to defend the country, take their services as police men. As long as the "Gurkha" works as a Chowkidar outside their home, saying "Jee Sahab", and drives him around the hills of Darjeeling, they are very good people, but the moment that same persons questions back asking for his rights and his dues, he becomes a foreigner, a separatist and a threat to Bengali as a race! Wow, never understood how asking for a homeland where you make up 90% of the population can be a threat to another community who leaves a couple of hundred miles away! Perhaps the great historian Ministers of Bengal can answer us on this, drawing some examples from another one of the incidents of History, maybe!

Growing up seeing everything in Darjeeling and listening to what everyone had to say, I cant help asking myself who then is the good amongst them? Is it the Gorkhas who threw out the tourist demanding a separate state to safeguard their culture and their identity? Is it the Ministers of the Government who are defending the very existence of their race against the onslaught of a numerically inferior, socially marginalized and economically downtrodden community? Or is it some foreign hand just trying his luck doing something only he can explain? Then again who is the bad and the ugly? Surely it cant be the Ministers of Bengal, for they are only working hard to save their race from extinction, their land from being divided, and their political constituencies devastated? Is it then the poor worker of the numerous tea gardens of the hills? Or is it the son of a chowkidar or a driver who was once a faithful servant of the same masters from Kolkatta? Well only time will tell, but amongst all this rights and wrongs, its the people who suffer, I wonder who will hear them? will they ever get a better life? will their contribution towards this country ever be recognized? or will their sons and daughters ever grow up to enjoy the true freedom that this country promises...