Sinlung: January 2009

Witness to Israel's Environmental Disaster in Gaza, Gases Spare no one

I crossed the threshold of my house in Almina, facing Gaza City port, after several days of absence. Everything was exactly as I had left it – the gas cylinder still anorexic (feeding it is too expensive) and the electric current cut off by foreign shears. The once pleasant panorama outside my window has changed and no longer gladdens my spirits from the misery of living under siege. On the contrary, it now rubs salt in the wound, a trauma that won't heal with its reminder of a massacre. Twenty metres from my front door, where the fire station once stood, a huge crater now gapes wide enough for children to mess around in, as if to expel their parents' demon.

The afternoon call to prayer no longer has the same comforting quality of the muezzin's chant that I had grown accustomed to. I wonder where he's gone, if he managed to survive at the top of one of the few minarets that were left intact. The last time I listened to him, this anonymous muezzin had to interrupt his solemnly chanted liturgy because of a chesty cough. It's an affliction I'm familiar with myself, as the gases of the bombs in Gaza have spared no one. I found a note at the foot of the French window looking onto a small balcony, as if it had been put there by a friendly hand. The street and garden were littered with these same leaflets. They had been dropped from Israeli airplanes warning the Palestinians to stay alert, and be aware that the walls had ears and eyes.

"At the slightest threatening action against Israel we'll be back to invade the Gaza Strip. What you've seen these days is nothing compared to what awaits you." Some kids in the streets had picked up the leaflets and folded them into paper airplanes, seemingly sending the message back to its destination.

Ahmed told me on the phone about a new kids' game – until a few days ago, they amused themselves by relighting the fires, simply by kicking the fragments of white phosphorous bombs found scattered all over the Strip. The debris left by these devices with high chemical potential has very long-lasting inflammable properties. Even when picked up several days after their detonation, it still catches fire if shaken about. The Al Quds hospital paramedics speak of how they gave up trying to put out the fires provoked by these illegal bombs – their flames seemed to feed off the water being thrown at them.

"The consequences of all the shit that's been thrown at us in these last three weeks will surface in the near future, with new cancer cases and deformed babies", Munir, a doctor at Al Shifa hospital told me. Even Gaza's neighbours seem to be worried by this massive use of weapons forbidden by all international conventions. In Sderot, and likewise in Ashkelon, Israeli citizens have formally asked their government for clarifications regarding the weapons that have been used to torment us. It's obvious that impoverished uranium and white phosphorous scattered in such a criminal manner all over the tiny patch of land that is Gaza won't discriminate between Jews and Muslims when it comes to provoking generic illnesses.

Ethical Debate: 14 Kids Too Many?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/30/embry...

The woman had six other children before the set of eight, which were only the second set of octuplets recorded in the U.S. The babies' grandfather said Friday that his daughter wanted one more child and didn't expect this to happen.

Kaiser Permanente's Bellflower Medical Center reports that all is well with the mother and children. Seven babies are breathing unassisted, and one is receiving assisted oxygen through a tube in the nose. Seven are being tube-fed donated breast milk.

It is unclear how this woman ended up with eight embryos in the first place. "If she went to a fertility clinic, there's wide consensus from every single ethicist and fertility specialist that this was irresponsible and unethical to implant that many embryos," said M. Sara Rosenthal, bioethicist at the University of Kentucky's College of Medicine. "This is an outrageous situation that should not happen."

Doctors say that giving birth to extreme multiples comes with tremendous risks for both the mother and the babies. Risks for the children include bleeding in the brain, intestinal problems, developmental delays and lifelong learning disabilities.

__________________________________________________________

In addition to the ethical argument on how the young mother received so many embryos, both CBS and Fox news have reported that the 33yr old woman is unmarried and lives with her parents.

So what do you think? Is the mother going to be able to adequately care for 14 children?

French strikes: Violence erupts as thousands gather to protest on 'Black Thursday'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...

Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through French cities, with violence erupting in some places, as part of a day of national strikes demanding pay rises and better protection for jobs.

Read and discuss...

Google flags whole internet as malware

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/31/googl...

We’re not quite sure what’s going on, but a couple of minutes ago any search result from Google started being flagged as malware with a message stating “This site may harm your computer”

Shouldn't water be cleaned for free?

Shouldn't water be clean and safe for free? Isn'it our right?

Why do we have to pay two to three dollars per bottle to have clean water that was purified with reverse osmosis?
What about the people that can't afford it? Are we going to slowly get sickened by it and die?

They should install a huge reverse osmosis filter to clean all of our water for may be a little more of what we pay now if not for free.

As you might know already our water is contaminated by heavy industrial and environmental pollution.

These are some of the contaminants found in tap and some bottled water:

Coliformbacteria,Ecoli,Perchlorate,VOCs,Viruses,Fluoride,Chlorine,Chloramine,Lead,Arsenic,Radon,Herbicides,Pesticides,Cryptosporidium,THMs,MTBE,Bromate,Sulphur,Radioactive materials and all pharmaceutical traces that are very toxic.

Wouldn't this save us millions of plastic bottled water? And what are they waiting for to replace plastic with an eco friendly material? Let's not forget the chemicals that plastic bottles leak in the water as bisphenol A and phthalates.
Chlorine and fluoride are disinfecting our water right now but are well known toxic elements, we could get rid of them with reverse osmosis.
An other method could be distilling it and then adding minerals to it like smart water does but at a local water treatment. What do you think?

It makes me think and amazes me when I read this:
"The truth is, there is no "New" water on this planet. All water is old water that has been recycled continuously for millions of years. We are actually drinking the same water that the dinosaurs drank, recycled obviously by Mother Nature".

PS:
The link is just a picture due to the lack of a specific article about this idea, concept and question open for exploration. "I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." Albert Einstein

Dead Oprah Jacuzzi Girl

Who loves 'em some mighty fine Top 5 Virals? You do!! Today we are servin' up some dead Oprah, an interactive girl in a Jacuzzi, a WTF blanket, a snowboarding television, and the wonders of 4 chords in music.

To watch the full versions of all five videos just click on the links in the comments section below.

Atheist bilboard comes to the bible belt

http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0109/5904...

Charleston, SC - It's hard to miss an unholy sign looming over the holy city.

"It makes me mad. I think it's wrong and I believe in God,” said Mike Anderson, a firm believer in God.

"I think everybody has the right to believe in what they believe in whether you don't believe in God or not," said Cheryl Cabiad.

The billboard along I-26 asks “Do You Believe in God? If Not You’re Not Alone.” The organization behind it is the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry.

"The purpose is not to try to convert it's to say we exist and we know there are a lot of others in Charleston who are also non-believers," said Vice President of the organization Herb Silverman.

Silverman has considered himself an atheist since his early teens. He said non-believers deserve just as much respect as those who follow organized religion.

"We believe we can be good for goodness sake we don't feel we need to go to an authority of a book written a couple thousand years ago," said Silverman.

Here in the buckle of the Bible belt, church leaders are keeping their faith squarely in God.

"It says don't believe in God then you're not alone...that's ironic for us because if you don’t' believe in God then you truly are alone," said Father Gregory Wilson.

Father Wilson doesn't believe the sign will seriously hurt the church. He also said he'd be happy to help non-believers find the Almighty.

"I think when people say God isn't real, obviously they have something deep within them that they're still searching for," he told ABC News 4’s Josh Cascio. "I think God is reaching out even to those who put up things like they don't believe in God because God believes in them," he added.

Whether you like this sign or not you can expect to see it on I-26 through February.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is this good news for free speech? Or have the atheists gone too far in making their point?

Blackwater mercs likely to stay in Iraq, despite gov't ban

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/01/blac...

Iraq's government says it won't give Blackwater a license to operate in the country. So does that mean the firm's cadre of tattooed gunslingers will be gone from Iraq, forever? Not exactly.

Sure, Blackwater as a corporate entity probably won't be roaming the streets of Baghdad or Mosul for much longer. But the individual mercenaries who've been working for years in Iraq, serving as a Praetorian Guard for the State Department's diplomats — those guys likely will be able to stay.

The State Department has a contract for "worldwide personal protective services" with three firms: Blackwater, DynCorp, and Triple Canopy. If Blackwater is no longer allowed to operate in Iraq, a lawyer steeped in the field tells Danger Room, there's no legal reason why the other two firms can't scoop up Blackwater's employees. "State simply issues a new task order to DynCorp or Triple Canopy, who turn around and hire some or all of Blackwater's employees," he says.

Michelle Obama makes speaking debut as First Lady

The new First Lady made her White House speaking debut Thursday for a cause and celebration close to her heart.

Michelle Obama warmly welcomed an overjoyed crowd invited to the White House for her husband’s first bill-signing - a law designed to assure equal pay for women.

“As I told guests, feel free, walk around, touch some stuff,” an inviting Obama said to laughter as she welcomed the 150 or so guests, including Secretary of State Clinton, in the White House’s State Dining Room.

“Just don’t break anything. It’s what I try to tell my kids.”

The “don’t break anything” line was a reprise of President Obama’s gentle reminder last week to a visiting group. Read the rest of this entry »

Obama’s half-brother arrested for marijuana possession

Nairobi, Jan 31 President Barack Obama’s Kenyan half-brother was Saturday arrested for marijuana possession, the police said.George Obama, who lives in the Huruma slum in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, was caught in possession of one marijuna joint and will appear in court Monday.

The two men share the same father, although they are virtual strangers.

Barack Obama’s Kenyan father, then a resident of the United States left his mother when the president was only a toddler.

‘AR manipulating information on Shiroi siege’

Dimapur, January 31 (MExN): Even as the standoff between the Assam Rifles and the NSCN (IM) in Shiroi entered its thirteenth day since the siege of Shirui village by the Assam Rifles began, the Tangkhul Coordination Committee on Shirui Siege alleged that there are reports of widespread manipulation of information form the Assam Rifles and that the freedom of the press has been curtailed by the AR.

A press release issued by the Media and Documentation Wing of the Tangkhul Coordination Committee on Shirui Siege alleged that the Assam Rifles are documenting their activities selectively while not allowing others to do the same.

“There are reports of widespread manipulation of information from the Assam Rifles. While the freedom of the press has been curtailed by the Assam Rifles through their denial of access to the site to several pressmen, the Assam Rifles, through their PRO, have used the siege to present a clean image of themselves,” the release stated. In this connection, the Committee asserted that this is in violation of all known ideals of the exercise of free expression and the freedom of the press.

“If the Assam Rifles have nothing to hide, the Committee challenges the Assam Rifles to allow pressmen and others to have access to the site so that an unbiased story can be told,” the committee stated.

Besides, the Committee also stated that in the continued wake of the siege, the human rights of many individuals, recognized and affirmed through international treaties and conventions to which India is a signatory, have been infringed and violated.

In this connection, the release stated that a medical team deputed by the Deputy Commissioner to examine the physical condition of NSCN cadres was refused access outright by the Assam Rifles.

“India is a party to the Geneva Convention which stipulates clearly that medical care and facilities has to be provided to all. At the same time, the Committee acknowledges the efforts of the district administration in this regard,” the Committee stated.

The release also stated that the Committee members saw the Assam Rifles personnel using the main drinking water tank for washing their clothes and utensils. The same tank is a supply point for all the drinking water in Ukhrul town and neighboring villages.

“Such unhygienic practice, besides being a serious matter of health concerns, violates the right to safe drinking, and should be stopped outright,” the release stated and added that the Committee members also saw that the water line to the NSCN camp is shared by many villagers who live below the campsite. The cutting of the pipeline, besides depriving the NSCN cadres to drinking water which is against all principles of civilized behavior, violates the rights of the villagers who depend on the pipeline, the release stated.

In this connection, the Committee asserted that the chances of human error in judgement can be quite high in such a situation like the Shiroi siege which has entered the 13th day.

Further, the Committee affirmed that the problems faced by the villagers presently and which they will face in the future are escalating. “The Committee fixes the responsibility of any hardships faced by the villagers on the government solely. The Committee further states that in the eventuality of the siege spiraling out of control, the Committee will hold the government responsible and that any adverse reaction from the public will be held against the government,” the release stated.

Nonetheless, the Committee acknowledged the commendable role of the women who have been keeping a vigil at the site.

“Without their restraining presence, the likelihood of an armed confrontation between the Assam Rifles and the NSCN occurring is very high,” the Committee stated and at the same time thanked all those who have taken initiatives in resolving the siege, especially civil societies and communities from other parts of Manipur and Nagaland who have visited the site and given moral boost to all those who have been working for a peaceful resolution of the siege.

The Committee also commended the restrain shown by all parties in maintaining and following the ceasefire between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM). In this regard, the Committee urged the DIG, 17th Assam Rifles and the “CAO, Wung Tangkhul Region” to continue exercising the same restrain and that they should do everything within their power to resolve the issue immediately through peaceful means.

Union HM’s doubts irk hoho

Dimapur, January 31 (MExN): The statement of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram expressing reservations over the “far too long” ceasefire is noted with concern by the Tangkhul Hoho of Nagaland. Rather, the Hoho blamed the GoI’s “lack of sincerity and political will”. “The Tangkhul Hoho Nagaland is also surprised and taken a back the statement of P. Chidambaram, Union Home Minister who categorically stated to end the impasse with Naga militants on the ground that it had gone on far too long” the hoho today said in a response.

It opined that it would be unwise on the part of the GOI to end the present ceasefire without “any tangible result on the flimsy ground of blaming to NSCN, while they have given free hands in dealing with the Naga outfits”. “While we fully subscribe that the matter to resolve the Naga issue has taken too long, Hoho feels that it is due to lack of sincerity and political will in the matter by the GOL Therefore, to end the present cease fire on the ground of the present stand off cannot be a wise solution” the hoho stated.

Also, over the standoff between Assam Rifles troops and NSCN (IM) cadres in Shiroi in Manipur, the Tangkhul Hoho Nagaland appealed to both “to maintain utmost restrain and try to sort-out the differences in just and equitable manner”. This should be so, taking into account the views of various civil organizations so that the present peace talk is not jeopardized, it added.

Freida Pinto’s Bollywood treat for American viewers

Actress Freida Pinto gave a taste of Indian film industry to American TV viewers in an impromptu Bollywood-inspired performance across the stage of a talk show.

The Slumdog Millionaire star gave a Bollywood treat to Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson when she danced across the stage of the talk show.

The 24-year-old actress admitted that she’d already made director Danny Boyle a fan of the elaborate Indian productions after working with him on the new movie.

While on the show, the leggy beauty showed Ferguson how to groove.

‘We have a little bit of dance at the end of the film, but I’d like to teach you some moves. This is Danny Boyle’s favourite,’ Contactmusic quoted her as saying on the show.

"Dear Investment U Reader,

I think Barack Obama would make an exceptional short-term stock trader.

I've never met the man, personally. And I know nothing about his stock portfolio or whether he even has one.

Yet what I've seen indicates that he would make a lot of money trading stocks. Why? Because the man has a world-class temperament. And so do all great traders.

Let me begin by saying I'm not endorsing or opposing any of President Obama's policies here.

But I noticed that he took down the Clinton machine in the Democratic primaries without so much as raising his voice.

When his former pastor Jeremiah Wright made outlandish remarks and then took to the media to defend them, Obama distanced himself with dignity and class.

When his Republican opponent pointed out in the debates that Obama had the thinnest resume of any Presidential aspirant since Wendell Wilkie, Obama just smiled and shook his head.

Nothing rattles him. I like that in a leader. And in a trader.

Investment great Peter Lynch once remarked that, "A stock market decline is as routine as a January blizzard in Colorado. If you're prepared, it can't hurt you. A decline is a great opportunity to pick up bargains left behind by investors who are fleeing the storm in a panic."

He also noted that, "Everyone has the brainpower to make money in stocks. Not everyone has the stomach.

If you are susceptible to selling everything in a panic, you ought to avoid stocks and stock mutual funds altogether."

Or, at the very least, moderate the size of your investments so you can maintain your composure. Let me give you an example.

Let's say you bought 10,000 shares of XYZ Corp. at $75 a share. That's a lot of money for most of us. If after you bought XYZ, it promptly fell to $69 the next week, you would be down $60,000.

How would you feel? It might make you think the deal you cut on your last car wasn't such a triumph after all. It might make you think twice about private school for the kids. You might wonder why your spouse is over there clipping coupons out of the Sunday paper.

In short, you might be agitated, nervous, or upset. Sixty thousand dollars is a lot of money to see disappear in a week.

But first off, you haven't lost anything if you don't panic and sell. After all, the stock has only fallen 8%.

Yet a person with a nervous temperament immediately begins imagining all sorts of negative possibilities. The stock may never bounce back. The market may never bounce back. The company may have poor fundamentals. (And indeed it may, but this is something you should ascertain before you buy a stock, not after.)

If you bought a single share for $75 and witnessed the same decline, my guess is your reaction would be somewhat different. (Ho-hum. What's for dinner?)

Why is your reaction different this time? After all, the percentage move in the stock is the same.

The difference - because of the amount of money involved - is your nervous system's response to the news. And if your next decision is based on an emotional reaction, chances are you're going to regret it.

A trader with a good temperament considers things pragmatically, realistically - unemotionally.

He remembers that stocks rarely move up in a straight line. He reminds himself that there is often no correlation between a stock's short-term fluctuations and the outlook of the underlying business. He knows that bear markets are sometimes ferocious, so he uses trailing stops to protect his principal and his profits.

And he understands that investors who stick to a proven discipline rather than counting all the ways the sky is falling generally do better over time.

In short, a strong stomach, not a big brain, is what makes a successful trader. And my bet is that President Obama would make a good one.

But for now, I hope he sticks to his day job.

Good investing,"

Alex

‘New Kids On The Block’ portrait sparks bidding frenzy at charity auction

A self-portrait of popular boy band New Kids On The Block has sparked a bidding frenzy at a charity auction.

The caricature of the pop group at their recent O2 Arena concert in London was drawn by singer Donnie Wahlberg, who had managed to get the band to pen their signatures on it.

Wahlberg had apparently donated the A3-sized picture to the No Surrender Charitable Trust, which supports young adult cancer patients, along with the marker pen that was used to create the drawing, reports the Daily Express.

While the bidding for the portrait recently reached 1,060 pounds, the black pen, which “has been kissed and rubbed all over the body of Donny Wallberg”, too has invited offers up to 255 pounds.

Successful bidders would also receive a video blog of Wahlberg at work on CD to prove its legitimacy as the auction comes to an end on February 4.

Indian Govt set to make computers available @ Rs 500

New Delhi: To take knowledge to every household and help students get feed on every subject while sitting home, the Government is set to make available low-cost computers at USD 10 within six months.

Technology for these small devices has been developed by IISC, Bangalore and IIT Madras. "But lot of testing has to be done to ensure that the technology works properly. Once the testing is over, the computers will be made available on commercial basis. The target is to make it available in six months time," Higher Education Secretary, Ministry of HRD, R P Agrawal said reporters in New Delhi on Thursday.

The computer will be a small equipment with expandable memory, LAN and Wi-Fi facilities. The government will also produce e-content on every subject which will be made available free of cost.

A prototype computer has been designed which is being tested now. "Its cost will be USD 10. If the parents want to gift something to their kids, they can easily purchase this item and gift them," he said.

Students can get the e-content feed and load them in their computers and take advantage of the materials. The government will provide these computers to educational institutions at a subsidised price, Agrawal said.

The government is in the process of consultation with different agencies for production of these computers and are seeking collaboration with them. These computers can run at two WT power. "The ultimate target is to have a Virtual Technological University," Agrawal said.

The low-cost computers are being developed under the central scheme -- National Mission on Education through Information Communication Technology (ICT).

The ICT scheme envisages providing broadband connectivity to about 20,000 institutions, including 100 central educational institutions, in the country.

Institutions run by state governments and private agencies will have to bear 25 per cent of the cost for the broadband connectivity.

There are about 15,000 institutions in the country which do not have any connectivity and they will get five MBPS connectivity, Agrawal said. "The purpose is that the scheme will bridge the digital divide between institutions," he said.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has already approved the scheme which aims to use ICT in providing personalised and interactive knowledge modules to students, a step aimed at increasing enrollment rate by five per cent in higher education in the 11th Plan.

The scheme would cost Rs 4,612 crore in the 11th Plan. "About 40 per cent of the fund will be spent on developing e-content. The e-content will be provided free to the institutions and students," he said.

Google lets users search for Internet blockers

Washington: Google Inc on Wednesday unveiled a plan aimed at eventually letting computer users determine whether providers like Comcast Corp are inappropriately blocking or slowing their work online.

The scheme is the latest bid in the debate over network neutrality, which pits content companies like Google against some Internet service providers.

The ISPs say they need to take reasonable steps to manage ever-growing traffic on their networks for the good of all users. Content and applications companies fear the providers have the power to discriminate, favoring some traffic over others.

Google will provide academic researchers with 36 servers in 12 locations in the United States and Europe to analyze data, said its chief Internet guru, Vint Cerf, known as the "father of the Internet."

"When an Internet application doesn't work as expected or your connection seems flaky, how can you tell whether there is a problem caused by your broadband ISP (Internet service provider), the application, your PC (personal computer), or something else?" Cerf wrote in a blog post.

The effort aims to uncover the problem for users, Cerf said. Cerf is widely known for his work for the US Government in designing the Internet protocol in the 1970s and 1980s.

In a precedent-setting decision last year, the five-member Federal Communications Commission voted to uphold a complaint accusing Comcast of violating the FCC's open-Internet principles by blocking file-sharing services, such as those that distribute video and television shows.

The case became a flash point in the Net neutrality debate. Comcast is fighting the decision in the courts.

COX MAKES MOVE

In a move likely to fuel further debate, another large cable company, Cox Communications, said on Wednesday it would begin testing a plan to give priority to time-sensitive traffic like Web page views and streaming videos.

Less time-sensitive traffic, such as file uploads and peer-to-peer file sharing, could be delayed under the plan.

Cox said it will not discriminate based on owner or source of traffic.

Still, Net neutrality advocates are wary of such policies.

"The lesson we learned from the Comcast case is that we must be skeptical of any practice that comes between users and the Internet," said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, an advocacy group.

Researchers are already using tools to test connection speed and determine if an ISP is blocking or throttling particular applications. Google's effort will allow an expansion of that effort.

"The goal is to let consumers see what's under the hood of their Internet connection," said Sascha Meinrath, a wireless expert at the New America Foundation, a think tank in which Google CEO Eric Schmidt is board chairman. "Right now it's very difficult now to make an informed consumer choice."

Naga students urge authority to intervene

Imphal, January 31 : Expressing concern over the tumultuous situation prevailing in and around Shirui village under Ukhrul district regarding the stand off between the NSCN (IM) and 17 Assam Rifles, All Naga Students' Association, Manipur (ANSAM) and its constituent bodies have appealed to the concerned authorities to immediately intervene in order to amicably resolve the 'war like situation'.

David Adani Choro, president of ANSAM, Reisangpem Shaiza, general secretary of ANSAM, Kuba Peter, president, Senapati District Students' Association (SDSA), GH Newmeh, chairman of Zeliangrong Students' Union, Manipur (ZSUM), SK Stephen, president of Naga Students' Union, Chandel (NSUC) and PR Jordan, president, Tangkhul Katamnao Saklong (TKS), have said today that many innocent civilians were in the web of an apparent armed conflict with the incident of condoning, cutting of water and food supply line and power supply of NSCN camp at Shirui by 17 Assam Rifles which may result in huge loss of lives and properties of the innocent civilians.

The Naga students' bodies also alleged that the unfortunate unhealthy attitude displayed by the Government of India (GOI) through 17 AR undermining the series of Prime Ministerial talks was very unpleasant for Indo-Naga peace process in particular and to all the peace loving people.

In this regards, the student bodies appealed to all concern authorities to immediately intervene in order to amicably resolve the war like situation at Shirui village, Ukhrul.

They also informed that with the signing of the Indo-Naga ceasefire and the subsequent various rounds of political talks, the Naga people had welcome and cherished the hard won peace for the last more than ten years.

However, on January 19 at around 2 am 17 AR cordoned off the NSCN camp, alleged the student organisations reminding that the NSCN camp was established few years back with the knowledge of the GOI and that the camp had been visited by the Indian armed forces on one to two occasions.

The top 10 dumb blonde quotes revealed

London, Jan 29 : It looks like blonde stars have traded fame and fortune for a large slice of their brains, at least thats what their quotes suggest.

Paris Hilton recently goofed when she said that Britains Prime Minister is Gordon Ramsay, reports the Sun.

However, the hotel heiress isnt the only famous blonde to have uttered such things.

Heres the list of top 10 dumb blonde quotes:
1) Paris Hilton talking to press about the US chain store: “Wal-Mart… do they like make walls there?”

2) Jessica Simpson on NewleyWeds: Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish? I know it’’s tuna, but it says ”Chicken by the Sea.”

3) Alicia Silverstone on her role in Clueless: “I think that the film was very deep. I think it was deep in the way that it was very light. I think lightness has to come from a very deep place if it’’s true lightness.”

4) Chantelle Houghton when Big Brother said she had changed since becoming a celebrity: I”ve changed? What do you mean… I”ve changed my clothes?”

5) Jodie Marsh in a recent interview: “Eskimos are uncivilised because they don”t have any shops.”

6) Paris Hilton on her technique on the red carpet: “I don”t really think, I just walk.”

7) Jessica Simpson on her first day at high school: “A teacher asked us if anybody knew the names of the continents. I was sooo excited. I was like, Damn it! It’’s my first day of 7th grade, I”m in junior high and I know this answer. So I raised my hand, I was the first one, and I said A-E-I-O-U!”

8) Goldie Horn on her favourite types of films: “Comedy is funny”.

9) Sam Fox on fitness clothes: “Ive got 10 pairs of training shoes - one for every day of the week.”

10) Britney Spears on her taste in clothes: “So many people have asked me how I could possibly be a role model and dress like a tramp and get implants… all I have to say is that self-esteem is how you look at yourself and I feel good enough about myself so wear that kind of clothing… the breast implant issue has nothing to do with that…”

UK may give rights to 36,000 Gurkha soldiers to settle

The British Home Office is likely to give 36,000 Gurkhas, who served in the British Army before 1997, the right to settle in the country with their families.

New settlement rights due to be announced could open the door to 36,000 Gurkhas who served in the British Army before 1997.

Nepal is understood to be concerned that the loss of so many citizens and their army pensions could leave a huge hole in its economy.

The Home Office was forced to take action after a ruling from High Court judges in October that the Government needed to review its policy on whether Gurkhas who had served before 1997 could live in Britain, The Times reported.

Officials say that the forthcoming decision has such far-reaching consequences that concerns have been raised about the continuing recruitment of Gurkhas from Nepal.

Defence officials have warned the Home Office that if the right to live in Britain were extended to every Gurkha who has served in the British Army, Nepal might scrap the 1947 agreement under which its young men have been recruited each year.

Since the tripartite agreement was signed with Nepal and India, the Nepalese economy has relied on income coming into the country from Gurkhas serving with the British Army, the paper reported.

The Home Office has come up with certain criteria for settlement that will keep the numbers down without flouting the judgment of the High Court.

One Whitehall source said: We can still meet what the judges want while keeping the criteria as tight as possible. We have no idea at this stage how many will want to come to live in the UK and how many members of their family they will bring with them.

Gurkhas have fought alongside British soldiers for nearly 200 years 200,000 fought in the world wars and 45,000 have died in action, The Times reported.

MC Konyak lauds Yongshei village for preserving forest

Nagaland Forest Minister, MC Konyak adressing the audience on the ocassion of the 60th Republic Day celebration in Longleng Town on January 26.

Dimapur : Nagaland Minister for Forest & Environment, Ecology, Wildlife and Excise, MC Konyak undertook a tour of Longleng district from January 25 to 27, 2009 where he visited Kangnyu Reserve Forest, and visited the betel leaf cultivation in the valley area of Dikhu river of Tamlu area and met with villagers, council members and public leaders. He was also the chief guest at the 60th Republic Day celebration at Longleng town.

A press release received here today from the General Secretary (Admn) and Sokesman of BJP, Nagaland informed that the minister was accompanied by Conservator of Forest, Nagaland, Blooming Ao, DFO Tuensang, Tongpang, DFO Mokokchung Sosang and a host of Longleng district administrative, police and other departments as well as Longleng Town Council Chairman and public leaders while he visited the Kangnyu Reserve Forest, Yongshei village. A meeting with the Yongshei Village Council and village was also held. The visiting officials were immensely impressed by the standard of the maintenance of the more than 900 hectares, the release stated.
“Kangnyu Community reserve forest, which, through years of consistent hard work and dedication by the villagers Yongshei had survived, with thousands of extra ordinarily tall trees standing magnificently, giving safe and comfortable haven to wild birds and animals of various types,” the release stated and added that the Kangnyu Reserve Forest, “revered by the villagers of Yongshei as a Sacred forest”, has been examined with keen interest by the Forest Department, Nagaland to convert it into a ‘Community Reserve forest’.
The release also asserted that the forest, once it is given proper care for improvement and beautification, then it will become a venue of strong tourist attraction and study.
In appreciation of ‘their far sighted collective effort in preserving the Kangnyu Reserve Forest’, the Minister handed over Rs 50,000 to the chairman of the Yongshei village council, H Humnyei for further maintenance of the forest. The Forest Department ‘is expected to expedite necessary action and contributed Rs 10,000 towards the construction of Yongshei Baptist church’, the release informed.
It also informed that the Forest Minister, MC Konyak, on January 27, along with the Forest Department officials visited the betel leaf ultivation spread along the valley of the Dikhu river of Tamlu area and met with the villager, council members and public leaders who received the team on the bank of confluence point of Tapo and Tikhu rivers, where, construction of the Dikhu Hydro Electric Project is in process.
The release while stating that the visiting dignitaries, while appreciating the successful trade of the betel leaf by the villagers of Tamlu villagers, advised the cultivators to increase their production as there is no better substitute to such cash crops. Furthermore, the release informed that the Forest Minister, MC Konyak graced the Republic function at Longleng as the chief guest and took the Republic Day salute from several contingents comprising of school children, police and other uniformed units, and also delivered the 60th Republic Day speech at the function which was held at the Longleng Town Play ground.

Local citrus goes global

Likely UNESCO heritage status will generate funds for Meghalaya's Nokrek biosphere reserve- Amarjyoti Borah

The Indian wild orange, believed to be the progenitor of all citrus species in the world, grows here. Now the area may attain the status of a UNESCO Heritage Site.

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has nominated Nokrek biosphere reserve in Meghalaya's Garo hills for this world status and forwarded its recommendation to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO.

Though UNESCO is yet to get back on it, scientists and forest officials say the recognition will put Nokrek on the world map. The status will bring more facilities to the reserve for effective conservation and monitoring.

The nomination was made after a study by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Kolkata revealed that 10 per cent of the plants in Nokrek biosphere reserve are rare and endangered. Scientists from BSI say immense research needs to be done to understand the region's unique biodiversity.

Teeming with wildlife at an altitude of 1,418 metres above sea level-the highest point of the Garo hills-Nokrek is known for preserving a rich diversity in indigenous citrus varieties. A section of the biosphere reserve was declared the National Citrus Gene Sanctuary after Indian wild oranges (Citrus indica Tanaka) were found there in 1984.

According to the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi, a distinct microclimate, with a combination of tropical and temperate seasons and heavy rainfall, offers an environment conducive to citrus plants. Rare varieties such as Citrus macroptera (Melanesian sour orange), Citrus aurantifolia (lemon) and Citrus grandis (pummelo) grow abundantly in the region. "The gene sanctuary was established to preserve these rare species of citrus plants," said Tony Marak, a forest official of Meghalaya.

Though genetic diversity is preserved at the gene sanctuary there is some cause for concern. S K Malik, senior scientist at NBPGR, said increasing human intervention around the gene sanctuary is affecting the habitat's natural balance.

Large-scale deforestation and jhum (shifting) cultivation led to soil erosion. It destroyed 14.6 per cent of the biosphere reserve before being declared a protected area in 1986. Selective cultivation of commercially-profitable citrus varieties in areas close to the biosphere reserve also threatens the genetic diversity.

"Recognition by UNESCO will help generate funds for Nokrek as well as for spreading awareness among local communities," said Sunil Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forests, Meghalaya.

Though the World Conservation Union, or IUCN, lists certain indigenous species including Citrus indica and Citrus macroptera as endangered, scientists at BSI say several local varieties such as chimbal, slonga, chamba, kampil are yet to be identified scientifically. Hence there is a need to conduct biosystematic studies of all plant species in the area. "If managed and exploited in a sustainable manner, this would act as a treasure house of important genes for developing disease- tolerant and high-yielding citrus varieties," said Malik.

"The vast genetic diversity in Nokrek can also be used to develop hybrid varieties with medicinal values," said H S Debnath, deputy director and principal investigator of BSI. Communities in the Garo hills are already aware of the curative properties of several indigenous citrus varieties. For instance, they use the Indian wild orange (locally known as memang narang) to cure jaundice and stomach ailments. "A thorough study will help understand and eventually tap their medicinal property," said Malik.

There are many more uncharted areas in this biosphere that warrant a thorough study. The BSI research team of recently collected fossils of marine origin from South Garo Hills district: proof of life forms including crabs, plant seeds, leaves and marine species were found. "These fossils reinforce the idea that the lower Himalayas were once near a coast," said Debnath.

It is not just the scientific community that is excited about the biosphere reserve's world status. For people like Dipu Marak, who works with Achik Tourism Society, Nokrek being declared a World Heritage Site spells a windfall. "It will boost tourism."

RAW : An Instrument of Indian Expansionism

The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), created in 1968, has assumed a significant status in the formulation of India’s domestic and foreign policies, particularly the later. Working directly under the Prime Minister, it has over the years become and effective instrument of India’s national power. In consonance with Kautilya’s precepts, RAW’s doctrine is based on the principle of waging a continuous series of battles of intrigues and secret wars.

RAW, ever since its creation, has always been a vital, though unobtrusive, actor in Indian policy-making apparatus. But it is the massive international dimensions of RAW operations that merit a closer examination. To the credit of this organization, it has in very short span of time mastered the art of spy warfare. Credit must go to Indira Gandhi who in the late 1970s gave it a changed and much more dynamic role. To suit her much publicized Indira Doctrine, (actually India Doctrine) Mrs. Gandhi specifically asked RAW to create a powerful organ within the organization which could undertake covert operations in neighboring countries. It is this capability that makes RAW a more fearsome agency than its superior KGB, CIA, MI-6, BND and the Mossad.

Its internal role is confined only in monitoring events having bearing on the external threat. RAW’s boss works directly under the Prime Minister. An Additional Secretary to the Government of India, under the Director RAW, is responsible for the Office of Special Operations (OSO), intelligence collected from different countries, internal security (under the Director General of Security), the electronic/technical section and general administration. The Additional Secretary as well as the Director General of Security is also under the Director of RAW. DG Security has two important sections: the Aviation Research Center (ARC) and the Special Services Bureau (SSB). The joint Director has specified desks with different regional divisions/areas (countries):

Area one. Pakistan: Area two, China and South East Asia: Area three, the Middle East and Africa: and Area four, other countries.

Aviation Research Center (ARC) is responsible for interception, monitoring and jamming of target country’s communication systems. It has the most sophisticated electronic equipment and also a substantial number of aircraft equipped with state-of- the art eavesdropping devices. ARC was strengthened in mid-1987 by the addition of three new aircraft, the Gulf Stream-3. These aircraft can reportedly fly at an altitude of 52,000 ft and has an operating range of 5000 kms. ARC also controls a number of radar stations located close to India’s borders. Its aircraft also carry out oblique reconnaissance, along the border with Bangladesh, China, Nepal and Pakistan.

RAW having been given a virtual carte blanche to conduct destabilization operations in neighboring countries inimical to India to seriously undertook restructuring of its organization accordingly. RAW was given a list of seven countries (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Pakistan and Maldives) whom India considered its principal regional protagonists. It very soon systematically and brilliantly crafted covert operations in all these countries to coerce, destabilize and subvert them in consonance with the foreign policy objectives of the Indian Government.

RAW’s operations against the regional countries were conducted with great professional skill and expertise. Central to the operations was the establishment of a huge network inside the target countries. It used and targeted political dissent, ethnic divisions, economic backwardness and criminal elements within these states to foment subversion, terrorism and sabotage. Having thus created the conducive environments, RAW stage-managed future events in these countries in such a way that military intervention appears a natural concomitant of the events. In most cases, RAW’s hand remained hidden, but more often that not target countries soon began unearthing those “hidden hand”. A brief expose of RAW’s operations in neighboring countries would reveal the full expanse of its regional ambitions to suit India Doctrine ( Open Secrets. India’s Intelligence Unveiled by M K Dhar. Manas Publications, New Delhi, 2005 ).

Bangladesh

Indian intelligence agencies were involved in erstwhile East Pakistan,now Bangladesh since early 1960s. Its operatives were in touch with Sheikh Mujib for quite some time. Sheikh Mujib went to Agartala in 1965. The famous Agartala case was unearthed in 1967. In fact, the main purpose of raising RAW in 1968 was to organise covert operations in Bangladesh. As early as in 1968, RAW was given a green signal to begin mobilising all its resources for the impending surgical intervention in erstwhile East Pakistan. When in July 1971 General Manekshaw told Prime Minister Indira Gandhi that the army would not be ready till December to intervene in Bangladesh, she quickly turned to RAW for help. RAW was ready. Its officers used Bengali refugees to set up Mukti Bahini. Using this outfit as a cover, Indian military sneakeddeep into Bangladesh. The story of Mukti Bahini and RAW’s role in its creation and training is now well-known. RAW never concealed its Bangladesh operations. Interested readers may have details in Asoka Raina’s Inside RAW: the story of India’s secret service published by Vikas Publishing House of New Delhi.

The Indians played upon Bengali sentiments in the aftermath of the 1965 Pakistan-India war through RAW so that when opportunity struck the Indians were well-prepared. It was RAW that gradually converted Sheikh Mujibur Rehman from being a staunch supporter of Pakistan as a student leader to envisaging himself as the possible ‘Father’ of a new nation - Bangladesh. Indian sources, including journalists, have put on record how much before 1971 RAW had established the network of a separatist movement through ‘cells’ within East Pakistan and military training camps in Indian territory adjoining East Pakistan. The Mukti Bahini were all in place organisationally to take advantage of the political trouble in 1971 and carry out acts of sabotage against communication lines so that Indian forces simply marched in at the ‘right’ time. RAW agents provided valuable information as well as acting as an advance guard for conducting unconventional guerrilla acts against the Pakistani defence forces. A Bengali, who was a Mukti Bahini activist, Zainal Abedin, has written a revealing book which includes his personal experience in Indian training camps, entitled RAW and Bangladesh. It was the post-fall of Dhaka period which exposed the Indians’ true intentions and made Abedin realise that It was evident from the conduct of the Indian Army that they treated Bangladesh as a colony … It is now evident that India had helped the creation of Bangladesh with the aim that it would be a step forward towards the reunification of India.

Because Mujib returned, Indian forces could not remain in Bangladesh permanently and so it fell on RAW to initiate other fronts to undermine the sovereignty of Bangladesh. RAW has since been seeking to create Indian dominance culturally, ideologically and economically in Bangladesh.

In addition, RAW has also created another insurgency force: The Shanti Bahini (Fighters for Peace). This force comprises the Chittagong Hill Tracts Hindu and Buddhists tribesmen (the Chakmas) and the intention is to bleed the Bengali military and keep the border area tense. The Chakmas used to embarrass the Bangladesh government especially when the latter protested over Indian policy on the sharing of waters’ issue (http://www.defencejournal..com/jan99/rawfacts.htm).

RAW’s involvement in Chittagong Hill Ttacts : some admissions

The Chakma guerrillas had closely assisted RAW operatives. They were assisted during and after the liberation War. The Chakmas, after the change of govt in 1975, contacted the RAW. The Chakmas offered to infiltrate among the Mizo rebels and pass on information to the Indian govt in lieu of assylum. This offer was accepted ( Inside RAW : The Story of India’s Secret Service, Asoka Raina, Vikas Publishers, New Delhi, 1981, pp.86-87 ).

In 1975, the RAW was instructed to assist the Chakma rebels with arms, supplies , bases and training. Training was conducted in the border camps in Tripura but specialized training was imparted at Chakrata near Dehra Doon. Shantu Larma’s Shanti Bahini members were flown to Chakrata and then sent back to Tripura to infiltrate into Chittagong Hill Tracts. A RAW office and its operatives at Agartala monitored the progress of the trainees. In 1976, the Shanti Bahini launched its first attack on the Bangladesh force. A new insurgency had been born and India’s secret war in the hills of Bangladesh had begun ( South Asia’s Fractured Frontier, Binalaksmi Nepram, Mittal Pablishers, New Delhi, 2002, pp-153 ).

The RAW was involved in training rebels of Chakma tribes and Shanti Bahini to carry out subversive activities in Bangladesh ( RAW’s role in Furthering India’s Foreign Policy, The New Nation, Dhaka, 31 August 1994 ).

The Indian intelligence had collaborated the armed rebels of Chittagong Hill Tracts to destabilise the region ( Indo-Bangladesh Relation, Motiur Rahman, daily Prothom Alo, 10 December 2002 ).

The creation of Bangladesh was masterminded by RAW in complicity with KGB under the covert clauses of Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation (adopted as 25-year Indo-Bangladesh Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation in 1972).RAW retained a keen interest in Bangladesh even after its independence. Mr. Subramaniam Swamy, Janata Dal MP, a close associate of Morarji Desai said that Rameswar Nath Kao, former Chief of RAW, and Shankaran Nair upset about Sheikh Mujib’s assassination chalked a plot to kill General Ziaur Rahman. However, when Morarji Desai came into power in 1977 he was indignant at RAW’s role in Bangladesh and ordered operations in Bangladesh to be called off; but by then RAW had already gone too far. General Zia continued to be in power for quite some time but he was assassinated after Indira Gandhi returned to power, though she denied her involvement in his assassination ( Weekly Sunday, Calcutta,18 September, 1988 ).

It has also unleashed a well-organized plan of psychological warfare, creation of polarisation among the armed forces, propaganda by false allegations of use of Bangladesh territory by ISI, creation of dissension’s among the political parties and religious sects, control of media, denial of river waters, and propping up a host of disputes in order to keep Bangladesh under a constant political and socio-economic pressure ( “RAW and Bangladesh” by Mohammad Zainal Abedin, November 1995, RAW In Bangladesh: Portrait of an Aggressive Intelligence, by Abu Rushd, Dhaka ).

RAW and Ford Foundation

Jaideep Saikia, an outward analyst, but virtually an Indian intelligence operative, hailing from Assam, abruptly tunes to India’s anti-Bangladesh campaign that the demography of Assam is being rapidly changed due to the alleged infiltration of the Bangladeshi Muslims into Northeast India, particularly in Assam in his recent book, “Terror ans frontiers: Islamist militancy in Northeast India”.

Educated, better to say trained, in school at the Rashtriya Indian Military College in Dehra Dun, Saikia recently researched on so-called Islamic Militancy in North East India under the aegis of a Ford Foundation fellowship, which was awarded for the year 2003. The research was conducted at the Program in ‘Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security’(ACDIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is an astonishing and utter folly how ‘For Foundation’ could sponsor and allow Saikia to use his fellowship on such an issue, which is not only controversial, but also baseless and false and a part of India’s anti-Bangladesh media campaign.

Saikia’s effort cannot be termed as research work, as this type of stories is written almost daily in India. India’s electronic and print media, including websites, are poured with such fabricated anti-Bangladesh items. It is assumed that Indian intelligence outfit RAW(Research & Analysis Wing) managed and possibly financed ‘Ford Foundation’ to award fellowship to Saikia, which he used not only to defame Bangladesh, but also to prepare a ground for India to invade Bangladesh.

Without deep and careful study it can easily be questioned, how Saikia, being a researcher could write, like his all other fellow-Indians, an essay having minimal statistics and historical facts, which he on the other hand, distorted in every possible ways. He tuning to his mentors in New Delhi chorused that Bangladeshis deliberately infiltrate into Assam to change the demography of the state either to form a new Muslim state out of Assam or merge the Muslim majority areas of the state with Bangladesh. To justify his claim, Saikia says, “The Muslims now constitute more than 70 per cent of the population of Dhubri district of Assam. But Saikia did not mention from which source he collected this religion-based demographic information, as the Indian census of 2001, did not enumerate its citizens on the basis of religion.

Secondly, he should know that at least five districts of Assam adjoining Sylhet had Muslim majority in 1947, when the subcontinent was partitioned. These districts were Goalpara, Hilakandi, Cacher, Dhubri and Karimganj subdivision of Sylhet. For this reason, the Muslims constitute about 30 per cent of the population of Assam. So whatever might be the percentage of the Muslims in any district of Assam it cannot be termed as a threat to Assam or India.

Thirdly, Assam or any other state is not richer than Bangladesh, rather many states of India, not to speak of Assam lag far behind Bangladesh to a great extent. So why should the Bangladeshis leave for a poorer region to lead a poorest life.It is to be mentioned that Assam Gano Parishad, (AGP) is the prophet of anti-immigration crusade in Assam. But during its 2-term rules, AGP government under Prafulla Kumar Mahanto could identify few Muslims as illegal infiltrators in Assam.. Even the current Congress Chief Minister Tarun Gagoi and Former Chief Minister late Hiteshar Saikia officially acknowledged that there is no illegal infiltration of the Muslims in Assam.

Meanwhile, the Ahoms, including the mainstream secessionist outfit ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam), comprehended the design of RAW to divide the people of Assam into several antagonistic groups and crush them using one against the other mainly to frustrate the freedom struggle of Assam.

Realising the duplicity of Indian government, ULFA in July 1992 publicly declared the Bengali speaking migrants, which also include the Muslims, as friends. In a publication addressed to the ‘East Bengal migrants’ ULFA stated: “East Bengal migrants are considered Assamese. Without these exploited lot, ULFA cannot be successful. These are people who are educationally, economically backward. They cannot be our enemies.

These hardworking people are ULFA’s protection shield. Their contribution to the national income is immense. They can produce essential things from a small piece of land, sell without any profit, work hard for the betterment of Assam, sacrificing them for the future of the state. They are our real well wishers, our friends, better than the Indians. (’The Revolution Comes Full Circle: Bibhu Prasad Routray.)

In the same publication, ULFA went on to define the term ‘Bidekhi’(foreigner). “Those who do not regard this state as their own, accept it as their motherland, are not ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of this country, are aliens, ‘Bidekhis for us.” Saikia should have read this statement of ULFA. He should also know that the Bengali Muslims accepted Assamese as their mother tongue and identify them as Ahoms not as Bengalis. The new generations of the Muslim Ahoms even do not know Bengali. They are not antagonistic to the interest of Assam. All these factors prompted ULFA not to brand the Muslims as foreigners.

Being failed to brand the Muslims as infiltrators or outsiders, very recently India floated another allegations that Bangladesh designs to secede the Muslim majority districts of Assam either to merge with her territory or create an independent Muslim state in Assam. Virtually, the campaign is made to create anti-Muslim sentiment among the Ahoms so that the unity among communities becomes far a cry.

Saikia and other Indians not only floated the allegation of infiltration of the Bangladeshi Muslims to Assam, but also allege that Bangladesh in one of the mentors of the decades old secessionist militancy in Northeast. According to the allegation, which Saikia also did not forget to forefront in his book, Bangladesh provides shelter, training and even arms to different militant groups of the region, particularly ULFA, ATTF (All Tripura Tiger Forces), etc.

But being an Ahom and above all a researcher, Saikia should know that secessionist insurgency in Northeast when India got its independence from Britain in 1947, well before the birth of Bangladesh. People of this region do not feel them as Indians. They are fighting to end what they call, “Indian occupation.” Previously India blamed China, Burma (Now Myanmar), Pakistan and even America. But they shortened their list over the years and ascribe the allegation on Bangladesh and Pakistan. Some of the Indians now consider Bangladesh more dangerous for northeast than Pakistan. This allegation against Bangladesh was brought to the forefront, because it will be easier to squeeze weaker Bangladesh than any other country that India blames

But India could never prove any of her allegations against Bangladesh. India officially challenged that there are 195 camps or training centres of the Northeast insurgents in Bangladesh and supplied a list mentioning their whereabouts. According to the list, training centres and camps are situated in hospitals, police stations, residential colonies, government offices, playgrounds, etc. Bangladesh repeatedly requested India to come and show on-spot the existence of these camps and centres. But India never accepted the offer, as Indian policymakers know that there is not even single such centre or camp of the northeast militants, not to speak of 195.

Still the propagandists in New Delhi deliberately continue their fabricated allegations against Bangladesh, whose brief ulterior reasons I have mentioned earlier. I really feel pity for Saikia as well as Ford Foundation for being used as the tools of RAW. How Ford Foundation could accept such a baseless research work which goes against a country, which is a main target of Indian expansionist design. I would request Ford Foundation to send a ‘fact finding mission’ to Assam and Bangladesh as well to inspect the ground realities. Such mission will surely find that all the allegations that Saikia mentioned against Bangladesh in his so-called research work are the products of exaggeration and misinformation. Ford Foundation, to uphold its neutrality and worldwide reputation and acceptability, should consider my suggestion and act accordingly(http://bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidDate=2005-04-26&hidType=HIG&hidRecord=0000000000000000042370)

August 17 Blasts: Is there external linkage?

The controversy over Tarique Zia’s seemingly misquoted comment in the BBC interview that al-Qaeda ‘may’ have been involved in the August 17 serial blasts notwithstanding, despondency is bound to set in as the investigators have not yet unearthed any significant leads to the attacks’ masterminds (and their political goals) despite over 300 arrestees’ testimony having been recorded and a slew of clues found.

Such uncertainty does give rise to an obvious concern: Is there an external link to the blasts and, if so, who could have pulled the strings from behind the nation’s borders, and why?

A study of the post-blast behaviour of the Indian media and the intelligence apparatuses can go a long way toward understanding why terrorist incidents in Bangladesh seem to matter so much to our neighbour. Since the attacks, the Indian media has launched a virtual crusade against Bangladesh, spearheaded by the Telegraph that wrote, ‘Delhi should urge major donors to impose economic sanctions on Bangladesh.’ The paper also reported that Indian security agencies had advised the central government to ‘force Khaleda Zia to clamp down on Islamic fundamentalist outfits’.

The government of Bangladesh did respond earnestly to such pressures and diatribes and conducted a virtual witch-hunt in the preceding weeks against Islamists of suspicious hues, although the end result of the ongoing manhunt seems destined to be as much a failure as the previous ones.

Meanwhile, a just concluded study of Bangladesh’s post-blast security situation by major Indian intelligence outfits pointed the finger of suspicion for the August 17 blasts at familiar groups like the Jagrata Muslim Janata and the Jamaatul Mujahideen, which are, says the study, ‘banned, and are known to have fanned anti-Indian sentiments’. Coincidentally, the police in Dhaka say the same thing but cannot trace the attacks’ elusive masterminds.

The masterminds of a series of such attacks over the years not having been traced, one cannot resist the temptation of being suspicious about the latest attacks’ genesis and the ultimate motivation of the masterminds.

The Indian intelligence bodies’ study, however, has made some interesting observations. ‘There were 370 explosions in 63 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts. The kind of explosives used and the impact of each blast were similar to that on August 13 at a Muslim shrine in Akhaura in which one person was killed and 30 others were injured….There are insinuations that an earlier blast in August 2004 was suspected to have been inspired by India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). It is possible that efforts will be on to malign India again by pointing fingers at Delhi,’ the study opined.

In conclusion, the study noted that ‘the outfits were emboldened because of the lack of tangible action by the Khaleda government… The blasts are intended to be a message to Dhaka and to discourage the government from succumbing to international pressure to clamp down on the outfits..’

Reportedly a separate detailed study, circulated among the top echelons of the Indian security establishment, says, ‘Delhi should actively consider economic measures against Bangladesh.’

The tirades of the Indian media and comments of the intelligence agencies aside, everyone knows that the Jamaatul Mujahideen had left leaflets on the sites of bombing and many of the arrestees have reportedly confessed to having carried out the attacks at its behest. Yet BNP Deputy Minister Ruhul Quddus Talukder (also an MP) had a different view of the events. He had said earlier, ‘I don’t think they (the JM) have such a strong network. Awami League must have done this, using fake leaflets, to blacken Bangladesh’s image internationally.’ Does the Minister know something that others don’t?

A somewhat similar claim came from Mufti Fazlul Haq Amini, chairman of the Amini faction of the Islami Oikya Jote and a constituent member of the ruling four-party alliance. He said on August 19, ‘Swearing upon Allah, I say the 14-party alliance of Awami League and left parties launched the bomb attacks in a planned way to uproot the Islamic forces, but Islamic forces can never be eliminated.’

To confound confusion further, both India and Israel were whisked into the scene by the Jamaat-e-Islami’s Amir and Industries Minister Matiur Rahman Nizami. He blamed India’s external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and Israel’s Mossad for ‘playing an important role’ in the August 17 attacks. He added, ‘They are the patrons of the serial blasts as they don’t want good relations between Bangladesh and China. That’s why the incident occurred when Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was on a visit to Beijing.’

Juxtapose the above with the embedded Indian concerns over Bangladesh’s political developments over the years. The copy of a 2004 RAW report obtained by this author reads, ‘Pakistani intelligence officers in Dhaka are becoming increasingly active in espionage against India. In 2002, three modules (sic) being run by them from Dhaka, and using some Bangladeshi operatives, were busted. A large number of secret documents and photographs of sensitive defence locations were recovered from one Ziauddin Ahmed Biswas (resident of Murshidabad in West Bengal), arrested on November 17, 2002. Later, the arrest (December 2002 in Lucknow, UP) of Bangladeshi national, Mohammad Mamunur Rasheed, led to the recovery of fake travel documents and also incriminating documents indicating a plan to recruit Indian Muslim youths for training in Bangladesh and Pakistan for subversive activities within India.’

Another RAW report of 2004 implicates the Dhaka regime more directly. It says, ‘It is hardly any secret that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan has close links with Bangladesh’s Directorate-General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and operates openly and freely in that country. It (ISI) not only helps coordinate the activities of al-Qaeda and fundamentalist Islamic militant groups through the DGFI, but backs a Bangladeshi Taliban group named HUJI that runs six training camps for ULFA terrorists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.’

A West Bengal intelligence outfit goes a step further: ‘While ULFA training camps have been organised by the sector headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), training camps of the CNLF have been organised partly by 103 and 105 infantry brigades of the Bangladesh Army at Khagrachhari and Rangamati,’ the report claims.

From hindsight, the pattern of such accusations seems a corollary to many such reports circulated in the past. For instance, prominent security experts of India have been crying wolf since the late 1990s (long before the incidents of 9/11 that acted as a harbinger to the global hunts for Islamist terrorists) that activities in Bangladesh posed a serious danger to India’s security and national interests.

Particularly, Assam Governor Lt Gen (retd) SK Sinha wrote in his report to the central government in March 1998, ‘The long cherished design of Greater Bangladesh, making inroads into the strategic land link of Assam with the rest of India, can lead to severing the entire land mass of the North East from the rest of the country.’ In another report submitted to the President of India in November 1998, Sinha wrote, ‘Continued silent demographic invasion of the North East poses a great threat both to the identity of the Assamese people and to our national security.’ Influenced by such reports, India decided to fence the entire Indo-Bangladesh border at a cost of over $500 million and nearly 70% of border fencing was completed by mid-2005. The Indian Border Security Force also killed more than 500 innocent Bangladeshis over the years since General Sinha filed his first report.

India now claims that since 1990, Assam has seen the birth of 9 Muslim militant outfits owing allegiance to Harkat ul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba, the groups that run ferocious operations against Indian forces in Indian-occupied Kashmir. Indian intelligence outfits believe the groups have their rear bases inside Bangladesh. Is India looking for a pretext to launch pre-emptive military assaults on Bangladesh at some point in the future, based on such reports? Policy-makers in Dhaka must mull over this prospect seriously.

Coming to the August 17 blasts in particular, one wonders why the Islamists, whose ‘profound’ aim is to create a ‘Greater Bangladesh’ by creating demographic imbalance in the neighbouring Indian states of Assam and Tripura in particular (according to Indian reports), should resort to blasting of ‘innocuous’ bombs inside Bangladesh and leave behind signatures for identification? How is the mission of creating a greater Bangladesh served by such blasts?

Isn’t it more plausible that, in the absence of any verifiable and authentic conclusion, the blasts have occurred to prove to the world that Bangladesh is infested with Islamist Jihadis determined to take on India by using Bangladesh as a launching pad? At the least, such a hypothesis does mesh well with the embedded Indian perceptions of Bangladesh, as has been learnt from the intelligence reports quoted above.

It is under such contexts that one must compare the Indian mindset with the comments made by some Bangladeshi politicians after the August 17 blasts (quoted above), and try to guess the ‘untold’ reasons behind the authorities’ inability to reach any conclusion with respect to the attacks’ masterminds. Meanwhile, with each passing day, the tone of reports in the media of the two neighbours will keep confounding the conundrum instead of decoding the hidden secrets( http://www.weeklyholiday.net/front.html#top).

Sikkim and Bhutan

Sikkim was the easiest and most docile prey for RAW. Indira Gandhi annexed the Kingdom of Sikkim in mid-1970s, to be an integral part of India. The deposed King Chogyal Tenzig Wangehuck was closely followed by RAW’s agents until his death in 1992. Bhutan, like Nepal and Sikkim, is a land-locked country, totally dependent on India. RAW has developed links with members of the royal family as well as top bureaucrats to implements its policies. It has cultivated its agents amongst Nepalese settlers and is in a position to create difficulties for the Government of Bhutan.. In fact, the King of Bhutan has been reduced to the position of merely acquiescing into New Delhi’s decisions and go by its dictates in the international arena.

Sri Lanka

Post- independence Sri Lanka, inspire of having a multi-sectoral population was a peaceful country till 1971 and was following independent foreign policy. During 1971 Indo-Pakistan war despite of heavy pressure from India, Sri Lanka allowed Pakistan’s civil and military aircraft and ships to stage through its air and sea ports with unhindered re-fueling facilities. It also had permitted Israel to establish a nominal presence of its intelligence training set up. It permitted the installation of high powered transmitter by Voice of America (VOA) on its territory, which was resented by India.

It was because of these ‘irritants’ in the Indo-Sri Lanka relations that Mrs Indira Gandhi planned to bring Sri Lanka into the fold of the so-called Indira Doctrine (India Doctrine) Kao was told by Gandhi to repeat their Bangladesh success. RAW went looking for militants it could train to destabilize the regime. Camps were set up in Tamil Nadu and old RAW guerrillas trainers were dug out of retirement. RAW began arming the Tamil Tigers and training them at centers such as Gunda and Gorakhpur. As a sequel to this ploy, Sri Lanka was forced into Indianpower-web when Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 was singed and Indian Peace-Keeping-Force (IPKF) landed in Sri Lanka.

Up to the mid-seventies the Sri Lankan government had kept India happy by following policies which followed the Indian line - domestically and externally. The trouble began in 1977 when the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) lost power to the Jayewardene-led United National Party in elections. He moved towards a more cooperative policy with the United States and Sri Lanka chose to oppose the Indian demand for the withdrawal of all foreign naval forces from the Indian Ocean. Mrs. Gandhi had already been irked by Sri Lanka’s support to Pakistan during the 1971 war when it allowed landing and fuelling facilities to Pakistan’s East-West commercial flights. So RAW saw a perfect opportunity to exploit within the prevailing dispute between the Sinhalese majority (74 percent) and Tamil minority (14 percent) over distribution of economic and social spoils of independence. Before the two sides could work out a compromise, India, through its RAW, managed to polarise the two sides as well as militarise this essentially political conflict. On the Mukti Bahini model, RAW built up terrorist training camps in India for a number of Tamil terrorist organisations, while India suddenly began orchestrating a public campaign feigning concern because of the links the Tamils had with the 50 million Indian Tamils of Tamil Nadu state - which was separated from Sri Lanka by the Palk Straits. It was only a matter of time before the militants trained in India began sidelining the moderate Tamils and instead demanding complete independence - Ealam. Ironically, the presence of Tamil training camps in Tamil Nadu often created a law and order situation when large arms were captured by the state police. The surprise for the state government came when New Delhi ordered that such captured material be returned.

According to Rohan Gunaratna, in his book Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka, RAW waged a secret war in India beginning 1983 so that when the Sri Lankan armed forces launched a major offensive against the Tamil militancy in 1987, the Indian government had already ensured that the Tamils were well supplied and were able to conduct terrorist acts that brought the war closer to Colombo. Tamil Nadu had become the sanctuary for the Tamil terrorists in their hit-and-run tactics. Already, a year prior to this offensive, that is by 1986, there were over 20,000 Indian trained and financed Tamils and India forced Sri Lanka through this militant pressure to alter its foreign policy. But even more crucial, India by now was systematically destabilising Sri Lanka. Being unable to resist the temptation to now intervene directly, India used the Sri Lankan offensive against the Tamil terrorists to force Sri Lanka to accept India’s armed intervention ostensibly to save ‘ innocent Tamil civilians’. Unfortunately for India, the controversial Indo-Sri Lankan Accord of July 1987 proved to be as much of a failure as India’s policy of direct intervention. The result was India’s massively assisted LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) turned on its benefactor and declared war against the Indian forces in Sri Lanka. All in all, this Indian adventure killed 60,000 men, women and children and forced the Indians to withdraw their forces without successfully completing their mission. The price has been steep for both India and Sri Lanka and even today Sri Lanka is paying the price for this Indian-initiated and RAW inspired polarised conflict. The extent of RAW’s role in this affair has been painstakingly documented by Gunaratna in his book on the Indian intervention( http://www.defencejournal.com/jan99/rawfacts.htm)

The Ministry of External Affairs was also upset at RAW’s role in Sri Lanka as they felt that RAW was still continuing negotiations with the Tamil Tiger leader Parabhakran in contravention to the Indian government’s foreign policy. According to R Swaminathan, (former Special Secretary of RAW) it was this outfit which was used as the intermediary between Rajib Gandhi and Tamil leader Parabhakaran. The former Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, J.N. Dixit even accused RAW of having given Rs. five corore to the LTTE. At a later stage, RAW built up the EPRLF and ENDLF to fight against the LTTE which turned the situation in Sri Lanka highly volatile and uncertain later on.(Rohan Gunaratna and J N Dixit ).

Maldives

Under a well-orchestrated RAW plan, on November 30 1988 a 300 to 400-strong well trained force of mercenaries, armed with automatic weapons, initially said to be of unknown origin, infiltrated in boats and stormed the capital of Maldives. They resorted to indiscriminate shooting and took high-level government officials as hostages. At the Presidential Palace, the small contingent of loyal national guards offered stiff resistance, which enabled President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to shift to a safe place from where he issued urgent appeals for help from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Britain and the United States.

The Indian Prime Ministe Rajiv Gandhi reacted promptly and about 1600 combat troops belonging to 50 Independent Para-Brigade in conjunction with Indian Naval units landed at Male under the code-name Operation Cactus. A number of IAF transport aircraft, escorted by fighters, were used for landing personnel, heavy equipment and supplies. Within hours of landing, the Indian troops flushed out the attackers form the streets and hideouts. Some of them surrendered to Indian troops, and many were captured by Indian Naval units while trying to escape along with their hostages in a Maldivian ship, Progress Light. Most of the 30 hostages including Ahmed Majtaba, Maldives Minister of Transport, were released. The Indian Government announced the success of the Operation Cactus and complimented the armed forces for a good job done.

The Indian Defense Minister while addressing IAF personnel at Bangalore claimed that the country’s prestige has gone high because of the peace-keeping role played by the Indian forces in Maldives. The International Community in general and the South Asian states in particular, however, viewed with suspicious the over-all concept and motives of the operation. The western media described it as a display of newly-acquired military muscle by India and its growing role as a regional police. Although the apparent identification of the two Maldivian nationals could be a sufficient reason, at its face value, to link it with the previous such attempts by the mercenaries, yet other converging factors, indicative of involvement of external hand, could hardly be ignored. Sailing of the mercenaries from Manar and Kankasanturai in Sri Lanka, which were in complete control of IPKF, and the timing and speed of the Indian intervention proved their involvement beyond any doubt.

Nepal

Ever since the partition of the sub-continent India has been openly meddling in Nepal’s internal affairs by contriving internal strife and conflicts through RAW to destabilize the successive legitimate governments and prop up puppet regimes which would be more amenable Indian machinations. Armed insurrections were sponsored and abetted by RAW and later requests for military assistance to control these were managed through pro-India leaders. India has been aiding and inciting the Nepalese dissidents to collaborate with the Nepali Congress. For this they were supplied arms whenever the King or the Nepalese Government appeared to be drifting away from the Indian dictates and impinging on Indian hegemonic designs in the region. In fact, under the garb of the so-called democratization measures, the Maoists were actively encouraged to collect arms to resort to open rebellion against the legitimate Nepalese governments. The contrived rebellions provided India an opportunity to intervene militarily in Nepal, ostensibly to control the insurrections which were masterminded by the RAW itself. It was an active replay of the Indian performance in Sri Lanka and Maldives a few years earlier. RAW is particularly aiding the people of the Indian-origin and has been providing them with arms and ammunition.

RAW’s gameplan for Sikkimization of Nepal

An interesting new insight has been provided into the current thinking of the Maoist leadership by Baburam Bhattarai, one of its leading lights, via a write-up which seeks to explain what he terms as a “gameplan” for Nepal’s “Sikkimization” and its nexus with the rationale of the “People’s War”.

Beginning with the “so-called” India Today’s “Nepal gameplan” report, a product of RAW (India’s external, super secret intelligence agency), the Maoist stalwart (who incidentally holds a Ph.D degree from the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi) concludes with an appeal to all “patriotic” forces “to come together and, through a united front, confront all external expansionist forces” operating against Nepa.

The said write-up appears in the latest issue of Maoist-friendly vernacular weekly Jana Ahwan. Bhattarai says that against the chain of events starting with the “neo-colonialist 1950 Treaty and including the Kosi-Gandak-Mahakali agreements, the Kalapani problem, the Laxmanpur barrage and the recent bill to amend the citizenship act”, it is abundantly clear that the “process for the Sikkimization of Nepal has accelerated and has greatly advanced.” He also makes the point that the RAW-inspired India Today “Nepal Gameplan” report makes it obvious how deeply RAW, and other Indian intelligence agencies, have penetrated Nepal.

He then rhetorically asks: “If the intelligence agency of a country which does not border Nepal and whose political, economic, cultural relations and interest in Nepal is negligible in comparison with India’s has as extensive and high level connections as is made out, how much more profound would the hold of India’s intelligence agencies be, considering that Nepal is surrounded on three sides by an India which has immeasurably greater political, economic, and cultural stakes in Nepal than any other country in the world.”

To underscore that salient point, the erudite Maoist leader says that if penetration by the intelligence agency of a country whose embassy has just 25 staffers is as extensive as claimed, how much greater would that be by intelligence agencies of a country whose embassy has 300 personnel?

Recalling events leading to the “merger” of Sikkim with India, including propaganda about “China” and a “CIA” threat, Bhattarai says it is not difficult to understand the motivation behind the hue and cry about alleged ISI activities today. He then angrily refutes allegations made in a report said to be provided to the Nepal police by the Indian Embassy (disclosed in Himal magazine, 1-7 Asar, 2057 issue) charging that Timila Yami, sister of Yisila Yami (Bhattarai’s wife) has been used by the ISI for contacts with Nepalese Maoists.

Moving on, Bhattarai claims that the ruling class in India has sought support from “Hindu fascists” as it is reeling against the impact of “national liberation movements from Kashmir to Tamilandu, from Punjab to Nagaland” and the struggle against “Indian expansionism in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan” in South Asia. In particular, he claims the Indian ruling class has become unbalanced seeing the impact of the People’s War in Nepal which aims not only at “class liberation” but also at “national liberation.”

What is particularly sad, he maintains, is that Nepal’s mainstream political parties and other political forces have fallen into the Indian “trap” vis-a-vis the Maoists’ struggle. Significantly, he also declares that, today, forces supportive of and against “Indian expansionism” in Nepal can be found in “the palace, Congress, RPP, UML and even in other small groupings.”

Equally meaningful is Bhattarai’s reference to an observation by nominated Upper House member Ramesh Nath Pandey who has been quoted (vide Kantipur, 16 Jestha 2057) as having said: “In my opinion, Maoists will not precipitate a national calamity; rather, it should be preserved for safeguarding the nation in case of a calamity.”

RAW has also infiltrated the ethnic Nepali refugees whohave been extradited by Bhutan and have taken refuge in the eastern Nepal. RAW can exploit its links with these refugees in either thatare against the Indian interest. Besides the Nepalese economy istotally controlled by the Indian money lenders, financiers andbusiness mafia ( RAW’s Machination In South Asia by Shastra Dutta Pant, Kathmandu, 2003).

Afghanistan

Since December 1979, throughout Afghan War, KGB, KHAD (WAD) (former Afghan intelligence outfit) and RAW stepped up their efforts to concentrate on influencing and covert exploitation of the tribes on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. There was intimate co-ordination between the three intelligence agencies not only in Afghanistan but in destabilization of Pakistan through subversion and sabotage plan related to Afghan refugees and mujahideen, the tribal belt and inside Pakistan. They jointly organized spotting and recruitment of hostile tribesmen and their training in guerrilla warfare, infiltration, subversion, sabotage and establishment of saboteur force/terrorist organizations in the pro-Afghan tribes of Pakistan in order to carry out bomb explosions in Afghan refugee camps in NWFP and Baluchistan to threaten and pressurize them to return to Afghanistan. They also carried out bomb blasts in populated areas deep inside Pakistan to create panic and hatred in the minds of locals against Afghan refugee mujahideen for pressurizing Pakistan to change its policies on Afghanistan.

Pakistan

Pakistan’s size, strength and potential have always overawed the Indians. It, therefore, always considers her main opponent in her expansionist doctrine. India’s animosity towards Pakistan is psychologically and ideologically deep-rooted and unassailable. India’s war with Pakistan in 1965 over Kashmir and in 1971 which resulted in the dismemberment of Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh are just two examples.

Raw considers Sindh as Pakistan’s soft under-belly. It has, therefore, made it the prime target for sabotage and subversion. RAW has enrolled and extensive network of agents and anti-government elements, and is convinced that with a little push restless Sindh will revolt. Taking fullest advantage of the agitation in Sindh in 1983 and the ethnic riots, which have continued till today, RAW has deeply penetrated and cultivated dissidents and secessionists, thereby creating hard-liners unlikely to allow peace to return to Sindh. Raw is also involved similarly in Balochistan.

RAW has an extensive network of agents and anti-government elements within Pakistan, including dissident elements.Pakistan’s size, strength, and potential have always overawed India.It has always considered Pakistan to be the main opponent to its expansionist doctrine.India’s animosity toward Pakistan is psychologically and ideologically deep-rooted and unassailable.

India’s 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan over Kashmir, which resulted in the dismemberment of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh, is just two examples.Pakistan remains RAW’s primary concern.It runs thousands of agents and spends millions of rupees in its operations against Pakistan.It has made a three-pronged attack against Pakistan in an attempt to destabilize it,Propaganda,Espionage, and Subversion. RAW is totally committed on all these three fronts and is engaged in launching covert operations in consonance with India’s hostile foreign policy.All aspects of Pakistani activities, economic, military, industrial and cultural receive a close scrutiny of RAW. It goes to its credit that it has accomplished or at least continued in a motivated manner its assigned objectives.The Indian government spelling out the task for RAW in this regard has stated,’Pakistan should be so destabilized internally that it could not support the ‘Kashmir cause even morally, diplomatically or politically’.

Whenever and wherever there is a kidnapping, a bank robbery, a financial scandal, a bomb blast, or what have you, the I.S.I. is deemed to have.Ashok A Biswas, a Delhi-based research scholar, in his recently compiled study RAW - An Unobstructive Instrument of India’s Foreign Policy, (as quoted by Pakistan Observer in ‘A RAW deal for South Asia, 03 May, 1998) states that ‘the aim of RAW is to keep internal disturbances flaring up and the ISI preoccupied so that Pakistan can lend no worthwhile resistance to Indian designs in the region.’ He concludes, ‘RAW over the years has admirably fulfilled its task of destabilizing target states through unbridled export for terrorism had a hand in it.Reference: ( “R.A.W.: Global and Regional Ambitions” edited by Rashid Ahmad Khan and Muhammad Saleem, Islamabad Policy Research Institute, Asia Printers, Islamabad, 2005).

RAW is also being blamed for confusing the ground situation is Kashmir so as to keep the world attention away from the gross human rights violations by India in India occupied Kashmir. ISI being almost 20 years older than RAW and having acquired much higher standard of efficiency in its functioning , has become the prime target of RAW’s designs, ISI is considered to be a stumbling block in RAW’s operations, and has, therefore, been made a target of all kinds of massive misinformation and propaganda campaign. The tirade against ISI continues unabated.. The idea is to keep ISI on the defensive by fictionalising and alleging its hand is supporting Kashmiri Mujahideen and Sikhs in Punjab. RAW’S fixation against ISI has taken the shape of ISI-phobia, as in India everyone traces down the origin of all happenings and shortcomings to the ISI . Be it an abduction at Banglaore or a student’s kidnapping at Cochin, be it a bank robbery at Calcutta or a financial scandal in Bombay, be it a bomb blast at Bombay or Bangladesh, they find an ISI hand in it ( RAW :Global and Regional Ambitions” Edited by Rashid Ahmad Khan and Muhammad Saleem, Published by Islamabad Policy Research Institute, Asia Printers, Islamabad, 2005 ).

RAW over the years has admirably fulfilled its tasks of destabilising target states through unbridled export of terrorism. The India Doctrine spelt out a difficult and onerous role for RAW. It goes to its credit that it has accomplished its assigned objectives due to the endemic weakness in the state apparatus of those nations and failure of their leaders.

Contributed by Isha Khan

http://www.pakspectator.com/raw-an-instrument-of-indian-expansionism/