Round The States

New Delhi, 12 September 2007 

Hyderabad Blues Continue

MORE TERRORIST BLASTS FEARED

By Insaf

More terrorist strikes appear to be in store for troubled Hyderabad. The Lakshar-e-Taiba’s public face, Jamat Dawa (JD) has given a clarion call for a jehad to liberate Hyderabad, Junagadh and Manvadar. Significantly, it has now come to light, that prior to the twin blasts that rocked the State capital, the JD Chief, Hafiz Abdul Rehman Maki, had avowed to settle scores with India. Addressing a conference in Lahore, Maki thundered: “Our relationship with India is that of revenge.” Adding, that jehad was the only solution to achieve its ends of liberating the three erstwhile princely States from India. Significantly, the chairman of the break-away group of J&K’s Hurriyat Conference, Geelani, also addressed the conference over the phone.    

Shockingly, some of the Pakistan-based terrorists groups consider Nizam’s Hyderabad and the two other States as the unfinished agenda of Partition. These three States, they claim, were supposed to go to Pakistan. The JD has even released Pakistani maps showing these three places along with Jammu & Kashmir and Bangladesh as part of Pakistan. Even though security experts dismiss the claim as routine anti-India tirade by the jehadis, what is worrisome is that Hyderabad has become the new playground of the jehadis. Towards that end, the JD alongwith the LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) and the Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami Bangladesh (HUJI-B), it is now learnt, set-up a core unit in Hyderabad in 2004.

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UP Crackdown On Police

Mayawati’s efforts to streamline the UP administration has exposed the malfeasance by her predecessor Mulayam Singh Yadav’s administration. Namely, in the recruitment of police constables. Shockingly, about 22,000 constables were accommodated in the Police Armed Constabulary (PAC) and the Civil Police without proper selection and purely on the basis of caste and creed ----Yadavs, Thakurs and Muslims. With Mayawati now cracking the whip by terminating the services of 6,504 recruits and suspending 10 IPS officers, policedom is in a tizzy as she is hell-bent on cancelling the remaining recruitment on the recommendations of an investigation committee. A worried All India Muslim Personal Board has requested the Chief Minister not to dislodge 1,500 Muslim youths, as it would send a wrong signal to the minority community. Mayawati’s response is eagerly awaited.

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Nitish Halo Begins To Fade

Bihar’s honeymoon with Nitish Kumar’s Government appears to be ending. Two years after the JD-led coalition Government came to power, doubts have arisen whether Nitish will be able to keep his promises of ridding the State of ‘jungle raj’. The crime graph, especially the kidnapping of children, shows no sign of abating. Discontent is rife not only among his partymen but also police officers and bureaucrats. On the development front too, apart from some improved roads, there is not much to show. Power production remains abysmal. Adding to the problems, the relentless floods have devastated the State. Political disgruntlement among the MLAs is growing as they await the promised ‘mangal raj’.

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Winds Of Harmony In Kashmir

Heart-warming winds of harmony blew over strife-torn Kashmir the other day. A history of sorts was created when the Shobha Yatra (dharma satam in Kashmir parlance) of Kashmiri Pandits passed through Srinagar’s historic Lal Chowk for the first time. What is more, the Muslims joined their Pandit brethren in the yatra.  Importantly, senior separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, President Democratic Freedom Party, and leaders of other mainstream parties too participated. Shah, speaking on behalf of the Muslims, asserted that all wanted the early return of the “Pandit migrants”. It remains to be seen whether the Shobha Yatra was a flash in the pan or will lead to Pandit-Muslim Bhaichara and return of happy days.

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This could be straight out of believe-it-or-not tale in Assam. While Hindi-speaking migrants continue to live under the fear of being attacked by the militants in the Kabri Anglong district of Assam, in the adjoining North Cachar Hills district, Hindi unites 11 different tribes. For nearly a century the tribes were unable to communicate with each other. Today thanks to ‘Haflong Hindi’ they sing hum saath saath hain. Significantly, Hindi has led to a decrease in militant strikes against the Hindi-speaking people in the Hills infamous for being the hot bed of militancy with at least seven groups active in the region. Needless to say the development of Hindi has led to all-round development. It is a moot point whether ‘Haflong Hindi’ can erase the militants’ scars in the rest of the State. 

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The Delhi University Students Union continues to set a bad example to the University unions elsewhere in the country. Money and muscle power were in the forefront of the battle royale, between the Congress-backed NSUI and the BJP-backed ABVP. Leading an angry Supreme Court to warn that students should “be students first, leaders later”. The two-member bench added: “Let the academic scenario not be polluted by this kind of elections. The day is not far when dadagiri, goondagiri will be part of the curriculum”.  It also called for the implementation of the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations on conducting university polls. All eyes are now on the Delhi University panel probing the poll. Will it crackdown like the Election Commission? The Congress winners of the DUSU poll have reason to keep their fingers crossed.

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Militancy Rules In Manipur

Militancy could well be another name for Manipur. Shamefully, the grip of the militants has become so tight in the State that the Central Bureau of Investigation had to negotiate with a militant group to get at the man wanted for killing the State Health Minister’s eight-year-old daughter in November 2004. Even as a hapless and helpless State Government stands as mute testimony to the havoc wrought by over two dozen militants groups in the State. Things have come to such a sorry pass that citizens now prefer to take their grievances to the rebels, not the police or courts. Every citizen pays taxes to the militants directly or indirectly. More. All Government contracts are awarded by the administration only after being whetted by the militants, who get their agreed cut in the deal. Even the Chief Minister, it is alleged, pays a tax to survive the militant onslaught!

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Bathinda Is New Wine Country

From Bordeaux to Bathinda is a long distance through two continents. Today, both are united by the love of wine and grapes. Bathinda has joined France’s wine-making district and become India’s new wine country. Traditionally, Bathinda was a cotton-growing area. But farmers there are now taking to cultivating grapes, which earn them five times more money. Over 2,500 hectare land is presently under grape cultivation with an annual yield of 70,000 metric tonnes. The State Government has set up a winery in joint collaboration with a farmer. Bathinda white wine and champagne are set to hit the stores before very long. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)