Today is Communist day here at varnam. In some news which warmed the cockles of my heart (located between the left and right ventricle), the Communists in Kerala have been asked to pay for all the hartals they have called for.
Kerala High Court had banned bandhs. So the geniuses there (100% literacy at work) now call for hartals which has the same end result. (This is similar to terrorist groups in Pakistan changing names when they are banned by the US State Dept). It was then that the Bombay High Court came up with this pay as you go Bandh idea. Now the Marx-putras have been asked to shell out Rs. 3 lakh in compensation for 13 bandhs.

Compensation notices were slapped on three stalwarts of the Kerala CPM and 100 others for destruction of public property during shutdowns called by the party or its affiliates.
The Kerala government order was issued on Friday, the day Opposition Trinamul Congress supporters organised a bandh in Bengal.
CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, former Speaker M. Vijaya Kumar and Left Front convener Paloly Mohammed Kutty and the others have been asked to pay Rs 3 lakh for destruction of public property during the 13 strikes called after the Congress-led government came to power in 2001.
The collective compensation demand of Rs 3 lakh is but a drop in an ocean of Rs 10.52 crore Kerala has lost over the last three years in bandhs. But this is the first time anywhere in the country that a government has moved on its own to claim damages and pin responsibility on individuals.
The order also imposes vicarious responsibility on the sponsors of hartals, after forced shutdowns were declared illegal by the Supreme Court. This closes the escape hatch for political leaders who deploy ranks in the streets and disclaim any personal role in the resultant violence. [CPM gets a bill for bandhs]

Here is a question for you. Communist Party secretary Anil Biswas called “X” as people who were opposed to development. Who can “X” be ?
If yor brain has gone into an infinite loop wondering who can be more against development than the Communists, then here is clue. The same “X” beat up some Communists recently.
And the answer is:

In another daring strike in the Naxalite hotbed of West Midnapore, CPM leaders were thrashed, forest bungalows blasted and vehicles used for building roads set on fire last night.

PILLI POST (Indo-Pak border): Pakistani troops recently encroached upon a 40-metre stretch along the International Border in Samba sub-sector in Jammu. BSF DIG, Jammu Sector, P K Mishra said that Pakistan had removed one of the three pillars and constructed a post at Ballard area on IB. There were reports of high tension between the border guards of Pakistan and India after the Pakistani encroachment.

Talking to reporters after a sector commander-level meeting of the two countries, where the BSF took up the issue, Mishra said the land had been reclaimed. He said the issue would be further discussed between BSF commandant and Wing Commander of Pakistani Rangers on Friday. “We have refixed the border pillar and taken control of our land,” Mishra stated. “There is no question of leaving an inch of our territory,” he added. [India push back Pakistan incursion in Jammu]

Didn’t Kargil also start as a minor incursion ? While Track II diplomacy is going on in Amritsar and Dubai, it is these Track III activities that needs to be taken care of.

I have been to Tirupati only once. We went directly to the temples and came back. My friend Sujatha has an article in The Hindu in which she points out other places of interest near the temple town.

The Akash Ganga waterfall, 3 km from the temple, that the faithful believe flows from the feet of Lord Vishnu, is a huge attraction. Situated on the Tirumala Hills, Sila Thoranam, a natural rock formation, is a wonderous sight. It is a naturally formed arch of rock, the likes of which are reportedly found only at two other places in the world

Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday met All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders in New Delhi. Aziz, in New Delhi on a two-day visit, held discussions with acting Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, Maulana Abbas Ansari, Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah and Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Later, Aziz hosted a dinner for all of them at Pakistan House. [Aziz meets separatist leaders]

The Hurriyat leaders cannot meet the Indian Prime Minister when he travels all way to Jammu and Kashmir, but rush to Delhi to meet the Pakistani Prime Minister. But now it looks like they are scared that they will be left out of the negotiations.
The Hurriyat wants the easy way out. They want to be the legitimate representatives of the Indian Kashmiris, but they do want to stand for any elections. They want to break Jammu and Kashmir and be crowned its rulers. The Indian Express has a detailed account of the Hurriyat’s meeting with Shaukat Aziz.

According to one leader who attended the meeting, Aziz asked all leaders, one by one, to respond to Islamabad

Maulana Nasiruddin, an Islamic cleric who had some ambitious plans was arrested in Hyderabad, India.

“Maulana has been associated with Jamaat-e-Islami, a moderate organisation since 1970. The notorious Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) is a student wing of the organisation and Maulana has been associated with it too,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) D.G. Vanzara told reporters.

“He has been associated with several other organisations and has connections spreading from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. He has confessed during interrogation that he was working on bringing a number of organisations under one banner to intensify ‘jihad’ for establishing a “Khilafat” or Islamic theocratic state in India,” Vanzara said.
He said the Maulana was also a great orator and motivated many youths to go to Pakistan for terrorist training.
“Maulana very proudly noted in the confession that Osama bin Laden was his role model,” Vanzara said. [India: ‘Arrested cleric conspired to build Islamic state’]

While Arafat is a terrorist, a corrupt leader and one who betrayed the Palestinian people of their homeland, in India he is seen as a friend and statesman.
In India we respect dictators and terrorists. We have maintained good relations with Arafat, Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein etc. All these maybe necessary due to trade and other strategic concerns. But even when these people murdered their citizens or was involved in terrorist activities we kept quiet.
Arafat called Indira Gandhi his sister and Rajiv Gandhi as his brother. Arafat also had good personal relations with many Indian diplomats like T S Tirumuthy and Romesh Bhandari. Praful Bidwai even wrote an article about Arafat without a mention of his terrorist activities.
But for all this servility what did we get in return ? A public support for India’s position on Kashmir ? No. But still India votes in support for the Palestinian position in the United Nations. This position is consistent with the general policy towards Arab nations where we appease them without getting anything in return. (Yes, we have Indian workers in Arab countries, but it is an economic necessity for them as well)
So you would think that for all this service, the Palestinians would have a special respect for Indians and would treat them accordingly. So guess what happened when the Indian delegation went for Arafat’s funeral.

The Indian delegation, which reached Cairo to attend the funeral service of Palestinian Pesident Yaser Arafat, faced disappointment as it was not allowed a last glimpse of the man who symbolised Palestinian nationalism.
The delegation, led by External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, could not pay floral tributes at Arafat’s coffin before a military plane at the Almaza airbase flew it to the Egyptian Sinai town of El-Arish en route to the burial in the West Bank. The reason being entry to the airbase was allowed only to heads of state and governments.
At the iron gate of the airbase, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Oman Foreign Minister Yousuf Bin Allavi, Natwar Singh, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, CPM leader Sitaram Yechuri and Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed stood side by side. [Indian leaders not allowed to see Arafat]

Yes, only heads of state were allowed to meet Arafat and the Palestinians would not waive that rule for their “special” friend.

The solution that Indian Govt. is coming up with as a solution to the Kashmir problem is to grant more autonomy to the state based on the Kashmir Autonomy Report.

While rejecting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s recent formula on Kashmir, India has proposed a “self rule” and “open borders” to both parts of Jammu and Kashmir. The proposal put forward here unofficially by the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) has set a flurry of activity within the government.
Officials here on Friday were busy dusting off the ‘Kashmir Autonomy Report’, passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in June 2000, but later out rightly rejected by the previous Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
“Dr Manmohan Singh is in a fast mode of firming up his own Kashmir solution to counter the Musharraf formula with maximum autonomy to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and an eventual “borderless” Kashmir by pressurizing Pakistan to give similar autonomy in their part of Kashmir,” sources in the PMO here said. Also China will be made to come around to revive silk routes between Kashmir, Tibet and Xinjiang that could generate prosperity in the region.
During his visit to Delhi on November 23, Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is supposed to officially convey the proposals floated by President Pervez Musharraf through the media. Dr Manmohan Singh has, however, foreclosed any consideration of such proposals by asserting that there would be no redrawing of the international boundaries or realignment of regions that smacks of communal dimensions.
India has the benefit of the autonomy report prepared by the Kashmiri experts and adopted by the state assembly to move fast in this direction, the sources pointed out. They said it is not necessary for New Delhi to agree on everything in the report but it will be the basis for starting a process of political discussion. India is keen that the Supreme Court, the Election Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) continue to have jurisdiction over Jammu and Kashmir. [India proposes ‘self-rule,’ ‘open borders’ in both Kashmirs]

If Musharraf thought that the previous NDA Govt was tough, he is now finding that the present UPA Govt is equally tough when it comes to matters of National Security. This was made very clear by the Prime Minister himself.
In Strobe Talbott’s book Engaging India: Diplomacy, Democracy, and the Bomb, he writes about talking to the NDA Govt on rolling back the nuclear plans with no effect. After that the Americans went to see Sonia Gandhi who was the leader of opposition at that time. After listening to them patiently, she just asked them to enjoy their stay here, implying that when it comes to issues of security, there is no compromise.
What did Musharraf think in the first place ? Giving the old school report card in New York to Manmohan Singh would restore all relations ? His suggestion that India be divided again on communal lines be taken seriously ? What should we expect now ? Sudden increase in jihadi activity ?

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said any proposal to divide Jammu and Kashmir on the basis of religion would not be acceptable to India.
“I have made this point clear that any redrawing of the international border is not something which is going to be acceptable to our country,” Manmoahn Singh said at a press conference here on the first day of a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir.
“Any proposal which would further divide our country on the basis of religion is not going to be acceptable to us,” he said. [No division of Kashmir on basis of religion: Manmohan]

These are two important points – non acceptance of a communal solution and a new map. The Prime Minister is also dumping lot of money into the state even though no one is really happy there. Creating more job opportunities so that people can earn a living should be the route to go.