One of the pre-requisites for bringing in peace in Jammu and Kashmir would be to talk. One of the pre-requisites for talking is to have peace. This is a chicken and egg problem. So the terrorists found an easy way to break the deadlock.

Muslim militants killed nine Indian troopers in an attack on a paramilitary camp in divided Kashmir, just hours before India and Pakistan, which both claim the region, began a round of peace talks. Wednesday night’s attack on the heavily guarded camp in an upscale residential district of Srinagar, the capital of Indian Kashmir, came just as the soldiers were sitting down to dinner, police said. One militant was killed inside the compound after exchanging sporadic fire with soldiers through the night. The whereabouts of the other rebels was not known. [Reuters]

Also Pakistani Superman Gen. Musharraf came up with an announcement that more Indian soldiers had died in Kagil than Pakistanis.

In a rare reference to Kargil, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has disputed deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s account that more Pakistani soldiers were killed during the conflict than the previous two wars against India, claiming New Delhi suffered more casualties than Islamabad.[Indian Express]

If these steps do not build confidence in the peace talks, then I don’t know what will.

The North East Indian State of Tripura is one plagued by seperatist violence. These terrorists who use Bangladesh as a base recently “they kidnapped 42 traders”:http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=061404010617. Now the Govt. has discovered one of their supporters.
bq. The government in India’s north-eastern state of Tripura says it has evidence that the state’s Baptist Church is involved in backing separatist rebels. Nagmanlal Halam, secretary of the Noapara Baptist Church in Tripura, was arrested late on Monday with a large quantity of explosives. Mr Sarkar said that allegations about the close links between the state’s Baptist Church and the rebel National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) have long been made by political parties and police. Now for the first time, he said, hard evidence supporting the allegations had been found. [“BBC”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/717775.stm]
According to “GlobalSecurity.org”:http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/nlft.htm

The National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) was formed in December 1989 for the purpose of seceding from India in order to create an independent Christian fundamentalist state of Tripura. The group was banned under the Unlawful Activies Prevention Act of 1967.

In Kashmir, a major plan to carry out a series of assasinations and surprise attacks have been foiled.
bq. The detained people have been accused by the Kashmir police of plotting to mount daring “terrorist attacks” in several Indian cities as well as the Kashmir Valley. Among those held is a woman. “They were planning some high-profile actions in the city of Srinagar as well as in Mumbai, Pune and New Delhi such as assassinating important political leaders and the police brass,” Director General of Police (DGP), Gopal Sharma, said on Tuesday. In Srinagar, the suspects were preparing to ram an explosives-laden vehicle into a VIP’s motorcade, he said. Other police officers said Kashmir chief minister, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, was a probable target of the planned attack. [“Al-Jazeera”:http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CA121A64-2D9E-4B4A-A004-5E737DC28AB7.htm]
I don’t know if any other country will tolerate this. But in India, tax payers money is being used to protect separatists, people who want to split the country into two.
bq. Meanwhile, EXCELSIOR learned from highly placed authoritative sources that “extra-ordinary” security arrangements were being made for five protected separatist leaders in the wake of “very disturbing disclosures” by the slain militants. According to these sources, Government was also going to offer Police protection to the JKLF chief Yasin Malik, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq?s confidante Shahid-ul-Islam, Peoples League supremo Sheikh Abdul Aziz and hijacker-turned-activist Hashim Qureshi. However, it was not immediately clear whether these separatist leaders would accept the Police protection or turn down the same as usual. [“Daily Excelsior”:http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/04june30/news.htm#4 (via “Acorn”:http://www.paifamily.com/opinion/archives/000922.html)]

Two days of talks between foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan have concluded without any major breakthroughs. According to the Amy Waldman of NYT,
bq. While Kashmir did figure in the talks, there were no specific proposals put on the table regarding a solution, according to spokesmen for both nations. They did commit themselves to a “peaceful, negotiated final settlement” on Kashmir. [“NYT”:http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/29/international/asia/29indi.html (regn reqd)]
“According to the Asian Age”:http://www.asianage.com/printarticle.asp?newsid=108112, India has committed itself to a _peaceful negotiated settlement_ of Jammu and Kashmir in a formal acceptance of its _disputed_ nature while Pakistan has accepted the _bilateral_ nature of the dialogue and dropped the insistence on plebiscite. So what are the possible solutions in the table ?
bq. Analysts from both India and Pakistan have been offering solutions through well-researched articles with the thrust driving towards more autonomy for the two Kashmirs, a soft border and administrative control of their respective sides by India and Pakistan. The extreme positions of plebiscite and accession of Jammu and Kashmir has not been voiced by Pakistan in recent months with senior academics, journalists and retired generals close to the Establishment advocating a solution on the lines of soft border and autonomy. In fact, arguments for independence are now advanced only by the extremist groups in Pakistan and hardline Kashmiri separatists who have not heeded President Pervez Musharraf?s advise to move out of the “status quo.” The Pakistan spokesperson admitted that an understanding was “very rapidly emerging” on both sides that “if there is a dispute it cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of one party alone, it has to satisfy all sides.” [“Asian Age”:http://www.asianage.com/printarticle.asp?newsid=108112]

From “USINPAC”:http://www.usinpac.com/ Mailing List
bq. May 12, 2004 was not an easy day. Gearing up for this day demanded a lot of preparation and homework on our part, as one of the most persistent India-bashers in the US Congress Mr. Dan Burton initiated a hearing on Kashmir under the aegis of the House Subcommittee on Human Rights & Wellness (Committee on Government Reform). This was certainly not the first occasion when Congressman Burton had attempted to malign the image of India before the US Congress. In fact not too long ago, Burton was given severe jolts as USINPAC through its dynamic lobbying had managed to impose an indefinite halt to this move.
bq. But Burton acted again to revive the move and this time USINPAC decided to take up the challenge. We had to expose Burton?s ?lies?. We could just not let his march go unopposed. At this hour of crisis, we chose to mobilize the Indian American community and raised a unified voice of protest. The USINPAC volunteers across the U.S. approached important leaders and Congressmen from their respective areas for help. USINPAC made sure that the friends of India were well represented at the Hearing. USINPAC recommended and confirmed Selig Harrison as a witness for the Hearing. USINPAC’s leadership in Washington individually called, met with and briefed Members of the House Government Reform Committee and the House International Relations Committee urging them to attend the Hearing. USINPAC also submitted draft questions to the Members to ask the witnesses.
Continue reading “NRIs vs Dan Burton Again” →

“Despite a plea”:http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/001200405161630.htm by _intellectuals_ like Tarun Tejpal, Praful Bidwai, Shabana Azmi, Habib Tanveer,Asghar Ali Engineer, A K Hangal, Anand Patwardhan, Baba Azmi, Nandita Das, Govind Nihalani, Shabana Azmi, historian K N Pannikar, writer Namwar Singh and scientist Prof. Yashpal, the Communists have decided “not to join the Government”:http://us.rediff.com/election/2004/may/17left.htm. Is this another _historic blunder_ ? Or is it a calculated move ?
Maybe the Left knows that this Government might not last that long and soon they will be back to their home states of West Bengal and Kerala, where they will have a tough time explaining their opposition against Congress Governments. The Left Leaders are also finding it difficult to explain it to the cadres in the state.
bq. “When we disagree, we should have room to express ourselves,” said Harkishan Singh Surjeet, the 88-year-old leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), one of four Communist parties in the front. The Congress party and the Communists are pitted against one another in two key states, Kerala and West Bengal, and Congress officials said the Communists felt they could not sell a Congress-dominated alliance to party leaders in the states. [“NY Times”:http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/international/asia/18INDI.html?ex=1085457600&en=7ee9b96e83c828b6&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE]
In another development, “Sonia has refused to become the Prime Minister”:http://www.nirajweb.net/mt/niraj/archives/002496.html, and so “Sushma Swaraj can eat proper food”:http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IEL20040518075127&Title=B+R+E+A+K+I+N+G++++N+E+W+S&Topic=304& and dress in colorful clothes. It is also helping “the gene pool”:http://in.rediff.com/election/2004/may/18cong2.htm.

Even though the “Congress won lot of seats”:https://varnam.org/archives/000385.html at the National level, in my home state of “Kerala”:http://www.keralatourism.org/, it was exactly the opposite. While the _Dynasty_ was bought back into power in Delhi, the dynasty was send packing home in Kerala.
* Karunakaran’s both children lost the election. His son Muraleedharan was the electricity minister in Kerala and had to win the by-election to retain his seat. His daughter, first time candidate, lost by a huge margin.
* K M Mani’s son, Jose K Mani was also defeated
* Muslim League which always won Manjeri seat, lost the seat, first time in 14 general elections.
* Congress did not win even one of the 20 seats.
In an analysis in “newindpress.com”:http://www.newindpress.com/election/2004/results/News.asp?Topic=302&Title=Kerala+Reports&ID=IEU20040514034352&nDate=5/14/2004&Sub=81&Cat=&
bq. If ever there was a revulsion vote in Kerala, it has just been delivered. Revulsion at a well-heeled and self-serving family?s outrageous political blackmail. Revulsion at a weak-kneed and self- absorbed leader of an elected government who succumbed to the blackmail.
bq. Revulsion at the puny turncoat Congress politicos who paraded their hiccups daily on prime time TV and in print, mistaking the cynical laughter of their audience for approbation. Finally and painfully, there was revulsion at also the ruling front as a whole for their squandering of an unambiguous electoral mandate for good governance.
bq. The rickety coalition of caste-community interests that had coasted the UDF to power only three years ago cracked and crashed as never before. Many Muslim Leaguers did not vote the way the League leaders proposed. In Manjeri, they voted a Communist of all people to victory. The Church could not hector their sheep. In Ernakulam, their chosen missionary lost.
Now to pay for the school drama played by Congress in Kerala, Chief Minister, “Antony is thinking of resigning”:http://us.rediff.com/election/2004/may/15bs3.htm.

The Washington Post in it’s editorial on the “election verdict”:https://varnam.org/archives/000385.html in India writes
bq. The sharpest discontinuity is likely to come in relations with the United States and possibly with U.S. allies such as Israel. India has become a leading customer for Israeli weapons technology. With Mr. Vajpayee in office, the Bush administration hoped that India might be persuaded to send peacekeepers to Iraq — a remarkable shift from the Cold War, when India proudly led the Non-Aligned Movement and seized every opportunity to tweak American leadership. The Congress Party-led coalition is expected to swing back to traditional anti-Americanism, sounding off against the United States at the United Nations and perhaps challenging U.S. influence in the Middle East by launching its own peace initiative. All of which would test the Bush administration’s reserves of forbearance and tact. But then again, who knows? India’s democracy excels at defying expert predictions.
The “article in L.A Times”:http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-india14may14,1,2026196.story?coll=la-headlines-world had a quote on the alliance between Congress and Communists.
bq. “I don’t think that this honeymoon between the Congress and the Left Front Alliance is going to last for a long time,” political scientist Amal Mukherjee said in Calcutta, where Communists continue to govern after winning elections for decades. “The reason is very simple: In West Bengal, the Left Front ? which has been opposing the Congress ? has always held the Congress responsible for all the ills of the state.”
The Economist also remarked about the “alliance with the Communists”:http://economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2676962
bq. Congress, for its part, traditionally too proud for grubby coalition politics, had this time assembled an impressive haul of allies. But parliament is hung and, besides needing the support of the Left, it may also need to rely on one or two other uncommitted parties, of which the biggest are Samajwadi and the Bahujan Samaj, two lower-caste-based parties with their strength in India?s largest state, Uttar Pradesh. An unstable coalition government, relying on the support of the Communists, is unlikely to prove radical, and may be short-lived.
It was the Congress party which started the liberalization of the economy in 1991 and it was when Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister that India established formal relations with Israel. But now with the Communists having a major say and already “disagreeing on policy”:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/676566.cms, it will be interesting to watch the balancing act of the new Prime Minister.

Andhra Pradesh gave us an “indication of things to come”:https://varnam.org/archives/000382.html. Vajpayee has given “his resignation”:http://us.rediff.com/election/2004/may/13bjp1.htm and decided to be the Leader of Opposition. As “Harkishen Singh Surjeet”:http://us.rediff.com/election/2004/may/06einter1.htm said
bq. My own political calculations say the BJP’s seats will come down considerably in this election. The BJP will not get as many seats as it got during the 1999 election. That means the BJP will not come back to power. Atal Bihari Vajpayee will not be prime minister again.
I did not expect this. Neither did the “opinion polls held a month back”:https://varnam.org/archives/000343.html. I hope that there is stability at the center and whatever administration comes into power, rules for the entire duration.

Everyone remembers Chandrababu Naidu as the CEO of Andhra Pradesh, the techno savy CM. According to one analysis, the two reasons he lost was “Telengana and Economics”:http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=46783.
bq. What else explains the anti-incumbency? No one can realistically claim that AP is worse off today than a decade ago. Even rural AP has progressed. Literacy rates have improved, demographic indicators have improved and so has rural infrastructure. It is wrong to suggest that Naidu was only about IT and bio-tech, only about Hyderabad and Cyberabad.
bq. Yes, there was a lot of hype and he was far too much of a CEO and not enough of a political leader. He was more committed to being at Davos than visiting a drought-stricken hamlet. He saw the Telangana issue only in terms of economic indicators and demand for water, not as a political and cultural alienation of a region that had a weak voice in successive TDP governments. He became, as I once titled my column on him, the Nizam Of Hyperabad!
bq. That, however, is not why he lost. He lost because he promised a ??Vision for 2020?? and just assumed the voter would remain invested in him in 2004, to be able to get there. Elections in democracies are about the here and now, Naidu spoke of only the distant and beyond.
If “this is a pre-game show”:http://www.madhoo.com/archives/003065.php#003065, then the NDA will be in serious trouble. The next Govt. formation might require some serious horse trading. Already the President is consulting “experts on a hung Parliament”:http://us.rediff.com/election/2004/may/11kalam.htm.