Manmohan Singh's opening remarks at the All Party Meeting

PM's opening remarks at the All Party Meeting
November 30, 2008
New Delhi

"Esteemed Chairperson UPA, respected colleagues and friends. I thank you all for being here at such short notice.

The ordeal at Mumbai, which occupied the attention of the entire nation, has finally come to an end. All of us share the grief of those who have lost their loved ones in this dastardly and brutal attack and also the pain and anguish of those grievously wounded. We cannot lessen their grief. But we will do all we can to alleviate their suffering. I give you my solemn assurance that we will look after the needs of those who survive this horrible tragedy.

We salute the bravery of our security forces who fought the terrorists in exceptionally difficult circumstances. They tried their utmost to save innocent lives at great personal risk. Twenty officers and men made the ultimate sacrifice by laying down their lives. The entire nation owes a debt of gratitude to these men that we can never repay.

We have had terrorist attacks before also. But this attack was different. It was an attack by highly trained and well-armed terrorists targeting our largest city. They came with the explicit aim of killing large numbers of innocent civilians, including foreign visitors. They sought to destroy some of the best known symbols of our commercial capital.

We share the hurt of the people and their sense of anger and outrage. Several measures are already in place to deal with the situation. But clearly much more needs to be done and we are determined to take all necessary measures to overhaul the system.

We are further strengthening maritime and air security for which measures have been initiated. This will involve the Navy, the Coast Guard and the coastal police, as well as the Air Force and the Civil Aviation Ministry.

The anti-terrorist forces of the country will be further strengthened and streamlined. The National Security Guard, which is the principal anti-terrorist force of the country, will be given additional facilities and the size of the force is being augmented. Steps have also been initiated to establish another 4 NSG hubs in different parts of the country. Additionally, the special forces at the disposal of the Centre would be appropriately utilized in counter insurgency operations.

We have finalized a set of legal measures based on the recommendations of the Administrative Reforms Commission which includes the setting up of a Federal Investigating Agency.

In the face of this national threat and in the aftermath of this national tragedy, all of us from different political parties must rise above narrow political considerations and stand united. We should work together in the interest of the country at this critical juncture.

We should build a consensus on what needs to be done to strengthen the ability of our system to meet these threats. The terrorists and enemies of our nation must know that their actions unite rather than divide us.

I do hope that at the end of our discussions today we will be able to give our collective assurance to the nation that, across the political spectrum, we stand together at this hour. I look forward to hearing the views of each one of you.”

The Prime Minister then requested his cabinet colleague Shri P. Chidambaram to open the discussions."

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Statement by
Shri L.K. Advani
Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha)

New Delhi – November 27, 2008

• The terrorist attack on Mumbai is an audacious challenge to India’s Nation-State.

• While maintaining calm and unity, we must all resolve to break the back of India’s enemies.

I am traumatized by the events in Mumbai since last night. Clearly, the terrorists have declared a full-scale war on India and sought to sever the country’s economic nerve with their meticulously planned carnage across the metropolis. The magnitude of their sinister design and determination is evident from the fact that they are yet to be fully over-powered. They are still holding people hostage in some leading hotels and private houses more than 12 hours after starting the onslaught on innocent people in various parts of the city.

No other city in our country has borne the brunt of terrorism so repeatedly and in so deadly a fashion as Mumbai. In earlier terrorist acts in Mumbai as well as in other places in India, outside Jammu & Kashmir, the attacks have been mostly in the form of bomb blasts by anonymous persons. For the first time, last night, terrorists have also resorted to indiscriminate firing at a crowded railway station, hospital, luxury hotels, cinema halls, and residential buildings. Also, for the first time, the fidayeen attackers have held foreigners as hostages. As many as 100 persons have been killed in this mayhem.

Last night’s terrorist attack using grenades, other explosives and AK-47 rifles is in a very significant way a continuation of the first episode of serial bomb blasts in Mumbai on 12 March 1993.

It appears 26 November 2008 is a continuation of 13 March 1993.

In the context of what has happened last night in Mumbai, there is no doubt that both the UPA Government at the Centre and the Congress-NCP coalition Government in Maharashtra have a lot to answer for. However, I shall not comment on this aspect now as today is not the occasion to do so.

Right now, the need of the hour is for the people of Mumbai, Maharashtra and the entire country to stay united and calm. Maintenance of peace, tranquility, communal harmony and patriotic unity must be our highest priority.

I spoke to the Prime Minister last night to express my concern as soon as I heard the news. Today morning he called me to suggest that both of us should travel together to Mumbai to examine the situation, express solidarity with the security forces and also try to provide succour to the victims of the tragedy. I have readily agreed to his proposal. Accordingly, I deferred my plan to leave for Mumbai immediately.


I pay homage to all the brave policemen and police officers who confronted the terrorists by risking their lives. In particular, I feel sad that Hemant Karkare, chief of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Maharashtra, senior police officers Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar have lost their lives in yesterday’s operation. Coming in the wake of the recent martyrdom of police officer Mohan Chand Sharma in an encounter with terrorists in New Delhi, these acts of dedicated service and sacrifice have earned our security forces the gratitude of the nation.

Mumbai attacks ‘were a ploy to wreck Obama plan to isolate al-Qaeda’

The carnage may have been an attempt to put Pakistan and India at each other’s throats and kill US hopes for the region

Relations between India and Pakistan were on a knife edge last night amid fears that Delhi’s response to the Mumbai attacks could undermine the Pakistani army’s campaign against Islamic militants on the frontier with Afghanistan.

Officials and analysts in the region believe that last week’s atrocities were designed to provoke a crisis, or even a war, between the nuclear-armed neighbours, diverting Islamabad’s attention from extremism in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and thus relieving pressure on al-Qaeda, Taleban and other militants based there.

One analyst even described the attacks as a “pre-emptive strike” against Barack Obama’s strategy to put Pakistan and Afghanistan at the centre of US foreign policy.

The United States and its allies now face a balancing act in supporting India’s efforts to investigate the Mumbai attacks, without jeopardizing Pakistan’s crucial support for the Nato campaign in Afghanistan.

India’s government, facing an election by May, is under enormous pressure to respond to the attacks, which it believes was carried out by the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, possibly with the help of al Qaeda.

Lashkar-e-Taiba was also blamed for an attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001, which prompted India and Pakistan to mass troops on each other’s border, almost triggering their fourth war since independence in 1947.

As the US announced Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would travel to India on Wednesday in a show of "solidarity," India's deputy interior minister said today all the attackers were from Pakistan.

"The terrorists who have been killed in these encounters in Mumbai in the last few days were of Pakistani origin," said Shakeel Ahmad.

However he stopped short of blaming the Pakistan government outright, telling the BBC: "We are not saying that it is sponsored by the Pakistan government."

The Indian government is now considering a range of responses, including suspending its five-year peace process with Pakistan, closing their border, stopping direct flights and sending troops to the frontier, according to Indian officials and analysts.

Pakistan’s government, meanwhile, has been rallying support in telephone calls to opposition politicians, as well as to officials in China, the United Arab Emirates and the EU.

It has also made it clear that if India again masses troops on the border, Pakistani forces would be diverted away from the tribal areas, allowing militants there to focus on Afghanistan.

“The next 48 hours are critical in determining how things unfold,” a top Pakistani security official told reporters. “We will not leave a single troop on the western border if we are threatened by India.”

His warning, highlighting the international implications of the Mumbai attacks, was clearly designed to encourage the United States and its allies to temper India’s response. The United States has forged a new strategic partnership with India since 2004, but has closer and older ties to Pakistan, a key Muslim partner in the War on Terror.

Pakistan has deployed more than 100,000 troops along its porous border with Afghanistan, where US and Nato forces are fighting against the Taleban, al Qaeda and other militants. Some 35,000 of those Pakistani troops are involved in the fight against al Qaeda and Taleban militants who have been sheltering in Pakistan’s northern tribal areas since late 2001.

Withdrawing those soldiers would undermine their progress, especially since Pakistan launched its biggest offensive to date against the militants in the tribal region of Bajaur in September.

“We are highly encouraged by the Pakistani military progress,” said Colonel Gregg Julian, a U.S. military spokesman. “It is creating pressure on al Qaeda from two sides and it is getting very difficult for them right now. We would hope that they are able to keep up that pressure.”

Pakistani officials and analysts said that withdrawing troops would also benefit local militant groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. “The withdrawal of troops will give a huge space to the militants,” said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Pakistani defence analyst and former professor at Punjab University.

“The main objective of the militants involved in the Mumbai attack was to destablise the region? They will thrive in the event of war between the two countries [India and Pakistan].”

The two groups were originally founded by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency as deniable proxies to be sent to fight Indian forces in the disputed region of Kashmir. They have been blamed for numerous attacks on Indian targets.

However, Western intelligence agencies have recently perceived a growing nexus between these and other, militant groups such as the Pakistani Taleban and al Qaeda. In June, it was reported that some 300 militant leaders from a number groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad met in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi.

There they reportedly agreed that while the Kashmir struggle remained important, their primary focus should be the fight against international forces in Afghanistan.

Just a few weeks later, nine US soldiers were killed in an attack on a combat outpost at Wanat in the Afghan border province of Nuristan that displayed unusual military competence. Intelligence reports subsequently assessed that the assault included a significant Lashkar-e-Taiba element, as well as al Qaeda fighters.

The growing relationship between al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba may explain the scale and sophistication of the Bombay attacks, said Dr Kanchan Lakshman of the South Asia Terrorism Portal. “It would also suggest why they targeted Americans, British and Israelis,” he said.

He added that he had heard from an Indian intelligence official that the Mumbai attack had been funded by Saudi money, again suggesting an al Qaeda link.

Other Indian analysts said the attack appeared to be an attempt to undermine US policy towards India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“There’s a lot of clamour for action against Pakistan from India,” Pratap Bhanu Mehta, the head of the Centre for Policy Research. “This attack was not just an attempt to scuttle India’s peace process with Pakistan. It was in many ways a pre-emptive strike against [Barack] Obama’s strategy for the region.”

The U.S. President elect has proposed increasing troop levels in Afghanistan and stepping up the pressure on Pakistan to attack militants on its territory. In exchange, he has suggested appointing an special envoy to help resolve Pakistan’s territorial dispute with India over Kashmir.

A crisis in India-Pakistan relations would scupper both plans.

Doctor Antonio Giustozzi, an expert on Afghanistan at the London School of Economics, said Washington could weather such a crisis, but concurred on the militants’ aims.

“I think that the terrorists have made a calculation that aims to worsen relations between India and Pakistan and embarrass the Pakistan government, in the hope that the Indians make an uncontrolled response,” he said.

That, he said, would “strengthen the militants’ hand and compromise the campaign by Islamabad against extremists by diverting troops back to the Indian border.”

Jeremy Page in Mumbai, Tom Coghlan and Zahid Hussain
From The Times
December 1, 2008

Joint Statement from Pakistan and India

Joint Statement was released to the press simultaneously in Pakistan and India
November 30 2008

Mumbai bloodbath

We are deeply shocked and horrified at the bloody mayhem in Mumbai, which has claimed more than a hundred and ninty lives and caused grievous injuries to several hundred people, besides sending a wave of panic and terror across South Asia and beyond. We convey our profound feelings of sorrow and sympathies to the grieving families of the unfortunate victims of this heinous crime and express our solidarity with them.

As usual, all sorts of speculations are circulating about the identity of the perpetrators of this act of barbarism. The truth about who are directly involved in this brutal incident and who could be the culprits behind the scene is yet to come out and we do not wish to indulge in any guesswork or blame game at this point. However, one is intrigued at its timing. Can it be termed a coincidence that it has happened on the day the Home Secretaries of the two countries concluded their talks in Islamabad and announced several concrete steps to move forward in the peace process, such as the opening of several land routes for trade – Kargil, Wagah-Attari, Khokhropar etc –, relaxation in the visa regime, a soft and liberal policy on the issue of release of prisoners and joint efforts to fight terrorism? Again, is it just a coincidence that on this fateful day the Foreign Minister of Pakistan was in the Indian capital holding very useful and productive talks with his Indian counterpart? One thing looks crystal clear. The enemies of peace and friendship between the two countries, whatever be the label under which they operate, are un-nerved by these healthy developments and are hell bent on torpedoing them.

We are of the considered opinion that the continued absence of peace in South Asia - peace between and within states - particularly in relation to India and Pakistan , is one of the root causes of most of the miseries the people of the region are made to endure. It is the major reason why our abundantly resource-rich subcontinent is wallowing in poverty, unemployment, disease, and ignorance and why militarism, religious and sectarian violence and political, economic and social injustice are eating into the very vitals of our societies, even after more than six decades of independence from colonial rule.

At this moment of unmitigated tragedy, the first thing we call upon the Governments of India and Pakistan to do is to acknowledge the fact that the overwhelming majority of the people of India and Pakistan ardently desire peace and, therefore, the peace process must be pursued with redoubled speed and determination on both sides. The sooner the ruling establishments of India and Pakistan acknowledge this fact and push ahead with concrete steps towards lasting peace and harmony in the subcontinent, the better it will be not only for the people of our two countries but also for the whole of South Asia and the world. While the immediate responsibility for unmasking the culprits of Mumbai and taking them to task surely rests with the Government of India, all of us in South Asia have an obligation to join hands and go into the root causes of why and how such forces of evil are motivated and emboldened to resort to such acts of anti-people terror.

It is extremely important to remind the leaderships of Pakistan and India that issuing statements and signing agreements and declarations will have meaning only when they are translated into action and implemented honestly, in letter and spirit and without any further loss of time. It assumes added urgency in the prevailing conditions in South Asia , with the possibility that so many different forces prone to religious, sectarian and other forms of intolerance and violence may be looking for ways to arm themselves with more and more sophisticated weapons of mass murder and destruction. The bloodbath in Mumbai must open the eyes of our governments, if it has not already happened.

We urge upon the governments of India and Pakistan to immediately take the following steps:

1. Cessation of all hostile propaganda against each other;
2. Joint action to curb religious extremism of all shades in both countries;
3. Continue and intensify normalization of relations and peaceful resolution of all conflicts between the two countries;
4. Facilitation of trade and cooperation between the two countries and in all of South Asia . We welcome the fact that the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawlakot borders have been opened for trade and that the opening of the road between Kargil and Skardu is in the pipeline.
5. Immediate abolition of the current practice of issuing city-specific and police reporting visa and issue country-valid visa without restrictions at arrival point, simultaneously initiating necessary steps to introduce as early as possible a visa-free travel regime, to encourage friendship between the peoples of both countries;
6. Declaration by India and Pakistan of No First Use of atomic weapons;
7. Concrete measures towards making South Asia nuclear-free;
8. Radical reduction in military spending and end to militarisation.

Signatories:

Pakistan

1. Mr. Iqbal Haider, Co-Chairman, Human Rights Commission Pakistan and former federal Minister of Pakistan
2. Dr. Tipu Sultan, President, Pakistan Doctors for Peace & Development, Karachi
3. Dr. Tariq Sohail, Dean, Jinnah Medical & Dental University , Karachi
4. Dr. A. H.. Nayyar, President, Pakistan Peace Coalition, Islamabad
5. Justice (Retd) Rasheed A. Razvi, President, Sindh High Court Bar Association
6. Mr. B.M.Kutty, Secretary General , Pakistan Peace Coalition, Karachi
7. Mr. Karamat Ali, Director, PILER, Karachi , Founding member, PIPFPD
8. Mr. Fareed Awan, General Secretary , Pakistan Workers Confederation, Sindh
9. Mr. Muhammad Ali Shah, Chairman , Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Karachi
10. Mr. Zulfiqar Halepoto, Secretary, Sindh Democratic Front, Hyderabad
11. Professor Dr. Sarfraz Khan, Area Studies Centre ( Central Asia), Peshawar University
12. Syed Khadim Ali Shah, Former Member National Assembly, Mirpur Khas
13. Mr. Muhammad Tahseen, Director, South Asia Partnership (PAK), Lahore
14. Mrs. Saleha Athar, Network for Women's Rights, Karachi
15. Ms. Sheema Kermani, Tehreek-e-Niswan, Karachi
16. Ms. Saeeda Diep, President, Institute of Secular Studies, Lahore
17. Dr. Aly Ercelan, Pakistan Labour Trust, Karachi
18. Mr. Suleiman G. Abro, Director, Sindh Agricultural & Forestry Workers Organisation, Hyderabad
19. Mr. Sharafat Ali, PILER, Karachi
20. Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Shah, PILER, Karachi
21. Mr. Ayub Qureshi, Information Secretary , Pakistan Trade Union Federation
22. Ms. Sheen Farrukh, Director, Interpress Communication Pakistan , Karachi
23. Mr. Zafar Malik, PIPFPD, Lahore
24. Mr. Adam Malik, Action-Aid Pakistan , Karachi
25. Mr. Qamarul Hasan, International Union of Food Workers (IUF), Karachi
26. Prof. Muhammad Nauman, NED University , Karachi
27. Mr. Mirza Maqsood, General Secretary, Mazdoor Mahaz-e-Amal
28. Ms. Shaista Bukhari, Women Rights Association, Multan

India

1. Kuldip Nayar, journalist, former Indian High Commissioner, UK., Delhi
2. S P Shukla, retired Finance Secretary, former Member, Planning Commission, Delhi
3. PEACE MUMBAI network of 15 organisations, Mumbai
4. Seema Mustafa, Journalist, Delhi
5. Manisha Gupte, MASUM, Pune
6. Dr. Ramesh Awasthi, PUCL, Maharashtra
7. Jatin Desai, journalist, Mumbai
8. Prof. Ritu Dewan, University of Mumbai
9. Prabir Purkayashta, DSF, Delhi
10. Prof. Pushpa Bhave , Mumbai
11. Paromita Vohra, filmmaker, Mumbai
12. Achin Vanaik, CNDP, Delhi
13. Meena Menon, Focus on the Global South, Mumbai
14. Romar Correa Professor of Economics, University of Mumbai
15. Anjum Rajabally, film writer, Mumbai
16. Anand Patwardhan, filmmaker, Mumbai
17. Kamla Bhasin, SANGAT, Delhi
18. Dr. Padmini Swaminathan, MIDS, Chennai
19. Sumit Bali, CEO, Kotak Mahindra Prime Limited
20. Dr Walter Fernandes, Director, North Eastern Social Research Centre , Assam ,
21. Rabia, Lahore Chitrkar
22. Rakesh Sharma, filmmaker, Mumbai
23. Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy, JNU, Delhi
24. Prof. Anuradha Chenoy, JNU, Delhi
25. P K Das, architect, Mumbai
26. Neera Adarkar, architect, Mumbai
27. Datta Iswalkar, Secretary, Textile Workers Action Committee, Mumbai
28. Madhusree Dutta, filmmaker, Majlis, Mumbai
29. Amrita Chhachhi, Founding member, PIPFPD
30. Mazher Hussain, COVA, Hyderabad
31. Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty, Delhi
32. Prof. M C Arunan, Mumbai

Joint Statement from Pakistan and India

This Joint Statement was released to the press simultaneously in Pakistan and India on November 30 2008.

Mumbai bloodbath

We are deeply shocked and horrified at the bloody mayhem in Mumbai, which has claimed more than a hundred and ninty lives and caused grievous injuries to several hundred people, besides sending a wave of panic and terror across South Asia and beyond. We convey our profound feelings of sorrow and sympathies to the grieving families of the unfortunate victims of this heinous crime and express our solidarity with them.

As usual, all sorts of speculations are circulating about the identity of the perpetrators of this act of barbarism. The truth about who are directly involved in this brutal incident and who could be the culprits behind the scene is yet to come out and we do not wish to indulge in any guesswork or blame game at this point. However, one is intrigued at its timing. Can it be termed a coincidence that it has happened on the day the Home Secretaries of the two countries concluded their talks in Islamabad and announced several concrete steps to move forward in the peace process, such as the opening of several land routes for trade – Kargil, Wagah-Attari, Khokhropar etc –, relaxation in the visa regime, a soft and liberal policy on the issue of release of prisoners and joint efforts to fight terrorism? Again, is it just a coincidence that on this fateful day the Foreign Minister of Pakistan was in the Indian capital holding very useful and productive talks with his Indian counterpart? One thing looks crystal clear. The enemies of peace and friendship between the two countries, whatever be the label under which they operate, are un-nerved by these healthy developments and are hell bent on torpedoing them.

We are of the considered opinion that the continued absence of peace in South Asia - peace between and within states - particularly in relation to India and Pakistan , is one of the root causes of most of the miseries the people of the region are made to endure. It is the major reason why our abundantly resource-rich subcontinent is wallowing in poverty, unemployment, disease, and ignorance and why militarism, religious and sectarian violence and political, economic and social injustice are eating into the very vitals of our societies, even after more than six decades of independence from colonial rule.

At this moment of unmitigated tragedy, the first thing we call upon the Governments of India and Pakistan to do is to acknowledge the fact that the overwhelming majority of the people of India and Pakistan ardently desire peace and, therefore, the peace process must be pursued with redoubled speed and determination on both sides. The sooner the ruling establishments of India and Pakistan acknowledge this fact and push ahead with concrete steps towards lasting peace and harmony in the subcontinent, the better it will be not only for the people of our two countries but also for the whole of South Asia and the world. While the immediate responsibility for unmasking the culprits of Mumbai and taking them to task surely rests with the Government of India, all of us in South Asia have an obligation to join hands and go into the root causes of why and how such forces of evil are motivated and emboldened to resort to such acts of anti-people terror.

It is extremely important to remind the leaderships of Pakistan and India that issuing statements and signing agreements and declarations will have meaning only when they are translated into action and implemented honestly, in letter and spirit and without any further loss of time. It assumes added urgency in the prevailing conditions in South Asia , with the possibility that so many different forces prone to religious, sectarian and other forms of intolerance and violence may be looking for ways to arm themselves with more and more sophisticated weapons of mass murder and destruction. The bloodbath in Mumbai must open the eyes of our governments, if it has not already happened.

We urge upon the governments of India and Pakistan to immediately take the following steps:

1. Cessation of all hostile propaganda against each other;
2. Joint action to curb religious extremism of all shades in both countries;
3. Continue and intensify normalization of relations and peaceful resolution of all conflicts between the two countries;
4. Facilitation of trade and cooperation between the two countries and in all of South Asia . We welcome the fact that the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawlakot borders have been opened for trade and that the opening of the road between Kargil and Skardu is in the pipeline.
5. Immediate abolition of the current practice of issuing city-specific and police reporting visa and issue country-valid visa without restrictions at arrival point, simultaneously initiating necessary steps to introduce as early as possible a visa-free travel regime, to encourage friendship between the peoples of both countries;
6. Declaration by India and Pakistan of No First Use of atomic weapons;
7. Concrete measures towards making South Asia nuclear-free;
8. Radical reduction in military spending and end to militarisation.

Signatories:

Pakistan

1. Mr. Iqbal Haider, Co-Chairman, Human Rights Commission Pakistan and former federal Minister of Pakistan
2. Dr. Tipu Sultan, President, Pakistan Doctors for Peace & Development, Karachi
3. Dr. Tariq Sohail, Dean, Jinnah Medical & Dental University , Karachi
4. Dr. A. H.. Nayyar, President, Pakistan Peace Coalition, Islamabad
5. Justice (Retd) Rasheed A. Razvi, President, Sindh High Court Bar Association
6. Mr. B.M.Kutty, Secretary General , Pakistan Peace Coalition, Karachi
7. Mr. Karamat Ali, Director, PILER, Karachi , Founding member, PIPFPD
8. Mr. Fareed Awan, General Secretary , Pakistan Workers Confederation, Sindh
9. Mr. Muhammad Ali Shah, Chairman , Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Karachi
10. Mr. Zulfiqar Halepoto, Secretary, Sindh Democratic Front, Hyderabad
11. Professor Dr. Sarfraz Khan, Area Studies Centre ( Central Asia), Peshawar University
12. Syed Khadim Ali Shah, Former Member National Assembly, Mirpur Khas
13. Mr. Muhammad Tahseen, Director, South Asia Partnership (PAK), Lahore
14. Mrs. Saleha Athar, Network for Women's Rights, Karachi
15. Ms. Sheema Kermani, Tehreek-e-Niswan, Karachi
16. Ms. Saeeda Diep, President, Institute of Secular Studies, Lahore
17. Dr. Aly Ercelan, Pakistan Labour Trust, Karachi
18. Mr. Suleiman G. Abro, Director, Sindh Agricultural & Forestry Workers Organisation, Hyderabad
19. Mr. Sharafat Ali, PILER, Karachi
20. Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Shah, PILER, Karachi
21. Mr. Ayub Qureshi, Information Secretary , Pakistan Trade Union Federation
22. Ms. Sheen Farrukh, Director, Interpress Communication Pakistan , Karachi
23. Mr. Zafar Malik, PIPFPD, Lahore
24. Mr. Adam Malik, Action-Aid Pakistan , Karachi
25. Mr. Qamarul Hasan, International Union of Food Workers (IUF), Karachi
26. Prof. Muhammad Nauman, NED University , Karachi
27. Mr. Mirza Maqsood, General Secretary, Mazdoor Mahaz-e-Amal
28. Ms. Shaista Bukhari, Women Rights Association, Multan

India

1. Kuldip Nayar, journalist, former Indian High Commissioner, UK., Delhi
2. S P Shukla, retired Finance Secretary, former Member, Planning Commission, Delhi
3. PEACE MUMBAI network of 15 organisations, Mumbai
4. Seema Mustafa, Journalist, Delhi
5. Manisha Gupte, MASUM, Pune
6. Dr. Ramesh Awasthi, PUCL, Maharashtra
7. Jatin Desai, journalist, Mumbai
8. Prof. Ritu Dewan, University of Mumbai
9. Prabir Purkayashta, DSF, Delhi
10. Prof. Pushpa Bhave , Mumbai
11. Paromita Vohra, filmmaker, Mumbai
12. Achin Vanaik, CNDP, Delhi
13. Meena Menon, Focus on the Global South, Mumbai
14. Romar Correa Professor of Economics, University of Mumbai
15. Anjum Rajabally, film writer, Mumbai
16. Anand Patwardhan, filmmaker, Mumbai
17. Kamla Bhasin, SANGAT, Delhi
18. Dr. Padmini Swaminathan, MIDS, Chennai
19. Sumit Bali, CEO, Kotak Mahindra Prime Limited
20. Dr Walter Fernandes, Director, North Eastern Social Research Centre , Assam ,
21. Rabia, Lahore Chitrkar
22. Rakesh Sharma, filmmaker, Mumbai
23. Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy, JNU, Delhi
24. Prof. Anuradha Chenoy, JNU, Delhi
25. P K Das, architect, Mumbai
26. Neera Adarkar, architect, Mumbai
27. Datta Iswalkar, Secretary, Textile Workers Action Committee, Mumbai
28. Madhusree Dutta, filmmaker, Majlis, Mumbai
29. Amrita Chhachhi, Founding member, PIPFPD
30. Mazher Hussain, COVA, Hyderabad
31. Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty, Delhi
32. Prof. M C Arunan, Mumbai

Vishwanath Pratap Singh is dead

Parliamentary Oversight Committee to monitor the functioning of the intelligence agencies

Former Prime Minister V P Singh, who formed a non-Congress coalition government at the Centre dethroning Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress in the 1989 elections, died in New Delhi on Thursday after prolonged illness.

Battling blood cancer since 1991 and suffering from renal failure, 77-year-old Singh, also known as 'Raja of Manda', breathed his last at the Apollo Hospital in Delhi in the afternoon, his close associate Wasim Ahmad said.

"The end came at 1445 hrs," an Apollo Hospital spokesperson said.

Singh is survived by his wife Sita Kumari and two sons Ajeya Singh and Abhay Singh.

In the present scenario where intelligence failure has become rampant, it is noteworthy that former Prime Minister V P Singh had tried to set up a Parliamentary Oversight Committee to monitor the functioning of the intelligence agencies. He failed mainly on account of opposition from the major political parties.

PM's address to the Nation

November 27, 2008
New Delhi

Dear Citizens,

The dastardly terror attacks that took place in Mumbai last night and today leading to the loss of many precious lives and injuries to many others have deeply shocked the nation. I strongly condemn these acts of senseless violence against innocent people, including guests from foreign countries. I offer my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and sympathies to those injured. The Government will take all necessary measures to look after the wellbeing of the affected families, including medical treatment of injured.

The well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, probably with external linkages, were intended to create a sense of panic, by choosing high profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners.

I salute the courage and patriotism of the police officers, including the Chief of the Anti-Terror Squad, Shri Hemant Karkare and men who have laid down their lives in fighting these terrorists. I assure the country that we will attend in an urgent and serious manner to police reform so that the law and order authorities can work unitedly, effectively and in a determined manner to tackle such threats to national integrity.

We are not prepared to countenance a situation in which the safety and security of our citizens can be violated with impunity by terrorists. It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with single-minded determination to create havoc in the commercial capital of the country.

We will take the strongest possible measures to ensure that there is no repetition of such terrorist acts. We are determined to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the safety and security of our citizens.

Instruments like the National Security Act will be employed to deal with situations of this kind. Existing laws will be tightened to ensure that there are no loopholes available to terrorists to escape the clutches of the law. Most importantly, it is essential to immediately set up a Federal Investigation Agency to go into terrorist crimes of this kind and ensure that the guilty are brought to book.

We will take up strongly with our neighbours that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated, and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them. We will take a number of measures to strengthen the hands of our police and intelligence authorities. We will curb the flow of funds to suspect organizations. We will restrict the entry of suspects into the country. We will go after these individuals and organizations and make sure that every perpetrator, organizer and supporter of terror, whatever his affiliation or religion may be, pays a heavy price for these cowardly and horrific acts against our people.

In this hour of tragedy, I appeal to the people to maintain peace and harmony so that the enemies of our country do not succeed in their nefarious designs. All concerned authorities are on alert and will deal sternly with any attempts to disturb public order.

I am confident that the people of India will rise unitedly to face this grave challenge to the nation’s security and integrity.

Jai Hind !

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Note: Leader of the Opposition L K Advani has termed the Mumbai attack as the most ferocious terrorist attack of the country since Independence. "It is the most ferocious terrorist attack in India since Independence. Mumbai is the financial capital of the country and such attacks not only affect India but also the rest of the world," Advani said after his arrival here in the evening. When asked if he saw the whole attack as a government failure, he said, "the government itself has agreed that it is an intelligence failure."
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The National Security Act, 1980
Enactment Date: [27th December, 1980.]

Act Objective: An Act to provide for preventive detention in certain cases and for matters connected therewith. BE it enacted by Parliament in the Thirty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows: --

2. Definitions. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, --

(a) "appropriate Government" means, as respects a detention order made by the Central Government or a person detained under such order, the Central Government, and as respects a detention order made by a State Government or by an officer subordinate to a State Government or as respects a person detained under such order, the State Government;

(b) "detention order" means an order made under section 3;

(c) "foreigner" has the same meaning as in the Foreigners Act, 1946 (31 of 1946);

(d) "person" includes a foreigner;

(e) "State Government", in relation to a Union territory, means the administrator thereof.

3. Power to make orders detaining certain persons. (1) The Central Government or the State Government may, --(a) if satisfied with respect to any person that with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the defence of India, the relations of India with foreign powers, or the security of India, or (b) if satisfied with respect to any foreigner that with a view to regulating his continued presence in India or with a view to making arrangements for his expulsion from India, it is necessary so to do, make an order directing that such person be detained.

(2) The Central Government or the State Government may, if satisfied with respect to any person that with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of the State or from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of Public order or from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community it is necessary so to do, make an order directing that such person be detained.

Explanation. --For the purposes of this sub-section, "acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community" does not include "acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies of commodities essential to the community" as defined in the Explanation to sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Prevention of Black-marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980 (7 of 1980), and accordingly, no order of detention shall be made under this Act on any ground on which an order of detention may be made under that Act.

(3) If, having regard to the circumstances prevailing or likely to prevail in any area within the local limits of the jurisdiction of a District Magistrate or a Commissioner of Police, the State Government is satisfied that it is necessary so to do, it may, by order in writing, direct, that during such period as may be specified in the order, such District Magistrate or Commissioner of Police may also, if satisfied as provided in sub-section (2), exercise the powers conferred by the said sub-section: Provided that the period specified in an order made by the State Government under this sub-section shall not, in the first instance, exceed three months, but the State Government may, if satisfied as aforesaid that it is necessary so to do, amend such order to extend such period from time to time by any period not exceeding three months at any one time.

(4) When any order is made under this section by an officer mentioned in sub-section (3), he shall forthwith report the fact to the State Government to which he is subordinate together with the grounds on which the order has been made and such other particulars as, in his opinion, have a bearing on the matter, and no such order shall remain in force for more than twelve days after the making thereof unless, in the meantime, it has been approved by the State Government: Provided that where under section 8 the grounds of detention are communicated by the officer making the order after five days but not later than ten days from the date of detention, this sub-section shall apply subject to the modification that, for the words "twelve days", the words "fifteen days" shall be substituted.

(5) When any order is made or approved by the State Government under this section, the State Government shall, within seven days, report the fact to the Central Government together with the grounds on which the order has been made and such other particulars as, in the opinion of the State Government, have a bearing on the necessity for the order.

4. Execution of detention orders. A detention order may be executed at any place in India in the manner provided for the execution of warrants of arrest under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).

5. Power to regulate place and conditions of detention. Every person in respect of whom a detention order has been made shall be liable-- (a) to be detained in such place and under such conditions, (b) including conditions as to maintenance, discipline and punishment for breaches of discipline, as the appropriate Government may, by general or special order, specify; and (c) to be removed from one place of detention to another place of detention, whether within the same State or in another State, by order of the appropriate Government: Provided that no order shall be made by a State Government under clause (d) for the removal of a person from one State to another State except with the consent of the Government of that other State.

6. Detention orders not to be invalid or inoperative on certain grounds. No detention order shall be invalid or inoperative merely by reason-- (a) that the person to be detained thereunder is outside the limits of the territorial jurisdiction of the Government or officer making the order, or (b) that the place of detention of such person is outside the said limits.

7. Powers in relation to absconding persons. (1) If the Central Government or the State Government or an officer mentioned in sub- section (3) of section 3, as the case may be, has reason to believe that a person in respect of whom a detention order has been made has absconded or is concealing himself so that the order cannot be executed, that Government or officer may-- (a) make a report in writing of the fact to a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class having jurisdiction in the place where the said person ordinarily resides; (b) by order notified in the Official Gazette direct the said person to appear before such officer, at such place and within such period as may be specified in the order.

(2) Upon the making of a report against any person under clause (a) of sub-section (1), the provisions of sections 82, 83, 84 and 85 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), shall apply in respect of such person and his property as if the detention order made against him were a warrant issued by the Magistrate.

(3) If any person fails to comply with an order issued under clause (b) of sub-section (1), he shall, unless he proves that it was not possible for him to comply therewith and that he had, within the period specified in the order, informed the officer mentioned in the order of the reason which rendered compliance therewith impossible and of his whereabouts, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), every offence under sub-section (3) shall be cognizable.

8. Grounds of order of detention to be disclosed to persons affected by the order. (1) When a person is detained in pursuance of a detention order, the authority making the order shall, as soon as may be, but ordinarily not later than five days and in exceptional circumstances and for reasons to be recorded in writing, not later than ten days from the date of detention, communicate to him the grounds on which the order has been made and shall afford him the earliest opportunity of making a representation against the order to the appropriate Government.

(2) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall require the authority to disclose facts which it considers to be against the public interest to disclose.

9. Constitution of Advisory Boards. (1) The Central Government and each State Government shall, whenever necessary, constitute one or more Advisory Boards for the purposes of this Act.

(2) Every such Board shall consist of three persons who are, or have been, or are qualified to be appointed as, Judges of a High Court, and such persons shall be appointed by the appropriate Government.

(3) The appropriate Government shall appoint one of the members of the Advisory Board who is, or has been, a Judge of a High Court to be its Chairman, and in the case of a Union territory, the appointment to the Advisory Board of any person who is a Judge of the High Court of a State shall be with the previous approval of the State Government concerned.

10. Reference to Advisory Boards. Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, in every case where a detention order has been made under this Act, the appropriate Government shall, within three weeks from the date of detention of a person under the order, place before the Advisory Board constituted by it under section 9, the grounds on which the order has been made and the representation, if any, made by the person affected by the order, and in case where the order has been made by an officer mentioned in sub-section (3) of section 3, also the report by such officer under sub-section (4) of that section.

11. Procedure of Advisory Boards. (1) The Advisory Board shall, after considering the materials placed before it and, after calling for such further information as it may deem necessary from the appropriate Government or from any person called for the purpose through the appropriate Government or from the person concerned, and if, in any particular case, it considers it essential so to do or if the person concerned desires to be heard, after hearing him in person, submit its report to the appropriate Government within seven weeks from the date of

detention of the person concerned.

(2) The report of the Advisory Board shall specify in a separate part thereof the opinion of the Advisory Board as to whether or not there is sufficient cause for the detention of the person concerned.

(3) When there is a difference of opinion among the members forming the Advisory Board, the opinion of the majority of such members shall be deemed to be the opinion of the Board.

(4) Nothing in this section shall entitle any person against whom a detention order has been made to appear by any legal practitioner in any matter connected with the reference to the Advisory Board; and the proceedings of the Advisory Board and its report, excepting that part of the report in which the opinion of the Advisory Board is specified, shall be confidential.

12. Action upon the report of the Advisory Board. (1) In any case where the Advisory Board has reported that there is, in its opinion, sufficient cause for the detention of a person, the appropriate Government may confirm the detention order and continue the detention of the person concerned for such period as it thinks fit.

(2) In any case where the Advisory Board has reported that there is, in its opinion, no sufficient cause for the detention of a person, the appropriate Government shall revoke the detention order and cause the person concerned to be released forthwith.

13. Maximum period of detention. The maximum period for which any person may be detained in pursuance of any detention order which has been confirmed under section 12 shall be twelve months from the date of detention: Provided that nothing contained in this section shall affect the

power of the appropriate Government to revoke or modify the detention order at any earlier time.

14. Revocation of detention orders. (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of section 21 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 (10 of1897), a detention order may, at any time, be revoked or modified,--(a) notwithstanding that the order has been made by an officer mentioned in sub-section (3) of section 3, by the State Government to which that officer is subordinate or by the Central Government; (b) notwithstanding that the order has been made by a State Government, by the Central Government.

15. Temporary release of persons detained. (1) The appropriate Government may, at any time, direct that any person detained in pursuance of a detention order may be released for any specified period either without conditions or upon such conditions specified in the direction as that person accepts, and may, at any time, cancel his release.

(2) In directing the release of any person under sub-section (1), the appropriate Government may require him to enter into a bond with or without sureties for the due observance of the conditions specified in the direction.

(3) Any person released under sub-section (1) shall surrender himself at the time and place, and to the authority, specified in the order directing his release or cancelling his release, as the case may be.

(4) If any person fails without sufficient cause to surrender himself in the manner specified in sub-section (3), he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

(5) If any person released under sub-section (1) fails to fulfil any of the conditions imposed upon him under the said sub-section or in the bond entered into by him, the bond shall be declared to be forfeited and any person bound thereby shall be liable to pay thepenalty thereof.

16. Protection of action taken in good faith. No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Central Government or a State Government, and no suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person, for anything in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act.

17. Act not to have effect with respect to detentions under State laws. (1) Nothing in this Act shall apply or have any effect with respect to orders of detention, made under any State law, which are in force immediately before the commencement of the National Security Ordinance, 1980 (11 of 1980), and accordingly every person in respect of whom an order of detention made under any State law is in force immediately before such commencement, shall be governed with respect to such detention by the provisions of such State law or where the State law under which such order of detention is made is an Ordinance (hereinafter referred to as the State Ordinance) promulgated by the Governor of that State and the State Ordinance has been replaced--(i) before such commencement, by an enactment passed by the Legislature of that State, by such enactment; or (ii) after such commencement, by an enactment which is passed by the Legislature of that State and the application of which is confined to orders of detention made before such commencement under the State Ordinance, by such enactment, as if this Act had not been enacted.

(2) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to bar the making under section 3, of a detention order against any person referred to in sub-section (1) after the detention order in force in respect of him as aforesaid immediately before the commencement of the National Security Ordinance, 1980 (11 of 1980), ceases to have effect for any reason whatsoever.

Explanation.--For the purposes of this section, "State law" means any law providing for preventive detention on all or any of the grounds on which an order of detention may be made under sub-section (2) of section 3 and in force in any State immediately before the commencement of the said Ordinance.

18. Repeal and saving. (1) The National Security Ordinance, 1980 (11 of 1980), is hereby repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act, as if this Act had come into force on the 23rd day of September, 1980, and, in particular, any reference made under section 10 of the said Ordinance and pending before any Advisory Board immediately before the date on which this Act receives the assent of the President may continue to be dealt with by that Board after that date as if such Board had been constituted under section 9 of this Act.

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1* Ins. by Act 60 of 1984, s. 2 (w.e.f. 21-6-1984).

Be 'effectively collaborative': Sonia Gandhi

Hindustan Times Leadership Summit
Speech of Hon'ble Congress President, Sonia Gandhi

Mrs Shobhana Bhartia,

Mr Vir Sanghvi,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to be back here in this forum where I see so many friends and familiar faces.

I find a certain comfort in this, and applaud the Hindustan Times for having established such a high reputation for organising these interactions.

If I have any reservation, it is in my own ability to add meaningfully to your deliberations. It is not always easy to find something different to say from the same lectern for five consecutive years. But as it happens, I have been rescued from this dilemma by the global economic downturn which is clearly the big issue of the day.

We are meeting in turbulent times, times that overshadow the larger theme of this year's Leadership Summit. Its focus, "Ambitions for the New Century" will, I am afraid, have to wait a while, as we grapple with the cataclysm that has been thrust upon us.

The year that is passing has witnessed an extraordinary confluence of crisis as oil prices zoomed, food shortages proliferated and now a financial meltdown that has threatened banks, undermined the value of homes, diminished stock portfolios, adversely affected exports and sharply reduced national growth rates everywhere.

Though governments in affected countries around the world have taken action on all of these fronts, it is too early to say whether the global dangers have been contained. Many are still grappling with the problems that have arisen in their economies.

India, too, is not immune to the contagion. Some have been saying that our economy is "decoupled" from America or Europe. That has clearly been proved to be wrong. While the bulk of investment resources needed for our development are generated domestically, and the domestic market is the main engine of growth in our country, we do live in an increasingly globalising world. Whether we like it or not, we are all interconnected. We will face difficulties. However I also believe that the situation will throw up new opportunities for us in the future.

But what concerns us most today is that this economic upheaval could grievously affect the most vulnerable sections of our society.

The poor have had nothing to do with the hubris of the rich. Their lives are spent close to the edge, simply trying to make ends meet after a hard day's toil. They have nothing to do with the fancy­-sounding financial instruments - derivatives and credit default swaps - that have ensnared so many and which very few even fully understand.

Should they then become the victims of the unchecked greed of bankers and businessmen? Should the avarice of a few be allowed to inflict misery on the many?

It is our duty to ensure that whatever action we take in response to the turmoil protects them. The Prime Minister himself has stressed this, and this remains our firm commitment.

Growth for us has never been only about per capita income figures. It has always been a means to an end.

As a responsible society the ends we have to care about most are the acceleration of employment generation, the expansion in education, the provision of adequate health care, the supply of clean drinking water and so much more.

These objectives are primary. They remain inviolable.

As an open society, we believe in an open economy. But not an unregulated one.

As a free society, we believe in the freedom to pursue prosperity. But not at the expense of social justice.

As a democratic society, we believe in the right of each individual to fulfil his or her productive potential. But not to forget those who are unable to exercise this right.

As a young society, we are conscious of the nature of rising aspirations and the need to fulfil them. But not in a manner in which conspicuous consumption overwhelms time-tested values of simplicity and restraint.

We will not abandon the prudent and cautious course charted so far under the able leadership of our Prime Minister. But we shall continue to sail the course, with due regard - for the choppy seas in which we now find ourselves.

Our prudence has been most marked in the case of the financial sector. If you allow me the liberty of showing what is to you the proverbial "red rag to the bull". Let me take you back to Indira Gandhi's much reviled bank nationalization of 40 years ago. Every passing day bears out the wisdom of that decision. Public sector financial institutions have given our economy the stability and resilience we are now witnessing in the face of the economic slowdown.

Prudence implies ensuring an economic system that imposes clear, fair rules and rewards those who play by them.

It implies a system that insists upon transparency in all economic transactions, and accountability on the part of those who conduct them.

And it implies a system that accepts the need for supervisory institutions to serve as effective watchdogs, so that the interests of society as a whole are not overlooked in the justifiable quest for corporate gain.

We will not be thrown off course by the winds buffeting us from abroad. There is no need for over-reaction, let alone for panic. There is no need for us to get back into the era of controls. At the same time we cannot allow things to spin out of control.

This means that liberalization must be pursued within a frame work of sensible but not heavy-handed regulation.

Our industrialists are more confident than ever that they can hold their own in the face of global competition. We do not wish to tie their hands. We recognize, too, that the economic downturn has severely affected their businesses, that they are facing problems in the domestic market-place. They need to be helped and are being helped.

We ask them only not to forget that the object of public policy is not only to facilitate their success, but also to ensure the well-being of the hundreds of millions of Indians who are striving to make ends meet, to manage two square meals a day, and to put a roof over their heads.

This is why we have pursued such steps as the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Mid-day School Meals, the Workers' Health Insurance and so many other initiatives. [Too many of our fellow Indians reach for the sky every day without a social safety net under them. We must provide them with the basic security they deserve.] Ultimately, that is the true meaning of collaborative leadership.

We are also concerned with small and medium enterprises who create the bulk of jobs and help in dispersing growth across our country. Their voices should be heard with as much attention while the big names of Indian industry-and I see quite a few of them in front of me this morning - like us politicians, always manage to catch the headlines, it is these lakhs of small and medium entrepreneurs who require sustained assistance, as much as others.

I have always been of the view that our country needs greater public investment in physical and social infrastructure. This need is all the more urgent now in this troubled period. But I believe equally that much more effort must go into making sure that our public systems are made vastly more efficient and responsive. This means adopting a more creative approach to enhance the impact and value of public expenditures. This approach has to be anchored in collaborative partnerships - between public and private, rich and poor, between industry and agriculture, between state institutions and private companies and civil society organisations. And this means working and collaborating with leadership at all levels to ensure that the welfare of all, not just one segment or other, is the objective of the State.

Collaboration is imperative because we are all in this together. The problems we face today affect us all. So, Ladies and gentlemen, let us surprise Professor Amartya Sen, let us give up our favourite trait of being "unendingly argumentative" and for a change, [let us] be 'effectively collaborative'.

As always you have a distinguished galaxy of speakers. I wish you all a productive conference, and I look forward with interest its outcome.

Thank you.

MY VISION FOR INDIA: ADVANI

Speech by L.K. Advani
Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha)
At the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit
LOOKING AHEAD: MY VISION FOR INDIA
New Delhi – November 21, 2008

It gives me great pleasure to participate in the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. I thank Smt. Shobhna Bhartiya for inviting me to be a speaker at this event, which, over the years, has evolved as a prestigious forum for discussing major national and international issues.

I have been asked to share my vision for India. I must confess that I am a little wary of talking about the so-called ‘Vision Thing’ at a time like the one we are now passing through, which is truly extraordinary in the history of India and the world. Vision refers to the future, which some people can present in beautiful, lyrical phraseology. However, it is the present that demands our most immediate attention. It is good to look at the stars, but one must first know where one is standing. If the ground is full of thorns, or if there is an approaching calamity, one must first worry about how to move from an unsafe to a safe position.

We must no doubt look ahead. But right now it is necessary to look at where our country and the world stand.

The past few months have witnessed perhaps one of the most tumultuous phases in the international financial system since the end of the Cold War. Never before has the world experienced the kind of slump across the international economy that we see now. Not since World War II, has the prospect of a simultaneous economic recession affecting both developed and developing nations been so certain.

Production cuts, job losses, credit squeeze, sharp falls in commodity prices, closure of businesses, deep reduction in GDP forecasts with some of the advanced nations experiencing near-zero growth ? all this is extraordinary. Some have wondered if this is the beginning of a recessionary tsunami.

My interaction with business leaders

The situation in India is no less grim. Yesterday I had convened an interactive meeting with eminent representatives of Indian business. I must admit that the picture of the current crisis in the Indian economy that they presented was far more worrisome than what one reads in the print media or watches on the electronic media. They were unanimous in affirming that there is an all-round Crisis of Confidence in the economy. It is most evident in the functioning of the financial sector. Banks are not lending ? neither to businesses, nor even to one another.

All sectors of the economy ? manufacturing, real estate, automobiles, steel, construction sector, civil aviation, hospitality, tourism ? are in deep trouble. The scenario is bleak for exports because there is a fall in demand everywhere. The worst hit are the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). If this crisis of confidence continues, it could erode most of India’s economic gains of the last decade.

The effect of this crisis is felt most scarily in the area of employment and livelihood. Incomes have plummeted. Lakhs of people have already lost jobs. Many more face the spectre of job loss. The axe of retrenchment falls mostly on unorganized labour. Who constitute this category of unorganized labour? The poor and the most vulnerable, who have no social safety net.

UPA govt’s shocking mishandling of the crisis

Friends, I must say that I am most concerned and disappointed ? indeed, most people in India are concerned and disappointed ? at the way the UPA Government has dealt with the situation. The Government is still in denial mode, when it comes to accepting the reality of the crisis. Until a few months ago, those in responsible positions in the Government were passionately advocating greater integration of the Indian economy with the West-dominated global economy. The Government’s flawed policies led to high inflation. Thereafter, by mishandling inflation control with knee-jerk monetary measures, it created credit squeeze and throttled all sectors of the economy. Therefore, I said in my interaction with business representatives yesterday that, although the global economic meltdown provides the external context to the Indian crisis, it would be an act of escapism to attribute the severe slowdown in the Indian economy, solely or even mainly, to the global recession.

I say so for another important reason. A participant in yesterday’s interaction put it rather vividly, “Every Government should plant some seeds of long-term economic growth, irrespective of which future Government reaps the harvest.” The NDA government, led by Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had planted many healthy seeds during its six-year stint in office. The country has benefited from the rich harvest they have produced during the last five years of the UPA regime. Sadly, the UPA has planted no seed in the last five years for long-term growth. It has left the field barren for the next government.

From hope and confidence in 2004
to despair and pessimism in 2009

To appreciate this point, recall the situation in 1998. The NDA Government had inherited a weak economy with less than 5% growth. The legacy of this weak economy, as well the external challenges due to sanctions imposed on India after Pokharan II, represented a big challenge to our Government. In addition, there were other challenges in the form of the Kargil War, earthquake in Gujarat and super-cyclone in Orissa.

Nevertheless, our Government took decisive steps in infrastructure development by increasing public spending as well as by promoting private investment. The National Highway Development Project, represented famously by the Golden Quadrilateral, is the largest infrastructure development project in India’s history. Along with the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (for universalisation of primary education), it remains, even today, an abiding example of the NDA Government’s ambitious and visionary approach to India’s development. We opened up the power and port sectors for private investment. Our Government did not hesitate to take tough political decisions, when the telecom sector seemed like it was stuck in a quagmire of litigation and going nowhere. At the stroke of a single bold policy decision, our Government transformed the landscape of the telecom sector in India, which, among other things, also aided the IT Revolution. India’s incredible growth in the telecom sector today, rivaled only by China, was made possible principally by that one big policy decision.

Similarly, the tax buoyancy that the UPA Government has enjoyed throughout its term has been largely due to the long-term reforms in the tax administration and information systems implemented during the NDA regime.

In contrast, the UPA Government is going to leave an almost empty coffer for the next Government, which will be elected after the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha. Government finances are in a mess. Even critical infrastructure projects like the National Highway Development Project have slowed down.

The difference between the NDA and UPA governments should be obvious from another comparative fact. We started with 5% growth rate in 1998 and left the economy at 8.5%. In contrast, the UPA Government started with 8.5% growth rate in 2004 and will leave at 6% in early 2009.

It is not surprising, therefore, that in 2004 Indians exuded confidence and hope about the future. Today there is only doubt, uncertainty, pessimism, despair, and even fear.

India cannot afford a weak government
with a failed leadership

The difference can also be seen in the political functioning of the two coalitions. The NDA Government was cohesive, with Prime Minister Vajpayee as the supreme authority. In contrast, the UPA is not a coalition but a mere collection of independent fiefdoms of ministers doing whatever they want to further their own personal agendas without any concern for the overall progress of the country and without any fear of the authority of the Prime Minister, who has become a passive observer. The Prime Minister has turned a blind eye to the blatant misuse of institutions as well as to shocking levels of corruption, never seen before in independent India.

Friends, I am equally disappointed that, at a time when the country is facing a multi-dimensional economic crisis, the Government has not deemed it necessary to have any consultations with the Opposition. Mature democracies all over the world have adopted a bipartisan approach in times like these. Wider consultations among political parties have also helped those governments in crystallizing their resolve for concerted action. Unfortunately, the UPA government has not followed this approach. Before going to attend the G-20 meeting in Washington, the Prime Minister ought to have consulted Opposition parties. He did not do so. Moreover, Parliament has remained adjourned and not debated in either House any of the issues relating to the economic crisis in any depth. Funnily, even though the monsoon ended quite some time back, the monsoon session of Parliament is, technically, still continuing!

This, my friends, is not how India should be governed if we want our country to reach heights commensurate with its potential. Moreover, India cannot afford a weak Government with a failed leadership at a time when, in addition to economic insecurity, our country is also facing grave threats to its internal security.

Crisis presents a unique opportunity
for India to take a big leap forward

India needs a strong leadership and a strong government which has both the capacity to overcome the current crisis and also a clear vision to resolutely pursue long-term goals. I say so because I believe that the current crisis, hurting though it is, presents a unique opportunity for India to take a big leap forward. We can achieve India’s renaissance in the backdrop of the extraordinary changes taking place in the global economic and political order. It falls upon the present generation of leadership and our civil society to offer an intellectual and strategic template for the nation to move forward, one that is consistent with the self-image of a proud and ancient nation and one that serves the socio-economic aspirations of the majority of Indians.

The western monopoly over global economic processes, one that has lasted for over two centuries and which gave the West a dominant position as the principal arbiter for the international community, has now most certainly run its course. No statistic demonstrates this more succinctly than the fact that India’s foreign exchange reserves are greater than the IMF’s current reserve balance.

I urge all my fellow Indians to appreciate the gigantic forces of history at play. For the first time since the early 1800s, India along with China and other non-European nations are on the cusp of achieving a dignified position in the international political economy. When compared to the excesses of the western world, Asian frugality stands in sharp contrast. In fact, it is precisely this aspect ? the surplus of Asian savings ? that has sustained the debt-ridden lifestyle of the average American household. China’s $1 trillion plus foreign exchange reserves denominated in US government bonds exemplify this fact. The fact that the emerging world has emerged as the principal creditor for the international economy is one of ironies of the last decade. It is also a manifestation of the relative decline of the industrialized economies.

The ongoing credit crisis is the final culmination of this global imbalance ? America’s quest to live beyond its means. Thus, rather than calling for a restoration of this unhealthy economic relationship between Asia and the West ? whereby the latter continues to draw upon the savings of Asian households to finance their exorbitant lifestyles ?, and rather than being worried about the de-industrialization of the West, it is incumbent for the emerging economies such as India to begin massively re-industrializing at home.

And for this to become a reality, the rejuvenation of rural India, driven into penury and indebtedness by the neglect of the past years ? the kind of debt-induced distress that has caused thousands of farmers to commit suicide ? ought to be the starting point for a new economic philosophy by the next Government. It will indeed be the starting point, if the NDA gets the mandate to form the next Government. We know very well that a failure here would involve facing the dangerous risk of alienating the majority of rural India, and destabilization or even complete breakdown in the nation building and development process.

Let me sum up by saying that a future NDA Government’s economic and governance strategy will be radically different from that of the incumbent government. We shall take all those measures that are necessary for restoring hope and confidence among the people within the first six months. But we shall also aim at the stars, at taking India to greater heights in every sphere of national accomplishment. Our strategy will aim at the allocation of resources and wealth generation that is equitable and balanced, both socially and geographically.

A future NDA Government will make the deepest and widest ever dent in poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment. It will create the largest ever basket of opportunities for young Indians, who are already authoring so many exciting success stories. I believe that all this is possible to achieve through Good Governance. We shall keep top echelons of Government free of corruption, and also take resolute steps to stem corruption in the rest of the system.

In our engagement with countries in the international community, both big and small, we shall come across as TRULY INDEPENDENT – both in thought and in action. India cannot and will not be an adjunct to any foreign power.

Our strategy of Good Governance and Development will focus on rejuvenating India’s internal strengths, strengthening our democratic institutions, and deriving strength from our rich cultural strengths. Our ancient civilization has many lessons for creating a healthy and happy society in modern times. We must preserve our family and community values, which have been eroded in the misconceived pursuit of modernization. We should be proud of our inclusive national ethos. It teaches us to respect all faiths, while strengthening the unifying bonds of Indian nationhood. When I see young Indians, I am amazed at how talented they are and also how patriotic they are. If we ? and I refer to all those who are in politics and government at various levels ? can show a firm commitment to Good Politics and Good Governance, our youth can indeed create a miracle within a short time. This gives me the confidence that, with determination, discipline, unity and hard work, Indians can indeed make the 21st Century an Indian Century.

This, then, is my Vision for India’s Future. In talking about the Future, I had to necessarily talk about the Present.

Thank you.

Demand for judicial probe following Sadhvi Pragya's Affidavit

Speech by L.K. Advani
Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha)

Demand for judicial probe into charges against ATS by Sadhvi Pragya

Raipur : November 18, 2008

On the flight from Delhi to Raipur today, I read the full text of Sadhvi Pragya's affidavit before the Nashik court. I cannot believe that such barbaric treatment has been meted out to a spiritual person, that too, a woman in a country that prides itself on its democracy and rule of law.

So far I had refrained from commenting on the allegations levelled by the Maharashtra ATS against Sadhvi Pragya and her supposed associates. But after going through her affidavit detailing how she was physically and psychologically tortured and abused in obscene language by her interrogators, I have to express my shock and outrage which I am sure all Indians will share.

It is incredible that the Sadhvi was kept in illegal detention for two weeks while she was tortured in a vicious manner which led to her hospitalisation. Polygraph and narco tests were conducted without her consent. Not even a female constable was present during her illegal confinement

It has further become clear that the ATS is acting in a politically motivated and unprofessional manner. After levelling all kind of charges against a serving Army officer, and suggesting he stole RDx from an army depot to organise blasts in the Samjhauta Express, it has now admitted that no RDx was used in those blasts.

In view of the shocking charges made against the ATS by the Sadhvi and the fact that the present investigating team has lost all moral authority, I demand:

1. The present ATS team investigating the case be changed totally, and

2. A judicial inquiry be ordered to probe the charges made by Sadhvi Pragya and the manner in which unsubstantiated allegations have been made against serving Army Personnel.

Given below is the full

IN THE COURT OF THE HON’BLE CHIEF JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE,
NASIK
C.R. NO. I – 130/08
(RE-NUMBERED AS C.R. No. 1 – 18/08 at ATS)
State of Maharashtra ... Complainant
Thru’ ATS
V/s.
Sadhwi Prgyna Singh Thukar & Ors. .... Accused

AFFIDAVIT

I, Sadhwi Pragyan Chandrapal Singh Thakur, Age 38 years, Occupation –Nil, residing at 7, Ganga Sagar Apartment, Katodara Road, Surat, Gujarat State do hereby state on solemn affirmation as under:-
1. I say that I am a resident of Madhya Pradesh. My parents live in Surat, Gujarat where they shifted residence a couple of years ago. I say that for some years now, I found myself becoming increasingly detached from the material world and correspondingly found tremendous comfort and solace in Spiritualism . Accordingly I
decided to renounce the material world and become a Sanyasin. On 30.1.2007, after performing the appropriate Hindu Religious rites and prayers I became a Sadhwi. I say that ever since then, I have been residing in a ashram at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. My life at the Ashram almost exclusively consisted of prayers, meditation, yoga and the reading of spiritual texts. At the ashram I did not watch T.V. channels and had practically no access to newspapers.

2. I say that apart from my activities at the ashram, I traveled chiefly around North India for the purpose of religious discourses and sermons. In connection with these latter activities, between 23.9.2008 and 4.10.2008, I was in Indore where I stayed at the
residence of one Annaji who is my disciple. In the evening of 4th October, 2008, I returned to my ashram in Jabalpur.

3. I say that on 7.10.2008, when I was at Jabalpur Ashram, I received a call from a police officer from the ATS, Maharashtra, called Mr. Sawant, who wanted to know about my LML Freedom vehicle. However, I told him I had sold it long back and not concerned with it. However, he insisted me to come down to Surat as he wanted to question me at length about it. I was reluctant to go to Surat by leaving the Ashram and insisted for him to come down to Jabalpur, but he refused and told me to come down to Surat as early as possible.

4. I further say that accordingly I travelled to Surat by train via Ujjain and arrived at Surat on 10.10.2008 early in the morning and my disciple Shri. Bhimbhai Pasricha had to receive me at Railway Station and I went to his place at Atop Nagar.

5. I say that here at about 10 AM, I met officer Mr. Sawant who had apparently traveled to Surat to trace the ownership of a LML Freedom two wheeler and I questioned him as to what had happened to my vehicle and why you are asking about it. I say that I it was at this point time, Mr. Sawant told me that my vehicle had been allegedly planted with the explosives and subsequently detonated in Malegaon in the last week of September. I also say that it was here for the first time, I came to know that my old vehicle had been allegedly used in Malegaon blast, which was completely
shocking to me. I confirmed to Mr. Sawant that the LML Freedom 2 wheeler of the colour and number, he mentioned had once belonged to me.

6. I say that in Surat during the course of my interrogation with Mr. Sawant, I mentioned to him that the LML Freedom two wheeler once owned by me was subsequently sold to one Sunil Joshi of Madhya Pradesh way back in October, 2004 and that Mr. Joshi had paid me Rs. 24,000/- for the same. I had also signed the necessary T.T. Form for RTO transfer in October, 2004 itself. I categorically asserted to Mr. Sawant that since October, 2004 I had no control over the vehicle or its movements and usage.

7. I further say that inspite of my answers, Mr. Sawant repeatedly asked me how the vehicle reached Malegaon and how it came to be involved in the bomb blast on 29.9.2008. I repeatedly replied that I could not answer his questions as I had no control of the vehicle since October, 2004.

8. I also say that Mr. Sawant however informed me that he did not believe me and that I would have to accompany him and his ATS team to Mumbai for further interrogation and he assured me that after such interrogation I would be free to go back to my ashram.

9. It is significant to mention that I was not formally arrested on 10.10.2008. Even though no formal summons to attend as a Witness was served upon me to make my self available for interrogation in Mumbai, and even though I was within my rights to
insist that I be interrogated at the place where I reside i.e. Jabalpur, trusting Mr. Sawant and having nothing to hide, I agreed to accompany the ATS team to Mumbai . I say Mr. Sawant told me take my father along with me. However, due to his old age, I told him it was not proper take down him to Mumbai and suggested that my disciple, one Mr. Bhimbhai Pasricha, in whose very residence my questioning was being done by the ATS. I further say that at 5.15 PM myself, Mr. Pasricha and the ATS officer left Surat and reached Bombay on the very night of 10.10.2008 . In Bombay I was taken straight away to the ATS office at Kalachowkie.

10. Thereafter for two days I was detained and interrogated by the ATS team in Mumbai. The questions were repetitive and directed at somehow involving me in the bomb blast in Malegaon on 29.9.2008.

My answers remained constant throughout.
11. I further say that on 12.10.2008 the ATS changed the mode of interrogation and became extremely aggressive with me. At first they asked my said disciple Mr. Bhimbhai Pasricha to beat me with sticks, belts etc., on my palms, forehands, soles, etc. When Mr.
Pasricha refused to do so, he was severely beaten by the ATS. Ultimately with the greatest reluctance, he complied with the ATS orders but obviously being my disciple, he exerted the very minimum of force on me. He was then pushed aside by a member
of the ATS squad knows as Khanwilkar, who then himself commenced beating me severely with a belt on my hands, forearms, palms, feet, soles, causing me bruises, swelling and contusions in these areas.

12. I say that from the 13th onwards, I say that I was beaten during the day , night and midnight. On two occasions I was even woken up in the early hours of the morning at 4 a.m. and questioned about my knowledge of the blasts. On these occasions, I was beaten by a senior officer having a moustache, whom I can identify. In addition I
was subject to vulgar abuse and obscene language by members of the ATS team interrogating me. My Guru was abused and my chastity was questioned. I was physically and verbally traumatized to the extent that I wanted to commit suicide.

13. I further say that on 14th taken out for the examination at a far away place from ATS and was brought back in the afternoon and that I day I had no meeting or even knowledge about Mr. Pasricha.

14. I say that on 15th October, after noon, both myself and Mr. Pasricha were taken by ATS vehicles to Hotel Rajdoot in Nagpada locality of Mumbai and were kept in Room Nos. 315 and 314 respectively and we were made to sign the Hotel Entry register, however, we did not pay or deposit any money with the hotel manager, which was done
by the ATS.

15. I say that after putting into this hotel I was asked to make phone calls from mobile No. 94066 00004 and from one more mobile instrument not belonging to me to speak couple of persons including one of my female disciple and I was asked to say that I was in a hotel in Mumbai and hale & hearty and was doing fine. I say that at
that time, I did not know why I was made to say so. I would reveal the name of my female disciple at an appropriate time.

16. I say that as a result of the custodial violence / torture, mental stress,
anxiety that were developed in the process, I was subjected to, I developed acute abdominal and kidney pains. I lost my appetite, became nauseous and giddy and prone to having bouts of unconsciousness. In view of this, within few hours after putting in
Rajdoot Hospital, I was removed from the ATS office and was taken a hospital which learnt it to be Shusrusha Hospital wherein I was kept in ICU. I say that within half an hour Mr. Bhimbhai Pasricha came down to Shushrusha Hospital with some ATS men and my Hospital admission forms, and other medical examination forms, etc. were signed by him. I say that Mr. Khanwilkar deposited money to the hospital management for me, which I learnt from Mr. Bhimbhai. I say that after some time Mr. Pasricha left the Hospital along with the ATS men and thereafter I have no contact with of any nature.

17. I say that I underwent a treatment over here for 3 to 4 days. I say that as my condition did not improve, I was taken to another hospital whose name I cannot recall. This hospital consisted of a high rise building where I was treated for 2 to 3 days. I say that no female police constable was by my side either in Hotel Rajdoot or in either of the two hospitals.

18. I say that both at the hotel and the hospitals, I was carried on a stretcher and my face was always covered with a black hood to avoid my face from being seen . From the second hospital, I was brought back to the ATS office at Kalachowkie.

19. I say that I was finally arrested on 23.10.2008 and produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nasik on 24.1.2008. I was remanded to police custody on that date till 3.11.2008. Upto the 24.10.2008 and even sometime thereafter, I was denied access to a Lawyer or any member of my family. A polygraph test was conducted on me
while I was in illegal detention prior to 23.10.2008. Thereafter a second polygraph test was conducted on 01.11.2008. On 04.11.2008, after I was remanded to Judicial custody on being presented before Nasik court on 03.11.2008, I also say that a Narco
analysis test was also conducted on me.

20. I say that both the lie detector test as well as the Narco analysis test were conducted with out my consent. Never the less all these investigative tests have only established my innocence in the Malegaon bomb blast that took place on 29.9.2008. I finally was allowed to meet my sister Mrs. Parthibha Bhagwan Jha on the evening of 02.11.2008, who had brought vakalatnamas of Advocate Ganesh Sovani who was engaged by my sister and her husband Mr. Bhagwan Jha and had met him couple times in that week. This meeting was not conducted in private since members of the ATS stood within hearing distance of my sister and myself. I met my Advocate Ganesh Sovani for the first time in the court room of this Hon’ble Court very briefly for 4 to 5 minutes prior to the arguments commencing on my remand application on 03.11.2008.

21. I say that this period of 4 to 5 minutes was too short for me to give complete instructions as to what had transpired from 10th October onwards, about my vehicle, my stay at Kalachowkie, my illegal detention, the ill-treatment mitigated to me by ATS men, the beating job that was forced on my disciple to beat me, but which he carried
out reluctantly, without any force, etc. I say that for this reasons, all the details had not reflected in the hand written application that was placed on record by my advocate Mr. Sovani, for paucity of time to give all these instructions.

22. I say that on the evening of Wednesday 12.11.2008, I was allowed to meet my Advocate Ganesh Sovani for about 5-6 minutes again in the presence of female staff of Byculla jail. I say that again on 13.11.2008 I was allowed to talk to my said lawyer for 8-10 minutes to give him some more details. Thereafter, on Friday 14.11.2008
evening at about 04.30 PM, I was given nearly 20 minutes to talk to my said lawyer at length, and it was during this period I could narrate my entire ordeal with the ATS which is reproduced hereinabove.

23. I unambiguously state that I am totally innocent of any offence whatsoever. In particular I have no connection with the Malegaon bomb blast of 29.9.2008. While my former ownership of LML Freedom 2 wheeler, which was allegedly used in the Malegaon
bomb blast entitled the ATS to interrogate me, that agency was not entitled to subject me to the treatment mentioned hereinabove.

Their conduct discloses a blatant violation of statutory provisions of law, custodial abuse and violence, mental and physical torture and prolonged illegal detention. The ATS are fully aware that I am innocent. It appears however that they have a mandate from their political superiors to necessarily implicate me with Malegaon blasts with a view to suggest that Hindu Religious extremists were resorting to terrorism. The prolonged illegal detention, custodial abuse and physical torture were designed to compel me to confess to crimes I had not committed. This attempt of false implication
persisted for the entire period between 10.10.2008 and 02.11.2008

During this entire period I was deliberately isolated from my family and denied access to Lawyers. I say that no arrest panchanama was done after my arrest on 23.10.2008 and I was never asked about the names, addresses and telephone / mobile Nos. details to whom I would like to convey my arrest. I say that attention from my
illegal detention was sought to be diverted by the ATS by daily leaking information regarding my involvement which was manifestly false and only indicated the malafide nature of the investigation.

24. I say that While I was thus painted as a sinister mastermind of the Malegaon blasts, a role which has now been subtly reassigned by the ATS to Lt. Col. Purohit – crippled and vulnerable as I was by thedetention, abuse and torture, I could not protest my innocence. Nor was I allowed access to family, friends and Lawyers who could have done so.

25. I say that it is necessary that a detailed enquiry of my illegal detention, custodial torture, etc. needs to be done and for which I am ready and willing to get subjected to any such medical test or tests and I also want the ATS officers, who interrogated me, tortured me, etc. should also be put to the same tests.

26. I say that the ATS has caused blatant violations of my human rights and I should get a justice and they need to be adequately dealt with as per the provisions of law.

27. In the circumstances I now pray for the following relief:-
a) that the ATS be directed to submit an explanation for my detention without authority of law between 10.10.2008 and 23.10.2008;
b). that enquiry / investigation be conducted into my accusation
made hereinabove on oath, regarding custodial torture/violence and mental and psychological abuse;
c). that such investigation as referred to in (b) above, include a
polygraph test, as well as Narco analysis on me to determine the veracity of my accusations;
d). that such investigation to include a polygraph test and narco analysis on officers of the ATS named by me, and also of those officers whose names, I do not know, but I can identify, for they subjecting me to mental and physical abuse during custody as well as others to be identified by me;
e) that a report be called for from the ATS for the reasons of my admission in two hospitals ( Shusrusha an another) and the medical treatment undergone by me at the said two hospitals;
f) The ATS be directed to disclose the reasons for my stay at Hotel Rajdoot at Mumbai.;
g) For such further and other reliefs as may be fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.

Filed in court on 17.11.2008

Contents Explained to the Deponent in Hindi & Confirmed with Deponent..

(Deponent)
Identified by me:
ADVOCATE

NATO chief calls for re-evaluation of relations with Russia

Valencia (Spain), Nov 18 (DPA) Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), said Tuesday that the alliance should re-evaluate its relations with Russia without severing them.

The relations should be reconsidered after Russia's 'disproportionate' use of force in Georgia, but not broken because the relations were a 'strategic asset', Scheffer said at the 54th annual meeting of the NATO parliamentary assembly.

The assembly adopted a resolution urging Russia to respect the sovereignty of other nations as about 300 delegates from 50 countries were wrapping up their five-day meeting in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia.

Georgian Vice-Prime Minister Giorgi Baramidze warned that a new military conflict was possible unless the international community was on alert against another Russian intervention in Georgia.

NATO parliamentary assembly president Jose Lello said NATO needed to maintain an 'open communications channel' with Russia, but that the communication should be 'sincere and direct'.

The assembly approved several resolutions. It called on NATO countries to intensify their peacekeeping effort in Afghanistan, to help train Afghan security forces, to promote democracy and fight drug trafficking in the Asian country.

The assembly, whose resolutions are not binding, also said NATO should remain committed to securing peace in Kosovo through the necessary international military and civilian presence.

John Craddock, the NATO supreme allied commander in Europe, said the alliance's military command was concerned about the Iranian nuclear programme, urging the NATO to develop its long-range missile defences.

UN adopts protocol to uphold rights to food, housing

UN adopts protocol to uphold rights to food, housing

New York, Nov 19 (DPA) The UN General Assembly's human-rights committee Tuesday adopted a protocol giving people rights to housing, food, water and sanitation, and holding governments responsible for the lack of such essentials.

The human-rights committee, known as Third Committee, adopted the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights without a vote. Amnesty International praised the move.

'This path-breaking instrument will give those people who couldn't access justice in their own countries the chance to have their complaints assessed by UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,' Amnesty International said.

The London-based rights group said that people who suffer violations of their rights are often denied the ability and power to hold those responsible to account. The protocol upholds the rights to adequate housing, food, water and sanitation, health, education and decent work.

The human-rights committee will send the adopted optional protocol for a final vote by the 192-nation General Assembly Dec 10, when that body celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The optional protocol is designed as a tool to implement a declaration on human rights, adopted 15 years ago in Vienna, which declares that 'all human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated.'

US may not be a global economic, military power by 2025: Intelligence panel

Washington, Nov.19 (ANI): A top U.S. intelligence panel has predicted that by the year 2025, America will be playing a lesser role in global affairs, particularly on the economic and military fronts.

It also warns of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

The National Intelligence Council (NIC) report titled "Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World," is slated for release as early as Thursday.

The report also predicts "a unified Korea" is likely by then, and that China will be the world's second-largest economy and a major military power.

"The United States will remain the single most powerful country, although less dominant," according to a "working draft" of the document obtained by The Washington Times.

"Shrinking economic and military capabilities may force the U.S. into a difficult set of tradeoffs between domestic and foreign-policy priorities."

A senior intelligence official said some details have changed in the final report, but "the thrust is the same."

The draft says: "The next 20 years of transition toward a new international system are fraught with risks, such as a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and possible interstate conflicts over resources."

"We see a unified Korea as likely by 2025 and assess the peninsula will probably be de-nuclearized, either via ongoing diplomacy or as a necessary condition for international acceptance of and cooperation with a needy new Korea."

The NIC's last such report, issued four years ago, sought to look at the world in 2020.

Water is the new oil

Save the last drop: World may soon drip dry of water resources

GENEVA: Water is the new oil. That's a refrain that many global CEOs and thinkers have reiterated at times, but the water bubble, like the credit bubble, is still to burst. Like toxic subprime assets, half the world isn't even aware the world may be facing a water problem. And if ground water depletion is one of those discussions that sends you yawning out for a coffee, consider this. Dominic Waughray, senior director at the Forum in charge of Environmental Initiatives warns that even as oil and energy have become critical financial resources, water will be next on the agenda. There's a market for water out there, and people are beginning to realise it.

"We never thought we'd have to manage water. But if you consider that a lot of financial institutions are looking for long term investment opportunities, financing water resources may well become the next big thing. We need to make sure that the politics of water does not lead to a conflict agenda, but a development agenda," he says. The world has already seen signs of a food crisis. An energy crisis. And next
could be a water crisis, warn experts. The current economic situation provides a financing opportunity for investments in water and wastewater infrastructure, and water rights. Like the landgrabs of the last few centuries, water is up for grabs now, and there are enough savvy investors out there with the financial and political muscle to grab the market for water.

"Like asset bubbles, there is a water bubble, as the world has been using water unsustainably – policy changes in energy, climate, andfood have very large impacts on water security," finds a group of global water experts, who met in Dubai earlier this month as part of the WEF's summit on the global agenda council.

And India is particularly vulnerable if ever we have to end up with a commercial water market, with water derivatives, water producing cartels, and water credits. According to a Columbia University study, by 2025, water scarcity could become a "binding constraint on India's progress." India supports 1/6th of the world's population, 1/25th of the world's water resources and 1/50th of the world's land.

The Columbia study finds that by 2025, more than a quarter of India's harvest could be at risk from groundwater depletion, and availability of cultivable land per capita will fall by 50%a as many groundwater tables are expected to deplete to an extend beyond recovery. According to a UN FAO study, by 2025, the per capital water supply is likely to be less than half the supply in 1975.

Dominic Waughray, says, "It is clear that there is a growing awareness of the water problem in India. Like an analogue to the sub prime financial crisis which burst in the US, people feel that India has over leveraged its groundwater for many years to help sustain economic growth. The hydro-debt is now so large in many areas that this bubble is coming dangerously close to bursting. We hope to raise awareness of this risk to India's economy and to convene stakeholders across all sections of society in discussions on how to undertake equitable and effective water reform strategies to avoid the worst happening."

The worst would be running low on water, and then facing an international market where water may be as tightly controlled and expensive as capital is today, or oil has been for a while. The good news, is that there's still time to do something about it, and ensure that all stakeholders get a chance to solve the problem. The challenge
will be to ensure food security under limited land and water availability conditions.

Economic Times

Indian Agni missiles deployed in tunnels on Chinese border

India has built atleast 2 tunnels in mountains for storage of Agni Intermediate Range Ballastic Missile (IRBM). It was revealed by Mr. Bharat Karnad, who released his book “India’s Nuclear Policy” in Mumbai yesterday. He said that India is building more such facilities. Such tunnels will help India’s second strike capability, as; the Chinese Thermo Nuclear weapons cannot vaporize mountains.

Mr. Karnad explaind that it has been done to offset the deployments of Chinese IRBM”s in Chinese occupied Tibet. Mr. Karnad also outlined some scenarios when India and China might actually fight a war and the nuclear weapons might be used. One of the foremost reasons could be the Chinese plans to build a dam and divert water from Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra) to the Yellow river. He said that China has already proceeded by the civil works. In a second scenario, he said, the new generation Tibetians who are very motivated, would launch an armed struggle against Chinese Imperialist. Another important fact he said was that India and China are already engaged in a battle to secure natural resources, even as far as Ecuador.

Bharat Karnad said that the weakest point of the Nuclear Chain of command was the will of the government to launch retaliatory strike. He said this was told to him by a retired Indian Army General. While Bharat karnad was unsure of current governments will, he and other speakers were unanimous that eventually the decision will come.

I have difference of opinion with some of the points made by Mr. Karnad. He mentions that the MiG-23 was purchased by IAF when they were given choice of purchasing TU-22M. MiG-23 was purchased was a knee jerk reaction to purchase of F-16’s by Pakistan Air Force. But the general observation of the lack of foresight by the Indian Air Force to build up capabilities against Chinese is agreeable. He also mentioned that India had put the ICBM development in back burner because of lack of resources. My point of view is different. I assume that India is actually building ICBM capabilities in the DRDO’s Advanced Systems laboratory (ASL). ASL does not seem to have a publicly defined mandate. Mr. Karnad says that India is leasing Akulas and it will improve the second strike capability. I just wonder which Indian missile can be fired from it. Mr. Karnad also revealed that India is negotiating for purchase of TU-160 Black Jacks from Russia. He could be right; Russian Air Force did display Tu-160s with their capability to get their job done over Indian Ocean during Indo-Russian Naval Exercises (INDRA).

I would also like to add some vital comments by some good speakers present at the book launch. Dr. P.K. Iyengar, former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission made a point that, the Indian nuclear program was about weaponisation right from the start. He observed that, Nasser, Nehru and Tito, the three founders of Non- Alignment Movement (NAM) had agreed that if NAM has to be heard, it needs nuclear weapons. While Apsara reactor was established to get hands on Graphite machining and Cirrus was for extracting Plutonium. Dr. Iyengar was not at his verbal best on his opposition to India-US civil nuclear deal. Dr. Iyengar also recounted an incident that where he had asked the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for nuclear test. But Rajiv Gandhi responded by saying that he is putting a note to UN general assembly for disarmament.

Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh (Retd.) outlined the structure of the Indian nuclear command. He said that there was a National Commission (or Committee, I didn’t get that right). Then Executive Committee. These both are manned by civilians. Then the decision goes to another civil (DRDO and AEC) and military group who would translate the decisions into reality. Vice Admiral Madanjit also outlined the prospects of the Indian Nuclear submarine (ATV) building costs, costs of operation that includes the decision where would the ATV be berthed after it comes back from sea.

Ambassador Prakash Shah, IFS (Retd.) revealed that India signed Chemical Weapons ban (CWC) with the pre-condition that infamous Australia Group will be dissolved in future.

Dr. A.N. Prasad, former Director, BARC turned out to be the terrific speaker. He managed to come out with some pointed inferences, while I was wondering what he would speak since everybody else has spoken everything. He said that Thorium is the third stage but what about natural Uranium right now? He said that Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha had the vision to start extracting uranium right in 1960 with the uranium in Indian ore of just .07% (700 grams per ton). Those days, the world was operating 2-3% uranium content mines. Then he said that India lost focus and is now realizing the mistake of not continuing to build up on new mines and processing facility. He said that if the Indians would have concentrated on various ways of extracting uranium, we could have found alternative source like the Japanese have found a method of extracting uranium from sea water. One major point he brought out was that when the decision to build the nuclear submarine in 1970’s, the choice of the fuel was enriched uranium and not plutonium. India did not posses the facilities to enrich uranium but subsequently built it up.

November 18, 2008
by P. Chacko Joseph
rontier India Strategic and Defence

Deaths uncounted in China's tainted milk scandal

LITI VILLAGE, China -- Li Xiaokai died of kidney failure on the old wooden bed in the family farmhouse, just before dawn on a drizzly Sept. 10.

Her grandmother wrapped the 9-month-old in a wool blanket. Her father handed the body to village men for burial by a muddy creek. The doctors and family never knew why she got sick. A day later, state media reported that the type of infant formula she drank had been adulterated with an industrial chemical.

Yet the deaths of Xiaokai and at least four other babies are not included in China's official death toll from its worst food safety scare in years. The Health Ministry's count stands at only three deaths.

The stories of these uncounted babies suggest that China's tainted milk scandal has exacted a higher human toll than the government has so far acknowledged. Without an official verdict on the deaths, families worry they will be unable to bring lawsuits and refused compensation.

So far, nobody is suggesting large numbers of deaths are being concealed. But so many months passed before the scandal was exposed that it's likely more babies fell sick or died than official figures reflect.

Beijing's apparent reluctance to admit a higher toll is reinforcing perceptions that the authoritarian government cares more about tamping down criticism than helping families. Lawyers, doctors and reporters have said privately that authorities pressured them to not play up the human cost or efforts to get compensation from the government or Sanlu, the formula maker.

"It's hard to say how the government will handle this matter," said Zhang Xinkui, a Beijing-based lawyer amassing evidence of the contamination for a possible lawsuit. "There may be many children who perhaps died from drinking Sanlu powdered milk or perhaps from a different cause. But there's no system in place to find out."

In the weeks since Xiaokai's death, her father and his older brother have talked to lawyers and beseeched health officials, with no result.

"My heart is in pain," said her father, Li Xiaoquan, a short, taciturn farmer with hooded eyes. From a corner of his farmhouse courtyard in central China's wheat and corn flatlands, he pulls a worn green box that once held apples and is now stuffed with empty pink wrappers of the Sanlu Infant Formula Milk Powder that Xiaokai nursed on. "We think someone, the company, should compensate us."

In coal-mining country 450 miles to the northwest, Tian Xiaowei waits for his wife to leave the newly built house before removing five small photos of a wide-eyed baby boy from a brown plastic document folder. "She breaks down when she sees them," Tian said. The photos are the only mementos left of year-old Tian Jin, who died in August.

"I want these people who poisoned the milk powder to receive the severest punishment under law. I want an explanation and I want consolation for my dead child," said Tian, a broad-shouldered apple farmer and part-time truck driver. "I feel like we could die from regret. If we knew that it was contaminated, we would never have fed him that."

Since September, when the scandal was first reported, Beijing has said that Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co., the dairy, knew as early as last year that its products were tainted with melamine and that company and local officials first tried to cover it up.

The government has promised free medical treatment to the 50,000 children sickened, and unspecified compensation to them and families of the dead. The Health Ministry, which is coordinating the government's response, declined to answer questions about the compensation plan and whether it was investigating deaths and illnesses not yet counted by the government.

Melamine, a chemical used as a flame retardant and binding agent to make cooking utensils and industrial coatings, is rich in nitrogen. As such, it makes an attractive low-cost additive to milk and other foods; nitrogen registers as protein on many routine tests.

Though melamine is not believed harmful in tiny amounts, higher concentrations produce kidney stones, which can block the ducts that carry urine from the body, and in serious cases can cause kidney failure.

All eight babies who died were diagnosed with kidney failure, according to the families, medical records or state media accounts. All also supposedly drank Sanlu infant formula or powdered milk.

The fathers of Li Xiaokai and Tian Jin both wave inch-thick sheaves of medical reports and tests from their children's stays in hospitals. Xiaokai, a twin older than her sister Xiaoyan by three minutes, was fed with Sanlu formula while the younger girl nursed on breast milk because their mother did not have enough for both, family members said.

An ultrasound examination of Xiaokai's kidneys at the Zhengzhou Children's Hospital on Aug. 21 found a stone in each kidney that was about the size of a small marble and 2 1/2 times larger than what doctors consider a critical threshold.

Tian Xiaowei, the apple farmer, sent bags of Sanlu infant formula to a government laboratory in September. The Xi'an Product Quality Supervision Institute's report, dated Oct. 8, found melamine levels of 1,748 milligrams per kilogram, more than 800 times the government-set limit.

Then there's Wang Siyu, the daughter of an accountant and proprietor of an Internet cafe in the central city of Shangqiu. Siyu was fed Sanlu products from birth and developed recurring kidney problems in May last year, at age 3, said her mother, Li Songmei.

Twice hospitalized, she was taken off Sanlu milk and started to recover, only to fall ill again when the family began to give her Sanlu products, Li said. Sick for a third time and swollen, she died of kidney failure at the Zhengzhou Children's Hospital on May 2, said Li.

"Ever since she was born, she had been using Sanlu milk. Only when she felt sick and couldn't eat did she stop taking Sanlu," said Li.

Others among the five include an infant in far western Xinjiang province, whose story was posted on the provincial government Web site, and a 6-month-old boy in southeastern Jiangxi province, reported by the New Legal Daily. A reporter who worked on the article and would give only his surname, Liu, said the newspaper was careful not to blame Cai Cong's death on Sanlu formula because "the local government has not yet reached a verdict."

Medical experts say kidney stones in infants are rare. Doctors in several parts of China first noticed a rise in cases in the past two years. Pediatric urologist Feng Dongchuan tried to sound an alarm, posting an item on his blog in July about a spike in cases at his hospital in the central city of Xuzhou and in nearby Nanjing city. Feng pinpointed infant formula as the likely cause.

Feng at first refused requests for interviews, then responded in a terse e-mail: "The chance for infants or small children to come down with kidney stones is very small, and having stones that obstruct both kidneys is even more rare."

Like the others, the Li family grew distressed when Xiaokai started to become fussy in July. With their two-acre farm in Liti Village, her parents never had much money and already had a child, a son. But they wanted a larger family, bucking the one-child family planning limits. Xiaokai was "the more active" of the twins, said her 70-year-old grandmother, Li Xuan.

By August, Xiaokai was running a high fever, unabated by ever higher doses of medicine. Alarmed after she stopped eating and urinating, the family took her to the nearby Runnan county hospital on Aug. 18. The doctors diagnosed kidney failure and rushed her overnight by ambulance to Zhengzhou Children's Hospital, three hours away and the best in Henan province.

"They knew right away," said the father, Li. Xiaokai was run through tests and put on intravenous solutions to try to shrink the kidney stones. Unable to stay with her or afford a hotel, Li and his mother slept on the pavement outside the hospital. After five days, the hospital said it could do no more.

"The doctors wouldn't operate because they said 'she's too small,'" said Li. They suggested taking Xiaokai to Beijing or Shanghai. Hospital officials declined comment and refused to make Xiaokai's doctor available.

The hospital stay in Zhengzhou cost 7,331 yuan, or $1,070 _ about a year's cash income for the family _ and they had already borrowed money to pay for Xiaokai's care.

So Li brought Xiaokai home to die. They took her to a traditional medicine doctor in the village, who gave her an herbal medicine and confirmed the grim prognosis. "The old doctor told us 'the child will die in 10 to 18 days,'" Li said.

Early on Sept. 10 while it was still dark, the grandmother called Li into the side room where she and Xiaokai slept. "Her stomach was puffy" _ a sign of kidney failure _ "and she wasn't breathing," he said.

In many parts of north China, the death of a child is considered a misfortune that can bring bad luck on a family and is best suppressed. Accordingly, Li Haiqin, a cousin, and three other men took Xiaokai to a creek on the far side of the village fields. They put a brick in the blanket with the body and placed it in a shallow hole under a path between rows of poplar trees. Then they walked back in silence beneath a gray dawn and a light rain. No close family members were there and none was told where the grave is.

Xiaokai's family says Beijing had waived regular inspections of Sanlu because its quality controls were said to be excellent. "The government should shoulder its responsibility. This was a national brand, inspection-exempt products," said Xiaokai's uncle, Li Shenyi.

Since the death, Li Shenyi approached the Runnan county Health Bureau to classify Xiaokai's death as caused by tainted formula. "They said the upper levels (of government) were working on it," he said.

The county health bureau referred calls to its supervisors in Zhumadian city, who said ultimately it was up to Beijing.

"Right now, the Health Ministry has no clear explanation on how the victim's families should be compensated," said a Ms. Shang at the Zhumadian Health Bureau's medical affairs office. "Nobody knows."

By CHARLES HUTZLER
The Associated Press
November 15, 2008;

Government in tight spot over spectrum issue

Government in tight spot over spectrum issue

Nov 11, 2008

Under fire from its old and present allies, the government is finding it difficult to wriggle out of the telecom spectrum allocation controversy.

Political parties have stirred a controversy close to the general elections, and even the resignation offer by Telecom Minister A Raja has not pacified them.

The issue termed as "Rs 60,000 crore scam" by Left parties, and with Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary Amar Singh too joining the bandwagon, Raja may have to do a lot of explaining in the coming days.

The CPI (M) has targeted companies like Swan and Unitech, for having hugely benefited during the 2G spectrum allocation, and has warned the government to invoke fair trade practices and anti-monopoly restrictions before the allocations of licences for 3G, likely to be done in December.

CPM alleges telecom fraud, govt denies

7 November, 2008
The government's decision to allow new mobile phone service companies has created huge controversy with the Left alleging that it has led to a loss of Rs 60,000 crore. The government, however, has strongly defended its decision.

An animated telecom minister defended the government's telecom policy of allotting licences to new mobile phone service operators.

"National telecom policy of 1999 does not allow auctioning in 2G phone service," said Telecom Minister A Raja.

On Thursday, the CPM alleged a scam while allotting licences for 2G mobile services. Instead of auctioning away the licences to the highest bidders, the CPM says, the government sold them on a first-come-first-serve basis earlier in 2008. But now, some of these companies have sold stakes to foreign buyers at a profit.

"We think that the rip off has been to the tune of around of Rs 50,000-60,000 crores," said CPM leader Sitaram Yechury.

The telecom ministry says it has always followed this model, but what has led to more questions is the low entry fee.

Each licence has been sold to private companies for an entry fee of Rs 1651 crores in January 2008.

Within nine months, two private buyers - and companies with no previous experience in telecom, Swan and Unitech - have sold a part of their stakes to foreign partners for Rs 4,000 crore and Rs 5,300 crore, far more than what they paid the government.

Government has justified the low entry fee, saying that it will keep costs low and will mean lower call charges for consumers. Government has also defended the stake sale by Unitech and Swan.

"I met the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister. The Finance Minister told me that none of the parent companies has sold out. They have only diluted their stake in order to get FDI," said Raja.

For now, the telecom minister has strongly defended the government's telecom policy. But given the controversy, surely one has not heard the last on this issue.

Revealed: How U.S. left nuclear warhead lying at bottom of ocean after B52 crash in 1968

A U.S. nuclear warhead was abandoned under the ice in northern Greenland after a B52 bomber crashed in 1968, an investigation has found.

The Pentagon believed the former Soviet Union would destroy the base as a prelude to a nuclear strike against the U.S. and began flying nuclear-armed B52s continuously over Thule in 1960 in order to retaliate.

Thule Air Base has been a major strategic asset to the U.S. since it was built in the early 1950s, as it allowed a radar to scan the skies for missiles fired over the North Pole.

Greenland is a self-governing province of Denmark, but the carrying of nuclear weapons over Danish territory was kept secret, according to the BBC investigation.

On January 21, 1968, one of the missions went wrong and a bomber crashed into the ice a few miles from the air base.

Over the next few months a massive operation took place to recover the debris of the aircraft and collect 500million gallons of ice, some of which contained radioactive wreckage from the bomber.

A declassified U.S. government video, obtained by the BBC, documents the clear-up and gives some ideas of the scale of the operation.

Explosives surrounding the four nuclear warheads had detonated, but had not set off the bombs themselves because they had not been armed by the aircraft crew.
Iceland

The Pentagon had maintained that all four weapons had been 'destroyed', but declassified documents obtained by the BBC under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act reveal investigators realised only three of the weapons could be accounted for.

One talks of a blackened section of ice which had refrozen with shroud lines from a weapon parachute.

The document reads: 'Speculate something melted through ice such as burning primary or secondary.'

By April, a decision had been taken to send a Star III submarine to the base to look for the lost bomb, which had the serial number 78252, but the Danish government was not informed of the real reason behind the mission.

One document from July reads: 'Fact that this operation includes search for object or missing weapon part is to be treated as confidential NOFORN', the last word meaning not to be disclosed to any foreign country.

It states that the operation should be referred to Danish officials as a survey of the ocean bottom underneath the impact point.

The U.S flew B52s over Iceland continuously as it feared a nuclear attack by Russians

But the underwater search was beset by technical problems and, as winter encroached and the ice began to freeze over, the documents recount something approaching panic setting in.

The abandoned weapons contained uranium and plutonium and could have revealed classified elements of nuclear warhead design. Eventually the search was abandoned, with officials believing the radioactive material would dissolve in such a large body of water, making it harmless.

William H Chambers, a former nuclear weapons designer at the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory, told the BBC: 'There was disappointment in what you might call a failure to return all of the components.

'It would be very difficult for anyone else to recover classified pieces if we couldn't find them.'

A nuclear scientist has told the Daily Mail: 'We really don’t know what has happened to this bomb.

'It’s not going to explode but the possibility remains of very large contamination with all of the dangers that involves.'


11th November 2008
Daily Mail

Russian nuclear submarine Freon Gas accident

MOSCOW, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - An accident aboard a Russian nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean killed 20 and injured another 22 people, a spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee said on Sunday.

The accident occurred late on Saturday during the sea trials of a nuclear-powered submarine as a result of the unsanctioned activation of the submarine's fire-extinguishing system. The incident is the worst for the Russian navy since the sinking of the Kursk submarine in 2000 when all 118 sailors died.

"According to preliminary information, the incident killed 20 people - 6 sailors and 14 civilians who were aboard the submarine while 22 people received injuries of various gravity," Vladimir Markin said.

Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo, an aide to the Russian Navy commander said on Sunday that 208 people, including 81 service personnel had been onboard the submarine at the time of the incident. He said that the sub's reactor had not been affected and radiation levels were normal.

All the injured had been evacuated on to the Admiral Tributs anti-submarine ship and later taken to hospitals in Vladivostok.

Meanwhile, the submarine arrived at 10:30 a.m. Moscow time (7:30 GMT) at a temporary base in the Primorye Region, Dygalo said.

A high-ranking source in the Pacific Fleet said the accident had occurred in the nose section of the submarine and confirmed that it had not damaged the submarine's reactor.

The construction of the Akula II class Nerpa nuclear attack submarine started in 1991 but has been suspended for over a decade due to lack of funding. Akula II class vessels are considered the quietest and deadliest of Russian nuclear-powered attack submarines.

The Nerpa had started sea trials on October 27.

Meanwhile, Russian investigators said that Freon gas was the cause for the death of people on board the submarine.

Investigators said deadly freon gas killed 20 people on a Russian nuclear-powered submarine Sunday when the fire safety system accidentally kicked in during a sea trial in the Sea of Japan. It was unclear what activated the fire-extinguishing system and the military has launched further investigations, a spokesman for Russia's top investigatory committee, Sergei Markin, was quoted by news agencies as saying.

The system is designed to discharge the Freon gas coolant, which kills instantly, as the most serious of three safety methods to fight fires aboard.

High-ranking Russian officials were cited by Ria-Novosti as saying the system shut down two sections on the bow of the ship they identified as an Akula II class Nerpa attack submarine.

The atomic reactor was undamaged and radiations levels aboard the vessel were normal, a Russian Naval spokesman said early. The submarine has put into port in Russia's Far East near the city of Vladivostok, news agencies said.

Markin added in televised remarks that 14 civilians workers with a ship-building firm and six sailors were killed, citing preliminary information. Another 22 others were hospitalized after being evacuated by a destroyer overnight, he said.

09/11/2008

Freon Gas is a chlorofluocarbon.

China reassures India, says no question of security threat

BEIJING: Reacting to external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement that China posed a security threat, the Chinese foreign ministry said there was no question of India and China regarding each other as a security risk.

Leaders of both China and India have agreed to take forward their bilateral relationship in a spirit of friendship and not consider each other as rivals, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters on Thursday.

Far from being a challenge or security risk to any Asian nation, China's growth has provided tremendous opportunities to other countries in the world, he said.

"India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said he regarded China as a partner and this sentiment has been expressed by the Chinese leaders as well. There is no question of China and India regarding each other as security risk. I don't understand why such statements are being made now," Ma Jaili, Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told TNN.

Chinese leaders have their hands full trying to rework their relationship with the United States in the wake of the election of a Democratic president and would prefer to avoid any controversy over its relationship with other countries, sources said. This is more so because Barack Obama, the new president, has made some significant remarks expressing his desire to further build US-India relations.

China, which recently managed to persuade Japanese leaders to shed their antagonism over the sharing of sea waters, wants to be seen as a responsible power capable of maintaining a good relationship with its neighbours, sources pointed out.

Mukherjee's statement is extremely significant because it came at a time when Admiral Wu Shengli, chief of the navy of the People's Liberation Army, had begun his tour of India and the Indian Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major had landed in China to attend an air show.

6 Nov 2008
The Times of India

India's Security Challenges and Foreign Policy Imperatives

Address by Pranab Mukherjee, Hon'ble Minister for External Affairs at National Defence College, New Delhi, 3rd November, 2008

Major General N. K. Singh, AVSM, VSM, Senior Directing Staff,
Members of faculty and staff,
Student Officers,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am very happy to be here once again at the National Defence College and share my thoughts on the security and foreign policy challenges before India.

You are all professionally engaged on the various dimensions of security and foreign policy - from the perspective of internal and regional, to the continental and global. The goal of our foreign and security policy remains to increase our strategic autonomy, so that we can like any other country, engage in a reasonable pursuit of its national interests, and bring to bear any capabilities it may have to promote geo-strategic stability and global economic prosperity and contribute to resolving a range of global problems as well as crisis situations. Our policies have been shaped by the geography and history of our region. India has traditionally taken a broad view of security, an approach that goes beyond defence preparedness and includes fundamental issues of economic strength, technological self-reliance, food security, energy security, human security and preservation of core national values and cohesiveness.

Underlying these principles is India's security paradigm, of expanding circles of engagement, with our neighborhood at its center and extending outwards in concentric circles. The framework of a policy embedded in our geography and historical experience and coupled with a paradigm of a concentric security structure has served us well.

The question nevertheless is, in a globalised world have these parameters met our requirements? Is such an approach adequate? These questions assume particular salience given that we are at a historical cross-road; firstly, India is being called upon to assume an increasingly demanding role on the global stage; and secondly, the global architecture is under strain and fundamental shifts are underway. Our response to these challenges will shape and influence the future direction of our country. The past can act as a guide; but it is the decisions we take in the present which shape our future.

Global Developments

Recent developments, particularly the challenges confronting the global financial system, have thrown up a qualitatively different set of questions to security and foreign policy practitioners. The most obvious is the unprecedented linkage between economic stability and security policy. We have in recent weeks seen countries seeking international financial assistance to stave off financial and economic collapse; elsewhere, falling oil prices have dampened political confidence and muted foreign policy and security orientations. In addition we also are hearing protectionist voices as previous notions about globalization bringing in all around benefits are being questioned.

The manner in which the present events reshape the structural contours of the world can be difficult to predict. We can however conclude with some certainty that we will be required to address new challenges the coming years, the biggest of which would be the management of global interdependence.

From India's perspective, we need to see how best to manage the crisis while positioning ourselves to play a role in any future global financial or political structure. The immediate challenge will be to continue with economic reforms, striking a balance between financial stability, price stability and maintaining growth rates. The long term challenge will be to fashion a set of policies encompassing both the security and foreign dimension such that we can ensure an external environment conducive to India�s transformation and continued development.

Immediate challenges

What are the immediate challenges that we face. To my mind, the foremost among these would be (a) to cope with the rise of China; (b) maintenance of a peaceful periphery; and (c) managing our relations with the major powers.

China as India�s largest neighbour and as an emerging power is both a challenge and a priority. As a result of our engagement with China over the last thirty years we have now reached a somewhat normalized relationship. Of course there are some unresolved issues between us. However we need to factor in the fact that as a result of our engagement we have today a completely different situation than when we started. Further the economic developments in this period has given both our countries new capabilities. We are today faced with a new China. Today's China seeks to further her interests more aggressively than in the past, thanks to the phenomenal increase of her capacities after thirty years of reforms. There are also new set of challenges which China poses such as the strategic challenge as China develops its capabilities in outer space; the geopolitical challenge as it reaches out to various parts of the globe in search of raw materials and resources. We would need to develop more sophisticated ways of dealing with these new challenges posed by China. We cannot change our neighbors. It is important therefore for us to recognize and work with the reality. Our belief is that there is sufficient space for both of us to grow together and build a cooperative relationship in the new architecture.

We need to ensure a peaceful periphery and an environment of peace and stability in our region and in the world, which will facilitate maintenance of socio-economic development and safeguarding of our national security. India is already engaged in establishing strategic partnerships and expanding the scope and depth of our economic and strategic interaction with different countries, groupings and regions � whether it is Russia, a long standing partner, South East Asia, Japan, Central Asia, IBSA or many others with whom we are developing a fruitful and active dialogue. The underlying rationale is that in a globalized world, challenges, be they financial or security, can no longer be tackled by countries acting alone.

The biggest threat to peace and security in our region and to the world at large comes from terrorism which emanates from our neighbourhood. This is compounded by the danger posed by terrorists� accessing weapons of mass destruction or related technologies. The series of terrorist attacks in Pakistan shows the fragile internal situation of that country, a situation we continue to monitor closely and which we hope will not deteroriate. The situation in Afghanistan remains grave concern and a resurgent Taliban poses a threat beyond Afghanistan.

Our challenge has been try and work with both countries, to stabilize the situation. With Pakistan, India has called for removing bilateral impediments to trade and economic relations, which should not be predicated on resolving contentious political issues. Some progress has been achieved in this regard, notably along the line of control. We are however continuing to persuade Pakistan to grant overland transit to our goods as this can speed up stabilization in Afghanistan. We believe this can also lead to greater commerce and benefit all the countries in the region.

Our goal of a peaceful, stable and prosperous neighbourhood is predicated on enabling each of our neighbors to pursue the shared objective of the development of our peoples. Our economic growth is having an impact in the region and there are increased opportunities for others to benefit by partnering India. The challenge will however be to persuade our neighbors to set aside past mistrust and suspicions which have undermined development of harmonious relations and restricted the space for expression of our natural sentiments of affinity, based on a shared history. We continue to put forward proposals, multilaterally through the SAARC and bilaterally, to our neighbors, by making unilateral gestures and extending economic concessions. The facility of extending duty free access to imports from Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka demonstrates India�s readiness to assume asymmetric responsibilities.

Looking beyond the immediate neighbourhood, we continue to add important elements to our traditional ties with countries in the Gulf and the Central Asian regions by leveraging economic opportunities and long standing cultural and people to people links. Our Look East policy which was based on ASEAN�s economic, political and strategic importance in the Asia-Pacific region and its potential to become a major partner of India in trade and investment has now evolved to include the Far Eastern and Pacific regions.

I have just concluded a visit to Iran, a country with whom we have had a long history of cultural interaction. Today, a sizeable portion of India�s energy requirements are met by Iran. Discussions on an India-Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline are ongoing. We are also exploring possibilities of transit for our goods to central Asia and Afghanistan through Iran, since Pakistan does not permit transit to us. On the nuclear issue, we have conveyed that Iran must fulfill all its international commitments including those it has undertaken under the NPT.

Another set of challenges is that of managing our relationship with the world�s major powers. We need to use our strengths to create partnerships with major powers in a manner which would allow us political and economic space to grow. This will require us to strengthen relations with all the major powers of the world. Over the last few years our relations with all the major powers have substantially strengthened. Our relations with the US are now completely transformed and this is reflected in the successful completion of the civil nuclear initiative. As the US prepares itself for electing a new administration, we can be satisfied with the fact that today there exists a strong bipartisan support in the US for further strengthening and broadening our relations. We have developed a strong partnership with the European Union covering a wide range of areas including trade and investment, culture, science & technology. Our traditional relations with Russia continue to remain strong. PM�s visit to Japan recently further strengthened the strategic and global partnership that we have established with Japan. As we look forward to an increasing role in global affairs we need to expand our network of international relationships, political engagement and economic and technical cooperation with the world. We are also working with the major powers in forums such as the UN, G8, East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum, the trilateral initiative with Russia and China (RIC) and the IBSA forum with Brazil and South Africa. Multipolar engagement allows us to contribute actively to the search for solutions to issues such as regional and international security, terrorism, climate change, economic growth and energy.

In closing, and to illustrate the changes underway in the global order and India�s role, I will use the example of the civil nuclear initiative. The decision adopted by the NSG on 6th September 2008, enabling civil nuclear cooperation with India is a landmark development. You know that the NSG was established in response to our nuclear tests of 1974. On the one hand it is a vindication of our policies, of our impeccable non-proliferation record and our principled refusal to compromise on a well established nuclear policy. On the other, it is a recognition of India�s achievements. Despite years of technology denials and discriminatory measures, India developed a comprehensive atomic energy programme covering the entire fuel cycle in respect of uranium, plutonium and thorium fuels and has established world leadership in heavy water nuclear reactors. Over the years, we have progressively developed and put in place a domestic nuclear infrastructure comparable to the best in the world, including critical designs for validating thorium based advanced heavy water reactor core. The NSG�s decision enables India to make an even bigger contribution to the growth of international civil nuclear cooperation.

The importance of this initiative lies not just in the fact that it allows a resumption of international cooperation in civil nuclear energy with India but also that it would in course of time lead to greater access to technologies that were hitherto denied to us. We would need to adapt and master these so that we can meet the challenges of the future.

To conclude, it is not merely the structure of the international system that is changing at a rapid pace. The challenges themselves are evolving rapidly. We need to charter new waters, leveraging our competitive skills and managerial talent across the globe with confidence. We must be ready to play our rightful role on the global stage through forward looking approaches, based on our ethos of non-violence and peaceful co-existence, which would allow us greater strategic autonomy and space for maneuverability.

Thank you.

Obama's letter to PM spells out ties

Dear Prime Minister Singh

I am very pleased that your visit provides us with the opportunity to strengthen the US-India relationship: deepening and broadening the friendship between our countries will be a first-order priority for me in the coming years. I am sorry that I was unable to meet with you on this trip, but very much look forward to doing so in the near future.

Before turning to matters of policy, please permit me to offer my condolences on the painful losses your citizens have suffered in the recent string of terrorist assaults. As I have said publicly, I deplore and condemn the vicious attacks perpetrated in New Delhi earlier this month, and on the Indian embassy in Kabul on July 7. The death and destruction is reprehensible, and you and your nation have my deepest sympathy. These cowardly acts of mass murder are a stark reminder that India suffers from the scourge of terrorism on a scale few other nations can imagine. I will continue to urge all countries to cooperate with Indian authorities in tracking down the perpetrators of these atrocities. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

I also want to take this opportunity to express my great admiration for the courage you showed in shepherding the civil nuclear cooperation agreement through your Parliament, the IAEA and the NSG. I was pleased to vote by proxy for the agreement in committee today, and I very much hope we can vote on this agreement before the US Congress goes out of session. As you know, there are some procedural obstacles that may prevent a vote this year. When it does come up for a vote, however, I will of course vote in favor. If time runs out in the current Congress, I will resubmit the agreement next year as President.

I strongly support civil nuclear cooperation, because I believe it will enhance our partnership and deepen our cooperation on a whole range of matters.. Importantly, it will help India to meet its growing electricity demands while aiding in the important effort to combat global warming. But I see this agreement only as a beginning of a much closer relationship between our two great countries. I would like to see US-India relations grow across the board to reflect our shared interests, shared values, shared sense of threats and ever-burgeoning ties between our two economies and societies.

As a starting point, our common strategic interests call for redoubling US-Indian military, intelligence and law enforcement cooperation. The recent bombings remind us that we are both victims of terrorist attacks on our soil, and we share a common goal of defeating these forces of extremism. India and America should similarly work together to promote our democratic values and strengthen legal institutions in South Asia and beyond. We also should be working hand-in-hand to tap into the creativity and dynamism of our entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists to promote development of alternative sources of clean energy. Imagine our two democracies in action: Indian laboratories and industry collaborating with American laboratories and industry to discover innovative solutions to today's energy problems. That is the kind of new partnership I would like to build with India as President.

I also hope that a civil nuclear cooperation agreement can open the door to greater collaboration with India on non-proliferation issues. This subject will be one of my highest priorities as President. I am committed to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons, and will make this a central element of US nuclear weapons policy. I will work with the US Senate to secure ratification of the international treaty banning nuclear weapons testing at the earliest practical day, and then launch a major diplomatic initiative to ensure its entry into force. I will also pursue negotiations on a verifiable, multilateral treaty to end production of fissile material for nuclear weapons.

I very much hope and expect India will cooperate closely with the United States in these multilateral efforts. With the benefits of nuclear cooperation come real responsibilities -- and that should include steps to restrain nuclear weapons programs and pursuing effective disarmament when others do so. I greatly look forward to working with you on these and other issues in the future.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

The above is the text of a letter dated September 23, 2008, from US President-elect (then Democratic Presidential nominee) Barack Obama to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh

Obama's Victory Speech

Democratic Senator Barack Obama has made his first speech as President-elect of the United States after defeating rival John McCain

President-elect Obama, speaks during the election party at the Grant Park in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008

OBAMA: Hello, Chicago.

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.

A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain.

Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.

I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton ... and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years ... the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady ... Michelle Obama.

Sasha and Malia ... I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us ...to the new White House.

And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.

And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe ... the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best -- the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.

To my chief strategist David Axelrod ... who's been a partner with me every step of the way.

To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics ... you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.

It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy ... who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.

It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.

This is your victory.

And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.

You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.

There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.

There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

OBAMA: There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.



Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.

Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

Democratic Senator Barack Obama has made his first speech as President-elect of the United States after defeating rival John McCain.

He told supporters in Chicago: "Change has come to America".

'After America. . . Who Will Lead The World?'

Senator Barack Obama's Closing Argument Speech: 'One Week'
Canton, Ohio | October 27, 2008

One week.

After decades of broken politics in Washington, eight years of failed policies from George Bush, and twenty-one months of a campaign that has taken us from the rocky coast of Maine to the sunshine of California, we are one week away from change in America.

In one week, you can turn the page on policies that have put the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifice of folks on Main Street.

In one week, you can choose policies that invest in our middle-class, create new jobs, and grow this economy from the bottom-up so that everyone has a chance to succeed; from the CEO to the secretary and the janitor; from the factory owner to the men and women who work on its floor.

In one week, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election; that tries to pit region against region, city against town, Republican against Democrat; that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope.

In one week, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change we need.

We began this journey in the depths of winter nearly two years ago, on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Back then, we didn't have much money or many endorsements. We weren't given much of a chance by the polls or the pundits, and we knew how steep our climb would be.

But I also knew this. I knew that the size of our challenges had outgrown the smallness of our politics. I believed that Democrats and Republicans and Americans of every political stripe were hungry for new ideas, new leadership, and a new kind of politics - one that favors common sense over ideology; one that focuses on those values and ideals we hold in common as Americans.

Most of all, I believed in your ability to make change happen. I knew that the American people were a decent, generous people who are willing to work hard and sacrifice for future generations. And I was convinced that when we come together, our voices are more powerful than the most entrenched lobbyists, or the most vicious political attacks, or the full force of a status quo in Washington that wants to keep things just the way they are.

Twenty-one months later, my faith in the American people has been vindicated. That's how we've come so far and so close - because of you. That's how we'll change this country - with your help. And that's why we can't afford to slow down, sit back, or let up for one day, one minute, or one second in this last week. Not now. Not when so much is at stake.

We are in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. 760,000 workers have lost their jobs this year. Businesses and families can't get credit. Home values are falling. Pensions are disappearing. Wages are lower than they've been in a decade, at a time when the cost of health care and college have never been higher. It's getting harder and harder to make the mortgage, or fill up your gas tank, or even keep the electricity on at the end of the month.

At a moment like this, the last thing we can afford is four more years of the tired, old theory that says we should give more to billionaires and big corporations and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. The last thing we can afford is four more years where no one in Washington is watching anyone on Wall Street because politicians and lobbyists killed common-sense regulations. Those are the theories that got us into this mess. They haven't worked, and it's time for change. That's why I'm running for President of the United States.

Now, Senator McCain has served this country honorably. And he can point to a few moments over the past eight years where he has broken from George Bush - on torture, for example. He deserves credit for that. But when it comes to the economy - when it comes to the central issue of this election - the plain truth is that John McCain has stood with this President every step of the way. Voting for the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy that he once opposed. Voting for the Bush budgets that spent us into debt. Calling for less regulation twenty-one times just this year. Those are the facts.

And now, after twenty-one months and three debates, Senator McCain still has not been able to tell the American people a single major thing he'd do differently from George Bush when it comes to the economy. Senator McCain says that we can't spend the next four years waiting for our luck to change, but you understand that the biggest gamble we can take is embracing the same old Bush-McCain policies that have failed us for the last eight years.

It's not change when John McCain wants to give a $700,000 tax cut to the average Fortune 500 CEO. It's not change when he wants to give $200 billion to the biggest corporations or $4 billion to the oil companies or $300 billion to the same Wall Street banks that got us into this mess. It's not change when he comes up with a tax plan that doesn't give a penny of relief to more than 100 million middle-class Americans. That's not change.

Look - we've tried it John McCain's way. We've tried it George Bush's way. Deep down, Senator McCain knows that, which is why his campaign said that "if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose." That's why he's spending these last weeks calling me every name in the book. Because that's how you play the game in Washington. If you can't beat your opponent's ideas, you distort those ideas and maybe make some up. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run away from. You make a big election about small things.

Ohio, we are here to say "Not this time. Not this year. Not when so much is at stake." Senator McCain might be worried about losing an election, but I'm worried about Americans who are losing their homes, and their jobs, and their life savings. I can take one more week of John McCain's attacks, but this country can't take four more years of the same old politics and the same failed policies. It's time for something new.

The question in this election is not "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" We know the answer to that. The real question is, "Will this country be better off four years from now?"

I know these are difficult times for America. But I also know that we have faced difficult times before. The American story has never been about things coming easy - it's been about rising to the moment when the moment was hard. It's about seeing the highest mountaintop from the deepest of valleys. It's about rejecting fear and division for unity of purpose. That's how we've overcome war and depression. That's how we've won great struggles for civil rights and women's rights and worker's rights. And that's how we'll emerge from this crisis stronger and more prosperous than we were before - as one nation; as one people.

Remember, we still have the most talented, most productive workers of any country on Earth. We're still home to innovation and technology, colleges and universities that are the envy of the world. Some of the biggest ideas in history have come from our small businesses and our research facilities. So there's no reason we can't make this century another American century. We just need a new direction. We need a new politics.

Now, I don't believe that government can or should try to solve all our problems. I know you don't either. But I do believe that government should do that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide a decent education for our children; invest in new roads and new science and technology. It should reward drive and innovation and growth in the free market, but it should also make sure businesses live up to their responsibility to create American jobs, and look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road. It should ensure a shot at success not only for those with money and power and influence, but for every single American who's willing to work. That's how we create not just more millionaires, but more middle-class families. That's how we make sure businesses have customers that can afford their products and services. That's how we've always grown the American economy - from the bottom-up. John McCain calls this socialism. I call it opportunity, and there is nothing more American than that.

Understand, if we want get through this crisis, we need to get beyond the old ideological debates and divides between left and right. We don't need bigger government or smaller government. We need a better government - a more competent government - a government that upholds the values we hold in common as Americans.

We don't have to choose between allowing our financial system to collapse and spending billions of taxpayer dollars to bail out Wall Street banks. As President, I will ensure that the financial rescue plan helps stop foreclosures and protects your money instead of enriching CEOs. And I will put in place the common-sense regulations I've been calling for throughout this campaign so that Wall Street can never cause a crisis like this again. That's the change we need.

The choice in this election isn't between tax cuts and no tax cuts. It's about whether you believe we should only reward wealth, or whether we should also reward the work and workers who create it. I will give a tax break to 95% of Americans who work every day and get taxes taken out of their paychecks every week. I'll eliminate income taxes for seniors making under $50,000 and give homeowners and working parents more of a break. And I'll help pay for this by asking the folks who are making more than $250,000 a year to go back to the tax rate they were paying in the 1990s. No matter what Senator McCain may claim, here are the facts - if you make under $250,000, you will not see your taxes increase by a single dime - not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes. Nothing. Because the last thing we should do in this economy is raise taxes on the middle-class.

When it comes to jobs, the choice in this election is not between putting up a wall around America or allowing every job to disappear overseas. The truth is, we won't be able to bring back every job that we've lost, but that doesn't mean we should follow John McCain's plan to keep giving tax breaks to corporations that send American jobs overseas. I will end those breaks as President, and I will give American businesses a $3,000 tax credit for every job they create right here in the United States of America. I'll eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-up companies that are the engine of job creation in this country. We'll create two million new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads, and bridges, and schools, and by laying broadband lines to reach every corner of the country. And I will invest $15 billion a year in renewable sources of energy to create five million new energy jobs over the next decade - jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced; jobs building solar panels and wind turbines and a new electricity grid; jobs building the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow, not in Japan or South Korea but here in the United States of America; jobs that will help us eliminate the oil we import from the Middle East in ten years and help save the planet in the bargain. That's how America can lead again.

When it comes to health care, we don't have to choose between a government-run health care system and the unaffordable one we have now. If you already have health insurance, the only thing that will change under my plan is that we will lower premiums. If you don't have health insurance, you'll be able to get the same kind of health insurance that Members of Congress get for themselves. We'll invest in preventative care and new technology to finally lower the cost of health care for families, businesses, and the entire economy. And as someone who watched his own mother spend the final months of her life arguing with insurance companies because they claimed her cancer was a pre-existing condition and didn't want to pay for treatment, I will stop insurance companies from discriminating against those who are sick and need care most.

When it comes to giving every child a world-class education so they can compete in this global economy for the jobs of the 21st century, the choice is not between more money and more reform - because our schools need both. As President, I will invest in early childhood education, recruit an army of new teachers, pay them more, and give them more support. But I will also demand higher standards and more accountability from our teachers and our schools. And I will make a deal with every American who has the drive and the will but not the money to go to college: if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford your tuition. You invest in America, America will invest in you, and together, we will move this country forward.

And when it comes to keeping this country safe, we don't have to choose between retreating from the world and fighting a war without end in Iraq. It's time to stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq while the Iraqi government sits on a huge surplus. As President, I will end this war by asking the Iraqi government to step up, and finally finish the fight against bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorists who attacked us on 9/11. I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century, and I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

I won't stand here and pretend that any of this will be easy - especially now. The cost of this economic crisis, and the cost of the war in Iraq, means that Washington will have to tighten its belt and put off spending on things we can afford to do without. On this, there is no other choice. As President, I will go through the federal budget, line-by-line, ending programs that we don't need and making the ones we do need work better and cost less.

But as I've said from the day we began this journey all those months ago, the change we need isn't just about new programs and policies. It's about a new politics - a politics that calls on our better angels instead of encouraging our worst instincts; one that reminds us of the obligations we have to ourselves and one another.

Part of the reason this economic crisis occurred is because we have been living through an era of profound irresponsibility. On Wall Street, easy money and an ethic of "what's good for me is good enough" blinded greedy executives to the danger in the decisions they were making. On Main Street, lenders tricked people into buying homes they couldn't afford. Some folks knew they couldn't afford those houses and bought them anyway. In Washington, politicians spent money they didn't have and allowed lobbyists to set the agenda. They scored political points instead of solving our problems, and even after the greatest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, all we were asked to do by our President was to go out and shop.

That is why what we have lost in these last eight years cannot be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits alone. What has also been lost is the idea that in this American story, each of us has a role to play. Each of us has a responsibility to work hard and look after ourselves and our families, and each of us has a responsibility to our fellow citizens. That's what's been lost these last eight years - our sense of common purpose; of higher purpose. And that's what we need to restore right now.

Yes, government must lead the way on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and our businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But all of us must do our part as parents to turn off the television and read to our children and take responsibility for providing the love and guidance they need. Yes, we can argue and debate our positions passionately, but at this defining moment, all of us must summon the strength and grace to bridge our differences and unite in common effort - black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; Democrat and Republican, young and old, rich and poor, gay and straight, disabled or not.

In this election, we cannot afford the same political games and tactics that are being used to pit us against one another and make us afraid of one another. The stakes are too high to divide us by class and region and background; by who we are or what we believe.

Because despite what our opponents may claim, there are no real or fake parts of this country. There is no city or town that is more pro-America than anywhere else - we are one nation, all of us proud, all of us patriots. There are patriots who supported this war in Iraq and patriots who opposed it; patriots who believe in Democratic policies and those who believe in Republican policies. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

It won't be easy, Ohio. It won't be quick. But you and I know that it is time to come together and change this country. Some of you may be cynical and fed up with politics. A lot of you may be disappointed and even angry with your leaders. You have every right to be. But despite all of this, I ask of you what has been asked of Americans throughout our history.

I ask you to believe - not just in my ability to bring about change, but in yours.

I know this change is possible. Because I have seen it over the last twenty-one months. Because in this campaign, I have had the privilege to witness what is best in America.

I've seen it in lines of voters that stretched around schools and churches; in the young people who cast their ballot for the first time, and those not so young folks who got involved again after a very long time. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut back their hours than see their friends lose their jobs; in the neighbors who take a stranger in when the floodwaters rise; in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb. I've seen it in the faces of the men and women I've met at countless rallies and town halls across the country, men and women who speak of their struggles but also of their hopes and dreams.

I still remember the email that a woman named Robyn sent me after I met her in Ft. Lauderdale. Sometime after our event, her son nearly went into cardiac arrest, and was diagnosed with a heart condition that could only be treated with a procedure that cost tens of thousands of dollars. Her insurance company refused to pay, and their family just didn't have that kind of money.

In her email, Robyn wrote, "I ask only this of you - on the days where you feel so tired you can't think of uttering another word to the people, think of us. When those who oppose you have you down, reach deep and fight back harder."

Ohio, that's what hope is - that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better is waiting around the bend; that insists there are better days ahead. If we're willing to work for it. If we're willing to shed our fears and our doubts. If we're willing to reach deep down inside ourselves when we're tired and come back fighting harder.

Hope! That's what kept some of our parents and grandparents going when times were tough. What led them to say, "Maybe I can't go to college, but if I save a little bit each week my child can; maybe I can't have my own business but if I work really hard my child can open one of her own." It's what led immigrants from distant lands to come to these shores against great odds and carve a new life for their families in America; what led those who couldn't vote to march and organize and stand for freedom; that led them to cry out, "It may look dark tonight, but if I hold on to hope, tomorrow will be brighter."

That's what this election is about. That is the choice we face right now.

Don't believe for a second this election is over. Don't think for a minute that power concedes. We have to work like our future depends on it in this last week, because it does.

In one week, we can choose an economy that rewards work and creates new jobs and fuels prosperity from the bottom-up.

In one week, we can choose to invest in health care for our families, and education for our kids, and renewable energy for our future.

In one week, we can choose hope over fear, unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo.

In one week, we can come together as one nation, and one people, and once more choose our better history.

That's what's at stake. That's what we're fighting for. And if in this last week, you will knock on some doors for me, and make some calls for me, and talk to your neighbors, and convince your friends; if you will stand with me, and fight with me, and give me your vote, then I promise you this - we will not just win Ohio, we will not just win this election, but together, we will change this country and we will change the world. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless America.
Socialist candidate for prez: Obama is no socialist

Gloria LaRiva knows socialists. Not only is the 54-year-old Mission District resident a longtime socialist, she is running for president for under the 4 1/2-year-old Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Barack Obama, LaRiva says, you are no socialist. Not even close.

"Oh, no. We're diametrically opposed," LaRiva told The Politics Blog. And just for the record, John McCain isn't a socialist, either. Neither can be socialists for one simple reason.

"They represent capitalism," La Riva said. "You can't say 'We're for all of America.' There are two classes of America: The owners and the workers."

Real socialism is a bit more exacting than McCain, Gov. Sarah Palin or this era's foremost political commentator -- Joe the Plumber -- would have voters believe when they use Obama's out-of-context use of the phrase "share the wealth" to paint him as a socialist. Obama even sarcastically responded to the socialism tag the other day saying "Next thing you know, he'll be accusing me of being a secret Communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten."

LaRiva realizes it is being used as a smear. Or as the headline in the conservative news aggregator OneNewsNow said Saturday: "Media Endorsing Obama's Socialist Agenda?"

"It's like (Republicans) used 'Communism' in the '50s," said LaRiva. "It's a smear done by the capitalists."

Even fellow presidential candiate and corporate-America basher Ralph Nader misused the term, LaRiva said. Last month at a rally near the New York Stock Exchange to protest the federal bailout bill, Nader stood near a sign that read "Socialism Saves Capitalism."

"That is a complete misrepresentation. It's exactly the opposite," LaRiva said. "The capitalists saved capitalism."

There is a silver -- uh, red? -- lining to that smear, however. It provides socialists a rare window of opportunity to explain what socialism really is. Given the record number of people without health care coverage and the exploding number of home foreclosures, LaRiva has noticed an increasing amount of the socialism-curious during her travels around the country.

The challenge: Even though LaRiva's party is on the ballot in 12 states (not California), and candidates representing other branches of the socialist family are on nearly as many, there's not a lot of sharing the wealth of love for them in the national media conversation.

"It's not just sharing the wealth, it's not a question of distributing wealth only," she said. "It is owning the wealth. It's eliminating private ownership of what we call the means of production. It's the prohibition of the ownership of factories and mines, the oil resources, the natural resources of the earth and own it in common. That way it ensures the equal distribution."

So when Palin and McCain refer to Obama's out-of-context conversation with Joe the Plumber in which Obama used the phrase "share the wealth" LaRiva's phone starts to ring.

"We think that the use of the word socialism is coming from the very evident and deepening crisis of capitalism," she said. "Many average people are starting to question the bailout. There's great opposition to the bailout. Many people are angry to see what they think are the ultimate capitalists -- the bankers, the corporate executives -- getting bailed out and the working people having to pay."

A native of New Mexico, LaRiva is a lifetime labor activist who also was a key organizer of the major antiwar marches in San Francisco and elsewhere. (Her husband is Richard Becker, an organizer with the International ANSWER Coalition.)

She's helped organize the nationwide "Free Nelson Mandela & Leonard Peltier" tour. In 1994 and 1998, La Riva was the Peace & Freedom Party's candidate for governor of California. She's also been an independent candidate for U.S. vice president from 1984 to 2000. She attended Brandeis University.

LaRiva spent the last week of the campaign traveling to Florida and was in New York Saturday, but no, she wasn't invited to appear on "Saturday Night Live."

We offer this disclaimer: LaRiva is the president of the Typographical Sector/Northern California Media Workers Union and is on leave from her production job at The San Francisco Chronicle.

That last tidbit is an early Christmas present to Bill O'Reilly. Yes, Bill, a San Francisco Chronicle employee is Socialist candidate for president. That's gotta be worth three days of shows.

Gloria, are you ready for a call from The Factor?

"I wish he would," she said. "Any news is good news, man."

For more information about LaRiva's campaign go to www.pslweb.org .

'After America. . . Who Will Lead The World?'
November 4th, 2008, will likely go down in the history books as the day America gave up her world leadership role and became another "has been" nation.

About two years ago when I first began to look seriously at this fellow named Obama, I recognized his overt socialism immediately. It wasn't difficult. It was right there for everyone to see… if one wished to see it. But it now seems that millions of Americans are perfectly fine with assisting in the suicide of America by accepting his message of socialism, the destroyer of nations.

I'm an old codger, in my late sixties, and I have seen socialism as an enemy of the United States and what, back in my day, we called Americanism. Americanism is simply defined as democratic capitalism.

When I was in the US military we were taught to fight socialism. We trained to meet the socialists on the field of battle. There was no question that Americanism and socialism could not exist on the same globe without conflict, and, we rightly assumed, armed conflict.

Months ago, as I began to write about the dangers of socialism to America, (and how the Democratic Party has become a sort of Socialist/Democratic party) I was stunned when they, the democrats, did not refute it. I had expected democrats to deny any connection to socialism. But they didn't. It was then that it struck me… they don't deny it because they can't. They have become socialist! They have embraced socialism.

Back in 1935, or so, FDR, a democrat, introduced Socialism to America with his New Deal. America has never been able to extricate itself from the New Deal. It is still with us today.

As hard as it is to fathom, there are millions of Americans today educated in America's public schools who have no idea what socialism is. As the democratic party controls our public school system, the courses taught are favorable to socialism. American "scholars" are not taught that socialism is a cancer, which will eat away the core of a capitalist nation by simply removing any desire of the citizens to advance their station in life. It squashes all ambition to live better, to make more money, to manufacture better goods, to offer better services, to do/say/produce anything in which one could exhibit pride either in themselves or their country.

How can this be? Well, socialism demands the end of private enterprise. Under socialism there would be no small businesses, no Mom and Pop stores, no entrepreneurs. Socialism demands the redistribution of wealth. That means taking the money you earned and giving it to those who did not earn it. Socialism demands that all wealth in a nation, and that includes yours, will be controlled by the government. In other words, you will own nothing --- not even your own money. The government owns everything and everyone is given only what it takes for that person to survive. Socialism celebrates the lack of an upper class and a lower class. Under socialism there is only one class. And in THAT class all people suffer equally.

It would seem that America has made the decision to turn it's back on everything good the forbearers made and sacrificed to give us… an America, unique in all the world and in all the world's history. What, then, is America about to do? America is about to join the mediocrity of the remainder of the world. No longer desirous of the leadership role, no longer willing to do the heavy lifting required by freedom, America has decided to join the pack of "has been" nations now embarrassed by their past glory years.

If I am right, and I am convinced that I am, tomorrow will begin the" Post-America" period in world history. Which leads to the burning question, at least for me. That question is: after America, who will lead the world?

J. D. Longstreet
http://csadispatch.blogspot.com/