IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – November 23rd, 2009

by on November 22, 2009

In this issue

News Headlines

Opinions & Editorials

News Headlines

Victim identifies three women neighbours who helped Gujarat rioters (Nov 19, 2009, Indian Express)

Shabbirmiyan Sindhi, key witness in the Deepda Darwaza case of the
2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat, has identified three women, all
housewives known to him in his erstwhile neighbourhood, for having
supplied kerosene and petrol to the mob to burn those killed in
Mehsana’s Visnagar taluka.

Gita Babulal Patel, Madhu Ajitkumar
Patel and Manjula Ramesh Patel are all aged between 40 and 45 years,
says the chargesheet. Sindhi, who identified the three during the
ongoing trial in the special designated court, said they lived near his
neighbourhood and he saw them supplying kerosene and petrol to the mob
after his family and others were hacked to death.

A total of 14
people, including five children, were hacked to death and burnt in
their houses during the post-Godhra riots of 2002 in Deepda Darwaza
area. "The women are close relatives of the men accused in the case.
They all stay in the same area," said special public prosecutor P R
Agrawal. The three, at present out on bail, are not the first women to
be identified for active participation in the communal killings.

Earlier,
one Geeta Rathod had been charged with supplying kerosene and kerosene
soaked rags to the mob that burnt several Naroda Patiya residents on
February 28, 2002. She was arrested by the SIT and later released on
bail. Former state minister and BJP MLA Maya Kodnani is also facing
trial for abetting rioters in Naroda Gam. Yunus Miyan Qureshi, one of
the key prosecution witnesses, had told the SIT that Kodnani incited
the mob with her speeches. He also disclosed that on the day of the
attack, he saw Kodnani in a Maruti car around 1 pm, handing over
kerosene containers to rioters.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/543390/

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In the name of their Boss, Sena goons attack IBN TV channels (Nov 21, 2009, Indian Express)

A mob of Shiv Sainiks attacked and vandalised the offices of Hindi
and Marathi TV news channels IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat in Mumbai and Pune on
Friday for what they said was criticism of the party and its chief Bal
Thackeray after his recent comments against cricket icon Sachin
Tendulkar, returning to its traditional brand of violent politics in
the aftermath of its poor show in the Assembly elections. About 25
party activists barged into the common office of the two channels in
suburban Vikhroli in the financial capital, armed with baseball bats,
cricket stumps and iron rods. They broke glass facades, office
equipment and assaulted some employees before fleeing the spot. In
Pune, they attacked the outdoor broadcast van of the channels and
damaged it, police said.

Witnesses in Mumbai said the attackers
shouted that they would not accept any criticism or reports criticising
the Shiv Sena. They also called out for IBN Lokmat’s Editor-in-Chief
Nikhil Wagle and manhandled him before the channel’s employees clashed
with the attackers and detained three of them in the melee. Police said
they had arrested seven Shiv Sainiks and were looking for more. A
sports editor and a graphic artist injured in the attack were admitted
to hospital, IBN said. The Sena owned up to the attack, with party MP
and Editor of its mouthpiece Saamna, Sanjay Raut, saying that Wagle had
used bad language while referring to Bal Thackeray over the last two
days and this had incited Sena activists. "The attack on IBN is
definitely by Shiv Sena workers and some of them are even
office-bearers. The kind of statements and language used by Wagle
against Balasaheb outraged Sainiks and this is the result," he told The
Indian Express. "This is not an attack on journalism but a reaction to
a perverted mindset. We are not afraid of the consequences and will
face it."

Sena ally BJP, however, did not agree. State BJP
leader Vinod Tawde said that the party did not support attacks on the
media as they were an important pillar of democracy. "The Sena
complaint against a newspaper or media house could be true but it can
be resolved in a democratic manner. Such attacks will never be
supported by BJP," he said. Even the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS),
which has itself resorted to similar violence in the past, condemned
the attack. Senior MNS leader and newly elected MLA Shishir Shinde said
that he had visited the IBN office and seen the damage. "It is
extremely unfortunate that women reporters were also attacked," he
said.

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan promised tough action against
the offenders. "Reporters and media are entitled to express their
opinion and they have the right to do the same. An attack on their
freedom and thought is condemnable. Such things malign the image of the
state," said Chavan. Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order)
Himanshu Roy said that police were also booking the offenders under
Section 307, accusing them of attempt to murder, a non-bailable charge.
"Any such attack in a democratic society is unpardonable and since
media is an arm of a democratic society, such actions will be dealt
with seriously. We will do everything we can to ensure that the
culprits are booked. We will ensure that this time we also go behind
the scene and take action against everyone involved in this attack,"
Roy said.

The Shiv Sena has been badly bruised by the hammering
in the Assembly elections which saw its strength fall to 44 seats from
63 in 2004, two less than the BJP. Political observers say this
downturn – forced by the emergence of the MNS and its brand of identity
politics – was forcing the Sena to return to violent politics after a
brief lull and could even see it reviving the hardline Hindutva agenda
that had become its hallmark in the 1990s. Earlier this week, Bal
Thackeray had written an open letter to Tendulkar in the party
mouthpiece Saamna, criticising him for saying that Mumbai belonged to
all Indians. But the remarks boomeranged on him as they invited
national condemnation and even the MNS sought to remain silent on an
issue that has been its pet campaign.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/544428/

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Senior cops did not respond to 26/11 situation: Hasan Gafoor (Nov 20, 2009, Express India)

Some of the top Mumbai police officers have been accused by their
former boss of dithering from "responding to the situation" during the
26/11 attacks. Gafoor Hasan, the then Mumbai Police Commissioner, said,
"a section of senior police officers refused to be on the ground and
take on the terrorists. By doing so, they chose to ignore the need of
the hour." Naming some of the seniors, Hasan, in an interview published
in ‘The Week’ magazine just days ahead of the first anniversary of the
attacks, said, "I told you there were a handful. For example, K L
Prasad refused to come to the Trident and decided against hitting the
roads. Devena Bharti, K Venkatesham and Parambhir Singh did not appear
keen on responding to the situation as it kept dawning on us."

Prasad
was then the Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) while Bharti
was the Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime). Venkatesham was the
Additional Commissioner of Police (South Region) and Singh was the
Additional Commissioner of Police (Anti-Terrorism Squad). "Yes, there
was dearth of eagerness on the part of a handful of senior officers to
be on the ground during those days," said Gafoor, replying to a
question if he noticed a bit of unwillingness among the senior
officers. Now Director General of Police (Housing), Gafoor received a
lot of flak from the Ram Pradhan Committee, which probed into how the
security agencies responded to the deadly terror strikes that claimed
more than 180 lives. It had observed that command and control was not
properly exercised during the handling of the attacks.

Asked
how he felt when let down by his own men and if there was a bigger
embarrassment, Gafoor said "yes there was, indeed. On November 28, I
attended a meeting with the DGP and Home Minister. I was told to
withdraw the NSG and instead use the Mumbai police for the ongoing
operations. The DGP told me that the entire world was watching us and
so we should put an immediate end to the siege and help defuse the
crisis. This sounded ridiculous, as the NSG is an elite force that can
tackle such crisis situation. I said it was even preposterous to even
think of taking off the NSG." Recalling the events that took place on
November 26 last year, Gafoor said "the first thing on my mind was, of
course, to liquidate the terrorists or to restrict and compel them to a
corner and then cordon off the targeted area – all this to engineer the
safe evacuation of the people trapped inside."

Lauding the NSG
for doing a "great job" in eliminating the terrorists, the former
Mumbai Police Commissioner said "without them it would not have been
possible to even map the terrorists’ movement inside those built-up
areas, let alone take them head on and overpower them ultimately."
Asked if believes that he was made a scapegoat, he said, "I cannot
comment on that. But yes, political considerations do play a part in
lot of things that are decided and ratified. It is politics and much
more beyond."

http://www.expressindia.com/story_print.php?storyId=544236

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Goa blast case: Another Sanatan Sanstha member held (Nov 18, 2009, IBN)

A self-defence instructor associated with the Sanatan Sanstha was on
Wednesday arrested for the Diwali-eve blast in Margao in which two
members of the Hindu group were killed while carrying a bomb, police
said. Superintendent of Police Atmaram Deshpande said Dilip Managaokar,
39, was involved in planting an improvised explosive device (IED) that
did not explode. "He was involved in planting an improvised device at
Sancoale (30 km from Panaji) which did not explode," Deshpande said at
a press conference at the police headquarters. "He has been remanded to
seven days in police custody," he added.

Deshpande added that
Managaokar worked as a volunteer self-defence instructor at the Sanatan
Sanstha’s martial arts training school located at Dhamshe, a village in
north Goa, 50 km from Panaji. The school, which imparted training in
martial arts and horse-riding to the Sanatan Sanstha cadre, closed down
three years ago. Mangaokar was a resident of Sanqulim in north Goa and
was working as a weigh-bridge supervisor with a mining company.

Mangaokar’s
arrest by the special investigation team (SIT) takes to four the number
of Sanatan Sanstha members held for the Oct 16 Goa blast. Two of the
group’s members, who are also accused in the Goa blast case, died of
injuries when detonator-rigged gelatin sticks they were ferrying
exploded while being taken to a crowded area in Margao, a south Goa
town. The police also found an unexploded improvised explosive device
near the port town of Vasco a few minutes after the blast in Margao
October 16.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/goa-blast-case-another-sanatan-sanstha-member-held/105503-3.html

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Kalyan calls Mulayam traitor, says yes to Ayodhya temple (Nov 16, 2009, Times of India)

A day after Samajwadi Party boss Mulayam Singh Yadav drew first
blood by saying there would never be any place for BJP discard Kalyan
Singh in his party, the Lodh leader tore into the Yadav chieftain
saying he was a traitor who had lost his "mansik santulan" (mental
balance). Earlier in the day, Kalyan’s son Rajbir Singh, who was SP’s
national general secretary, quit the party, saying it was "full of
opportunists". Simultaneously, Kalyan, trying to sound contrite,
offered an olive branch to BJP — a party he has quit twice before –
to revive his flagging political career, by emphatically stating that
he wished to see a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

Mulayam
had assiduously sought Kalyan in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections
this year to buttress his OBC (Lodh) votes. However, a string of
electoral setbacks, with the latest being SP’s drubbing in the assembly
by-elections, made drastic action necessary. Mulayam was forced to
jettison Kalyan — the "architect" of the 1992 Ayodhya demolition –
who, going by all indications, had caused Muslims to desert SP en
masse.

Reacting to Mulayam’s Saturday comment that he never
invited Kalyan to his party or to the party’s Agra convention, Kalyan
said, "Woh apna mansik santulan kho baithe hain (He has lost his mental
balance). It was the SP leaders who approached me. I didn’t go to
them." Kalyan said a party general secretary had sent him a long
invitation requesting his presence for the Agra convention and even
asked him to share the dais and address the gathering. "The invitation
must be lying around somewhere," he said. Samajwadi Party leaders were
not ready to comment on Kalyan Singh’s outburst. In the brouhaha that
the press meet was reduced to, what stood out was Kalyan’s dogged
refusal to comment on party general secretary Amar Singh, widely seen
as the man behind Kalyan’s brief honeymoon with SP. "I won’t say
anything about him," said Kalyan, in reply to questions relating to
Amar Singh’s role in bringing Mulayam and Kalyan together.

Summing
up his ties to Mulayam and the lesson he has learnt, Kalyan said: "I’ve
committed several mistakes in my life. But allowing Mulayam to get
close to me was the biggest." Mulayam, he said, must accept his defeat
instead of looking for scapegoats. Kalyan also dropped broad hints of
his softening towards the saffron brigade. "I was a swayamsewak of the
RSS and will always be. I want to see a grand Ram temple coming up at
Ayodhya in my lifetime and neither SP nor Congress can make it happen,"
Kalyan said. In such a situation, there was every need to strengthen a
"nationalist party like BJP", he added.

Although Mulayam made
the first move to announce the split on Saturday, there is little he
would gain in terms of Muslim votes, who dropped him like a hot potato
after his high-voltage friendship with Kalyan. As Kalyan spoke to
reporters, old campaign posters showing BJP national president Rajnath
Singh on one side and BJP veteran Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the other
appropriately lying around.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-5233799,prtpage-1.cms

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Sena slams Sachin over Mumbai for all remark (Nov 16, 2009, IBN)

The Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna has launched a no-holds-barred
attack on Sachin Tendulkar, a day after he celebrated 20 glorious years
in international cricket. The newspaper has taken on Sachin for his
recent comments for saying that he was proud to be a Marathi but was an
Indian first.

On its editorial page, Saamna has asked Sachin
Tendulkar to concentrate on his game of cricket. The editorial said,
"There was no reason for Sachin to make this comment. Sachin has got
‘run out’ on the ‘pitch of Marathi mindspace’. Sachin is the badshah of
cricket and he should stick to cricket. He should mind his game and not
comment on these things."

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad also spoke on
the issue. "Sachin shaan hai desh ka (Sachin is the pride of the
nation). The Shiv Sena chief should not have criticised Sachin as he
has brought glory to the country through his performance on the cricket
field," he said. Sachin had said on Friday that Mumbai is for all
Indians.

"Mumbai belongs to India. That is how I look at it. And
I am a Maharashtrian and I am extremely proud of that but I am an
Indian first," Sachin had said. Meanwhile, the legendary cricketer is
busy with the first cricket Test match against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad,
where the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to
bat.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/sena-slams-sachin-over-mumbai-for-all-remark/105328-3.html

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Chargesheet filed against Raj Thackeray for assault on North Indians (Nov 18, 2009, Times of India)

Police filed a 73-page charge sheet in a local court against
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray and 20 others for
rioting and assault on North Indians appearing for a Railway
Recruitment examination here last year. The assault had taken place
when MNS was agitating against what they termed as the Railway’s policy
to issue advertisements in newspapers in North India to attract
candidates from that region instead of giving priority to the "sons of
the soil" (local people).

Copy of the chargesheet was given to
each accused, including Raj through their lawyer Sayaji Nangre. The MNS
chief, standing near the witness box, said "Ha" when the Magistrate
called out his name to ensure he was present in the court. Other
accused said "Ji" to register their presence. Attired in white Kurta
Pyjama, Raj appeared to be calm and composed.

The charge sheet
enumerated the incident that happened in October last year when
candidates from North India had come to Chetna College in suburban
Bandra to appear for a Railway Recruitment Examination.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5243610.cms

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IT officials to quiz bank officials in Koda scam (Nov 14, 2009, Times of India)

Income tax officials will begin quizzing bank officials once the
interrogation of some of the prime accused in the illegal investment
and hawala transaction case of former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu
Koda and his associates ends. The IT department has already started
sending summons to bank officials, who were used for the transaction of
money by Koda and his associates, who were allegedly involved in
illegal transactions amounting to Rs 4,000 crore.

Sources in
I-T said around half-a-dozen banks were used by the group for the
transactions. Since the process of seizure of documents and recording
of statements of most of the accused, barring Binod Sinha and Sanjay
Chaudhary, is almost over, the focus will now shift to the banks
involved in the transaction. Quizzing of bank managers and senior
officials, including the managing director of the Union Bank through
whom most of the transaction was done, is expected to start from
Monday. The Mumbai branch of the Union Bank was allegedly used for the
transaction of around Rs 600 crore.

"We have requested the
managing director of the Union Bank to come to Ranchi on Monday so that
we can cross-check the details and seek an explanation as to why the
guidelines for transaction were not followed," said an official. On the
other hand, officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and some
officers of Interpol screened the documents seized by the I-T
department during the nationwide raid that covered around 70 places. ED
and Interpol officials were also trying to find the links of overseas
transfer of funds through hawala.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5230970.cms

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Hindutva goons disguised as Gao Sewa Samiti terrorise Muslims of Malegaon (Nov 19, 2009, Milli Gazette)

As Eid Al-Azha festival approaches, Hindutva goons have stepped up
their efforts to terror the Muslims of this district. Disguised as "Gao
Sewa Samiti" and led by Subhash Malu and his associates, they are
freely creating mischief in Malegaon. During this festival which will
fall this years towards the end of November, Muslims will offer
qurbani, that is slaughtering permitted animals like bulls, buffalos,
goats and sheep. People claiming to belong to Gaoshala Samiti, who are
led by Subhash Malu, have taken the law in their hands to terrorise
Muslims by spreading rumours and attacking vehicles carrying such
animals. These goons, in the name of protecting cows, are looting
animals being transported by merchants using force. They are also
looting money and valuables of Muslims with the connivance of the local
Police. This has endangered public peace and order.

President of
Malegaon’s Qaumi Majlis-e-Shoora Maulana Abdul Kareem Milli has
presented a memorandum on 18 November to the Chief Minister of
Maharashtra drawing his attention to this criminal activity with police
connivance. Maulana Milli asked the CM to personally intervene in this
matter and save ordinary Muslims from the criminal activities of
Hindutva goons who are looting and robbing peaceful Muslims. Maulana
Milli said in his memorandum that this activity surfaces each year at
this time and every year some Muslims animal merchants are victimized
by these goons.

During one such attack on 16 November 2009, two
animal merchants were killed by these goons led by Subhash Malu and his
associates. They attacked the animal merchants, robbed their valuable
articles and money and looted the animals. The two merchants were shown
as dying during a motor accident. Maulana Milli has asked the CM to
order the prosecution of these goons especially Subhash Malu. He has
demanded that this goon and his associates should be externed from
Malegaon in order to ensure the town’s peace and communal harmony.

http://www.milligazette.com/dailyupdate/2009/20091119_001_Hindutva_goons_Gao_Sewa_Samiti_terrorise_Muslims_malegaon.htm

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Nine policemen suspended for youths killing (Nov 18, 2009, Times of India)

Nine police personnel, including an SP and two senior cops, have
been suspended with immediate effect for negligence, in connection with
the incident in which a youth was killed allegedly in police firing
leading to a violent backlash by angry locals. Superintendent of Police
(Rural) K K Asthana, Dy SP (Garh Mukteswar) Rajpal Singh, SHO of
Simbhaoli Police Station K P S Chal and six others were suspended for
dereliction of duty, police sources said.

28-year-old Parvez
was allegedly shot dead by a police team in sugarcane field mistaking
him for a criminal, in Bat village under Garh Mukteswar tehsil on
Monday night. Angry villagers set on fire Simbhaoli police station, on
NH-24, and several vehicles including four roadways buses.

IGP
(Meerut zone) Javed Akhtar and Commissioner (Meerut division) Shravan
Kumar controlled the situation at the village. Heavy police force and
CRPF have been deployed in Simbhaoli and affected villages, sources
said. DM R Ramesh Kumar has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the
incident. Meanwhile, MM Baig has been posted as the new SP (rural) and
Rahul Srivastava as the DSP.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5243724.cms

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Opinions and Editorials

Sachin for India – Editorial (Nov 18, 2009, The Tribune)

The tongue-lashing that Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray has got from
political leaders cutting across party lines as also from people at
large clearly bears out that the unabashed Marathi card that he played
in criticising legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has misfired.
Thackeray has never been known for moderation but his slamming Sachin
for saying that Mumbai could not be monopolised and that all Indians
had an equal right over it is the ultimate in outrageousness. Sachin’s
remark that he is a Maharashtrian and he is proud of that but he is an
Indian first, should be a lesson for every Indian.

We are
living in times in which electoral politics has touched a new low with
parochialism and casteism being used by political leaders to divide
society for narrow partisan ends. Sachin Tendulkar’s statement amounted
to a rebuff to the "Marathi manoos" plank of the Shiv Sena and Raj
Thackeray’s MNS which is deeply divisive and regrettable. The icon that
Sachin is, his forthright support for the "Indian first" creed seeks to
unite the country and not divide it. For this the country must salute
this extraordinary cricketer who has the gift of a genius and is
unusually humble.

Bal Thackeray has had an inglorious record of
divisive politics. He began his political career with an ugly campaign
against South Indians in Mumbai. In the recent assembly elections, when
his son and heir-apparent, Uddhav Thackeray, shunned the agenda of hate
and concentrated his attention on the development plank, there was
surprise in political circles. Raj Thackeray, on the other hand, took
up the

Related posts:

  1. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – March 23rd, 2009
  2. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – February 23rd, 2009
  3. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – November 30th, 2009
  4. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – November 9th, 2009
  5. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – November 2nd, 2009

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