e terrorist violence in Pakistan can be traced to the tight U.S. security embrace of the Cold War days, which gave birth to several mujahideen groups that have turned into Frankensteins monsters post-9/11. By JOHN CHERIANTHE PESHAWAR MASSACRE of the innocents could be a turning point in Pakistans history. At least for the moment, all the important stakeholders seem united in their determination to confront the scourge of terrorism, which has been mercilessly stalking the country for more than a decade now. At this juncture, there is a consensus in the country that the time has come to crush the militant groups that have been running amok since the overthrow of the Taliban government and the United States occupation of Afghanistan in 2001. The political and military establishment will have to bite the bullet and cut off their ties with militant groups which it tacitly supports or supported, such as the Haqqani network and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).The Pakistan government on its part, at least until recently, tried to differentiate between the good and bad Taliban. In a recent interview, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz told the BBC that Pakistan would not unnecessarily target militant groups that do not pose a threat to the countrys security. Why should Americas enemies unnecessarily become our enemies? he said. Aziz went on to add that the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, which is one of the Pakistani Taliban factions, were fighting against the government in Afghanistan. The Pakistani Foreign Office was quick to state that Aziz, who is the de facto Foreign Minister, was quoted out of context. The Foreign Ministry spokesperson clarified that Islamabad was committed to taking action against all groups without any distinction or discrimination.The Pakistani Taliban was never a unified group. It was founded in 2007 by Behtullah Mehsud and those within its ranks were mainly fighters who were with the Taliban and earlier with the U.S.-supported jehadi groups fighting the Afghanistan government in the 1970s and 1980s. They fled to Pakistan after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Joining them in their exodus were Chechen, Uzbek and Uyghur fighters and members of Al Qaeda and other extremist, separatist groups. With the U.S. authorising increasing drone attacks on Al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistans tribal areas and Pakistani military bases being used for these launches, many in the Tehereek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban, turned violently against their erstwhile sponsors and patrons. The TTP comprises several factions. In 2010, the U.S. State Department declared the Pakistani Taliban a terrorist organisation. The U.S. has been targeting the Taliban leadership with drone attacks for several years now. Baitullah Mehsud, the first leader of the Haqqani group, was killed in a drone strike in August 2009. The flamboyant Hakimullah Mehsud, who succeeded him, was eliminated in another drone strike in November 2013. During his first term in office, U.S. President Barack Obama more than tripled the number of drone attacks on Pakistani territory. According to Pakistani estimates, 50 to 60 per cent of those killed in American drone attacks were civilians and this in turn resulted in higher recruitment for militant groups. Widespread U.S. drone attacks contributed to the anti-American feelings in Pakistan and weakened the cooperation between the two countries in counterterrorism operations.A double gameU.S. and Indian officials have been accusing Pakistan of playing a double game by taking U.S. aid money and weaponry while supporting and encouraging various Taliban and other extremist groups such as the LeT to destabilise neighbouring Afghanistan and India. They accuse the Pakistani security establishment of glossing over the danger posed by these groups to the government in Islamabad. Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai openly accused Pakistan of supporting the Afghan Taliban and facilitating terror attacks. It is not a secret that many in the top Afghan Taliban leadership, including its leader Mullah Omar, are protected by Pakistani intelligence services. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden must have had the help of sections of the Pakistani intelligence apparatus to go on living for years in a house in Abbottabad, located next to a military base.In early December, Pakistan Army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif visited the U.S. According to reports in the media, during his talks in Washington, the Army chief gave an assurance to the Obama administration that Pakistan would give up its policy of protecting militant groups it considered important for achieving its strategic goals in the region. The Haqqani group has been responsible for staging attacks in Afghanistan in coordination with the Taliban there. In a testimony to the U.S. Congress in 2011, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, referred to the Haqqani network as a strategic arm of Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence [ISI]. After 2001, many Al Qaeda fighters found refuge in the tribal areas of Pakistan. They played a big role in radicalising people there. The Pakistan Taliban consists mainly of Pashto-speaking recruits from the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. The Taliban in Afghanistan also represents the same ethnic groupthe Pashtuns.The LeT and some other groups have been held responsible for terror attacks in India, including the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, the worst in Indian history. Both the Haqqani group and the LeT are said to be close to the Pakistani security establishment. The LeT is on the banned list of organisations in Pakistan but it has resurfaced as the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). LeT leader Hafiz Sayeed was quick to make the outlandish claim that India was involved in the Peshawar bloodbath. A few days after the Peshawar incident, an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan granted bail to Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who is alleged to have played a key role in planning the Mumbai attack. The decision has come in for scathing criticism in India. The Pakistan government was quick to announce that it would challenge the bail order of the Lahore High Court.What the U.S. sowedIt was arm-twisting by the Obama administration that made the Pakistan Army launch its all-out assault on the militant groups in the tribal areas in June 2014. For the first time, the Pakistan Air Force was deployed extensively to target militant hideouts. A lot of collateral damage, in the form of civilian casualties, resulted in the wake of the military assault in North Waziristan. Many analysts, in fact, are of the view that the formation of the Pakistani Taliban was in response to the first military assault ordered by the then military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in 2004. FATA is an area of 27,270 square kilometres, but this small territory hosts around 45,000 fighters from many militant groups, including the Afghan Taliban, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Al Qaeda, Jaish-e-Mohammed, the LeT and the Pakistani Taliban.Public opinion surveys have consistently shown that the majority in Pakistan are of the view that it was the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 that led to the rise of terrorism in their country. The cycle of violence and terrorism can be traced back to the tight security embrace between the U.S. and Pakistan, which dates back to the days of the Cold War. In the 1980s, the U.S. played a key role along with its proxies such as Saudi Arabia in arming and training the Mujahideen forces in Pakistan to fight against the Soviet-backed progressive government that was in place in Afghanistan at the time. Out of the mujahideen emerged the rapacious militias controlled by warlords and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Taliban itself was formed with the covert backing of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the ISI. Washington was also unwavering in its support of the military dictator Zia-ul-Haq. He was the man responsible for encouraging a Wahhabi version of Islam in the country. He injected religious bigotry and sectarianism into many aspects of daily life in the country. It was his predecessor, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, though, who first formalised the role of religion in the countrys Constitution and banned the sale and consumption of alcohol. The U.S. and the Saudis funded Zia liberally as he built new madrasas (religious schools) across the length and breadth of Pakistan.IslamisationPakistan had come a long way since Independence. You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed. That has nothing to do with the business of state, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the Quaid-i-Azam, had said in his inaugural address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan in 1947. Today, sectarianism has become a factor fuelling terrorism in Pakistan. Militant groups have been busy targeting Shia mosques and businesses and bombing churches. The notorious blasphemy law, which came into being during the days of General Zia, has been widely misused. Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer was shot by his bodyguard, an extremist in police uniform, for speaking out against the law. Pakistans self-inflicted suffering comes from an education system that, like Saudi Arabias system, provides an ideological foundation for violence and future jehadists, the scholar and commentator Pervez Hoodhbhoy noted in an article.According to Hoodhbhoy, militant jehad became part of the culture on college and university campuses. Armed groups had started openly recruiting students for jehad in Afghanistan and Kashmir. It was only after the events of 9/11 that the Kashmir issue faded into the background with the focus almost completely shifting to Afghanistan. If the Afghan Taliban is successful in once again wresting power in Kabul or completely destabilising the country, Kashmir could once again figure prominently on the radar of the jehadi groups. As long as the emotive Kashmir issue remains unresolved, it will continue to remain a cause clbre in the country. After all, India and Pakistan have fought several wars over Kashmir. There is also a Punjabi Taliban, whose focus is more on the Kashmir and sectarian issues than on Afghanistan. It has carried out attacks in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.Despite the recent events, it will be difficult for the Pakistani political establishment to distance itself from the mainstream Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan still adheres to its doctrine of depth and views the Afghan Taliban as a strategic asset. Pakistan does not want countries such as India and Iran to have too much influence in Afghanistan. There is also a lurking fear in the corridors of power in Islamabad that a resurgent Afghan Taliban could in the long run side with its counterpart across the border. All the Pakistani Taliban factions have pledged their loyalty to Mullah Omar. Both the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban espouse the Deobandi sectarian theology.The Afghan Taliban led by Mullah Omar looks destined to play an important role in Afghanistans politics after the departure of the U.S. forces from that country by the end of 2014. Already, they have made steady advances on the ground. Islamabad wants the good Afghan Taliban to share power with other stakeholders in the post-occupation scenario in Kabul. This view also, until recently, had the support of the Obama administration. The Afghan Taliban issued a statement condemning the perpetrators of the incident in Peshawar. The intentional killing of innocent people, children and women are against the basic tenets of Islam and this criterion has to be considered by every Islamic party and government, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, said.The Afghan Taliban has repeatedly criticised the attacks on Pakistans armed forces on previous occasions. The Afghan Taliban, as of now, is not against the goal of overthrowing the Pakistani state. The TTP and other Pakistani Taliban groups reject the Constitution of Pakistan and want the introduction of Sharia.

LATEST COMMENTS:Hillary Clinton has rightly said that if you rear snakes in your garden,do not be under the false impression that they will only bite your neighbour,and not you. Pakistani Taliban have proved that they can bite Pakistanis. Will there be a real change in Pakistan Government's policy of using terror as state policy?from: Deendayal M.LullaDec 26, 2014 at 14:51 ISTMOREThe Peshawar school carnage apparently forces a change in the Pakistani establishments approach to Islamist militancy. But the Pakistani Taliban threatens to carry out such attacks until its demands are conceded. By JOHN CHERIANTHE killing of 162 people, including 132 pupils and several staff members, in a school in Peshawar on December 16 by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is perhaps the most horrific terrorist incident witnessed in Pakistan since independence. Hundreds more are being treated in hospitals. Many of them have life-threatening wounds. In 2007, a suicide attack in the countrys commercial capital, Karachi, claimed 150 lives. In other attacks, the Taliban has hit military installations, including the Army headquarters in Rawalpindi, a naval base in Karachi, an air force base in Kamra, and civilian airports in Karachi and Peshawar.The international community had hoped that terrorist groups would at least have the sense to spare schools and schoolchildren since the tragedy in the Russian city of Beslan in 2004. In that incident, Chechen terrorists massacred 186 schoolchildren. The Pakistani Taliban, however, has a history of targeting schools, opposed as it is to girls going to school. Candlelight vigils were held all over Pakistan in memory of those killed. Flags flew at half mast and shops and businesses remained closed all over the country as a tribute to the fallen.Witnesses said that around 10 a.m. on December 16, seven heavily armed men in Pakistan Army uniforms entered the school by jumping over a wall adjoining a graveyard and immediately embarked on a killing spree. Even children as young as three were targeted and killed. According to reports, despite the speedy intervention of commandos from the Armys elite Special Services Group, the siege could be ended only after eight hours. The terrorists, some of whom spoke Arabic and others Pashto, wore suicide vests, and they blew themselves up after completing their gruesome task in a clinical fashion. Most of the victims were shot in the head at point-blank range. A teacher, according to survivors of the attack, was burnt alive by the attackers. She had tried to intervene on behalf of the children.The terrorists, according to reports in the Pakistani media, seem to have had prior information about senior students congregating in the main hall of the school to attend a first aid training course. After entering the school premises, they headed straight for the hall. Piles upon piles of bodies of the students were found in the hall, either killed or seriously injured. Intercepts of calls between the terrorists and their handlers showed the killers asking for instructions after killing the children. We have killed all the children. What do we do now? asked one of the terrorists. Wait for the army people, kill them before blowing yourselves up, he was ordered.Many of the pupils were children of those serving in the Pakistani military. The Army runs a chain of schools in the country. The majority of the students killed in the attack were in the 14-year age bracket.Muhammad Khurasani, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, was quick to take responsibility for the heinous act. He said the school and the children were targeted in retaliation for the continued military operations against the TTP in the tribal areas of North Waziristan. He claimed that many women and children had been killed in the Army operations. Our Shura decided to target these enemies of Islam right in their homes so they can feel the pain of losing their children, the Taliban spokesman said. The Pakistan Armys offensive in North Waziristan, code-named Zarb-e-Azb, which was flagged off in June 2014, had succeeded in driving the Taliban out of large swathes of territory. The Army claims to have killed more than 1,800 militants. The operations had, however, resulted in more than a million civilians being made homeless. Many of them found refuge in Pakistani cities such as Peshawar. Others have had to find refuge across the border.United in the hour of griefThe international community has united behind Pakistan in its hour of grief. Statements of support and sympathy have poured in from all over the world. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on December 16. He condemned the targeting of innocent children as an act of cowardice. On December 17, the Indian Parliament observed a minutes silence and passed a resolution condemning the barbaric terrorist attacks perpetrated in Peshawar and called on the international community to fight against all acts of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Indias National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, went to the Pakistan High Commission to sign the condolence book. The Pakistan High Commissioner, Abdul Basit, said he was touched by the condolence messages he had been receiving from all over India. But there has evidently been no rethink in the Indian government about restarting the dialogue process with Pakistan. The Indian government unilaterally called off Foreign Secretary talks in 2014.United States President Barack Obama condemned the targeting of students and teachers as a heinous act. The terrorists, Obama said, had once again showed their depravity. Many in Pakistan blame the U.S. drone attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan, which have killed hundreds of civilians, including children, for giving a fillip to terrorism in the region. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the December 16 attack as an act of horror and rank cowardice to attack children when they learn.Globally, the latest act of barbarity by the Pakistani Taliban has generated more international condemnation against the group than the attack on the Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai did. Malala was targeted by the Taliban in 2012 for espousing the cause of education for girls. The Taliban, like the Boko Haram in Nigeria, has specialised in attacking schools and targeting girl students. Malala, in a statement immediately after the Peshawar incident, said she was heartbroken by this senseless and cold-blooded act of terror. I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sistersbut we will never be defeated.Nawaz Sharif rushed to Peshawar after hearing the news about the terror attack. He pledged to continue the fight against the Taliban. The Pakistan governments stance on the Taliban and other extremists groups could now become more resolute.Many opposition leaders such as Imran Khan had until now refused to explicitly condemn the Taliban. After the Peshawar incident, Imran Khan came out openly against the Taliban. Although he did not mention the organisation by name, he said the group should fight men, not children. He, however, wanted the government to try mediation instead of launching a fight against the Taliban. In the wake of the terror attack, Imran Khan suspended his countrywide protests for the resignations of the Nawaz Sharif government. His party, the Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaaf (PTI), has agreed to participate in the all-party talks to formulate a national consensus on combating the local Taliban. Imran Khan said he had set aside his political differences with the Prime Minister for the time being as the issue of terrorism was more important.Plan of actionSpeaking after the all-party meeting, Nawaz Sharif said the countrys leadership was now even more united in the goal of wiping out the Taliban from its territory. The fight will continue until all terrorists are defeated. At no stage will there be any discrimination between the good Taliban and the bad Taliban and all will be dealt equally with an iron hand, Nawaz Sharif said. The Prime Minister said the political leaders who attended the meeting agreed to prepare a plan of action within seven days. Military and intelligence officials will be consulted while formulating the plan. The Pakistan government also announced that it was lifting its moratorium on executions in the country.It is reported that Pakistan has provided Afghanistan with actionable intelligence about the whereabouts of the perpetrators of the Peshawar attacks. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was among the first leaders to condemn the attack. He drew comparisons with similar attacks carried out by the Afghan Taliban against schools in his country, including a recent attack on a French-run school in the capital, Kabul. Ghanis office issued a statement saying that the two countries had agreed on increased mutual cooperation in fighting extremism.According to a statement released by the Pakistan military, the Afghan President assured the Army chief, General Raheel Sharif, that Afghan territory would not be allowed to be used by terrorists. Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have improved since the departure of Hamid Karzai from the presidential palace. Until recently, both sides used to accuse each other of facilitating the movement of militant groups across their porous borders to indulge in terrorist acts. General Raheel Sharif also got an assurance from the U.S. that it would continue targeting Pakistani Taliban sanctuaries in Afghanistan.Islamabad claims that it has evidence that Maulana Fazlullah, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, operates from the Afghan provinces of Nuristan and Kunar. The Pakistani Taliban claims that the commander responsible for ordering the Peshawar attack is one Omar Mansoor, who operates in Peshawar and Darra Adam Khel. General Raheel Sharif, during his visit to Kabul, reaffirmed Islamabads total support to the unity government in Kabul, including joint efforts against terrorists.The Pakistani Taliban remains unfazed despite international opprobrium. It has issued a statement saying that until its demands for a halt to Army operations are met, it will continue to target schools run by the military or the government all over the country.

LATEST COMMENTS:While all the secondary causes are deeply explored, the elephant in the room is not acknowledged. In a religion based firmament, the fundamentalist will always occupy the higher ground.from: EN KAYJan 5, 2015 at 19:48 ISTMOREAll religions are vulnerable to gross misrepresentation, mythification and mayhem. Perhaps Pakistan over the next two decades or so can demonstrate that religion, as one element of identity, can also catalyse profound transformation inside the human mind. By JAVED JABBARNO this is not about what the title above misleadingly suggests.There are no hot, new facts previously unrevealed.These words are steps into darkness. The void of the murderous minds that committed the horror. Even in pitch black, there are split-second flashes, multi-second glimpses.Desecration begins with the killers identities. Their faces, four of the seven, frozen by death. Two with their eyes still open. But closed to what they had wrought. One of them with an expression somewhat wry, thoughtful. One, with protruding teeth, a nasty sight. Two with fine features, possibly the only fine aspect about them. With eyes shut, unable, finally, to witness their own madness.Then their names. Hallowed by faith and reverence. Of prophets, saints, messengers of peace, justice, virtue. Umar, Imran, Yousuf, Uzair, Abu Zar, Qari. And the odd man out called Chamnay, with a weird alias like Chamtoo. Names chosen for them by mothers and fathers who knew not then that their toddlers were soon to become monsters. Whats in a name? Plenty of history. Yet entirely disconnected with reality.In the dense unseen, at least nine possibilities hover, and disappear. Where does the willingness to kill children, then kill oneself, or be killed originate? Revenge is probably the first source. Against the Pakistan Armed Forces for the ongoing operation named Zerb-i-Azb (The Striking Sword), against terrorists in North Waziristan. Or for previous operations in South Waziristan, and elsewhere. Against drone attacks for several years past, with the Americans as operators. But with Pakistan also complicit. For the loss of dozens of leaders. Personal friends and colleagues. Women and children used as shields. Aware, or oblivious of why they were present at a particular place and time when the drones hit. Blown to smithereens. Revenge for the destruction of their houses, spartan, frugal, but after all, homes.A sense of betrayal jostles shoulders with revenge. Betrayal by elements, previously, or even presently, associated with the infamous agencies which are supposed to manipulate persons like marionettes. Betrayal by former patrons now under new management, no longer willing to support old shenanigans. Betrayal by the state of Pakistan, of their version of pure Islam even as the state calls itself The Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Its Constitution explicitly does declare that no law repugnant to the Holy Quran or the Sunnah will be enacted. Nor that non-Muslims are eligible to be President or Prime Minister. Despite non-Muslims being barely 3 per cent of the population. They stand little chance of being nominated, leave alone elected to those two positions. Betrayal of the Shariah, which should have been the supreme law. While not knowing much about which part of the Shariah is undisputed, or whether there is agreement about the totality of the Shariah among sects, and within sects. Those are minor details when the sense of betrayal is almost foremost. Betrayal by the state of Pakistan through its friendship with the satanic USA and its NATO allies, and their collaborators in Afghanistan.Hatred darts forward to be a strong third. Visceral, vicious hatred of the other. Of modern education. Of Malala Yousafzai. Of her boy-counterparts. Who wear ties to boot. Of women principals and teachers, and females who dare to work outside their homes, who wear no burqas, even in Peshawar.Who freely walk in markets, who look at mannequins dressed in colourful new fashionwear displayed in shop windows. Hatred of any of the symbols and substance of new conditions that disrupt the long-familiar, which comforts by its predictability. Rage against the rapid, bewildering simultaneity of new trends and technologies. Because they challenge notions of timeless heritage and honour that should never succumb to the temptation of change.With hatred, or perhaps before itwho can ever know which rumbles first?comes sheer fear. Of what will happen if one lets the acid of change erase what is said to be written in stone. But unlike revenge, or hatred, or betrayal, fear cannot be acknowledged publicly or privately. Fear hides within oneself, a secret to be zealously kept from everyone else, be it father, mother, wife, leader, friend. Because fear is the most unmanly attribute of all. Fear also raises questions about sexual potency. Sex can be made as fundamental as faith. So fear becomes the coward that conquers and twists the mind.Envy glints as another possibility. There seem to be many who prosper amid all the talk about the economys crisis. The urban spreads to the rural. Roads, electricity, new housing estates, new shopping malls, millions of cell phones, conspicuous consumption of fast-moving brands. Beauty soaps, cola drinks, motorbikes paraded every few minutes on TV, demonstrated on billboards, even rich new mosques. All of that, and the spillover from drugs smuggling, NATO trucks for Afghanistan, other trades, pass one by. Even if these are all about exploitative market greed and capitalism at their worst.As the children of the middle and the upper classes flock to shiny schools, specially Army Public Schools, many others are left to the mercy of solemn madrasas and government schools. One can play cricket and leap away from the clutches of the occasional paedophile who masquerades as a cleric. But there is not as much fun as there seems to be in other places out there.Perversion coughs for attention somewhere in the cave one is exploring. Sadism wants to be noticed. Some odd gene inherited from an ancestor or a parent that permutates into a new DNA of ones very own. To gain sickly pleasure derived from causing someone else pain. It could also have been acquired, or injected through abuse as a child. An unseen, unspeakable atrocity one had to suffer in total silence because the perpetrator was so close, so well-known to the family, possibly in the family. Though suppressed for years, or precisely because of being suppressed, the experience of child abuse simmers and festers, biding its time. To strike at others, with the same shock, and to recapture, now from the other side, the moment of tortuous control that results in instant death for complete strangers, rather than the long death one has been living with, for all the years since childhood.Before the school mission, perhaps there were narcotics. Opium, hash, charas, heroin, crack, amphetamines, whichever or whatever. Except that drugs generally slow reflexes. Unless one takes those special pills that keep you going without sleep for days and nights. Eyes bright, unblinking, unseeing, except for the specific tasks one has been trained to tedium to carry out as per directives of the commander and the handler. One may never have heard of The Manchurian Candidate. But induced dependency for blindbut not deaf !obedience is an option that at least requires to be listed.Inside the tunnel through which we presently crawl, looking for a light that stays fixed and constant, rather than the flickers that go on and off in diverse directions, as in the preceding paragraphs, there comes the stench of poverty. Unwashed, undernourished, stunted deprivation from infancy. Barely any study in the village or towns primary school. Because two more hands were needed to earn one more meal. Rugged patches of land that never yielded enough to provide adequate food, leave alone a balanced diet. The searing memory of Mother, pregnant every year, bearing one baby after another, a couple of them dying soon after. Father unable to become one of those others who migrated to Karachi or to Dubai and remit sums regularly to their families. Father remained stuck to his soil, unwilling to leave, unable to climb out of the ditch into which he was born: never was there a more willing prisoner!So when the recruiters came by (their actual origins, identities, resources, aims unknown, camouflaged, or known and stated, as the case may be) to enlist one for paid work, the money they gave on the spot as the opening card, the money they pledged to Father for the future: the lure of lucre, the end of misery was irresistible. One was being taken to a whole new world of excitement. Closer to the mystique of God and the power of the gun held in ones own hands, the rigorous training, the sharing, the preparing for the great task ahead. With hard cash as a bonus. But to ascribe responsibility to poverty for calculated cruelty is to demean the dignity and non-violent decency with which most of the poor bear their burden.Surely the brightest blur of light in the darkness of the barbaric mind was the promise of Heaven. The paradise derived from sacred verses of the Holy Book purposely misinterpreted to create Hell on earth. Indoctrinated, brainwashed, robbed of humanism, to be robotised into demons. Drawn to enter mirage-gardens where non-alcoholic wine and houris without burqas await to welcome heroes who say they can make horror really holy.Is this list of nine exhaustive? Do they motivate singly or mesh together, partly or wholly? Being the most complex creation of Nature, the human mind buries its mysteries deeply, elusively. So the search for the truth about how mass murderers of children are produced continues infinitely.The spontaneous, unconditional outpouring of empathy and grief, from close neighbours as well as distant friends, from across the country and the world comforts and strengthens. Even as the cynical worm wriggles to whisper that a few of these may be the hidden sponsors of such wretches.As for the living victims: the incredible resilience of mothers, fathers, siblings sometimes overwhelms even grief. The defiance of the young, their determination to persevere: like a spectacle of shimmering fireworks. Public events and official mourning were respectfully observed. Yet by deliberate choice, several private events comprising book launches, art shows, workshops were held as scheduled, as were dozens of candle vigils. To prevent the terrorists from paralysing a nation.Meanwhile, some of the imperative actions required by the state and by society to trace and crush the sources of such evilof which a few are visible in broad daylightneed to break self-set slow speed limits. Where in the past, some sections of the political, civil and military spheres have permitted non-violent extremism and showy piety (potential cradles for crazies) to acquire undue licence, the Peshawar massacre has stirred unprecedented solidarity to combat depravity masked by religion. To sustain this fusion of goals and to concretise actions is now the formidable challenge. To their credit, the current leadership of the Armed Forces, all its ranks, and the paramilitary forces and the police, while already rendering the supreme sacrifice of life almost every day, are now prepared to go the full stretch, whatever it takes.To revive capital punishment is only one small and not very potentially effective option. Those who have been ingrained with the conviction that killing for a religious cause is a transition to new splendours of reward are unlikely to be deterred by the execution of others in the here and now. The National Internal Security Policy awaits measurable outcomes and new pluralism-rooted education policies by the federal and four provincial governments must be enforced soonest.The hunt for the hounds of Hell should be as full-blooded as the blood that has forever stained a school floor. There has to be complete, comprehensive reform till this foul species becomes extinct. It is going to be a long, tough haul. But given the will to keep walking boldly through the dark, it can be done. All religions are vulnerable to gross misrepresentation, mythification and mayhem. Perhaps Pakistan over the next two decades or so can demonstrate that religion, as one element of identity, can also catalyse profound transformation.Inside the human mind.Javed Jabbar is a former Senator and Federal Minister of Pakistan. www.javedjabbar.com

LATEST COMMENTS:If reconversions are being questioned please question the conversions also. Conversions to Islam were carried out by the sword in many cases and in recent years on account of people wanting to practice polygamy. People converting to Christianity especially in remote places are lured by jobs, free education for their children. Foreign money flows from the Gulf and other western countries for conversion through NGOs and dubious conversions done. Most of all this is the reason no one (read no pseudo secularist) wants a law to monitor all conversions through a judicial process.from: Aditya GDec 25, 2014 at 13:25 ISTMOREThe reconversion programmes of the Dharam Jagran Samiti and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad are part of a massive expansion plan of the Sangh Parivar. By VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNANBEFORE the botched reconversion initiative at Ved Nagar in Agra in Uttar Pradesh led to the cancellation of its grand ghar wapsi programme scheduled for December 25, Dharam Jagran Samiti (DJS) leader Rajeshwar Singh Solanki had spelt out its ambitious plan to create a pure and constructive society in Bharat. Speaking to a group of mediapersons in Delhi, Solanki said that the objective of the DJS was to ensure that there were no Christians or Muslims in the country by the end of 2021. He added that this did not mean that all Christians and Muslims would be sent out of the country. But they have to understand that they were originally Hindus and, keeping that in mind, adhere to Hindu values and way of life.Solankis comment was supplemented by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Praveen Togadia at different functions in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. His contention was not just that all Christians and Muslims of India were originally Hindus but also that Hindus inhabited large parts of the rest of the world. In Togadias opinion, Arabia, Africa and Europe were Hindu areas, and the number of Hindus once stood at 700 crore. Reeling out more statistics, he claimed that this population had now shrunk to 100 crore.Togadia said there was a time when Hindus accounted for 30 per cent of the population in Bangladesh, which was just 8 per cent now. In Pakistan, the number of Hindus has come down to 1 per cent from 10 per cent. This process has got cemented in Kashmir too and is spreading in States such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala. It is the duty of patriotic Hindus to unleash efforts to stop this process, he said.According to many leaders and activists of the DJS and the VHP, the views expressed by Solanki and Togadia have always been part of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS)-led Sangh Parivars ideological perspective, but the period after June 2014 has been designated organisationally as vistaar ka samay, or the period of expansion. These activists themselves say the organisational initiative at this juncture is inspired by the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power at the Centre under Narendra Modi.Larger schemeThere are several other signals to show that the reconversion exercises of the DJS and the VHP are part of a larger scheme by the RSS and its affiliates in the Sangh Parivar. The Mumbai conference, in which Togadia held forth on the 700-crore Hindu population of the world, was attended, among others, by RSS sahkaryavah (joint general secretary) Dattatreya Hosabale and senior VHP leader Ashok Singhal.Sangh Parivar insiders say that the vistaar ka samay concept was finalised at a meeting organised under the stewardship of the RSS. This meeting, held in Nagpur between November 7 and 9, was attended by over 1,200 Sangh Parivar activists. Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, sarkaryawah Bhaiyaji Joshi and sah-sarkaryawah Krishna Gopal led the discussions. A special plan for Dharam Jagran (religious awakening) was formulated here. A special team of 58 RSS pracharaks was created with senior RSS leader Mukund Rao Panshikar as its convener to coordinate and oversee activities on this front.Sangh Parivar insiders say that the conclave of 2,200 sants and mahants in Vaishali in Bihar from December 13 to 15 and the ghar wapsi programme for 4,000 people that was scheduled to be held in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, on December 25 were considered to be an inauguration of sorts of the Dharam Jagran initiative. Even as the Vaishali meeting went according to plan, the Aligarh programme had to be cancelled following the controversy generated by the reconversion initiative in Agra (story on page 23).However, DJS leaders, including Solanki, assert that the plans formulated for 2015 are on course. One of the main programmes for 2015 is a massive conclave scheduled to be held in August in Nashik, Maharashtra. Plans are on to bring together from across the country over 50,000 persons who have come back home. These persons would take a holy dip in the Godavari at the time of the Kumbh Mela in Nashik.Sangh Parivar insiders point out that the DJS has been active across the country, particularly in the northern and western regions, over the past 15 years and has brought back home approximately four lakh families. In Uttar Pradesh alone, over one lakh people have returned to the fold in the past five years. A large number of Muslims in Beawar district of Rajasthan and thousands of Christians in Solapur in Maharashtra have returned home, Solanki told the group of journalists in Delhi. DJS activists say that though the activities of the organisation had been reported off and on in the media all these years, there has been an increased focus on it in the past six months for obvious reasons.According to Solanki, in the past one and a half decades, the organisations functioning depended in subtle ways on the region and the target group. He stated that the DJS and associate organisations adopted different strategies in different States and had over 200 specialised projects on this front. While the DJS leader refused to explain the nuances of these specialised projects, other activists involved in these operations toldFrontlinethat these were essentially meant to address caste issues that came up while reconverting from Islam or Christianity.Those who return home are not accepted easily by the existing leaders of different Hindu communities. About five years ago, a whole village of Thakur Muslims who wanted to come back were literally prevented by the Thakur leaders of Saharanpur [Uttar Pradesh]. So, the DJS has special task forces to convince community leaders. This is also part of the awareness programme, and the targeted communities include upper castes such as Rajput and Brahmins, Other Backward Classes like Yadav, Kurmi and Lodh, and most backward and Dalit communities such as Valmiki, Meena, Meo and Nat, said the DJS leader.The DJS has also admitted to a financial component in the reconversion programmes. According to a fundraising pamphlet circulated by the DJS in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the organisation requires Rs.1 lakh to convert a Muslim and Rs.3 lakh to convert a Christian. The difference apparently is because the Christian community has better financial support from the Church and related organisations than the Muslim community. Whatever the merit of this argument, there is little doubt that despite claims to the contrary, the DJS follows the allurement path that it accuses Christian missionaries and Islamist jehadists of practising.Funds and the U.S. connectionThe DJS and its associates raise funds locally and internationally. The association between the DJS and the United States-based International Development Relief Fund (IDRF) is well recorded, especially in relation to its activities in Bihar and Jharkhand. Several DJS activists toldFrontlinethat new funding avenues have been opened through organisations such as the Hindu Unity Front, which has units in the U.S., the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe. Organisations such as the Overseas Friends of the BJP and the VHPs international units also support the DJS. This funding has become more intensive after the formation of the Modi government.At the field level, the DJS works closely with Sangh Parivar affiliates such as the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, the Ekal Vidyalaya, the Sewa Bharati, the Vivekananda Kendra, the Bharat Kalyan Parishad and the Friends of Tribal Society, some of which have been found responsible for the forced conversions of tribal Christians in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.Of course, the DJS is not overtly seen in the company of the BJP, but the two organisations often converge on a thematic point. The DJS initiates reconversions, and when a controversy crops up it calls for the banning of all conversions. At this juncture, the BJP leaders too actively advocate this argument. This phenomenon was witnessed several times in the last decade. It came to the fore again in the wake of the Agra reconversion controversy.According to DJS activists, the most important qualitative difference in their efforts now is the focus on Muslims for reconversions. There is little doubt that there would be greater logistical and organisational assistance when we have a friendly government. Now it is a friendly government with greater confidence because of the majority it has. But qualitatively, there is a new twist. Throughout the last 15 years of the DJS, the focus was primarily on Christian ghar wapsi. But now there is an enhanced emphasis on getting Muslims to come back home, said a Meerut-based DJS activist.He and many other Sangh Parivar associates are emphatic that the project will continue with the new focus despite the setback caused by the Agra controversy and the cancellation of the Aligarh event. As a number of them based out of Delh, Agra and Aligarh signify, it is just one step backward to take many steps forward.

terview with Asaduddin Owaisi, MP and leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen. By SAGNIK DUTTAALL India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi, who represents Hyderabad in the Lok Sabha, recently launched a spirited attack on the government on the issue of alleged forcible conversions of impoverished Muslims by Hindutva organisations. In an interview toFrontline, Owaisi refuted the governments arguments about foreign funding for conversions, questioned the need for an anti-conversion Bill, and talked about the role of parties of minorities in parliamentary democracy. Excerpts:How do you view the recent attempts by Hindutva groups to convert poor Muslims and Christians forcibly to Hinduism even as the government is harping on development?While the government speaks the so-called language of development, the Sangh Parivar continues with the implementation of its ideology. This talk of development is only a facade. The actual aim is to implement the Hindutva ideology. On the economic front, nothing of any consequence has happened since this government came to power, despite all these grand announcements.The government argues that sustained conversion and proselytisation with the help of foreign funds specifically targets the poor and that conversions are engineered through inducements or coercion. Your response.The BJP and its Sangh Parivar affiliates believe that Muslims were all forcibly converted 1,000 years ago and also that the Muslim population is about to overtake the Hindu population. This is a myth. Between the 1961 and 2001 Censuses, the population of Hindus came down by 3.1 percentage points while the Muslim population went up only by 2.7 percentage points. This has nothing to do with Muslims having more children; rather it has to do with the lower infant mortality rates among Muslims. The 3.1 per cent decrease is nothing significant and it is not because of conversion. These myths are only being peddled to create communal polarisation in the country.The government should immediately release the 2011 population Census figures. Where is the empirical evidence to show that foreign missionaries are coming and the population of Christians has gone up? If foreign funds are indeed coming to Christian organisations, they have taken permission for the same from the government.On the government's proposal to introduce an anti-conversion law.In the five StatesOdisha, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Gujaratwhere anti-conversion laws exist at present, they completely contravene the right to equality, the rule of law and the freedom of religion. Permission from the State government is required only to convert to Christianity or Islam. It is important to remember in this context that two anti-conversion Bills were introduced in Parliament when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister and he did not allow them to be passed. Also, during the Constituent Assembly debates on Article 25 [of the Constitution], both T.T. Krishnamachari and K.M. Munshi argued in favour of the right to propagate religion to be included as part of the fundamental right to religion. There are many laws such as the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, (Section 6), the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, (Sections 7,8, 9,11, 18-24), the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, (Section 13, 13A), and the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, (Section 26) which create disincentives for Hindus converting to other religions and are aimed at keeping lower-caste Hindus within the fold of Hinduism.Also, under Article 341 [of the Constitution], if a Dalit converts to Christianity, he is deprived of the benefits of reservation. This Article has been challenged in the Supreme Court, but the former government never filed a petition stating what its position was on the issue. Anti-conversion law is only an Orwellian name for a law against Islam and Christianity. The reason the Hindutva forces want Muslims and Christians to convert is that they dont consider them equal citizens. For us to become equal citizens, we have to reconvert. This is inherent to the Hindutva ideology.To what extent do you think the government is passively or actively complicit in the process of conversions happening at present? Could steps have been taken much earlier to rein in these fringe groups?Since the BJP has come to power, Hindutva elements have become more emboldened. They feel that they want to have their share of the pie as they have brought this government to power. The government will never take any steps to rein in the fringe elements because it derives its power from them.There is a line of argument that love jehad is a form of religious conversion, which has takers not just amongst the fringe groups but also among the middle classes. What is your response to this phenomenon?Love jehad is a complete falsehood, there is no truth whatsoever in this.What role do you think parties of minorities can play?We have to oppose such steps as the government is trying to introduce an anti-conversion law. Also, we have been successful in dispelling and rebutting their false arguments about the change in demography because of so-called conversions.The emergence of the MIM has been read by some analysts as a form of minority communalism, which is only feeding on the sense of insecurity among Muslims. Your response.We [the MIM] fought the Maharashtra elections on the plank of inclusive development. We took up issues such as the low allocation of government funds for minorities, the large number of undertrials in jails, and the appalling socio-economic indicators of Muslims.For example, in Aurangabad, where our MLA had won, we promised to open a passport office in the city. During our campaign, we also highlighted the fact that Maharashtra had a lower allocation of funds, about Rs.300 crore, compared with Telangana in its State budget for minority schemes. Telangana allocates about Rs.1,000 crore for schemes meant for minorities. Also, in Maharashtra at present 37 per cent of the undertrials are Muslim youth and conviction has happened in only 17 per cent of the cases.The secular parties in Maharashtra have lost votes in their traditional bastionsDalits, tribal people, etc. When their traditional voters have deserted them and some of the Muslims and Dalits have moved to the MIM, they say that we [the MIM] are not secular. We are looking at expanding in both Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal now. In Uttar Pradesh, the recent developments have exposed the facade of secularism of the Samajwadi Party government. Also, in West Bengal, following the Burdwan blasts, a number of madrasas are being targeted. Muslims are generally feeling let down by the Trinamool Congress government as no substantial development has happened on the ground.

LATEST COMMENTS:This move should have been taken by the US a long time ago.Still it has came late but worthy so the international community and people of America should welcome the President's declaration of dismantling embargo imposed on Cuba.US and allies should take it as an oppurtunity to repent the damages done to the Cuban economy and lives of Cuban people as a whole during this long span of fivety odd years.Its time to come out of the dilemma caused in the distant past and to promote trade and commerce with the island country.from: AnadiJan 14, 2015 at 20:35 ISTMOREThe United States offer to normalise relations and lift the economic embargo imposed in 1960 has come as a victory for Cuba, which is firm that the rapprochement will not make it renounce socialism. By JOHN CHERIANTHE SIMULTANEOUS ANNOUNCEMENTS by United States President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro on December 17 that relations between the two countries would be normalised have come in for widespread praise internationally. Even within the U.S., only a minority of right-wing politicians have criticised the Obama administrations move to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba after more than 50 years. The Cuban-American community in the U.S. has welcomed the move. Obama has indicated that within a month he will take steps to steadily dismantle the trade embargo that the U.S. imposed on the island nation in 1960.Critics of the President in the Republican-dominated Senate and Congress have vowed to stall the lifting of the economic blockade. Right-wing critics are accusing the President of giving too many concessions to Cuba.The blockade on Cuba started in 1960, in the last year of the Dwight Eisenhower administration. President Eisenhower acceded to the wishes of the State Department, which had proposed a line of action that makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about desperation, hunger and the overthrow of the [Fidel Castro] government. The policy was revised in the 1980s and 1990s to make the sanctions more draconian. All the same, the U.S. blockade did not achieve its stated goal but it did cause a lot of suffering to the Cuban people and had an impact on the countrys economy. Cuba estimates that its economy has lost more than $1 trillion as a result of the blockade.Obama administration officials have said that the President will immediately use his executive powers to lift the sanctions on travel and business activities. In his statement on Cuba policy changes, Obama said that with the U.S. having established diplomatic relations with other communist countries such as China and Vietnam, it made no sense to continue with the policy on Cuba, another communist country. The decision to ease restrictions on Cuba was influenced to an extent by the Summit of the Americas scheduled to be held in Panama in April. Panama had invited the U.S. to the summit along with Cuba. Many countries in the region threatened to boycott the summit if the U.S. insisted on excluding Cuba from it. With the statement on easing of relations, Obama and Raul Castro can sit across the table at the summit, in what will be the first such meeting between the Presidents of the two countries since the Cuban Revolution of 1959. Obama and Raul Castro did briefly shake hands and greet each other during the funeral of South African leader Nelson Mandela in December 2013.It has been evident for some months that the relations between the two countries were improving. Many U.S. Senators and Congressmen were calling on the Obama administration to ease the sanctions on Cuba.The New York Times, the voice of the U.S. East Coast Establishment, has been carrying on a campaign for the speedy normalisation of relations between the two countries. Obama had won votes from the Cuban community in Florida during his first campaign for the presidency by promising to improve relations with Havana. He did, in fact, make some changes in Washingtons Cuba policy by allowing Cuban Americans to visit their homeland more frequently and to send increased amounts of dollar remittances to relatives on the island. But he also continued with many of the hostile policies of the past, including subversion of the Cuban political system. U.S. government agencies such as USAID were used for the purpose. The U.S. spy Alan Gross was caught distributing money and computers to the minuscule minority of dissident activists on the island. The Zunzuneo project was another plan hatched by the agency aimed at subverting the socialist system through the auspices of social media.It was painstaking behind-the-scenes negotiations that finally brought about a diplomatic breakthrough. Now it turns out that even the Vatican had a role to play in the final outcome. The Vatican hosted secret talks between U.S. and Cuban officials in Rome. The talks were held for 18 months in utmost secrecy. The negotiations finally revolved around the fate of the three Cubans who remained incarcerated in the U.S. and Alan Gross, serving a 12-year prison term in Cuba. When Pope Benedict, before his surprise retirement, visited Cuba in 2012, he called for the resumption of dialogue between Havana and Washington. The Pope made it a point not to meet Cuban dissidents backed by the U.S. during his visit. Pope Francis visited Cuba before he was anointed as the head of the Church in 2013. Being from Argentina, he is more conversant with the contemporary politics of the region. Both Obama and Raul Castro thanked the Pope for helping in finalising the historic deal.For Cuba, the issue of the Cuban Five was the most important aspect of the negotiations. Two of the five Cuban patriots were released in 2013 and early 2014 after they had served lengthy prison terms. The release of the remaining three from U.S. prisons was the number one priority for the Cuban government. Without their freedom, Cuba would not have handed Alan Gross over to the U.S. authorities. The only crime of the Cuban Five was to expose the activities of Cuban American terrorist groups operating from American soil. Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez had infiltrated these terrorist groups, which had been targeting Cuban cities and violating Cuban airspace with impunity. Terrorist organisations such as Alpha 66, Commandos F4 and Brothers to the Rescue operated from Florida. They were allowed a free run by U.S. security agencies. They would routinely target Cuban Americans in Florida who called for normalisation of relations. Among the notorious anti-Castro Cuban terrorists operating in Florida were Orlando Bosch and Luis Possada Carriles. They were the brains behind the bombing of a Cuban commercial airliner in 1976 that killed all 76 passengers on board.The deal came in for effusive praise from leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean region, cutting across political lines. Pro-American leaders in the region, such as the Presidents of Mexico and Colombia, were among the first to express their happiness with the diplomatic rapprochement. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos expressed the hope that the deal would pave the way to the dream of having a continent where there will be total peace. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which is currently engaged in peace talks with the Colombian government, announced that it was declaring a unilateral and indefinite ceasefire. The civil war in Colombia has been going on almost uninterrupted since the early 1950s.President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela hailed the agreement as a historic victory for the Cuban people. A day after his statement announcing the normalisation of relations with Cuba, Obama gave his approval for sanctions against Venezuela. Strained relations with the U.S. did not stop Maduro from congratulating Obama on his initiative to normalise relations with Cuba. We have to recognise the gesture from Obama. A necessary and courageous gesture, Maduro said. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez, however, highlighted the U.S. double standards. He pointed out the contradiction of Obama imposing sanctions on Venezuela when he had admitted that the U.S. prolonged sanctions against Cuba had failed to advance its interests.They want to sanction us because we carry the banner of socialism, he said. Brazilian President Dilma Roussef, a guerilla fighter against the military regime of the 1970s, described the normalisation of relations between Havana and Washington as a historic development. For us, social fighters, today is a historic day. We imagined we would never see such a moment, she said.The U.S. economic blockade of Cuba was deeply unpopular all over the region. The Obama administration was alarmed by the diplomatic and economic inroads made by China and Russia in a region that the U.S. once considered its backyard. Many U.S. policymakers and analysts blamed the diminishing influence on the countrys failed Cuba policy. In the last Summit of the Americas, most of the time was wasted on talking about the U.S. economic blockade on Cuba. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin made extensive visits to the region in 2014. When Obama stated that the U.S. policy towards Cuba had failed to advance our interests he was not talking only about its political interests.Economic benefit

In fact, many U.S. commentators say that it is the powerful commercial lobby in the U.S. that has prompted Obama to speedily loosen the restrictions on trade with Cuba. Although the U.S. trade embargo has not ended officially, the White House has said that it will authorise expanded sales and export of certain goods and services from the U.S. to Cuba. Tom Vilsack, Agriculture Secretary, has said that the easing of restrictions expands opportunities for U.S. farmers and ranchers to do business in Cuba. American economists estimated that the U.S. would be able to sell $500 million worth of agricultural products to Cuba. The U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) said that American exports would grow from the current level of zero to around 80-90 per cent in Cuba, as it is in other Caribbean nations. The multinational corporation Cargill hailed Obamas initiative by saying that there are clear economic and social benefits and the potential for a new market for U.S. farmers, ranchers and food companies.But before relations between the two countries can truly normalise, the U.S. has to first remove Cuba from the State Departments list of states sponsoring terrorism. Cuba was unilaterally placed on the list in 1982. Cubas crucial military support for the liberation movements in southern Africa had prompted that move. Because of the sanctions and counterterrorism laws, Cuba finds it difficult to access cheap credit from international financial institutions. U.S. companies will also find it difficult to do business with Cuba because of the restrictions that are still in force. Obama administration officials have said that Cuba will be out of the terror list within months.The other issues that need to be settled quickly are those connected to migration, narcotics and the return of Guantanamo Bay. The U.S. has to scrap the wet foot, dry foot policy which encourages Cubans to emigrate illegally. Cubans rescued in the sea (wet foot) are allowed to take up residence in third countries while those successful in reaching U.S. shores (dry foot) are automatically given residency permits. This privilege is given only to illegal immigrants from Cuba. There is no dispute over the sovereignty over Guantanamo Bay. The 1903 treaty under which the U.S. signed a lease agreement with Cuba recognises this fact. Communist Cuba, however, does not recognise this agreement, which was signed when the island was virtually run like a colony by the U.S. Washington must also stop its openly subversive activities such as the daily propaganda broadcasts from Radio Marti and Television Marti.Raul Castro has emphasised that the detente with the U.S. will not make Cuba waver from socialism. We shouldnt expect that in order for relations to improve with the United States, Cuba is renouncing the ideas for which weve fought for more than a century and for which our people have spilled so much blood and run such great risks, he told Cubas National Assembly in the last week of December. He said Cuba was always ready to engage in a respectful dialogue on equal terms to address any issues without a shadow over our independence and without renouncing a single one of our principles. Raul Castro reminded the Cuban people that many of the odious aspects of the blockade still remained. An important step has been taken, but the essential thing remains, the end of the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba, which has grown in recent years, particularly in financial transactions, he said.After delivering his speech, he invited the Cuban Five and Elian Gonzalez to share the podium with him. In 1999, Elian, who was aged five then, was rescued from the sea and was at the centre of a bitter custody battle between his father in Cuba and relatives in Florida. His return to Cuba in 2000 was another big victory for Cuban persistence and diplomacy.

Law against a freedomSHARECOMMENTPRINTT+ALTHOUGH conversion is not banned in Madhya Pradesh, according to the provisions of the Freedom of Religion Act in the State, the decision to allow conversion rests solely with the administration. This is in contravention of the Constitutions Article 25 (1) that guarantees the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion. It also goes against the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination, all of which India has signed.Apart from Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh too have similar Acts. When these laws were enacted in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, they were challenged in court. Matters eventually reached the Supreme Court in 1977, which in a landmark ruling (Stanislaus vs State of Madhya Pradesh) held that conversion, per se, was not a fundamental right under Article 25 and could be regulated by the state.The Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swatantraya Adhinivam, or the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 1968, prohibits religious conversion by the use of force or allurement or by fraudulent means. Conversion is a cognizable offense under the Act. Allurement has been loosely defined as any temptation in the form of any gift or gratification either in cash or kind, grant of any material benefit, either momentary or otherwise. Force means threat of injury of any kind, including the threat of divine displeasure or social excommunication.Fraud here includes misrepresentation or any fraudulent contrivance. Violations are punishable with imprisonment up to one year (two years if those being forced to convert are Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, minors or women) or fine up to Rs.5,000 (Rs.10,000 in case of minors, S.C./S.T., or women) or both.While the Act states that the district authorities have to be informed after the conversion, nowhere does it state the requirement of prior permission.It states: Whoever converts any person from one religious faith to another either by performing himself the ceremony necessary for such conversion as a religious priest or by taking part directly or indirectly in such ceremony shall, within such period after the ceremony as may be prescribed, send an intimation to the District Magistrate of the district in which the ceremony has taken place of the fact of such conversion in such form as may be prescribed.Stringent provisions

In 2006, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh sought to amend the provisions of the Act to make it more stringent. The new provisions stated that a month before such a ceremony is to take place, a pre-report about purification (sanskar) has to be submitted before the District Magistrate with details of the priest, kind of ceremony, date, time, place, name and address of the person who wishes to convert.The District Magistrate has to pass on the information to the Police Superintendent who in turn is to find out through local investigation if any objections are there with regard to the proposed religious conversion.The then Governor Balram Jakhar asked the government to submit the status of religious conversions in the previous five years in the State. It showed that no illegal conversions had taken place. The then Solicitor General G.E. Vahanvati termed the Bill as unconstitutional. The Bill was forwarded to the President of India for approval and it was returned from the Presidents Office in 2009.It was again taken up in 2013 and passed in the State Assembly after a brief discussion amidst a walkout by Congress MLAs. Its controversial provisions stated that anyone who broke the law would have to face a jail term of up to four years and a fine of Rs.1 lakh. Owing to widespread protests by faith-based organisations, secular outfits and different political parties, it was sent to the Presidents Office again, where it is now pending. This means that the 1968 Act is still in place.This makes the arrests in Shivpuri invalid and illegal. For any arrest to take place, there is need for an investigation; it cannot be impromptu, says John Dayal, member, National Integration Council, and former President of the All India Catholic Union.The Madhya Pradesh law is being used to harass and intimidate.Do we need laws to ban conversions? We have laws to punish those who indulge in force, fraud and allurement. What we need is to distinguish between voluntary conversion and forced ones. Ghar wapsi is a shrewd name for forcible conversions. So what we need is the political and moral will to promote freedom of religion and punish the guilty, who use illegal means to achieve the change of faith. The so-called Freedom of Religion Bills are there not to provide freedom of conscience but to curb the same by legal means, says the writer and activist Ram Puniyani.Divya Trivedi

spite the separatists call for a boycott, the people of Kashmir turn out in large numbers to vote. Have issues of governance taken priority over political aspirations? By SHUJAAT BUKHARITHE ongoing election in Jammu and Kashmir is significant for several reasons. For the first time a former separatist has jumped onto the electoral bandwagon; the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making its presence felt in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley; and people have defied the militants call to boycott the election, which has resulted in a huge turnout in the first two phases. There is a perceptible urge among people for change. But it remains to be seen whether this will lead to the formation of a stable government in the State. At any rate, the election has the potential to restore the confidence of the people in a system that has failed them for over six decades.This time, one must credit the BJP for infusing new life into the election by setting itself a goal of winning at least 44 seats with its Mission 44+ plan. This unnerved not only the ruling National Conference (N.C.)-Congress coalition, which has been in power for six years, but also the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has found it difficult to upset the BJPs well-strategised campaign to conquer Kashmir. Buoyed by the spectacular victory in three seats in Jammu and Ladakh in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has fielded candidates in 85 of the 87 seats in the State. The party received a shot in the arm with the entry of young and educated youth from the Valley. Until a year ago, the party was represented only by former counter-insurgents in the Valley. The journalist-turned-politician Khalid Jehangir, who was the first to break this norm, sees Modi as a man for development. People are fed up with the misgovernance of the N.C.-Congress over the last six years and are now turning towards the BJP, he said. Khalid believes that the anti-Muslim stigma attached to the BJP does not hold good in Kashmir. Kashmiris have so many grievances of their own that they do not have time for this, he said, adding, The BJP has no baggage like the Congress as far as Kashmir is concerned.BJPs emergenceThe BJP has gone all out on a media blitzkrieg. Every other day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah are featured on the front pages of the local dailies, promoting Mission 44+. Because it already has a strong foothold in the Jammu region, it has been concentrating on the Kashmir Valley. A number of Union Ministers and top functionaries of the BJP have been camping in Srinagar to raise the morale of the candidates. It has also tactfully placed itself in the political and social milieu of Kashmir. A strong advocate of the abrogation of Article 370 in the past, it has toned down its position. From Modi to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, its leaders say that Article 370 is not an election issue. Instead of advocating outright abrogation, the party is putting forward Modis line, which he articulated in Jammu on December 1, 2013, at a public meeting. Underplaying the call for the repeal of Article 370, he called for a debate on whether the Article had benefited the State or not. Modi has made the regional parties engage in this debate, forcing them to forget their own political slogans.While the BJP might be riding high on the Modi wave in the Jammu region, it has successfully polarised the State, a tactic that worked very well for the party in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections. In the Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu, the partys strategy had led to the fragmentation of Muslim votes in many constituencies. According to party insiders, the BJP wants to win at least 27 of the 37 seats in Jammu. At least two seats in Ladakh and a few more in the Valley can put it in a position from where it can dictate terms in the formation of the government.Earlier, the mantra was that it would try to consolidate the votes of migrant Kashmiri Pandits and try to win the seats, such as Habba Kadal, Sopore, Tral, Amira Kadal and Anantnag, where there was a near-total boycott of the elections. But, surprisingly, the BJP conceded the Sopore seat to the Peoples Conference led by Sajjad Lone by not fielding a candidate there. Lone is believed to have a tacit alliance with the BJP and the rumours were lent credence when he met the Prime Minister last month.The BJP has also not fielded any candidate against Lone in Handwara. Lone, for his part, has not ruled out an alliance with the BJP in case it is needed after the election. It is rumoured that the BJP is toying with the idea of supporting Sajjad Lone as a chief ministerial candidate in case he registers a significant win in the five constituencies in his native district of Kupwara. Lone has fielded candidates in other constituencies as well, but his party is unlikely to do well except in Kupwara district. Lone has come under flak from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for changing course from azadi [freedom] to elections. The N.C. had fielded Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan in Handwara.Analysts believe that parties such as the Peoples Republican Party (PRP), for which the actor Anupam Kher came to campaign, are mentored by the BJP only to divide votes.Whatever the results, this election will be a defining one for the State, as it will lay the foundation for a genuine political system. With the N.C. and the PDP emerging as the largest regional parties, they hold the key to government formation. Since 2002, the State has seen only divided mandates, leading to coalition governments. One such could not complete its term when the PDP withdrew support to the government headed by Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress at the height of the Amarnath land row in 2008. The Congress, however, was able to emerge as a kingmaker in 2002 and again in 2008. Owing to coalition compulsions, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah could not take action against a single Congress Minister even when they faced serious corruption charges. This time, the BJP is likely to replace the Congress as the kingmaker in case no party gets a clear mandate.The PDP may emerge as the single largest party, but it may not reach the magic figure of 44 (which is necessary for a simple majority in the 87-member House). The N.C. has been harping on development since 2008, but there are few takers for that. The N.C. is facing the worst-ever anti-incumbency wave since people believe that the government has failed to curb corruption and deliver on the promise of good governance. The hanging of Afzal Guru, the killing of over 120 youth during the 2010 political unrest, and the mishandling of the September floods have badly hit the N.C.s prospects. This is clear from the fact that Omar Abdullah is contesting from the safer Sonwar constituency apart from the Ganderbal constituency. This and the absence of the N.C.s star campaigner, Farooq Abdullah, Omars father, has demoralised the N.C. cadre. (Farooq Abdullah, who has undergone a kidney transplant operation in London, may not return to the Valley before March.) The die was cast during the parliamentary elections when the PDP wrested from the N.C. all its three seats.The PDP is upbeat after its win in the Lok Sabha elections and has been harping on the golden three years under the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government. Sayeed was Chief Minister from 2002 to 2005 and is credited with improving the security environment and pushing for cross-Line of Control (LoC) confidence-building measures. But, both the N.C. and the PDP have locked horns with the BJP over Article 370. They are telling the people that the BJP is a threat in culturally and politically sensitive Kashmir. With new forces emerging on the scene, uncertainty faces the trio of Ghulam Hassan Mir of the Democratic Nationalist Party, M.Y. Tarigami of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and Hakim Yasin of the Peoples Democratic Front, who are contesting from Gulmarg, Kulgam and Khansahib respectively. They have formed a loose Third Front. The Congress seems demoralised following the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections and its failure to counter the Modi wave in Jammu. However, it may not do as badly as has been projected in the various poll predictions.What has stunned Kashmir-watchers this time is the huge voter turnout in the first and the second phases of the election. In the first phase, the turnout was around 71 per cent, 7 percentage points more than in the 2008 election. In the second phase, it was 72 per cent. In the Kashmir Valley, where elections were held in the five constituencies of Gurez, Bandipore, Sonawari, Ganderbal and Kangan, people were seen standing in long queues in the winter morning chill, waiting for their turn to vote. The separatists, including the hard-liner Syed Ali Geelani, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik and Shabir Shah, had called for a boycott, though the moderate section of the Hurriyat Conference, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was non-committal. However, the leaders who had called for the boycott were not allowed to campaign and were put behind bars.People who voted argued that voting for governance and the struggle for a political settlement of the Kashmir dispute were two different issues. We need quality life, good roads, public infrastructure. How can these come if we dont elect good representatives? said Abdul Khaliq, a voter in Bandipore town, which has otherwise been at the forefront of anti-India demonstrations. Most of the voters believe that a boycott will only help vested interests who want to usurp our rights.Analysts also attribute the rise in the turnout to the proactive campaigning of the BJP in Kashmir. People strongly believe that the BJP is a threat to the cultural and political fabric of the Valley. So they wanted to keep it at bay and perhaps elect regional parties to power, said an analyst. Geelani too echoed this sentiment, saying that people have voted only to stop the BJPs communal agenda from prevailing in Kashmir.But it is clear that the separatists have also been forced to rethink their strategy of calling for a boycott, which has left them red-faced. Despite having rigged elections thrust on them for decades, the people in Kashmir have once again voted to choose their representatives and set issues of governance in order. The urge to improve the quality of life, have better roads and public health and educational facilities have driven people to the polling booths, but their political aspirations remain the same. It is clear that the separatists need to rethink their strategy. By calling for a boycott, they are only making themselves irrelevant.

There are indications that the U.S. may consider easing its blockade of Cuba, which has inflicted on the island over $1.1 trillion in economic costs and incalculable social costs over the last 53 years. By JOHN CHERIANEVERY year, for the last 23 years, the United Nations General Assembly has been voting overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution against the economic blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States government. On October 28, 188 members in the 193-nation General Assembly voted in favour of the non-binding resolution titled Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba. As the voting pattern over the years has shown, only one country, Israel, has chosen to stand shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. on the issue. In international fora, both countries invariably support each other when they are in violation of international law. Anyway, as a U.S. analyst observed, Israel does not have much of an option, joined as it is at the hip with the U.S.According to Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, the inhuman blockade since 1961 has inflicted a cost of more than $1.1 trillion on the Cuban economy. Addressing the U.N. General Assembly, Rodriguez appealed to the U.S. government to change its policies and establish mutually respectful relations. He called on the Barack Obama administration to accept Havanas offer of finding a solution to the differences between the two countries through the process of respectful dialogue. Our small island poses no threat to the national security of the superpower, Rodriguez said. The damage caused by the economic, commercial and financial blockade were incalculable, he added.He said now was the time for the international community to unite and fight against the dangers to humanity in the form of epidemics such as Ebola and new security threats. Earlier, Cuban Ambassador to the U.N. Rudolfo Reyes told the General Assembly that the planet was now at the mercy of nuclear weapons, climate change, severe and fast-spreading epidemics and attacks on the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples.U.S. troops, Cuban doctorsThe U.S., sensing its complete isolation on its Cuba policy, did not bother to send its Ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Powell, to state its case. Instead, Washington dispatched a comparatively junior diplomat, Ronald Godard, to present its indefensible case. On the other hand, Ambassadors from the developing countries as well as the West, while supporting Cuba, made it a point to heap praise on the socialist nations efforts to combat the scourge of Ebola in West Africa. All of them were of the view that Cuba took the lead to fight the disease head-on with its decision to dispatch 461 doctors and health workers to the epicentre of the Ebola epidemic. No country or organisation responded in the way Cuba did to tackle the crisis. Cuban doctors were the first to provide treatment directly to the victims. The 4,000 troops the U.S. is deploying in the three countries affected by Ebola will only be constructing tent hospitals before exiting.Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) has also provided a sizeable number of medical professionals, but they have been deployed in Ebola-affected countries only for six weeks at a time, keeping in mind safety and health concerns. The Cuban team, on the other hand, will remain in the Ebola zone for six months. If any of them contracts the disease, they will be treated along with the local patients, rather than be sent home. One Cuban doctor died on duty, but the cause was cerebral malaria, not Ebola. In the last week of November, a Cuban doctor did get infected by the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone. After being treated in a field hospital in that country, he was airlifted to a specialist hospital in Switzerland.President Raul Castro, in a recent speech, said that 76,000 Cuban doctors had served in 39 African countries in the past two decades. Today, there are around 56,000 Cuban medical personnel serving in those parts of the world where people have been deprived of basic needs. In places such as Venezuela and Brazil, they serve in areas where local medical professionals refuse to go. Cuban doctors and health workers were the first to reach Pakistan when a devastating earthquake hit Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir some years ago. Liberia and Guinea have only one doctor for every 100,000 people; Sierra Leone, the third Ebola-affected country, has two for a similar number.Unlike the U.S., which sends troops to a country when a crisis erupts, the Cubans send their doctors. The U.S. deployed an additional 3,000 troops in the Ebola-affected regions, while Cuba deployed its medical personnel. U.S. officials said that they would use their military expertise in logistics and command and control to try and control the outbreak of the disease in West Africa. Cuba, on the other hand, believes that the need of the hour is the deployment of medical personnel in the affected areas. The U.S., it is feared, is using the Ebola crisis to get a firmer foothold militarily in Africa. The U.S. already has small military bases in countries such as Niger in the region. The Nigerian government has sought the U.S. militarys help to tackle the Boko Haram insurrection in the north of the country. The U.S. military is active in Mali, where there is an ongoing rebellion in the north.Pat from ObamaCubas humanitarian efforts have come in for appreciation from the Obama administration. In West Africa, there is some coordination between the two sides in the ongoing efforts to tackle the deadly disease. Coincidentally, within the U.S. political establishment there have been loud calls for the lifting of the blockade and the normalisation of relations with Cuba after more than five decades of unremitting hostility. The U.S. sent a representative to a meeting held in November under the auspices of the ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples for our America) grouping, which consists of left-wing countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, to formulate a global response to the Ebola threat.But even as Cuban doctors are busy tending to the needs of the poor in foreign countries, the U.S. tries to entice them into defecting. The U.S. has a Cuban Medical Professional Parole Programme, whose task is to facilitate the defection of Cuban doctors. In the last year, according to a report inThe New York Times, the programme, established in 2006, helped 1,278 doctors to defect while they were on overseas assignments. In a recent editorial, the newspaper argued that the Obama administration should not exacerbate the brain drain of an adversarial nation at a time when improved relations between the two countries are a worthwhile, realistic goal. The Cuban government views the medical defection programme as yet another example of American duplicity.Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in her recently released biography, has called for the lifting of sanctions, claiming that its continuance only propped up the Castros. Even many Cuban Americans, who were once very vociferous in their support of the blockade, have apparently had a change of heart. In the U.S. Congress too, more members are in favour of normalising relations. When he was running for the Senate in 2004, Obama said that he supported the lifting of sanctions on Cuba, but he changed his mind after becoming President. Though, as President, he lifted some of the travel restrictions on Cuban Americans and raised the cap on the amount of dollar remittances to Cuba, he also intensified the U.S. covert activities on the island. Funding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was used to send citizens from Latin American countries to identify potential social change actors on the island. The U.S. agency also sent a contractor, Alan Gross, to Cuba on missions to supply cash and computers to a small group of dissidents. He was caught on his fifth mission to the island in 2008 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The recent release of classified documents in the U.S. shows that in 1975 Secretary of State Henry Kissinger tried to prevail on President Gerald Ford to militarily smash Cuba. Kissinger was upset with Cuba for its support to the liberation movements such as MPLA (Peoples Movement for the Liberation of Angola), FRELIMO (the Mozambique Liberation Front) and SWAPO (South West Africa Peoples Organisation)in southern Africa. The U.S. was backing the proxies of apartheid South Africa in the wars that erupted after the departure of the colonial power, Portugal.A new bookBack Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havanaby William M. LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh has many quotes from senior U.S. officials from Richard Nixons presidency arguing for military action against Cuba. Documents unearthed by the authors show Kissinger telling Nixon to crack the Cubans with an invasion or blockade because we have to humiliate them. Another Secretary of State, Alexander Haig, is quoted as telling President Ronald Reagan to just give him the order and he would turn that [expletive] island into a parking lot. Thankfully better sense prevailed in Washington. Lessons seem to have been drawn from the Bay of Pigs military fiasco of 1961 and the subsequent Cuban missile crisis that erupted the next year.Cuba has indicated that ties could be normalised if Washington lifts the blockade. A