Denge Fever infested Mosquitos may kill the Delhi Games

• An outbreak of Denge Fever caused by mosquito infested puddles in the sites may be the last straw against the games.
• TWO of India’s top track-cycling Commonwealth Games medal hopes have been struck down by dengue fever.
• Vinod Malik, 25, and Somvir, 23, became seriously ill while training on the velodrome in Delhi recently and were rushed to hospital.

Dengue fever, which is passed by mosquitos, produces flu-like symptoms and can be fatal.

“I had one rider in hospital for eight days, the other four,” said Sydney-born India cycling coach Graham Seers.

“Dengue (fever) is definitely an issue and has been a major concern of mine with the team ever since I took on the coaching job for the Games 14 months ago.

“On any given day, I’d have up to 10 per cent of my squad off on sick leave with flu-like symptoms, high fever and diarrhoea.

“The two guys who went to hospital are two of my best and tests showed they had low white-blood-cell counts.

“Hygiene is another major worry in Delhi.”

Seers said he had taken extra precautions with his squad of 18 male and nine female riders in the lead-up to the competition starting on October 4.

“I’ve banned the wearing of shorts and T-shirts,” he said. “Long pants and long-sleeved shirts and blouses for the women is a must in Delhi.

“The squad has also attended compulsory seminars in Bangalore, about 1500km from where the team is based, attending lectures on dengue fever.”

Seers said the typical symptoms the riders were told to watch out for included the sudden onset of fever and intense headaches.

• Next to the Commonwealth Games village, last-minute preparations are on at an athletics practice facility as armed police keep a close watch.
• In fact, the security is almost oppressive. Armed commandoes are in position all along the road leading to the village.
• Others are on the lookout from watchtowers on the perimeter. Last Sunday’s shooting in Delhi’s old city – in which two Taiwanese tourists were injured – is still fresh in everyone’s mind and the Commonwealth venues are under virtual lockdown.

Even the policemen are conscious that India’s reputation is on the line.

“Please tell the world it’s OK to come,” one of them tells me.

“All of you have been exaggerating the extent of the problems. Our national pride is at stake, don’t let it down.”

But that is a sentiment not everyone shares.
Filthy

The Games Village is still out of bounds but the BBC has managed to get hold of pictures from inside showing the conditions.
Continue reading the main story

In pictures: paw prints and leaking toilets
Send us your pictures of the village

They show filthy toilets with wash-basins and walls stained with betel leaf (chewed and spat out by contruction workers), bedrooms in a mess and flooded apartments, a result of all the heavy rain Delhi has experienced over the past few weeks.

Extra cleaning crews have been pressed into service and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has been in to take stock.

Even outside the area, workers are busy fixing the pavements, making sure the plants are in place and generally cleaning up.

Despite the sense of urgency there is a growing feeling, especially among some from the visiting teams, that it has been left a little too late.

There has been a constant stream of visitors, representatives of the participating nations, trying to assess the situation and feed the information back home.

Members of the Malaysian high commission are the latest to arrive, pulling up in a black limousine and being waved inside by the security guards.
Continue reading the main story
Related stories
Photographs expose Delhi concerns
NZ adds to India’s Games pressure
Delhi Games: Indian reaction

Although most of the initial criticism of the facilities came from Western countries, including England, Scotland, Canada and New Zealand, other nations including some of the smaller ones are also monitoring the situation.

It has forced Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to call a crisis meeting of top ministers and officials to get a handle on the situation.
Scathing

His government is coming under intense criticism, not just from the international community, but increasingly from a furious Indian public.

In online polls carried out by national newspapers, radio call-in shows, blogs and television news programmes people are scathing in their criticism.

Many are particularly incensed at the insensitivity shown by one of the senior members of the Games’ organising committee, Lalit Bhanot, when he dismissed the concerns of many of the participating nations, putting them down to “different standards of hygiene” in the West.

“Does he mean we are happy living in filthy conditions?” one angry viewer asked on a TV show.

Many Indians fear their international standing will be left in tatters

Others have been asking why things have come to such a pass with India’s global standing taking a beating.

There are still some who think India can pull it off.

But a walk just beyond the Games Village makes you want to question their optimism.

The village has been built close to the Yamuna river which flows through Delhi. The incessant rain over the past few weeks has flooded much of the area.

From the road you can make out the gleaming towers of the village in the distance, across what seems to be an enormous lake – water that has collected over the past month.

And, on the road, people are living in makeshift tents having been moved from lower ground.

With talk of further rain and the level of the river rising even higher, it looks likely that more problems are on the way.
What’s Gone Wrong

Athletes’ village – Indian media reports only 18 of 34 towers are completed
Yamuna River – flooded in worst monsoon rain for 30 years, leaving pools attracting mosquitoes
Nehru Stadium – part of false ceiling collapsed in weightlifting area
Bridge leading to the Nehru Stadium – collapsed on Tuesday
Jama Masjid Mosque – Two tourists injured in shooting near mosque, Indian Mujahideen threatens more attacks
Shivaji Stadium – no longer to be used as a venue because it was not going to be ready in time
Yamuna Sports Complex – roof damaged by heavy rain in July

Aafia Siddiqui’s sentence sparks protests in Pakistan

NEW YORK — A Pakistani scientist convicted of trying to kill U.S. agents and military officers has been sentenced to 86 years in prison.

Aafia Siddiqui (ah-FEE’-uh sih-DEE’-kee) was sentenced Thursday in Manhattan.

She was labeled an al-Qaida supporter and was brought to the United States after her July 2008 arrest in Afghanistan. She was convicted of grabbing a rifle and trying to shoot U.S. authorities while yelling, “Death to Americans!”

Her February conviction touched off protests in Pakistan.

Prosecutors say Siddiqui is a cold-blooded radical who deserves life in prison. The defense sought a sentence of about 12 years behind bars.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

NEW YORK (AP) — Aafia Siddiqui’s strange legal odyssey began two summers ago in Afghanistan, where she turned up carrying evidence that — depending on the argument — proved she was either a terrorist or a lunatic.

Which portrayal prevails will determine whether the U.S.-trained scientist from Pakistan spends the rest of her life in prison.

A judge is scheduled to sentence Siddiqui on Thursday in federal court in Manhattan. A jury convicted her in February of trying to kill U.S. agents and military officers after Afghan police detained her in 2008.

During Siddiqui’s three-week trial, FBI agents and U.S. soldiers testified that when they went to interrogate Siddiqui, she snatched an unattended assault rifle and shot at them while yelling, “Death to Americans!” She was wounded by return fire but recovered and was brought to the United States to face trial.

Her conviction touched off protests in Pakistan. On Thursday, there were more protests as hundreds chanted “Free Aafia!” at a rally in Karachi, Pakistan, while others demonstrated outside the Manhattan courthouse.

Though she was not convicted of terrorism, the government has argued that Siddiqui is a cold-blooded radical who deserves a “terrorism enhancement” under federal sentencing guidelines that would guarantee a life term.

“She made it explicit, through her own words and her conduct, her intention to kill Americans, to cause `death to Americans,’” prosecutors wrote in court papers.

Prosecutors cited threatening notes Siddiqui was carrying at the time of her detention. They directly quoted one as referencing “a `mass casualty attack’ … NY CITY monuments: Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge,” and another musing how a dirty bomb would spread more fear than death. They claimed the notes, along with the fact that she was carrying sodium cyanide, showed she wasn’t an accidental menace.

“Her conduct was not senseless or thoughtless,” prosecutors wrote. “It was deliberate and premeditated. Siddiqui should be punished accordingly.”

The defense has asked the judge for a sentence closer to 12 years behind bars. Her lawyers argued in court papers that their client’s outburst inside a cramped Afghan outpost was a spontaneous “freak out,” born of mental illness instead of militancy.

“Mentally ill and caught in the crossfire of a war that is no longer fought on conventional battlegrounds, Dr. Siddiqui’s self destructive behavior got her shot once in the abdomen, charged with attempted murder and … convicted of the same,” the defense wrote.

Siddiqui’s rambling courtroom rants proclaiming her innocence and offering odd solutions for Middle East peace ran counter to the prosecution’s portrait of “a cold, calculating jihadist who set out to harm American troops by any means necessary,” the defense wrote.

Siddiqui, 38, trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University in the early 1990s. Authorities claim she returned to her native Pakistan in 2003 after marrying an al-Qaida operative related to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the admitted mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Testifying in her own defense while wearing a head scarf at trial, Siddiqui claimed she was tortured at a “secret prison” before her detention. Charges that she purposely shot at soldiers were “crazy,” she said. “It’s just ridiculous.”

Among Saddiqui’s possessions at the time of her arrest, the defense says, was a computer disk with an essay she’d written about feminism and her struggles as a Muslim woman living in America.

The title: “I am not a Terrorist.”

In Karachi on Thursday, about 400 activists of the Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami and its allied youth group, Pasban, gathered outside the Karachi Press Club carrying pictures of Siddiqui and chanting slogans against the U.S. government and justice system.

“Free Aafia,” “We want Aafia, not dollars!” the activists chanted, a reference to U.S. aid funds given in return for Pakistan’s cooperation in battling Islamist militancy.

The group tried to march toward the U.S. Consulate, but the police stopped them before they got too close. Aafia’s sister, Fauzia Siddiqui, later went to the consulate to submit a written message, which said, “Free Aafia Now.”

“I have no good expectations from Judge Richard Berman,” Fauzia Siddiqui told reporters. “He has time and again shown his bias and he has shown his discrimination and he has shown how he has tortured the justice system of the U.S.”

___

Associated Press Writer Ashraf Khan contributed to this report from Pakistan.

Woodward exposes CIA Army waging secret war on Pakistan– aka TTP

The CIA calls it its elite Counterterrorism Pursuit Teams. Pakistanis face it as the TTP. The CIA calls it Counterterrorism Pursuit Teams. Pakistan see them as bombs blowing u in mosques and hospitals. The CIA sees its army killing “terrorists”, Pakistanis face an unending killing of its civilians.

The CIA created, controls and pays for a clandestine 3,000-man paramilitary army of local Afghans, known as Counterterrorism Pursuit Teams. Woodward describes these teams as elite, well-trained units that conduct highly sensitive covert operations into Pakistan as part of a stepped-up campaign against al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban havens there. (Excerpt from Boob Woodward’s book published in the Washington Post).

• Woodward book major scoop: CIA army operating in Pakistan
• “Obama’s Wars” contains significant revelations about U.S. foreign policy, plus stories of interpersonal sniping
• Bob Woodward exposes the 3000 strong “CIA Army” waging war on Pakistan. Pakistanis see it as the TTP attacking Imam Baras and Hospitals, and the BLA blowing up pipelines.
• The undeclared, undebated secret war in Pakistan is bigger than we knew, and it’s being conducted in part by CIA-trained Afghans
• The CIA created, controls and pays for a clandestine 3,000-man paramilitary army of local Afghans, known as Counterterrorism Pursuit Teams.
• Woodward describes these teams as elite, well-trained units that conduct highly sensitive covert operations into Pakistan.
• Mr. Woodward reveals the code name for the C.I.A.’s drone missile campaign in Pakistan, Sylvan Magnolia
• When NPR (JJ Sutherland, National Public Radio September 22, 2010) asked a US official familiar with operations in Afghanistan he confirmed the existence of these “Counter-terrorism Pursuit Teams” and said
• Separately, an advisor to the US military also confirmed the existence of such a paramilitary force and that they were conducting some missions across the border in Pakistan.Just to be clear, that’s two different people speaking on condition of anonymity.

Bruce Riedel and White House Staffer wrote a few months ago that the “Pakistanis have to be convinced to join the war in Afghanistan”. This CIA Army and a spate of bombings in Pakistan are tools to convince the Pakistanis about the war in Afghanistan. As we have noted many times on Rupee News–this “convincing” has been part of the multiple attacks on civilians in Pakistan. Rupee News has been calling this “convincing” the TTP. Bob Woodward calls this “convincing” as “Counterterrorism Pursuit Teams”. Some may not know that the CIA Army is doing–but it is evident as the blood and gore spilt on the streets of Karachi and Peshawar. We see it every day in the form of “Targeted Killings” and attacks on Imam baras, and Mosques. This convincing will continue till 2014 when the build of the US forces leave. Beginning 2011 the “convincing” be see a downward trend. Convinced or not, the fact remains that the US needs Pakistan to get a face saving exit out of Afghanistan. General Kiyani will provide it to America after extracting a pound of flesh in Kashmir.

Bob Woodward’s new book is coming out on Monday (the one with the bad cover art), and both the New York Times and the Washington Post have preview pieces today. You can read those stories here and here.

So what will we likely be hearing about for the next month? General David Petraeus once referred to top Obama adviser David Axelrod as “a complete spin doctor,” according to the book, titled “Obama’s Wars.” Joe Biden once called Afghanistan guru Richard Holbrooke “the most egotistical bastard I’ve ever met.” And national security adviser James Jones once called Obama’s political aides “water bugs.”

But what should we be talking about from the book?

The undeclared, undebated secret war in Pakistan is bigger than we knew, and it’s being conducted in part by CIA-trained Afghans:

The CIA created, controls and pays for a clandestine 3,000-man paramilitary army of local Afghans, known as Counterterrorism Pursuit Teams. Woodward describes these teams as elite, well-trained units that conduct highly sensitive covert operations into Pakistan as part of a stepped-up campaign against al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban havens there.

The Obama Administration seems to be enamored with a drone-based foreign policy:

Mr. Woodward reveals the code name for the C.I.A.’s drone missile campaign in Pakistan, Sylvan Magnolia, and writes that the White House was so enamored of the program that Mr. Emanuel would regularly call the C.I.A. director, Leon E. Panetta, asking, “Who did we get today?”

• President Obama wanted out of Afghanistan last year.
• And although the president agreed to triple troop levels in the embattled country, some in Obama’s national security team doubt that his strategy in Afghanistan will even be successful, according to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward.
• The book also reveals that the U.S. has intelligence showing that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been diagnosed with manic-depression and that he was taking medication for it.

This is how President Obama defines victory in Afghanistan:

Obama told Woodward in the July interview that he didn’t think about the Afghan war in the “classic” terms of the United States winning or losing. “I think about it more in terms of: Do you successfully prosecute a strategy that results in the country being stronger rather than weaker at the end?” he said.

And this is the man who the United States is relying on over there:

The book also reports that the United States has intelligence showing that manic-depression has been diagnosed in President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and that he was on medication, but adds no details

Woodward’s book presents an opportunity to explore and debate issues that haven’t gotten much airing — the war in Pakistan, the drone strikes, Obama’s continuation of various Bush-era policies. Unfortunately, it comes wrapped up with another opportunity: to obsess over sketchily sourced stories of interpersonal sniping within the administration. Justin Elliott is a Salon reporter. Reach him by email at jelliott@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @ElliottJustin More Justin Elliott

Spencer Ackerman of Wired reports:

the Counterterrorist Pursuit Teams follow a more traditional, decades-old CIA pattern. When it’s politically or militarily unfeasible to launch a direct U.S. operation, then it’s time to train, equip and fund some local proxy forces to do it for you. Welcome back to the anti-Soviet Afghanistan Mujahideen of the 1980s, or the Northern Alliance that helped the U.S. push the Taliban out of power in 2001.

But that same history also shows that the U.S. can’t control those proxy forces. Splits within the mujahideen after the Soviet withdrawal (and the end of CIA cash) led to Afghanistan’s civil war in the 1990s, which paved the way for the rise of the Taliban. One of those CIA-sponsored fighters was Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, now a key U.S. adversary in Afghanistan. And during the 2001 push to Kabul, a Northern Alliance military commander, Abdul Rashid Dostum, killed hundreds and maybe even thousands of Taliban prisoners. He was on the CIA’s payroll at the time.

Then there are the risks that the Counterterrorist Pursuit Teams pose within Afghanistan. CIA has to recruit those fighters from somewhere. While the agency wouldn’t answer questions about how where its proxy fighters come from, the CIA also pays for a Kandahar-based militia loyal to local powerbroker Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president’s brother. Fearing that the entrenchment of such warlords will ultimately undermine the Afghan government, the U.S. military is trying to limit the influence of such warlords by changing its contracting rules. CIA may be less concerned. Wired.

They some wonder why they hate us!

Netanyahu is an assassin, stresses Ahmadinejad

NEW YORK: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday on a U.S. news talk show Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and has “no interest” in getting it.

In an interview with Larry King on CNN, Ahmadinejad said all nations, including the United States and Israel, should disarm.

“We are not seeking the bomb,” he said. “We have no interest in it and we do not think that it is useful.”

Asked about concern within Israel and the United States that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon, Ahmadinejad called Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu a killer who should “be put on trial for killing Palestinians, for putting Gaza under siege.”

“The U.S. government should stop using taxpayers money to assist him,” the Iranian leader said.

“Netanyahu is a professional assassin. All dictators in history accuse others to turn the spotlight away from themselves,” the Iranian president said when asked about the Israeli prime minister’s worries about Iran.

“It is questionable [why] American media feel responsible for this person (Netanyahu),” Ahmadinejad said, adding that “you (American media) are afraid of Netanyahu’s warmongering.”

Asked about Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, both 28 — two Americans being held in Iran since July 2009 for crossing the border from Iraq — Ahmadinejad said it was possible their cases might be expedited but that would be up to judges hearing the matter.

“I have no influence over it,” he said.

However, he did acknowledge he had “suggested” the case of Sarah Shourd — who was arrested with Fattal and Bauer — “be regarded with clemency, mercy and more kindness and compassion to allow her to return to her family.”

Shourd, 32, returned to the United States Sunday after being locked up for more than a year. Fattal and Bauer are awaiting trial in Iran on espionage charges.

The Iranian president said the US and Israel’s nuclear weapons are the main threat to the world, and they are mistaken to think they can divert attention from this issue by using propaganda campaigns and spreading lies about others.

“Iran is firmly after the nuclear disarmament of the US and Israel.”

Ahmadinejad added that Israel is an “illegitimate regime” and an “occupier” and that the US easily starts wars and massacres people, “they are not qualified to have nuclear weapons and should be disarmed as soon as possible.”

Pakistan urges world to help resolve Kashmir issue

NEW YORK: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has urged the United States and the international community to help settle the decades-old Indo-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir where people have risen up against the Indian occupation.
“The occupation cannot continue,” he told a distinguished audience at the Council on Foreign Relations, a think-tank, on Tuesday, a day on which UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also spoke out against the ongoing violence in the disputed state where Indian security forces have killed over 100 Kashmiri demonstrators.
“The international community must recognise that the people of Kashmir, in an entirely indigenous upsurge, are demanding their right to self-determination,” Qureshi said, while rejecting allegations that Pakistan was behind the revolt against New Delhi’s rule across the valley.
Stressing that the uprising in the occupied Kashmir was indigenous, he said Pakistan has neither the means nor the capacity to mobilise the young and old to stage protest demonstrations and shut down towns and cities.
In a well-reasoned speech, Qureshi covered a number of topics, but made the most detailed statement so far on the Kashmir dispute. He urged India to take a “fresh look” at the evolving situation in the territory and sit down with Pakistan in an effort to resolve the festering dispute.
“Dialogue is the only way forward. We can do it. We are convinced that sustainable peace can only offer the best guarantee for ensuring a bright and prosperous future for the over one billion people inhabiting the region,” the foreign minister said.
“Resuming the dialogue process with India, therefore, remains a major objective for us,” while noting that his discussions with Indian Minister of External Affairs SM Krishna in July were “useful”.
“We look forward to constructive and result oriented interaction with India on all issues, especially the issue of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said. The foreign minister said that the United Nations had recognised the rights of Kashmiri people long ago.
“Now is the time for the international community to do something about it. “We call upon the United States particularly, which is pressing so responsibly for peace in the Middle East, to also invest its political capital in trying to help seek an accommodation for Kashmir,” he added.
Stressing that military means alone cannot solve the Afghan conflict; Pakistan has said a meaningful reconciliation holds out the best prospects for way forward in its insurgency-hit western neighbour. “Pakistan has long held the view that there is no military solution to the conflict in that country. The military agenda is critical, but it is far from the only mechanism for sustained peace,” Qureshi told the Council on Foreign Relations.

India’s holy cow: still a political hot potato

Life for 42-year-old Ashok Malik, a hardline Hindu activist who lives on the outskirts of New Delhi, is dedicated to one cause: stopping the slaughter of cows. Malik’s cow protection team of 30 men is trained to chase trucks transporting cows and raid slaughter houses with the police to nab those selling beef in the Indian capital.
Over the years, a majority of Indian states, including the New Delhi area, have passed controversial slaughter laws which make killing local cows illegal.
The animal is known by Hindus as “Kamdhenu”, that which fulfils human needs, and it has a central place in religious rituals as well as free rein to roam in streets — scenes familiar to anyone who has visited India. “I have saved over 7,000 cows in the last 15 years from being butchered,” Malik told AFP proudly.
He and his fellow activists are affiliated to India’s main opposition, the right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the driving force behind the spread and hardening of cow rights legislation across the country.

Critics say the law deliberately targets Muslims, who tend to be the butchers, fuelling religious tensions that explode periodically in India with deadly consequences.
Early this year, violence erupted in the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh when a Muslim butcher slaughtered a cow after it had failed to give milk for more than three years.
Hindu protesters damaged two mosques in response, setting the doors of one of them on fire.  The law allows police to search houses, shops and warehouses and arrest anyone who stores, sells or consumes beef from Indian cows. Offenders face jail terms of up to seven years and fines of 50,000 rupees.
In March this year, the BJP-dominated assembly in the southern state of Karnataka, home to the modern tech-hub of Bangalore, became the latest to pass the cow protection bill despite strong opposition, particularly from Muslims.

The bill awaits the assent of the governor, the head of the state, before it becomes law.

At the end of July, the central state of Madhya Pradesh passed an amendment to a Cow Slaughter Act passed in 2004, so that offenders now face a jail term rather than just a fine.
The issue of cow care and protection has often dominated state politics owing to patronage from the BJP, which relies on the votes of Hindus for its main support. “Over the years, the BJP has pushed cow protection as an integral part of their political agenda by including it in their manifesto,” said B.K. Gandhi, a political analyst at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi. “They use the cow issue to garner their Hindu vote bank. It is their way of appeasing the Hindus,” he said.
The ruling left-leaning Congress, however, rejects the BJP pitch for votes via cow politics.
“We are not an enemy of the animal, but we do not use the cow to woo voters. Religion and politics should not be combined,” a senior Congress leader, R V Deshapande of the southern state of Karnataka, told AFP. Activist Malik’s commitment to guarding the animal is backed by scores of influential Hindu groups, spiritual leaders, gurus and political parties.
Every year, young BJP workers are chosen to be a part of the Gau Raksha Samiti (Cow Protection Committee), where they are trained to gather information about butcheries and conduct surprise raids.v The biggest losers in this mix of politics, religion and animal rights are India’s 300 million Muslims, one of the country’s most economically deprived groups.
Official reports frequently put Muslims at the bottom of India’s social and economic ladder — beneath even low-caste “untouchable” Hindus.
They tend to be the butchers, meat traders and leather workers for whom the ban has the biggest impact.
“Most butcheries are run by Muslims and they want us to run in losses and shut down forever,” says Zamir Pasha, a meat trader in Bangalore.
Members of the Muslim Butchers Association in New Delhi say that while Islam forbids Muslims from consuming pork, the community does not advocate a blanket ban over the sale of the meat.
“People have forgotten that in a democracy, everybody has a right to choose what they should eat,” says Zafar Shams Iqbal, secretary of the association.
Historians are divided over the tradition of eating beef in India.
In a book published a few years ago on India’s dietary traditions, historian DN Jha revealed historical evidence of beef-eating practices in ancient India.
Some groups of scholars cite historical records that many Hindus were free to consume beef as they needed extra calories to carry out strenuous work.
At a later stage the concept of worshipping the cow was introduced by several rulers and temples to save the animals, which were vital to provide milk for communities. Despite the ban on slaughter, beef is still available to those with the right contacts and it can be eaten legally if it is imported from abroad from a previously slaughtered animal.

‘CIA covertly runs Afghan force in Pakistan’

WASHINGTON: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) runs an Afghan paramilitary force that hunts down al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in covert operations in Pakistan, a US official said on Wednesday.

Confirming an account in a new book by famed reporter Bob Woodward, the US official told AFP that the Counter-terrorism Pursuit Teams were highly effective but did not offer details. “This is one of the best Afghan fighting forces and it’s made major contributions to stability and security,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The 3,000-strong paramilitary army of Afghan soldiers was created and bankrolled by the CIA and was designed as an “elite” unit to pursue “highly sensitive covert operations into Pakistan” in the fight against al-Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries, according to The Washington Post, which revealed details of the new book.

US President Barack Obama has sought to pile pressure on militant havens in Pakistan through a stepped up bombing campaign using unmanned aircraft as well as US special forces’ operations in Afghan territory.

The administration also has pressed the Pakistani Army to go after the Taliban and associated groups in the northwest tribal belt. Revelations about a US-run unit operating in Pakistan are sure to complicate Washington’s ties with Islamabad as well as Kabul’s difficult relations with Pakistan.

The US military’s presence in Afghanistan and its secretive drone strikes across the border are the subject of sharp public criticism and suspicion in Pakistan. Based on interviews with top decision makers, including Obama himself, Woodward’s book describes the US president as struggling to find a way to extricate US troops from the Afghan war amid acrimonious debate among advisers and resistance from the military.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s electoral watchdog said Wednesday it was tackling almost 4,000 complaints over the parliamentary elections, which has been tainted by accusations of fraud and Taliban intimidation.

Election officials said 4.3 million Afghans braved insurgent threats and attacks to vote Saturday in their second parliamentary poll since the 2001 US-led invasion overthrew the Taliban regime.

Counting has been completed in most of the country’s 34 provinces and partial results — subject to change as allegations of multiple and proxy voting are investigated — are being sent to Kabul for validation.

WASHINGTON: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) runs an Afghan paramilitary force that hunts down al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in covert operations in Pakistan, a US official said on Wednesday.

Confirming an account in a new book by famed reporter Bob Woodward, the US official told AFP that the Counter-terrorism Pursuit Teams were highly effective but did not offer details. “This is one of the best Afghan fighting forces and it’s made major contributions to stability and security,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The 3,000-strong paramilitary army of Afghan soldiers was created and bankrolled by the CIA and was designed as an “elite” unit to pursue “highly sensitive covert operations into Pakistan” in the fight against al-Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries, according to The Washington Post, which revealed details of the new book.

US President Barack Obama has sought to pile pressure on militant havens in Pakistan through a stepped up bombing campaign using unmanned aircraft as well as US special forces’ operations in Afghan territory.

The administration also has pressed the Pakistani Army to go after the Taliban and associated groups in the northwest tribal belt. Revelations about a US-run unit operating in Pakistan are sure to complicate Washington’s ties with Islamabad as well as Kabul’s difficult relations with Pakistan.

The US military’s presence in Afghanistan and its secretive drone strikes across the border are the subject of sharp public criticism and suspicion in Pakistan. Based on interviews with top decision makers, including Obama himself, Woodward’s book describes the US president as struggling to find a way to extricate US troops from the Afghan war amid acrimonious debate among advisers and resistance from the military.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s electoral watchdog said Wednesday it was tackling almost 4,000 complaints over the parliamentary elections, which has been tainted by accusations of fraud and Taliban intimidation.

Election officials said 4.3 million Afghans braved insurgent threats and attacks to vote Saturday in their second parliamentary poll since the 2001 US-led invasion overthrew the Taliban regime.

Counting has been completed in most of the country’s 34 provinces and partial results — subject to change as allegations of multiple and proxy voting are investigated — are being sent to Kabul for validation.

Kashmiri intifada forces India ‘to discuss all issues with Pakistan’

India is prepared to “discuss all outstanding issues” with Pakistan, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, to ensure stability in the South Asian region, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said in Boston.

“The issue of Jammu & Kashmir comes up in our relationship with Pakistan and we’ve said very clearly, very confidently and very transparently that we are prepared to discuss all outstanding issues with Pakistan,” Rao said on Sunday.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this month said at the start of an APHC meeting, “The only path for lasting peace and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir is that of dialogue and discussion. Those who have grievances against the government have to talk to the administration,” he said. “But it is also true that meaningful dialogue can happen only in an atmosphere free from violence and confrontation.” more by Manmohan Singh

Pakistan has said that instead of thinking over cosmetic measures for the solution of the Kashmir issue, India should revisit its policy of trying to resolve it under its constitution.

Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit went further to the extent of saying that India should review its practice of calling Kashmir an integral part of the country.

Basit, talking to a private channel, said that it was a matter of concern for all that over one hundred Kashmiri people had died during the last three months, The News reported.

“We are very much concerned with the situation and we understand that this issue cannot be solved through the use of force,” he added.

The Indians should quit the policy of finding Kashmir solution under their constitution, and should review the practice of calling Kashmir as integral part of India, Basit said.

Commenting on the Indian response to Pakistan Foreign Minister’s statement, he pointed out that it bore no significance, as it was merely a repetition of India’s demonstrated stance.

Calling the issue of Kashmir an international issue having a number of UN resolutions over it, Basit stated that India had committed at the UN to hold a plebiscite in the region, in order to know the will of Kashmiri people, he said.

Basit also stated that though India had always been denying the UN resolutions and commitments at the world forum, but the Kashmiri people were committed to get their legitimate rights.

India had used almost all options to suppress the struggle of Kashmiris during the past six decades but in vain, Basit claimed, adding that now, the time had come for Indians to think rationally for regional and global peace. (ANI)

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said here yesterday India is ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan despite the relationship between the two countries being complicated by the issue of terrorism.

She said India is determined to persevere her dialogue with Pakistan in order to resolve outstanding issues so that the region will be stable, and so that the rationale of economic development in an atmosphere of peace for all of South Asia remains our steadfast goal

“Our relationship with Pakistan has been complicated. Despite this threat, we understand well the Kautilyan advice that a great power loses stature if it remains bogged down in neighbourhood entanglements,” said Nirupama Rao.

She was speaking on Monday at Harward University on ‘India’s Global Role’.

Talking about Afghanistan, Nirupama Rao said India is supportive of the US efforts to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and to bring stability there.

“We have a direct interest in Afghanistan, not because we see it as a theatre of rivalry with Pakistan” said Rao.

“Indeed, developments in Afghanistan over the past few years have demonstrated in ample measure that peace, security and prosperity in today’s world is indivisible, and that therefore, the international community in Afghanistan must stay the course,” she added.

The Foreign Secretary said Indian assistance to Afghanistan amounting to over US1.3 billion dollars has helped build vital civil infrastructure, develop human resources and capacity in the areas of education, health, agriculture and rural development.

Nirupama Rao further said China is India’s largest neighbour and its rise is a reality that faces the entire world today.

“The question asked is whether our relationship with China will be one dominated by increasing competition for influence and for resources as our economic needs grow. I believe the proposition should not be exaggerated in a way that it overshadows all attempts to rationalize the relationship between India and China. The reality is that India and China have worked hard over the last two decades to deepen dialogue and bilateral relations in a number of fields,” said Rao.

“Peace and tranquility have prevailed in the India-China border areas, despite the unsettled boundary question. Our trade with China is growing faster than that with any other country. Therefore, we need not see our relations with China as being only competitive. The complicated history of the outstanding boundary question entails that discussions to resolve it cannot be of short duration with easy fixes,” she added.

Nirupama Rao said Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has said both India and China will continue to grow simultaneously, and added that the policies between the two countries will have to cater to this emerging reality.

“China’s growing ability to project its military strength, its rapid military modernization, and its very visible economic capabilities, introduce a new calculus in the security situation in our region. We are also alert to the continuing and close security relationship between China and Pakistan. These factors serve to further underscore the complexity of the India-China equation today,” she claimed.

Nirupama Rao further said India’s vision of an enhanced South Asian cooperation for development is challenged.

“We must act jointly and with determination to meet the challenges” she added. (ANI).India ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, says Nirupama Rao 2010-09-21 16:00:00. Agencies

Threats and Terror in Delhi jeopardize Indian Commonwealth Games

NEW DELHI: Raising security concerns ahead of the Commonwealth Games, two men on a motorbike fired several rounds on a tourist vehicle near the historic Jama Masjid in the walled city, injuring two Taiwanese nationals.

A red alert has been sounded across the capital after the incident in which the two bikers are said to have fired 7-8 rounds on the stationary vehicle adjacent to gate number three of the mosque and 100 metres away from the house of Shahi Imam Ahmed Bukhari at around 11.30 am.

The two injured, who are from Taiwan, were taken to nearby government Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narayan Hospital in the same bus. Their condition is stated to be stable. One of them was injured when a bullet grazed his head while another was hit in the abdomen and is being operated, LNJP Hospital Medical Superintendent Amit Banerjee said.

Delhi Police Joint Commissioner Karnail Singh told reporters that the four cartridges recovered from the spot showed that the weapon used could be .38 calibre revolver.

But the rounds of fire recovered were also of 9 mm, which can be used in pistol or carbine, he said refusing to hazard a guess on the motive of the attackers. “We are looking into all angles and we cannot jump to conclusions,” he said.

“A red alert has been sounded and we are conducting checks at various points. We are confident of nabbing the culprits soon,” the Joint CP said. He said the area constable tried to give a chase to the attackers but they fled on their motorcycle.

Meanwhile, a blue Maruti 800 car caught fire near the Jama Masjid area, just hours after the firing incident, causing panic in the area. The flames were doused by the locals and fire tenders from the Delhi Fire Service. Police are not ruling out the connection between the two incidents. A team of experts are investigating the cause of the fire and the possibility of explosives in the pressure cookers said to have been found inside the car.

Police have identified a man called Bobby Sharma as the owner of the car. The owner, however, said that he had no idea how his vehicle was found near the Jama Masjid area as he had parked it somewhere else.

Police have also not taken any chances of the presence of explosives in vehicles parked outside the Jama Masjid police station. A bomb disposal squad has been sent to check the vehicles in the area.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the incident is sad and worrying but said there was nothing to panic. “I am in constant touch with the Police Commissioner. The police are investigating into the incident and culprits will be caught. Everything is under control.” She said there is nothing to worry about healthwise in the case of the two injured.

NEW DELHI: The Indian Mujahideen threatened to unleash violence during the Commonwealth Games in a statement issued on Sunday soon after a terror attack at the Jama Masjid injured two foreigners.

While making no reference to the Jama Masjid shooting by two men on a motorcycle who escaped, a statement by the outlawed group denounced the killings of civilians in the Kashmir Valley and pledged to hit at the Commonwealth Games starting here Oct 3.

“On the one hand Muslim blood is flowing like water while on the other hand you are preparing for the festival of games,” said the statement emailed to BBC Hindi service. “We warn you to host the Commonwealth Games.

“We know that preparations for the Games are at its peak; beware, we too are preparing in full swing for a great surprise,” said the statement.

“The participants will be solely responsible for the outcome (of our attacks) as our bands of mujahideen love death more than you love life,” it said.

Indian Mujahideen is believed to be a shadow outfit of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and has also been linked to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

It came into the spotlight Feb 23, 2005 when it carried out a blast in Varanasi. It was also blamed for the September 2008 Delhi serial bombings that killed over two dozen people.

The Indian Mujahideen statement spoke mostly about the Kashmir Valley, where more than 100 civilians have been killed since June 11 in firing by security forces trying to break up mobs.

“Muslim life is cheaper than vegetables in Kashmir,” it said. “The criminal silence of the international community is far more dangerous than the oppression on Kashmiri Muslims.”

The statement made no reference to the Sunday morning shooting near the 16th century Jama Masjid that left two Taiwanese tourists injured. But it vaguely referrd to “this attack” as a revenge for the killing of two its members earlier in Delhi. TOI

Cracks begin to show in India’s Kashmir policy

For the first time in decades the Bharati policy in Kashmir is up for review in South Block. “More autonomy” is up for grabs. Delhi still does not accept the demand for a plebiscite–yet!

Syed Geelani who is running the show in Kashmir today has demands “self-determination” to ascertain the wishes of the Kashmiri people to join Bharat or to join Pakistan. Geelani, Andarabi, Alam and others can raise the temperature of the state in one call. Those who are calling for “return to the Sikkim status” for Kashmir are now in a minority and the Pro-Pakistani political forces are in full control of the current intifada. While the Bharati politicians say that plebiscite is “history”, Kashmiris retort that “1952″ doesn’t go far enough. So the tug of war rests between full “azadi” based on a plebiscite and full autonomy based on the unimplemented 1952 resolution.

All indications are that while Kashmiris may take “full autonomy” with their own flag, president and parliament–these half measures will not satisfy the Kashmiris.

Here are a few commitments made to the Kashmiris and the world by Bharati leaders in 1952.

• JAWAHARLAL NEHRU: (Amrita Bazar Patrika, Calcutta, 2 January 1952). “If, after a proper plebiscite, the people of Kashmir said, ‘We do not want to be with India’, we are committed to accept that. We will accept it though it might pain us. We will not send any army against them. We will accept that, however hurt we might feel about it, we will change the Constitution, if necessary.”
• JAWAHARLAL NEHRU: (Statement in the Indian Parliament, 26 June 1952). “I want to stress that it is only the people of Kashmir who can decide the future of Kashmir. It is not that we have merely said that to the United Nations and to the people of Kashmir; it is our conviction and one that is borne out by the policy that we have pursued, not only in Kashmir but every where. “I started with the presumption that it is for the people of Kashmir to decide their own future. We will not compel them. In that sense, the people of Kashmir are sovereign.”
• JAWAHARLAL NEHRU: (Statement in Indian Parliament, 7 August 1952) “The whole dispute about Kashmir is still before the United Nations. We cannot just decide things concerning Kashmir. We cannot pass a bill or issue an order concerning Kashmir or do whatever we want.

The Delhi Agreement of 1952 would have accepted the Kashmiri state flag, a “Sadar-e-Riyasat” (President) of Kashmir and given the state maximum autonomy. The Indian Supreme Court would have only appellate jurisdiction. According to the 1952 agreement the Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly would have  sovereignty in all matters, expect defense, foreign affairs and communications. However this agreement was not implemented.

Implementation of the 1952 accord would be a good first step for Kashmiris under occupation. After all it took a century of wrangling with the British to move from Home Rule to dominion to full independence. all Bharat by accepting “more autonomy” will in affect be acquiescing to the demands of the Hurriyat which will continue to seek amalgamation with Pakistan. “More autonomy” will make it easier to achieve its goals.

The 1952 resolution demands the following from Bharat and Pakistan:

“Urges the Governments of India and Pakistan to enter into immediate negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations Representative for India and Pakistan in order to reach agreement on the specific number of forces to remain on each side of the cease-fire line at the end of the period of demilitarization, this number to be between 3,000 and 6,000 armed forces remaining on the Pakistan side of the cease-fire line and between 12,000 and 18,000 armed forces remaining on the India side of the cease-fire line, as suggested by the United Nations Representative in his proposals of 16 July 1952, such specific numbers to be arrived at bearing in mind the principles or criteria contained in paragraph 7 of the United Nations Representative’s proposal of 4 September 1952″ (RESOLUTION 98 (1952) ADOPTED BY THE SECURITY COUNCIL AT ITS 611TH MEETING ON 23 DECEMBER, 1952. (DOCUMENT NO. S/2883, DATED THE 24TH DECEMBER, 1952. THE SECURITY COUNCIL,)

In the first such indicator of concessions Delhi is mulling, Home Minister P Chidambaram said it was time to act on promises made to the people of Kashmir more than half a century ago.

“Over the years, several promises have been made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and we should act on those related stories 101 lives lost since June 11 in Kashmir unrest Hurriyat factions say no to dialogue promises,” Chidambaram (65) told Hindustan Times. “Based on the agreements and accords of 1952, 1975, and 1986, we must address these promises.”

Though he did not elaborate on what “promises” might be considered in evolving a package for Kashmir, where 101 people have been killed in 100 days of unrest, Chidambaram stressed a plebiscite was not up for consideration.”The plebiscite is history. Much has changed since,” he said. “We have to look at things as they are now, not rake up the past, if we are to move ahead.”Chidambaram indicated that Delhi would consider more autonomy for Kashmir.

“The content of the demand for autonomy is a matter for dialogue and discussion,” he said.Chidambaram said he had previously been in “closed-door dialogue” with separatist leaders but declined to say what he discussed.

The meetings stopped after moderate All Party Hurriyat Conference leader Fazal Ul Haq Qureshi was shot dead in December 2009.Chidambaram is part of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and controls all paramilitary forces in the Valley. What he says in an indicator of how the government is thinking, but in the past his views have been in conflict with his cabinet colleagues.Chidambaram said the Kashmir problem was essentially political.

Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, guaranteeing special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, carries a long and significant historical background, which is necessary to be understood to judge its importance and relevance to the present day India.

Under this agreement, the J&K State was given a special status under the Indian Constitutional frame work (Article 2 of the Constitution itself). Consequently, the Constituent Assembly elected Yuvraj Karan Singh as the first Sadar -i- Riyasat on Nov. 15, 1952, thus bringing to an end the 106 years old hereditary Dogra rule in the J&K State.

A serious opposition to S. M. Abdullah had developed in Jammu under the Praja Parishad, which launched a political movement with Shri Prem Nath Dogra as its leader. Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee was the President of Jan Sangh Party at the national level who commented that there was, or would soon be, “two Constitutions, two flags and two Prime Ministers in one country and cannot be tolerated”. The State Praja Parishad, Jan Sangh and R.S.S. joined their hands together and advocated the abolition of Article 370 of Indian Constitution.

In Nov. 1952, the Praja Parishad leader, Shri Prem Nath Dogra and his close associate Shri Sham Lal were detained. So, the situation in Jammu grew tense within the spring of 1953 and Dr. Mukherjee supported agitation outside the State and in May 1953, he left for Jammu but was arrested by I.G.P. Kashmir at State border (Lakhanpur/Kathua) on May 11, 1953 and taken to Srinagar in custody. Unfortunately Dr. Mukherjee died in the Govt. Hospital, Srinagar on June 23, 1953. The popular slogans of the Praja Parishad agitators were – “ek desh mein do vidhan; ek desh mein do nishan; ek desh mein do pradhan nahi chalen gay” (in one country , two Constitutions; in one country two flags , in one country two Prime Ministers will not be tolerated).

The unresolved issues indicated in the Delhi Agreement could not be taken care of due to dismissal of Sheikh Govt. on Aug.9, 1953 and installation of Sh. Bakshi Ghulam Mohd. as the new Prime Minister of J&K State. With the passage of time, The Constitution( Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954 was promulgated by the President of India in consultation with the Government of J&K, regulating the constitutional status of the State; and apart from it several Central laws got extended to the J&K State and even the nomenclature of Sadar-i-Riyasat and Prime Minister were changed to Governor and Chief Minister on March 30, 1965.

Despite of continuous efforts by various political parties, Art. 370 of the Indian Constitution could neither be made permanent nor abolished, so it continues to be as such in the Indian Constitution with J&K having its own Constitution and State flag and resulting into non-application and non-extension of Central laws without approval of the State Legislature.

Mr. Haq adds:

There is only one solution: Continue for Plebiscite – Kashmir is and never will be a proxy de facto state of India.

A autonomous Kashmir without Indian Control, Indian security forces, Indian Police is the step towards the right direction.

India can not afford to be seen giving concessions and the fight for self determination and eventual accession with Pakistan will be a “gradual”incremental process.

Let India be under no illusion, India has never had a stake in Kashmir or the right to impose governance over the people of Kashmir.

Kashmiris must not get fooled by Chan Akya designs – you have been fooled for so long and they will eventually fool you again.

We shall see with great trepidation what India decides on the issue of Kashmir

http://www.na.gov.pk/s_kashmir_india_comitment.html