Brown Pundits

As they say, when the going gets tough, the tough get going…straight to prison.

These are indeed desperate times and desperate measures are needed to concentrate the minds of voters.

That said re: recent reports on rapid muslim population growth (relative to Hindus and others in selected states) it is interesting to hear of Masood’s claims that UP is 42% muslim (wiki claims 18.5% in UP, 9% in Gujarat). 

The census data will be awaited with great interest.
…
Congress
Lok Sabha candidate Imran Masood was on Saturday arrested on charges of
hate speech in which he threatened to “chop” Narendra Modi “into
pieces”, remarks that led to an FIR being filed against him by police
besides sparking an outrage.

“If Modi tries to make
Uttar Pradesh into Gujarat, then we will chop him into tiny pieces…I
am not scared of getting killed or attacking someone. I will fight
against Modi. He thinks UP is Gujarat. Only 4% Muslims are there in
Gujarat while there are 42% Muslims in UP,” he had said.

However, he later apologized for his remarks, saying, “I should have
been more cautious with my words” and that the same were said in the
heat of electioneering.

….
regards

The Americans are cutting their losses (who can blame them), Karzai is straddling the fence (he is fooling himself) and the evil people are free to scare little kids.

It sounds just like a fairy (horror) tale but there will be many more true stories like this from Taliban controlled Af-Pak territory.

It is beyond belief that the powers that be (from America to Afghanistan) are waiting (for what?) to designate the Taliban as terrorists. They will feel bad, the poor dears. Nelofar’s life is presumably lost in vain.

..
The story is heartbreaking. A Facebook status update on July 16, 2013,
from Ahmad Sardar, the Afghan journalist in Kabul. Nelofar, his
5-year-old daughter asks her dad, “Do the Taliban kill animals too?” The
father answers no, and the little girl says: “I wish we were animals.”


 
Little Nelofar is dead now, brutally murdered
by the Taliban – shot in the head – together with her dad, her mom and
her 8-year-old brother. Of Nelofar’s family, only her 2-year-old brother
has miraculously survived, in a coma with three bullets in his body.


 

On March 20, 2014, on the eve of the Persian New Year, the Taliban
managed to enter the highly fortified Serena Hotel, located just a
kilometer away from the Afghan presidential palace, where Nelofar and
her family were celebrating the Nawrooz, the arrival of the spring and
of the New Year.


 
The Taliban suicide mission left nine people dead and many more
injured before Afghan forces killed the four attackers, who had managed
to sneak pistols and ammunition inside the hotel, despite the tight
security measures.


 
The deadly attack on the Serena Hotel occurred on the same day that yet more Taliban fighters were freed from Bagram Prison,
complete control of which was transferred to the Afghan government
exactly a year ago. Since, then, most of the prisoners – considered
dangerous members of the Taliban – have been let go without formal trial
and over the strong protests of both U.S. officials and a majority of
the Afghan people.


 
Despite the fact that the Taliban’s use of deadly force against the
civilian population is widely branded as “terrorist attacks” inside and
outside of Afghanistan, neither the Afghan government nor the U.S.
officially recognizes the Taliban as a terrorist organization.


 
There is no sign that Karzai will put aside his vain hopes of winning
the hearts and minds of his “dissident brothers”; not even at the cost
of the many lives taken during the bloodshed perpetuated by the Taliban
on a daily basis. Karzai has lost the faith and trust of the Afghan
people on this.


 
It is an open secret that Mr. Karzai’s refusal to sign the Bilateral
Security Agreement with the Americans is purely political, with an eye
to winning the Taliban’s favor.


 
The Afghan public meanwhile worry that the withdrawal of
international forces from Afghanistan will mean a return of the Taliban
to power. There is an increasing need for the international community,
led by the United States, to take a clear stance with regards to the
Taliban.


 
In short, it is time for Washington to put objective facts above
political wishful thinking and officially recognize the Taliban as a
terror organization. Many other members of the international community
would then surely follow suit, resulting in real and effective pressure
on the Taliban and its supporters, both inside Afghanistan and at a
regional level. Acknowledging the Taliban as a terrorist entity will
also facilitate more cooperation between the international community in
their fight against terrorism, based on universal legal conventions and
international law.


 
Little Nelofar was surely not the only Afghan child to be so
frightened of the Taliban; the fear has paled the face of every Afghan.
The first step in overcoming that fear, however deep and complex, is for
people to know what they are dealing with: insurgents or terrorists.
..
regards

…but his driver is dead. The guard’s condition is critical. We hope he survives and regains good health.

As for Raza, it is clear that the thugs will try again and again…they are ruthless and relentless…and they will not be satisfied with just sending a message…they need to see (and feel) the blood on their hands.

This is the fourth attack on Express Media Group. Three staff members of
the group have already lost their lives. The Taliban will control the message by destroying the messengers.

Nadeem Paracha complains that most TV channels are taking the cowardly way out and not covering the incident. It is indeed a sad day for journalism.

People (Arundhati Roy et al.) who offer comfort to the
“resistance warriors” (Gandhians with Guns in her words) should look deep inside their own hearts and issue an appeal for sanity. Who gains if girls dont go to school? What is wrong with non-violent struggle for a better
democracy? 

After all the original great man of the Pakhtuns- Khan Abdul
Gaffar Khan- believed in these principles.

As proof of how critical things have become, excerpted below is a communique from the IMF-Pakistan meeting which was held in Dubai…because of security concerns in Pakistan.

Come to think of it, there is no early date for cricket to be resumed in Pakistan. People have become so blase that tragedies like this dont even count any more.

…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Friday that
Pakistan’s key economic indicators were showing modest improvement but
warned militancy and crime could threaten growth and investment. The IMF warning came in its country report reviewing Pakistan’s performance under a $6.7 billion bailout loan package.

The
Pakistani government is in talks with the country’s Taliban faction to
try to end the militants’ bloody seven-year insurgency, which has
claimed thousands of lives.

“For the fiscal year 2014-15, growth
is forecast to accelerate to about 3.7 per cent, and will continue to
accelerate in the medium term,” the report said. “Security
conditions in Pakistan remain difficult with significant terrorist
activity, as well as sectarian violence and urban criminal activity,
which could depress investment and growth.”


As well as the Taliban threat, Pakistan is also
facing a rising tide of sectarian bloodshed mainly targeting minority
Shia Muslims, and rampant criminal violence in the economic capital
Karachi.  
The report was prepared after the IMF team met Pakistani
finance minister Ishaq Dar and other officials in Dubai last month to
discuss the economic performance, approval and release of the $550
million third installment of the loan.

The meeting was held outside Pakistan because of security worries, the fund said.
…
regards

The dilemma of being a Muslim-American- you are presumed guilty unless proven innocent.

Your intimate family and friends are in the pay of the NSA (and so are you). It is a re-run of the East Germans and the Stasi- mothers spying on kids and the like.

Arun Kundnani has written a book on Islamophobia that highlights many aspects of what it means to be a Muslim in America today.
….
How come when we talk
about spying we don’t talk about the lives of ordinary people being
spied upon? While we have been rightly outraged at the government’s
warehousing of troves of data, we have been less interested in the
consequences of mass surveillance for those most affected by it – such
as Muslim Americans.

In writing my book
on Islamophobia and the War on Terror, I spoke to dozens of Muslims,
from Michigan to Texas and Minnesota to Virginia. Some told me about
becoming aware their mosque was under surveillance only after
discovering an FBI informant had joined the congregation. Others spoke
about federal agents turning up at colleges to question every student
who happened to be Muslim. All of them said they felt unsure whether
their telephone calls to relatives abroad were wiretapped or whether
their emails were being read by government officials.

These
are the types of people whom the National Security Agency can suspect
of being two “hops” away from targets. These are the types of “bad guys”
referred to by outgoing NSA director Keith Alexander.
Ten years ago, around 100,000 Arabs and Muslims in America had some
sort of national security file compiled on them. Today, that number is
likely to be even higher.

A study
published last year by the Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition
documented the effects of this kind of mass surveillance. In targeted
communities, a culture of enforced self-censorship takes hold and
relationships of trust start to break down. As one interviewee said:
“You look at your closest friends and ask: are they informants?”

Underpinning all
the surveillance of Muslim Americans is an assumption that Islamic
ideology is linked to terrorism. Yet, over the last 20 years, far more
people have been killed in acts of violence by right-wing extremists
than by Muslim American citizens or permanent residents. The huge
numbers being spied upon are not would-be terrorists but law-abiding
people, some of whom have “radical” political opinions that still ought
to be protected by the First Amendment to the constitution. Just the
same, there are plenty of other minority Americans who are not would-be
“home-grown” terrorists – but they still live in fear that they might be
mistaken as one.

So let’s reform the NSA and its countless collections. But let’s not forget the FBI’s reported 10,000 intelligence analysts working on counter-terrorism and the 15,000 paid informants helping them do it. Let’s not forget the New York Police Department’s intelligence and counter-terrorism division with its 1,000 officers, $100m budget and vast program of surveillance.

Let’s not forget the especially subtle psychological terror of being
Muslim in America, where, sure, maybe your phone calls won’t be stored
for much longer, but there’s a multitude of other ways you’re always
being watched.
….
regards

We believe this wholeheartedly- if there was a God, a supreme being who feels for her children (as we all are) she would not allow such an abomination to stand.

Normally we get along very well with people of faith, we truly enjoy the varied cultures that shine through during the ceremonies and we absolutely relish the food. Every dish is prepared with an abundance of love and it is a pleasure to share the joy. Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian…this may be a cliche…they are all the same.

Then there is the sinister aspect of religion (they are all the same, again). It breeds zealots who turn into monsters on the pretext of acting as angels. In  this sense, religion is a veritable poison, tolerable in light doses, at higher doses will kill both friend and foe without discrimination.

In this case highlighted below, the greatest culpability (in our opinion) lies with Joseph’s own people at the high table.  They are supposed to (at the minimum) stand by their brother in times of need. Instead what we see is a full and complete betrayal, condemning a lady (and a loyal wife) to death and her husband who is now amongst the living dead.
……
After a
four year long legal battle with college authorities for his
reinstatement, Prof T J Joseph, whose right hand was chopped off by
fundamentalists in 2010, rejoined service at the church-run Newman
college in Idukki on Friday morning, three days before his retirement.

However, since annual examinations are going on, he could not take classes.

Students clapped and his colleagues shook hands as the lecturer, who is
recovering from the shock of his wife Salomi’s suicide few days ago,
rejoined service.

Joseph, head of the Malayalam department, was
suspended from service following the controversy over framing of a
question paper in 2010. Alleging that the lecturer had hurt
their religious sentiments, a fundamentalist outfit had brutally
attacked the lecturer as he was returning with his family after a Sunday
Mass on July 4, 2010.

The hand was later sutured back and he slowly recovered from the brutal attack.

The family was going through tough times with the sole bread winner
having no job. Salomi (48), who stood by Joseph during his trying times,
last week ended her life as the family was facing severe financial
problems.

Within days of her death, the college decided to take him back before his retirement on March 31.

Joseph was escorted to the college in Idukki district from Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district by police.
…..

regards

After a long 8 months a (partial) return to sanity. If a stable govt is not formed (hint, hint) then the rates may go down again.  As far as the stock market is concerned, analysts are forecasting a big crash coming up, so if you have enough money to play with please proceed but with caution 🙂

…
Continuing its rising streak, the rupee
on Friday strengthened to below 60 level at 59.90 for the first time
since July 2013 against dollar in late afternoon trade on sustained
foreign fund flows.

Dealers said sustained selling of the
American currency by banks and exporters and ongoing bull-run on the
domestic equity markets also buoyed the rupee sentiments.

The
Indian currency resumed higher at 60.18 per dollar as against the last
closing level of 60.31 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market
and firmed up further to break the crucial 60 level to trade at 59.90 in
late afternoon trade, a level last seen in July 2013.  

Meanwhile, the benchmark
BSE sensex gathered 125.60 points, or 0.57 per cent to close at a new
lifetime high of 22,339.97 after climbing to an all-time intra-day high
of 22,363.97.
  
regards

Judicial murder is the unjustified use of capital punishment [ref. wiki]. It is our humble opinion that capital punishment is never justified.

The term was first used in 1782 (German Justizmord) by August Ludwig von Schlözer in reference to the execution of Anna Göldi. In a footnote, he explains the term as “the murder of an innocent, deliberately, and with all the pomp of
holy Justice, perpetrated by people installed to prevent murder, or, if a
murder has occurred, to see to it that it is punished appropriately.”

Voltaire in 1777 used the comparable term of “judicial assassins” (assassins juridiques)

Hermann Mostar (1956) defends the extension of the term to un-premeditated miscarriage of justice where an innocent suffers the death penalty.

The verdict was expected and there remains very little hope for this man (he cant be released anyway). He is in real danger of being killed in prison while awaiting the appeals process to be completed. In an ideal world he should be allowed to escape to a safe haven in the west but the chances of that happening are slim to none.

What is most alarming (given the recent judge killing in Islamabad) is that the Taliban thugs are effectively warning the judiciary, follow our (unsaid) guidelines or else it is you who will face death.
….
A
court convicted a Pakistani Christian man and sentenced him to death
Thursday in a blasphemy case that sparked a riot last year in the
eastern city of Lahore, according to his lawyer.

Naeem Shakir,
the lawyer for Sawan Masih, said a judge announced the verdict during a
hearing at the jail where the trial has been held out of fears that
Masih might be attacked on his way to court. Shakir said he would
appeal.

Although Pakistan has never executed anybody under the
law, crowds angered over blasphemy accusations have been known to take
the law into their own hands and kill those they suspect of violating
it.  Once an accusation is made it is extremely difficult to reverse, in
part because law enforcement personnel do not want to appear to be going
easy on suspects.

Such vigilantism has created a climate of
fear, forcing frightened judges into holding court sessions inside jails
and keeping witnesses from coming to the defense of those on trial.

Many human rights activists say the blasphemy law, which allows for
punishment of life in prison or death, is misused as a way to target
people for personal gain or revenge.

The incident that led to
Thursday’s conviction began March 7 last year when a young Muslim man
accused Masih of maligning the Prophet Muhammad. Police arrested Masih,
but the next day a mob ransacked the neighborhood where he and other
Christians live, setting fire to homes and destroying household
possessions.

Fearing for their safety, hundreds of Christian
families fled the area overnight ahead of the riots. Many in the
neighborhood have since moved back, and their homes have been rebuilt.

The police arrested 83 suspects following the rampage, including the
man who brought the complaint against Masih, said a Lahore police
official, Rana Taseer Riaz. But so far none of the suspects have been
convicted and all were released on bail, he said.

Pakistan’s
blasphemy law has existed since even before the country’s 1947 founding.
During the 1980s, the U.S.-backed military dictator, Gen. Mohammed
Zia-ul-Haq, amended it to add the death penalty and single out Islam as
the religion that may not be insulted, among other changes..

…
regards

But two will do for now.

First off, congratulations to all who contributed towards eradication of polio. But bigger and fiercer battles lie ahead. 

Here is some thought as to how we can improve health-care of individuals by caring for the health of the society. Social revolutions will help reduce and eventually remove the burden of caste based discrimination that lies at the heart of why and how entire populations have gone missing from the civilian radars.

From anecdotal observations, India has a problem of traditional mature generation drifting apart from a westernized younger generation. For the good of the society this needs to change and the best place for  the change to take place is in the fertile fields of social service.

The youngsters will always get points for energy and youthful beauty (aka click-bait but equally the most click-safe picture we could find), but they will need to learn wisdom and patience from their elders. The matured folks need to give the youngsters their space in the front-lines and allow them to grow up as contributing citizens and (better) leaders for tomorrow.

This is the parampara model that we do recommend strongly, inter-generation bonding is good for the community, nation and for the democratic model to work properly. 

In the spirit of the above, we request Poonam Khetrapal Singh to welcome Poonam Pandey to add her star power towards eradication of malaria, TB and HIV from SAsia. I am sure things would work out just fine for all concerned (especially the people affected by the disease). 

Last but not the least, we are very happy that some effort is being made to understand and ameliorate mental illness which may overwhelm India in the years to come. 

….
The World Health Organisation’s South East
Asia regional director Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the first woman to hold
this position, had a proud moment when she declared the region
polio-free on March 27. But, this is just the beginning; we need to deal
with tuberculosis and measles as well, Singh points out to Narayani
Ganesh

Q: The WHO declaring the South East Asian region as polio
free has come nearly two decades after India first launched its
anti-polio drive in 1995. Why did it take so long for India to do this?

A:
Yes, India was the last country in the region to eradicate polio,
thereby delaying the declaration considerably. First, the Americas did
it in 1994, followed by the western Pacific in 2000 and the European
region in 2002. And now, the polio virus is present in only three
countries in the world: Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, all
conflict-ridden areas and so posing challenges in terms of success in
immunisation programmes.  To declare the world polio-free, we have to
wait for these three countries to eradicate polio.

India is a
large country with more than a billion people, with 170 million children
under the age of five. There is a lot of moving population and an
estimated eight million children too are on the move at any given time,
so you can imagine how difficult it is to sustain the immunisation
process. At one time we thought it might never happen! So it is no mean
achievement, and we waited for the mandatory three year period before
making the declaration. The last polio case in India was detected in
2011.

Q: What if polio reappears like it reportedly has in California recently? What’s the risk factor of recurrence of the disease?

A:
Importation of the ‘wild’ polio virus does happen even if a region is
declared polio-free, so long as there still are some countries that
continue to battle the disease as importation can happen only from
there. That’s the risk factor. That’s why you need to have a plan. You
need to have good surveillance, first of all, to detect the importation
of polio virus. India and other countries will continue with
immunisation and also expect visitors to the country to have been
vaccinated against polio. Immunisation has to be repetitive. India’s lab
surveillance system is excellent – that is, the ability to detect a
virus in the lab. Otherwise, often you might suspect a polio case and it
may not be so.

Q: And when children get infected during immunisation? How often does that happen?

A:
Sometimes this can happen; they can derive polio from vaccine since the
virus is live. But the numbers are few, an estimated 53 to 100 in
total, but even if there is one case it is indeed of great concern.
Hence we are now moving to IPV or inactivated polio virus so you cannot
get vaccine derived polio from it. It is as effective as the live virus
but less used as it is expensive and given through injection as opposed
to oral drops.

As part of WHO’s global polio eradication project,
we’ve put in place an Endgame Strategy 2013-2018. They are advocating
IPV now because once the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) transmission is
stopped, it is safer to switch to IPV.

There are three different
types of polio strains: Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3. With OPV, Type 2,
the most virulent form, got eradicated in 1999. So Type 2 was out and
we’re now left with Type 1 and 2. The world is now moving toward
monovalent vaccine to address one Type at a time.

Q: How important a role did civil society groups play in eradicating the virus?
A:
India had three points in its favour: Strong political commitment,
generous budget allocation and good partners like Rotary International,
Unicef and others, including the Gates Foundation. And there has been a
successful review of the program. India was open to trying out
different types of vaccine – monovalent, bivalent and trivalent. Then we
had this big problem of under-serviced areas. In areas where polio was
persistent, like the Kosi River region in Bihar with high incidence, we
had special strategies in place, with gradually evolving programmes.

Q: You’ve said that polio-eradication alone is not enough. What are your focus areas to make the region disease free?

A: Polio eradication is just the beginning; we still
have to deal with other communicable diseases like TB. Since 1990, TB
mortality has declined by 40 per cent and Malaria, by 82 per cent.
Maldives is already malaria-free. In most countries in the region, the
HIV epidemic has been reversed. However, we do face challenges in terms
of drug resistance and co-infections. And then we have recurrence of
influenza, SARS and avian flu that travel the globe in a shrunken world.
The answer is to scale up national capacity so as to prevent diseases
from spreading out.
 
As you know, India has the
largest incidence of cardio-vascular disease, diabetes, cancer and
chronic respiratory diseases. One third of these deaths occur in people
below 60 years of age. 
Tobacco use is a huge menace and other lifestyle
factors play a huge role in increasing the spread of non-communicable
diseases and this can only be reversed by taking multi-sectoral
preventive action. Other important areas of focus are mental health and
malnutrition.
….
regards

Yay!!!

Congratulations to all 10 countries who passed (India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, and Sri Lanka are the SAsian nations, also Burma, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and East Timor).

Given India’s pathetic condition it was considered to be the last frontier for polio. The fact that the job was done at all is nothing short of a miracle.

However celebrations need to be tempered with caution. Polio has now spread westwards to Syria from Af-Pak (via jihadis who plan to set up a drone-free forward base from which to attack Europe/West), it can just as easily spread eastwards as well.

The symbol for polio eradication is Rukhsar Khatun the last victim who still needs treatment and (as noted below) her “future is still a question mark.” 

Not to mention, question marks for millions of Rukhsars living a virtual death sentence as dictated by the merchants of death

……………….

….
The World Health Organisation officially certified India and
10 other Asian countries free of polio on Thursday, a milestone lauded
as a “momentous victory” over an ancient scourge.

The
Southeast Asian region, which includes India but excludes Afghanistan
and Pakistan, was certified by a panel of experts after the countries
went three years without reporting a single new case.

The WHO said
the certification meant 80 per cent of the world’s population lived in
polio-free regions and was an important step towards global eradication
of the crippling disease.

“This is a momentous victory for the
millions of health workers who have worked with governments,
nongovernmental organisations, civil society and international partners
to eradicate polio from the region,” said WHO Southeast Asia regional
director Poonam Khetrapal Singh.

The
certification is particularly significant in India, home to 1.2 billion
people, and which until 2009 still accounted for half of all cases
globally.

The certification confirms one of India’s biggest public
health success stories, accomplishing something once thought
impossible, thanks to a massive and sustained vaccination programme. India
celebrated the milestone on January 13 – which marked three years since
the last reported new case in the country, that of a teenage girl in a
slum in the eastern city of Kolkata.

India reported 150,000 cases
of paralytic polio in 1985, and 741 new infections that led to paralysis
in 2009. In following year, the number of new victims fell to double
figures before the last case in January 2011. 

India’s poor
sanitation, mass internal migration and dilapidated public health system
made many experts believe it would be the last country to eradicate the
disease, if at all.

The countries certified Thursday were India,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, South Korea, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal,
Sri Lanka, Thailand and East Timor.
……………..
regards

The Association of the Indian Muslims of America (AIMA) approves of this message in support of the one and only AK-272

One hundred years following the original Great War and the launch of the famous Gallipoli campaign, the muslim regiments must be prepared for jihad (once again).
 
In these times of clear and present danger, the muslims of India (150 million official, probably 200 million including all migrants)- after decades of blind devotion and service from the heart- must abandon the sinking Congress ship. 

All regiments to be mobilized under the supreme leadership of Rt. Hon. Kejriwal – a honest to good re-incarnation of Lt. Col. Kemal (plus a muffler for local color).

Remember folks, this election is undoubtedly the most important one in decades. Defeat the M… Monster now and the beleaguered minorities in India will be able to breathe safely once more.

In other (weird) election news, Karuna-nidhi has decided to forgive and support Congress (but only after the election???). The old guard is fighting hard to keep the boat floating for the next generation(s).

At the moment it appears to be a bit of a lost cause (and the muslims know it as much as anybody else, hence the advert below).

The skullduggery (mass corruption) that triggered this whole mess is likely to turn the poor princes into paupers.

…
Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party, which is already under attack from within
and outside, is facing a new quandary from one of its supporters – a non-profit
group from US – that has issued an advertisement in a community newspaper
appealing the Muslim voters to support the AAP.

The ad that appeared in the 1-15 February issue of Milli Gazette is doing
the rounds on the internet. While the party has denied issuing any such ad on
the social media, the advertisement appeared on Milli Gazette’s Facebook page
has put the Aam Aadmi Party in a spot.

The ad issued by the Association of Indian Muslims of America reads: “An
Appeal to Indian Muslim citizens and voters to support Aam Aadmi Party to
remove the ills of: corruption, influence peddling, abuse of religion and
caste, money power, denial of justice, police brutality, from the society at
large in the country. 

These ills have resulted from gross abuses by most
political parties. The majority of Muslims being deprived people are hurt more
than others from these ills. Hence, Muslims in large numbers should support AAP
that is comprised of good people, and that is trying to cleanse the national
political and governance system. We appeal to all to campaign for AAP, raise
funds for them and vote for AAP candidates in the upcoming parliamentary
elections.”
…
regards