Happy New Year - 2009

My Happy New Year wish for all of you

Is for your best year yet,

A year where life is peaceful,

And what you want, you get.

A year in which you cherish

The past year’s memories,

And live your life each new day

Full of bright expectancies.

Let us all gather round and cheer,

With a drink of wine or an ice cold beer

I'd say that this is a great place to be,

It all depends on how we can see.

True we've had bad things in the past,

But we know in our hearts that these will not last.

If we try our best to be simple and pure,

There's nothing our hopes and dreams cannot cure.

So, I don't know the value this is worth,

But lets all try to be happy and heal Mother Earth!

Welcome! Happy New Year - 2009

Happy New Year 2009 - I

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2009!

New Year is the time to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the coming year. It is the time to forget and get past memories that are no longer useful or worth pondering upon. It is the time for new beginnings and new starts in life. New Year has a message for each one of us. One should let go of the past that has bad memories and accept what has happened, has happened for some reason. Instead of clinging onto your past and things that have gone, it is better to let go.

A wishful way to greet people as the New Year begins. Slowly and steadily Year 2008 is creating space for year 2009 to step in. People are ready to cherish the memories of 2008, learn from their mistakes and make resolutions of not repeating them in the coming year. Beginning of the New Year is the perfect time to send New Year wishes to one and all and bless them with good health, wealth and prosperity. New Year wishes start getting circulated amongst friends and family a week before the New Years Eve and continues till the initial few weeks after New Years Day.

Sending New Year wishes to all the people who were scattered in different geographical regions was such a daunting task. However, with the advent of technology it’s far easier both in terms of time and money to send greetings to people around you. Now sending a New Year wish is just a matter of few seconds and can be sent at the click of a mouse. Internet users are increasing with every passing second so much so that now Internet can be found in each and every household.

There is an old saying that goes, "Don't cry because it is over, and smile because it happened". This essentially means that there is no use crying over spilt milk. You cannot turn back time and do things that would benefit you. Accept that some days you are the pigeon and some days you are the statue. New year is the time of new beginnings. It is time to start afresh and do things that would make someone else smile. Make a pledge to make at least one person happy. You will see the difference it can make in both your lives. The essential message of New Year is let go off the past and embrace life as it comes to you. You will be happier and merrier that way.

So this year as soon as the clock strikes 12 in the midnight on the 31st December, take this opportunity to wish people near you with a warm hug and pleasantry wishes. And for those physically far away from you, yet close to your hearts.

My Happy New Year wish for all of you

Is for your best year yet,

A year where life is peaceful,

And what you want, you get.

A year in which you cherish

The past year’s memories,

And live your life each new day

Full of bright expectancies.

Let us all gather round and cheer,

With a drink of wine or an ice cold beer

I'd say that this is a great place to be,

It all depends on how we can see.

True we've had bad things in the past,

But we know in our hearts that these will not last.

If we try our best to be simple and pure,

There's nothing our hopes and dreams cannot cure.

So, I don't know the value this is worth,

But lets all try to be happy and heal Mother Earth!

Welcome! Happy New Year - 2009

What should we do?

Something cracked inside all of us on the 26th of November 2008. Rage that we have repeatedly been betrayed by a system that is meant to guarantee the physical security of every Indian. In the last few years, it has been apparent that no place is safe any longer...places of worship, markets, even hospitals, now hotels: the terrorist has struck with increasing audacity. Rich and poor, Hindu and Muslim, north Indian and south Indian, no one has been spared. With every attack, there is debate, there are platitudes, there is hand-wringing. What the Indian citizen is looking for is action and answers, action that is constructive and will make it that much more difficult for the merchants of terror to operate. Then whether it be Malegaon or Mumbai, Ajmer or Ahmedabad, there is a need for unity of purpose. Terror is a national challenge, not a partisan project .We feel it is necessary to use the power of the media and take the initiative to involve citizens in the search for answers. We are angry, but let this not be impotent rage for once. Let's act now, before it is too late. Become a citizen against terror.

People forget. It is in our nature. Years later, the details get fuzzy, the sequences get mixed-up and re-imagining the horror does not evoke the same sharp feelings of grief and anger. We move on. That is human nature. But moving on this time round isn’t going to be easy. The brutality of the Mumbai attacks has left us, above all, deeply vulnerable. It has exposed the rottenness in our system; our intelligence agencies, our police force, our political leaders and even our media. And that is why the appropriate response to this terror attack isn’t sadness or outrage. We need to secure our country. And we need to do it now. As a nation, we are sensing this – just look at the endless candle vigils, the large shows of solidarity and the signing of various petitions. But we need to do more. We need to rise over the ineptitude of our system and fix lasting solutions. Only when each of us applies ourselves, will solutions flow – and transformation begin. We need to make sure that the kind of terror that November 26th brought into our homes and our lives must not ever be repeated. Only then would we have truly moved on.

Action has to be taken immediately if we are to prevent such further atrocities. The Police Force must be strengthened and taught to handle more sophisticated weapons. The police profession must be made lucrative so that more people can join in. NSG centres must be set up in all the major cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Precious lives could have been saved if the NSG had not taken so long to arrive. Also a federal agency to deal with terror must be set up that is free of bureaucracy of our government and must be headed by the army or the intelligence. The coast guard must be strengthened and strong security must be given to public and vulnerable places like railway stations and markets.

If we stop terrorism in future, we need extra awareness about terrorism. So governing body of India will create a Separate Ministry Like Anti terrorism ministry and the new security Task force which has announced By PM will be the part of that ministry. But the minister and other members should have some qualification others than our existing Politicians for example the cabinet minister should have some military experience.

I feel our constitution and political system is responsible. We have allowed politicians to use this democracy to their advantage. We should have following agenda 1. At a country level, candidates should be elected for the post of prime minister. I mean we should not have party base system. If you want to become prime minister then let people of this country decide whether you deserve to be prime minister or not. Same procedure should be applicable for other important portfolios like home, defence and at state level also. Lets elect people above party lines to run this country. We should have eligibility criteria for politician. What I understand today politics is a profession it’s not a social service. In a profession there are certain criteria. We can't allow people like rabri devi or rahul gandhi just because she is a wife and he is son of politicians to run this country. You should have something, which allows us to accept you. Do something great at the root level. You can become chief minister only if you are eligible in terms of criteria- like education, age. A person who has police record can't apply for central /state govt job, similarly a politician (profession) can't apply if he has police record. If you are given an opportunity to run this country for a period and you fail to do (you have to leave the position before your period) then you will not be eligible for any state benefits, which are given to statesmen. Since gratuity can't be paid before five years under the law. You should have interim report card system. We shall lay down agenda. We should ask candidates if you want to run this country then whether you can fulfill this agenda or not and what is the time frame. If you can't what will be penalty.

A very strict security system, like “HOMELAND SECURITY” in the US. Clarifying responsibilities across all levels of the government to upgrade our system and infrastructure that together constitute to our nations security. A disaster management system to assess the potential hazards, the after effects of a terrorist attack and to supply resources to all security forces and the intelligence bureau. A sense of preparedness needs to be developed among all levels of the society-including citizens, public and private. A security system that works on guidance, planning, strategy and management. Increase patrols varying in size, timing and routes. Track all malicious or threat calls. Take all the calls very seriously and record all the necessary information required pinning down the caller. To equip our army and the police with ammunitions to tackle professional terrorists like that of MUMBAI TERRORIST ATTACK. State police should be given training like that of the army, so that they can handle a terrorist attack in the absence of the army. Like we have seen the terrorists are using the sea route, so there should be constant patrolling by the navy and the coast guards. Layouts of all five star hotels, banks, heritage sites, government offices and corporate offices should be handed over to our security forces, the intelligence bureau and RAW. X-ray all packages prior to entry into any office or hotel. And inspect handbags of every single individual, which includes all the VIP’s as well. Engage local informants for more information on terrorist activities in their respective states and union territories. Ensuring adequate security forces like NSG and ARMY in all the states and union territories, to avoid delay. This is all about the ground defence. If we have an air attack. SAM (surface to air missile) installations should be put across all the major facilities across the country, SAM tracks down any hostile aircraft and its surface to air missile can bring down a target 100 kms away. And this should be sustained throughout the year. Car parked outside any major facility should provide all the documents to the concerned authorities. All illegally parked vehicles in and around facilities should be moved immediately. If possible get the car and its owner under custody.

One cannot always prevent disaster, but we can always plan ahead to mitigate its effect. Why should we single out this one man made act of disaster to be focus of our attention. Are the people who die in say Bihar floods less alive? The answer thus is being ready at all times. Govt should form a crisis management network for the whole country. Every district has a right to have one nerve center dedicated to this. It should comprise of a strategic planner, a doctor and a social worker.

To make investigation agencies as independent of the political system with their salaries being charged directly on the constitution of India just like the election commission. There should be a campaign popularizing the safety measures that should be taken while facing a terrorist attack. Security must be enhanced of strategically, historically, economically and culturally important places. Separate provisions for fighting terrorism should be made in the budge, fifthly a drive to clean up the slums and remove poverty should be carried out because generally these places can acts safe havens for the terrorists and also such people may more easily fall prey to any lures offered to them by the terrorists. Further, border security must be made more coordinated among the various wings of security agents also at international level there should be an effort to put jointed pressure on countries involved in terrorist activities.

While terrorism should be tackled by mind and heart i.e. diplomacy, intelligence, the terrorist needs to be tackled physically by arms. Protect our protectors i.e. Police, NSG, and other security agencies by equipping them with the best arms, bulletproof jackets and helmets. This should be the top priority, and dealt with immediately. Top class training for the entire civil security. Higher pay scales so they do not indulge in corruption. No political interference. Politician involved in defence, home security should be professionals either from police or armed forces. He/she (yes, why not could be a woman) or she should have direct access to prime minister, president and the chiefs of air, land, and sea forces. He/she should also undergo some kind of regular training so he / she understands the needs and upgrades the system. So definitely young and fit person.

War against Terror

It may surprise many to know that the problem of terrorism has persisted for nearly half the period of the life of independent India.
Since the closing years of the 1970s, India has been in the vortex of foreign-sponsored terrorism, which has claimed nearly 80,000 lives, both civilian, and of security forces -- in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, north-eastern states, and in the rest of India. There is no country in the world which has been a victim of terrorist onslaught for so long, and which has suffered such enormous loss.
If a menace has continued for so long, it means that its perpetrators have a definite purpose, a definite goal. If we correctly assessed right in the beginning that the goal of terrorists and their patrons abroad was not only to threaten the common man and the civil society, not just to create ordinary law and order disturbances, but to endanger the very unity and security of the nation. What is happening in India today?
History will not pardon us if we fail
In the history of nations, it is important to know what challenges they face. But it is far more important to know how they respond to these challenges. Nations oblivious to the threats that eat into their vitals run an imminent danger of losing their ability to protect themselves. The warning bells are loud and clear that, even though the nation's internal security today stands seriously threatened, our response lacks political will. India does not have a seamlessly integrated counter-terrorism strategy backed by resolute operational capabilities.
There is one more thing to be said about internal security challenges. These do not manifest suddenly, nor do they mature overnight. The ominous signals they send over a prolonged period of time can be noticed unmistakably. However, if we choose not to notice them, or are incapable of taking self-protective action, history will not absolve us.
In the last millennium, India suffered many a blow. In the last century, India suffered blood-soaked Partition on account of a pernicious ideology. Therefore, all political parties and all sections of our society should so conduct themselves that no evil power, external or internal, can set its eyes on destabilizing, debilitating and dividing India.
Terrorism: Invisible enemy's low-cost, asymmetrical war
For such strong protective force to emerge, it is necessary to know that in today's world, failure to protect internal security has emerged as the most potent threat to the unity and integrity of nations, to the stability of their polity and to the protection their constitutional values. In the post-World War period, failure to deal with internal security challenges, as opposed to foreign aggressions, has been responsible for the degradation of a large number of nation-states. Most States when confronted with serious internal threats thought it to be a passing phase and allowed the drift to reach a point where retrieval was no longer possible.
Quite often, the adversarial forces won not because of their own strength but because of the weaknesses and mistakes of the regimes that were hit. Thus, history has a big lesson for us and it would be tragic if we failed to learn from past mistakes, both of our own and of others.
An important lesson that we in India should learn -- this lesson is indeed globally relevant -- is that conventional wars are becoming increasingly cost-ineffective. As instruments of achieving political and strategic objectives, their outcome is unpredictable and, often, counter-productive. Hence, foreign aggressions today come disguised as proxy wars in the form of terrorism and other forms of violence. The enemy targets internal fault-lines for furthering his strategic and political objectives. Even less powerful nations are able to exercise this low-cost sustainable option, giving rise to the new doctrine of asymmetric warfare.
We can see this clearly from what both Pakistan and Bangladesh have been doing to us. Neither can match India's military strength. Yet, both have been threatening India with cross-border terrorism.
This warfare is waged by an invisible enemy, for whom the civil society is both a source of sustenance and the target. The enemy exploits the liberties, freedom, technological facilities and infrastructure to his advantage, making even the more powerful, better equipped security agencies feel helpless.
Maligning of security forces: A dangerous new trend
Maligning the security forces is often a deliberate ploy employed by the civil society supporters of terrorist outfits. Unfortunately, it sometimes influences the thinking of even well-meaning human rights activists. However, it should not be forgotten that our security forces work under extremely difficult circumstances. The rest of society can sleep peacefully only because of the diligent service rendered by our police, paramilitary and armed forces. I fully agree that innocent persons should not be harassed and penalized. But let us spare a thought for this question: What will happen to our society, to our nation, if the morale of our security forces is allowed to be weakened?
Stigmatising any faith in the fight against terror is wrong
Friends, no campaign of terrorism that has continued for so long can be without an ideological motive. Recognizing the anti-India ideological driving force behind terrorism, and evolving a proper nationalist ideological response to it, is critical to achieving long-term success. Here I would like to state two things emphatically. Firstly, no religion and no religious community can and should be blamed for the criminal acts of some individuals belonging to that community. Stigmatizing any community in the fight against terrorism is wrong, counter-productive, and must be condemned.
At the same time, it is equally important to recognize that religious extremism of a certain kind provides the ideological fervor and outward justification for terrorism and separatism. After all, religion was indeed misinterpreted and misused to construct the two-nation theory, which had disastrous consequences for India, for both Hindus and Muslims. The ideology behind the ongoing war of terrorism against India is a continuation of the separatist ideology that created Pakistan. Which is why, the anti-India forces in Pakistan have sponsored cross-border terrorism as a deliberate policy to achieve Kashmir's secession from India, and also to weaken India in many different ways.
In recent years, an important new experiment has been introduced into this policy of cross-border terrorism. A section of Indian youth, misguided and exploited by their mentors abroad and radicalized by an interpretation of Islam that is propagated by Al Qaeda, have been inveigled into the vortex of terrorism. SIMI and Indian Mujahideen have emerged as the face of indigenised terror. Their literature speaks volumes about their aversion for the very idea of a secular, plural and democratic India, and also about their resolve to destroy India, as we know it.
TADA, POTA or Nothing
Without TADA, some of the culprits in Rajiv Gandhi's murder case could not have been chargesheeted. TADA had already ceased to exist.
One of the first acts of the UPA government in 2004 was to repeal POTA. As a matter of fact, the war against. The government's weak-kneed approach, as was inevitable, proved fatal in course of time. It not only emboldened the extremists groups, but also brought down the efficacy of country's security apparatus.
POTA remained in existence from September 2001 till December 2004. During this period, only eight incidents of terrorist violence, including the attack on Parliament and on Akshardham temple in Gandhingar, took place in India's hinterland, leading to 119 deaths. Contrast it with what happened after POTA was repealed: The footprint of terrorism has grown alarmingly larger in the past four years. Jammu, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Samjhauta Express in Haryana, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Malegaon, Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Guwahati and, in the latest attack, serial terrorist attack rocked Agartala in Mumbai just some days ago. During this period, more thank 800 persons have been killed and 2,411 injured, depicting a five-fold increase in those killed and injured. It is the same country, same people, same police and same intelligence agencies; what then explains this unprecedented increase? The answer is very simple: Weak laws have emboldened the terrorists and appeasement has failed to change their intentions.
Party or Nation
The Hindu reported on September 13: "In what is seen as the UPA government speaking with different voices over the need for states enacting tough anti-terror laws, the Union home ministry has not taken kindly to the suggestion of the National Security Adviser M K Narayanan favouring the Gujarat government's proposal to have its own law to deal with terrorist activities and organised crime. The NSA's suggestion was contained in a letter which he recently wrote to the home ministry. He reportedly saw no reason to turn down the request of the Gujarat government to have an anti-terror law. He also reportedly cited demands by a number of senior police officers both at the central and state levels for enacting a comprehensive, tough anti-terror law. Mr Narayanan did not see anything wrong in supporting such a demand."
The Administrative Reforms Commission, appointed by the government under the chairmanship of senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily, strongly supported the need for stringent anti-terrorist law. Speaking to the media on September 17, he said "a strong anti-terror law with equally strong safeguards to prevent its misuse is needed."
On September 24, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi said, "There should be a strong law to deal with terror. A powerful law, not a failed law. POTA is a failed law."
In spite of these pronouncements, what is the net result? "No, no, we do not need a new law. Existing laws, if strengthened, are enough to fight terror."
How can India be safe under a government that has no mind of its own, that speaks in so many voices, and that is led by a prime minister who has an office but no authority? It is difficult to find out who runs this government and who takes the decisions.

A Letter to Mr. Raj Thackeray

Mr. Raj Thackeray! Mumbai can smile again today, as all terrorists were gunned down and Hotel Trident Oberoi, Nariman House and Hotel Taj have been cleared. People of Mumbai, who have been living in panic and terror since Wednesday night, now can relax and get back to work.

I don't where you were for the past 3/4 days, but I can assure you that you can come out of your hiding now and roam freely on the street of Mumbai. No, Mr. Thackeray, the credit does not go to you or MNS, who always talked about the pride of Marathi Manoos. MNS did not save Mumbai, it were our Army and NSG Commandos, who rescued Mumbai from these terrorists. If I am not wrong, Major S. Unnikrishnan (Originally from Bangalore and Officer from Bihar Regiment) and Commando Gajendra Singh (Dehradun) were not Marathi Manoos, still they sacrificed their lives for the safety of Mumbai.

Mr. Raj Thackeray, if you still believe that Mumbai was saved by any Marathi Manoos, think again. The Army and NSG Commandos were not Marathi Manoos only. They were from Bihar, UP, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, North East and all other parts of India. Still they fought for the people of Maharashtra, as they consider themselves as INDIANS.

Our braveheart martyrs Hemant Karkare (originally from Madhya Pradesh, but had chosen Maharashtra as his 'Karma Bhoomi'), Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar did not consider themselves 'Marathi Manoos'. They laid down their lives for the safety of Indians and Foreigners.

Mr. Raj, Isn't it high time we abandon regionalism and join hands together to work for national integration and fight the biggest menace - terrorism together. They can't break us if we are united. There is no 'Marathi Manoos' or 'North Indian Bhaiya', Mr. Raj Thackeray. We all are Indians and let's pledge our support to the national cause. Mr. Thackeray, Will you stop now??? I hope the good sense prevails now. Jai Hind!