Abode of peace bombed

The terrorist attack on world famous Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya of Bihar is an attempt to throttle message of peace that emanates from there for the world. The low intensity nine blasts within the span of two minutes early in the morning created an atmosphere of fear and awe. As intensity of the blasts was low and timing was early morning, they injured only two people. Terrorist act had been unheard of so far in Bihar, the IB had already alerted the Bihar Police about the impending terror attack on Bodh Gaya. Prior alert signal was given to Bihar police on the basis of the interrogation of Pune Bakery attack accused. Though no terror organization has taken responsibility of the Mahabodhi Temple attack, the atrocities on Rohangia Muslims in Myanmar are linked to this terror attack without any sound basis. The responsibility of safety and security of Mahabodhi Temple in Gaya is of both the state and the Central government. So, one can not escape the guilt at the cost of the other. Central government can not be free after the IB alerted the Bihar Police about the terror attack beforehand. There is no doubt that it is the total failure of the Bihar police in acting on the IB tip-off. Central intelligence agencies should also have assured of full proof security against any terror attack in Bodh Gaya. Bodh Gaya is known all over the world for spreading peace, amity and international brotherhood. People from all over the world visit Bodh Gaya for meditation, learning and spirituality. It is the holiest place for Budhists world over. Terror attack at the root of peace must be thwarted at all costs. Whether it is the lapses of Bihar or Central government matters little, both have failed to thwart terror attack despite prior knowledge. Terror has neither any religion nor colour. It is the biggest enemy of humanity. Until and unless its root is weeded out from our neighbouring country, it would continue to execute its evil design of death and destruction. In what is suspected to be the first-ever terror attack in Bihar, nine low-intensity blasts struck Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya early Sunday, leaving a Tibetan student and a Burmese resident who were meditating there injured. The temple structure was not damaged in the attack. Three live bombs were later recovered from near the temple premises.

Parliamentary debate indispensable

The govt has decided to promulgate an ordinance to give nation’s two-third population the right to 5 kgs of food grain every month at highly subsidised rates of Rs 1-3 per kg.The Ordinance is to come into effect after President Pranab Mukherjee signs it.The Cabinet, which had on last month deferred a decision on the issue, has approved promulgating an ordinance to implement the Food Security Bill. Even after the Ordinance, the Bill will have to be approved by both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.The government’s decision to bring an ordinance to implement the Food Security Bill has drawn flak from major Opposition parties. Govt. deserves to be severely criticized for bypassing the Parliament for sometime and hoodwinking the people that no political party except it can protect their interest first. No political party is against the Food Security Bill, but each and every is against the ordinance route to promulgate it. It is to be done more with the intention to win poor’s favour in the Lok Sabha elections next year than fulfilling their primary subsistence needs the food grain at highly subsidized price. The haste shown in promulgating the Food Security Bill through ordinance smacks of ulterior motive of UPA-II. If the Bill got President’s assent, 67 percent poor people will be benefited. Food Security Bill is the brainchild of Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Four years of UPA II has elapsed, the bill was never brought in Parliament for a threadbare discussion so that the people could know its pros and cons. It was brought only in the last Parliament session amid disruption and chaos, and the government adjourned it sine a die. The ruling Congress-led UPA finding itself embarrassed and humiliated due to unchecked corruption and rising prices, it has chosen to take the ordinance route to halt its sagging image and win the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with this flagship programme as it did with MNREGA IN 2009 Lok Sabha elections. UPA-II has completely failed to keep up the performance of its previous avatar UPA-I. All good and public-centric work has been undone by UPA-II. So, UPA-II has chosen ordinance route to win the favour of 67 percent poor people in haste. But the way it has bypassed the parliamentary debate and discussion must not be done in vibrant democracy like India. The Bill like this makes legal provision to feed two-third of our population. It must occupy top position on the agenda for Parliamentary debate and discussion. UPA-II should have called Special Session of Parliament to pass the bill after thorough debate and discussion. It apparently looks awkward and haste in taking the decision to promulgate Food Security Bill to feed the 67 percent without throwing any light on it through Parliament.

Spurt in Maoist violence

The naxal violence is on the rise without any check and policy to deal with the burning issue of the nation. Just after a month of horrible naxal attack on the cavalcades of top Congress leaders in Chattishgarh, the killing of Pakur Superintendent of police Amarjit Balihar alongwith his driver and three security guards in Jharkhand is a cause of great concern. Pakur SP Amarjit Balihar, a 2003 batch IPS officer, his driver and the guards were ambushed by the Naxals when they were returning to Pakur, after attending a meeting in Dumka, a senior official said. The incident took place near the forests of Amrapa, nearly 400 km from capital Ranchi.The extremists exploded bombs and opened fire on the police vehicles. This is not the first time that district head of police has been killed by Naxals in Bihar. On October 4, 2000, the ultras of the People's War, now merged with CPI (Maoist), had killed Lohardaga SP Ajay Kumar Singh in undivided Bihar. Lohardaga later became part of Jharkhand. In absence of any concrete policy and programme, ill-equipped police force and vote bank policy of various political parties, the morale of Maoists are on rise, which poses a great threat to the internal security of the nation. It is true that Maoists are Indians and they are our own people but the moment they establish contact with terrorist and separatist elements of the nation and our hostile neighbour to usurp power through gun and by creating internal disturbance, they cease to become Indians. The killing of police, administrative personnel and political leaders and workers by the Maoist is a direct attack on the state power and parliamentary political system. It is also true that naxalism has born out of poverty. Every third district of the country is affected by Maoist violence. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has said several times that naxalism is the biggest internal threat to the nation. But the irony is that no forward movement has been decided yet how to deal with this greatest internal danger. Naxalism is more dangerous than terrorism for the nation as it has spread every third district of the nation. No concrete policy and programme has been initiated ever to deal with this vicious and violent problem by successive government at the Centre. If the problem of naxalism is continued to be ignored, the day is not far off when the issue will envelop the entire nation and pariliamentary democracy will be imperiled. This is most dangerous problem. It will remain as it is as long the government of the day continues to make policy and programme from air-conditioned room in PMO completely oblivious of ground reality.

Halt the slump

The continued depreciation of rupee against the dollar is likely to create an alarming economic situation in the country. No attempt is seen to be made sincerely to halt the sharp fall of rupee against the dollar. The all-time low value of rupee against the dollar is bound to escalate the prices of all importing goods and consequently it will have cascading impact on all commodities. The continued depreciation of rupee is not a day's development. The continued mismanagement of economic affairs during the UPA-II has brought situation to this worsening stage. It is the irony of UPA-II that despite being led by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who is a world-renowned economist in own right along with Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission and his finance minister, the economy of the nation is weakening day by day. There appears to be a deep-rooted problem in UPA government's economic policy mechanism. Government is unwilling to address the problem why the rupee is falling against dollar day by day at right earnest. Its callous and directionless economic approach has created the mess. It is its own making. Market and reform centric economic policy is making the rich richer and the poor poorer on the ground during the period of UPA-II. As long as Left parties were extending outside support to UPA-I, its economy was robust and progressing fast. The reason behind it was that they put break on the rich -centric economic policy and corrupt practices of the government. After the parting of ways with UPA by the Left, it started introducing economic reforms with full force without realizing the adverse consequences of its economic policy on the ground. The need of the hour is to halt the continued falling of rupee against Dollar. Otherwise, it will have to face the wrath of the people in Lok Sabha elections next year. The economic policy makers must realize that what they are pursuing is only breaking the back of the people due to skyrocketing prices of all commodities. The rupee has slumped to a record low, breaching the key psychological level of 60 to the dollar, on the back of end-of-month dollar demand from domestic importers and falls in most emerging Asian currencies. The fall has come even after the Reserve Bank of India attempted to defend the currency before the rupee hit the 60 level. The rupee was trading at 60.26/27 to the dollar, having hit a record low of 60.34. The falls in the rupee led to a slump in bond prices, with the 10-year bond yield up 4 basis points to 7.54 percent from the previous close. .Rupee has witnessed sharp depreciation in the past two-months, it has fallen 11% since May, spooking equity markets. Concerns over external debt have also become exacerbated due to the decline in currency.

Rail link to promote progress

Pir Panjal Rail tunnel is a historic gift to the state of Jammu & Kashmir. It will immensely help promote economy, interaction and education of the people of both the Kashmir Valley and Jammu region of the state. This is the third largest tunnel in Asia and the first in India. Before the Pir Panjal tunnel, Jawahar Tunnel is already there, though it is not as large as this one. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh along with UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi dedicated Pir Panjal Railway tunnel to the nation. This is a long dream of the people of Jammu and Kashmir full-filled. It was a very arduous task for the railways to complete with total success. Indian railways’ chief characteristic is to connect one corner to another of the nation. They have done it again by linking the Valley to the Jammu region straightway through Pir Panjal tunnel. Railways have done it successfully. The credit goes to Indian railways, all its personnel, engineers, officials, labourers and ministry involved with the construction of Pir Panjal tunnel and to the government of India for fulfilling the long-cherished dream of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Days after eight soldiers were killed in a militant attack in Srinagar, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi used the opening of the historic train link connecting the Kashmir Valley to the Jammu region to reaffirm the government’s commitment to Kashmir’s development. It is true that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are fed up of bloodshed. The youth want jobs. The successive government at the Centre wants Kashmir’s future to be written with secularism, development and democracy, where problems are solved through dialogue. But the disruptive and secessionist forces raise their head in the state time and again. The successive government at the Centre have failed to resolve the issue of terrorism once and for all time to come. It was the first visit to the state by Singh and Sonia after Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged. Maximum security was put in place to avert any bad omen. The 17.5 km link between Banihal in Jammu and Qazigund in the Valley is the first all-weather route between the two regions. Touted as the UPA’s flagship project that showcases the reconstruction of Jammu and Kashmir, the stretch has a 11-km-long tunnel through the mighty Pir Panjal range.The only existing link on this route, the Jawahar Tunnel meant for road transport and opened in 1965, gets blocked in winter due to heavy snow. The rail tunnel runs 300 metres below Jawahar Tunnel and is shielded from the harsh winter.

Deal with the root of terrorism

The entire nation pays tributes to the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the motherland while fighting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. The militants’ attack on soldiers in Srinagar a day before the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visit to Kashmir should serve as eye opener for India that unless and until it deals with the root of terrorism, it can not fight it to finish. In the militants strike, 8 soldiers lost their lives. A few days back, the militants also had shot down two soldiers. If the local news agency is to be believed, these attacks are the handiwork of indigenous militant outfit Hujbul Mujahideen whose chief is staying in the safe land of our hostile neighbour Pakistan. So, when the question is raised to deal with root cause of terrorism seriously, firmly and judiciously, it is Pakistan from where it emanates and spreads across the world. With the US initiative to start peace talks between Taliban and Afghanistan in place, a moral booster has been provided to terrorists if the killing of 8 in Afghanistan by Taliban and the same number in Pakistan in recent days are anything to go by. Any leniency to Taliban by Afghanistan under US pressure to start peace talks with them may prove to be a threat to peace and security in South Asia region in general and India in particular. It is an open secret the root of terrorism is in Pakistan. Terrorism that poses danger to the international community emanates from there. With the victory of Nawaz Sharif and the positive messages coming from him in regard to eastablishing peaceful and friendly relations with India, we must not be in any delusion and everything will change overnight in Pakistan. India’s bitter experience of Kargil and Bombay serial blasts of 1993 serve as reminder to Nawaz Sharif’s regime. The audacious militants strike on the eve of PM’s visit is a wake-up call to India that it must not slacken its security and preparedness to face any eventuality as and when it takes place. Increasing tourism in Jammu and Kashmir cannot be an alibi for the state government to plead for relaxations in vigil by security forces. The killing of soldiers by militants will bring down the morale of security personnel deployed there for safety and security of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. They are there to thwart any attempt of disintegration by Pak-sponsored terrorism. Armed Force Special Power Act ( AFSPA) is as essential there in today’s developing security environment in Jammu and Kashmir as it was at the time when introduced to legally armed the security personnel to fight terrorism to finish. Army's consent is of uppermost importance whether to revoke AFSPA from some areas there or not. Presently, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir requires special attention by the armed forces.

A jolt to BJP’s euphoria around Modi’s persona

Breaking 17 years old alliance with BJP in NDA, JD(U) with its secular face has given a jolt to the self created euphoria about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's popularity by BJP. Projecting Modi as its face, the BJP used its most formidable and popular leader without realizing that he would cause the apparent loss to its alliance in the parting of ways by one of its oldest alliances JD(U) with it because of his questionable secular credentials. Despite the known objection of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to the projection of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate for 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP has compelled JD(U) to part ways with it. The way BJP has projected Gujarat Chief Minister Naredra Modi as head of election campaign committee for 2014 Lok Sabha elections and thereby bringing him on national scene with all pomp and show has certainly made a perception among the public that he is going to be the face of the party in 2014 Lok Sabha. JD(U) had already made it clear that the candidate of prime minister in 2014 Lok Sabha elections must be of unquestionable secular credentials. Narendra Modi’s secular credentials are questionable because of his utter failure to control and contain 2002 riots in Gujarat. Undoubtedly, JD(U)’s parting of ways with BJP is belated and Nitish Kumar should have been instantly resigned in 2002 itself from Vajpayee’s Cabinet as Union Railways Minister, but to control and contain the riots is is the responsibility of as it is state subject and on this ground he may not have resigned at that time. JD(U) has also no alliance with BJP in Gujarat. Even former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had asked Modi to follow Rajdharm at that time. 2002 Gujarat riots were so vicious, terrifying and horrible that no civil society and more so the secular, democratic republic like ours would tolerate. Gujarat Chief Minister Naredra Modi allegedly turned his face away and allowed some marauders to kill the innocent children, women and men of a particular minority community. The persecution of a particular minority community with the intention of polarizing the majority community to gain favour in elections by any chief minister of the state is most condemnable and this must not be allowed in a secular nation. The leader against whom there are allegations of promoting acrimony between two communities with an eye on the benefit in elections must not deserve to be brought to national prominence. Naredra Modi may be the most successful and popular chief minister of Gujarat but this does not give him the certificate to rule the nation, which consists of 28 states like Gujarat and 7 Territories. With the parting of ways by JD(U) with BJP in NDA, secular and progressive forces who are neither aligned with Congress nor BJP has got a chance to form third front. It is also clear that with the weakening and shrinking of both Congress and BJP and regional parties emerging stronger and stronger in many states, the possibility of third front can not altogether be ruled out, though its life span has always been short lived.