The ‘Modi’ mantra!

 

 

The leader and the people are the two sides of the coin.

The goals and the attitude with which to achieve the goals

must be in matching wavelength between these two sets.

 

The people of India have reached their elastic limit

that enough is enough.

The exasperation expressed by the Angry Young Man

of the olden years on the Silver screen,

Mr Amitabh Bhacchan

showcases the feeling of every right thinking Indian.

(published below).

The answer for this exasperation must come from

a matching political leadership.

 

The need of the hour is a Leader

who not only knows what to deliver but also delivers.

Our people have all the capability to turn this nation into a happy place to live in.

But the political leadership that we have experienced so far

has just nothing of a sort in it to call itself a leader.

 

We need a strong man,

a man who is capable of calling a spade a spade

and treat every man as an Indian

and work through every issue

from the prism of development of India as a whole.

The one in sight is of course  Mr Modi

who has a proven record of ensuring prosperity in the face of terrible odds.

 

Just take a look at what this man has said.

 

May this hour of crisis open up a new leaf in the history of India

that will be administered by leaders

who are professional in approach,

patriotic in spirit and

treat all Indians as Indians

not as vote banks.

 

Jai Hind!

 

 

-jayasree

 

*************************************************

 

 

Modi moves centrestage, tells India what it wants to hear

 

Deepal Trivedi

 

 

http://www.dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2008/11/29/ArticleHtmls/29_11_2008_009_009.shtml?Mode=0#

 

 

 

TAKE ONE: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his trademark blue turban, face weary from many hours of hectic work, addressed a hurting nation on television. He condemned the Mumbai terror attacks and the assault on the country. Characteristically soft-spoken and affable, his clichéd language and jaded manner, complete with never-ending pauses, were more irritating than soothing.

 

Stay calm, he advised us. Don't believe rumours, he sermonised, as he briefly talked about national unity to tackle terrorism and make the perpetrators pay for their barbaric acts. TAKE TWO: He wanted to rush to Mumbai the very same day, but was reportedly advised against it by the Congress government in Maharashtra. The next day, he somehow managed. He was not allowed entry, for security reasons, at sensitive locations.

But still Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, with his characteristic aggressiveness, condemned the terrorist attack in a manner that touched many hearts. Standing outside the Trident Oberoi, he clearly spelt out Pakistan's role in the latest attacks and said what all Indians desperately wanted to hear:

Enough. Mumbai, you cannot, and will not, suffer alone. This attack is not on Mumbai alone but on the faith of the people of India.

A POLITICIAN is supposed to have a grip on the people's pulse. For 36 hours before Mr Modi spoke, there was no one to give the nation any hope. As terrorists continued to hold the entire world to ransom, using India as their base, leaving Indians traumatised and feeling absolutely helpless, Mr Modi became the first politician in the world's largest democracy to voice the people's concerns and echo the feelings of a majority of Indians in a tone and tenor that the country could identify with.

Mark this change as well: a majority of Indians, not a majority of Hindus.

On Friday, unlike in the past, Mr Modi decisively, and perhaps intuitively, stayed away from divisive language. He spoke of India, he spoke of the nation and, most importantly, he spoke as a national leader — something which even his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has not yet acknowledged formally.

 

Mr Modi's Friday politics will get him many supporters, even some from the "secular" category who now coyly admit that his stance on terror in Mumbai was much better than the Prime Minister's. Needless to say, terrorism will be the plank for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and trust me when I say, nobody will dwell more emotionally on this than Mr Modi.

After his speech the Internet was flooded with mails from concerned Indians, and several foreigners from across the globe, lauding his "raw" politics. "Put Modi in charge… Replace the Prime Minister of India for a year," many wrote, appreciating that Mr Modi had spoken to them in their language.

 

His carefully chosen nuances clearly conveyed his stand: Zero tolerance towards terrorism. Mr Modi's message was that terrorism cannot be allowed to win. It's unfortunate that this basic message, aimed at instilling confidence and hope in a wounded nation, a message the nation so desperately needed, did not come from the powers that are ruling and governing the nation. It, instead, came from the chief minister of a state.

 

Politics is about packaging and populism, and denying this would be naive. Mr Modi's speech and stand on Mumbai terror is a clear signal of the bigger national role he aspires to.

 

Soon after Mr Modi's visit, his detractors, mostly at the Centre, cried foul. They derided him for dragging politics into a war on terror. They accused him of indulging in politics of populism. He broke the truce, they screamed. But many applauded him for calling a spade a spade.

 

Even Congressmen have spoken out, albeit only off the record, of how uninspiring and demotivating Dr Singh was in his crucial national address. That is further credit to Mr Modi.

 

Yes, Mr Modi's Mumbai visit and speech were carefully calculated to consolidate his position as a strong entrant into national politics, and he indulged in what the Congress dubs "populist tactics". But Mr Modi has earned himself the tag of being the "voice of India". Because when he spoke to harried Indians, he sounded more like a nationalist than a state chief minister or a politician. Diplomatically, but assertively, he touched on Islamabad violating international norms and how serious it was that Pakistan's territory was used by terrorists.

 

Strangely, all that Mr Modi said, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani repeated a few hours later, also in Mumbai.

 

There is always a first-mover advantage, and that seems to have firmly established Mr Modi's position in pan-India politics as a leader of substance.

 

The Gujarat chief minister, who has been persistently demanding a stringent law to curb terrorist activities in Gujarat through special legislation that the Centre has been consistently rejecting (the Bill cleared by the Modi government needs the Centre's clearance before it becomes a law), was savvy enough not to utter a word about it in Mumbai. Politics is all about right timing. So why rake up a Gujarat matter when he could talk about international terrorism and Pakistan?

 

The international community has already noted that the Congress-led UPA had scrapped Pota, a federal anti-terrorism law which strengthened witness protection and enhanced police powers. A Wall Street Journal article recently said, "…it was a Congress government that kowtowed to fundamentalist pressure and made India the first country to ban Mumbai-born Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses in 1988". And its editorial on Mumbai terror attacks said, "...the Congress party has stalled similar state-level legislation in Gujarat, which is ruled by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party." Is there anybody out there who does not know Mr Narendra Modi now and his stance towards terrorism?

 

But it did require a Narendra Modi to tell us that the Prime Minister was disappointing in his address and attitude towards terrorism. This is Mr Modi's uncanny ability of blending populism with pragmatism. He has made India believe that the UPA government's cluelessness about national security starts right from the top. And this is, perhaps, how Mr Modi's journey to the top begins.

 

********************************************************

 

Amitabh in his blog

Posted on: November 30, 2008 - 2:08 am

http://bigb.bigadda.com/2008/11/30/day-220/

 

I lament the way in which friends and close well wishers urge the people of this country to stand up and show solidarity by lighting a candle in our windows; by showing strength of revolt in collecting in the evening hours at the Gateway of India, in showing a body of co operation and togetherness.

NO !! Excuse me ! I will not do that !

Had they not been friends, I would have been ruder.

This is no time to demonstrate gesture. This is the time for me to listen to a leader that shall strongly assure me of what needs to be done and will do it ! This is the time for each citizen of this country to act and behave in a dictated disciplined profile. This is the time for those that lead, to educate us all in a common curriculum bearing a common code of conduct. A code that shall bind us all as one collective strength. If the invader has been psychologically brain washed into believing that what he is doing to us is ordained through divine intervention, then let him face 1.2 billion brains that have been ordained in unison to 'teach' him how horribly wrong he is.

 

For too long we have remained the servile submissive nation. There has been no strong adjective to describe our character. When you meet an Indian abroad and when you ask where he is from he invariably states the State he comes from, not the country. A motorist on a street in Mumbai will willingly open the door of his car and decorate the road with his colorful mucus lined spit. Same motorist in Singapore will not dare to perform similar feat. A cyclist at 2 in the morning on a deserted street in London shall respect the red light at a signal and wait for it to turn green before crossing it. He not only depicts discipline, he reflects the character of his country. Here even in the busiest moments of the day, the red light at a crossing is an indicator to 'GO' !!

Casual terror and the Public as casualty – that is Congress way!

 

'Shocked' PM forgets his terrible record

Kanchan Gupta 

(Sunday, November 30, 2008 Pioneer)

 

http://dailypioneer.com/137775/%27Shocked%27-PM-forgets-his-terrible-record.html

 

The Congress believes, yes it really does, that its leaders alone have the right to 'politicise' national security while others should treat it as a 'national issue' above partisan politics. So, the Congress has been prompt in berating the BJP for suggesting that the pusillanimous UPA Government is to blame for the repeated terrorist strikes and the attendant death, destruction and devastation across the country.

 

 The 60-hour siege of Mumbai by fidayeen is the latest instance of India suffering yet another grievous blow at the hands of jihadis for whom slaughtering innocent people is the highest tribute to their faith.

But after reprimanding the BJP for criticising the Government and thus 'politicising' terrorism, the Congress has had no compunctions about 'politicising' the grief and misery inflicted by mass murderers.

On Saturday, the Congress issued a full-page advertisement in its favourite newspaper, listing the various terrorist strikes during the NDA years, casually mentioning the fidayeen attacks in Mumbai, saluting the security personnel killed in these incidents, and then preachily declaring that terrorism is a "national issue, not a political game".

The purpose was to influence people in Delhi hours before they stepped out of their homes to cast their votes in Saturday's Assembly election. 

The advertisement raises two issues, both related to political morality and ethics, which are alien to the Congress and its amoral and unethical leaders.

First, according to this advertisement, there have been no terrorist attacks in India between the audacious strike on the Red Fort on December 22, 2000, and the November 26, 2008 assault on Mumbai. This, as every Indian knows, is a blatant lie. I have before me a list of terrorist attacks ever since the present impotent regime headed by an effete Prime Minister took charge of this country's affairs after a scrambled election result helped the Congress to regain power at the Centre in the summer of 2004.

 

The first attack was on August 16, 2004. The latest was on November 26, 2008. In between we have had terrorists visiting Delhi twice, raiding the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, attacking Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi, blowing up commuter trains in Mumbai, killing people at an amphitheatre in Hyderabad, blowing up bogies of the Samjhauta Express, and setting off bombs in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Assam. According to the propagandists of the Congress, none of this has happened!

The second issue raised by Saturday's advertisement is about the Congress saluting the security personnel who have laid down their lives while fighting terrorists and protecting the nation. If any value is to be attached to the advertisement, we must conclude that the Congress is reluctant to salute Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma of Delhi Police who, like Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, was shot dead by terrorists. This is because the Congress wanted to send out, ever so slyly, a message to Muslim voters in Jamia Nagar for whom MC Sharma is not a hero but a villain because he dared raid a terrorist hideout in their locality.

 

We must also presume, since there is no evidence to the contrary, that the advertisement was endorsed, if not cleared, by the Prime Minister. This speaks volumes about the integrity quotient of a man whose honesty, as claimed by his admirers, admittedly a rapidly disappearing exotic breed, is beyond reproach. Perhaps the Prime Minister needs to be reminded that only cowards take recourse to lies to cover up their failures.

Meanwhile, we had the occasion to hear the Prime Minister address a shaken nation 24 hours after the siege of Mumbai began.

In his by now familiar laboured style, he expressed his "shock" at "the dastardly terror attacks. "I strongly condemn these acts of senseless violence," he added. So what's new?

"I share the shock and distress of all those affected by these blasts," the Prime Minister said on October 29, 2005, after the bombings in Delhi on Dhanteras.

He was "shocked" on March 7, 2006, after the Sankat Mochan temple bombing.

On July 12, 2006, he did not quite say that he was 'shocked' by the Mumbai commuter train bombings, but he did say, "No one can make India kneel" and promised that his "Government will do whatever is required" to deal with terrorism.

On February 19, 2007, the Prime Minister was more than 'shocked' by the Samjhauta Express bombings — he was "anguished" and promised the "culprits will be caught".

On hearing about the serial bombings in Jaipur on May 13, 2008, the Prime Minister was again "shocked" and condemned "this dastardly attack".

On July 28, 2008, after visiting Ahmedabad following the serial bombings, he took care to mention that he accompanied Ms Sonia Gandhi before expressing "solidarity with the people of Gujarat".

On September 13, 2008, he "condemned the serial blasts in Delhi"; a month-and-a-half later, on October 30, 2008, he "strongly condemned" the Assam bombings. 

The Prime Minister now mocks at the victims of terrorism and seeks to fool the people of this country by declaring,

"We are not prepared to countenance a situation in which the safety and security of our citizens can be violated with impunity by terrorists... We will take the strongest possible measures to ensure that there is no repetition of such terrorist attacks."

Having countenanced repeated terrorist attacks, which the Congress now brazenly pretends never took place, and silently witnessed the safety and security of our citizens being violated with impunity by terrorists, the Prime Minister now expects the people to believe that he shall join battle with the merchants of death.

 

To prove that he means business, he had his Government, such as it is, to put out the bogus claim that he had summoned the Director-General of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and the Pakistani Government had meekly conceded his demand. In an interview to Karan Thapar for his television show, Devil's Advocate, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has rubbished this claim.

 

According to Mr Zardari, the Prime Minister, in a telephonic talk with him on Friday, had requested for sending a 'director' — a mid-level bureaucrat in the official hierarchy. "There was a miscommunication... We had announced that a director will come from my side... That is what was requested by the Prime Minister and that is what we agreed," Mr Zardari said.

That the Prime Minister, after all his bluster, should settle for talks with a director of the Pakistan Government so as to "take the strongest possible measures to ensure that there is no repetition of such terrorist acts" is a measure of his true intention. 

 

 

Terror attack - a National Humiliation

 

It was a national humiliation

 

Arvind Lavakare

 

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14808303

 

Hang your heads in shame, my countrymen. Do it because a dozen-odd terrorists traveled 500 nautical miles of the Arabian sea from Karachi to Mumbai's Gateway of India, just opposite the grandiose Taj Mahal Hotel and proceeded to humble the city of 16.4 million into utter helpless ness for over 48 hours even as over 125 civilians and some distinguished professional security men lost their lives to the hand grenades and rifle bullets of a fanatical mindset. It was a humiliation worse than the drubbing the Chinese army gave us in 1961.

' Special: Mumbai under siege'

It was because our motherland, India, is a soft nation, tested and proven so several times. Despite the weighty evidence of Clement Atlee, the Britain's post World War II prime minister to the contrary, the Congress party brainwashed the entire nation, including the press, that it was the non-violence strategy of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi that brought us independence.

Atlee had expressed fears regarding the rage of Subhash Chandra Bose's Indian National Army as a reason for its decision to give us independence; another reason was that World War II had liquidated the British Empire and left it to ration even eggs to the citizens of England. But Gandhi disliked Bose's guts and gumption and Nehru sent the officers of the valiant INA to a secret trial in the Red Fort.

Complete coverage of Mumbai terror drama

Thus, even as the Congress of Gandhi and Nehru, his pampered disciple, ahimsa, non-violence, became the motto of our motherland. So bad has this become over the last 60 years that today even killing a stray dog on the street, however vicious and sick, has become a crime, courtesy another Gandhi, Maneka by name.

Take the more serious issue of terrorism. Excepting during the Khalistan uprising in the eighties that was ultimately doused by K.P.S. Gill and his brave police force, our country's approach to terrorism has all along been tepid and timid, castrated and impotent.

Because almost all the terrorist acts in recent years have involved Muslims as the perpetrators, and because of the Congress fetish of appeasing the minority Muslim community at any cost, our soft national psyche inherited from Gandhi, our response to terrorism has become a combination of impotence and vote bank politics sought to be covered by rhetoric and pleas for peace.

Images: Moving in for the kill

At every stage of our every "encounter" with a terrorist act, our collective national response has been reactive rather than active, defensive rather than offensive. Public statements are issued, action is promised. Period. Nothing else really happens.

At the base of it all is the shameful fact that we choose to be confused by terrorism. We are not sure whether to treat it as a law and order problem or as an act of war against the nation. Our elite journalists of the print and TV/radio world are not even sure as to whether to describe those who indulge in an act of terror as "militants" or "terrorists".

Reams of newspaper reports are testimony to this confusion. The latest Mumbai drama was no different as one prominent TV channel kept on describing the killed terrorists as "militants". Politicians are, or choose to be, equally confused in this simple matter.

Yes, it is a simple matter because the English dictionary will tell you that a militant is one who confronts, face to face, not one who wears a mask; and this militant does not wield an AK 47 or throws hand grenades or detonates a bomb with remote control mechanism.

Further, we have had the phrase "terrorism act" well defined in one of our Constitutional documents right from 1985.

Called "The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order", it empowered Parliament to enact any law to prevent "terrorist acts" and went on to define "terrorist act" as "any act or thing by using bombs, dynamite or other explosive substances or inflammable substances or firearms or other lethal weapons or poisons or noxious gases or other chemicals or any other substances (whether biological or otherwise) of a hazardous nature." By corollary, the perpetrator of a "terrorist act" is a "terrorist If you get your concepts right; the right action will follow --- provided you love your country more than your political party or your own advancement in political circles.

Tragically, that hasn't happened in our country so far and is unlikely to ever happen till, heaven forbid, a colossal and unbelievable act of terror paralyses the entire country into a daze.

Just recall some events of recent years. The UPA government that came in 2004 quickly repealed the Prevention of Terrorist Act (POTA) which the Vajpayee-led NDA government had introduced after the ghastly attack in December 2001.

It was not withdrawn because of its stringent features but because it was allegedly misused against the minorities (read Muslims). The basic fact was that the Congress, which heads the UPA sarkar, wanted to appease and win over the Muslims with one more lollipop.

Amusingly enough, any call by the BJP for the re-introduction of POTA or some such tough law is counterattacked by the Congress. "Did your POTA prevent the attack on the Akshardham Temple?" they ask.

Forgotten in this child-like question is that it was POTA that secured the conviction of Afzal Guru. Forgotten is that the acceptance of a confession to the police as evidence (considered a draconian legal provision) was what led to the conviction under TADA of Rajiv Gandhi's assassins.

In several other areas as well, our successive governments have failed to act in ways so crucial to minimize, if not totally stop, the reign of terror that now occurs so frequently that from a tragedy it has become a joke for the cynic.

Take the policing of our urban areas which are the focal points of terrorism. Lt General Sinha recently disclosed that in the last sixty years after Independence the number of police stations in the country has increased by a laughable 15 per cent over the figure of 12,000 that existed then.

In contrast, he says, our population has increased four times in that same period even as policing has become so much more complex than before.

Further, whatever police force available is overworked but underpaid, apart from being manipulated and exploited by their political bosses. That is why, at least Mumbai's policemen, and policewomen , look so unfit, almost obese, and so blank in face.

Ditto with our Intelligence force. Marginal increase in their strength has occurred, but assignments include assessment of likely performance of the ruling party in the coming elections. And why the National Security Advisor should have been involved so much in the Indo-US nuclear deal as he actually was is a mystery.

Then there's the human rights industry and our politicians' concern for it much beyond national interest. And there's that impractical concern for "guilty beyond reasonable doubt" even in matters of terrorism. If cockroaches had votes and rats had a religion, our politicians would enact a law prohibiting killing of those two living species as well.

Imagine the People's Democratic Party of Jammu & Kashmir granting pensions from government to families of slain terrorists. Imagine, the Prime Minister himself disclosing his sleepless night over the plight of the mother of an Indian Muslim held in police custody in Australia on suspicion of being involved in a bomb blast but not over the plight of mothers of thousands of his innocent countrymen killed in terrorist violence.

Imagine two Cabinet Ministers oppose the ban on SIMI despite the latter's proven guilt. Imagine one Cabinet Minister wanting all illegal migrants from Bangladesh to be given full citizenship rights, when it is well-known that many among them have links with terrorists. Imagine another Cabinet Minister approving of a University vice chancellor's decision to deploy funds provided by a foreign government to be utilized for the legal defence of two of his University students accused of involvement in terrorist violence.

Read all columns by Lavakare

Imagine, lastly, that amounts running into thousands of crores have been spent on the Haj subsidy for Muslims but the security of our very long coastline on the west is so ill-funded that terrorists can come from Karachi across the Arabian Sea to Mumbai without being spotted.

Contrast all of this is typically indolent-cum-idealistic-cum-selfish Indian attitude to the stark realism and patriotism of the USA when 9/11 occurred in 2001. One thing that nation did shortly after that dastardly day was the enactment by the USA Congress of what's come to be known as the USA Patriot Act. That nomenclature is really an acronym, and the full name of that legislation is "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001". If a name can arouse emotions, that one certainly does. And however draconian that law has been, it has prevented the recurrence of 9/11.

Unless the whole young nation of ours forgets non-violence as a magic mantra and unless our politicians show a commitment similar to that of the USA to engage in a literal war against terror, we shall continue to allow just about a dozen-odd terrorists to humiliate an entire nation for over 48 hours, even as a naïve Prime Minister calls the Pakistan chief of intelligence to share info with us.

 

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Arvind Lavakare may be 71, but the fire in his belly burns stronger than in many people half his age. The economics post-graduate worked with the Reserve Bank of India and several private and public sector companies before retiring in 1997. His first love, however, remains sports. An accredited cricket umpire in Mumbai, he has reported and commented on cricket matches for newspapers, Doordarshan and AIR. Lavakare has also been regularly writing on politics since 1997, and published a monograph, The Truth About Article 370, in 2005.

Why do terrorists kill??

Why do terrorist uncles kill, Aishwarya?

http://sites.google.com/site/hindunow/mumbai-s-9-11--islamist-jehadi-terror

The world owes an answer to Aishwarya's observation and to make the globe safe for her and future generations.

The most poignant statement to come out of the 26/11 Mumbai terror is that of a Class VII student: 'The terrorist uncle was shooting.'

Why does the uncle terrorist shoot to kill? This fundamental question has to be answered first before appropriate remedies are worked out by the civilized world which the innocent Aishwarya Gaekwad represents.

Why does an islamist jihadi terrorist kill innocent citizens? What is the message he is trying to convey after getting trained in handling weapons of death? Why does an army without a state (Pakistan) allow the training of such terrorists? Is it because Pakistan itself was born out of the same fundamentalist religious dogma represented by wahhabi world-view that every non-believer (kufr) is fit only to be killed?

Surely, many pundits will have many analyses and many answers and even brilliant solutions to offer. Nazi terror had its roots in sowing hatred in the minds of youth. Islamist jihadi terror also has its roots in sowing hatred in the minds of youth.

Until the islamist jihadi foundation which is interpreted to justify killing innocent citizens is eradicated from the face of the globe, the uncle terrorists will continue to kill, Aishwarya. As you grow up, let us hope that the pundits of the present generation will do well to leave a peaceful world for you to live in.

It is simply a fundamental philosophical problem of the meaning of life. The islamist jihadi uncle finds the meaning in death. The terrorist uncles seem to think that the non-believers have no right to life and that the terrorist uncle has a responsibility to kill and an ordained duty to create a globe full of 'believers'.

Uncle terrorist ain't no uncle, Aishwarya. He is an indoctrinated animal masquerading as human.

Is there hope that Obama will be the transformational leader in-charge of the super-cop country and work with Hindusthan to rid the world of jihadist terror? Step 1 is to enrol Hindusthan as a partner in eliminating the terror central in Hindusthan's borders and to break up Pakistan. Hindusthan herself should mend her ways of cuddling terrorists and make a resolve to eliminate terror from the globe. Let there be a Step 1 in Hindusthan to enact a Patriot Act as in USA and to build a Martyrs' Memorial (comparable to the Holocaust Museum) to honour the brave aatman who have laid down their lives in support of freedom and dharma.

Dr S. kalyanaraman

'Mumbai has become Kashmir'

Archana Masih in Mumbai

November 28, 2008 | 19:32 IST

The Batliwala chawl is opposite Nariman House, where commandos have waged a 40-hour battle against terrorists. Last night, its residents were evacuated as the operation intensified.

"The terrorist uncle was shooting. I could hear the guns and was terrified. I also saw one uncle climb up the pipe," says Aishwarya Gaekwad, a Class VII student, innocently.

The residents of the chawl spent the first night and the next day, huddled together. They were too afraid to sleep, or look out of the window. As evening fell, they were evacuated. While others went to stay with family and friends, a group of families from Batliwala chawl, took refuge at a Shiv Sena shakha nearby.

Over a lunch of rice and curried vegetable provided for them, they say Nariman House was regularly visited by foreigners. But never did they think it would become the epicentre of a battle with terrorists.

They do not know when the ordeal will be over, when their lane will be secure and when things will be normal again. The last two days have left the residents of this busy Colaba market area in extended disbelief.

"I used to walk home every night through this lane outside Nariman House and look what is happening there now?" says Rahul Rakh who works at a cyber cafe nearby. He hasn't gone for work for two days, because the cyber cafe along with other shops in the cordoned area has been closed.

He feels he has a sort of unexplainable proximity to the horror that has unfolded around him. "I feel so weird, terrorists took over a building near my home and work place -- and Cama hospital, which became a target of their attack, was where I was born."

Just like many others in the maze of lanes around Nariman House, Rahul and his friends have been trying to get as close as the police would allow them to see what is happening.

Often personnel from the Rapid Action Force, clear them off and prevent them from assembling in groups but curious onlookers keep on coming.

Vikram Singh and his friends have come from Matunga in north-central Mumbai to see what is happening. Yesterday, they went to all the other spots of the attacks -- VT, Taj, Oberoi, Cama -- "Do you want to see the firing?" he asks, "I can take you through the back lanes and show you."

Explaining his presence, he says he has come to help but does not know exactly what to do. "For my country I can do anything, if I had a gun and was allowed to go in, I would have also gone and taken on terrorists," he says vehemently and goes on vent his disappointment at the Mumbai police.

"They can only pull you over and bully you, they are such a failure when it comes ensuring security. They need young cops, better weapons and good training."

Mumbai is beloved to him and its repeated destruction anguishes him. He says he sees his beloved city lurch from one terror strike to another with no government plan to confront it. "Mumbai has become Kashmir, it is so tragic" he says, getting ready to ride pillion on his friend's bike to go to another terror spot.

http://www.rediff.com///news/2008/nov/28-mumbai-has-become-kashmir.htm

Scotland Yard team to probe British link in terror attack

November 28, 2008 | 20:23 IST

The United Kingdom will investigate the reports claiming two of the eight terrorists arrested in the Mumbai terror attack are British nationals.

A nine-member team from Scotland Yard has left for Mumbai to probe the British links of the arrested terrorists.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had told a TV channel on Friday that two arrested terrorists were 'British citizens of Pakistani origin'.

The attack, in which the terrorists unleashed terror in 13 places across South Mumbai before taking over two luxury hotels and a building inhabited by Israelis, has already claimed 155 lives.

Reacting to the reports, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would not be drawn into early conclusions, reports The Telegraph.

Terming the terror attacks 'atrocious', Brown told Sky News, "Obviously when you have terrorists operating in one country, they may be getting support from another country or coming from another country, and it is very important that we strengthen the co-operation between India and Britain in dealing with these instances of terrorist attacks."

He is expected to call up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the situation in Mumbai later today.
One British citizen, Andreas Liveras, has been killed in the terror attack while seven have are reportedly injured.

http://www.rediff.com///news/2008/nov/28scotland-yard-team-to-probe-british-link-in-terror-attack.htm

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Arrested terrorist says gang hoped to get away

29 Nov 2008, 0515 hrs IST, TNN

NEW DELHI: The gang of terrorists who wreaked mayhem in Mumbai for three days were made to believe by their Lashkar bosses that they were not being sent on a suicide mission and that they would be coming back alive.

In a sensational disclosure made by Ajmal, the jihadi nabbed alive by Mumbai cops, the group had planned to sail out on Thursday. Their recruiters had even charted out the return route for them and stored it on the GPS device which they had used to navigate their way to the Mumbai shoreline.

This suggests that the terrorists were willing to undertake a mission which they knew would be very risky, but not necessarily suicidal.

Sources said that the bait of safe return must have been used by the recruiters to convince the wavering among the group to join the audacious plot against Mumbai.

Ajmal made another important disclosure: that all terrorists were trained in marine warfare along with the special course Daura-e-Shifa conducted by the Lashkar-e-Toiba in what at once transforms the nature of the planning from a routine terror strike and into a specialized raid by commandos.

Battle-hardened ATS officials are surprised by the details of the training the terrorists were put through before being despatched for the macabre mission. This was very different from a terrorist attack, and amounted to an offensive from the seam, said a source.

Ajmal has revealed the name of his fellow jihadis all Pakistani citizens as Abu Ali, Fahad, Omar, Shoaib, Umer, Abu Akasha, Ismail, Abdul Rahman (Bara) and Abdul Rahman (Chhota).

The account of Ajmal also strengthens the doubt of the complicity of powerful elements in the Pakistani establishment. According to him, the group set off on November 21 from an isolated creek near Karachi without the deadly cargo of arms and ammunition they were to use against the innocents in Mumbai. The group received arms and ammunition on board a large Pakistani vessel which picked them up the following day. The vessel, whose ownership is now the subject of an international probe, had four Pakistanis apart from the crew.

A day later, they came across an Indian-owned trawler, Kuber, which was promptly commandeered on the seas. Four of the fishermen who were on the trawler were killed, but its skipper, or tandel in fishermen lingo, Amarjit Singh, was forced to proceed towards India. Amarjit was killed the next day, and Ismail the terrorist who was killed at Girgaum Chowpaty took the wheel.

A trained sailor, Ismail used the GPS to reach Mumbai coast on November 26. The group, however, slowed down its advance as they had reached during the day time while the landing was planned after dusk. The group shifted to inflatable boats, before disembarking at Badhwar Park in Cuffe Parade.

From there, they mandated to kill indiscriminately, particularly white foreign tourists, and spare Muslims split up into five batches. Two of them Ismail and Ajmal took a taxi to Victoria Terminus. Three other batches of two each headed for Oberoi Hotel, Cafe Leopold and Nariman House. The remaining four went to Taj Hotel.

He may have been motivated enough to kill innocents indiscriminately. In police custody, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the terrorist who was caught alive by the Mumbai police at Girgaum Chowpatty, has been forthcoming with details about the attack on Mumbai and his accomplices, all suspected Lashkar operatives from Pakistan.

Kasab, who sustained minor injuries in the police firing that killed his partner Abu Ismail (25) on Wednesday night, was produced before the Esplanade Metropolitan Magistrate on Friday. The magistrate remanded him to police custody till December 8. Incidentally, Kasab and Ismail were the two who gunned down ATS chief Hemant Karkare, additional CP Ashok Kamthe and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.

Kasab told the police that he and 9 others got off a vessel about 10 nautical miles from Mumbai and shifted to two boats hijacked from fishermen.

One source in ATS familiar with the details of the interrogation quoted him saying that in all 16 fidayeens came to Mumbai on Wednesday. A native of Faridkot in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), 21-year-old Kasab told police they had done a reccee of Mumbai few months ago. He said he had come along with eight of the operatives to Mumbai as students and lived in a rented room at Colaba market, a stone's throw away from Nariman House.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3771598,prtpage-1.cms

The Taj Hotel in flames – some astrological connotations.

 

 

Apart from the great human tragedy,

it is very disturbing to see the majestic Taj hotel

with gun and grenade shots and

tongues of flames leaping out of it here and there.

The immediate thought that comes to my mind is

what could have gone wrong at the time

when this beautiful building was built.

 

 

Because according to astrological texts, particularly

'Vishwakarma Prakashika', the ancient book on Vastu principles

that guides us in building structures to last long and with prosperity,

the time of staring the construction is very important

as to make it last for even 1000 years and

without undergoing any mishaps at any time in its life.

 

 

For instance, if the construction of a structure is started

in Meena (Pisces) lagna with Venus in exaltation in it,

that structure would certainly live for a minimum of 1000 years.

 

 

If started in Aries lagna with Jupiter in exaltaion (in the 4^th house of cancer)

similar result will be obtained.

 

 

Or if it is started in Dhanur lagna (Sagittarius)

with Saturn in exaltation in Libra,

the same result can be obtained.

 

 

Vishwakarma says this in chapter 3-27,

 

"SvOccasthOvA BhrugrlagnE SvOccE JIvE SukahstitE

SvOccE lAbhagatE MandE shasrAnA,samAh sthith"

 

 

 

But it must be ensured that there are

no malefic combinations of planets at that time.

If Mars is at the constellations of

Magha, Moola, Pushyami, Poorva phalguni, Hastha or Revathy,

the structure will be burnt down.

 

 

If the structure is started on a Monday

when Mars is in one of the constellations of

Moola, Revathy, Krittika, Poorvashaada, Poorva phalguni, Hastah or Magha,

the structure will be in fire.

 

 

The star, Krittika must be  avoided as a general rule.

If the sun or moon  are in Krittika when the structure is started,

it will experience fire accidents.

 

 

The avoidance of agni nakshathra days for construction activity

is in a way because of  the severe nature of Krittika star

in burning down the action done in its days -

when it is traversed by the sun.

 

 

Apart from these, general malefic conditions

such as Mars in the 8^th,

planets in debility or enmity,

and lagna hemmed between malefics

do not ensure long life for the structure.

Such conditions also are wrought with loss

with reference to the structure.

 

 

Another important issue to be looked into

is about the position of Saturn at the time of beginning the structure.

A malefic yoga called 'Kripana yoga' is caused

if Saturn is in the constellations of

Bharani, Poorva phalguni, Swathi,

Anusha, Jyeshta, Poorvashaada,

Dhanishta or poorva bhaadrapada.

The structure will experience haunting and destruction

as a result of this.

 

 

This Kripana yoga must be looked into,

For,  Saturn would stay in a star for a long time.

When the house is planned, the Saturn's position must be first assessed

so that the starting of the work can be planned

when Saturn is not in these constellations.

 

 

The timing for starting the construction is different from

the timing for entry (pravesha) into the building.

 

For instance, the star Shravana (ThiruvOnam) is good

for staring the construction,

but not for entry.

Apart from Shravana, there are other stars such as

Punarvasu,

Swathi,

Hastha and

Ashwini

which are not recommended for entry.

If Grahapravesha is done in these constellations

the building will not stay with the owner.

It will go into other's hands.

 

 

India under attack!

It is an attack on India.

It is the price we are paying for having a government

that is soft on terrorism and knows nothing other than the vote bank.

The anti terror activity is too busy to an extent

to ‘invent’ Hindu links to the previous attacks,

that the threat- call to finish the ATS chief was just ignored as a hoax.

When every sinew in the anti-terror cell was diverted to pin down

Sadhvis and army men,

the real terrorists have happily gone ahead with their agenda.

The ATS Chief is finished, so also the Nation’s faith in its Government.

My kids wondered how come every important city of India had been attacked,

(or at least has been on the hit-list)

while our Singaara – Chennai is spared!

I think it is because our TN does not pose a threat to terrorists of any kind –

from those across the Palk Strait to the home-grown ones,

nor oppose terrorists of any outfit.

“Vandhaarai vaazha vaikkum thamizhagam idu”.

So it wont be a surprise if the Deccan Mujahideen who have claimed responsibility

for the present crisis in Mumbai,

have had links to or groomed in camps in TN.

Tamilnadu is certainly safe, thanks to Mr Karunanidhi’s policies!

-jayasree

*******************************

Pune JCP confirms threat to blow up ATS chief's house

An anonymous caller, who used a PCO to contact Pune police, threatened to blow up the residence of Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Chief Hemant Karkare "within a couple of days", a top official confirmed on Wednesday.

The caller who spoke a few lines in Marathi on November 24 evening cut the line after giving the threat, Rajendra Sonavane, Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP), told PTI.

The call was later traced to a Public booth in Sahkar Nagar area of the city, he added.

Asked whether it was being seen as a 'hoax', Sonavane said police were taking all such threats seriously in the present scenario and the Mumbai ATS had been informed duly about the threat call.

However, the police control room, when contacted on Tuesday night, had denied receiving any such threat to Karkare.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=885fc036-0d7e-43d4-9f52-11114066f43davail.

Timeline of Attacks in India

March 12, 1993: A series of thirteen explosions in Mumbai, then called Bombay, resulted in 257 deaths and over 700 injuries. The blasts were orchestrated by the organized crime syndicate called the D-Company, headed by Dawood Ibrahim.

Feb. 14, 1998: Coimbatore bombings: 46 deaths, 200 wounded as a result of 13 bomb attacks in 11 places.

Oct. 1, 2001: Militants attack Jammu & Kashmir Assembly complex in Srinagar, killing about 35. The Muslim extremist group Jaish-e-Mohammed was allegedly involved.

Dec. 13, 2001: Attack on the Indian Parliament complex in New Delhi led to the killing of a dozen people and 18 injured. Pakistan-based terror groups were blamed for the attack.

Sept. 24, 2002: Akshardham temple in Gujarat: The first major hostage taking since Sept. 11 in the U.S.; 31 people were killed and another 79 wounded.

May 14, 2002: Militants attack on an Army camp near Jammu, killing more than 30 people.

March 13, 2003: A bomb attack on a commuter train in Mumbai killed 11.

Aug. 25, 2003: Twin car bombings in Mumbai killed at least 52 people and injured 150. Indian officials blamed a Pakistan-based terror outfit.

Aug. 15, 2004: An explosion in the northeastern state of Assam killed 16 people, mostly school children.

July 5, 2005: Militants attack the Ram Janmabhoomi complex, the site of the destroyed Babri Mosque at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

Oct. 29, 2005: Three powerful serial blasts rocked the busy shopping areas of south Delhi, two days before the Hindu festival of Diwali, killing 59 and injuring 200. A Pakistan-based terrorist outfit, the Islamic Inquilab Mahaz (believed to have links with Lashkar-e-Taiba) claimed responsibility.

March 7, 2006: A series of bombings in the holy city of Varanasi killed at least 28 and injured 101. Indian police put the blame on some Pakistan-based terror outfits.

July 11, 2006: Seven bomb blasts occurred at various places on the Mumbai Suburban Railway, killing 200. Investigations revealed that terror outfits with a base in Pakistan were behind the blasts.

Sept. 8, 2006: At least 37 people were killed and 125 were injured in a series of bomb blasts in the vicinity of a mosque in Malegaon, Maharashtra. The blasts were followed by an explosion and most of the people killed were Muslim pilgrims. The students Islamic Movement of India was responsible.

May 18, 2007: A bombing during Friday prayers at Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad, killed 13 people. Four were killed by Indian police in the rioting that followed.

May 26, 2007: Six people killed and 30 injured in a bomb blast in India's northeastern city of Guwahati.

June 10, 2007: Gunmen killed 11 people in separate incidents of firing in Manipur's border town of Moreh.

Aug. 25, 2007: Forty-two people killed and 50 injured in twin explosions at a crowded park and a popular eatery in Hyderabad by Harkat-ul-Jehad-i-Islami (HuJI) activist.

May 13, 2008: A series of six explosions tore through Jaipur, a popular tourist destination in the Rajasthan state in western India, killing 63 people and injuring more than 150.

July 25, 2008: Seven blasts in quick succession across the south Indian tech city of Bangalore killed one and injured more than 150 people.

July 26, 2008: Serial blasts in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad killed 45 people and injured more than 150. A group calling itself Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility.

Sept. 13, 2008: Five bomb blasts in New Delhi's popular shopping centers left 21 people dead and more than 100 injured. The Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility.

Sept. 27, 2008: A blast in a New Delhi flower market left one dead.

Oct. 30, 2008: Thirteen bomb blasts in India's northeastern state of Assam and three other towns left at least 61 people dead more than 300 injured.

Related post:-

http://bengalunderattack.blogspot.com/2008/11/900-growth-of-islamic-population.html

Rama- a true son of the soil!

Lanka was described in many ancient texts as a Heaven on earth.

It was said to have been built by the architect of the Gods, Vishwakarma

as a replica of Indra's abode at Amaravathy.

This has been mentioned in Sangam texts too in the context of praising Chola kings who were the descendents of King Sibi, cousine of Sri Rama.

The Lanka was mentioned as "thoongeyil" –

a city similar to Amaravathy that was hanging from the sky.

The verses in sangam recall the 'One' who destroyed this city.

It is none other than Sri Rama.

(Pura nanuru -39

Siripaanaattru-padai – 79-82

Pazhamozhi- 49

Silappadhikaram – 29- 16 -4/5

Manimegalai- 1-4

Tholkaappiyam – Kalavu- Su 11

Kalingatthu-p-paraNi – Raja- 17

Raja raja Chozhan vula – 13

Vikrama Chozhan vula 8-9

Thiruvaalangadu copper plate inscriptions ).

This city was the most beautiful one,

built at the request of demon kings such as Maalyavan, Sumaali etc

but abandoned by them when they were driven to deep south by Vishnu.

This abandoned city which was still glowing with Nature's glory

came to be occupied by Kubera, the step brother of Ravana.

Later Ravana forcibly occupied this city.

After Rama conquered Lanka,

he was asked by Lakshmana who was overwhelmed by the beauty of Lanka,

why he should not make that city his permanent abode.

Rama replied,

'Jananee janmabhoomishcha svargaadapi gariyasi'

Mother and motherland is greater by far than even heaven".

From Dr Subramanian Swamy's recent article,

"Rama's devotion to motherland was total and unconditional

as revealed when he said to Lakshmana, according to Valmiki Ramayana,

while in Lanka that:

Jananee janmabhoomishcha svargaadapi gariyasi

which as translated by Maharishi Aurobindo means:

"Mother and motherland is greater by far than even heaven".

Lakshmana had queries why they should not settle down in Lanka,

when that country now conquered was more beautiful and prosperous than Ayodhya,

and Sita was already there.

These immortal patriotic words attributed to Sri Rama

will remain in the nation's memory

as long as Hindustan lives as a continuing civilization."

The complete article by Dr Subramanian Swamy can be read at

http://setubandha.blogspot.com/2008/11/in-defence-of-rama-setu-dr-swamy.html

Fragile Jaffna threatened by SSCP.

Given below are the excerpts from scholarly researches

on the formation of Jaffna and

the expected results of inundation of Northern Srilanka, if Ram Sethu is dredged.

Of additional interest is the information that there was no sea

in between Srilanka and India long ago.

This is what is being made out from the description found in Valmiki Ramayana too

in its narration of the digging of the ground by the sons of Sagara.

Details of this have already been posted in

http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2008/01/stunning-fact-i-referred-to-in-previous.html

http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2008/02/no-aryan-dravidian-divide-it-was-one.html

Complete article on the Srilankans' research on the outcome of SSCP

on their lands can be read in the link below.

It must be noted that these reservations were raised in 1999 itself

when the SSCP was proposed by the then Government.

http://www.asiantribune.com/oldsite/show_article.php?id=25A

Mudaliyar C. Rasanayagam was the first to write about

the formation of the Jaffna peninsula

in his "Yarlpana Charitiram."

He wrote - The present Jaffna peninsula, a thousand years before Christ,

was two separate Island. The big island was called by the names of Maetkae-Nagathiepam (West Nagathiepam) Mani - Nagatheipam, Manipuri and Manipallavam, whereas the second island which was smaller in size

located in the East was called by the names Erumai - Mullaithievu and Erumativu.

Due to the frequent occurrence of flood and other natural calamities,

the big island disintegrated into several small islands

such as Karaitivu, Velanai, Mandaitivu, Pungdutivu,

Analaitivu, Nainativu, Nedunthievu (Delft) and

the Valigamam region of the present Jaffna peninsula,

but they were earlier a part of the big Island.

The Island in the East, due to the shallow sea,

it became the part of Vadamaradchy, Thenmaradchy and Pachilaipalli region.

Due to monsoons, the accumulated sand formed into ridges and

elevated the lower portions of the Elephant pass shallow sea and

blocked the flow of water from the sea,

led to the formation of the present Jaffna peninsula.

Thus geographically, the peninsula came into existence

by the merger of the portions of two islands.

Peninsula with its sprout thrust into the sea,

rest mostly on a limestone coral bed, that span the entire region,

and over-topped with sand brought down by the tidal waves from the adjacent coast. There are ample of proof that,

several rivers that were earlier flowing in those two islands

are still active and flowing through underground channels into the sea.

(Translation from the Tamil version).

A survey confirmed

S. U. Deraniyagala of the department of Archeological Survey, confirmed

the analysis out forward by Mudaliyar C. Rasanayagam.

When describing the physiography of the Jaffna peninsula,

Deraniyagala in his The Prehistory of Sri Lanka, writes

"The Jaffna Peninsula and the offshore islands –

presents a monotonous flat landscape,

with many of the physical features characteristic of limestone regions,

such as caverns and sink-holes, brought about

by the solution of the limestone along joints and fissures,

as is the case with the northern coastal lowlands in general.

There are large areas of blown sand,

and this is especially marked on the eastern aspects of the peninsula and the islands."

This goes to proof that, the Jaffna peninsula sits on the limestone bed

and the limestone found in this region are too soft to be of any use.

According to geological survey,

it became apparent that these limestone beds on which the peninsula sits,

extend far beyond the island of Rameswaram,

"The present bed of Palk Strait, which separates India from Lanka,

consists of Miocene limestone,

suggesting that the Jaffna limestone formation is a continuous one,

extending from north-western Lanka up to southern India." –

[The Prehistory of Sri Lanka, by S. U. Deraniyagala].

"In former times there was no sea between Tutukudi (Tutucorin) and Lanka;

but there stood the city of Ravana." – Rajavaliya.

Earlier, Sri Lanka was a part of the South Indian peninsula,

subsequently, separated by a series of lineaments in the Palk Strait region.

Both India and Sri Lanka stand in the same continental shelf or platform.

The shelf is shallow and does not exceed 70 meters in depth at its maximum.

This goes to prove that the floor-bed of the Jaffna peninsula and

the 85 islands in the Western sea-shore from the peninsula to Galle

(names of these islands and their respective areas in hectares are given within brackets,

at the end of this article, for the information of the readers)

are connected with the Miocene lime stone formation with Rameswaran

which stretches continuously into Southern India.

Therefore once a canal with a total length of 99.88 nautical miles is laid by dredging the sea-floor 60 to 80 feet below the present level,

it would tend to break the continuous limestone formation,

which would result in causing sudden tilting, drift, gravitational pull and

numerous other violent process.

This might take place deep inside the floor-bed of Gulf of Mannar

and the ocean around the islands.

This process of land subsidence may not happen immediately,

but there is every likelihood of sea overcoming several islands belonging to Sri Lanka

in the western coast and Jaffna peninsula along with several areas

in the Western portion of the mainland inundated and

gradually to sink into the ocean in the very near future.

Furthermore, Oceanographers view that a great portion of the Indian Ocean

around the tip of the Indian peninsula is an ancient area in transition and

has not yet completed its full formation.

This section of the Indian Ocean has the most complex relief and the

earth crust is still in motion, as evidenced by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Many oceanographers believe that this part of the ocean has developed differently

from all other sections.

Accordingly, it is understood

that the cherty siliceous nodules in the Miocene limestone found in the sea floor

are too soft, because they are yet to develop.

Therefore, it is feared that excavating the undeveloped limestone coral reef

would bring about catastrophic effect in the future.

Joao de Barros and Diogo do Couto, the two Portuguese historians,

assert that earlier around Sri Lanka

"there were more thirty thousand islands.

Already in the time of Ptolemy, who lived in the year of our Lord 143,

it appears that the sea had begun to cause this devastation:

because he says that around Tapobrana (Taprobane)

there were one thousand three hundred and seventy - eight islands."

The History of Ceylon - from the Earliest Times to 1600 AD.

Presently, we are only left with 113 islands around the mainland.

According to a recent survey, it is feared that,

several of these tiny islands are facing the danger of submersion.

At the 150 nations climate conference under the auspices of the United Nations,

held at Koyota, Japan on 8 December 1997,

the President of the tiniest Island Republic of Nauru,

(in the middle of the Pacific Ocean), Kinza Coldumar,

expressed concern and uncertainty, (as well as fear)

regarding the dangers the small Island nations in the Pacific and Indian ocean regions

are facing, as sea-water levels continues to raise.

This rise is around two feet above the sea-level due to uncontrollable factors

such as the global warming, El nino, an abnormal weather pattern

that might cause the submersion of several small Islands.

The uncertain climatic conditions should be viewed as a dangerous precursor

for a future global change.

According to another observation,

the sea level has already risen with an average of 10 to 25 centimeters

over the past 100 years

and the scientists expect the rising rates to increase,

even if the climate stabilized because ocean reacts slowly to changes.

Therefore, it is unfortunately that even after 51 years of attaining independence,

Sri Lanka, a country surrounded by sea,

has not formed a department or a specialized agency

to study and analyze the ocean around the country,

with special emphasis on the implications of the vast ocean around us.

As there is no government up to now have not taken up the issue

with the Indian government regarding the proposed dredging of

the Sethusamudram ship canal.

Thus, the Government has to study this project immediately,

with its environmental impacts, then urge the Indian Government

to reconsider the proposal. This would save the island country

and the small islands around it from any cataclysm in future.

(Weekend Express -16/01/99 & 17/01/99)