Deadly Games With Nations Fate: Virtual Corridor To India

It’s like watching a movie already seen twice. Or, it could be the recurrence of a hellish nightmare? The reasons that had compelled the last BNP-led Government not to approve the proposed Asian Highway in December 2005 remain alive, but the AL-led regime has agreed in principle to approve the three different routes, only to turn the entire country into a virtual corridor of India.

The Communication Ministry on May 21 made the decision following a meeting in which roads and railway secretary ASM Ali Kabir and senior officials from the foreign, defence, home and finance ministries, ERD, roads and highways and railway departments were present. Following the meeting, Communication Minister Abul Hossain, as well as a spokesperson of the ministry, confirmed that the Government had approved the scheme in principle. It’s a deadly game with nation’s fate.

Whither Asian Highway from Japan to Turkey?

The decision is dangerous both on counts of its historicity and the cost and benefit calculations. Since the proposal for the Asian Highway was mooted first in 1959, some 15 countries, including Pakistan, became founding members by signing the agreement. Bangladesh too is considered a founding member by virtue of its integration with Pakistan until 1971. Then, following decades of vacillation and bargaining, the United Nations Economic and Social Council for Asia Pacific (UNESCAP) managed to draft an Intergovernmental Agreement for the 1,41,000 kilometers-long roadways that would crisscross many Asian countries from Japan to Turkey, to reach the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and the continent of Europe.

Connectivity with India

As the move intensified with the tempest of globalization whipping the world in the last decade, a total of 27 nations ratified their participation (32 had signed so far) by 2004 while the deadline for Bangladesh expired in December 2005 following the BNP-led alliance Government’s negation to accept the proposed route on ground that it would compromise country’s national security by turning Bangladesh a virtual transit and corridor of India.

The economic and infrastructural viabilities too did not favour a positive decision from Dhaka. For, of the three routes proposed by the UNSECAP for Bangladesh - AH1, AH2 and AH 41 – two of them serve solely Indian interests at the cost of harming economic and geopolitical interests of Bangladesh.

Being surrounded by India from all sides excepting the Sea to the south and the limited outlet with the Myanmar, the BNP-led alliance regime decided instead to pursue aggressively to linking Bangladesh with Myanmar in order to reach the Far Eastern countries as part of a comprehensive Look East policy.

Sources say that decision was based on three major factors: First, various bilateral deals have already made connectivity with India easier over the preceding decades, without yielding better economic opportunities for Bangladesh. Secondly: Dhaka’s main concern was how to connect landlocked Nepal, Bhutan and the Indian North East with Chittagong and Mongla ports to integrate those economies with the regional mainstream. Third: Bangladesh could reach the Asian mainland only via Myanmar, not via India.

Economics and geopolitics

Added to those concerns were the perspectives of sovereignty, economics and geopolitics. As the three proposed routes are slated only to facilitate transportations of Indian goods from the Indian mainland to the Indian North East via Bangladesh - and impose unbearable pressure on the two ports of the country —- Chittagong and Mongla —- which can barely cope with our own needs at the present - the BNP-led regime insisted on choosing the third route (AH-41). The other two routes (AH-1 and AH-2) being both economically and geopolitically non-viable, and, having serious implications for the nation’s sovereignty, the deadline in December 2005 was quietly allowed to pass by.

How can such a decision be faulted —- and reversed without considering its implications—- when the 495 kilometers long AH -1 will connect Tamabil, Sylhet, Kachpur, Dhaka, Jessore with Benapole; only to render Bangladesh into an Indian corridor by facilitating connectivity between the Indian states of Tripura and Manipur on one side, with Assam and the West Bengal on the other, by using the territory of another sovereign nation? The same is true of the 805 kilometers long AH- 2 which will connect Banglabandha of Panchagarh, Hati-Kamrul of Sirajganj, Dhaka, Kachpur and reach Tamabil again, only to re-enter India across the Sylhet frontier.

Although the third route, 752-kilometer AH- 41, too will serve to carry goods for India from the Mongla port by connecting Bagerhat via Jessore (and thence to Benapole), it seemed comparatively harmless as it will traverse past Dhaka before proceeding toward Teknaf and Cox’s Bazar to eventually connect Myanmar.

An Indian Highway

That is how the connectivity scheme the Government decided to approve will allow construction of an Indian Highway, not an Asian one, given that none of those routes will connect Bangladesh with other Asian nations who are part of the scheme. Barring Myanmar, with which Bangladesh has already arranged bilateral land connectivity, the two other points of connectivity with India neither allow Bangladesh to reach the Tokyo to Ankara Highway (as the Asian Highway is meant to be) nor the other nations who are part of it (Japan, South Korea, (India excepted), Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, the Philippines, China, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Bhutan, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Laos and Malaysia).

Besides, there are allegations of Indian influence- peddling in choosing and doggedly pursuing the implementation of the proposed routes. Sources say the AH-1 route will enter Bangladesh from India via the western Benapole frontier and will exit again to India through northeastern Tamabil of Sylhet. That seems to be an Indian Highway stretching from West Bengal to Tripura and Assam.

Likewise, the AH-2 will enter Bangladesh from northwestern Banglabandha frontier and will reach again Tamabil. The two routes entering from and exiting to India are meant to facilitate the huge volume of traffic to and from Indian North Eastern states. Only the third route being an internal (or sub-regional) link to connect southeastern Mongla port with Teknaf near the Myanmar frontier, the previous government wanted the third one to be the main route to bolster our ‘Look East Policy’ that aimed at fostering economic cooperation with Myanmar, China, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Nepal, Bhutan left adrift

 

Who’s behind this highway game and why did it resurrect once again? Sources say India having enormous influence over the UN and its affiliated bodies, Delhi choose to intensify the ‘politics of highway’ since 2004 after Bangladesh commissioned a land port at Banglabandha ( in Panchagargh district) to facilitate exports to Nepal, Bhutan and the Indian North East. The port was expected to increase trading with these nations via the 61 km corridor (between Bangladesh and Nepal) and the 68 km corridor (between Bangladesh and Bhutan).

Following this move from Dhaka, India choose to impose upon Bangladesh, via the UNESCAP, the proposed routes for Asian Highway; two of which (AH-1 and AH-2) were designed to enter Bangladesh only to re-enter India. Only the third route (then known as AH-3) was left to connect Myanmar to allow Bangladesh’s exit to the Far East.

Analysts say it was an Indian ploy to obtain corridor through other means. And, coming as it did following Dhaka’s negation to export gas to India, Delhi’s stance could be summarized as very stubborn: ‘my way or highway.’

However, the lack of Delhi’s empathy was too visible to ignore. After all, Dhaka’s decision to commission the Banglabandha port came amidst repeated Nepalese insistence to open the land port due to a Nepal-India bilateral agreement preventing Nepalese trucks from directly entering Bangladesh and vice a versa. Those inconveniences were compounded further by the necessity to off load everything from trucks inside India for custom and security inspections.

Not only that. Despite repeated requests to facilitate Nepal-Bangladesh, Bangladesh-Bhutan and Bangladesh — Indian North East connectivity via those corridors, India persistently pursued the UNESCAP to impose on Bangladesh the two routes to serve its own geopolitical and economic interests at the cost of disadvantaging Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.

Reliable sources claim that the previous BNP-led regime’s negation to comply with the Indian demand for gas, transit, corridor, and, finally, the Asian Highway have had much to do with what followed in Bangladesh since October 2007.

Policy of subservience

That being the backdrop and the reality, the AL-led Government’s decision to approve the routes is tantamount to ‘selling out’ our vital national interests, as it testifies to the Government’s lack of independence and the magnitude of helplessness borne out of being beholden by something unknown to the public. Fact is:

India wants to use Bangladesh territory to connect its mainland with its North East, and, to use Bangladesh’s ports for the economic wellbeing of the landlocked North Eastern states. Above everything, India wants to overcome its military handicap in the insurgency-infested North East by using this connectivity.

Hence, for Bangladesh, the decision making mechanism in allowing such a scheme shall be the one used in recent past by both nations. For example, after the devastation of hurricane Sidr, Indian High Commissioner said in response to Bangladesh’s demand for rice: “We can not sell rice to Bangladesh keeping our people starved. “Well said. Likewise, amidst unprecedented pressure - even by using senior US diplomats - to obtain gas from Bangladesh in 2003, Dhaka made a realistic assessment of its gas reserve and spare-able capacity and said no to India. That decision too was wise. Six years on, Bangladesh doesn’t have enough gas to keep its own industries and electricity generation facilities functional.

Structural inhibitions

Being aware that India’s main intent is to serve the entire land-locked North Eastern region comprising seven large states (known as seven sisters) by using the proposed Highway, Bangladesh must calculate the premium involved with respect to traffic-related-logistics and infrastructural repairs, which, cumulatively, will outweigh any expected material gain it may hope for from the venture. Added to the danger to be posed by inadequate capacity of our ports, the future of this project could be suicidal.

Country’s main port in Chittagong is overburdened and ageing. It also handles almost eighty-five percent of the country’s sea-borne trade. Established in the 15th century, this moth-eaten establishment gained its full potential only after the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. Of its 15 operational jetties, only 13 are equipped with shore cranes, each having a lifting capacity of only about 1.5 tons. Since 1991, its only floating crane (used for lifting heavier cargos) remained out of order, until recently.

Besides, the river-moorings have no shore cranes and ships berthed at the moorings still use their own derricks or cranes for unloading or loading cargoes. Despite the construction of - or conversion into - few container berths in recent years, the capacity of the port is as yet not sufficient enough to meet our national needs, let alone serve foreign nations. The sinking of a small ship on the entry to the jetty had left the port crippled for weeks over a month ago, further testifying its limitations.

Mongla is incapable

On the other hand, Mongla is not a full-fledged sea port as yet. Even last week the main dock of the port got submerged by the tidal waves caused by the latest hurricane in the Bay. The port is virtually an anchorage to allow ships load and unload their cargoes into barges and coastal ships moored in the middle of the Pussur River. And, the draft of the river being shallow, navigation of large ship remains unsafe as yet, although few new berths built over the years allow light draft vessels to berth at the jetties.

Coupled with the chronic instability caused by an unruly bunch of highly politicized labour force, Mongla port can hardly be trusted to serve foreign interests involving international commitments of a powerful, bellicose neighbour and the consequences of potentially reneging on any binding commitment could prove unmanageable. Besides, the limitations for further modification of the port are compounded by surrounding private properties and stationing of naval ships and naval activities all around.

Based on such realities, any decision by the Government to allow the proposed highways to enter from and exit to India via Bangladesh can lead to devastating consequences, involving serious national security implications. Such a decision may also impact adversely the existing relationships between the two close neighbours to the extent of provoking hostile moves by either side. Whether the Government agrees or not, this is certainly not the highway to heaven. Rather the very opposite of it.

India Is Bangladesh's Major Source Of Illicit Drug : UNITED NATIONS REPORT

The United Nations narcotics report said that India is the source of illicit drugs and rising of drug abuse in its neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives.

Meanwhile during recent years huge quantity of illicit drugs produced in India have been recovered from Bangladesh and Bhutan, the report said. Not only that India has also become a supplying ground of clandestine shipment of illicit drugs through Internet trade, those products are going even to North America and Europe.

Narcotics abuse

The Vienna-based, United Nations narcotics watchdog, International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) released its report on February 24, 2010 further stated that India is the primary source of injectable drugs such as Pethedine and Morphine, which are widely abused in the neighbouring countries including Bangladesh. In fact, more and more addicts in South Asian countries including Bangladesh are shifting to inject able narcotics abuse.

"The widespread abuse of pharmaceutical preparations containing narcotic drugs such as Codeine is an ongoing problem in Bangladesh. Such preparations are smuggled into that country from India," reports the INCB.

The INCB report also gives details of seizure made in these countries. In 2008, drug enforcement agencies in Bangladesh seized 53,239 bottles containing codeine-based syrup and 226 ampoules containing Pethidine and Morphine. The same year, agencies seized 554 tablets containing codeine. But this was far less than the huge seizure of 70,000 tablets made in 2007.

A record seizure of Buprenorphine, a widely abused inject able drug, of 14,782 ampoules, was made by law enforcement authorities in that country in 2008. These too were smuggled into Bangladesh from India.

Pharmaceutical preparations containing Benzodiazepines are among the drugs most widely abused in Bhutan. More than 1,060 tablets containing Chlordiazepoxide and 240 strips of tablets containing Nitrazepam were seized in 2007 in Bhutan and the trend continued in 2008. The suspected origin of the seized drugs was India, according to the INCB report.

Besides smuggling drugs to neighbouring countries, the report says, India has become one of the main sources of drugs sold through illegal internet pharmacies. Orders placed with such pharmacies are often dispatched to buyers in other countries through courier or postal services.

The UN agency asked India to increase its vigilance in detecting the misuse of courier and postal services to smuggle controlled substances out of the country. It said the majority of clandestine shipments of controlled substances detected in India were destined for Australia and countries in North America and Europe.

The report on narcotics trafficking for the year further stated that 2009 couriers and postal services have got a boost on account of the recent trends in globalisation.

Crackdown on culprits

A report of "My News.In" stated that India, responding to this has said that its Narcotic Control Bureau in cooperation with the state government is busy cracking down on the culprits. The problem with India is that it is located in the midst of the Golden Triangle and Golden Quadrilateral.

The Indian minister for social justice, Mukul Wasnik said: "Drug abuse is a complex issue. Since long we had put in places strategies to tackle the situation. The INCB data does not provide much insight. It may be used as an input. It says that in India 72.2 million people have drug addiction. We are commissioning a survey through National Survey Organisation (NSSO) to arrive at a right figure. The NSSO has begun its work in Manipur, Punjab and Maharshtra."

However, different reports criticized that the INCB in its report has made critical references to the developing world and has been mild on the developed world. Whatever may be the present scenario as per the report, the origin and the history of the illegal drug trade hold the colonial rulers responsible for the situation. However, the South Asia representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC), Cristina Albertin said that the INCB report was unbiased.

According to the INCB report seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants show that trafficking in these substances are increasing in South Asia. The region has also become a location for their manufacture. A number of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories have been discovered in India in recent years.

Cannabis trafficking

Trafficking in cannabis remains widespread throughout the region. In 2008, Indian authorities seized 103 tonnes cannabis herb and 4.1 tonnes cannabis resin. In Bangladesh, 2.3 tonne cannabis herb were seized, in Nepal more than seven tonnes and in Sri Lanka more than 37 tonnes. The widespread abuse of pharmaceutical preparations containing narcotics, namely codeine is an ongoing problem in Bangladesh.

However, the Indian authorities claim an increasing proportion of heroin seized in the country originated in Afghanistan, which indicates that India is being used as a transit area.

The smuggling of heroin into the Maldives is an ongoing problem and has contributed to a rise in drug abuse. Pharmaceutical preparations containing benzodiazepines are among the most widely abused in Bhutan. The sources of origin of these preparations are suspected to be in India.

Bangladesh is vulnerable to ATS and pharmaceutical preparations and source for preparations containing Pseudoephedrme trafficking. In Nepal there is trafficking of cannabis. Afghanistan remains by far the largest illicit producer of heroin and other opiates and is becoming a major producer of cannabis.

The INCB report also said that after tremendous progress in the past, countries in the east and south-east Asia faced setbacks in reducing illicit opium poppy cultivation in 2008, with a 3.3 per cent increase compared to the preceding year. Trafficking in methamphetamine and the illicit manufacture of MDMA (ecstasy) also increased. For the first time in recent years, the illicit manufacture of gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) was reported.

India Should Leave Its Neighbours Alone

India being a large country with a big economy has got a greater responsibility to keep peace with its neighbours and help promote development in the South Asian Region.

India expects that the neighbouring countries should be sensitive to India's security concerns and should not allow their territories to be used against India. Similarly, India should also be sensitive and refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of its neighbours, said Professor Prakash A Raj, Vice-President of the Nepal Council of World Affairs.

He was in Dhaka last week to attend a regional conference on peace and development in South Asia. "There are many changes here in Bangladesh", Professor Rai said while recalling his earlier visit as a member of the Royal entourage of late Kind Birendra thirty years ago.

In an exclusive interview with the Holiday, Professor Prakash A. Rai pointed out that India had brokered peace agreement in Nepal bringing together the Maoists and the alliance of seven political parties of the country to sign an accord in New Delhi in November 2005, although it was for the Nepalese people to decide their own political course.

Apparently by brokering the accord with the Maoists in Nepal, the Indian government had hoped that the Naxalite insurgents active in several Indian states would also give up arms and follow the example of Nepalese Moists, Profesor Rai said adding that Naxalite insurgency in Andra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Bihar and armed rebels in the north-eastern provinces of India are the major security problem for India.

Referring to the current political crisis in Nepal, Professor Rai said that if the Maoists believe in democracy, they must not return to jungle. The trouble began in Kathmandu with the Maoists demanding induction of the rebels in the regular army. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, chief of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) resigned early this month to protest the president's rejection of the Nepalese government's sacking of the army chief. The army chief had been resisting the integration of the former rebel fighters into the military as required under the India brokered 2006 peace agreement. The former combatants of Maoists' Peoples' Liberation Army (PLA) continue to remain in cantonments and are being monitored by the UN mission.

"In the process of political development, Indian Ambassador to Nepal held meeting with Dahal and requested him not to remove the Army chief, which was a clear interference into Nepal's internal affair," Professor Rai observed.

Meanwhile, an alliance of 22 political parties claimed to have enough support to form a new coalition government in Nepal and called for a vote to elect its candidate as the new prime minister.

Alliance leaders say a government without the Maoists would be difficult to run and have tried to convince them to join a new coalition. However, the Maoists have insisted on the army chief's removal before any negotiation.

The former rebels have also threatened to continue disrupting parliament with protests by their lawmakers inside the assembly hall.

Professor Rai understands that a new coalition government without the Maoists' participation might create instability in Nepal and also disrupt the democratic politics escalating insecurity in the region.
Referring to India's foreign policy failures, the Professor said "Indian Peacekeeping force in Sri Lanka failed in its objectives and was forced to withdraw indicating a major policy failure".

On other front, according to professor Prakash Raj, when Bangladesh wants Nepal to be involved in the augmentation of Ganges water, India opposes it on the plea of its being "a bilateral issue" between India and Bangladesh knowing fully well that major river systems of the region have their origin in Nepal.

The just concluded election in India with the Congress giving another chance to rule would make the India "more assertive" in pursuing their policies in respect towards its neighbours, Professor Raj said.

He observed that the increased presence of the US forces in South Asia and the strategic partnership between India and the US have given rise to new dynamics in the peace and development process in the region. The South Asian nations should keep in mind that the US would not be here for long and the problems facing the region must be faced by the countries themselves in their own soil, he asserted.

Govt Tight - Lipped, Though Indian Media Unfolds ULFA Leaders Handover Drama

The incumbent Awami League (AL) government has handed over to India at least 30 citizens of the neighbouring country including top ten leaders of the banned outfits United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) since Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in January last.

The ULFA leaders, who were deported to the Indian authorities by Bangladeshi agencies at an outpost on the border in Meghalaya, are chairman of the banned outfit Arabinda Rajkhowa, his wife Kaberi Kachari and their two sons deputy chief Raju Barua and Rajkhowa's bodyguard Raju Borah, Barua's wife and son, and wife and daughter of ULFA's self-styled foreign secretary Sashadhar Choudhury.

Two other top ULFA leaders, Chitrabon Hazarika and Sasha Choudhury, were detained in Bangladesh and subsequently handed over to India.

While the Bangladesh government maintained secrecy about handover of Arabinda Rajkhowa, the Indian media reported that at least ten top ULFA and NDFB 'terrorists' were handed over by Dhaka.

Moreover, according to Indian media reports, two other rebel leaders, chairman of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) Ranjan Daimary and chairman of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) Biswamohan Debbarma, were also handed over to India. Add to the list the two suspected members of the India-based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), who were also deported by Bangladesh.

In return, what Bangladesh gained is a big zero. India has not handed over any of the most-wanted criminals to Bangladesh.

Though the Indian media quoted the Indian authority as claiming that they had deported over at least 20 criminals to the Bangladesh government, Dhaka did not confirm it. The human rights organisations also found them missing from custody.

Police sources said Shahdat, Khandakar Tanvir Islam Joy, Dacoit Shahid, Montu, Haji Decon, Halim, Rony, Mohammad Ali, Jeshin, Ashik, Nabi, Mosarraf, Chanchal and Shahin are among the 42 top terrors reportedly hiding in India. They are learnt to have been hiding in India in close contact with the law enforcement agencies.

Recently the most-wanted terrorist from Bangladesh, Shahdat, told reporters on telephone that he helped the Indian law-enforcement agencies arrest Halim, Haji Decon, Ashik, Ali and many other Bangladeshi criminals in Kolkata.

Indian authority claimed they sent back Rony, Montu, Piyal, Halim, Haji Decon, Ashik and Nobi, who were reportedly brought back home, but they were reported missing from custody, sources said.

Meanwhile, New Delhi wants Bangladesh to return Indian mafia don Dawood Ibrahim's close aide Abdul Rouf Dawood Merchant, who was arrested by the law enforcers in Bangladesh last year.

Indian foreign ministry has sent a letter to the Bangladesh ministry of foreign affairs for returning Abdul Rouf Dawood Merchant, who is accused of killing Mumbai music baron Gulshan Kumar.

Knowledgeable sources told the Holiday recently that according to the agreement on exchange of prisoners between Bangladesh and India, Bangladesh handed over more than 20 persons including the ten leaders of ULFA, NDBF and NLFT.

The Indian authority told Bangladesh that they would send back 20 criminals soon, the sources added.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Sahara Khatun denied media reports that the chairman of the Indian separatist group ULFA, Rajkhowa, had been arrested in Bangladesh and later pushed back to India.

"Since we did not even arrest him, how come the question of pushing him back arises?" the home minister said.

While Sahara Khatun denied the widespread media reports, the Indian daily Hindustan Times reports that the ULFA chief was pushed back by the Bangladesh authorities into Tripura and later flown to New Delhi.

Earlier BBC News and Indian media reported that the ULFA chairman had been taken to Delhi from Tripura.

ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia has been remaining in a Bangladesh jail since 1998.

However, at least 500 Bangladeshis are perishing in different Indian jails, said a human rights organisation of the India.

The Bangladesh government is yet to bring back anyone officially after the agreement was signed on exchange of prisoners.

Meanwhile, The Assam Tribune reported from Guwahati on May 5 that Bangladesh Rifles and other security forces in Bangladesh have stepped up vigil along the border and a number of operations have been launched in the bases of the ultras in the bordering areas.

Assam Tribune claims that the militants were forced to wind up the camps in the Chota and Bara Gajni areas in the face of operations by the BDR and other security forces and most of them reportedly shifted to the Bangladesh-Myanmar border areas.

The relation between BSF and BDR also improved considerably barring the Jayantia Hills area where some trouble cropped up from time to time, particularly in the adverse possession areas along Sylhet borders, the daily said.

The Assam daily also reported that in the darkness on May 04, two cadres of Manipur based militant group PLA along with a woman cadre of the RPF were nabbed by the BSF men when they tried to sneak into India from Bangladesh through the international border in Dowki in Meghalaya.

Tipaimukh : Another Double - Edged Sword

Seeing the obvious hazard lurking perilously to devastate impoverish and almost decimate over a fourth of the populace in Bangladesh and feigning that nothing much is visible is blatant repudiation of truth. This we say apropos of another life-and-death issue for us--- the Tipaimukh dam on the Barak river being built in the upstream by India --- over which the Awami League Government has chosen to talk less, and even if it does it is nonchalant and indifferent. While the Water Resources Minister makes a very astonishing comment that the Government would see to it after the completion of the dam, commerce minister Faruk Khan said that the Government “will not oppose Tipaimukh dam construction by India in Manipur if Bangladesh gets benefits… I think those who are talking too much against construction of the dam, are talking without knowing anything …”

As if the permanent grievous damage perpetrated by Delhi through the commissioning of the Farakka Barrage during the lifetime of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was not enough --- which has severely affected a vast area covering as many as 16 districts of Bangladesh since 1974 --- India is going to harm Bangladesh again by constructing Tipaimukh multi-purpose dam. The ministers are disregarding water experts, economists and environmentalists who said the twin dams — one at Tipaimukh and another at Phulertal, on the cross-boundary river Barak — would dry up the rivers and the water bodies in the north-eastern districts of downstream Bangladesh, upsetting the ecological balance and destabilising the livelihood of the millions of people here.

Indeed the Tipaimukh Dam is double-edged sword. A former member of the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) of the two countries, Tauhidul Anwar opines that interference with the natural flow of rivers is bound to have adverse impacts — sociological, hydrological and morphological — on the downstream country. Construction of the high dam in a geologically very sensitive zone could cause frequent and major earthquakes, inviting major tsunami-like disaster and endangering the lives, land and forests of both India and Bangladesh, so said the Dhaka Declaration, adopted at the International Tipaimukh Dam Conference (ITDC) in 2005 in Dhaka with participants from both India and Bangladesh expressing deep concern.

Having come to power offering an inviting manifesto pledging in sweetened words that aspirations of the masses would be fulfilled towards building a golden Bangladesh, the incumbent Awami League Government headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina continues to ignore and sort of bamboozle the nation in that it is blatantly ignoring public opinion in respect of this another Farakka problem --- the Tipaimukh dam issue, although Sheikh Hasina herself stated at her first media conference that she would not treat the Oppostion on the basis of its numerical strength. But the picture is now altogether different, and often the Parliament witnesses rude and un-parliamentary words laced in brash sarcasm hurled at Opposition leader Khaleda Zia who has repeatedly urged the Government to act.

It is advisable that the incumbents comprehend that tyranny in democracy is in other words majoritarianism that always raises the possibility of awful outcomes, figure out the broad pros and cons of the life threatening issue that is sure to adversely affect the sheer survival of over 5 (five) crore people of Bangladesh, see reason and vehemently oppose the sinisterly menacing Indian move through all forums at home and abroad. The Government must always remember that Bangladesh’s friendly gesture towards Delhi is welcome, but India --- however big and mighty she is --- must be reminded of the fact that amity has to be reciprocated, and that friendship cannot be one-sided. Last but not least, it will be nice of Delhi to remember that it is niggardliness to show off strength to a small and relatively weak neighbour. By any definition such attitude or mindset negates all civilised and humane norms. Having seen Delhi’s rude action on the closest neighbour Bangladesh, whose people have enough goodwill and friendly feelings, Mahatma Gandhi, symbol of peace and pacifism, and his soul must have been feeling restless, as he had made supreme sacrifice embracing martyrdom for the cause of love and affection for all people irrespective of caste and creed. Let us hope India would honour its founding father.

Look East Policy Exigency Of Bangladesh

The government is at last waking up to the need of salvaging the country's Look East policy. The Foreign Ministry did the right thing when it initiated action to stop anti-Chinese propaganda blitz in the form of a Drik exhibition styled as "Into Exile: Tibet 1949-2009." The government's intelligence agencies are said to be mystified about who could be the hidden hands behind the hirelings springing from nowhere under the name of "Students for a Free Tibet". In small bands, these Dalai Lama apologists appeared flashing anti-China placards in some street corners of Dhaka. It was strange since in Bangladesh there are no known fans of Dalai Lama, and political opinion across the board in this country is committed to friendship with China and one China policy.

Para-tariff and non-tariff barriers has been suffocating trade prospects with India and beyond in the west, and the more accommodating and thriving economies of China, East Asia and Southeast Asia persuaded Bangladesh to adopt a "Look East" policy. India jumped the queue, and with its ample resources and trade bargains covered a lot of grounds by its own Look East policy and its "aspirant world power" credentials. But that does not shrink the trade prospects of Bangladesh with its limited offer of merchandise and manpower in the fast-growing Asian markets. We do have to be careful, though, about the sensitivities of the nations we intend to do business with.

The so-called "Students for a Free Tibet" has cropped up in Dhaka when the Dalai Lama is planning to make a controversial visit to the disputed Arunachal Pradesh (Tawang District) which is de facto under Indian control but de jure claimed by China. India says the Dalai Lama is a revered religious leader, who having fled Lhasa in 1949 along with his followers, were given refuge in India as honoured guests. China accuses the Dalai Lama of carrying on "splittist" political activity, encouraging sabotage in modernised Tibet which has by now become a well-developed region with a flourishing population, whose older members remember their earlier miserable existence as virtual slaves to temple-lords. China also accuses the "Dalai clique" of persistently undermining the Sino-Indian border negotiations that are routinely taking place patiently since the talks began in 2003 seeking a peaceful settlement. The Dalai Lama, who is not recognised by any power as a party to the issue, has been poking his nose by taking a public position in support of the McMahon Line which China does not recoginse, and the de facto position of the China-India border is an agreed Line of Control, not the McMahon Line.

In 1913, against the backdrop of "Tibet independence" incited by British imperialists, UK representative Henry McMahon secretly signed the so-called "Simla Accord" with the local Tibetan government manipulated by "Tibet independence" forces during the "Simla conference" without the knowledge of Chinese representatives. This accord even incorporated a large area of territory in China's Tibet including the Tawang district to British India.

In response, the-then Yuan Shikai administration instructed Chinese representative Chen Yifan on July 3 1914 not to sign the accord and declared, "The Chinese government will acknowledge none of the accords or similar documents signed by the UK and Tibet on this or any other day."

As the UK knew it was in the wrong, it did not publicize the "McMahon Line" until 1938 when China was engaged in the war of resistance against Japan.

Yet the "Dalai chique", China Tibet Online observed in article posted on October 22, continued to spread "vicious speculation over China-India border dispute" through the Indian media.

A report published in the New York Times on September 3 discussed the China-India border dispute, stating that the Dalai Lama's "prime minister" Samdhong Rinpoche noted that they all acknowledged the legitimacy of the "McMahon Line".

Samdhong went so far as to publicly tell the Indian government in an interview with Asian News International (ANI), "Watch what China does, and not what it says... the Chinese side has targeted India for a fairly long period, and even painted Chinese characters on rocks near the border. We do not know what their aim is, but these actions are unacceptable."

On September 15, Samdhong said at a press conference that "Arunachal Pradesh" is an integral part of India, and India is a sovereign state. Those who live in India have full rights to go anywhere in India. So why does China object to the Dalai Lama's visit to Tawang?

To this, the Chinese answer is: Tawang district has been part of Tibet since ancient times. As early as the 7th century, Menyu area where the Tawang district is located was already under the jurisdiction of a local government of the Tibetan Empire. In 1681, the 5th Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso ordered the construction of Tawang Monastery, and since then Dawang has been a sacred land of Tibetan Buddhism effectively administrated by Tibetan local governments. The 6th Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso was born in the Tawang district. Starting from the middle of the 19th century, Qing Dynasty high commissioners to Tibet and Tibetan local governments also empowered the Cona government and the Tawang Monastery with the right to formulate laws and deal with major matters.

And it is Taiwan's Central News Agency that reported in a September 13 despatch India is playing the Dalai card, and that "India may intend to exploit the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh and even Tawang to prove that Arunachal Pradesh is part of India." This was after Times of India reported on September 11, the Dalai Lama's secretary Chimme Choekyappa made a high-profile declaration on September 10 that the Dalai Lama would pay a visit to Tawang district in November.

Despite these strong differences, Xinhua in its November 3 despatch quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry Ma Xhaoxu asserting that: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have recently held talks and agreed to push forward bilateral ties in a healthy and stable manner, which "is consensus of the people of the two countries as well as the two leaders."

There is something to be learnt and taken note of by Bangladesh from the example of cool perseverance with which China is peacefully seeking to settle disputes with its neighbours, notwithstanding psy-war provocations, as it develops superpower strength by giant economic strides.

Time To Redraw Nation's Defence Strategy : INDO - CHINA RIVALRY INTENSIFIES

A number of glaring testimonies of looming military danger make it incumbent upon our defence policy makers to update the nation's war book, or re-write a new one altogether in light of the intensified Indo-Chinese rivalry and the Indian distinctive strategic alliance with the USA.

The security ambiance of the region plunged deeper into a danger zone lately with reports in the US and the Indian media of Islamabad's handing over of the Gilgit-Baltistan region of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir to China and China's deployment of 11,000 troops in that region.

Coupled with other recent geopolitical developments, these reports indicate the re-shaping of the regional strategic landscape and of Delhi's dogged determination to challenge Beijing's pre-eminence in regional and global politics, with help from Bangladesh.

Besides, the intensified Indo-Chinese tension seriously undercuts efforts by people of India, China and Russia for greater regional collaborations; despite the foreign ministers of the three nations slated to meet in Bangalore on October 26-27.

Denial unheeded
Reacting to the reports that started to make headlines in late August, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Jiang Yu said on September 2, "We believe these attempts of some people to fabricate stories to provoke China-Pakistan or China-India relations are doomed to fail."

Pakistan too issued similar rebuttal. A Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman, Abdul Basit, strongly denied the news being circulated in the American and Indian media and said on August 31, "The Chinese were working on landslide, flood hit areas and on the destroyed Korakoram Highway with the permission of Pakistani Government."

All such denials did little, however, to assuage Indian concerns. India's ambassador to China, S. Jaishankar, met with the Chinese vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Zhang Zhijun, on September 3 in Beijing and conveyed New Delhi's concern over the presence of Chinese troops in Gilgit-Baltistan. India also further reinforced its military capability along the 2,521 mile China-India borders.

Historical animosity
Although a recent New York Time report had linked the Chinese military presence in Kashmir to China's plans to gain a "grip on the strategic area to ensure unfettered road and rail access to the Gulf through Pakistan," the animosity is rooted in historic claims and counter claims made by the two nuclear armed neighbours on each other's territories.

 The New York Times report said there were two important new developments in Gilgit-Baltistan; a simmering rebellion against the Pakistani rule and the influx of an estimated 7,000 to 11,000 soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the area.

In reality, these reports are tied with recent Indian war preparation and entrenchment of military capability along mutual borders on which the two nations had fought a brief but bloody war in 1962.

The border dispute dates back to 1914 when the colonial Britain hosted a conference with the Chinese and the Tibetan governments to demarcate the Tibetan border along the so called McMahon line. China never recognised the McMahon Line and claims 90,000 sq km, nearly all of what India now calls Arunachal Pradesh (about 2000 sq kms), its own territory. Besides, India accuses China of occupying 8,000 sq km of its territory in Kashmir.

The latest spark also emanated from Delhi's upping the ante on August 26 following Beijing's refusal to grant a visa to Indian army's Northern Command Chief, Lt. Gen. BS Jaswal, to visit Beijing as an Indian military delegation member, saying the officer oversees Jammu and Kashmir which 'is a disputed area.'

The incident left Delhi snubbed, insulted and injured; more so when Beijing asked to replace Lt. Gen. Jaswal, something India refused to comply and ordered instead a demarche by cancelling a scheduled visit by a Chinese military delegation to India's National Defence College. Delhi also ordered cancellation of another scheduled visit by Indian military officials to China.

Offensive postures 
The ongoing rivalry may end up with another war, according to many analysts. Since 2007,India has been aggressively racing to match China for regional and global power, building and bolstering airstrips and army outposts along the common borders and rebuilding run-down roads and infrastructures. In June 2009, it started building a tunnel to bypass the virtually impassable Rohtang Pass to ensure all-weather access to Ladakh, which abuts the Tibetan Plateau.   Coupled with recent procurement of huge state-of-the-art military hardware and Delhi's strategic alliance with the USA, these moves kept Beijing busy in shoring up its own deficiencies, tactically and strategically, while Delhi replaced its 'cold start' strategy with an aggressive doctrine to confront both China and Pakistan simultaneously.

These bellicose postures are heading toward the outbreak of another major war among the two regional giants.   Besides defending the sovereignty of the Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi wants to recover the Chinese-administered Aksai Chin, which India claims as part of its territory. Along the Kashmir frontier, north of Ladakh stands the disputed Siachen Glacier, an ice-capped river basin that had provoked both India and Pakistan to claiming and fighting over, almost frequently since the 1980s. Both India and Pakistan maintain military outposts on the 20,000 feet high altitude of the Siachen's glacier- capped ranges.

Bangladesh's concern 
Having lost Tibet to China in 1959, India took over Sikkim's sovereignty in 1975, but the predicament posed by the Siliguri Corridor in West Bengal, with an average width of 21 km to 40 km only, in connecting the north eastern region with the Indian mainland could not be reconciled as yet.

That is what makes Bangladesh an integral part of the Indian and the Chinese defence priorities and makes it extremely difficult for Dhaka to maintain either a neutral stance, or align militarily with either of the protagonists.

It also gives birth to a cliché, if not a strategic doctrine, that "He who controls Bangladesh will control north east India," making Bangladesh susceptible to pre-emptive military invasion by either of the protagonists.

Geopolitically, China has two major claims over territories that India claims to be its own. The claim in the western sector involves Aksai Chin in the northeastern Ladakh District in Jammu and Kashmir.

The eastern sector claim involves the territory belonging to the British era North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) abutting Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar; including the Tibetan-Naga-inhabited Arunachal Prades which Delhi has turned into its 24th state on 20th February, 1987.

These lands were fought over before. During the 1962 Indo-China war, the well-trained and well-armed PLA troops overpowered the ill-equipped Indian troops, who found themselves not properly acclimatized to fight at high altitudes.

Following initial setbacks, Indian troops desperately sought to regroup and the Indian army strengthened its defensive positions in the NEFA and Ladakh to repulse possible Chinese attacks through Sikkim and Bhutan.

The Indian attempt failed and the war reached close to Bangladesh frontiers (then East Pakistan), despite many Indian army units having moved from Calcutta, Bihar, Nagaland, and Punjab to guard the northern frontiers of West Bengal and Assam. The western NEFA witnessed deployment of three Indian brigades while two other brigades were deployed in Sikkim and the West Bengal border with Bhutan.

Light Stuart tanks were drawn from the Eastern Command headquarters at Calcutta to bolster such deployments.

Yet, an unrelenting Chinese onslaught wiped out virtually all Indian resistance in Kameng and, by November 18, the PLA had penetrated close to the outskirts of Tezpur, Assam, a major frontier town within the artillery range from Bangladesh and barely 50 kilometres from the Assam-NEFA border. Sensing Indian helplessness, China declared a unilateral ceasefire on November 21.

 Beijing also respected the McMahan line and withdrew troops beyond what it regards as 'unaccepted' Line of Actual Control (LoAC).

The big picture 
There are those who blame the USA for the latest escalation in tension and military preparedness in Asia.

They say the US department of defence annual report's claim that 'the pace and scope of China's military modernisation have increased over the past decade' has scared Delhi. The report cautioned that 'extreme secrecy is increasingly difficult to reconcile with China's role in the integrated global economy, which depends on transparency.'

That is perhaps part of the story. Beijing's quest for access to the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf regions for much needed energy resources lay at the centre of its alliance making in the region, although the Indian story is rooted more in geopolitical quest for land.

Although other intelligence reports indicate Beijing is constructing over 22 tunnel and a rail link between Pakistan administered Kashmir and China, and further extending the Karakoram Highway that connects China's Muslim predominant Xinjiang province with Pakistan, the tunnel construction is related to a projected gas pipeline from Iran to China that would cross the Karakorams through Gilgit. India, however, fears they could be also used for missiles storage sites.

They plausibly could, but such Indian fear is grossly misplaced. Given that Beijing has financed the construction of Pakistani naval bases at Gawadar, Pasni and Ormara in Balochistan, such connectivity aims mainly at transporting cargo and oil from the Persian Gulf to eastern China within 48 hours.   While those could be least of our concerns, Bangladesh must prepare not to get overrun by any of the contending armies of the region in the instance push come to shove. That is why it must devise a full spectrum defence capability of its own as a sovereign nation state of 150 million strong.

Dhaka Okays Crucial Highway Link To Kalkata-Crucial From The Military Point Of View

In major development, India’s eastern neighbour Bangladesh has finally agreed to start the construction of a highway that will not only provide transit facilities, ensuring easy movement of goods, but also drastically shorten the circuitous route — crucial from the military point of view — between northeastern states and the port city of Kolkata.

The change came after the Sheikh Hasina Government came to power and in July 2009 Indian negotiators managed to push Bangladesh to ink the intergovernmental agreement. However, the construction work didn’t take off. “But now, following cooperation from Bangladesh and persuasion from India, the last obstacle has been cleared ,” said sources.

Two routes have been okayed. The first one will enter from Bengal into Bangladesh at the existing Benapole land port on the border and run across eastwards via Jessore and Dhaka and passing through Sylhet, located on the northeastern edge of Bangladesh, it will enter Assam/Meghalaya.

The second axis will start from North Bengal and enter the neighbouring country at Panchgarh and run southwards via Srirajganj to Dhaka and further southeast to Cox Bazar and Chittagong before entering into Mayanmar. India will be able to use both routes.

Once ready, the highway will solve India’s major problem of moving goods into northeastern states of Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur. At present, it can take up to five days for a truck from Kolkata to reach these areas, adding up to the costs besides the time delay.

Similarly, the highway will give the northeastern states a better and a speedy access to the sea port.

Originally, the intergovernmental agreement on the Asian Highway Network was adopted in November 2003 in Bangkok and opened for signature in Shanghai, China in April 2004 and thereafter at United Nations Headquarters in New York between May 2004 and December 2005. Some 29 Asian countries had signed the agreement in 2004.

Source : 

IDIOTS : Are All Bangladeshis?

AHAMMOK

“AR AHAMMOKDER AR EK DAL ASE TARA BHARATER KAS THEKE KISU CUSTOMS FEE PABE BOLE BORO ONKER LAVER KOTHA SHONAE”

Simple Arithmetic
That was the Bengali verbatim of a sentence of an article published in the daily Naya Diganta on the 19th January. The sentence in English version may be like this: There is a group of idiots who tell us about big earnings from customs duty from incoming Indian goods (through the river ports of Chittagong and Mangla). They had possibly simple Arithmetic calculations of the two ports and of the transit route goods through Ashuganj river port of call but possibly made no micro-analysis of many relevant elements closely related in the matters that needed treatment of statistical regression analysis of multiple variables as the economists do. May be that they did not go for the cost effective analysis of all possible and at least identifiable cost variables and might do just simple arithmetical cost benefit analysis in money revenue figures.

Wondered
The quote presented above is from an article rendered by a prominent economist Abu Ahmad on the fallacy of the likely gains of the Bangladesh P.M.’s offer in the recently concluded treaty with India. At the first my reaction of the use of the term AHAMMOK or idiot or stupid occurred very odd and harsh. But after a while it sounded to me appropriate.

Bangal/ Bhadrolok
For how long, may be for centuries the people of East Bengal were pejoratively labeled as BANGAL, meaning foolish or idiots. I am not certain about the background of sociological reason, but so far I could enquire about, the term BANGAL started to be used by the Calcutta based English educated new elite BANGALI BHADROLOK, obviously after the start of the British bureaucrat Macaulay’s educational curriculum in 1835. But things changed particularly after 1947, and more so after 1971 for that the many sons and daughters of the Bangal’s got modern education. Bangladesh thus can now boast of many brilliant professionals making their mark at home and abroad. Specialist in medicines, brilliant engineers, expert administration executives, renowned lawyers, commerce and business managers, academics ,etc are not in short supply who all happened to be sons and daughters of erstwhile Bangal now Bangladesh. Even the Oxford University renowned professor of Indian History Dr. Tapan Roychoudhury, a brilliant native of Barisal, asserted his identity as the ‘seventh generation Bangal’ (Bangalnama, 2009).

IQ levels
It as such stands that among many idiots we have many brilliant ones in the society just as in any other human society. In fact, nature has endowed human society consisting of members- some intelligent, some mediocre and some of low IQ (Intelligence Quotient). Or in other words, all human beings are not endowed with equal merits or innate abilities. That did not mean though that inequality would be perpetual for basic living conditions, but only to fit in socially productive living in accordance with one’s merit and inborn capabilities nourished and developed through providing useful learning and training.

Useful Learning
Present day organized societies cater for education and training not only for professionalism but also for social training to turn up one as useful productive member of the society one would live in.

Professional Training
Politics in free democratic society is identified as a profession like any other job specific trade or profession. Unfortunately, no school/college/university trains any member to take up politics as a life profession just as engineers are trained in technological institutions, physicians in medical colleges, lawyers in law faculties of universities etc. Not only this is the reality, yet Bangladesh is not short supply of politicians. The other and crucial issue since about the last six decades is that while engineers, doctors, civil bureaucrats, professors, army officers, etc .were drawn from the most meritorious lots, politics was left to the drop outs. Such is not the case in advanced countries where politics as well fetch brilliant and meritorious lots. Being the reality as it is, how could one get rid of AHAMMOK decide our future for national gains in political, diplomatic, economic and strategic dealings with the counterpart of, say, Harvard educated guy? Would any brilliant meritorious guy with sense of self dignity willingly work under any AHAMMOK?

Wrong-Headed
The certificate one received years before as WRONG HEADED from the Bangladesh Supreme Court was not lost in oblivion and hence we got ‘100% successes’ even though Bangladesh side yielded not only the only two river ports of Chittagong and Mangla for paltry customs duty earning but also forgotten all about natural and due water sharing of the 54 common rivers including the life and death question of Bangladesh involving the Tipaimukh Dam of India. Now we are told that they are going to make a short term treaty for Teesta water sharing that must remind informed others of the ‘experimental 40 days operation’ of the Farakka Barrage withdrawal of water in early 1975 by the ‘father’ that since then turned to be the ‘Cold-Blooded Murder of Bangladesh’ by India.

Bhashani’s & Sohrawardy’s Views
The syndrome so put up reminded me of other facts. The late leader Maolana Bhashani would somewhat affectionately though call the ‘icon leader’ of Bangladesh as one of UPPER CHAMBER KHALI or no grey matter. The late Huseyn Shahid Sohrawardy, the mentor of the very person in the days of misery, would later on use the term for the same leader as the ILLITERATE GRADUATE. He had an academic Degree from the Calcutta Islamia College but was well known to have had obtained through impersonation in examination hall of some Muslim League cadre in early 1940s just as the ‘wrong headed’ one had one degree through similar alleged impersonation and of undue grace from the Dhaka University in those days of GONOTOKATOKI or mass copying in the examination hall and that also under the condensed syllabus in early 1970s.

Sympathy
One must have some sympathy. Unequal parties can not fight, only equals do. Defeat in unequal fight for the weaker is a must. That was what happened on the 12th January in Delhi. The Bangladesh side poorly equipped with much inferior knowledge, mental power, expertise and self-confidence obviously got what they had deserved.

BY :  H B Khair.

Rahul Gandhi Gang Rapes Sukanya Devi

Rahul Gandhi Gang rapes Sukanya Devi on 3-12-06 On 3 rd December 2006 , Rahul Gandhi was camping at Amethi along with 7 others including 4 foreigners (two from Britain and other two from Italy, names not known). Around 9 P.M all of them were drinking liquor at a V.I.P. guest house in a high security zone. They had an uninvited guest, a y...oung girl named Sukanya Devi, 24 years of age, a staunch follower of Nehru-Gandhi family and daughter of Congress worker Balram Singh. Sukanya was looking for an opportunity to meet Rahul Gandhi since last two years and on that fateful night she able to meet him. Sukanya's family has been supporting the Congress party since the time of Nehru. When she met Rahul he spoke to her for a couple of minutes and later he and his friends offered her liquor. 

Sukanya was amazed seeing all this, she was not feeling comfortable, she refused to have liquor and took permission to leave, but she was forced to stay back and drink. She kept resisting, but they raped her one by one. She cried for help, but her cries fell on deaf ears. Even the security personnel preferred to remain as mute spectators. She kept weeping all along and was threatened and asked to keep her mouth shut. She was given Rs. 50 , 000 /-. She straightaway went to the local police station. The police refused to book any complaint and asked her to go home. Before she could reach home, Congress workers had gathered at her house and gave a different version of the incident to her father. They accused her of trying to seduce Rahul Gandhi. Her father Balram Singh, without giving her a chance to explain what had happened to her beat her up mercilessly. Balram Singh learnt the facts from others who were witness to the crime, but he preferred to remain quite as he did not want to challenge Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party. Sukanya's mother Sumitra Devi, who learnt about the whole incident immediately went with her daughter to Police HQ in Amethi. The Police officials refused to book any complaint and advised her to remain quite. She went from pillar to post pleading for justice, but no one heard her pleas. Sumithra Devi gave a statement in a press conference with a very thin attendance and there she was confronted by Congressmen who physically assaulted both mother & daughter. On 27 th December 2006 Sumithra Devi went to New Delhi to meet Sonia Gandhi. Sonia refused to meet her. With no options left she went to Human Rights Commission who just noted down her complaint and asked her to leave. The Congressmen have threatened to kill both Sumithra Devi and her daughter Sukanya if she makes the rape issue public. Both the mother and daughter are in despair trying to seek justice. Both mother and daughter were camping in New Delhi for over a fortnight to get an appointment with the President of India. They have not got an appointment either with the President or with the Chief Justice. Both mother and daughter are now in hiding. If the Congressmen dont kill her, the Opus Di (secret service of the Vatican) definitely will. It is important that we locate Sumanthra Devi and Sukanya, offer them protection. Sukanya and his mother are said to be hiding in one of their Relatives House in Harayana. Our Sources in Lucknow say that "The Congress men have been ordered to kill them at sight before they come out in open or approach the president" . Congressman have been deployed at all 7 borders of UP & Delhi to trace both motherand and Daughter . Congressmen deployed at checkposts have been provided photographs of Sukanya. Door to Door Searching is on in Amethi and neighbouring Villages to track down them, and simultaneously the villagers are being warned and threathened if they provide protection to both mother and daughter. The Congressmen and Congress Governments in other states are secretely been instructed to track them down and hand over to them at the earliest. Few Congress MLA'S from Uttar Pradesh are under tremendous pressure from the high command to Locate both mother and daughter and finish the needful. Secretly a reward has been announced by the Congress High Command if whosoever provides info or ...... Congressman from other districts and states are touring all over UP & Delhi. "I am sure they have decided to kill both mother and daughter." Father of the victim Mr.Balram Singh has either gone underground or has been killed, he is not to be seen since 4 th January 2007. 1. The lady Doctor at the hospital , where Ms.Sukanya went , on that fateful day was transfered soon after that incident .( Name of the lady doctor will be posted shortly ) 2. We know the place where Mother and victim Ms. Sukanya are hiding , we choose NOT to disclose for their safety .However we will try to send our men to contact them to throw light on the incident . 3. Video tapes : We took interviews of few individuals and will be aired soon 4. Fate of the father Mr.Balram Singh is not known 5. We learned that Kalyan Singh will use this incident once Elections are announced , till then Samajwadi Party will remain silent. Ms. Sukanya 's address 23-12 Medical Choke Sanjay Gandhi Marg, Amethi, Raebareli, UP India Ms.Sukanya and Mother last seen on January 19 , 2007 . 

Missing . Congress goons are still looking for her Father of Victim Mr. Balram is still missing We interviewed people , very soon we will air video interviews . The Mother and daughter are both in hiding Only 2 newspaper reporters actually came to the press conference. They are afraid of being killed by congress goondas. Recently what has happened to the Hindu devotees who took photos and videos of Christian prostylizing around the Tirupati Temple is being harrased, by the christian chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Yesudas Samuel Rajasekhar Reddy or known as YSR Reddy. On the instructions of YSR Reddy, the christian Inspector General of Police of Andhra Pradesh one Swarnajith Sen made the devotees to report to police every 2 weeks, spend 8 hours at the station , no question asked and in the evening is being told to leave.? The christians are trying to break the devotees of Tirupati, so that the christian conversion in the temple area can go on. Five separate bogus charges have been laid against the Hindu devotee. Unfortunately no Hindu came to help the devotee and only the Hindu Unity organization had came in support of the Hindu devotee who brought out the conversion terrorism that is being done by the christians in the Hindu temple area in Tirupati. The Rahul Gandhi gang’s rape victim and her family members lives are in danger and if Kanchan Mishra can just disappear in to thin air, so can both the mother and the daughter. Just because the Pro-Christian/ Islamic Indian Media have not reported this incident makes it even more believable. This case is only the tip of the ice burg. More will come out with given enough time like the Noida serial killings. On that fateful night Sukanya tried to get the support of local bastiwalas, but no one came forward as everyone are scared of Congress Goondaism which is strong in Amethi Sukanya father beat her so badly that she was forced to run away with her mother because Congressman wanted to kill her. A Group of 1 ,000 Congress people roamed the town on that night and kept warning people to keep their mouth shut otherwise they will kill them. It allhappened under the nose ofthe police who acted helplessly. The local media who learnt about this incidence next morning enquired from the local people. Both people and Police refused to speak anything and evaded any question. Reporters of Small and Medium Newspapers had shown interest in this incidence but it did not carry much weight. Major newspapers had heard about this incident, but did not take it seriously. The following Reporters who were present on 4 th December to cover Rahul's Trip in Amethi and who were given information about the incident. This reporters were informed about the incident, none of them took interest to look into the matter a) IBN7 b) Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar c) Punjab Kesari d) Hindusthan Times (Hindi) e) Times of India & Times now f) NDTV (Hindi) g) Aaj Tak h) Star News i) Nav bharath times Sukanya and his mother are said to be hiding in one of their Relatives House in Harayana. Our Sources in Lucknow say that "The Congress men have been ordered to kill them at sight before they come out in open or approach the president" Congressman have been deployed at all 7 borders of UP & Delhi to trace both mother and daughter. Congressmen deployed at check posts have been provided photographs of Sukanya. Door to door searching is on in Amethi and neighboring villages to track them down. At the same time the villagers are being warned and being threatened that if they provide protection to both mother and daughter they also will be killed by the congress goondas. We have no information like who is contacting the president on behalf of them. We are trying to gather information from our people in New Delhi whether the Human Rights has seriously registered their Complaints. Few Congress MLA'S from Uttar Pradesh are under tremendous pressure from the high command to locate both mother and daughter and finish the needful. Secretly a reward has been announced by the Congress High Command for any one who provides information or kill Sukanya and her parents. Congressman from other districts and states are touring all over UP & Delhi. Balram Singh has either gone underground or has been killed; as he is not to be seen since 4 th January 2007