The army was mobilised days after the December 13 attack on Parliament. Ready for combat, the army waited for the H-hour to launch an offensive into Pakistan. Eight months down the line, soldiers are still waiting for orders to attack. But the rifles have to be kept well-oiled and soldiers have to keep on the target practice. And in some places along the Rajasthan desert, the Indian and Pakistani troops are barely 200 metres from each other with only a small sand dune dividing the hostile neighbours. ‘‘We can hear the Pakistanis talk and at times see them play volleyball in the evenings,’’ says an experienced company commander presently on leave.So the target practice for the new recruits in his company is to aim and hit the volleyball when it is seen above the dune. Raw recruits lie in wait for the volleyball to be seen above the dune in the evenings and shoot to hit during the brief five seconds that it is visible. So far the Pakistani company across the border is poorer by nine volleyballs in the past eight months, the officer boasts proudly. For the sharp sniper the reward is an extra tot of rum at sundown.Mahajan SpeakMany in the BJP and an equal number outside it think that the Shivani controversy may help in clipping Pramod Mahajan’s wings. His detractors were not too happy with Mahajan staging his frequent coups — holding plum ministries like IT and Communications last September along with the high profile Parliamentary Affairs portfolio, and the recent Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections. But what came as a surprise was Mahajan’s own statement while speaking to mediapersons. He said, ‘‘When an aeroplane is hit by a bird, it can crash. Not because the bird is strong but because that’s the way an aeroplane is made.’’ Case of a bad crash?Same CastIt will be Uttar Pradesh replayed at the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections. BSP supremo Kanshi Ram is already in Jammu to finalise candidates but party’s star campaigner will be UP chief minister Mayawati. She is likely to address almost all the constituencies where BSP will field its candidates. On the other hand, former UP chief minister Rajnath Singh, now Jammu and Kashmir party affairs in-charge, will be the star campaigner for BJP. He has already visited Jammu and has scheduled another trip with party president Venkaiah Naidu on August 20. He is likely to stay in J&K during the poll campaign. Congress is also likely to contest Muslim MPs from UP in the elections, though party’s star campaigner will be Sonia Gandhi.Worshipping SatiMetres away from the site where the sati took place in Patna Tamoli village of the Bundelkhand region are two cemented platforms which had been built to commemorate earlier satis in the same village. The last sati took place 14-15 years ago in the neighbouring village. Kuttu bai would have seen these platforms almost everyday of her life as they are just behind the home. She was not religious and was living away from her husband because of abject poverty. Her daughter-in-law revealed that Kuttu bai had made up her mind to perform sati when her husband was dying. Maybe life in Panna district, one of the most backward districts in Madhya Pradesh, just got to her. Can Blame FarooqThough most of the opposition parties in J&K are demanding Governor’s rule, most of them do not want fight elections under it. The reason — opposition leaders are afraid that if they contest elections under the Governor’s rule and are defeated, they will be not in position to say that polls were rigged. ‘‘Under the Farooq government, we can always say that the polls were not fair,’’ admits a senior leader.Contributed by RAKESH ROCKY in Jammu, BHAVNA VIJ, NAVIKA KUMAR and SONU JAIN in New Delhi
