Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Gautam Sen, presumably an NRI, was 8220;recently in India,8221; and is shocked by what he calls the secular state8217;s attack on Hindus. He is amazed by educated Indians who defend Sonia Gandhi. 8220;They visit temples, but simultaneously excoriate something they exasperatedly describe as Hindu extremism.8221; Sen leads his argument to the death of Rizwanur Rahman. 8220;This is the backdrop to the remarkable case of the unspeakably self-indulgent and stupid Calcutta girl who ran away with her now deceased paramour who became her husband8230; The objection of Hindu parents to a Muslim groom stems from the fact that she will be invariably required to convert, resulting in her eventual permanent separation from them and the loss of their future grandchildren as well. Significantly, both families sought the religious conversion of the partner marrying their offspring. The woman8217;s family was not poised to gain a son-in-law as much as definitively lose a daughter, their own flesh and blood, completely. To insinuate this ought to be a non-issue merely illustrates utter bad faith. Of course the apostasy of a Muslim woman marrying outside her faith and the Sharia punishment of death for the transgression was not considered worthy of discussion.8221;
Buddhadeb revealed
Disarm Pakistan first
Columnist M.V. Kamath writes on the nuclear deal debate. 8220;The United States is doing everything in its power to get India to sign both the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty CTBT and the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty FMCT and thus make it entirely subservient to Washington.8221; He says the US is presently using Germany8217;s Chancellor Angela Merkel to put pressure on India. Merkel reportedly told India8217;s special envoy Shyam Saran, who recently visited Germany, that Delhi must not only sign the CTBT, but also ratify the FMCT, if it wants her support of the proposed 123 Agreement. 8220;As it is, the 123 Agreement is on hold and is unlikely to be operationalised8230; India is not against non-proliferation. All that it rightly cares for is its own security. If the US and the European Union can promise India that they will completely disarm Pakistan8217;s nuclear capabilities, then Delhi could have no compunction in signing a non-proliferation treaty. Washington must understand this clearly. Instead of putting shackles on the Pakistani armed forces, the United States is giving all possible military assistance to them without caring a hoot for India8217;s sensibilities,8221; he writes.
