What about Bombay 1992? Mr. Syed,

it is indeed despicable that the perpetrators of the 1992 riots are roaming scot free. It does not credit to our country that justice is being applied selectively. And this is not the first instance this has happened in our republic's history. The perpetrators of 1984 carnage are yet to be brought to justice.

While I agree wholeheartedly with the gist of your article, I do not appreciate the veiled threat at the very end. Such logic is used by terrorists.

India\'s Yin and Yang 60 years After Independence Re: # 25 bulleya

man, new nick or not, your paki military inspired sermons don't cease do they. The problem with your ilk is that you assume way too much and try to become too familiar when all you have is a basic cursary paki isi 101 take on Indian society ala one muslim is equal to ten kafirs. How on earth can you know if Indians in the West are not spending enough time in India or working in India? Most people I know in Houston, having settled down in the USA for many years, are now buying property in India to spend at least part of their time in their native places. This is the case especially with the older people who have retired or on the verge of retirement but are still capable of doing good work. They either plan to start new businesses or donate part of their fabulous fortunes to social causes in India.

I've been reading your sermons about how you've given work to so many Indians over the years and how you've gone out of your way to understand India and Indian culture and your moaning about how this is a Paki trait borne out of watching ridiculous Indian soap operas and movies. I'm also quite tired of your moaning on other forums of how Indians don't reciprocate and try to understand Paki culture in a similar fashion. I think Indians are in general too modest to admit to such things. Many Indians are very inquisitive about Pakistan borne out of their relationships with Pakistanis or just out of plain curiousity. Many Indians I know both here and in India read Paki newspapers religiously not to criticize or make fun of Pakistan, but in order to know more about the other. I visited Pakiland in 2000, just after Kargil and believe me, Pakis are no angels. There are good and bad in them like most people. I took courses in Islam with my good friend YLH at Rutgers and I have my own views on that religion.

You fit a pattern among Pakis where Indians feeling good about India gives you a keera much like Indians feeling keera when Pakis feel good about Pakiland. But then you pretend like you are better than these keera biting Indians and adopt a holier than thou attitude. No one gives a shite whether you think India is progressing or not. You are in India only to fill your pockets and not on some altruistic, knowledge seeking mission. In a way you've answered your own question about why you are spending so much time in India. You are there because you see opportunity. And there are many more Indians doing the same thing than delusioned Pakis like you.

Dost-Mittar and other such Indians are too polite to say it as it is. Arjun2 is more to the point when dealing with you people.

India\'s Yin and Yang 60 years After Independence Re: # 12 anil

interesting that you mention Korea and Taiwan among countries scrambling for Western capital after the war. A superficial look at their cultures seems to indicate an extreme infatuation with the West. Indians too love lots of things about the West but have not made wholesale cultural changes like Koreans and Taiwanese have. The most important change I observe is that Christianity has gained an incredible hold over the peoples of these two countries. In Korea, new Christian converts have even physically assaulted practicing Buddhists and vandalized their temples. How much of this is directly related to America's influence in these two countries after the war would be a question for interesting debate. Japan somehow has managed to hold onto its ancient culture more successfully I feel.

Nehru by insulating India from the voluptuous embrace of the West in our initial years of freedom might have done more to preserve India's soul, like you said, than we all realize. It is a pity his descendants do not have his sagacity or his intellect. He is definitely in my top 5 list of greatest world leaders along with Alexander, Genghis Khan, Lincoln and the Muslim prophet Muhammad in no particular order.

India\'s Yin and Yang 60 years After Independence Re: # 13 dost_mittar

while in school we read about how the Great Depression was partially alleviated by the massive New Deal construction projects throughout the US such as the Tennessee Valley Project, Schools, etc. May be therein lies the answer to India's problems. Launch a massive construction program to strengthen India's infrastructure while at the same time providing jobs and income for India's starving millions. The school buildings and public museums built can act as harbingers of future prosperity and cultural awareness. I personally know Govt. officials who complain that money keeps rotting in treasury for lack of proper implementation of projects. I do not think that money is a problem. India has always had money or recourse to it. It is the proper use of it that has become the obstacle. I think this is where India's democracy has failed and stunts India's growth. A more authoritarian regime like China wouldn't face this. But I still think I'd stick with India's democracy if given a choice.

Happy Indian independence day to you.

Celebrating Pakistan\'s 60th Anniversary Happy 60th birthday Pakistan on behalf of Indian well wishers. Cheers!

India\'s Yin and Yang 60 years After Independence for all of Nehru and his generation's role in the partition fiasco (I believe there should have been a peaceful, complete exchange of populations), I am grateful that he was the first prime minister of India. His Socialist policies might have suffocated India for a few decades, but they ensured that the feudal classes were completely removed from the ambit of power. Land was distributed to India's poor almost immediately after independence. India can be proud of that achievement. Nehru commanded respect in India and in the outside world and his leadership provided a time buffer for India to develop her institutions and self-confidence (though badly shaken during the 62 war with China). He was instrumental in recognizing the importance of an opposition in the parliament and I think this is one of the most significant if not the significant reason that Indian democracy was able to survive while her neighbors fell victim to the army baton. The capacity to listen to criticism without resorting to acrimony (more or less) is a hallmark of parliamentary democracy and we have to thank Pandit Nehru for inculcating that among Indian politicians.

Happy 60th birthday India (this whole thing is silly when in reality you've more ancient than most nations in the world). May you prosper and may the teeming suffering millions of Indian souls have a share in your prosperity soon.

Jai Hind.

A Pakistani-American in India Chowk Staff,

I've tried to block this idiot called Dawa-i-dil. But his posts still keep appearing when I log in. Please help.

A Pakistani-American in India why misguided Indians would want Pakistan to merge with India is beyond me. India has come a long way since 60 years ago and we would only be regressing if anything as horrible as remerger should ever happen. Nothing could be more catastrophic to non-Muslims in India. Now that India is finally moving on with the process of nation building and beginning to see tangible results, I see Pakis throwing around mentions of how partition was wrong and how Hindus and Muslims always lived in peace etc and other steaming B.S. I see this more on forums like BBC. What is done is done. There is no going back.

I am actually of the opposite opinion than these pinko opportunists. I think India could have avoided a lot of post-partition angst and difficulties if there was a complete transfer of population ala Turkey and Greece. This transfer could have saved the minorities in both countries from real and alleged discrimination and rehabilitated them better in their new countries. That would have been the ideal situation. But since we did not have anyone of Ataturk's stature and that transfer is now not possible, Indians and Pakis should get along with business but remove any disgusting thoughts of reuninting/remerging or re anything but live in peace.

Pakis need not have any worries of Hindu fascists clamoring for merger. For every one fascist there are scores of pragmatic and sane Indians who would rebel against that idea. Read our lips, Indians do not wish to become co-citizens with Pakis. We can be friends, but not countrymen. We really owe Jinnah Sahib one for having the good sense to clamor for partition when he did. If only he had argued for a complete partition instead of the haphazard sloppy one we got.

150 Years: Recounting Untold History I for one am glad that the British won in 1857 and the mullahs got their arses blown off by British cannons. The descendants of these same Deobandis are the ones who are terrorizing the citizens of Islamabad with their lathis and kalashnikovs. They were no votaries of freedom and peace like the author makes them out to be. They were really miffed that Muslim supremacy was on the wane in India and their real fight was for establishing Shariat in India. Their fight was against Kafirs. And in case gullible Indians didn`t know already, that includes all non-Muslims. If it was British first, it would have included Hindus later. In fact they would`ve turned against even Muslims whom they didn`t consider Islamic enough, just like they are doing today. You only have to look at the antics of the Deobandis in Pakistan to get a grasp of their philosophy. It is the eternal shame of India that the Congress were allies of Deobandis in the struggle of independence rather than more moderate Muslims. These backward looking psychos are wholly and entirely responsible for the sad state of Indian Muslim affairs today.

And to hint at Sikh, Maratha and Rajasthan (read Hindu) responsibility for India`s colonization by British is laughable. Where would that leave the Nizams and myraid Muslim princes who wholeheartedly supported the British? To expect Sikhs to install a Mughal Emperor after how they treated Sikhs when in power is indeed foolish. The author would do well to come out of his Taliban/Deobandi cloak and look at history more objectively.

Even then, I am glad that India was won by the British. If not India would`ve been under the yoke of Muslims and would be in the same morass as the rest of the Islamic world today with no hope of democracy ever. India only has to look in its neighborhood for evidence.

Swearing-in Ceremony with Hand on the Bible? Mr. Gill,

I agree with your sentiments. The US, mercifully being a secular country, should have nothing to do with religious books or phrases like `In God we trust` when it comes to Government or other public places. This gives everyone the right to practice his/her own faith in the way they see fit. Millions of people from all around the world, including Muslims, have freely propagated and practiced their faith because of protection provided under the US constitution and Muslims are now justifiably upset because they are deemed traitors for standing up for their rights.

My only grouse is that Muslims are quick to cry foul in Western and other non-Muslim countries but not a peep comes out of them when non-Muslim rights are routinely as a matter of daily ritual abused in Islamic and Muslim countries. When non-Muslim rights are trampled, it is justified under the shariah, `cause the Quran says so. If a non-Muslim does not hold any particular relevance for the Quran, why then should he still be subjected to its laws? I find this very hypocritical on Muslims` part that they expect to have rights everywhere else in the world, but refuse the same rights to non-Muslims living in their own countries.

Take the blasphemy law for example. That it is abused on a regular basis due to property disputes, personal vendettas etc is well known. But even if someone says something against Muhammad or Islam, whey should he be prosecuted? Muslims regularly ridicule Christianity/Judaism/Hinduism. Why shouldn`t non-Muslims have the same right to criticize Islam or its prophet? Why one rule for Muslims and another rule for non-Muslims?

Mohammad Yousuf: A tribute leaving aside M.Y.`s religious views, he did achieve something great in this cricketing age. Even batsmen like Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Lara or Dravid have not been able to achieve something like this.

But I still consider the Great Viv Richards` record as more significant because his runs were scored against greater bowlers like Lillee, Hadlee, Imran Khan, Thomson etc and in an age where the pitches actually offered something to the bowlers unlike the dust bowls of today. Even home matches for Richards would not have been batsmen friendly on account of the great bowlers in his team. M.Y. scored majority of his runs on Pakistani pitches where even someone like M.S. Dhoni made a huge score.

M.Y.`s is an achievement which however should still be kept in perspective.

Indian Scholarships for Outstanding Pakistani Students Dear Qazi Saab,

your intentions are noble and honorable. I agree with the jist of your argument that there should be educational opportunities for Pakistani students in India as this would add to better understanding of each other. However I believe instead of setting a quota of seats for Pakistani students, they should compete with Indian students for getting the seats. This way India would get the best Pakistani minds to study and work in Indian universities. This way, both Pakistanis and India win. Only the best Pakistani students who can compete with Indians on equal terms should be allowed. In essence, common admission tests should be thrown open to Pakistani students and they should be selected only on merit only.

This would also allay fears of some people in India that these students might have ulterior motives. Brilliant students who get in based on merit obviously would want to improve themselves by excelling in their field rather than getting involved in extremist activities. After graduation they will likely excel in their respective field once they go back to Pakistan and they shall be future leaders. They can then work for peace between the two countries as they would have lived in India and interacted with Indians rather than seeing them as trishul wielding monsters.

Pakistanis might question why brilliant Pakistani minds should go to India when there are so many other non-Indian options available outside India. The answer would be that there are some institutions in India, not many, that are as good as any in the world. Many US and European students visit India to study non-cultural subjects because these institutions have been recognized as centers of excellence worldwide. Also, the living expenses are much cheaper in India than other countries. Plus, Pakistan is close enough that they can visit their families on a regular basis. They can also practice their religion freely without any hindrance. Food and clothing will not be a problem as the cultures are similar. These are just a few of the many advantages.

best regards,

Kabuli

Wag the Tail Why you being disrespectful to dogs, hain jee?

Mumbai Rocked by Seven Bomb Blasts what is abundantly clear after the mumbai blasts is that there was a terrible intelligence failure...things have been going wrong with RAW and other security agencies for a long while now with stories of moles, info leaks cropping up all too frequently...it is interesting because these stories began after the Congress led govt. came into power...if India is to arrest this trend, it needs to cooperate and network extensively with Mossad because those guys seem to know what they are doing...surrounded by terrible hate they have managed to survive and thrive...hopefully Congress will set aside their vote bank politics at least in this regard and work closely and share info and expertise with the Israelis

A Nation of Eunuchs Chowk has been publishing a lot of tripe lately...this one takes the cake...though the Irena Akbar articles comes a close second...utter bs

Mumbai Rocked by Seven Bomb Blasts Bombings are not new to Mumbai and will happen over and over in the future because the bombers know that they can get away with it...a people deserve the govt. they get...they deserve the security that they work for...Indians have a lackadaisical attitude towards security...they believe too much in taqdeer...look at the Israelis...they make sure that the cost of terrorism is very high for bombers...they hunt them down no matter what and make sure that the acts of the bombers have consequences for their families too by tearing down their houses...India on the other hand with its lethargic judicial system often lets perpetrators go scot free either because witnesses turn hostile or because criminals manage to escape from prisons or get exchanged for hostages...pathetic and disgusting...the Indian govt. almost went to war because the bombs hit a little too close for comfort (parliament bombs)...but when the victims are mere civilians, they will announce investigations, bench reports and what not until the bombings are all but erased from memory...in the parliament case for once, I wish the terrorists were successful and had taken all the rotten politicians with them...and as for Musharraf expressing his condolences...that has to be the biggest farce in this entire episode...this guy has cocooned Dawood Ibrahim and his gang and has the gall to talk about terrorism and condolences...everyone in Pakistan (including Herald magazine) knows that Dawood Ibrahim is in Karachi and has extensive properties there...he has a house in Defence...his daughter married Javed Miandad`s son...but still the dishonorable president claims otherwise

Everyone is condemning the bombers for the blasts in Bombay...but no one condemns the grenade attack on tourists in Kashmir just hours before...there lies the hypocrisy...it was civilians in both Kashmir and Bombay but because of political convictions, one is justifiable and the other is not....desis are disgusting