India – Another Talibanistan in the Making?

The Title suggests that India is on its way to become yet another country which will fall prey to the leadership of Taliban, which seems incorrect. You may suggest that the title should be Pakistan and not Hindustan. But, the facts below do show that we have a lot of our own fundamentalists, which terrorize the nation.


What exactly is Taliban?
The word Taliban is derived from the Arabic word “Talib”, which means, “one who is seeking”, but over the years, the word Taliban has got a meaning, “one who is seeking fundamentalist religious knowledge”.

Unlike Barack Obama, who classified Taliban into “Good Taliban” and “Bad Taliban”, from an Indian’s perspective, I’d rather divide the Taliban into:
1. The Foreign Taliban
2. The Indian Taliban


The Foreign Taliban – Based in Afghanistan and Pakistan
The oldest Taliban Militia was established in Afghanistan, after the Sovient Union broke up, to fight the Mujahdeen war-lords who were corruptly ruling parts of the country, and restore peace in a united Afghanistan. This movement of Sunni Pashtun religious students, was backed up indirectly and directly by the United States and Pakistan, because the Taliban used to check the spread of the USSR rule.

Growing in power, the Taliban under the leadership of Mullah Omar, took over the entire Afghanistan under their “Exemplary Islamic Rule”. The brought back the system called taqlid, which means a very strict following of traditional Islam. Cutting the long story short, in 1980s, Osama bin Ladin established guerrilla warfare bases in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. But after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, the Taliban began to look at the Western culture as its enemy. They considered items like Television, Music etc to be Western infatuations, which are aimed to break their religious beliefs. This intolerant mind-set led to the 9/11 attack on the United States, by Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban refused to extradite Osama to the US.

On the other hand, Pakistan in its bid to take over Kashmir also helped the Taliban to grow. This has led to the Talibanese rule in a lot of Pakistani territory and even the Democratic Government and the army seems to be unable to control their growth. The Government’s approval to sign a peace treaty which accepts their rule in the SWAT valley, shows that Taliban in Pakistan is a force to reckon with.

Over the years, the same snake that the US and Pakistan nurtured and nourished has raised its hood against them and the Terror attacks in the US and the problems in Pakistan have grown very grave concerns globally. The new Obama administration has also recognized this threat and a new Af-Pak Policy is in place.


The Indian Taliban - A More Dangerous Breed

Unlike the Islamic terrorist Taliban that is growing in Af-Pak region, the Indian union has multiple versions of its own Talibanese ideologies. After all, we are a land where there is unity in diversity and hence there are diverse Taliban-like groups in India, based on caste, creed and region with their own selfish interests.


The Muslim Taliban in India

Before the title is taken in a negative sense, I would like to clarify one thing. An Indian Muslim is as much Indian as any other person. It is absolutely incorrect to consider all followers of Islam as bad and they are not the only community spreading terror. Generalizing the whole community due to the presence of a few bad people would be absolutely incorrect.

There are some areas like Cheetah Camp in suburban Trombay, where the local clergy are highly influential. Known as Khan baba, Abdul Jalil Khan said that he is fighting against the “corrosive power” of the visuals on the air-waves as all television programmes, either informative or entertaining, are replete with images of lust and of semi-nude models. The people are forced into sending their children into Madressa instead of the schools. The Madressa curriculum is very limited to Islamic thought culture and it has not changed over-time, which makes it even more dangerous. Children here are taught the “real” Islam and slowly they become molded to the rigidity of religion, which is a threat to our secular nation.

Another example to cite here is the one I came across on a blog. On January 16, a Pakistani woman named Saba was bashed up at a mall in Mumbai. The “crime” she committed was having a tattoo which said “Shukr Alham Du Lillah”, meaning “Thank you, God”. A group of Islamic Radicals led by Shabana Talukdar slapped her in the mall’s washroom till the Management came to her rescue. (Also printed in the Mumbai Mirror)

What I am trying to suggest here is, whatever happened to the fundamental right of “Freedom of Expression”. Especially in this case, where I personally don’t think anything provocative was written.


The Maharashtrian Taliban
Starting with Shiv-Sena, a group of pro-Hindu fundamentalists under the rein of Bal Thackeray, for the Marathis in Maharashtra, this group has grown in power over a period of time. With various cases pending in the court, the members of this group are either Politicians themselves, or are closely linked to Political Parties which provides them safe haven. The Shiv-Sena is known to have played a vital role in the riots that sparked out in Mumbai after the Babri Marjid demolition. A Judicial Commission also pointed at the Sena for its direct involvement in coordinating the anti-Muslim riots, and accused Thackeray of “commanding his loyal Shiv Sainiks to retaliate by organised attacks against Muslims.” But after 7 years of Judicial Proceedings, Bala Thackeray was given a “clean chit”.

The Latest off-shoot of an uncle-nephew quarrel for power sharing between Bala Thakeray’s son Udhav and nephew Raj, has given rise to another offshoot of such kind called The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) led by Raj Thackeray is all gaga about the needs of the original Marathi Manoos (actual Maharasthrians) and it raised a virulent campaign against the migrants, especially from Bihar and UP. The group is known to have assaulted the Taxi-drivers, vendors and the people who had come all the way from UP and Bihar to take the Railway Examination at the Mumbai Center. Among the cases known, there is also a case of a sweet shop named “Karachi Sweets”, whose owner was threatened by the MNS to either change the name of the shop or face the consequences.

From the records that I read online, at least 84 cases are filed against the MNS which include grave crimes like rioting, promoting enmity, expressing prejudices in public etc. Raj Thackeray’s name is included on 55 of these, with some of the cases where he is the prime accused. But the fact that he is not charge-sheeted yet and the fact that he was just jailed for some time and released on bail show the Political Muscle of the MNS.


The Rama Sena and Bajrang Dal

The Bajrang Dal is the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). Though they say they are secular and accommodating in their ideology, the Bajrang Dal has a goal of reversing the impact of the Muslim and the British rulers in India. This also includes the restoration of the currently disputed places of worship like Ayodhya and Kashi. Though I am not saying this is completely wrong, but it is also not correct to destroy places of worship of other communities.

The Bajrang Dal is also known to have had active involvement in the various riots. The VHP leader, Praveen Togadia, was arrested in April 2003 after distributing tridents to Bajrang Dal activists in Ajmer defying ban and prohibitory orders. Other than this, the Bajrang Dal activists are known to be “spoilers” when it comes to Valentine’s Day Celebrations, by invading parks, pubs, shops, cinema halls and restaurants and behaving like “social-police”.
Another such group is the that newly got fame is The Sri Rama Sena, which is a group of self-acclaimed Hindu fundamentalists who want to “restore” Indian values back into the system. Around 40 members of this group attacked a pub in Mangalore, Karnataka and physically dragged and abused the defenseless girls. The pictures and videos of this incident also show that there was grappling and molestation involved in this bizarre incident. The people who tried to intervene were also bashed up.

The sad part about this event is that everyone rose up in anger, but the Politicians remained unmoved for the fear of losing votes. Yet, the women came up with a great idea of gifting the leader of Ram Sena Pramod Muthalik, with huge numbers of pink underwears on the Valentine’s Day as a gift for his efforts.

Fate it seems is ironic, in Ramayana, Rama had a Sena of Monkeys who behaved like Humans and now we have this Rama Sena of Humans in Kalyug who...


My Take on the Taliban and India Topic

On a personal note, I feel that the Taliban within is much more dangerous as compared to the one beyond our borders. The Af-Pak Taliban forces can be even attributed to their warring nation with almost no education, but the Indian Taliban is far more dangerous as it comes from an educated class living in a democracy. The recent spur of events woven around yet-another Hindu fundamentalist Varun Gandhi is not music to our ears.

The very events mentioned above make me ponder whether we do have any fundamental rights left with us. Security threats and Violence have also led to another set of questions.

“Are we living in places where people are less Fundamentalists or Rigid then the Taliban forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan?”

“Will India – A country of diverse Tribes, Religions and Cultures still remain united or will it too Succumb to these Hardcore Perpetrators and get divided?”

“Will the Political Parties understand that they too are feeding yet another Taliban which has the potential of going the Af-Pak way, or will they continue to think short-term?”

As responsible citizens of a secular democratic, we must understand that nobody can violate others’ lives or forcibly invade their ideologies. We must join hands and take action against Hardcore Dictators.
If there is nothing else you can do, at least show your concern and VOTE RESPONSIBLY.

Election 2009 :: सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है
देखना है ज़ोर कितना बाज़ू-ए-क़ातिल में है

(ऐ वतन,) करता नहीं क्यूँ दूसरा कुछ बातचीत,
देखता हूँ मैं जिसे वो चुप तेरी महफ़िल में है
ऐ शहीद-ए-मुल्क-ओ-मिल्लत, मैं तेरे ऊपर निसार,
अब तेरी हिम्मत का चरचा ग़ैर की महफ़िल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

वक़्त आने पर बता देंगे तुझे, ए आसमान,
हम अभी से क्या बताएँ क्या हमारे दिल में है
खेँच कर लाई है सब को क़त्ल होने की उमीद,
आशिकों का आज जमघट कूचा-ए-क़ातिल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

है लिए हथियार दुश्मन ताक में बैठा उधर,
और हम तैयार हैं सीना लिए अपना इधर.
ख़ून से खेलेंगे होली गर वतन मुश्क़िल में है,
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

हाथ, जिन में है जूनून, कटते नही तलवार से,
सर जो उठ जाते हैं वो झुकते नहीं ललकार से.
और भड़केगा जो शोला सा हमारे दिल में है,
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

हम तो घर से ही थे निकले बाँधकर सर पर कफ़न,
जाँ हथेली पर लिए लो बढ चले हैं ये कदम.
ज़िंदगी तो अपनी मॆहमाँ मौत की महफ़िल में है,
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

यूँ खड़ा मक़्तल में क़ातिल कह रहा है बार-बार,
क्या तमन्ना-ए-शहादत भी किसी के दिल में है?
दिल में तूफ़ानों की टोली और नसों में इन्कलाब,
होश दुश्मन के उड़ा देंगे हमें रोको न आज.
दूर रह पाए जो हमसे दम कहाँ मंज़िल में है, सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

ज़िस्म भी क्या ज़िस्म है जिसमे न हो ख़ून-ए-जुनून
क्या लड़े तूफ़ान से जो कश्ती-ए-साहिल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है
देखना है ज़ोर कितना बाज़ू-ए-क़ातिल में है

A CEO at 16, now a millionaire!

Innovation is the secret of their success. They believe a simple idea can transform lives. They dream big and are passionate about their goals... Meet the young, ambitious, intelligent and enterprising architects of India. Here's a special series on India's best innovators and entrepreneurs, winners of the latest Nasscom Innovation Award 2008.

A gaming success mantra

It has been games, games and more games for 31-year-old millionaire entrepreneur Vishal Gondal. He flunked his BCom exams as he was devoted to games, a passion he pursued from the age of 13. Later, this passion led to a serious business when people offered him money to develop games.

In fact, Vishal was amused to see that people were ready to pay him for doing what he liked the most.

At the age of 16, he started his first company, FACT. Later, he received seed capital from Infinity and IL&FS. With an initial investment of Rs 3.25 crore (Rs 32.5 million), Indiagames was born in 1999.

The initial years were tough, especially during the dot-com bust, but they remained focussed and never gave up. Indiagames's products are now distributed to over 75 countries through partnerships with mobile operators.

From a humble beginning in a garage with just five employees, Indiagames has come a long way. Today, Vishal leads a team of over 300 employees and has offices in Mumbai, London, Los Angeles and Beijing. In 2006, UTV acquired 51 per cent stake in Indiagames.

Thinking 'out of the box' has kept Vishal Gondal ahead in this space. He believes that gaming will grow bigger than cricket and Bollywood in India.

"Entrepreneurs must have a clear focus. One must keep focusing on a single thing than trying to do many things at the same time. And copy cat ideas will not survive. One needs to be innovative and do unique things," he points out. However, he laments over the dismal state of innovation in India. "Indian companies had it very easy till now he says. They will be forced to innovate and do things differently."

Do You Need to Go to IRCE?

IRCE stands for the Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition, the major trade show for E-retailers. It is being held June 15-18 at the Boston Convention Center. There is definitely a culture split in the internet business: there is the corporate internet world — ebay.com, Target.com, Overstock.com, Meijers, Kohl’s — you get the idea. Then there are us scruffy guys — upstarts, guerillas, part-timers, millionaires-to-be. IRCE is corporate. It’s THE trade show for E-retailers but it’s overkill if you’re just starting out and working on the basics of building your empire. There are separate “tracks” you can attend. There is a Track B: Corporate Management and a Trade D: Small Retailers (as well as tracks for Operations, Marketing…) But judging from the conferences and workshops “Small Retailers” is for “Mid-size Retailers” in our humble opinion. (workshops like negotiating with vendors, how to right-size your fulfillment center — fullfillment center?! You mean our garage?). Unless you are mid-sized, Worldwide Brands is a great solution, at least to start. One interesting note: the founders of www.zazzle.com are scheduled to speak. We’ll talk about them in a future post. (But keep this is mind: Zazzle is not a “small retailer” — the Google founders invested $16 million in the company.)

Of course, one day, you may find you have built an empire, and you — or your employees — will need to attend — or exhibit — at this trade show. But for now, just be aware of it — for later. If you do wanna go now, go to www.IRCE.com. The standard 2-Day Conference and workshops pass is $1,295 (early bird special $1,195 before April 1). But like we said, we’d rather invest that two grand into a smart Google Adwords campaign, so we will have much more money to attend later on, if we wanna.

Wells Fargo Bank Cuts Its Dividend By 85%

On March 6, 2009, Wells Fargo bank announced that it would slash 85% of its dividend which would reduce the price to a nickel per share. According to Wells Fargo, this move will save them approximately $5 billion per year. Wells Fargo is a San Francisco-based bank which took over Wachovia Corp. five months ago.

The bank refused to confront its investors about their decision to slash the dividend through a conference call. Wells Fargo also confirmed their strong position this year as their shares increased by 7% recently to $8.69.

Wells Fargo is not the first bank to cut its dividend during this economic crisis. Most of those banks that survived the banking crisis such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., PNC Financial Services Group Inc and US Bancorp have decided to cut their dividend by 85%.

Wells Fargo recently took $25 billion from the government in shares and through this cut, they plan to pay the government as soon as possible. John Stumpf, president and chief executive, said, “These actions will help us repay the government’s investment at the earliest practical date.”

Google executive Tim Armstrong moves to AOL

Tim Armstrong, the executive of Google is soon going to adopt a new role of AOL’s chief executive. This has fueled the rumors regarding the separation of AOL from the parent Time Warner Inc. The idea of an independent AOL has been supported by Google also for some time now.

Google on the basis of its investment in AOL which was $ 1 billion, requested Time Warner for their money either as a refund or spin the unit out to shareholders.

The appointment of Tim Armstrong as the AOL chief executive has created positive vibes on Wall Street. It is believed by Richard Greenfield of Pali Research that Armstrong probably has agreed to join AOL because he knows he will get a chance to manage a public company soon which was highly unlikely while he was at Google.

It is visible by efforts like spin off of AOL by Time Warner that the parent company is trying to streamline operations. AOL has bought Bebo Inc and also focused on its “Platform” which is an online advertising network. Nielsen Online has ranked AOL 4th in February for US Internet audience. AOL had 83 million users while Google has 134 million. AOL search is also used by many in US.

But looking at current conditions, an AOL IPO isn’t commented soon. A lot of analysts and investors are in the favor of Time Warner to spin off AOL. Many see the step of AOL and Time Warner joining hand in 2000 as a misstep.

Baby sitters accused of taping sex with children

A couple who ran a baby-sitting service out of their home videotaped themselves performing sex acts with children, some as young as 2 months old, police said Friday.

Stephen E. Quick, 31, and Samantha Light, 25, both of Veedersburg in western Indiana, were being held on $100,000 bond in Fountain County Jail. Both faced preliminary charges of child molestation and child exploitation. Jail staff did not know whether either one had an attorney.

Police who searched the couple's home found a videotape depicting sex acts involving Quick and Light and at least four different children between the ages of 2 months and 6 years old, said Fountain County Sheriff's Deputy Bob Kemp.

"In 15 years of doing this job, it's the worst thing I've ever seen or imagined," he told WRTV. "Just horrible, just horrible It's a new low."

Police searched the couple's home after the parents of a 3-year-old girl reported that she told them Quick and Light had touched her inappropriately and photographed her at their home on Feb. 28.

Deputies seized several computers, cameras, a video camera, pornographic materials, drugs and drug paraphernalia. Several sex toys that appeared in the video were seized during a second search, police said.

Quick and Light were arrested March 5. Neither has a criminal history.

Authorities have removed the couple's daughter from their home.

Fault lines open in talks over global crisis fixes

There's widespread agreement among the world's biggest countries that the current global financial and economic crises require global solutions. But as leaders from twenty of those countries gather this weekend in London, that may be about all they can agree on.

The upcoming meeting is the last of a series of preliminary sessions before an April 2 summit that was called to try to reverse the downward spiral in the global economic and financial systems.

There’s little debate over the scope and urgency of the problem. And all parties have called publicly for a unified approach to economic stimulus programs, coordinated efforts to bail out the battered financial system and tougher, comprehensive rules to prevent the global financial system from running off the rails again.

When the time comes to work out the details, the limits of global harmony quickly become apparent.

“I think they’re pretty disunified,” said Simon Johnson, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. “But they don’t obviously want to present that too publicly.”

After months of preliminary work, several major fault lines have opened, largely between the U.S. and European countries, say analysts. The Obama administration, represented this weekend by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, has been pressing European countries to boost spending. For their part, the Europeans have been urging quick action on tightening financial regulations.

Officials on both sides of the Atlantic have been teeing up the issues this week. On Tuesday Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke outlined the issue facing U.S. financial regulators, but pointedly lowered expectations for the April G-20 summit.

“I think it's asking too much for a meeting like that to come out with detailed proposals in many different areas,” he said.

Bernanke focused much of his speech on the need for a more centralized approach to U.S. regulations that could more closely monitor increased risks to the entire financial system, not just the risks faced by individual banks.

But so far, no one has figured out how to pull that off.

“The fact that the best idea they can come up with is a 'college of regulators' — which essentially means air miles for the regulatory industry — suggests that we are not seeing any coordinated action,” said Tom Vosa, head of economics research for nabCapital in London. “That’s not surprising because different countries have different histories of their banking system. The structures are entirely different.”

Given the complexity of those different regulatory systems — not unlike the multiple federal and state financial regulations in the U.S. — it’s hard to envision a single global regulator with the sweep and authority to undertake the kind oversight being discussed, according to Sebastian Mallaby, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“This G-20 meeting in April 2 is not going to resolve financial regulation,” he said. “It’s just too difficult and too complicated. There’s been some noise from the Europeans saying, ‘Gee, we’ve got to regulate hedge funds’ and so forth. That’s because they want to change the subject from the fact that they ought to have more fiscal stimulus.”

AIG paying millions in bonuses despite bailout

WASHINGTON - American International Group is giving its executives tens of millions of dollars in new bonuses even though it received a taxpayer bailout of more than $170 billion dollars.

AIG is paying out the executive bonuses to meet a Sunday deadline, but the troubled insurance giant has agreed to administration requests to restrain future payments.

The Treasury Department determined that the government did not have the legal authority to block the current payments by the company. AIG declared earlier this month that it had suffered a loss of $61.7 billion for the fourth quarter of last year, the largest corporate loss in history.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has asked that the company scale back future bonus payments where legally possible, an administration official said Saturday.

This official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that Geithner had called AIG Chairman Edward Liddy on Wednesday to demand that Liddy renegotiate AIG's current bonus structure.

Geithner termed the current bonus structure unacceptable in view of the billions of dollars of taxpayer support the company is receiving, this official said.

Contractual obligations

In a letter to Geithner dated Saturday, Liddy informed Treasury that outside lawyers had informed the company that AIG had contractual obligations to make the bonus payments and could face lawsuits if it did not do so.

Liddy said in his letter that "quite frankly, AIG's hands are tied" although he said that in light of the company's current situation he found it "distasteful and difficult" to recommend going forward with the payments.

Liddy said the company had entered into the bonus agreements in early 2008 before AIG got into severe financial straits and was forced to obtain a government bailout last fall.

The large bulk of the payments at issue cover AIG Financial Products, the unit of the company that sold credit default swaps, the risky contracts that caused massive losses for the insurer.

A white paper prepared by the company says that AIG is contractually obligated to pay a total of about $165 million of previously awarded "retention pay" to employees in this unit by Sunday, March 15. The document says that another $55 million in retention pay has already been distributed to about 400 AIG Financial Products employees.

The company says in the paper it will work to reduce the amounts paid for 2009 and believes it can trim those payments by at least 30 percent.

Bonus programs at financial companies have come under harsh scrutiny after the government began loaning them billions of dollars to keep the institutions afloat. AIG is the largest recipient of government support in the current financial crisis.

Firm pledges to restructure bonuses

AIG also pledged to Geithner that it would also restructure $9.6 million in bonuses scheduled to go a group that covers the top 50 executives. Liddy and six other executives have agreed to forgo bonuses.

The group of top executives getting bonuses will receive half of the $9.6 million now, with the average payment around $112,000.

This group will get another 25 percent on July 14 and the final 25 percent on September 15. But these payments will be contingent on the AIG board determining that the company is meeting the goals the government has set for dealing with the company's financial troubles.

The Obama administration has vowed to put in place reforms in the $700 billion financial rescue program in an effort to deal with growing public anger over how the program was operated during the Bush administration.

That anger has focused in part on payouts of millions of dollars in bonuses by financial firms getting taxpayer support.

Skiing: Svindal clinches World Cup overall

ARE, Sweden — Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway has clinched his second World Cup overall title when Benjamin Raich of Austria straddled a gate in the opening run of the final slalom of the season and was disqualified.

Raich, the only skier who could catch the leading Svindal, trailed by two points going into the final race of the season.

Svindal also won the overall in 2007.

Raich, who started first, quickly found his rhythm and skied smoothly through the first gates at the top of the course before straddling a gate about halfway down on Saturday.

A three-time winner of the World Cup slalom season title, Raich finished the season with 1,007 points.

Svindal, one of the last starters, had 1,009 points going into the race.

The 31-year-old Raich, who also won Olympic and world championship golds in the slalom, failed to pick up points in four of 10 slaloms this season.

In Tape, Bin Laden Calls Gaza Offensive a ‘Holocaust’

CAIRO (AP) -- Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden called Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip a ''holocaust'' and lashed out at Arab governments that he said failed to stop the bloodshed in an audio recording broadcast Saturday.

Bin Laden, whose message was released in excerpts on Al-Jazeera TV, called Arab leaders hypocrites and accused them of sacrificing the Palestinians in Gaza and collaborating with Israel. The three-week offensive, which ended on Jan. 18, killed about 1,300 Palestinians, according to Palestinian human rights groups.

''It was clear that some of the Arab leaders have collaborated with the Crusader-Zionist alliance against our people, those whom America calls the moderate leaders,'' said bin Laden. ''We must disown ourselves from all those'' governments.

He did not mention any governments by name in the brief excerpts, but Egypt, in particular, drew criticism during the offensive for not opening its border with Gaza to more aid shipments and humanitarian cases.

Both Israel and Egypt have closed their borders with Gaza since the Islamic militant group Hamas violently seized control of the Palestinian territory in June 2007. The closure deepened economic hardship in the already impoverished strip, home to 1.4 million Palestinians.

It was bin Laden's second audio message on the Gaza offensive since January, when he urged Muslims to launch a jihad against Israel. It was not possible to verify the message's authenticity. A spokesman for Al-Jazeera refused to say how the network obtained the recording.

The terror leader again urged Muslims to fight Israel.

''The Gaza holocaust, amid this prolonged embargo, is an important historic event and a catastrophe that shows the necessity of distinguishing Muslims from hypocrites,'' he said. ''It is not right that our situation after Gaza will be as it used to be before. There should be serious work and preparation for jihad to fulfill righteousness and defeat evil.''

Australian oil spill worse than thought

Ten times more oil than originally thought leaked from a ship to blacken miles of white sand beaches along Australia's northeast coast, a government official said Saturday.

Authorities declared a disaster zone along 37 miles (60 kilometers) of some of Australia's most popular beaches in Queensland state after they were covered in a blanket of heavy fuel oil that spilled from a ship hit by rough seas on Wednesday.

Queensland state Deputy Premier Paul Lucas told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio Saturday that officials originally thought between 5,300 and 7,900 gallons (20,000 and 30,000 liters) of oil had leaked from the ship. Lucas said it is "now apparent" that the amount of oil spilled was around 60,700 gallons (230,000 liters). He did not explain how he arrived at that estimate or offer any further details.

Anthony Tregoning, spokesman for Britain's Swire Shipping Ltd., the Hong Kong-registered ship's owner, said the company would not be releasing any further figures on how much oil had spilled.

Queensland officials accused the company of initially misleading the government about the size of the spill. Premier Anna Bligh said the company told the government the spill was much smaller, leading officials to predict there would be little environmental damage.

Swire said containers of fertilizer had slipped from the ship's deck as it rocked in rough seas, ripping a hole in a fuel tank and spilling more than 11,000 gallons (42,500 liters) of oil into the sea. On Friday, the company said an inspection of the hull led it to conclude the amount of spilled oil was "significantly more" than that, but did not give a figure.

National parks at Moreton and Bribie islands just north of the state capital of Brisbane were hardest hit by the oil, and fuel also washed ashore in pockets along the Sunshine Coast.

Hundreds of government workers trudged along beaches Saturday, scooping up black, sludgy sand and throwing it into bags. Bligh said most of the cleanup on the Sunshine Coast and Bribie Island was completed Saturday, though the cleanup of Moreton Island was expected take longer.

The Environmental Protection Agency said no dead wildlife had been discovered so far.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said the ship, brought to port still leaking oil, would not be allowed to leave until officials were satisfied the spill had been explained. Queensland officials threatened the shipping company with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.

Under Australian law, the ship's owners face fines of up to 2 million Australian dollars ($1.3 million) and could be liable for up to AU$250 million ($160 million) more in penalties for causing environmental damage.

In a statement, Swire said it regretted the extent of the pollution caused by the spill and said the company and its insurers were talking with the government about cleanup costs.

Pakistani troops on alert ahead of protests

Pakistan's government put the army on alert ahead of planned opposition protests in the capital, the military said Saturday, raising the stakes in a political crisis that endangers the country's effort against Islamist extremism.

In another sign of strain on the pro-Western government, a prominent minister tendered her resignation from the Cabinet after a television station complained its coverage of the standoff was curbed.

Authorities have vowed to prevent lawyers and supporters of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif from converging on Islamabad for a mass sit-in in front of Parliament on Monday, arguing it will paralyze the administration and present a target for terrorists.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday offered to negotiate a solution to a conflict triggered by last month's removal of Sharif's party from power in the country's biggest and richest province, Punjab.

But protest leaders are vowing to defy the widening clampdown, raising the likelihood of violent clashes that could cast the nuclear-armed country into turmoil just a year after democratic elections ended years of military rule.

In response, the government alerted the army. Authorities have blocked the main boulevard leading to Parliament with metal shipping containers and say they also have to protect nearby foreign embassies. The area is already a high-security zone.

Information Minister Sherry Rehman announced her resignation from the Cabinet on Saturday after the private Geo TV channel complained that cable TV companies had blocked its programming in several cities.

Geo accused Zardari of ordering the restrictions - an allegation his spokesman Farhatullah Babar said was "absolutely incorrect."

Rehman, who has often spoken in defense of media freedoms, didn't explain her decision, and the channel appeared to be available again on Saturday in major cities.

Police have temporarily detained scores of activists across the country, including five people at a gathering of hundreds of lawyers and Sharif supporters Saturday in the central city of Multan.

"So far our attitude is soft, but we can change our strategy," said Ali Ahmad Kurd, the leader of the country's lawyers movement, said in Quetta after authorities allegedly prevented him from boarding a plane to the eastern city of Lahore.

"When one path is blocked, God opens 100 others, and we will reach Lahore and then Islamabad," said Kurd, whose road convoy was turned back by police a day earlier.

Pakistan's lawyers are mobilizing against Zardari's refusal to reinstate a group of judges, including the former Supreme Court chief justice, fired by former military leader Pervez Musharraf.

Sharif, widely viewed as the country's most popular politician, threw his weight behind the already planned protest last month when the court banned him and his brother from elected office.

Zardari then dismissed the Punjab provincial administration, which had been led by Shahbaz Sharif and was his party's only foothold in Pakistan's patronage-based political system.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the government put the army on notice on Friday that an unspecified number of troops might be needed to protect "sensitive areas" in Islamabad and elsewhere.

"When the situation deteriorates, gets out of hand of police, paramilitary (troops), only then the army is deployed," Abbas told The Associated Press.

Washington, which wants Pakistan to focus on the threat from the Taliban and al-Qaida and help boost the faltering war effort in Afghanistan, has been pressing all sides to resolve their differences.

U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson met with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani late Friday, Gilani's office said, shortly before the premier huddled with the president and other officials.

After talks that dragged into the early hours of Saturday, the government decided to try to defuse the tension through dialogue, a presidential statement said.

It didn't indicate what concessions the government could make and Sharif loyalists vowed the protest would go ahead.

However, there have been suggestions that officials are considering letting Sharif's party return to power in Punjab, where no party holds an outright majority in the suspended provincial assembly.

A formerly pro-Musharraf party, which holds the balance of power in Punjab, ruled out taking sides in the feud on Saturday, calling for all three to form a unity government in the region.

SP changes mind, to contest against Jitin Prasad

The SP announced its candidate from Dhaurara parliamentary constituency, one of the six seats which it had said it will leave for Congress following a deadlock over seat sharing in Uttar Pradesh.

No military solution to Tamil issue in Sri Lanka: Mukherjee

External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee said that India was deeply concerned at the sad plight of the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka who have been the victims of crossfire but insisted that there was no military solution.

BJP poll promises: Mandatory I-cards, laptops at Rs 10,000

If voted to power, BJP will make Multi-purpose National Identity Cards mandatory, provide laptops to students at Rs 10,000 and give free mobile phones to people below poverty line.

India replies to Pakistan’s queries on 26/11 attack

India on Friday handed over the response to Pakistan’s 30 questions on the Mumbai terror attacks in an effort to push Islamabad to move forward on the investigations. The response to Pakistan questions was contained in a 401-page dossier that was handed over by foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon to Pakistan’s high commissioner to India Shahid Malik.

Sources said the response is “comprehensive and detailed” and includes CDs of the intercepted voice recordings of the conversation between the Mumbai attack terrorists and their handlers, Abu Hamza and Kahfa. The external affairs ministry said India had responded to all the 30 questions asked by Pakistan. The response also includes fingerprints of the terrorists and the other detail that Pakistan wanted.

India has answered all the 30 questions but an additional query from Pakistan on former ATS chief Hemant Karkare and oblique references to the Samjhauta express through Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit do not figure in India’s response. Pakistan had asked for an eyewitness account of Karkare’s killing as he was investigating the Malegaon case and Purohit’s involvement.

India’s response comes at a time when Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is trying to defuse a political crisis that could even end in his own ouster. Sources said they expected the investigations and the legal process to move forward despite the preoccupation of the Zardari regime.

In a bid to satisfy Pakistan’s demand for evidence that would stand up in a court of law, the dossier also contains proof along with detailed responses to each of the 30 questions. “We expect Pakistan to prosecute and punish the accused. It is a comprehensive document supported by documentary evidence,” said home minister P Chidambaram, who handed over the dossier to external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The MEA forwarded the dossier to Pakistan through the Pakistani High Commission. The home minister also said the response to every question had been supported by detailed evidence including documents, CDs and forensic reports. “If Pakistan is serious about investigating the origins of the dastardly act, these answers provide a solid base,” Mr Chidambaram said.

A ministry of external affairs statement asked Pakistan to take credible action. “It is our hope and expectation that this step will lead to bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice and to credible action by government of Pakistan against the infrastructure of terrorism in that country,” it said.

Pakistan had asked India to hand over the response by March 13 citing legal issues related to the detention of the six Mumbai attack suspects in Pakistan. In its questionnaire, Pakistan had asked a range of questions ranging from DNA samples, postmortem reports and fingerprints of all the Mumbai attack terrorists to the forensic analysis of the Thuraya phone and other phones used by the 10 terrorists who carried out the attacks.

It also sought details of the interrogation of two Indian nationals who were arrested for providing mobile phone SIMs to the terrorists. After meeting Mr Menon and collecting the dossier, the Pakistani high commissioner said: “It is
helpful to us to carry out our investigations.”

India hands over replies to Pakistan

India on Friday handed over its response to the clarifications sought by Pakistan investigating linkages of its nationals to the Mumbai terror attacks in November last year. The replies were submitted to the Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik at the External Affairs Ministry in the evening.

‘Answers comprehensive’

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the answers were “very comprehensive” and should be sufficient for Pakistan to act decisively against the perpetrators of the terror strikes.

“We have put together answers to 30 questions submitted by Pakistan. It is a very comprehensive document, answering each of the 30 questions,” he told newspersons, after handing over the replies, along with the evidence to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The Ministry of External Affairs hoped that this step would help bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice.

It also expected Islamabad to ensure “credible justice and to credible action against the infrastructure of terrorism in the country.”

Mr. Chidambaram said the replies were backed by documentary proof, CDs and forensic evidence.

India’s response runs into about 500 pages and has nearly 16 annexures.

The material includes DNA profiles and fingerprints of the 10 attackers, photographs from closed circuit television, global positioning system details, and copies of key documents, including transcripts of conversations.

US collector wants auctioned Gandhi memorabilia back

Washington, March 14: Citing a "political turn" to events in India, US-based collector James Otis now wants a New York auction house to return a few of Mahatma Gandhi's personal belongings sold for USD 1.8 million in a controversial auction.

"It has become very political in India. The items are being used in a fashion that are not Gandhian at all," the peace activist who had made a futile last minute bid to withdraw the five auctioned items, told a news service over the phone.

Otis, who had earlier reconciled himself to the sale of Mahatma Gandhi's iconic round eye glasses and other personal belongings -pocket watch, sandals, eyeglasses, bowl and plate - to Indian business baron Vijay Mallya, said he was unhappy with the turn of events ahead of elections in India.

As a first step, his lawyer Ravi Batra explained, they were notifying Antiquorum Auctioneers that the sale was null and void as conditions under which he had put the items for auction no longer exist. He would also tell them that he would not ratify the sale.

Without Otis's ratification of the sale they can only turn over the possession to the buyer but not the title of ownership, he said. Under the law of contract, the auctioneer may at best have a claim to expenses if the seller chooses to change his mind.

Batra recalled that he had delivered a letter to Antiquorum before the March 5 auction saying that Otis wanted his stuff back. He had also held a press conference to inform the prospective buyers that the sale was illegal in view of a notice by US Justice Department of a Delhi High Court order staying the auction.

But when Antiquorum went ahead with the auction and the items were sold to Mallya, Otis decided not to contest the sale on the understanding that he would hand them over to the Indian government. But when he saw people jockeying for political benefits in India, he again changed his mind and went on a fast.

Asked if Otis planned to file a case in the New York State Supreme Court in an effort get the items back, Batra said: "We may end up there next week. But we are not there yet." It all depends on how the auction house responds to their notice.

Asked whether he would donate the items to the India, Otis said he had made a proposal to the Indian government to either increase allocation for the poor or sponsor a 78-nation tour of Gandhi's items to promote his principle of non violence.

He said he had received no formal response to the proposal though he had read in the newspapers that it had been rejected. He would continue negotiations with the government, he added.

Asked to comment on the development, a spokesperson of the Indian Consulate General in New York said the matter is sub judice in view of the Delhi High Court order and Justice Department notice. "As far as we are concerned, our role is over."