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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JPR who wrote (6693)	9/10/1999 3:35:00 PM
From: sea_biscuit	Respond to of 12475

The main thrust of my post is that Pakistan Govt and General Musharaff denied in the face of world ?s criticism that Pakistani soldiers ( May their souls rest in peace , Pakistan sent their citizens to die on the slopes of Kargil, while the children of the rich were safe in their bungalows or vacationing abroad) As if it was different in India's case. The children of their rich are comfortably ensconced in the US, where they bravely vote on every on-line poll in support of the BJP! Now after being exposed beyond any doubt, the top soldier admits crossing LOC - deception and lie. Well, in true Indian style, he can always say that he was misquoted or quoted out of context<g> And then why talk about "solidification" of LOC. LOC, pre and post-Kargil was and is a de facto international border. It was probably "de facto" until Kargil. After Kargil, it has now taken the first steps to becoming the "de jure" border. That is the difference between the "before" and the "after". If Pakistan accepted LOC as International border, why did Pakistan cross it and went to the Indian side? Hell, both sides claim the entire Kashmir region as theirs. However, post-Kargil, both sides are forced to settle to a "half mine, half yours" solution. If they don't, then there's no solution. As simple as that. Nobody is running away from (it) the fact that LOC is an International border. No escape from that (the same fact.) Well, try running that one by the local VHP or RSS zealots first before being so cocksure that everybody is now resigned to having the LoC as the international border.

To: JPR who wrote (6693)	9/10/1999 8:32:00 PM
From: sea_biscuit	Respond to of 12475

Turning the screws on India's right-wing government. US emissary of faith to visit India WASHINGTON: US ambassador at large for International Religious Freedom Robert Sieple will visit New Delhi before the end of this year to discuss with the government of India where ``the status of respect for religious freedom deteriorated' in the last two years. The US Embassy in New Delhi has, meanwhile, clarified that the timing of the release of a State Department survey attacking the BJP, the RSS and ``other Hindu organisations' for their attitude towards religious conversion and non-Hindus ``has no relation to events in any particular country'. Briefing on the State Department's report on religious freedom, which was released on Thursday, he spoke of ``troubling' developments in India. In this context, he said some 150 incidents of communal violence had taken place in one state and that was a troubling phenomenon. The report notes that the ruling BJP, is one of the number of offshoots of the RSS, an organisation that ``espouses a return to Hindu values and cultural norms'. Members of the BJP, the RSS and other affiliated organisations have been ``implicated in incidents of violence and discrimination against Christians and Muslims', it added. The report says the BJP and RSS express respect and tolerance for other religions, but the RSS, in particular, opposes conversions from Hinduism and believes all Indians should adhere to Hindu cultural values. It makes it a point to mention that most BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, home minister L K Advani, are also RSS members, as are the chief ministers of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. While the BJP at the national level has downplayed its Hindu nationalist agenda, it points out, some Christian groups have noted the coincidence of its coming to power and an increase in complaints of discrimination against minority religious communities. These groups also claim that BJP officials at state and local level have become increasingly uncooperative. While religious freedom is protected by law, the US government report says that enforcement of the law has been poor, particularly at the state and local levels, where the failure to deal adequately with intra-group and inter-group conflicts and with local disturbances has abridged that right to religious freedom. In particular, there has been a significant increase in attacks against Christians by Hindu extremist groups during the period covered by the report. In many cases, the government response has been inadequate, it adds. It says the government reacted with a statement criticising the violence against Christians, but efforts to prevent such incidents from occurring and to prosecute those responsible at the state and local levels were inadequate. The report notes that in some instances, local police and government officials abetted the violence, and at times, security forces were responsible for abuses. Police on occasion accompanied Hindu fundamentalists who were responsible for the violence, it says.