Who Gains Who Loses After Laden's Death

PERSPECTIVE
TUESDAY, May 10, 2011

US President Barack Obama - THUMBS UP

The US President has seen his dismal approvals surge by as much as 15 percent points. More usefully, killing Obama bin Laden has killed off Republicans claims he was a security wimp. But it isn't all politics. Obama has been just as determined as George W. Bush on destroying Al Qaeda.

Indian PM Manmohan Singh - SMALL UP

India gains because Pakistan is down. Sort of. India has been busy pointing out that the Pakistani military is in ca boots with every possible terrorist you can name. But Singh is too focussed on his peace drive to make much of what's happening in Afghanistan. Perhaps Kayani will be more realistic about his country's future - in which case the talks may actually be fruitful.

General Ashfaq Kayani of Pakistan Army - BIG DOWN

There is strong speculation the Pakistani army chief will be told to retire. Otherwise, Kayani was looking good. He had Hamid Karzai over a barrel, Manmohan Singh in a corner. The US was pumping in billions. He could still win Afghanistan but for many Pakistanis he will just bet the soldier who let the country's guard down.

Al Qaeda - BIG DOWN

Given that so many of its affiliates and members had sworn oath of fealty to Bin Laden himself the groups main problem will be keeping everything together. Al Qaeda needs some spectacular evil otherwise it may find itself overtaken by other, younger terror groups. We know one thing: Ayman al Zawahiri, the bookish number two, won't hack it when it comes to street cred.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai - SMALL UP

After the Abbottabad incident, Karzai crowed how it had once again been shown that terrorism wasn't an Afghan phenomenon, it was a Pakistani one. But he still has too few options. He's being forced to seek talks with the Taliban and toe the Pakistani line. Bin Laden's death may help, but his problems are Af and Pak, not Arab.

Taliban - POTENTIAL UP

The Taliban are a cluster of Afghan militant groups. Their friendship with the Arab-dominated Al Qaeda made them the targets of the US military machine. They now have the chance to become bigger than everyone. If they play their cards right they could get the US to begin leaving Afghanistan. If they play them better they could end up ruling Kabul again.

India-Pak Cricket Paves Diplomatic Scripting Between Conjoined Twins

From EDITOR'S Desk

INDIA / PAKISTAN NEWS - Is India-Pakistan's cricket world cup semi-final match in Mohali today a beginning of a careful diplomatic scripting that opens up later this week? The cricket match, of course, seems to have changed, overnight, the scope and possibilities of dialogue.
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The national teams of Pakistan and India advanced to semifinal round of the WC tournament and they are meeting today in India in presence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani, who was invited as a surprise to watch the match.

What the two prime ministers will talk for hours while sitting together and watching the match? Can it be a breakthrough between the two conjoined twins?

One thing is clear from Dr. Singh's invitation that he has repeatedly tried to advance diplomacy with the neighbor. As seen, he had also invited Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, though he declined.

Analysts draw a mixed conclusion. Few says the invitation of Dr. Singh may push forward talks between the two countries while others say it is a political stunt which may risk the lower-level talks scheduled to start this week.

Strategic affairs analyst in the capital, Brahma Challaney, said: "It has caught everybody by surprise... In diplomacy, you have to do the preparatory work first if you want to have a result. This sounds like an impulsive move."

Earlier, the cricket diplomacy was tried twice. In 1987 Pakistan President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq attended the Indo-Pak match, but the relations soon deteriorated between the two countries.

In 2005, Dr. Singh invited the then Pak President Pervez Musharraf to watch together India-Pakistan cricket match in New Delhi, ushering in a period of secret back-channel talks that almost culminated in a breakthrough deal on Kashmir.

Whatever... Right or wrong this time.

Dr. Singh wrote in The Indian Express yesterday, "If the mood at Mohali turns out to be good, Dr. Singh and Gilani might help give the dialogue at the bureaucratic level a much needed boost."

India and Pakistan were founded in 1947. Since then, the two nuclear-power neighbors had fought three wars. The diplomatic progress of the two countries were shattered in 2008 after Pak mounted terror attacks killed more than 160 people in Mumbai.

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Assam - 4 blasts, 8 killed, over 60 injured

INDIA NEWS (Asia): On the eve of India’s PM visit to Assam, terror struck. Assam rocked by 3 blasts and a grenade attack within 5 hours today. The terror attack killed 7 persons and have injured at least 63. All the terror attack was in the Maligaon area.

Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India is going ahead with his trip to the North-Eastern state tomorrow on Tuesday and he will address public meetings in Dispur and in Dibrugarh as a scheduled marking his entry into the poll campaign trail. The news comes from PMO sources in New Delhi. Manmohan Singh represents Assam in the Rajya Sabha.

ULFA and another group is suspected for the spate of attacks that came a day before the 30th 'foundation day' of ULFA.

According to The Times of India, Assam DGP G M Srivastav said 7 people were killed and 56 injured when a powerful bomb blast went off in a crowded market in Maligaon in Dishpur, capital of Assam, at around 2:00 pm (IST). The explosion sparked a fire in which 2 cars and 20 motorcycles set ablaze and spread to a 3-storey building housing the area police station.

6 people were killed at the blast site and 1 succumbed to injuries after jumping from an adjacent building which had caught fire. It is suspected that the bomb had been hidden in a car or a motorcycle parked adjacent to the Northeast Frontier railway headquarters.

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Labels: Assam - 4 blasts, 8 killed, over 60 injured, Assam News, India News, Asia News, ULFA Terror Attack

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India ‘fit’ PM says Varun Gandhi’s remarks unfortunate

INDIAN ELECTION NEWS: On the issue of Varun Gandhi’s communal speech, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh breaks his silence over the fresh effort of communalising politics in India on Thursday condemning the remarks that allegedly sought to target the minority community.

Manmohan Singh talking to media at the Defence Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan said, “It is unfortunate if Varun Gandhi had made these comments.”

Varun Gandhi is a BJP candidate from Pilibhit and is in a midst of a raging controversy over his alleged hate speech against minority.

In his brief to the press Manmohan Singh also sought to dismiss any apprehensions regarding his health. He said that he was fit to campaign for the party in the General Election.

Manmohan Singh is recovering after a cardiac surgery on January 24.

He further said: “The third front is our rival. It should not be underestimated. “The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) will win and I am confident that people will vote for UPA.

Labels: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Varun Gandhi, BJP, Indian Election, India News

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Nonvisible Sikhs Welcome In France

Just FYI:

Published on SikhNet (http://www.sikhnet.com)
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Sarkozy welcomes Sikhs sans turbans

Daily News News EU
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, at the concluding press conference of the European Union/India Summit in Marseille, France, stood next to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a Sikh wearing a light blue turban, as he answered this reporter's (Tejinder Singh) question about the wearing of turbans by Sikhs in France. Regarding the required Sikh head covering, an integral part of their religious identity, Sarkozy, replied curtly, "Sir, we respect Sikhs. We respect their customs, their traditions. They are most welcome to France."

Visibly irritated, Sarkozy continued, "But sir, we have rules, rules concerning the neutrality of civil servants, rules concerning secularism, and these rules don't apply only to Sikhs, they apply to Muslims or others. They apply to all on the territory of the French Republic."

The practice by Sikhs of allowing one's hair to grow naturally is a symbol of respect, the most important of the five outward symbols required of all Sikhs, and the turban is worn to cover the uncut hair. Sarkozy explained that the banning of turbans is not discrimination, that, "These rules apply to everybody, to everybody with no exception. There is no discrimination whatsoever."

Making it clear to the Sikh community in France that they have no option other than to conform to the rules, [Mai here: Not so. The Sikhs in France have at least two options. They can pick up their marbles and leave, as did my sixth brother, a long-time resident of la belle France. Or they can stay and fight this horrible law in various ways, ranging from fighting for repeal to opening their own schools. But Sikhs just give up and accept this? I don't think so. Evidently, Pres. Sarkozy has never heard of chardi kala.] Sarkozy made the paradoxical statement, "We respect their traditions and their customs and we are convinced that they too respect the laws, traditions and customs of the French Republic."

Discrimination begins early in France

In 2004, three Sikh boys, Jasvir Singh, Bikramjit Singh and Ranjit Singh, were expelled from French schools for wearing turbans. These students were the first victims of the ban instituted which prohibits Sikh students from covering their hair at school, a decision that has prompted world-wide protest from the Sikh community.

Commenting on the discrimination and its impact on children, Mejindarpal Kaur, the Director of United Sikhs, a worldwide Sikh organisation, stated in a press release that a preliminary survey of Sikh children affected by the French law found that 84 percent of the students interviewed were prevented from wearing head coverings to school. The survey also revealed that students had been expelled from French schools for refusing to remove their turbans, and many more suffered from alienation by their peers.

Also in 2004, Shingara Singh Mann, a French Sikh, reported he was prohibited from renewing his driver's license after it was lost in a theft because he was wearing a turban to cover his uncut hair.

On December 5, 2005 the French High Court ruled in favour of Shingara Singh Mann, giving him the right to wear his turban for his driving license identity photo, overturning an earlier decision by the French Ministry of Transport. But within 24 hours of the court decision, the Ministry issued a circular expressly forbidding turbans to be worn in driver's license photographs.

Kudrat Singh, Director of United Sikhs in France, said, "This is an example of oppression and discrimination which has not been seen in France for decades, and calls into question whether one can be both Sikh and French." According to legal opinions, the ban is a violation of Article 9 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) which provides for right to freedom of religion.

MEP Gill urges EU action

Asked to comment, Neena Gill, a member of the European Parliament had said, "I am astounded by the level of discrimination that is in fact growing … it is not confined to France … it is in Belgium, in Germany and it really smacks against all these initiatives that the European Commission is constantly launching."

However, solutions aimed at nurturing "unity in diversity," the European Union's frequently appearing slogan, are already working in the United Kingdom, one of the member states of the European Union, and across the Atlantic in the United States.

Highlighting the integration and diversity that prevails across the English Channel, Gill, who was born in Punjab, India, said, "If you look at the United Kingdom, you can wear a turban not only in mainstream jobs but also in the police, the army, the air force or the navy. There is no restriction. In fact, the army has special days when they try and recruit people from the Sikh community and the Dastar (turban) is not a problem for them, so I really think we do need to raise awareness, especially from the European Commission in these particular years of Equality and Intercultural Dialogue. We have to target the resources at these issues to ensure that there is greater awareness across the EU in accepting people of different appearances."

US efforts to embrace Sikhs

Discriminatory incidents involving Sikhs increased dramatically as a consequence of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. There were numerous cases of discriminatory attacks on Sikhs as they were misunderstood as allies of Osama bin Laden due to their appearance.

While the US is making the effort to remove misunderstanding and give Sikhs their legitimate place in society, in some member states of the European Union, comparable progress and acceptance has flowed in reverse.

US lawmaker speaks out

US Congressman Mike Honda (Democrat-California), who represents Silicon Valley and who is involved in this issue in his capacity as Chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, told this correspondent, "I don't believe in sacrificing freedom in order to protect freedom. Turbans are part of the religious identity of Sikhs and we must strive to respect their freedom of religious expression. A balance can be struck between national security and religious liberties, but that balance can only be reached by consulting all the parties involved, in this case the Sikh community."

"It would be ironic that many Sikhs, who fled their homeland seeking religious freedom, would find that America curtailed their religious freedoms when they arrived upon our shores," Honda had added.

The root cause of the discrimination and a pragmatic solution to root it out was aptly summed up by Jennifer Handshew, a seasoned public relations professional in New York who had told this journalist, "I feel that ignorance and fear are the primary factors that fuel this discrimination and believe that education and awareness will help people better understand what the turban means to the Sikhs."

What Handshew and others suggest provide a succinct analysis and a solution, but for now, the door to a respectable life in France for Sikhs has been slammed shut by the French President Sarkozy, in the presence of Indian Premier Manmohan Singh, himself a member of the Sikh community.

Author: Tejinder Singh at the EU-India Summit in Marseille, France
30 September 2008 - Issue : 801



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