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  • Citizens appeal to PM, CM: Save Soni Sori from Death in Jail

    Citizens appeal to PM, CM: Save Soni Sori from Death in Jail

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    In an open letter addressed to the Prime Minister of India and other officials, about 250 concerned activists, academics, intellectuals, students, professionals and democratic organisations have demanded immediate medical attention for the Adivasi school teacher, Soni Sori, 35, currently in custody in Raipur Central Jail, Chhattisgarh.  Soni Sori’s condition is believed to be rapidly deteriorating as a result of torture and sexual abuse at the hands of the Chhattisgarh police. She is the mother of three young children. Signatories to the letter include members of the National Advisory Council Harsh Mander and Aruna Roy, writers Arundhati Roy and Meena Kandasamy, respected economist Jean Dreze, Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan and renowned intellectual Noam Chomsky.

    In a recent medical report, doctors found stones inserted in Ms. Sori’s genital tract and rectum, and in a letter smuggled out of the prison, Ms. Sori states that she was stripped and electrocuted during police interrogation.  Meantime, she received none of the follow-up medical treatment that she badly needs.

    More than six months after she was tortured, Sori continues to be imprisoned in Chhattisgarh and has received virtually no follow up medical treatment for the injuries she sustained in police custody and the infections that have developed as a consequence.

    No investigation or action has been initiated against the police officers responsible for her torture. On the contrary, Superintendent of Police Ankit Garg, named in Sori’s letters, was awarded a Gallantry Medal on Republic Day, 2012. Sori’s petition before the Supreme Court asking to be transferred out of Chhattisgarh has been subjected to repeated delays and is still pending. Her health continues to deteriorate in the meantime.

    Open Letter:

    To,
    Shri Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India
    Shri P. Chidambaram, Home Minister
    Shri Shekhar Dutt, Governor of Chhattisgarh
    Shri Raman Singh, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh

    We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned by the rapidly worsening health of Soni Sori in Raipur Central Jail. She has been passing blood with her urine, is having difficulty to sit or get up, and has lost considerable weight. Despite doctors from NRS Medical Hospital having confirmed that stones had been inserted into her vagina and rectum, Soni Sori has received no proper medical attention. We fear for Soni’s life and are outraged and ashamed at this inhuman treatment of a woman in India.

    Soni Sori, 35, is an adivasi school teacher from Dantewada who was arrested in New Delhi on Oct 4 2011. Six months have passed since Soni was tortured physically and sexually but neither the state nor the central government has investigated the abuse. Her case has been repeatedly listed up in the Supreme Court but has been postponed every time. Throughout the duration of Soni Sori’s imprisonment, the state has also tried to stifle her communications with the civil society. In January this year, a team from various women’s groups across the country went to Raipur Jail to meet Soni, but they were prevented from doing so by the administration.

    The brutal treatment meted out to Soni Sori, and the prevailing situation of conflict and repression in Chhattisgarh, cause us grave concern about Soniin particular, and the situation of women prisoners, in general. We demand immediate access for fact-finding groups to meet with Soni Sori and others to assess their condition in jail, particularly their medical situation. We fear that Soni Sori’s condition is rapidly deteriorating, and demand that she receive immediate medical attention.

    Signed,

    Harsh Mander

    Meena Kandaswamy, Poet, Writer, Activist

    Prof. Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor Emeritus, MIT

    Prashant Bhushan, Advocate, Supreme Court of India

    Anand Patwardhan, Filmmaker

    Aruna Roy, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)

    Nikhil Dey,  Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)

    Shankar Singh,  Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)

    Dr. Deepankar Basu, Prof of Economic, UMass Amherst

    Dr. Prithvi R Sharma, MD

    Jean Dreze, Allahabad University

    Uma Chakravarti, Retd Professor, Delhi University

    Anand Chakravarti, Retd Professor, Delhi University

    Githa Hariharan, Writer

    Arundhati Roy, Writer & Social Activist

    Mohan Rao, Professor, JNU, Delhi

    Geetha Nambisan

    Dr. Abha Sur, Women Studies, MIT

    Hiren Gandhi, Darshan, Amhedabad

    Dr. Saroop Dhruv, Darshan, Amhedabad

    Alisha Sett, Student, Tufts Univ

    Dr. Suvrat Raju, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad

    Manasi Pingle, Film Maker

    Admiral L Ramdas, Former Chief of Naval Staff, Alibag

    Lalita Ramdas, Alibag

    Prof. K.N. Panikkar

    Dr. Jonathan E Fine, M.D, Founder Physicians for Human Rights

    Santosh Rohit, Graduate Student, Univ. of Buffalo

    Dr. KS Sripada Raju

    Shrikumar Poddar

    Mayurika Poddar

    Soundarya Iyer, PhD student, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore

    Prof. Ved Vatuk

    Nurul Kabir

    Karthik Sekhar, PhD student, MIT

    Priyanka Srivastava

    Ananyo Maitra

    Srihari Murali, Indian Institute of Science

    Dr. Jonathan E. Fine, Founder Physicians For Human Rights

    Dr. Joyoni Dey, Professor, UMass Medical School

    Dr. Amit Basole, Asst. Prof., Bucknell Univ

    Dr. Veena Poonacha, Director, Research Center for Women’s Studies, SNDT Women’s University, Maharastra

    Dr. Jinee Lokaneeta, Prof. Drew Univ, NJ: Author of Transnational Torture, Law, Violence, and State Power in the United States and India, NYU Press

    Arati Chokshi,  Secretary, PUCL- Karnataka

    Himadri Sekhar,  Delhi School of Economics, Delhi

    Jyoti Punwani, Journalist, Mumbai

    Rajasekhar Jammalamadaka

    Aashish Sangoi

    Parvathy Prem, Graduate student, University of Texas at Austin

    Vishal Kudchadkar, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

    Snehal Shingavi, Assistant Professor, English, University of Texas at Austin

    Sucharit Katyal, Graduate student, University of Texas at Austin

    Neetu Jain, Association for India’s Development, Austin

    Shikha Gupta, Association for India’s Development, Austin

    Anand Surada, Association for India’s Development, Austin

    Sivasankari Krishnanji, Association for India’s Development, Dallas

    Yatin Phatak, Association for India’s Development, Dallas

    Kirankumar Vissa, Hyderabad, India

    Sukla Sen

    Priti Turakhia Mumbai, India

    Indira Chakravarthi

    Reva Yunus

    Sridhar Seshan

    Kashif-ul-Huda, Editor, TwoCircles.net

    Shalini Gera, Delhi, India

    Asha Kilaru, Independent Public Health Researcher, Jan Aroghya Andolaan – Karnataka

    Pranesh Prakash

    Dr. Garga Chatterjee, Researcher, MIT

    Daniel Mazgaonkar, Mumbai

    Rohini Hensman, Mumbai

    Reena Mary George, University of Vienna, Austria

    Renu Pariyadath, University of Iowa, Iowa

    Chirag Bhangale

    Himanshu Kumar

    Dr. Margaret McFadden, Prof Emerita, Women’s Studies, Living/Learning Academic Center, Appalachian State Univ, NC

    K.J.Mukherjee, Professor, JNU, Delhi

    Yasmin Saikia Hardt-Nickachos, Chair in Peace Studies, Professor of History, Arizona State University

    Dr. Vandana Prasad

    Piya Chatterjee Associate Professor, Department of Women’s Studies, University of California at Riverside

    Uma Chandru, Member, PUCL-Bangalore & WSS

    Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Documentary Filmmaker/Lecturer, AfroLez® Productions

    Jane Ward, Associate Professor, Department of Women’s Studies, University of California, Riverside

    Vidya Bhushan Rawat, Delhi

    Satyen K. Bordoloi, Journalist, Film Critic, Mumbai

    Madhuri Krishnaswamy, Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan, M.P.

    Gowru Chinnapa

    Navaneetha Mokkil, Assistant Professor, Central University of Gujarat

    Shripad Dharmadhikary, Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, Badwani, MP

    Kavita Srivastava, PUCL National Secretary

    Pushkar Raj, General Secretary, PUCL

    Mahipal Singh, National Secretary PUCL

    Radha Kant Saxena, Vice President, PUCL, Rajasthan

    Prem Krishna Sharma, President, PUCL, Rajasthan

    Nishat Hussein, V.P President, PUCL Rajasthan

    Mamta Jaitly, Vividha Mahila Alekhan evam Sandharbh kendra,

    Renuka Pamecha, WRG, Jaipur

    Indu Krishnan, Independent Documentary Film Maker

    Debo Prosad Roy Choudhury, Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR)

    Leni Chaudhuri, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Mumbai.

    Reena Mary George, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Katyayani Poet, activist, Chairperson of Janchetna

    Shivarth Pandey, Disha Students Organisation

    Abhinav, Disha Student Organisation

    Sukhwinder Editor, Mazdoor Bigul & Pratibadh (Punjabi journal)

    Sandeep Samwad, Journalist & Activist

    Tapish Maindola, Textile Workers Union, Gorakhpur

    Rajwinder, Karkhana Mazdoor Union, Ludhiana

    Ajay Swami, Delhi Metro Kamgar Union

    Lakhwinder, Editor, Lalkar, Punjab

    Meenakshy, Arvind Memorial Trust

    Kalpana Karunakaran, Assistant Prof., IIT Madras

    Madhusree Mukherjee, Writer

    Abha Bhaiya, Jaipur, Rajasthan

    Dr Debabrata Roy, Laifungbam President, Elders’ Council, Centre for Organisation Research & Education, Manipu

    Shankar Gopalakrishnan, Campaign for Survival and Dignity

    Janet Chawla

    Pushpa Achanta Member, WSS-Karnataka

    Gracy Andrew, Country Manager, CorStone, www.corstone.org

    Ramneek Singh, Playwright, Bangalore

    Amar Jesani, Editor, Indian Journal of Medical Ethics

    Dr. Anand Philip, Medico Friend Circle

    Pushpa Achanta, WSS, Bangalore

    Nisha Biswas, Kolkata

    Ritika Shrimali, York University, Canada

    Dunu Roy, Hazards Centre

    Janaki Nair, Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, JNU

    Mohan Rao, Professor, JNU

    Vinod Raina

    Nalini Visvanathan

    Tithi Nandy, HEALTHWATCH Forum, UP

    Jasodhara Dasgupta, National Alliance on Maternal Health and Human Rights

    Siddhartha Sharma, ISI, Kolkata

    Kirity Roy, MAUSUM & Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity

    Mohit Jaiswal

    Devra Weber, Associate Professor, UC Riverside

    Kiran Uppalapati, Charlotte, NC

    Chandni Sheth

    Dr. Anish Mokashi, Independent Researcher, Coimbatore

    Junuka Deshpande, Artist and filmmaker, Coimbatore

    Dr. Smita Mukherjee, University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Pittsburgh

    Shalini Bhutani, Legal Researcher, New Delhi

    Joanna Levitt, Director, International Accountability Project, California

    Dr. Reety Arora, Association for India’s Development, Pittsburgh

    Rounak Narvekar, Association for India’s Development, Pittsburgh

    Prerna Grover, Graduate student, University of Pittsburgh

    Madhav Sankunny, Graduate student, University of Pittsburgh

    Chris Mason, Amnesty International Group 39, Pittsburgh

    Dr. Ashwin Kumar, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

    Lavanya Subramanian, Graduate student, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

    Kaushik Vaidyanathan, Graduate student, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

    Jordana Rosenfeld, Amnesty International Group 39, Pittsburgh

    Mamata Dash, Activist and Independent Researcher

    Madhuresh Kumar, NAPM

    Sylvanna Falcon, Assistant Professor Latin American & Latino Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz

    Dr Fawzia Afzal-Khan, Prof of English and Director of Gender Studies, Montclair State University, NJ

    Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Syracuse University

    Erin Runions, Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Pomona College, California

    Devra Weber, Associate Professor, History, UC-Riverside

    Dipti Misri, University of Colorado

    Dr. Swati Dhawan

    Swapna Kollu, Researcher, Boston

    Rupal Oza

    Komal Choksi, Psychologist, New York City

    Shibani Potnis

    Rucha Chitnis

    Madhav Srimohan

    Dr. Sanjeev Mahajan, Mountainview, CA

    Tsering Dhundup, Dharamshala, India

    Deeksha Bajpai Tewari, Delhi University

    Sudharshana Bordoloi, York University, Canada

    Ajay Panicker

    SR Hiremath, Samaj Parivartan Samuday, Karnataka

    Amrita Basu, Departments of Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies, Amherst College

    Mahtab Alam, Civil Rights’ Activist and Journalist, Delhi

    Shabnam Hashmi, Social Activist, Delhi

    Patricia Morton, Chair and Associate Professor of Architectural History, Univ of California, Riverside

    Jaskiran K. Mathur PhD,  Chairperson Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice, St. Francis College, NY

    Vivek Sundara, HRA,Mumbai

    Naazneen Diwan, Los Angeles

    Archana A. Pathak PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University

    Bettina Aptheker, Distinguished Professor, Feminist Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz

    Dr. Anjali Arondekar, Associate Professor Department of Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz

    Basuli Deb, Assistant Professor,English/Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

    Dr. Padma Balasubramanian

    Prof. Bishnupriya Ghosh, Department of English, University of California, Santa Barbara

    Deepa Rajkumar

    Punita Chaudhary, Filmmaker, Mumbai

    Asutosha Acharya, York University

    Nishant Upadhyay, York University

    Rahul Varman, IIT, Kanpur

    Pradeep Esteves, Bangalore

    Dr. Abhay Shukla, Pune

    Priya Thangarajah

    Aditi Malhotra

    Pratiksha Baxi, CSLG, JNU

    Sheba George, Ahmedabad

    Minnie Vaid, Filmmaker and author

    Rona Wilson, Secretary, Public Relations, Committee for Release of Political Prisoners

    Shoma Sen, Committee Against Violence on Women

    Jayasree Subramanian, TISS, Hyderabad

    Vani Subramanian, Saheli Women’s Resource Centre. Delhi

    Kavita Krishnan, AIPWA

    Aarti Sethi, Columbia University

    Patricia Morton, Chair and Associate Professor of Architectural History, UC Riverside

    Soumitra Ghosh, North Bengal Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers, SIliguri

    Sanjay Basu Mullick, Jharkhand Jangal Bachao Andolan, Ranchi

    Pushpa Toppo, Jharkhand Jangal Bachao Andolan

    Madhu Mehra, New Delhi

    Sushil Khanna Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

    Rajashri Dasgupta Journalist, Kolkata

    Nandini Rao

    Kavita Shourie Vissanji, Samskara Wellness, Mumbai

    Vijayshree Danthurthi, Charlotte, NC

    Nitin Sonawane

    Purba Rudra, Kolkata

    Balmurli Natrajan Mining Zone People’s Solidarity Group, USA

    Vidya Kalaramadam, Assistant Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies, William Paterson University of New Jersey

    Elizabeth Gillaspy

    Nandita Ghosh

    Amrita Shodhan, Teacher, London, UK

    Runu Chakraborty

    Christine Guzaitis Department Chair, Gender and Women’s Studies, Scripps College

    Richa Nagar, Unıversıty of Mınnesota

    Joe Athialy, New Delhi

    Chakraverti Mahajan

    Manasi Mayerkar, University of Pittsburgh

    Anindya Dutta

    Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere (Retd), Mysore

    Rıcha Nagar, Unıversıty of Mınnesota

    Pramila

    Anand Sivaraman, Entrepreneur, Bangalore

    Manohar Elavarthi, Praja Rajakiya Vedike, Bangalore

    Neeraj Malik

    Christine Guzaitis, Assistant Professor, Department Chair, Gender and Women’s Studies, Scripps College, Claremont, CA

    Hardip Grewal

    Christine Ward Gailey

    Abha Bhaiya, Jaipur, Rajasthan

    Esha Niyogi De, Lecturer, Department of English, University of California, Los Angeles

    Sejal Sutaria, Assistant Professor of English, Earlham College, Indiana

    Parama Roy, Professor of English, University of California, Davis

    Jhuma Sen, Advocate, Supreme Court

    Organizations

    Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia, MIT

    Association for India’s Development

    Bigul Mazdoor Dasta, Delhi

    India Foundation Inc. of Michigan

    International Alliance for Defense of Human Rights in India

    Moving Republic, Bangalore

    Matrika Charitable Trust

    Peoples Solidarity Concerns, Bangalore

    People’s Union for Civil Liberties, India

    Sanhati

    South Asian Alliance, UK (www.southasianalliance.org)

    South Asia Solidarity Initiative

    The South Asian Political Action Committee at Tufts University, MA

    Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment Inc.

    Vedanta Society of East Lansing, Michigan

    ViBGYOR Film Collective, Thrissur

    Women Against Sexual Violence & State Repression

  • Security Beefed up in US After ‘Credible’ Terror Threats

    Security Beefed up in US After ‘Credible’ Terror Threats

    BeyondHeadlines Foreign Desk

    New Delhi: Authorities in New York and New Jersey have increased security after reports of a credible, uncorroborated threat that terrorists may be plotting an attack in the city around the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

    Police cruisers have taken up positions on midtown blocks on Lexington, Park and Fifth avenues in Manhattan as officers stopped trucks and other vehicles for inspection. Drivers were made to open the storage spaces of delivery trucks for police.

    Courtesy: Euronews

    In Brooklyn, US marshals armed with machine guns guarded the federal courthouse and increased security was observed in front of the nearby city emergency management office.

    “We have already had a full complement of people working shifts because of the September 11 anniversary prior to this,” FBI spokesman Jim Margolin said.

    “We are taking the logical investigative measures to assess this threat.”

    New York police officers will extend their shifts by four hours at least through until September 12.

    Police commissioner Ray Kelly said police would increase vehicle checks and monitor bridges and tunnels.

    They will also increase baggage screenings in subways, patrol outside places of worship and government buildings and conduct bomb sweeps of public garages.

    “We will deploy quick-reaction teams consisting of heavily armored officers,” Kelly said.

    New York landmarks, including Grand Central Terminal and Pennsylvania Station, will have heightened security tomorrow, as will major events including the US Open tennis tournament in Queens.

    A heavily guarded “frozen zone” for vehicles is being created from West Street to Broadway and Murray to Albany streets in Lower Manhattan. Several streets in the area will be closed over the weekend.

    To assist the police, the FBI will mobilise specialized teams, including special agents, bomb technicians and SWAT and hazardous-materials crews.

    New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he had deployed additional state police and National Guard troops throughout the New York City area this weekend, to supplement law enforcement patrols already assigned to regional airports, bus terminals and subway and train stations.

    On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four airliners. Two were flown into the twin World Trade Centre towers in New York, destroying them; a third hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia; and one crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attacked the hijackers. Close to 3000 people were killed.

    New York police have stopped at least 13 terrorist attacks since then, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

    While the killing of Osama bin Laden has helped reduce the threat, the mayor said, “the one thing we know is the terrorists have not gone away.”

    The latest threat concerns a possible al-Qaeda-sponsored attack targeting New York or Washington on or near the anniversary of the 9/11 attack, said an official who wasn’t authorised to discuss the matter publicly.

    The official said the intelligence concerns a possible vehicle-borne attack, perhaps on a transportation hub or bottleneck, and cautioned that the options may be broader than a car or truck bombing.

    Authorities are “doing everything” possible to confirm the threat, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King said.

    “There are literally hundreds if not thousands of names being scrubbed” in a database of suspected terrorists, King said in an interview.

    He said investigators were “going to suppliers and store owners, anyone who’s had a car stolen, anyone who’s leased certain types of trucks, anyone who sold explosives.”

    King praised the administration of President Barack Obama for its coordination of the investigation.

    “This is light years different from pre-September 11, when this information may have sat there,” King said.

    An official in Washington said the credible intelligence revolved around a plot possibly hatched by al-Qaeda in Pakistan involving three individuals, including possibly one American.

    Another official cautioned that information wasn’t yet confirmed.

    A US intelligence alert that federal officials sent to local law enforcement said operatives in the suspected plot may be carrying American documents, according to two people familiar with the alert.

    Intelligence officials learned of the possible threat in intercepted communications among suspected al-Qaeda operatives in the tribal areas of western Pakistan, three intelligence officials said.

    However, they said, the “chatter”, as they described the intercepted conversations, did not name the alleged attackers and included only vague descriptions of vehicle-borne attacks on the two most likely targets on a day of obvious significance and media attention.

    Three weeks ago, 100 New Jersey state police detectives began contacting 2500 businesses that may be used by terrorists, including fertiliser suppliers, truck rental agencies and hotels in a so-called trip-wire operation designed to produce leads, New Jersey State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes said.

    “Those are the people you need to connect to; the people who are going to give you the initial leads that are going to get you to the bottom of terror operations,” Fuentes said.

    Bloomberg said New York received “threats all the time.”

    “Each time we increase our security, which obviously we had done for this. Are we increasing a little more? Yes, we’re increasing a little more but there’s a limit to how much you can have, just because you can’t have a cop on every corner,” he said.

    “But remember, a lot of the precautions we take, you don’t see.”

    Obama, who is scheduled to attend ceremonies at Ground Zero tomorrow with former President George W. Bush, was briefed on the threat yesterday by National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, and Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough before leaving for a speech in Richmond, Virginia.

    “As we head into the 9/11 anniversary weekend, we continue to urge the American public to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities,” Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said in a statement.

    “We take all threat reporting, including the recent specific, credible but unconfirmed threat information, seriously.”

    (Bloomberg inputs)

     

  • US Report Says India Witnesses Lesser Deaths in Terror Acts

    US Report Says India Witnesses Lesser Deaths in Terror Acts

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: India experienced lesser number of deaths due to extremism last year, but still it remains one of the most terrorism-afflicted nations in the world, a US report said.

    “The loss of nearly 1,900 lives (civilian, security forces, and terrorists) still made India one of the world’s most terrorism-afflicted countries,” the report said.

    Courtesy: Reuters

    “Sustained violence in Kashmir over a six-month period and attempted infiltrations from Pakistan across the Line of Control remained serious concerns for the Indian government,” the annual State Department Country Report on Terrorism for 2010 stated.

    “In May, an Indian court convicted and sentenced to death the lone surviving attacker (Ajmal Kasab) of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks,” said the annual report released by the State Department released Thursday.

    According to the report, In 2010, India continued to see a reduction in the number of deaths attributable to terrorist violence, as it ramped up its counter-terrorism capacity building efforts and increased cooperation with the international community, especially the US.

    The State Department praised Indian authorities for its counter-terrorism efforts.

    Indian security forces successfully ensured security at a number of major events, including the 2010 Hockey World Cup and the 2010 Commonwealth Games, without any incident.

    Throughout 2010, Indian authorities arrested numerous suspected militants, uncovered several arms caches, continued to develop a new internal security force, implemented improved border security measures mainly along the Pakistani border, and tightened laws to counter terrorist financing.

    In July, the US-India Counter-terrorism Cooperation Initiative was signed, which set the stage for greater cooperation on anti-terror issues between the two governments, it said.

    “Throughout the year, India worked to improve its counter-terrorism readiness. The Ministry of Home Affairs Annual Report 2009-2010 stated that in response to the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, Quick Reaction Teams have been set up in four regional hubs (Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad) with 1,086 trained personnel and an additional team on standby at the Delhi airport, ready to deploy during an emergency,” the report said.

    Countering extremist ideology has become an important part of India’s counter-terrorism strategy.

    The Ministry of Home Affairs continued its Surrender-cum-Rehabilitation policy, which encouraged misguided youths and militants to surrender, while offering to provide them rehabilitation and assistance in transitioning back into the population, the report added.

    (With PTI inputs)

  • US senator John McCain Visits J&K

    BeyondHeadlines Special Correspondent

    Sri Nagar: US senator John McCain yesterday arrived in Srinagar to meet Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and top army commanders. McCain paid this visit to the state three days after he met Pakistani leaders in Islamabad.

    The discussions ranged from security to infiltration to terrorism to situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan. McCain’s visit comes in the backdrop of arrest of alleged Kashmiri separatist and alleged ISI agentGhulam Nabi Fai in the United States.

    McCain met the J&K Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhavan.

    “During their wide ranging discussions lasting for about two hours, Senator McCain and the governor exchanged views on important issues,” said an official spokesman.

    McCain, who was aRepublican presidential candidate against Barack Obama, later met Omar and both leaders discussed infiltration, terrorism and dialogue process.

    “I discussed about infiltration,the situation vis a vis terrorism and law and order. We talked about economy of the state about tourists and social indicators,” Omar said.

    McCain, who is the highest dignatory to have visited Kashmir in the last two decades of turmoil, however snubbed separatists by not meeting them.Separatists played down the incident saying it will not have any bearing on the Kashmir issue.

     

  • India a Difficult Place to Work With Health and Security risks: US Report

    India a Difficult Place to Work With Health and Security risks: US Report

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: Although Indo-US ties are on a positive trajectory, India remains a difficult place to work, with employees of the US mission there facing “health and security risks, including the threat of terrorism,” India’s premier news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported, citing an official report.

    “US diplomats’ access to Indian officials is tightly controlled. The process by which the Indian government coordinates contacts internally can at times be an obstacle to broadened government-to-government activity that often requires high-level intervention to expedite progress,” said the 90-page report of the Office of the Inspector General on the US diplomatic posts in India.

    “Decision-making is cumbersome, and many influential officials and politicians are wary of a closer relationship with the United States. Mission employees face health and security risks, including the threat of terrorism,” the report, which was made public yesterday, said.

    It, however, said a conviction is growing among Indian elites that engaging the United States is necessary for the success of India’s national interests.

    “In recent years the relationship has deepened and broadened with the civil nuclear cooperation agreement, security cooperation following the Mumbai terrorist attacks, and ensuing high-level visits, most importantly President (Barack) Obama’s visit (to India) in November 2010,” the report said.

    Observing that today, the US and India collaborate on nearly every global challenge, from terrorism to energy security, non-proliferation, piracy and hunger, it said trade, business, educational and family ties between the United States and India are on the rise, and the diplomatic relationship is struggling to keep pace.

  • US Debt: How did Superpower Reach Brink of Default?

    US Debt: How did Superpower Reach Brink of Default?

    Washington (AFP): How did the United States, the world’s richest nation and sole superpower, come to the brink of a catastrophic default on its debt that could send shockwaves through the fragile world economy?

    Dire economic downturns — including the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s — giant tax cuts, costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a pricey new health program for the elderly all helped sour Washington’s fiscal picture.

    Or, as President Barack Obama put it literally in a speech late Monday to plead for a blend of deep cuts to government programs and increases to tax revenues: “For the last decade, we’ve spent more money than we took in.”

    Indeed, Washington posted a $236.2 billion federal budget surplus in the fiscal year ending October 1, 2000, and expected to post a $710 billion surplus a decade later, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

    “However, enactment of major legislation during the past decade, in combination with changing economic conditions, altered the long-term federal budget outlook dramatically,” the CBO said in a March 2010 report.

    The dramatic turnaround has left Obama predicting, in his budget released in February, a staggering $1.65 trillion deficit for the current fiscal year, a figure the CBO recently narrowed to about $1.3 trillion.

    Obama’s fellow Democrats like to point out that Washington was running a surplus when Democratic then-president Bill Clinton left office in January 2001, and swung to sky-high deficits under his Republican successor George W. Bush.

    But Clinton benefited from deficit-slashing measures enacted by his predecessor, George H. W. Bush, including tax increases that alienated fellow Republicans and helped cost the Republican reelection, as well as a high-tech bubble that helped inflate government revenues.

    The younger Bush came into office in January 2001, initially citing the surplus forecasts as a reason to enact historic tax cuts, which he muscled through Congress over strong Democratic objections.

    But the high-tech bubble burst, the US economy went into a recession in March 2001, and the September 11, 2001 terrorist strikes traumatized the country, followed by tensions over the US invasion of Afghanistan.

    Bush ordered US forces into Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, and with his Republican allies in theUS Congress beat back Democratic calls for tax increases or other measures to pay for both conflicts.

    But plenty of Democrats ultimately voted to fund the wars on Bush’s terms, like a young senator named Barack Obama, who backed some $300 billion in such spending between taking office in 2005 and his history-making 2008White House run.

    And plenty of top Republicans now loudly embracing fiscal sobriety backed Bush’s approach with little if any complaint, including House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell.

    The United States spent roughly $1.283 trillion on the two wars to 2011, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a March 2011 report.

    And the CRS said in a May 2011 that the overall cost of tax cuts passed in 2001, 2003, and 2004 cost Washington some $1.76 trillion in revenues to 2011.

    A new government-backed prescription drug benefit for the elderly, approved in 2003 with bipartisan support, added another $552.2 billion over ten years, the CRS said, citing a CBO analysis.

    By the time Bush’s second four-year term ended in January 2009, he had piled $4.9 trillion more on top of the $5.7 trillion in debt he had inherited, and the US economy was in freefall, a victim of the 2008 global economic collapse.

    “Wall Street got drunk,” he explained memorably in July 2008. “It got drunk and now it’s got a hangover.”

    Obama’s proposed cure, an $800-billion-dollar stimulus plan passed in 2009 over Republican opposition, stemmed job losses but failed to keep unemployment below 8.0 percent, as the White House had promised.

    The US national debt deepened, reaching its congressionally set $14.3 trillion on May 16 and forcing Washington to use spending and accounting adjustments, as well as higher-than-expected tax receipts, to continue operating normally, which it can only do through August 2.

    At that point, US leaders will face an agonizing choice about cutting an estimated 40 cents of every dollar in spending and defaulting either on debt payments or on other obligations like government health or retirement benefits.

    Finance and business leaders have warned that failure to raise theUS debt ceiling by then would send shockwaves through the fragile world economy, while Obama has predicted a default would trigger economic “Armageddon.”

    Republican leaders face restive members close to the archconservative Tea Party” movement who are dead set on draconian cuts, reject any tax revenue increases, and even doubt the debt ceiling needs to be raised — making a compromise elusive.

  • U.S. Secretary of State Clinton in New Delhi for Strategic Talk

    U.S. Secretary of State Clinton in New Delhi for Strategic Talk

    NEW DELHI, July 18 (Xinhua) — The United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in India Monday night for a three- day visit to India.

    Clinton will hold “strategic dialogue” talks with Indian leaders in New Delhi Tuesday before heading south to Chennai in southern India, which is seeing an economic booming with abundant foreign investment.

    Courtesy: Xinhua

    Her arrival in India on late Monday came five days after the Indian financial capital Mumbai was hit by a triple of blasts last Wednesday, which killed 19 and injured more than 130.

    Terrorism, civil nuclear cooperation and situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan are expected to top the agenda of talks between the U.S. Secretary of State and Indian leaders, according to local media reports.

  • U.S. Unilateral Action Hurts Public Sentiments: Pak President

    U.S. Unilateral Action Hurts Public Sentiments: Pak President

    ISLAMABAD, May 27 (Xinhua) — The unilateral action taken by the U.S. forces to kill the al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil has hurt the public sentiments, said the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari here on Friday.

    The president made the remarks during a meeting with the visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at his presidential office in Islamabad.

    During the meeting, Zardari also demanded the United States to stop the drone strikes in the country’s northwestern tribal areas.

    File photo of Asif Ali Zardari

    The president also said that Pakistan has suffered a great loss of lives in fight against terrorism and its economy has been badly affected by terrorism.

     

    Local watchers pointed out that the messages sent by the Pakistani president during his meeting with Hillary Clinton have reflected at least three demands put forward by the Pakistani side on the United Sates to ease the current tensions between the two countries.

    Firstly, the United States must ensure that unilateral actions like the May 2nd raid by the U.S. forces on the Pakistani soil shall not be repeated as such unilateral actions have seriously violated the sovereignty of Pakistan.

    Secondly, the U.S. side must stop the drone strikes as such strikes have not only violated the territorial air right of Pakistan but also have caused a strong anti-American sentiment in the country, which in return have exerted a great pressure on the ruling party of the Pakistan People’s Party co-chaired by Zardari and his son.
    Thirdly, the U.S. side needs to do something to compensate the losses that Pakistan has suffered due to being an ally of the United States in the anti-terror war. It is reported that the United States still owes Pakistan an estimated 3.5 billion U.S. dollars which has been promised by the United States to Pakistan for its support in fight against terrorism.

    Despite the clear demands raised by the Pakistani side, local watchers believed that such demands can hardly be fully met. However, they said if the United States wants Pakistan to cooperate more it will have to make some concessions and most likely the United States will soothe the angry ally by promising more economic aid to the poverty-ridden country. Maybe some military aid as well, they said.

    In the following meetings scheduled with the Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani and the Army Chief, Hillary Clinton may discuss in detail the ways to mend the relations between the two countries.

    Hillary arrived in Islamabad on Friday for a visit. The Pakistani side has kept a tight lip about Hillary’s visit to the country due to the concerns about her security in Pakistan.

    Since the killing of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. forces in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad on May 2, a series of terrorist attacks have been launched by Pakistan Taliban across the country to avenge the death of bin Laden.

    On Thursday, just one day prior to Hillary’s arrival, a suicide car bomb attack in Pakistan’s northwest city of Hangu claimed 36 lives and injured over 50 others. Many of the killed or injured were policemen.

  • White House Dismisses Talks of Larger Role on Libya

    WASHINGTON, April 18 (Xinhua) — The NATO will continue to lead the military operations on Libya while the U.S. will retain the role to “support and assist,” the White House said on Monday.

    When asked if the administration is considering taking up a larger role as NATO is reportedly “running out of munitions,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said that NATO has “the capability and the capacity” to fulfill the mission, and to “take the lead in command and control.”

    He said the role of the U.S. will still be, as promised by President Barack Obama, to “support and assist.”

    “We provide capacities for jamming, for tanker refueling, for intelligence gathering and the like, and we continue to work with our NATO partners to find if there are other ways that we can assist,” he added.

    Carney insisted that the U.S. has no plans to change its ” posture.”

    Less than a month into the Libyan conflict, NATO is running short of precision bombs, highlighting the limitations of Britain, France and other European countries in sustaining the military action, a Washington Post story said on Friday.

  • Obama Says He Deserves Second Term

    Obama Says He Deserves Second Term

    WASHINGTON, April 15 (Xinhua) — U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday on campaign trail he can make the case for a second term, and voters will come to see him as the candidate best prepared to serve as president by next year’s elections, according to an interview he gave to the U.S. media.

    U.S. President Barack Obama (Courtesy: Xinhua)

    In an exclusive interview he gave the Associated Press, Obama acknowledged that the state of the economy could be his biggest hurdle to clear in winning reelection.

    “I think the economy’s going to continue to improve, and I think I’m going to be able to make an effective case that… I am the person who is best prepared to finish the job so that we are on track to succeed in the 21st century,” Obama said in the video interview conducted in Chicago, where he attended fund-raising events the previous night.

    “I think I can make that case, and I think that, in the debates that take place over the next 18 months, the American people will feel that I deserve a second term,” he said.

    Chicago is Obama’s home, and the president’s reelection campaign headquarters is also located there. He made the reelection announcement on April 4. According to a Gallup poll released on Friday, Obama’s approval rating stood at 41 percent, an all time low. Gallup said the figure was fueled by economic dissatisfaction.