Death Penalty for Afzal.

The Supreme Court has awarded the death penalty to Mohammed Afzal for his role in the attack on the India Parliament in December 2001.The date of hanging was fixed for the 20th of October 2006.The judgement has sparked off a a big debate in India about the need or otherwise for the death penalty.Afzal has sent a clemency petition to the President of India as the legal avenue is exhausted.A section of the people of Jammu and Kashmir have demanded that the sentence should not be carried out.The Chief Minister of the state has joined the quorus.His contention is that the hanging may create problems in the state and also jeopardise the peace process with Pakistan.Some of the legal brains have called for commutation of the sentence to that of a life term as the death penalty is not warranted in the case as Afzal was not the main accused and only one of the conspirators.It is also argued that the death penalty has been abolished in many countries.On the other hand,one of the opposition party in India viz the BJP has demanded that the death punishment should stand and that Afzal should be hanged.It is argued by them that the highest court of the land has awarded the sentence after going into the circumstances of the case and that the acceptance of the clemancy petition by the President will send wrong signals.

The so called peace process is a one way process and Pakistan is not serious.To expect that the hanging will have effect on the process does not make sense.The contention of the CM of the state that the hanging will create problems in the state is not acceptable.The foremost duty of a Government is to ensure law and order and if this cannot be done,the Government should quit.What is the guarantee that Afzal will not become a hard core terrorist once he is pardoned and India witnesses the situation it faced in 2001 when the Foreign Minister of the country had to escort a condemned criminal to the Taliban?It is also known that the said criminal is involved in acts against our country.

On the other hand,the death sentence also appears to be too harsh considering the fact Afzal was not directly involved.A life for a crime is not the solution.The best course for the President would be to accept the clemency petition of Afzal and commute the sentence to life term meaning not 14 years as is the custom in India but for say 25 years.However the President should not succumb to pressures from quarters to pardon Afzal.

Terrorism at its peak

The police in the United Kingdom have reportedly unearthed a plot by the terrorists which involved bombing of several flights on the sky between UK and USA.The police needs to be congratulated for their enquiry and uncovering the plot at the right time.They have done meticulous investigations spread over some months and in the process averted major disasters.The loss of human lives had the disasters struck would have been enormous.The terrorists are targeting innocent people in their war against the US and the UK.The fault partly lies with the US too.Who appointed US to be the watchdog of peace in the world?The acts of US in Iraq and Afghanistan has fuelled the spirit of hate.The Americans said there were lot of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.How many did they or the UN observers find?To the best of my knowledge,none.I am not justifying the action of the terrorists but some restraint should have been shown by US too.The recent bombing of Lebanon by Israel has also added fuel to the fire.In their effort to destroy the Hizbul hide outs, the Israelis have totally destroyed Beirut and other cities.Many innocent people have been rendered homeless and many are fighting a battle for life.When a small spark is enough to flare up the passions,such acts are creating a inferno.The terrorists on their part should realise that a life for another does not solve the problems and only keeps on prolonging the issue.It is time for the right thinking Muslim brethren to put a stop to innocent killings.The Western powers should also show restraint.People like the former Australian cricketer Dean Jones who called the South African player Hashim Amla as a terrorist should keep their trap shut.

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The apology of LTTE

There was a news item recently regarding the apology of LTTE for the killing of Rajiv Gandhi .Many of the news channels prominently carried the story.The apology came from Anton Balasingham and not from Velupillai Prabhakaran.I am not sure whether the apology is genuine.We lost one of our most dynamic personality in 1991 who could have pushed the country to great heights had he survived.Why the apology after 15 long years is not clear.There is also a report now that LTTE has denied apologising for the killing.The assassination was very well planned with help from the locals and if reports are to be believed from some local Congress leaders.I always found it amazing that in the assassinations of Indra Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi,no Congress leader was hurt let alone being killed.

Rajiv Gandhi had sent the IPKF to Sri Lanka and it is very well known that it was against the wishes of the dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu.The IPKF had to fight with their hands tied behind their backs.The IPKF on return from Sri Lanka was rebuffed by Karunanidhi who did not even deem it fit to receive them.There was some rumour of Rajiv Gandhi meeting the LTTE leader Prabhakaran.So what went wrong?Whatever the reasons,the LTTE hatched a diabolical plot to kill Rajiv and succeeded.To see one of the great young leaders of India being killed in our own country was too much.It was also pathetic to note that he could be recognised only by the shoes he was wearing.

The LTTE now wants India to forget the past and move ahead.It would be very tough for India to accept this view.The family has been magnanimous in pardoning Nalini but the LTTE leaders who hatched the plot cannot expect such a treatment.The LTTE like other terrorist organisations cannot be trusted.The same LTTE will not hesitate to kick India if it suits them.I would not like our country to involve ourselves with the problem in Sri Lanka basically because it is their internal problem.No doubt Tamilians are involved but the over all interest of the country needs to be taken into account.If at all India wants to involve itself,it should be on certain conditions.

1.Mr Prabhakaran and the top brass of LTTE jointly admit in writing about their involvement in the killing of Rajiv.
2.The invitation for participating in talks etc should come from Sri Lanka.
3.There should be a consensus in the country about our involvement in Sri Lanka.
4.There should be no military intervention in Sri Lanka.

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Tuesday, June 13, 2006

The Great Indian Tamasha called coalition politics

The Indian democratic fabric has found what is called coalition politics.It all started with the Union Govt of Vajpayeeji which if I remember correctly had 13 coalition partners.He was lucky in the sense that the partners did not pull in different directions.May be it was due to the status of the man that his Govt lasted a full 5 years without any problems except that some parties from Tamil Nadu like DMK who gauged the public mood walked out and joined hands with the Congress party.

The Government of Mr Manmohan Singh should rank as a benchmark for how coalition government should not be.First of all this was a coalition which came to existence after the election results were announced.Suddenly one found the Communists who had fought a bitter election against the Congress joining ther Coalition but supporting the government from outside.The reasoning given by the perpetrators of this hoax was that the Indian People had voted against Communal forces meaning the BJP.I really did not know from where all these parties came to this conclusion.I thought tha people were disgusted and did not bother who ruled them and just voted for somebody awhich unfortunately went against the BJP.The communists are clever guys.They call shots in the Govt without being accountable.Many of the reforms have been thwarted by them.In their state of West Bengal,Buddhadeb Babu can to anything which goes against the spirit of communism.However at the centre,this is not acceptable.Shameless opportunism of the worst kind.At every increase of Petrol prices,they shout from roof tops but the Congress simply ignores them and goes ahead.The congress has realised that the communists can only scream and shout but will not go beyond such gimmicks.If the communists feel aggrieved that the common man is being pushed to the wall,why not simply withdraw the support to the Govt? All the leaders of small parties supporting the coalition be it laloo yadav,paswan,karunanidhi or some body else wants only their pound of flesh and not bothered about what happens to the country in the long run.The quota issue,the stock market scams,oil for food scam,the so called reforms,the perennial price increase in all commodities,the helplessness of senior citizens and people below the poverty line and many other issues makes right thinking citizens of the country wonder as to where this country is heading.The inaction of the Govt has given rise to a hyper active judiciary which apart from its judicial functions needs to do the work of the Executive also.Let us pray that this country gets some good governance.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

The stock market in India

The recent ups and downs in the Indian Stock market have been causing concern to people.There have been unexplained bullish and bearish trends in the market.The investors particularly the retail ones are having a real dilemma whether to continue or exit.Mutual funds are reporting heavy exit by retail investors who are fearing the worst.The situation however is not that bad.For those who want to get rich overnight,the stock market may not be the right place at present.However the long term prospects do not envisage any cause for concern.What is happening at present is that the market is in correction mode with the real value of each scrip being decided by the market itself.It makes sense to stay invested for about two to three years so that there is a steady growth in the portfolio.For people who are worried about their investment,it would make sense to invest in the debt instruments.The returns on these instruments may be much less than equities but at least they are not subject to the vagaries of the stock market.It is always better to have a good balance between investment in equities and debt instruments.If high returns are expected have more investment in equities and less in debt instruments.If one needs a safe avenue,put more in debt instruments and less in equities.This is precisely where a mutual fund is beneficial.The fund manager in the fund decides about the optimum investment in both types so that the returns are also decent.The individual is spared the daily agony of going thro the market trends and changing his portfolio to be in line with the trend.However it is wise to be patient while investing with a mutual fund.Do not expect windfalls.The returns will be steady and good.One however needs to choose the fund with care.Do not go by past records only as this is no indication of future performance.A combination of performance,service,history of the fund,the promoters and their reputation in the market would be some yardstick for where to invest.

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Home based jobs

I am doing surveys for lot of agencies on the net.I am looking for opportunities for home based business on the net.I have a good typing speed and have a 24 hour broadband connection.I will be able to give value for money.