U.S. does not support freedom in Egypt

By Christoph R. Horstel

With courage, enthusiasm and readiness to endure police brutalities and other hardships, the Egyptian people have managed to oust their hitherto nearly unchallenged president Hosni Mubarak and his son Gamal as designated political heir plus assurances for substantial changes in the constitution, a referendum and more attention to the needs of the poor. So far, so good, reports Tehran Times

But are we sure, how much freedom and social justice this new constitution will grant the people? How do we know, that the next set of government measures will gradually overcome the widening gap between rich and poor, mass poverty and joblessness in Egypt?

To check the chances of the people’s will to prevail, we look at history: Since the last 15 years serious transition or succession problems in the Arab world were discussed in western countries. Does anyone truly believe the U.S. never developed any change strategies and/or contingency plans to readiness status?

Then we consider social change in Egypt and elsewhere: A new class of mainly young and often secular-minded Arabs has developed among a larger change from a patriarchal society with hand made goods to an economy with wealthy capitalists, regional entrepreneurs and exporters of natural goods. And it were the wealthy, who used governmental power to further enrich themselves, thus pushing back the traditional set of landlords and bazaar traders.

At least three more key issues should be observed: It was the Serbian movement “Otpor” (once supported by the then U.S. ambassador Richard Miles), and nowadays renamed to “Centre for Non-Violent Action” (CNA) (at least indirectly financed through the “Open Society” network of the U.S. billionaire George Soros), which trained activists of several countries including Egypt and Tunisia. Does that mean the Egyptian revolution is in the hands of the U.S.? Not at all. These activists have a common trademark of working mainly via internet.

“Facebook revolution” is the new buzzword in western capitals – that says more than the eager commentators may have intended. Since all those wonderful internet platforms are subject to U.S. law obliging them to full disclosure of all information on all clients any time to U.S. intelligence, it is very clear, that little happens in Egypt that is not on the intelligence agenda.

No matter how often observers write that the U.S. were taken by surprise, stumbling behind events etc. – that is what those intelligence circles want us to believe. We still hear official blabber on intelligence failures on 9/11 and before the Iraq invasion. Had the U.S. with and through their leading Egyptian collaborators wished to stop the uprising early on, that had never put serious problems in the past and would not have this time. Rather the U.S. had helped prepare the events and let them happen:

The U.S. proxies, namely ex-IAEA boss ElBaradei, were ready, the military was faithful and ready, intelligence well informed. For a political steam pot like Egypt just a tiny, well-calculated reduction in pressure on the lid means heavy spill-overs. Imprisonments, torture and killings even continue to this day. For years the U.S. had used some of their support funds for Egypt to finance all those opposition groups susceptible to U.S. influence, translate: “democratic groups” or “development of civil society”. In vain did Egypt protest against this blatant interference in its interior affairs, as we know through embassy cables in WikiLeaks. And there are enough pictures and records of meetings hosted by Hillary Clinton for Egyptian friends of “Freedom House”.

Does this take any credibility off the Egyptian revolution? Not at all. But the U.S. is trying all the time to influence the results and hijack the benefits. Only awareness and efficient counter activities can stop this.

But this background induces us to look at second key issue: the present leadership personnel, since it will be those leaders to organize the start of Egypt’s future – and maybe more, if they do not abandon power as promised. The CIA lists Omar Suleiman as the most powerful Middle Eastern intelligence chief, the people dub him “Mubarak II”. Suleiman enjoys best contacts to the U.S. intelligence leadership. He has made Egypt a preferred CIA rendition hub and has personally overseen torture.

Therefore it is little wonder, that the demonstrators asked for his removal and were pacified only somewhat by introduction of the Supreme Military Council (SMC) as the real though unconstitutional leadership, comprising among others the defense minister Tantawi and army chief Enan. But what does this mean? In order to fully and truly do the will of the Egyptian people, the army and its intelligence shooting-star Suleiman would have to ultimately give up its obedience to the U.S. That is highly improbable: Location and time are not ready yet for Egypt’s Erdogan.

Until the end of February, the SMC will publish a proposal for changes to the constitution, a nationwide referendum is to be held within two months. That means, as the third key issue: turmoil in Egypt, is far from over. Three simple truths call for attention: The only single intact coherent power base in Egypt is the army. Like in the German army, many higher officers are more or less closely linked to the U.S. by multiple bonds - including years of consecutive training steps, many of them held in the U.S. The whole political fabric in Egypt: social groups, parties, internet-based groupings – are no viable power base, since they lack structure and experience. The one exception is the Muslim Brotherhood. And these valuable people are just by name a political monolith. But that is already enough for the U.S. to riddle them with government spies and make sure their influence will be limited at least for now – and mainly limited to those parts and personalities, which are “constructive” or, more accurately put: “open to influence”.

Another thought for accurate political calculation: Exchange old puppets by fresh puppets is old style. Modern U.S. policy accepts even full chaos as a viable “system” – in case a stable obedience can neither be reached quickly nor guaranteed for the next 20 years: Afghanistan and Pakistan are sad examples.

And, last not least, Obama’s speech on the Middle East held Tuesday made it clear: In their struggle against Iran the U.S. want to be sure to enlist any of the new and unstable leaderships. That is also one of the non-public but rock-hard pre-conditions to U.S. support.

For any opposition movement in the region a tough question appears: How to make sure, that no foreign power can hijack or misuse the accomplishments of political activities? Check the priorities: If the government is not pro-U.S., a one-year time delay in mass demonstrations may help to avoid being identified as part of the present U.S. regional plotting. And publicly as well as credibly disassociating the movement from U.S. government policies may prove helpful in many ways.

*The author is a government and business consultant in Germany, multiple book author and expert since 25 years on issues of Central Asia, the Middle East and security-related questions

Why America loves Israel and hates Iran

[Photo by www.sodahead.com/]
By A. Faizur Rahman 

By announcing fresh sanctions against Iran the UN Security Council has once again displayed a kind of motivated obstinacy which makes one suspect that it is not really serious about establishing peace in the region. But then the UN rarely exudes neutrality. It has always been subservient to American interests, particularly the pro-Israel US foreign policy that has kept West Asia on the boil ever since the creation of the Zionist state.

On the face of it, it may appear strange that the US-controlled Security Council should let go of the historic opportunity offered by the Turkish-Brazilian initiative to amicably resolve the Iran imbroglio. But West Asia watchers know that US response to Iran’s nuclear program cannot be seen in isolation because it is dictated by the US-Israeli relationship which again is not a mere political alliance but a symbiotic bond firmly secured by Judeo-Christian theology.

An analysis of the U.S. political scene would reveal that it is the Evangelical Right, also known as the Christian Zionists, led by extremist televangelists such as John Hagee, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, who, along with the Jewish lobby, call the shots, in so far as the U.S. Middle East policy is concerned. It must, however, be said that mainstream Christianity (including the Catholic Church) does not identify itself with the fanatical beliefs of Evangelical Right such as those discussed below.

In a recent article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz titled Why Christian Zionists really support Israel Hagee wrote; “Our support for Israel starts with God’s promises in the Hebrew Bible, but it does not end there. Christian Zionists recognize that we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Jewish people. As I have stressed to my Christian audiences for years: If you take away the Jewish contribution to Christianity, there would be no Christianity.” (http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/why-christian-zionists-really-suppor...).

By “God’s promises” Hagee is actually referring to the deliberate misrepresentations of certain biblical verses. One such verse promises Prophet Abraham and his descendants the land “from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18). In another one God offers to give Abraham and his “seed” after him the entire land of Canaan (Palestine) “for an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8). It may be noted here that according to the Old Testament the Arabs and the Jews are the descendants of Abraham through Ishmael and Isaac respectively which, hypothetically speaking, makes them the joint owners of the “promised land.”

But for obvious reasons the Zionists and their Christian supporters do not recognise Ishmael as the legitimate son of Abraham as he was born to a “slave woman” named Hagar, the handmaiden of Sarah, the first wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac (Genesis 16:1-6). This divide was further aggravated by St.Paul who advised the Christians saying, “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way [Ishmael] persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit [Isaac]. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.’” (Galatians 4:28-31).

It is therefore the belief of the Christians Zionists that the occupation of all Arab lands by the Jews (in fulfillment of the prophesy in Genesis 15:18), after driving out the children of the “slave woman”, is a prelude to the Second Coming of Christ and Armageddon, the biblical concept of the last battle between the Good and the Evil before the day of Judgment (Ezekiel 38-39). It is in this context that the US attitude to Iran must be seen and understood, and once again John Hagee personifies this extremist mindset. In his provocative book Jerusalem Countdown Hagee advocates a war on Iran saying; “The rise of terrorism in our world and the emerging crisis in the Middle East between Israel and Iran are part of a much bigger picture – that of God’s plan for the future of Israel and the entire world. We are going to discover we are facing a countdown in the Middle East – the Jerusalem Countdown, a battle such as the world has never seen or will ever see again.”

But what many Israelis are unaware of is that the Zionist Christians are not exactly honest in their support for their country. They have their own hidden religious agenda according to which, Jesus in his second mission will convert all the Jews to Christianity, and therefore, to hasten this process all must be done to help the Jews take over the Arab lands between Nile and Euphrates. This belief is based on a statement in Mathew 23:39 in which Jesus is quoted as saying, “For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” As Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience at that time the Zionist Christians interpret this statement as having one meaning: for Jesus to make a second appearance all Jews must be converted to Christianity.

No wonder Hagee was forced to clarify in his aforementioned article that, “I am not at all surprised that many in the Jewish community are skeptical of Christian support for Israel. Some worry that our efforts are motivated by a desire to convert Jews. Others posit that our Zionism is tied to an effort to speed the second coming of Jesus. Both of these allegations are flat wrong. All we ask of our Jewish friends is that they get to know us before they judge us harshly on the basis of myths such as these.”

It is a strange paradox that, on the one hand we have the Christian Zionists supporting Israel with financial, moral and military aid in the dogmatic hope of one day converting all the Jews to Christianity, and on the other, we see the cunning Zionists - who never accepted Jesus as their Messiah - successfully manipulating the Christian Right using their own Bible to further their diabolical expansionist agenda. The ultimate victims of this unholy scheming between two Machiavellian religious groups are the innocent Palestinians who have been rendered refugees in their own homeland.

(The author is the Secretary General of Forum for the Promotion of Moderate Thought Among Muslims. He may be reached at faizz@rocketmail.com).

India is afraid of China : ‘Forget maps, Delhi better takes up incursions in Ladakh with Beijing’ PDP Kashmir

Srinagar, Feb 15: After Indian  Home Minister P Chidambaram warned of action against the Peoples Democratic Party for displaying controversial State-map, the party president Mahbooba Mufti Monday accused New Delhi of being silent on Chinese incursions in Jammu and Kashmir.“PDP is the only party which talks about the parts of JK’s territory under China. When we talk about final Kashmir resolution,

we demand JK’s territory under China back,” Mahbooba told Rising Kashmir at her Gupkar residence.She said the party displayed the map of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir  which includes the then territory currently under China’s control. “One should not forget that Kashmir used to remain connected with Central Asian countries like Iran, China and Afghanistan through the ancient routes like Yarkand and Kashkghar.

About Home Minister’s warning, the PDP chief said, “I respect Chidambaram. But instead of issuing warnings against PDP, he (Home Minister) should check the Chinese incursions in Ladakh and settle the visa row with Beijing as well”.

She said India takes bold stand when it comes to getting back the part of Kashmir under Pakistan. “But it (India) seems to be afraid to talk about Chinese incursions and the huge infrastructure including roads being built by China in Ladakh,” she said.

Claiming that China is constructing huge infrastructure especially roads every year on the State’s territory, Mahbooba said, “Why isn’t India talking about such things”.

“We want freedom to walk on all ancient routes of the State. We want restoration of all roads which were used by the people of Kashmir when they were travelling on horses. We have Karakoram pass, which can connect JK not just with India but with the rest of the world as well. We want JK to be trade-hub and a gateway of Central Asian countries,” she said.

The PDP chief said her party’s stand had been to see Kashmir as it existed before 1947, which means Prime Minister, Governor (elected), joint council having member of PaK as well, dual currency, State as a free economic zone and full administrative powers.

The PDP in a power-point presentation in Srinagar on Saturday depicted Aksai Chin in red colour and as part of China, while the Pakistan Administered Kashmir was coloured in green.

The move, however, triggered strong criticism first by the chief minister Omar Abdullah and then by Home Minister.

“Mahbooba should clear her stand on map. We cannot gift State’s territory to China,” Omar had said.

Chidambaram had also reacted sharply to the development. He told a news channel that PDP had made a big mistake and if it did not correct it, he would take action against it. (Writer-South Asia)

Kashmir hub to 2100 species of medicinal, fruit & aromatic plants

Srinagar, Feb 5: Jammu and Kahsmir is home to around 2100 species of medicinal and aromatic plants with most of them found in the forests of the Valley, experts said. Experts said all these herbs were beneficial to man in one way or the other.

 “There is a tremendous potential of medicinal and aromatic plants in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, especially in Kashmir. The entire Kashmir vale is having this natural wealth in abundance,” said Director, Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction  Centre (JKMPIC), Sheikh GULZAAR.

He said forest institutions must include medicinal and aromatic plants in “major forest produce” like they have included timber.

“These plants are considered as minor forest produce. They may be minor by quantity, but so far as their value is concerned, they are worth crores of rupees, which may outnumber the potential of timber,” said Sheikh GULZAAR.

He said there were number of uses of both medicinal and aromatic plants. “A medicinal plant namely Texus baccata Linn, secrets an anti-insect drug called Taxol, which has got a very high medicinal value,” said Sheikh GULZAAR.      

To name a few other traditional medicinal herbs, the very popular Artemisia absinthium is used for curing Ascaris (round worms), Rheum emodi Wall for useful in dyspepsia, ulcers and wounds for quick healing, Valeriana jatamansi Jonesis used in ladies’ tonic, where as Aconitum heterophyllum secretes essential alcoholides.

“Then Origanum vulgare cashmeriana, a gynecological product, has got a huge demand both in national and international markets. Kashmir is the only place in South Asia , Origanum vulgare cashmeriana is useful in Bath to ladies after child birth; antiseptic.. So this is the right place for Origanum vulgare cashmeriana, for the topography here is good and environment and temperature are also conducive for this product,” he said.

Globally, he said, people were moving from allopathic medicines to natural remedies because of “least chances of side-effects in them and their affordability.”

Some of the aromatic plants found in forests include wild Rose, Lavender, Rosemarry, and Juniper. “Although wild rose is not abundant in forests, however it can be cultivated there,” he said.

Sheikh GULZAAR said aromatic plants usually secrete essential oils “that are used in making perfumes, soaps, rose oil, cosmetics, confectionaries and so on.” He said the rose oil extracted from Kashmir has been found to much better than that of China and other countries.

An aromatic plant called Jurinea dolomiaea Boiss is used in incense sticks, Dyscorea is used in soaps, where as Pyrethrum secretes a natural anti-mosquito insecticide.

“The anti-mosquito insecticide that we generally get in markets is not natural but synthetic, besides it is not environment-friendly. However, we have got a good natural anti-mosquito insecticide, chemically called Pyrithine, which may not be available in high contents here, but Kashmiri temperature is ideal for the aromatic herb locally called Pyrethrum, which secretes this natural insecticide,” he said.

 “There was a time when this herb was cultivated in South Kashmir region  by Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre (JKMPIC), ” he added.

Sheikh GULZAAR said there were also some aromatic plants “that can be used for food as well.” “For instance (Black cumin) plant is both an edible and aromatic plant,” he said.  

He said earlier apart from growing in forests, some valuable herbs would grow in Srinagar city as well. “There were a number of natural herbs found here, for which we didn’t need to go to the forests. Some of these were  Oak-Quercus robur Colchicum Luteum,Saffron  (Crocus sativus Linn), Marijuana-Cannabis cashmiriana, Hawthorn (Crataegus  oxycantha), Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea), Celosia Linn, Pyrethrum, Malus communis, Prunus armeniaca, Prunus serotina, Cedrus deodar,  Aeaxulus indica Colebr, Capsicum annum, Ginkgo biloba Seeds,Wild Cherry, Sweet Cherry, Pomengranate , Sweet Appricort, Apple, Kewi, Plum, Lukat, Peach, Almond, Walnut Grapes, Sweet Chestnut, Ginkgo biloba , Althaea officinalis, cypress cashmiriana ,Ceratonia siliqua, Viola serpentine cashmiriana (Bunafsha),  Dioscorea  deltoidea, Saussurea costus cashmiriana, Gladiolus  , Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens), Atropa Belladona , Kuth (Saussuria lappa), Phytolacca acinosa, Rosmarinus officinalisetc, Rosemerry.

In order to popularize medicinal plants, particularly those used in  Unani,Ayurvedic/Hemopathy, The Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre  is  one of the premier  Agriculture, Horticulture & Floriculture based institution involved in production, development, introduction, trading and manufacturing of  Fruit, Medicinal Plants, Vegetable seeds of Kashmir.

For Planting materials
Available in : 15th Feb- 15th March (Every Year)
Some plants are available in Polybag/without Polybag

For Seed materials
Available in : January - December (Full Year)
(Depending on availability)
Available in With and without Poly bag and seeds Available in our Centre.
Fruiting years will be Depend on Your State or country climate.

Seeds and planting materials would be supplied against advance payment depending upon the availability at JKMPIC Headquarter/ International Information Resource Centers.

Get more details for seed/planting material:-

The Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre
POB: 667 GPO Srinagar SGR J&K 190001
Ph: 01933-223705
Mob: 09858986794
e-mail: jkmpic@gmail.com

home: http://jkmpic.blogspot.com

(Hindi)

कश्मीर औषधीय, फल एवं सुगंधित पौधों की 2100 प्रजातियों के लिए हब

श्रीनगर, 5 फरवरी: जम्मू Kahsmir उनमें से ज्यादातर के साथ 2100 के आसपास औषधीय और सुगंधित पौधों की प्रजातियों के लिए घर है घाटी के जंगलों में पाया, विशेषज्ञों ने कहा. विशेषज्ञों ने कहा कि इन सभी जड़ी बूटियों एक ही रास्ता या अन्य में मनुष्य के लिए लाभदायक थे.

उन्होंने कहा कि जम्मू और कश्मीर राज्य में औषधीय और सुगंधित पौधों की एक जबरदस्त क्षमता कश्मीर में, विशेष रूप से है. , निदेशक, जम्मू और कश्मीर मेडिसिनल प्लांट्स परिचय सैंटर (JKMPIC), Sheikh GULZAAR कहा पूरे कश्मीर घाटी बहुतायत में इस प्राकृतिक संपदा चल रहा है ".

उन्होंने कहा कि वन संस्थानों में औषधीय और सुगंधित पौधों में शामिल हैं "प्रमुख वन उपज" की तरह वे लकड़ी शामिल होना चाहिए.
"ये पौधे के रूप में लघु वन उपज माना जाता है. शेख GULZAAR ने कहा कि वे मात्रा से मामूली हो, लेकिन अभी तक के रूप में उनके मूल्य का सवाल है, वे करोड़ों रुपये की है, जो लकड़ी की संभावना बढ़ सकती हैं. '

उन्होंने कहा कि दोनों औषधीय और सुगंधित पौधों के उपयोग के नंबर थे. "एक औषधीय पौधे अर्थात् Texus baccata Linn, रहस्य एक विरोधी कीट Taxol नामक दवा है, जो एक बहुत ही उच्च औषधीय मूल्य मिल गया है," Sheikh GULZAAR कहा.

कुछ अन्य पारंपरिक औषधीय जड़ी बूटियों का नाम, बहुत लोकप्रिय Artemisia चिरायता उपयोगी के लिए अपच अल्सर, और त्वरित उपचार के लिए घावों में (गोल कृमि) Ascaris, Rheum emodi दीवार के इलाज के लिए प्रयोग किया जाता है, Valeriana jatamansi Jonesis 'महिलाओं के टॉनिक, जहां के रूप में प्रयोग किया जाता Aconitum heterophyllum आवश्यक alcoholides secretes.

"तो फिर Origanum vulgare cashmeriana, एक gynecological उत्पाद, दोनों राष्ट्रीय और अंतर्राष्ट्रीय बाजारों में भारी मांग हो गया है. कश्मीर दक्षिण एशिया में ही जगह है, Origanum vulgare cashmeriana स्नान में बच्चे के जन्म के बाद महिलाओं के लिए उपयोगी है, एंटीसेप्टिक .. उन्होंने कहा, तो यह Origanum vulgare cashmeriana के लिए सही स्थलाकृति के लिए जगह है, यहाँ है अच्छा है और वातावरण और तापमान भी इस उत्पाद के लिए अनुकूल हैं ".

विश्व स्तर पर, उन्होंने कहा, लोगों को एलोपैथिक दवाओं से की वजह से प्राकृतिक उपचार के लिए आगे बढ़ रहे थे "उन्हें और उनके पक्ष में सामर्थ्य का प्रभाव कम से कम संभावना है."

सुरभित जंगलों में पाया पौधों में से कुछ जंगली गुलाब, लैवेंडर, Rosemarry, और जुनिपर शामिल हैं. ", यद्यपि जंगली गुलाब जंगलों में प्रचुर मात्रा में नहीं है, लेकिन यह वहाँ खेती की जा सकती" उन्होंने कहा.

Sheikh GULZAAR कहा. कर रही है कि इत्र, साबुन, तेल, सौंदर्य प्रसाधन, confectionaries और इतने पर गुलाब में किया जाता है "उन्होंने कहा कश्मीर से निकाले तेल गुलाब ज्यादा चीन और अन्य की तुलना में बेहतर करने के लिए पाया गया है सुगंधित पौधों आमतौर पर आवश्यक तेलों छिपाना देशों के.

एक खुशबूदार संयंत्र बुलाया Jurinea dolomiaea Boiss लाठी, Dyscorea साबुन, जहां के रूप में Pyrethrum एक प्राकृतिक विरोधी मच्छर कीटनाशक secretes में प्रयोग किया जाता है धूप में प्रयोग किया जाता है.

"विरोधी मच्छर कीटनाशक है कि हम आम तौर पर बाजार में लाने के प्राकृतिक सिंथेटिक नहीं है, लेकिन, इसके अलावा यह पर्यावरण के अनुकूल नहीं है. उन्होंने कहा, हालांकि, हम एक अच्छा प्राकृतिक विरोधी मच्छर कीटनाशक, रासायनिक Pyrithine कहा जाता है, जो उच्च सामग्री में यहाँ उपलब्ध नहीं हो सकता है मिल गया है, लेकिन कश्मीरी तापमान खुशबूदार जड़ी बूटी के लिए आदर्श है स्थानीय Pyrethrum है, जो इस प्राकृतिक कीटनाशक secretes बुलाया गया ".

 "वहाँ एक समय था जब इस जड़ी बूटी दक्षिण कश्मीर क्षेत्र में जम्मू और कश्मीर मेडिसिनल प्लांट्स परिचय केन्द्र (JKMPIC) द्वारा खेती की गई थी" उन्होंने कहा.

Sheikh GULZAAR कहा. "है कि अच्छी तरह के रूप में भोजन के लिए इस्तेमाल किया जा सकता है" "वहाँ भी थे कुछ सुगंधित पौधों (काला जीरा) उदाहरण के संयंत्र के लिए, वह दोनों एक खाद्य और खुशबूदार संयंत्र है" कहा.

वह अलग पहले जंगलों में बढ़ती से कहा, कुछ बहुमूल्य जड़ी बूटियों श्रीनगर शहर में भी होने लगा. "वहाँ थे प्राकृतिक जड़ी बूटियों के एक नंबर यहाँ पाया है, जिसके लिए हम जंगलों में जाने की जरूरत नहीं थी. इनमें से कुछ ओक-Quercus robur Colchicum luteum, केसर (Crocus sativus Linn), मारिजुआना, कैनबिस cashmiriana, (Crataegus oxycantha) नागफनी, Clary (Salvia sclarea) बाबा, Celosia Linn, Pyrethrum, Malus communis, आलू armeniaca, आलू serotina थे, Cedrus देवदार, Aeaxulus इंडिका Colebr, शिमला मिर्च वर्ष, जिन्कगो biloba बीज, वाइल्ड चेरी, मीठा चेरी, Pomengranate, मीठा Appricort, एप्पल, Kewi, बेर, Lukat, पीच, बादाम, अखरोट अंगूर, मीठा अखरोट, जिन्कगो biloba, Althaea Officinalis, सरू cashmiriana, Ceratonia siliqua, Viola चक्करदार cashmiriana (Bunafsha), Dioscorea deltoidea, Saussurea costus cashmiriana, gladiolus, देखा (Serenoa repens) Palmetto, Atropa Belladona, Kuth (Saussuria lappa), Phytolacca acinosa, Rosmarinus officinalisetc, Rosemerry.

आदेश में औषधीय पौधों, विशेष रूप से उन यूनानी, आयुर्वेदिक में प्रयोग किया जाता / Hemopathy, जम्मू और कश्मीर औषधीय पौधों का परिचय केंद्र एक प्रमुख कृषि बागवानी, फूलों की खेती और उत्पादन आधारित, विकास, परिचय, व्यापार में शामिल संस्था और फलों के उत्पादन में से एक है लोकप्रिय बनाने के लिए , औषधीय पौधे, कश्मीर की सब्जी बीज.

सामग्री रोपण के लिए
में उपलब्ध है: 15 फ़रवरी - 15 मार्च (हर साल)
कुछ पौधों में polybag polybag बिना / उपलब्ध हैं

बीज सामग्री के लिए
में उपलब्ध है: जनवरी - दिसम्बर (पूर्ण वर्ष)
(उपलब्धता के आधार पर)
साथ में और पाली बैग के बिना उपलब्ध है और बीज हमारे केन्द्र में उपलब्ध है.
फलने साल आपके राज्य या देश जलवायु पर निर्भर हो जाएगा.

बीज और पौध रोपण सामग्री अग्रिम में उपलब्धता के आधार पर भुगतान के खिलाफ की आपूर्ति की जाएगी JKMPIC मुख्यालय / अंतर्राष्ट्रीय सूचना संसाधन केंद्र.

बीज / रोपण सामग्री के लिए और अधिक जानकारी प्राप्त करें: -
जम्मू और कश्मीर औषधीय पौधों का परिचय केंद्र
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फोन: 01933-223705
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ई मेल: jkmpic@gmail.com
घर: Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre

US complicit in India’s systematic use of torture in Kashmir

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By Deepal Jayasekera
Washington,  3 Feb: US diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks show that Washington has long had evidence of Indian authorities’ systematic use of torture against opponents of Indian rule over Jammu and Kashmir, but has chosen not to speak out against New Delhi’s gross human rights violations.

In a classified cable sent in April 2005, the then-US ambassador to New Delhi, David C. Mulford, reported to the US State Department on a “confidential briefing” embassy officials had received from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) “on widespread severe torture in Indian prisons in Kashmir between 2002 and 2004.”

“The continued ill-treatment of detainees,” reported Mulford, “despite longstanding ICRC-GOI (Government of India] dialogue, have led the ICRC to conclude” that New Delhi “condones torture.”

In their briefing, the ICRC officials emphasized that those subjected to torture by Indian authorities were generally not anti-Indian insurgents—since Indian security forces have a standard practice of summarily executing suspected insurgents. Rather they were noncombatants, those accused of providing the insurgents support or suspected of having useful information: the “detainees were rarely militants (they are routinely killed), but persons connected to or believed to have information about the insurgency.”

The ICRC officials said they had made more than 177 visits to detention centers and had interviewed 1,491 detainees. Of these, according to the US embassy’s summation of the ICRC findings, 852, or well over half, had suffered abuse. 171 were beaten and 681 were “subjected to one or more of six forms of torture.” 498 persons were subjected to electric shocks; 381 to suspension from a ceiling; 294 to crushing of leg muscles through use of a “roller”; 181 to 180-degree leg-splitting; 234 to various forms of water torture; and 302 to sexual abuse.

The “numbers add up to more than 681,” says the cable “as many detainees were subjected to more than one form of IT (ill-treatment.) ICRC stressed that all the branches of the security forces used these forms of IT and torture.”

Indian and international human rights organizations have presented numerous reports documenting Indian authorities’ horrific human right abuses in the two-decades-old counterinsurgency war in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state.

Nevertheless, the evidence presented by the ICRC to the US diplomats was both damning—given the access the ICRC had had to Indian detention centers—and highly significant. As a rule, the ICRC does not make its findings known to anyone but the government having jurisdiction over the facilities it inspects. It argues that if it assumes a public advocacy role, its status as a neutral organization will be jeopardized and governments will deny access to prisoners, making it impossible for the ICRC to fulfill its humanitarian mission.

But in this case, ICRC officials had apparently become so frustrated and angered by the stance of the Indian government they chose to reveal their findings to US officials. The cable reports, “There is a regular and widespread use of IT and torture by the security forces during interrogation; -- This always takes place in the presence of officers; -- ICRC has raised these issues with the GOI for more than 10 years; -- Because practice continues, ICRC is forced to conclude that GOI condones torture.”

Horrific as were the ICRC’s findings, its officials reported that conditions had improved from the mid-1990s, when security forces invaded villages in the middle of the night and arbitrarily and indefinitely detained many of their residents.

Still, the ICRC had never been allowed right to speak with prisoners at the most “notorious” detention center, the “Cargo Building” in Srinagar. And increasingly the Indian government was seeking to curb the ICRC’s activities, even though, in keeping with its traditional mode of operation, it had not made any of its findings public. According to the April 2005 cable, the ICRC had told the US diplomats, “the MEA [Indian ministry of external affairs] also protested the ICRC’s presence in Srinagar [the capital of Jammu and Kashmir], asking it to ‘wind up’ its operations, advising that its ‘public activities must stop’ (believed to be a reference to a seminar ICRC staff held at Kashmir University on IHL in 2004), and warning against ‘unauthorized contacts with separatist elements’.”

In another cable from 2007, the US’s Indian embassy noted that a member of the Jammu and Kashmir legislature, Usman Abdul Majid, was the leader a pro-Indian government militia “notorious for its use of torture, extra-judicial killing, rape and extortion of Kashmiri civilians suspected of harbouring or facilitating terrorists.”

But while US officials in India have been keeping the State Department informed of the conduct of the Indian security forces and allied militia in Kashmir and of the support this enjoys from the highest levels of the Indian government, neither they nor their superiors in Washington have publicly condemned the Indian authorities. On the contrary, under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, India has been touted as the world’s most populous democracy and a “natural ally” of the US in promoting “democratic values” around the world. When Obama visited India last month, in deference to his hosts, he studiously avoided any mention of Kashmir.

The US’s silence on the Indian state’s repression in Kashmir is yet another example of the cynicism and hypocrisy of US foreign policy under Republican and Democratic administrations alike. Washington routinely issues ringing condemnations of the human rights violations of foreign governments whose interests and policies are cutting across those of the US corporate elite—condemnations that are then amplified by a pliant media. But India is being assiduously courted by Washington and Wall Street, because it is viewed as a counterweight to a rising China. Hence the US silence on the repression in Kashmir.

Declaring that the US wants to assist India in becoming a “world power,” the US, under George W. Bush, secured India special status in the world nuclear regulatory regime, giving it the right to purchase civilian nuclear technology and fuel, although New Delhi developed nuclear weapons in defiance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. And Obama, also touting the US’s support for India’s global aspirations, announced during his recent trip to India that Washington supports India becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The Indian elite’s reaction to the WikiLeaks cables about Kashmir has been telling. A spokesman for the India’s Congress Party-led coalition government brushed the ICRC findings aside, declaring “India is an open and democratic nation which adheres to the rule of law. If and when an aberration occurs, it is promptly and firmly dealt with under existing legal mechanisms in an effective and transparent manner.”

The reality is India’s security forces have and continue to enjoy impunity.

Not surprisingly, the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which led India’s government from 1998 to 2004 and presided over much of the repression in Kashmir, had nothing to say about the ICRC findings.

As for the Indian press, it gave the matter short shrift. In some of the major dailies, such as the Hindu and the Indian Express, there were perfunctory reports, but there were no editorials demanding that the government and security forces be held to account. The attitude of the press and the ruling class toward the Kashmir question is exemplified by the recent widespread calls for the writer Arundhati Roy to be charged with treason for suggesting that the people of Jammu and Kashmir should have the right to choose to leave the Indian Union.

In response to the WikiLeaks revelations, the head of the National Conference (NC)— which leads the current state government in Jammu and Kashmir in a coalition with the Congress Party and is also a partner of the Congress in India’s national government—tried to shift the blame on his political rivals.

“We don’t condone torture and will not turn a blind eye to reports of human rights violations,” declared Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. “Not only the state government, but the Center too has a policy of zero tolerance to human rights abuses.”

Refusing to comment directly on the WikiLeaks’ exposure, Abdullah said, “I am not getting into it… It pertains to 2005 and you know who was in power that time.” Abdullah was referring to the fact that the state was then ruled by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), also in a coalition with the Congress Party.

Abdullah’s claims to uphold democratic rights are belied by the actions of his government. Under its direction, security forces killed more than a hundred unarmed demonstrators this summer in a bid to quell a popular mobilization in the Kashmir Valley provoked by the police killing of a youth. (See Kashmir seethes: Indian elite resorts to repression and political maneuvers)

In answer to Abdullah, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti said, “Omar Abdullah should be the last person talking about human rights abuse. The PDP’s tenure is for everybody to see and we don’t need any certificate from anybody but the people.” Turning the tables on the NC, she added: “We inherited from the National Conference (in 2002) a Kashmir in which human rights violations were at their peak.”

Both Kashmir regional parties have served as junior partners of the Indian state and the principal parties of the Indian bourgeoisie, the Congress Party and the BJP, in the systematic violation of democratic and human rights in Kashmir, including the torture of political prisoners as documented in the diplomatic cables exposed by WikiLeaks.

Pakistani nuclear weapons are heavily deployed near its border with India

WASHINGTON: Pakistan has doubled its nuclear arms stockpile to 110 warheads, developing new weapons to deliver them and significantly accelerating production of uranium and plutonium for bombs to edge ahead of India.

Islamabad's nuclear weapons stockpile now totals more than 110 deployed weapons in a sharp jump from an estimated 30-80 weapons fours years ago, 'Washington Post' reported.

"Pakistan has expanded its nuclear weapons production capability rapidly", the Post quoted David Albright President of the Institute for Science and International Security as saying.

Albright said that based on accelerated production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium, Pakistan may now have an arsenal upto 110 weapons.

The non-government US analyst said that while continuing to produce weapons-grade uranium at two sites, Islamabad has sharply increased its production of plutonium, enabling it to make lighter warheads for more mobile delivery system.

Pakistan's has developed a new missile Shaheen II, with a range of 1,500 miles which is about to go into operation deployment. The country has also developed nuclear capable land and air launched cruise missiles, the Institute said in a new report.

"The Pakistanis have significantly accelerated production of uranium and plutonium for bombs and developed new weapons to deliver them. After years of approximate weapons parity, experts said, Pakistan has now edged ahead of India, its nuclear-armed rival", Washington Post said.

The paper said while Pakistan has produced more nuclear-armed weapons, India is believed to have larger existing stockpiles of such fissile material for future weapons.

Dubbing Pakistan as one of the world's most unstable region, Post said an escalation of nuclear arms race in South Asia possess a dilemma for Obama Administration.

It said in politically fragile Pakistan, the Administration is caught between fears of proliferation or possible terrorist attempts to seize nuclear materials and Pakistani suspicions that the US aims to control or limit its weapons programme and favours India.

Quoting Pakistan's Defense attache at its embassy in Washington, Post said the number of Pakistani nuclear weapons are heavily deployed near its border with India.

The paper said that in December 2008, Peter Lavoie, US national intelligence officer for South Asia, told NATO officials that "despite pending economic catastrophe, Pakistan is producing nuclear weapons at a faster rate than in any other country in the world".

Will expose the Ministers, Politicians, Bureaucrats: Hilal War

By: Ajaz Ahmad
Srinagar, 2 Feb:  editor.kmw  An emergency meeting PPP was presided over by Engineer Hilal Ahmad War was held at the Rajbagh Headquarters of the People’s Political Party (PPP)   wherein it was declared that the party won’t allow the culprits of the infamous 2006 sex scandal to go scot-free, reports Kashmir Media Watch.

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The meeting was held in response to the ‘clean chit’ that the main accused Raman Mattoo, a former Minister, Iqbal Khandey, Principal Secretary (Planning) former Additional Advocate General Anil Sethi etc.were given by Two main victims-cum-witnesses who  were  being forced to retract from their earlier statement under a big conspiracy to  pave the way for CBI court to give ‘Clean Chit’ to the accused Ministers, Bureaucrats and Police officers etc.Recently two key witnesses and ‘victim’ turned hostile in the Kashmir sex scandal case, a 25-year-old ‘rape victim’ and a 45 year old Police Constable, key witness in the case has retracted from their statement in the CBI special court in Chandigarh.

Chairman PPP, Hilal Ahmed War said Kashmiris will never forgive the culprits of the well planned sex racket through which innocent girls were lured and exploited. “It was a well planned policy to involve innocent Kashmiri girls, both by blackmail and temptation, into flesh trade, so that immorality and promiscuity could be infused into Kashmiri society which would be a great impediment to the freedom movement,” said War adding “Agencies have always been  on a hunt for innocent people in Kashmir to not only dilute our values but also to draw the attention away from the Kashmir issue.”

It was decided in the meeting that PPP would fight tooth and nail to expose all the people involved in the scandal. “We will not forgive anybody,” said PPP Chairman. He said PPP has a complete list of all the bureaucrats, ministers, politicians, businessmen and everyone else who was a part of the racket in one way or the other. “We will definitely come out with the detailed, complete list at the right time,” said War adding “If an honest investigation would have been carried out, we would have seen the real face of a number of our ministers and bureaucrats and some so called respectable citizens.”

Mr.War said, “Some favourite  Ministers of PDP- Congress Coalition Government ,involved in the infamous Sex Scam 2006, were left scot- free by CBI, few of them Cabinet Ministers in Present Govt. are also using their influence to hush up the case fearing that if the case would be investigated their names would figure”. PPP Chief, appealed the Jammu and Kashmir Govt to reinvestigate the infamous Sex Scam of 2006 and punish all those Ministers, Political leaders, Bureaucrats and other officials involved in the exploiting underaged girls inkling those who were let-off by CBI, failing which PPP will be constrained to take the case in People’s Court. He further said that we will come up with a Solid Evidence –cum-Proof.

The infamous sec racket, had shook the valley, protests from all quarters had shaken the administration. The political parties in power, political parties without power, separatists, social groups, citizens, lawyers and even bollywood had demanded answers from the government as well as a thorough probe. The Government of Jammu and Kashmir had handed over the case to the federal investigation agency of India, the Central Bureau of Investigations, but has saved the favourite ones. This has satisfied none. According to reports Nine Ministers of the previous coalition government figured in the 2004 investigations and Mufti Sayeed personally intervened to save his government.

He said his party cannot allow eyewash in the name of probe. “Kashmiris will stand up and we will make sure nobody among the exploiters is spared,” he said.

War also threatened to launch a full-fledged agitation if the culprits were not brought to the book. “If these criminals are not named and punished, we will not take it hands down.” He said that the girls were first exploited and are now being threatened into submission. “They are threatening these girls to fall in line with them to save these people,” said War “We will never allow this. These girls were first victimized physically and now they are constantly being harassed to hush up the truth.” (Writer-South Asia)

British Muslim population could double in 20 years

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London, 31 Jan: THE population of Muslims in Britain could almost double to 5.5 million within 20 years, according to new research. According to a worldwide study by a Washington think-tank the growth will mainly be driven by immigration, reports Christian Messenger.

Pew Research Center researchers have made projections that the world’s Muslim population could increase by about 35 per cent over the next two decades.

The report noted that today the number of Muslims make up 4.6 per cent of the population in the UK. However, Pew researchers predict an increase to more than eight per cent by 2030.

Speaking about the Muslim share of the population, the report said: “The greatest increases – driven primarily by continued migration – are likely to occur in Western and Northern Europe, where Muslims will be approaching double-digit percentages of the population in several countries”.

The Pew report also cited high birth rates. It said that “generally, Muslim populations tend to have higher fertility rates (more children per woman) than non-Muslim populations”.

A survey conducted last year revealed that most Britons are concerned about the growing influence of Islam in the UK and believe that Islam is dividing the nation.

The annual British Social Attitudes survey found that 52 per cent of the population believe that Britain is deeply divided along religious lines, with just one in four people feeling positive about Islam.

The survey also revealed that 55 per cent of the population would be strongly opposed if a large mosque was built in their area. The results suggest that unhappiness over the influence of Islam is now a matter of national concern. (Writer-South Asia)

BJP, Kashmir and Article 370

Srinagar, Jan. 30: It is impossible to think of abrogation. It can’t be amended by taking recourse to the usual provision of amendment provided by the Constitution of India, article Zahoor Hussain Bhat in Rissing Kashmir.

At the time of partition of Indian Subcontinent, India was conceived as a federation of States. Upon the creation of the independent Dominion of India, the princely States of the erstwhile British India were offered the choice to join either the Dominion of India or the Dominion of Pakistan.

 A third alternative of remaining independent of the two Dominion was also offered by the Dominion Power. In case of Jammu and Kashmir the Maharaja of Kashmir signed the Instrument of Accession to the Dominion of India. Under this Instrument, he surrendered the jurisdiction of three subjects-Defence, External Affairs and Communications. This action of the Maharaja was endorsed by the premier Political Party of the State, National Conference. The accession of the State thus established and was given legal and constitutional validity and sanction by the incorporation of Article 370 in the Indian constitution which defined the State’s special relationship with India.

The State is yet to recover from 2010 shock that has consumed its economy and lives. Now the BJP desires to set the Valley on fire again. The plan to hoist tricolor at Lal Chowk by BJP Youth Wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s (BJYM) has already started a war of words with separatists, the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah sees it as an unnecessary provocation. Ironically BJYM Chief Anuraj Thakur said, “Tensions were created because of stone pelting incidents. Many soldiers of the country were wounded. Was there no tension then? We are hoisting the flag for national integration. We want Article 370 to go and Jammu and Kashmir to be fully integrated with India.” This clash is nothing but of egos.           

BJP may hoist the tricolor at the historic Lal Chowk but it is impossible to think of abrogation of Article 370. Article 370 can not be abrogated or amended by taking recourse to the amending provisions of the Constitution which apply to all the other states because Article 368 has a proviso that says no constitutional amendment “shall have effect in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir” unless applied by order of the President under Article 370. That requires first the concurrence of the State government and subsequent ratification by its Constituent Assembly.

Article 370 of the Constitution is reproduced for the readers;
370. Temporary Provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir
(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution.
(a) the provisions of article 238 shall not apply in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir;
(b) the power of Parliament to make laws for the said State shall be limited to;
(i) those matters in the Union list and the Concurrent list which, in consultation with the Government of the State, are declared by the President to correspond to matter specified in the Instrument of Accession governing the accession of the State to the Dominion of India as the matter with respect to which the Dominion Legislature may make laws for that State;
(ii) such other matters in the said lists, as, with the concurrence of the Government of the State, the President may by order specify.
Explanation: For the purpose of this article, the Government of the State means the person for the time being recognised by the Presidents the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers for the time being in office under the Maharaja’s Proclamation dated the fifth day of March, 1948;
(c) the provisions of article 1 and of this article shall apply in relation to that State;
(d) such of the other provisions of this Constitution shall apply in relation to that State subjects to such exceptions and modifications as the President may by order specify:
Provided that no such order which relates to the matters specified in the Instrument of Accession of the State referred to in paragraph (i) of sub-clause (b) shall be issued except in consultation with the Government of the State:
Provided further that no such order which relates to matters other than those referred to in the last preceding proviso shall be issued except with the concurrence of that Government.
(2) If the concurrence of the Government of the State referred to in paragraph (ii) of sub-clause (b) of clause (1) or in the second proviso to sub-clause (d) of the clause be given before the Constituent Assembly for the purpose of framing the Constitution of the State is convened, it shall be placed before such Assembly for such decision as it may take thereon.
(3) Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this article, the President may, by public notification, declare that this article shall cease to be operative or shall be operative only with such exceptions and modifications and from such date as he may specify:
Provided that the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State referred to in clause (2) shall be necessary before the President issues such a notification.

A careful study of the text reveals six special provisions for Jammu and Kashmir:

First, it exempted the State totally from the provisions of the Constitution of India providing for the governance of the States. It was allowed to have own constitution within the Indian Union.

Second, Parliament’s legislative power over the State was restricted to three subjects defence, external affairs and communications. The President could extend to it other provisions of the Constitution to provide a constitutional framework if they related to the matters specified in the Instrument of Accession. For all this, only “consultation” with the State Government was required since the State had already accepted them in 1947 by the Instrument of Accession.

Third, if other “constitutional” provisions and other Union powers are to be extended to the State of Jammu and Kashmir the prior “concurrence” of the State Government was required.

The fourth feature is that even that concurrence alone did not suffice. It had to be ratified by the State’s Constituent Assembly. This is often overlooked. Article 370 (2) says clearly: “If the concurrence of the Government of the State be given before the constituent assembly for the purpose of framing the Constitution of the State is convened, it shall be place before such Assembly for such decision as it may take thereon.”
The fifth feature is that the State Government’s authority to give the “concurrence” lasts only the State’s Constituent Assembly is “convened”. It is an “interim” power. Once the Constituent Assembly met, the State Government can not give its own “concurrence”. Still less, after the Assembly met ad dispersed. Moreover, the President can not exercise his power to extend the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir indefinitely. The power has to stop at the point the State’s Constituent Assembly drafted the State’s Constitution and decided finally what additional subjects to confer on the Union and what other provisions of the Constitution of India it should get extended to the State rather than having their counterparts embodied in the State Constitution itself. Once the State’s Constituent Assembly has finalised the scheme and dispersed, the President’s extending powers ended completely.

The sixth special feature the last step in the process, is that Article 370 empowers the President to make an order abrogating or amending it. But for this, also “the recommendation” of the State’s Constituent Assembly “shall be necessary before the President issues such a notification”.Writer can be contacted at:  zahoorbhat786@yahoo.in

After Blair's conversion to Catholicism, his sister in law says: I'm a Muslim

Conversion: Lauren booth chose to become a Muslim after a holy experience at a shrine in Iran

By David Wilkes
London : It could certainly make family get-togethers interesting. Tony Blair’s sister-in-law Lauren Booth has converted to Islam. The former prime minister is also a religious convert – he became a Roman Catholic after leaving office in 2007.

Miss Booth, who is Cherie Blair’s half sister, decided to adopt her new faith after what she described as a holy experience in Iran.

She now covers her head with a hijab when she leaves home, has given up alcohol and visits a mosque ‘when she can’.

The 43-year-old mother of two, who has long sympathised with the Muslim cause, described how she had a religious awakening six weeks ago on a visit to a shrine in the Iranian holy city of Qom.

‘I sat down and felt this shot of spiritual morphine, just absolute bliss and joy,’ she said. The former reality TV contestant decided to convert immediately on her return to Britain.

‘I always felt that the ummah [Muslim community] is a very loving, peaceful place and I am proud to be a member of it,’ she said.

Miss Booth, also a journalist and human rights campaigner, has stopped eating pork, reads the Koran every day and has not ruled out wearing a burka in the future.

‘I also haven’t had a drink in 45 days, the longest period in 25 years,’ she said. ‘The strange thing is that since I decided to convert I haven’t wanted to touch alcohol, and I was someone who craved a glass of wine or two at the end of a day.’

Miss Booth works for Press TV, the English-language Iranian news channel, and has worn a head scarf on screen. She announced her conversion at the Global Peace and Unity Event in London on Saturday. To cheers, she said: ‘What I wanted to share with you today is that I am Lauren Booth and I am a Muslim.’

Miss Booth’s conversion follows a turbulent time in her personal life, during which her marriage to actor Craig Darby hit the rocks. She described publicly how she had fallen on hard times and was being forced to return to Britain after six years in rural France with her family.

Miss Booth was a vocal opponent of the Iraq war and recently criticised Mr Blair, accusing him of bias towards Israel.

She said: ‘Your world view is that Muslims, are mad, bad, dangerous to know. A contagion to be contained.’Her conversion was welcomed on Muslim internet forums. One post read: ‘Now a war criminal has an innocent sister in law! God bless her!’

But not all the comments were so favourable. Another read: ‘Lauren Booth craves attention, that’s all.’

Plight of ‘kind Muslim man’ wrongly held for Mecca Masjid led Swami to confess: Police

Mumabi, Jan 27: Investigators claimed that a curious change of heart led Swami Aseemanand, 58, arrested for his involvement in the Mecca Masjid blast, to reveal details of the conspiracy behind five major blasts, including the February 2007 attack on the Samjhauta Express.

Key to this, senior officials said, was Aseemanand’s interaction with a 21-year-old he met in Chanchalaguda Jail, Hyderabad, during his judicial custody in November-December last year.

The man, Sheikh Abdul Khaleem, was among 15 arrested earlier by the Hyderabad Police investigating the Mecca Masjid blast. On November 13, 2008, The Indian Express reported that an Andhra Pradesh government panel had confirmed that these Muslim men, picked up for the Mecca Masjid blast of May 18, 2007 and the Lumbini Park and Gokul Chaat House blasts of August 26 that year, were tortured for as long as six months.

Khaleem, 19 then and working as a lab technician, was arrested soon after. According to the panel’s report, he was blindfolded and taken to an unknown destination, beaten on the soles of his feet, stripped and then administered shots through a “small machine”.

Aseemanand was arrested on November 19 last year from Haridwar in Uttarakhand, after he had changed location over 30 times, travelling across several states over two years to evade arrest. According to investigators, he was “not cooperating” in the initial days after his arrest.

Though he was in the CBI’s custody for a few days in between, he spent most of the period from November 20 to December 24 in judicial custody, in solitary confinement in Chanchalaguda Jail where nearly 70 per cent of the inmates are Muslim. It was here that Aseemanand came in touch with Khaleem.

Blast-accused Muslim praises Aseemanand, calls him 'great'
Woh bahut great hain. It takes a lot of courage to accept your mistakes, admit guilt. Not everyone can do it. Even when we were in jail together, I felt he was a good man,” Abdul Kaleem, 23, a Mecca Masjid blast accused, said on Monday following his release on bail.

He was referring to Swami Aseemanand who is reported to have confessed to his involvement in the Mecca Masjid blast of May 18, 2007. Kaleem was arrested as a suspect in the case and spent one-and-a-half-years in jail before all charges were quashed by a court and set free.

On October 12, 2010, Kaleem was arrested again at Cherlapally Jail on charges of trying to pass a mobile phone to his jailed brother Abdul Khaja alias Amjad, an alleged terror operative who was arrested from Chennai in January 2010.

“The first time I saw Aseemanand was about a month-and- a-half ago and I was not aware why he was in jail. He was in the cell next to mine, we started talking on and off when we came across each other in the courtyard. A few days later, I came to know that he was arrested in the Mecca Masjid blast case,” Kaleem says.

63 Black Day in 63 years in disputed Jammu and Kashmir

Kashmiris resist Indian flag hoisting in Srinagar

Why Kashmiris hate India?

Srinagar/Jammu, Jan 26: For sixty years we have all heard the rhetoric that Kashmir is an integral part of India–yet six decades later, hoisting the Indian flag on government buildings in Kashmir is tantamount to igniting the Chanars on fire. Even the  Chief Minister who is a stooge of Congress and has no following in Kashmir is telling the BJP not to hoist the Indian flags on government buildings in Kashmir. Every year on 26th January and 15th August, separatists burn Indian flags and unfurl the Pakistan flag. Today in Pampore,Tral, Pulwama, Sopore, Baramulla thhe green flags of Pakistan were hoisted in various areas of Kashmir on the Independence Day of India

The BJP is bent upon putting the flags up–probably tired of watching the entire valley put of Pakistani flags on August 14th (Pakistan‘s independence day) and black flags on August 15th (Bharat’s independence Day).

Responding to reports that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had expressed his reservations about the BJP’s announcement of hoisting the national flag at Lal Chowk, Rajya Sabha MP Chandan Mitra reiterated that the flag would definitely be hoisted.

“He [Mr. Abdullah] must clarify whether or not he, as Chief Minister, will hoist the national flag on Republic Day. Separatist leaders will also have to declare which flag will be hoisted if it is not the national flag. Every last worker of the BJP will strive to hoist the national flag there,” Mr. Mitra said. The Hindu

The Nation is reporting that the Mr. Abdullah is “Blaming BJP for creating controversies and disturbing tranquility in the Indian Held Kashmir“. News reprots are indicating that Mr. Omar Abdullah “asked the party not to go ahead with its plan to hoist the Indian flag in Srinagar on January 26.”

Indian media is reporting that “BJP has defended flag hoisting at Lal Chowk by saying that Kashmir is India’s integral part.” Mr. Abdullah is running scared. “When Kashmir is now quiet, they (BJP) want to set it on fire again”.

The BJP has made it a trait to ignite fire for political mileage. “The Indian flag will be hoisted at all the district headquarters, government buildings, police and army establishments besides at Bakshi Stadium in the heart of Srinagar city by a Minister. Does BJP consider all this irrelevant and hoisting of flag by any individual of their party at Lal Chowk, a relevant one?” he questioned.

The Chief Minister of  Kashmir told reporters this would put the valley on fire. “If their aim is to set Kashmir afire, please tell them to stop. If there are repercussions, I will hold them personally responsible. They should not hold me responsible if there is a fallout of that in Kashmir. They will have to come and sort it out. They shall not hold me responsible”, Omar said.

The extremist BJP defended the party’s decision to hold Indian flag in Srinagar. The Hindu Mahasabah is adamant on the flag issue and may succeed in creating turmoil and reigniting the valley.

“BJP maintains that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Our youth wing has planned our own programme as a part of our national sovereignty, national solidarity campaign from West Bengal to Kashmir. I think it is a welcome program. We are marching with the national flag not in only one state but several states of the country, why should anybody object to this campaign of national solidarity and national sovereignty,” BJP leader Arun Jaitley-Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior  said.

In a state where the Pakistani flag is waived by the people very often, it is strange to hear that waving the Indian flag is an anomoly and would set the valley on fire. The Pakistani flag is banned in Kashmir. It is a crime to hosit the Pakistani flag–however during protests the Pakistani flag is ubiquitous. The Kashmiri flag is the Pakistani Crescent and Star without the white stripe. The Kashmiris get around the ban on the Pakistani flag by waving the Crescent and Star on a green background–claiming that it is a Kashmiri flag–thus getting around the ban on the Pakistani flag.

Sheikh Yaqoob, Chairman Jammu and Kashmir People's  League (JKPL), denounced Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) fanatics for their decision to hoist Indian flag at Lal Chowk Srinagar on January 26, terming it India's frustration and political defeat in Kashmir.
In a statement, he said that a two-third area of Jammu and Kashmir was under India's illegal military occupation since 1947, and now communalists of the Hindu organization wanted to gain political leverage in Delhi by such a senseless step in Srinagar, which could not be carried out without imposing curfew in Srinagar on the Black Day.

"The popular movement of freedom for Jammu and Kashmir will not kneel down by this threat or political gimmick," he said.

Commenting upon the statements and counter-statements of India's Secretary Home G. K. Pillai and General V. K Singh the Indian army chief on the reduction of Indian regular armed forces in Jammu and Kashmir, Rehmani said that ultimately army chief's word would carry weight as the Indian Army had unbridled powers in Jammu and Kashmir under the Disturbed Areas Act and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act; and have had gained all the personal and strategic dividends by using these repressive laws against the people of Kashmir during the last 20 years, although an overwhelming majority of the Kashmiris were against Indian rule, and their inhuman and draconian laws in Kashmir.

Meanwhile, Government of Jammu and Kashmir  on Sunday jammed the landline,mobile phone networks and internet broadband connections. Subscribers were unable to make or receive any calls while internet remained down till late in the afternoon.

Freedom of Kashmir: Let them go…

By: Madhav Desai

Kashmir, an issue of pride for India and Pakistan has been burning since the both countries got their independence from the British Raj.

Its a sensitive issue to talk about on a blog, especially by an Indian, as the sentiments that prevail in India, can easily result in to burning my effigies just for expressing my views here.

Do not get me wrong, as I am pro-Indian and I love the Indian Nation more than anything in this world.

Okay coming back to Kashmir, there has been a problem there for long but since last couple of weeks its been a chaos. Many of you will remember that about a year back, Kashmiris were up in arms when the Govt. decided to give away some land to Amarnath Temple Board. People in Kashmir proclaimed that the Yatra has been taking place since many years without any interruption so why give away Kashmiri land to Hindu Temple. Well they easily forgot that right in heart of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and other towns / villages / cities of India  acres of Land have been encroched by Waqf Board, Mosques, Mouselleium and other Muslim institutions, and its a pity and really low of Kashmiri people to ask this back.

Now, there is another observation, the native language of Kashmir is Kashmiri, Dogri, etc but the guys who claim to be Kashmiris and are pro-Pakistani speak and write URDU which has nothing to do with Kashmir.

Secondly, the whole lifeline of Kashmir works through Hindu / Sikh Jammu and other parts of India. They dont understand that they will starve if there is no India to support them. At the time of Amarnath Land issue Kashmiris started walking towards the border in hope to join Pakistan. Well, if they really had guts to do that then they should join Pakistan, but let me give you guys some facts so that general Kashmiris can make up their mind.

Pakistan is a failed state and their Foreign Minister had to recently go to NATO to ask for monies to fund their armies and government institution. Anything that Pakistan has is either made in PR China or USA. Moreover they hate USA who are really “anna-datta” (Feeding God) of Pakistan. They never had a good stable government in their history and the militants there thinks they can take on the world (well they think like this but they actually forget that they fight from caves).

States fail, States succeed; there was even time in India when Indira Gandhi went towards declaring an emergency. the Indian state failed (its another thing that it rebounded and made in to one of the most successful states of 21st century). The point here is that Kashmiris dont think things through. They take emotional decisions based on some uneducated, class-less leaders who happen to be a separatists.

While being in NCC for couple of years, I attended one of their National Camps and met a few Hindu Kashmiris as well as Muslim Kashmiris back in 1996 they all seemed friendly. My Hindu Kashmiri friend who used to live in Doda district told me that on the day of independence the Pak-supporters come and put Pak flags on their houses and they cant remove them. This is not done.

98% of Kashmiri Pandits are out of Kashmir, still 13% of Indian Muslims live in safety and prosper everyday in Majority-Hindu India, how is this fair. I strongly believe that any majority whether Hindus or Muslims should protect the minority that live side-by-side with them. India would be colour-less without all the Muslim that it has, as you can clearly see that Kashmir is colour-less without any Hindu Kashmiri Pandits.

Another good example is Pakistan, they got rid of majority of non-muslim population at the time of Partition, even though I believe Jinnah was a democrat and was secular. Pakistan has not seen a day of peace since independence and if Kashmiris reject India, they wont see a day of peace either as they would be crushed by China, oppressed by Pakistan and would never be again accepted or protected by India.

I feel sorry for Kashmiris who dont see that the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir should really be independent, if Pakistan was really pro-Kashmir, instead they gave 1/3rd of POK to China as a gift (didnt even fight for it – as it was integral part of Kashmir before independence and during the British / Mughal Raj).  Even today there is no government and 100s of issues in Azad Kashmir, there are militant training camps being run and bred there. If this is what youth of Kashmir wants then be it, let them enjoy that sort of life instead of democratic living.

For Kashmiris there are only two options, stay with India and join the wave of economic and social reform that country is going through (instead of pushing it down) or join Pakistan and share their misery (from food shortage to international begging), but remember there is no third way as Pakistan can never let you guys be independent.

For India there leaves only one option whether they solve it today or 100 years down the line, if Kashmiris hate calling themselves Indians and dont want to be recognised as Indian (and also dont support our secularism), then its better to let them go, instead of spending billions on them – we can easily find a decent cause in any of our states from Jammu (+ Leh and Ladakh) to Kerala.

Whatever all concerned parties decide they should look at their Wives and Kids and see for their better, prosperous future.

Beauty and The Wounds of Kashmir : Paul Barrow

One of Virginia Woolf's well-known quotes, which she wrote in 1929, is that "the beauty of the world has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder." Perhaps nothing could be more descriptive of Kashmir. During a visit to Kashmir many years ago, Prime Minister Nehru described what he saw: Like some supremely beautiful woman, whose beauty is almost impersonal and above human desire, such was Kashmir in all its feminine beauty of river and valley and lake and graceful trees. And then another aspect of this magic beauty would come into view, a masculine one, of hard mountains and precipices, and snow-capped peaks and glaciers, and cruel and fierce torrents rushing to the valleys below. It had a hundred faces and innumerable aspects, ever-changing, sometimes smiling, sometimes sad and full of sorrow … I watched this spectacle and sometimes the sheer loveliness of it was overpowering and I felt faint … It seemed to me dreamlike and unreal, like the hopes and desires that fill us and so seldom find fulfilment. It was like the face of the beloved that one sees in a dream and that fades away on wakening. Georges Bataille, the French novelist, has also said, "beauty is desired in order that it may be befouled, not for its own sake, but for the joy brought by the certainty of profaning it." As of its beauty, of its anguish and it's befouling, in Kashmir, there isn't any shortage of evidence. There's been a little brouhaha in India recently over the release of videotape on YouTube of what appear to be Kashmiri men being paraded nude in front of women and chldren by Indian soldiers. Obviously, authorities have protested, called the tape a fraud, and said that it was released merely to embarrass the army. Copies have been removed from Facebook and YouTube. The tape, however, is still available online, The above photo is used as a profile on Facebook by several Kashmiri freedom fighters. Source unknown. and doesn't lie. Fraud, not likely. Embarrassment, yes. Amnesty International has called for an investigation into the incident. It is inconclusive as to how recent it is or exactly where the video was shot, but it has in all likelihood been videotaped by a cellphone, which dates it as fairly recent, and there is language that is used in the tape that is uniquely Kashmiri. It is also clear that it is an operation conducted by an armed force of some kind, and probably CRPF troops. This is a huge crime, not just an embarrassment. This was in fact a sharp-pointed attack upon religious beliefs and sensitivities that has been compared widely among Kashmiris to Abu Ghraib. Another video that is in wide distribution is of a man who has been beaten, is nude from the waist down, and is being carried on the back of another man while he is taunted and threatened with sodomy as another attempts to poke a stick up his anus. The tyranny of one religious culture over another is obviously different from intellectual disagreements within a culture between liberals and conservatives such as in the abortion issue where there are nitpicky debates about which trimester life begins. The question of a victim hasn't left the debate, even if liberals, for the moment, have the upper hand. People have just agreed to shut up about it. Imagine what a bunch of Qur'an-burning American fundamentalists would do. In this case, nobody's agreed to shut up about anything. The extreme quality that sets their differences apart from the usual mainstream kind of politics is as difficult for Americans to comprehend as it is for Kashmiris to understand why no one else seems to give a damn. However, it is a particularly odious basis for dispute, because it creates opportunities for abuse where differences are not merely cultural but religously based, where not only shrines to one's deepest faith get trashed, but all of the little symbols and habits as well that mark those differences. Religiously based terrorism is only one aspect of this problem. Consider this: on August 2, Greater Kashmir reported that in one hospital in Srinigar, out of 31 patients with gunshot wounds, 14 of them were shot in the head. Just a couple of weeks ago, a friend in Kashmir told me that his cousin, 18, was shot that morning along with four other friends while playing carom in the street. One was 25, the rest were younger than my friend's cousin. All of them shot, two in critical condition. They were not engaged in protest of any kind. They were simply playing in the street. A police jeep drove up, two men got out and simply started shooting. Another man ran up and tried to grab the gun of one of the policemen. He was simply pushed away and arrested. There was no curfew at the time, although that is unusual, because curfews have been almost constant since June 11 in which the people cannot leave their homes during daylight hours. Thousands of mass grave sites of unknown victims are everywhere. "BURIED EVIDENCE: Unknown, Unmarked, and Mass Graves in Indian-administered Kashmir a preliminary report" by Dr. Angana Chatterji, Professor, Social and Cultural Anthropology, California Institute of Integral Studies, with others, documents this and says that "The Indian state’s governance of Indian-administered Kashmir requires the use of discipline and death as techniques of social control. The structure of governance affiliated with militarization in Kashmir necessitates dispersed and intense forms of psychosocial regulation. As an established nation-state, India’s objective has been to discipline and assimilate Kashmir into its territory. To do so has required the domestication of Kashmiri peoples through the selective use of discipline and death as regulatory mechanisms. Discipline is affected through military presence, surveillance, punishment, and fear. Death is disbursed through “extrajudicial” means and those authorized by law. Psychosocial control is exercised through the use of death and deception to discipline the living. Discipline rewards forgetting, isolation, and depoliticization." Stories of torture abound. It's been widely reported that soldiers arrest all the men in a neighborhood, and then go back and rape their wives. A very thorough Catalogue of Indian Atrocities in Kashmir documenting some of the abuses in the early 90s was done, and such acts continue without letup. In his introduction, Dr Ayyub Thakur, President of the World Kashmir Freedom Movement, states that "It is common practice for the paramilitary forces to walk into a quiet village/town and start shooting indiscriminately, killing innocent and unarmed civilians - all under the pretence of crack-down operations against the Freedom-Fighters. In most cases, innocent civilians are killed, women gang-raped and properties set on fire." In one case, called the Khanyar Incident, "a peaceful procession carrying the dead bodies of persons killed in Dachhigam incident and those killed at Saidkadal locality were being brought for burial, reciting verses of Holy Quran, [and] the armed forces deployed in the area started indiscriminate firing on the mourners and killed about twenty unarmed civilians and injured more than fifty two persons." Personal accounts reported to me indicate that attacks upon funeral processions and emergency vehicles are also quite common even today. The attack upon a peaceful protest just this past Wednesday leaving more than 80 people injured and many dead is reported to have been unprovoked. This is a war upon a people by a people. This is oppression by its very name. This is a war of dominion. This is a war against popular will. This is a war against religious sentiment. This is a war not only against democracy and against self-rule; this is a war against common decency and consideration, against the right to even be human. This is a war against every possible difference that could be imagined between people. And it is being committed by India against Kashmir. Even more incomprehensible is that its not even really about them. They are but grist in a global mill that churns pure evil. In "A Visit from the Footbinder," a story by Emily Prager, Lao Bing says, "Beauty is the still birth of suffering." I can certainly see the conception; but I'm not sure that I see the child. Paul Barrow is Director of Policy and Communications for United Progressives.