Amid the high drama that is going in Karnataka assembly, a fake resignation letter signed by chief minister HD Kumaraswamy added to the many twists and turns of the drama. While the Karnataka assembly resumed the debate on the trust vote in the evening of the third day on Monday, a resignation letter started doing the rounds of social media, especially on WhasApp.
The letter written on CM’s letterhead said that he is tendering his resignation of 22 July 2019. As the letter emerged, several media houses started flashing the breaking news that the Karnataka CM has resigned, showing the letter.
Fake resignation letter of Karnataka CM
After that, the letter was seen in front of HD Kumaraswamy on his desk in the assembly, which captured by cameras of news channels. Therefore, there was no doubt that he is going to resign and he has already printed and signed his resignation letter.
But soon the Chief Minister’s Office said that the letter is fake, and the signature of Kumaraswamy on it is forged. When he was in the assembly taking part in the debate, CMO officials handed him a print out of this ‘resignation letter’, which he had kept in on desk. Media channels assumed this printout of the fake letter as the real one, and jumped the gun by declaring that the Karnataka CM is resigning.
Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy, in Vidhana Soudha: I got information that I have tendered my resignation to the Governor. I don’t know who is waiting to become CM. Someone has forged my signature & spread the same on social media. I’m shocked at the cheap level of publicity. pic.twitter.com/0CIOvpluru
Later CM Kumaraswamy flashed the ‘resignation letter’ in the assembly, saying he has got information that he has tendered his resignation. “I don’t know who is waiting to become CM”, he said. Kumaraswamy said that someone has forged his signature on the letter and circulated it on social media.
After the successful launch of Chandrayaan-2, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to launch Aditya-L1, a solar mission, early next year. According to the space agency, the mission aims to explore the corona of the sun.
ISRO’s mission sun intends to study the corona, which comprises the outer layers of the sun. The corona extends into thousands of kilometres.
“How the corona gets heated to such high temperatures is still an unanswered question in solar physics,” read the information on the official website of ISRO about its impending solar mission.
“It is 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. It will always look at the Sun and give analysis of the corona because it has a major impact on climate change,” K Sivan, Chairperson of ISRO had announced in a news conference last month. He added that ISRO plans to launch the mission in the first half of 2020.
Aditya-L1, with supplementary experiments, can offer observations of the sun’s photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. While the particle payloads are expected to study the particle flux emanating from the sun, the information further read.
These payloads have to be placed outside the interference from the Earth’s magnetic field and cannot be useful in the low earth orbit, the information added.
Aditya-L1 will be launched using the PSLV-XL vehicle from Sriharikota, and it will be placed at the Halo orbit around the Lagrangian point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is 1.5 million km from the Earth.
Sivan, who is also the secretary of the Department of Space said the space agency plans to launch another interplanetary mission to Venus in the next 2-3 years.
Earlier today, India successfully launched its second moon mission, the Chandrayaan-2. The GSLV-MkIII, carrying the Chandrayaan-2, was launched at 2:43 PM from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. This launch makes India the fourth country in the world to land on the surface of the moon. Chandrayaan-2 is set to explore the unexplored territory on the southern pole of the moon.
Away from the glare of the world that often talks tall on Human Rights and the rights of the indigenous people, Balochistan bleeds at the hands of Pakistan. Balochistan Nationalists have demanded complete independence from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. One such freedom fighter who has been fighting in the trenches for the better part of his life is Dr Allah Nazar Baloch who is the founder and chief of Balochistan Liberation Front.
Allah Nazar Baloch was born on 2 October 1968 in Mashkai, Awaran District, Pakistan. He has a premedical degree and now heads BLF, which has been designated a terror organisation by Pakistan. Dr Allah Nazar Baloch is perhaps one of the most wanted men in Pakistan as he has been at the forefront of Balochistan’s struggle for independence.
Dr Allah Nazar Baloch
OpIndia spoke to Dr Allah Nazar Baloch to understand BLF’s struggle, its relationship with Pakistan and the aspirations of Baluch people.
Why not join the democratic process of Pakistan?
“Balochistan has a different culture, language, psyche, history, and compact geography, albeit Pakistan occupied Balochistan by force”, he says when asked what Balochistan’s principle grouse with Pakistan is.
“They (Pakistan) have no interest in the welfare of Balochistan and the Baloch nation. They are only interested in our 750 miles long coast and minerals. So we Baloch have no way other than resistance, to divert the attention of the world towards oppressed Baloch”.
OpIndia asked Dr Allah Nazar why he had picked up arms against the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and why he has not exploited democratic means to resolve the grievances that the Baluch people have against the state.
“There is no democracy in Pakistan”, he said. “The most important thing that compels the Baloch to rebel is oppression and slavery. When I see that my nation is deprived of all aspects of life and ignored in every field, even lacking in a drop of water what else am I supposed to do?”.
“Some federalist parties who are puppets of Islamabad, show them as representatives of Baloch but this is not reality. On the other hand, everyone knows that ISI and Pakistan military is the shadow government in Pakistan. The common Baloch people are supporting the Balochistan Liberation Front and other freedom-seeking organizations”.
The step-motherly treatment that Balochistan has got is evident from the social indicators and the extreme lack of basic development that the thin population of Balochistan has to deal with.
Balochistan social indicators (source: Pakistan the Balochistan Conundrum by Tilak Devasher)
On all counts, from village electrification to access to safe drinking water is in serious disparity with Pakistan. The social indicators certainly support Dr Allah Nazar’s assertions that Pakistan has historically not bothered to develop Balochistan and has mostly used it for plundering its natural resources.
“Nothing is being invested in Balochistan. Punjabi establishment is plundering it with both hands and Baloch resources are booty of war for Pakistan”, Dr Allah Nazar Baloch said.
Interestingly, recently, Pakistan was slapped with a $5.95 billion fine in a legal dispute over rights for a copper and gold mine in the country and is seriously considering taking China’s help in bailing them out. Tethyan Copper had filed a case against Pakistan with the International Court for Settlement of Investment Disputes in 2012 for violating an agreement that the company signed with Pakistan for exploration and mining of the Reko Diq mine. The court announced that Pakistan, headed by Imran Khan must pay a total fine of $5.9 billion — a $4.08 billion penalty and $1.87 billion in interest. China could be considering buying complete stakes of the mind.
According to a report in Nikkei Asia Review, “Reko Diq sits in Pakistan’s southwest Balochistan province, at the triangular border with Iran and Afghanistan. The mine has gold reserves with an estimated value of more than $100 billion”.
One mine is worth $100 Billion. In a province that is plundered and most underdeveloped. One can only imagine the level of plunder and loot of the Pakistani establishment.
Atrocities heaped by Pakistan establishment on Balochistan and Human Rights violations of its people
The atrocities heaped on the people of Balochistan by the Pakistani establishment has been often missed by the international media. In fact, the 5th phase of the Balochistan freedom struggle started with a ghastly and troubling incident of acute atrocity. Dr Shazia Khalid, married to Khalid Aman, a pipeline engineer was an employee of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), and working at the company’s Sui hospital for 18 months while living alone in accommodation provided by PPL in 2005.
On the night of 2nd January 2005, an army officer from Pakistan entered her home and raped her. She was threatened, beaten with a gun, strangled, blindfolded and pulled by her hair. All of this happened in a severely guarded government-owned natural gas plant. She was severely injured in the attack but managed to cut her hands free of the cord and sought help from a nurse, Sakina, at the nearby nursing hostel. Sakina then informed the administration of PPL and the DCMO; the medical staff on duty, Dr Mohammad Ali, Dr Irshad, Dr Saima Siddiqui, nurse Firdous and Salimullah visited Dr Shazia. Her pleas to contact her husband (who was working in Libya at the time) and her family were ignored. Instead of treating her medically, officials were said to have drugged her into unconsciousness with sedatives for three days to keep her quiet and then transferred her to a psychiatric hospital, Asghar Psychiatric Hospital, in Karachi. When her husband returned and she finally managed to lodge a criminal complaint, she was put under house arrest under the government’s “protection”.
“The Baloch nation stood with Dr Shazia Khalid. There are hundreds of cases of rape by the Pakistani army in their camps and torture cells. Believe me, countless villages are burnt, thousands of Baloch are killed, mass graves are discovered. Today the Baloch nation is victimized like Bosnian people”, said Dr Allah Nazar to OpIndia.
From 2000 to 2016 itself, the dead bodies of over a 1000 political activists of Balochistan were found. The relatives of most of these victims said that they were picked up by the Pakistani establishment, only to turn up dead.
A military-led operation was launched in early 2005 aimed at wiping out the uprising by ethnic Baloch groups, who are fighting for a greater share of the province’s resources. According to the Federal Ministry of Human Rights, at least 936 dead bodies have been found in Balochistan since 2011. Most of them were dumped in the regions of Quetta, Qalat, Khuzdar and Makran – areas where the separatist insurgency has its roots.
A military operation was started by Pakistan in 2007 to arrest the headway being made by Balochistan nationalists and freedom fighters and yet, the Balochistan nationalists feel, and rightly so, that the atrocities committed against them are met with stony silence in the international media.
“The military operations are a routine in Balochistan, being conducted daily. Baloch people do not want to live with Pakistan; as our culture, language, history, and geography are far different from Pakistan. “Kill and Dump”, mass graves and the human right violation are common phenomenon practised by Pakistan. There is total media blackout in Balochistan. No impartial media person is allowed to visit Balochistan. Only the state narrative is run in print and electronic media”, said Dr Allah Nazar Baloch.
“The Pakistani ISI is a rogue and terrorist organization of the world. The arrest and rape our women, they torture and kill our youths, even children and octogenarian are not spared from the brutality of Pakistan”, added Dr Allah Nazar Baloch.
An article on a website that documents Human Rights Violations in Balochistan reads:
In December 2013, a mass grave was discovered from Tootak, Khuzdar. On the first day of digging, Naseer Qalandarani was identified by the National Identity Card placed in its pocket. He was abducted by forces from his home in Awaran. On February 20, 2017, another mass grave was discovered in Dera Bugti in which 4 people were buried including a woman.
“Pakistani army, intelligence (ISI) and death squads are behind the killings and torture of our comrades. But by the grace of Almighty Allah and by the help of Baloch people, their attempts are always spoiled”, says Dr Allah Nazar Baloch.
Dr Allah Nazar Baloch has fought this battle at a personal cost. In 2015, in an attack by Pakistan establishment in his hometown, he had lost his brother Safar Khan and his nephew Shaek Baloch. He lost his relatives in a ‘search operation’ conducted by Pakistan army.
“Acting on intelligence information about the presence of insurgents from the banned Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) in the volatile Mashkay area of Awaran, paramilitary troops, backed by air support, conducted the search operation, according to Frontier Corps spokesperson Khan Wasay”.
“Yes, they bombarded my hometown several times. In different incidents, 45 members of my family have been killed. They had kidnapped my wife when she was unwell and my 4 years old adopted daughter to mentally torture me. My two brothers including five nephews were killed. But I am not the only person, the same has happened with every Baloch”, said Dr Allah Nazar Baloch.
OpIndia was told that only after 3 days of this incident, there was another massive bombardment in the same area where more of his relatives were killed.
The Balochistan freedom struggle is a military one where BLF and several other groups have taken responsibility for several attacks.
In July 2013, gunmen had attacked a coastguard check-post in Suntsar, Gwadar District. The provincial home secretary said that seven coastguard officials were killed and seven wounded, other intelligence sources had claimed that the number of deaths was ten. BLF, headed by Dr Allah Nazar Baloch had claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that 25 coastguards were killed, and 2 kidnapped, while 2 of their militants were also killed in the gunfire. In April 2015, 20 construction workers from Punjab and Sindh were killed in Turbat by armed gunmen, which the BLF later claimed responsibility for. BLF claimed that the workers were members of Frontier Works Organization, which is a body linked to the Pakistani Army. In November 2017, the bodies of 15 Punjabi migrants were discovered in the city of Turbat. The BLF claimed responsibility for the murder of the 15 migrants.
However, The BLF itself has been accused of committing Human Rights violations as well. In the ‘raid’ where Dr Allah Nazar’s brother and nephew were killed, the Pakistan establishment had accused BLF of abducting 17 women and 30 children. The raids, the Pakistan establishment said, was also a result of it.
BLF and several other organisations fighting for the freedom of Balochistan vehemently deny any sort of Human Rights Violations on their part.
“It is ridiculous. I categorically reject it. It is war propaganda against freedom fighters. The Pakistani media portrays just one side of the picture”, Dr Allah Nazar Baloch told OpIndia.
The Beijing conundrum
In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a multibillion-dollar project called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which would form part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and would revolve around the development of a huge port in the city of Gwadar.
Balochistan nationalists have opposed the CPEC since the beginning. With the announcement of the huge port in Gwadar, the opposition only grew louder. The main grouse of the Baluch people was that it would turn the native Baluch a minority in their own country. The demographic change that being a ‘colony of China’ would have on the province would be devastating. The Baluch nationalists also believe that China is merely interested in plundering their resources without giving the province anything back.
“Balochistan has more than 100 minerals. Pakistan has exploited and now is plundering gold, copper, uranium, copper, silver and other resources with the help of China. As the demographic change is concerned, thousands of Baloch are shifted by force along the CPEC route to other places, and initially 0.5 million Chinese are being settled in Gwadar and three thousands acres of land is legislated and allocated to them. Now we are a double colony as China has officially joined Pakistan to continue the occupation of Balochistan”, Dr Allah Nazar Baloch told OpIndia.
While Balochistan has a steep opposition to CPEC itself, the significance of Gwadar and the proposed port there cannot be ignored. Talking about the significance of Gwadar in the stand-off between Balochistan and Pakistan, Dr Allah Nazar Baloch said:
“China wants to build and raise its empire in Gwadar. At first, China is building a naval base in Jewani near Strait of Hormuz. This colonial act not only effects Baloch but also whole the world will suffer from its subsequent consequences. China is settling more than half a million of people in Gwadar. In the same fashion, Punjabis will bring their five million people here, which is bound to cause a major demographic change in the area. China has already seized Saindak’s gold and copper project in Balochistan. Now the whole Balochistan is opened for China to explore oil, gold, and copper, etc”.
While BLA has been far more active in targeting Chinese officials and establishments in Gwadar, BLF has also participated in the struggle against Balochistan becoming a colony of China and Pakistan.
The BLA has been at the forefront of carrying out attacks against China and its activities in Balochistan. Recently, there was a suicide attack on engineers working on Balochistan on CPEC. The suicide attacker in his letter had reportedly written, “Through this act, I want to make China and its people realise (that) whosoever will try to meddle in Baloch issues without Baloch nation’s consent, will face the wrath of the Baloch nation.”
In order to safeguard its investment in Balochistan and specifically Gwadar, there has been news recently that China has been trying to woo separatist leaders and politicians from Balochistan.
When asked, Dr Allah Nazar Baloch told OpIndia, “Yes, we have heard this news from the media. Maybe someone is talking but as a whole, no insurgent organization has talked to China”.
Dr Allah Nazar Baloch on the USA designating BLA as a terror organisation and its effect on Balochistan freedom struggle
Recently, in a greatly surprising move, the United States of America designated BLA as a terrorist organisation.
“The Department of State has designated the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Hizballah operative Husain Ali Hazzima as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224,” read a notification.
The USA alleged, “BLA is an armed separatist group that targets security forces and civilians, mainly in ethnic Baloch areas of Pakistan. BLA has carried out several terrorist attacks in the past year, including a suicide attack in August 2018 that targeted Chinese engineers in Balochistan, a November 2018 attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi, and a May 2019 attack against a luxury hotel in Gwadar, Balochistan”.
In response to USA’s move, Dr Allah Nazar Baloch had written a letter to the President of the United States of America where had said that if George Washington was not a terrorist, neither are the Baloch.
“Imagine what would have become of what is now the United States if in 1776 France and other European powers had designated George Washington and others as terrorists and joined the United Kingdom to suppress the settlers. The United States would have remained a colony rather than becoming the beacon of democracy and progress”, he wrote.
“The fighter jets and other weaponry which Pakistan is using against the Baloch civilians have been provided by your predecessors. But you’ve outdone even them. Your administration branded us as terrorists. Because we are not ready to let Pakistan and China plunder our resources? Well, we won’t. Even if your administration branded every single Baloch as a terrorist, we would keep fighting with our knives and Kalashnikovs.
It’s a shame that the champions of a secular and liberal world have failed to extend a helping hand to the Baloch, the only people in the region successfully resisting religious extremism”, Dr Allah Nazar had added.
Speaking to OpIndia, Dr Allah Nazar Baloch said:
“I think there will be no impact on the whole Baloch movement because the Baloch movement is purely indigenous and conducting armed struggle within the parameter of international laws. As far as the ban on BLA is concerned, it was the deduction of the US to bring the Taliban on negotiation. Here the Americans did an enormous mistake, and Pakistan with its hypocrisy did her dual role. But one day the world will realize that they have ignored their natural ally, the Baloch”.
With BLA designated a terror organisation, BLF and other armed groups fighting for the freedom of Balochistan do face an imminent threat of being used in the tango that seems to be playing out between Pakistan and the USA.
When asked if BLF was next, Dr Allah Nazar Baloch said, “No never. BLF is struggling for the defence of Baloch land, Baloch coast and culture according to Geneva convention”.
Iran and Afghanistan
While Balochistan’s main struggle is with Pakistan, there are parts of the Balochistan province that extends into Iran and Afghanistan as well.
Iran and Afghanistan have never endorsed the Balochistan freedom struggle explicitly. Since Balochistan itself is divided into three between Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, OpIndia asked Dr Allah Nazar Baloch whether the armed fighters in Balochistan, especially in the BLF, have any channel of communication with Iran or Afghanistan.
“It is the fitting question since Balochistan is divided into three parts, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. But for now, our centre of the struggle is Pakistani occupied Balochistan. We have no secret channels with others”, he said.
What Dr Allah Nazar Baloch expects from India and PM Modi
In a significant policy shift, in his 2016 Independence Speech from the ramparts of Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the Balochistan freedom struggle. He said that the people in the conflicted Pakistani state of Balochistan, as also in Gilgit and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, had reached out to him.
PM Modi said, “Today from the ramparts of Red Fort, I want to greet and express my thanks to some people. In the last few days, people of Balochistan, Gilgit, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have thanked me, have expressed gratitude and expressed good wishes for me. The people who are living far away, whom I have never seen, never met — such people have expressed appreciation for Prime Minister of India, for 125 crore countrymen,”
At the time, Baloch leaders in exile and otherwise had expressed gratitude and enthusiasm at PM Modi taking up the cause of Balochistan openly. The Indian State has been historically circumspect in taking up the cause of Balochistan. In fact, many historians believe that it was India that had rejected Balochistan’s insistence for accession to India post-partition. Since then, the Indian State has mostly closed its eyes to the plight of Balochistan and PM Modi broke that cycle with his speech.
However, after PM Modi’s mention of Balochistan in 2016, little has been said by the Indian State and the media has relegated Balochistan to a memory long gone. When asked for his comments, Dr Allah Nazar Baloch said:
“There is total media blackout in Balochistan. As yesterday you saw the statement of Pakistan Prime Minister who stated if anyone criticizes, would be treated as a traitor. As far as Indian media is concerned, has failed to play its due role, as Baloch nation genuinely deserves. International media has closed his eyes from Balochistan. We appeal to the Indian government and PM Narendra Modi as the prime minister of the largest democracy of the world to support Baloch movement morally, diplomatically and financially”.
The end objective of the struggle
The one question that has always plagued the mind of observers is whether the armed struggle of groups like BLF is for independence or to force Pakistan’s hand to come to the table for an amicable solution.
Dr Allah Nazar Baloch said that bringing Pakistan to the table was out of the question. He said, “Not only me but my nation wants an independent Balochistan and will use all means of struggle. There no choice left to be part of Pakistan”, he said.
Dr Allah Nazar has a vision of absolute freedom for Balochistan.
He told OpIndia, “The end objective of arm struggle is a free Balochistan. Baloch wants a free secular, democratic and modern Balochistan which beliefs in peace and co-existence”.
While Dr Allah Nazar has been fighting the oppressive Pakistan regime, one had to wonder if the youth of Balochistan, the next generation is with the armed struggle for freedom, or wish to perhaps speak to Pakistan and reach an amicable solution.
Dr Allah Nazar said, “Maximum Baloch youth is directly or indirectly involved in the freedom struggle and they aspire to be the owner of free Balochistan and decide their fate on their own. The new generation is suffering from the brutalities and torment, and their aspiration is a free Balochistan to get the honour, save their culture and breathe in an independent country that is Balochistan
Dr Nazar says that the several armed groups are united in their mission of the free and independent Balochistan. There is a united forum called BRAS (Baloch Raji Ajoi Sangar). BLF, BLA, BRA, and BRG are the member of this alliance.
What does BLF do for the people? What has it achieved?
“BLF has succeeded to halt the plundering of the resources to some extent, new literature has been created and has saved the Baloch culture due to armed resistance. Today every Baloch knows that we are being treated as a slave and colony by Pakistan. Our people understand that we don’t have a state of own to improve our standards of living. But, once BLF gets freedom, then can facilitate its nation”, said Dr Allah Nazar Baloch.
The world community
Dr Allah Nazar was asked if the Balochistan freedom fighters have the mettle to take on the mighty Pakistan establishment. The Balochistan freedom struggle has come in waves and has eventually died down only to be revived again after a trigger, like that of the rape of Dr Shazia.
“Yes. The whole Baloch nation is with freedom fighters. I firmly believe that sooner or later we will get our freedom from Islamabad”, said Dr Allah Nazar Baloch.
And even if the Balochistan freedom fighters think they have the might to take on Pakistani establishment, Dr Allah Nazar Baloch was asked if he believes that the world community would let the dismemberment of Pakistan. “We hope so, one day the civilized world will realize and will help Baloch freedom struggle”, he said.
The Balochistan struggle and the media
The contact between Balochistan freedom fighters and the outside world has been minimum. From the international media to Indian media and even social media.
“There is no internet facility in Balochistan, apart from Quetta and some other cities, which is also monitored by ISI. Any Baloch creates an account, even in social media, at once Pakistan complains, and which causes the suspension of the account”, said Dr Nazar when probed about why that is.
When asked about the popular opinion that most Baloch accounts on social media are fake, he dismissed the allegation as “another propaganda by Pakistan to hide its crimes being highlighted in social media”.
The stories of how Balochistan’s woes started are aplenty. Before the partition of India, Balochistan consisted of 4 Princely states, Kalat, Lasbela, Kharan and Makran. The three other princely states were beholden to Kalat in one manner or the other.
After the partition, Muhammad Ali Jinnah had negotiated the independence of Balochistan with the Britishers and a declaration, after several meetings had read:
The Government of Pakistan recognizes Kalat as an independent sovereign state in treaty relations with the British Government with a status different from that of Indian States.
Jinnah then had a ‘change of heart’ and decided to annex Balochistan. The Balochistan Assembly had categorically rejected even the suggestion to join the Pakistan state. However, Jinnah had other plans. A report reads:
On March 26, 1948, the Pakistan Army was ordered to move into the Baloch coastal region of Pasni, Jiwani and Turbat. This was the first act of aggression prior to the march on Kalat by a Pakistani military detachment on April 1, 1948. Kalat capitulated on March 27 after the army moved into the coastal region and it was announced in Karachi that the Khan of Kalat has agreed to merge his state with Pakistan.
The political history of how Pakistan annexed Balochistan and the treacherous games it played is not the subject of this feature. However, it bodes well to remember that essentially, Balochistan was an independent and sovereign state that was forcefully annexed by Pakistan by the barrel of the gun.
Since then, the saga of torture, state atrocities, forced disappearances, murders and rapes perpetrated by the Pakistan establishment has not changed.
The interviewer would like to thank Mr Tarek Fatah for facilitating the interview and Mr Rohit Vats for giving invaluable inputs before the interview was conducted
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has announced Rs. 10 lakh for each of the 2000 families in his native village during his visit to Siddipet. The gesture appears to be a token of gratitude toward the people of Chintamadaka village where he was born.
Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao
announces that the state govt will give Rs.10 lakhs to all 2000 families living in village Chintamadaka; says,”I was born in this village of Siddipet District & I owe to the public of Chintamadaka village. I will sanction the amount immediately.” pic.twitter.com/t7Ioy5gmDB
He said, “I have taken birth in Chintamadaka village of Siddipet district. I owe to the people of Chintamadaka village. I am announcing today that every family of Chintamadaka village will get Rs. 10 lakh from the government and they can purchase anything from Rs. 10 lakh.”
“The people of Chintamadaka can purchase tractors, farmlands, harvesting machines. All the 2000 families in the village will be benefited with this scheme,” he said. “It is my duty to help you all. Every villager should get benefited. Everyone has to be healthy and wealthy,” Rao said, adding that he was working to make Chintamadaka a model village.
Furthermore, the Chief Minister also sanctioned an additional Rs 25 crore for the development of Siddipet town, Rs 5 crore for the development of Ranganayak Sagar tank and allocated another Rs 50 lakh for every panchayat in the Siddipet assembly segment. The villages of Mustabad and Gudur will also receive Rs. 1 crore each and Rs 10 crore will be given to Dubbak.
A police complaint has been filed against Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad and senior lawyer Mahmood Pracha for inciting communal hatred. In a press conference, the two of them announced that they would be setting up a camp in Lucknow to teach Muslims and Dalits about the ‘right to self-defence’ and how to apply for a firearm licence.
#Breaking | Police complaint has been filed against cleric & Mahmood Pracha, who were organising #MuslimDalitMilitia. The complaint has accused them of inciting communal hatred.
As per reports, they had announced that a camp would be held on the 26th in Lucknow. The camp would assist Muslims and Dalits in procuring firearms.
Mahmood Pracha cited the incidents of mob lynchings and the Sonbhadra massacre as reasons for conducting the camp. According to him, those events wouldn’t have occurred if the victims had legal firearms to defend themselves. They were basically planning to raise an armed militia to combat ‘mob lynchings’, using licenced weapons.
After facing severe backlash for the announcement, Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawed has taken a u-turn saying that he has asked his lawyer Pracha to postpone the training camp. He added that there will not be any training on how to use the firearms in the camps. He blamed the media for quoting him wrongly.
10th July 1962. Chinese troops surround an Indian Army post at Chushul, manned by the Gurkhas and have a heated argument. 10th October 1962, an Indian Army patrol is ambushed by the Chinese Army & heavy mortar fire is exchanged between the two armies. There are heavy casualties on either side. Back in New Delhi, Nehru’s ‘Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai’, is slowly unravelling. But Krishna Menon & his ‘boys’ are still convinced that China will never wage a war against India. All this is about to change shortly.
20th October 1962. China’s People’s Liberation Army crosses the McMahon Line and invades India. Namka Chu, Aksai Chin, Nathula Pass become the theatre of intense fighting between the Indian & Chinese troops. An ill-prepared, ill-equipped Indian Army suffers huge losses. The Indian 7th Brigade at Rongla is in disarray. 22nd October 1962. Brigadier John Dalvi, the Commanding Officer of the 7th Brigade is taken prisoner of war. The myth of the invincible Himalayas is over. The Indian humiliation is complete and the national psyche is scarred.
Himalayas: The Natural Border
The majestic Himalayan ranges have served as a natural border between the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau. The imposing mountain range which hosts some of the highest peaks in the world created a natural geographical buffer between India, Tibet and China and prevented any large scale movement of people across it.
Four different corridors through the Himalayas linked the two regions and constituted the Trans Himalayan Silk Road; one of the oldest trade route in the world. As Buddhism spread to Tibet from India, it influenced Tibetan society and Ladakh became the centre of these trade routes. However, the adverse terrain and hostile weather conditions prevented any military adventure for centuries and an everlasting peace ensued on either side of the Himalayas.
Sino Sikh War: Military battle across the Himalayas
During the early 18th Century, Qing dynasty held control over much of Tibet and had a largely uninterrupted rule till the 19th Century. In India, the Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh controlled a large area of North-West India including Srinagar, Attock, Peshawar, Bannu, Rawalpindi, Jammu, Gujrat, Sialkot, Kangra, Amritsar, Lahore and Multan.
Sikh Empire
Maharaja Gulab Singh (1792-1857) was the first Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir and acted as a vassal to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Zorawar Singh (1786-1841) a General of Gulab Singh’s Army planned an invasion of Ladakh. In 1841, he strung together a force of 6000 soldiers and marched into Tibet. The invading force swept across all the resistance and crossed Mansarovar Lake and defeated a Tibetan force at Gartok. From here, Zorawar Singh marched onwards and captured Taklakot. Alarmed by this, Tibetans and the Maharaja of Nepal sent their envoys to Zorawar Singh to negotiate. Zorawar stayed in Tibet and tried to maintain control. However, in December 1841, the Tibetans joined a Han Chinese force and attacked the Sikh Army in the battle of Toyo. In the ensuing battle, Zorawar Singh was killed and the Sikh Army retreated back to Ladakh with the Sino Tibetan force in pursuit. The two armies again faced off each other at Chushul where the Sikhs defeated the Sino Tibetan army. The two sides then signed a peace treaty which forbade any future military transgression from either side.
A quiet peace ensued on both sides of the Himalayas. Until 1962.
Himalayan Blunder: India gives up on Simla Agreement of 1914
During 1913-14, an accord known as the Simla Accord was signed between the representatives of British India, Tibet and China. The Accord divided Tibet into Inner and Outer Tibet. The terms gave China sovereignty over Inner Tibet but suzerainty over Outer Tibet which would continue to be governed by the Tibetan government at Lhasa. China was forbidden into interfering with the affairs of Outer Tibet. British India retained trading and extraterritorial rights in Outer Tibet. As India and China gained independence, the rights under the accord passed onto the Republic of India.
Simla Conference
Declassified documents now reveal that as early as 1950, China was wary of the privileges which India had inherited from the Britishers and noted “India pretends not to have any ambition on Tibetan Policies or land but desires to maintain the privileges that were signed in the treaties signed since 1906”
Post-independence a politically naive Pandit Nehru followed a friendly approach with the newly independent China and in 1954 signed the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence known as Panchsheel Treaty: “Non-interference in others internal affairs and respect for each other’s territorial unity integrity and sovereignty”. Despite reservations and objections from his own minister’s, Nehru also recognized the Tibetan Autonomous Region as being a part of China and gave up the rights over Tibet which India had inherited as part of the historical treaties without any quid-pro-quo from the Chinese. Nehru didn’t even press China to recognize McMahon Line as the de facto border between India and China.
However, this treaty was redundant from day one as China had already violated the terms of the Simla Accord in 1950!
Dalai Lama Escapes to India
In 1950, the Chinese Army invaded the Tibetan area of Chamdo and quickly defeated the Tibetan Army. After this, the Chinese sent their representatives to Lhasa to negotiate with the Tibetan Government and the Dalai Lama. In 1951, the Tibetan government signed a Seventeen Point Agreement with China which established China’s sovereignty over Tibet. In 1959, Dalai Lama repudiated the Seventeen Point Agreement as having been “thrust upon Tibetan Government and people by the threat of arms”.
PLA Soldiers marching towards Tibet in 1951PLA Soldiers in Lhasa in 1951
As armed clashes broke out in Tibet, the 14thDalai Lama and his retinue assisted by CIA’s Special Activities Division crossed over into India on 30thMarch 1959. Figure 5,6.
1962 : The Myth of the Himalayas is broken
The escape of the Dalai Lama infuriated the Chinese. Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai publicly criticized Nehru and accused him of assisting “Tibetan rebels”and to “prevent China from exercising full sovereignty over its territory of Tibet”
During a meeting with the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in October 1959, the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai blamed Nehru and India for the unrest in Tibet.
Things were coming to a boil.
Indian military commanders had convinced the political leaders that the Chinese posed no threat and “experience in Ladakh had shown that a few rounds fired at the Chinese would cause them to run away” Consequently, the border was thinly manned with small arms and munitions. The troops didn’t have proper clothing for an extended stay in the harsh & cold weather.
On 20th October 1962, Chinese troops crossed McMahon Line and launched simultaneous offensives at Ladakh in West and at Tawang in East. The Chinese offensive caught Indian Army unawares and they were overwhelmed and retreated from Namka Chu and even Daulet Beg Oldi. As fierce fighting continued, Indian formations continued to retreat and massed at Se La and Bomdi La. In November, China attacked these positions and isolated 10,000 Indian troops. Some Indian troops even retreated into neighbouring Bhutan. Tezpur in Assam was also under severe Chinese threat.
Newspaper in 1962Evacuation of Tezpur
However, by now the supply lines of the Chinese were overstretched and the Indian Army had started putting up robust defence and counter-attacks. On 19th November, Zhou Enlai claimed that China had met its objective and announced that they would “withdraw from their present positions to the north of the illegal McMahon Line”. Indian casualties in the war numbered over 3000 killed. Hundreds of troops had died due to the harsh exposure at over 14000 feet than by actual combat.
1962 War
The war effectively busted the Nehruvian myth that China would not be able to traverse high altitude terrain over 5000 km away from Chinese heartland and attack India. For thousands of years, Tibet had acted as a natural buffer between India and China. It would no longer continue to be so.
Tibet: The Water Tank of Asia
Climate Change, Rapid Industrialization, Population surge across the world has led to more stress on natural resources. Water is one of them.
Fresh Water is also known as Blue Gold is scarce across mainland China. With around 20% of the global population, China has access to only 7% of the freshwater supply. Clearly, a fresh source of freshwater was required to support the state. Tibet offered the solution.
Known as the Water Tank of Asia, Tibet is the source of 10 major rivers of Asia including the Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, Salween, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Yangtze, Yellow rivers which feed more than 2 billion people across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Outside of the North & South Poles, Himalayan glaciers in Tibet hold the biggest reservoir of freshwater. River basins formed by Himalayan rivers including the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna, Indus, and Mekong basins serve a huge population chunk.
Major Rivers originating in Tibet
As noted by a report in 2013 by Asian Development Institute “Improving agricultural water productivity, achieving energy objectives, satisfying growing industrial water requirements, and protecting water quality and vitally important natural ecosystems are challenges we still face. The social, economic, and political consequences of water shortages are real, as are the effects of water-related disasters exacerbated by climate change.”
In 2014 Michael Buckley in his deeply researched book ‘Meltdown in Tibet’ noted “Tibetans have experienced waves of genocide since the 1950s. Now they are facing ecocide. The mighty rivers of Tibet are being dammed by Chinese engineering consortiums to feed the mainland’s thirst for power, and the land is being relentlessly mined in search of minerals to feed China’s industrial complex. On the drawing board are plans for a massive engineering project to divert water from Eastern Tibet to water-starved Northern China. Ruthless Chinese repression leaves Tibetans powerless to stop the reckless destruction of their sacred land, but they are not the only victims of this campaign: the nations downstream from Tibet rely heavily on rivers sourced in Tibet for water supply, and for rich silt used in agriculture. This destruction of the region’s environment has been happening with little scrutiny until now”.
In 2018, the Dalai Lama stated “This involves more than the well-being of six million Tibetans because, as a Chinese ecologist has observed, Tibet’s influence on global climate is equivalent to that of the North and South Poles. That’s why he referred to the Tibetan Plateau as the Third Pole. Almost a billion people across Asia depend on water from rivers such as the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Salween and Mekong, all of which rise in Tibet. If the snow on the mountains of Tibet disappears, millions of Indians will suffer the consequences.”
According to China Water Risk, “The Himalayas are also said to be warming more rapidly than anywhere else on the planet. Between 1970 and 2006, permafrost, the permanently frozen layer of earth, shrank by more than 18 percent, and glaciers in China have shrunk more than 10 percent since 2000”
Clearly, who controls Tibet, controls the majority of Asia’s water resources. Chinese strategists realized this and have strengthened their hold over Tibet.
China, which has scant regard for any international law or treaty, has started off on a dam building spree in Tibet. The Three Gorges Dam which opened in 2013 is the largest power generating station in the world. The Zangmu hydropower facility that opened in 2015 is the highest altitude power station in the world. There are reports of China building other major barrages across major rivers in Tibet.
China also remains a non-signatory of “Convention on Law on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses” passed by the UN General Assembly in 1997.
India as a lower riparian state has major reasons to worry. The Himalayas are ecologically fragile and the blasting of mountains can have a severe impact on their stability. Reduced water supply will impact the flow of the river silt and the lives of billions of people.
China fuels the insurgency in North East
A narrow strip of land; 23 kms wide, joins the Seven Sister States (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura) with the rest of India. The strip known as the Siliguri Corridor has enormous strategic importance to India. In an attempt to gain an upper hand in the border dispute with India, China has been trying to move closer to the corridor. The Dokalam standoff in 2018 can be traced back to this. China also calls Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet and claims it as part of its territory.
China has actively aided and abetted insurgency in these areas to bog down the Indian State and keep it in a state of perpetual conflict. Beginning from the 1960’s, when Naga insurgents would freely move between India and China to the formation of ‘United National Liberation Front of Western Southeast Asia’ (UNLFW) comprising of groups such as United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K), the Kamtapur Liberation Organization and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Assam), the Chinese hand can be seen everywhere in fomenting unrest in the region.
North East Insurgency
With a larger aim to gain access to Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, China has also supported unrest in Bangladesh and Myanmar. This fits in with China’s grand ‘two ocean’ plan whereby it plans to control the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. During bilateral talks between the security agencies of India & China, India has provided proofs of insurgent leaders being present in Yunnan in China. Indian agencies also provided proof to their Chinese counterparts that they were inciting insurgent groups during the visit of Dalai Lama to Assam in 2017. China, however, has dismissed such claims. Recent reports indicate that Chinese agencies have tied up with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan to keep the North East on the boil.
Faced with such a threat, India is forced to deploy lakhs of troops, equipment and pump in billions of rupees, to control the situation. This would never be the case, had Tibet, not China had been India’s neighbour in North East.
A settled and peaceful North East would have freed up billions of dollars and resources, which could have been used otherwise for the progress & development of the Indian State.
Giving up on Tibet and Tibetans, in general, has turned out to be a costly mistake beyond the imagination of India’s strategic experts and planners.
Talk Softly and Carry a Big Stick
The historical blunder of giving up on Tibet in 1954 will continue to haunt Indian policy makers. As an increasingly assertive and belligerent China seeks to advance its boundaries and claim the rights of its neighbours, tensions will continue to spike in Asia.
With a GDP that has left India behind by leaps and bounds, China will continue to flex its muscles and do everything in its power to harm India’s interests. From assisting Pakistan to running the One Belt One Road through PoK to not sharing hydrological information during monsoons to propping up Communist Party elected Dalai Lama, China will leave no stone unturned to keep India boxed with regional disputes, conflicts and insurgency. China wants to be the Numero Uno power in Asia and will use all its resources and clout to achieve that goal.
China also brazenly defies international treaties, decisions and agreements. It has refused to honour the Simla Treaty with India and recognize the McMahon Line. In 2016, it also refused to comply with the South China Sea Arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which had ruled that China has “no historical rights” based on the “nine-dash line” map.
Countries affected by South china dispute
India needs to keep the dialogue open with China to peacefully resolve all conflicts. At the same time, it needs to improve infrastructure and augment capacity along its North Eastern borders. It also needs to build bilateral and multilateral groups with a clear aim to deter Chinese bullying and protect its rights. India also needs to effectively use its strongest lever against China i.e. Tibet by supporting the Tibetan cause and community.
During Rajiv Gandhi’s 1989 visit to China, Deng Xiaoping had suggested: “Let both sides forget the unpleasant period in our past relations and let us treat everything with an eye on the future.”30 years have since passed, however, the future is yet to arrive in India, Tibet and China relations.
Binoy Kodiyeri, the son of CPM Kerala chief Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, has now moved to the Bombay High Court seeking to quash the sexual exploitation case against him. His plea would be heard on July 24.
As per reports, Binoy had approached the Bombay High Court last Wednesday seeking to quash the FIR against him. Citing the contradictions in the woman’s statements, he has stated in his petition that the case was forged.
Binoy, who is currently on bail, was required to visit the investigating officer today. As per his bail condition he needs to visit Oshiwara police station every Monday for one month. He was also required to give a blood sample for the DNA test which would be the first and final evidence that would decide the fate of the case.
Last Monday Binoy had appeared before his investigating officer. However, he refused to give his blood sample claiming he was sick. He was scheduled to give his blood sample today. Some reports also claim that the petition in the high court has been filed to avoid the DNA test.
Binoy Kodiyeri was booked in a rape case over a complaint filed by a 33-year-old woman. Mumbai Police had registered a case against Binoy after the woman alleged that he had raped her repeatedly over a decade under the pretext of marrying her.
The woman had also alleged that she was kept in dark regarding Binoy’s marital status. The woman also has an eight-year-old son who she claims was fathered by Binoy.
After the complaints, Binoy had absconded from the Mumbai Police. The police had even issued a look-out notice for him.
Hearing about the trouble Binoy was going through, a journalist from Kerala O Abdulla had invited Binoy Kodiyeri, son of Kerala CPM chief Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, to join Islam as a solution to the current rape charges that he is facing.
By now, everyone of us who is out there on social media is aware of this strange new phenomenon. The toughest, most loyal BJP supporters are suddenly reeling as if struck by a Category 5 Hurricane. The feel good atmosphere of May 23 has all but evaporated and a sense of gloom and doom prevails among the online support base of PM Modi.
A new theory in town. That PM Modi has suddenly decided to go ‘secular.’ Or in other words, he has embraced the pseudo-secular trappings and hypocrisies of the old Indian political establishment.
I have to take this theory head on. Not necessarily to oppose. But because I want to discuss.
First of all, is there merit in the claim that the BJP has not done enough to break down the pseudo-secular old establishment? Absolutely there is. For example:
Why can’t we bring in a law to build a Ram Temple at Ayodhya? The courts began looking at the Ayodhya dispute since 1855-56! After what is possibly the longest legal case in history, it appears that the Supreme Court has thrown up its hands and asked for mediation! At least now it is time for the Govt to address the matter directly and build the Ram Temple, honoring the will of the people.
Why do we even have a ministry for minorities? Isn’t that where all the recent discontent about “minority scholarships” began? As Rahul Roushan wrote in an OpIndia article, why not just go for “deminoritization” and shut down this ministry? For those who care, the “Ministry of Minorities” isn’t even a time honored tradition. It was dreamed up by the UPA specifically as a vehicle for appeasement and vote bank politics. Why not abolish it?
Now that said, I have to ask if there is genuine cause for the sudden surge of negativity that has come to dominate social media in the last few months. Did something change suddenly? And more importantly, are there elements who are now actively playing on this negativity, trying to actually break Modi’s strongest support base by playing up half truths?
Let us start with the matter of minority scholarships. It’s the spot where this theory of ‘minority appeaser BJP’ originated and the anger has been simmering since. In a pronouncement that I suppose nobody on social media has forgotten, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi declared that minorities would receive “5 crore scholarships” over 5 years of Modi 2.0.
That sounds like a big number, which made the outrage take off. Social media was flooded with all sorts of numbers. But was it really? I mean, the BJP government claims to have 22 crore beneficiaries in its first term. Since minorities make up more than 20% of the population, one can confidently claim that at least 4.4 crore minority beneficiaries in Modi’s first term. From 4.4 crore to 5 crore does not seem like that much.
What about scholarships specifically? Here is the expenditure by year:
Post matric Scholarship expenditurePre matric scholarship expenditure
As you can see from the data, there has been hardly any increase in either number or total amount spent on minority scholarships. The number of scholarships appears to have gone down significantly in fact compared to the last year of UPA and the first year of Modi’s term (during which smaller expenditures like these would mostly have been carried forward on auto pilot from previous government). And never forget that budget staying “constant” is really a cut in terms of inflation.
But people argue that the numbers are beside the point because it is a question of principle. And I agree. But then it must also be acknowledged that there has been no sudden change in BJP policy which would warrant the sudden outrage.
But what I really wonder is whether other players are trying to capitalize on the bout of outrage and trying to sow fear and dissension in BJP’s core base.
News articles appeared with headlines like “80% of government scholarships go to Muslims.” They appeared to draw from the Government’s National Scholarship Portal. As it happened, it seems the graphic on that portal did not include data for SC/ST scholarships, the vast majority of which go to Hindus. This is the kind of routine communication gap between govt agencies that any citizen would be familiar with. But the articles and the headlines started an outpouring on social media that raged for weeks.
Eventually, there was the moment of truth when the Budget arrived. Not surprisingly, the Budget for both Pre-Matric and Post-Matric scholarships for minorities was actually *cut*. Which means the budgets were basically cut by 3-4% when you consider inflation.
Mysteriously however, headlines appeared after the budget focusing on the fact that the budget for subsidized coaching for minority candidates had been increased. By how much? It used to be Rs 8 crore. It’s now Rs 20 crore. I don’t know how much can get done in India of 2019 with an extra Rs 12 crores. But it seemed like the headlines wanted to tell a story.
Only today, a prominent news anchor shared on Twitter a video of a top BJP minister making an Islamic affirmation, without really mentioning that it is from Jan 2016. You can see the date in the video if you look carefully, but we know how social media works. Most people wont see the date.
Naturally, this video was promptly incorporated into the confirmation bias and seen as further evidence of a new minority appeasing face of Modi 2.0.
Yes, you can ask why the date matters so much. Because nobody really cares what one individual BJP minister does at home during his puja. People want to know what the top BJP leadership thinks. If they knew this video was from 2016, they would treat it as a random fact about one politician. If people think it’s recent, they will lump it together with other misinformation and fall for a narrative. No surprise that I saw recently a photo of PM Modi holding a chaddar to be sent as a gift at a certain famous dargah. The caption did not mention that the photo was from 2015. In any case, lots of Hindus offer chaddars at that famous dargah.
The dates matter. That’s precisely why some people appear to be leaving the dates out. Because if people think that all these things happened in the last couple of weeks, it will look like a coordinated PR campaign by BJP for appeasement of minorities.
Now who would want that? And are Hindu right wingers walking into a trap?
I will finish with a request to Hindu right wing online. It is absolutely right to accuse the BJP of not doing enough to roll back decades of minority appeasement. But do you think that Modi 2.0 would deliberately opt for minority appeasement? Can you think of any possible motive for this? Do you think that anybody, that too a politician, would do something without a motive? What gain do you think the BJP would hope to make from minority appeasement?
You and I know that BJP will not gain a single vote from minority appeasement. So please. Please don’t tell me that the two sharpest political minds in India cannot see that much.
Meanwhile, I would suggest looking around and seeing how much the dominant narrative has changed in the last five years. Remember that many of us took to social media precisely because we thought the English language media was not listening to us. How does that look now?
I don’t know how many remember the Vajpayee government passing the POTA Act. The opposition was so resolute in blocking it that a joint session of parliament had to be called to pass the bill. There were MPs on both sides who came from their hospital beds to shore up the numbers for their side.
Last week, the NIA Amendment Bill passed the Lok Sabha with 278 voting in favor and just 6 against. Surely, something has changed.
We’ll get there, eventually. By the way did you know what is happening in states?
Gujarat government does not allocate budget for minoritiesYogi Adityanath government slashes minority welfare department outlay in UP
We Hindus have been treated so badly in history that we have a hard time keeping the faith. This time will be different. Let’s not be misled so easily.
Even before Chandrayaan-2 entered its orbit around the Earth, the Congress party hailed Jawaharlal Nehru for the glorious achievement of the Indian scientists. While its customary salute to Nehru was only to be expected, the party also threw its salutations to Manmohan Singh for sanctioning the space mission in 2008.
This is a good time to remember the visionary move of India’s first PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to fund space research through INCOSPAR in1962 which later became ISRO. And also Dr. Manmohan Singh for sanctioning the #Chandrayan2 project in 2008. pic.twitter.com/2Tje349pa0
In reality, however, the Chandrayaan-2 mission was delayed by the Congress party, according to the former chief of ISRO himself. G Madhavan Nair had asserted that the Chandrayaan-2 mission could have been carried out long ago but the “political decision” of the then UPA government to push the “Mangalyaan” venture with an eye on the 2014 Lok Sabha election caused the delay. The credit for INCOSPAR, too, largely goes to Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian Space Program.
As expected, the Congress party is being subject to abject mockery due to obsessive desire to credit Nehru for literally every Indian achievement.
This is a good time to remember the condition of ISRO vs Condition of Gandhi family pic.twitter.com/naNveUOkSs
People also pointed out the fact that Vikram Sarabhai deserves much more credit than any politician for the success of the Indian Space Program.
Corrections:
1. Space research was started in 1945 by Sarabhai (Founded PRL; National Research Institute for space and allied sciences, in 1947) & Bhabha (Established TIFR in 1945).
2. ABV sanctioned Chandrayan. MMS roped in Russia, which withdrew after delaying it by 10+ years. https://t.co/R9nauPjtAj
— K. S. Dwivedi (Nattha) (@theFirstHandle) July 22, 2019
No mention of Vikram Sarabhai called Father of Indian space program, after whom lander in #Chandrayaan2 is named. He is in this pic. https://t.co/O7N5ujkgVT
It is customary for the Congress party to claim credit for every achievement that the citizens of this country strive hard to achieve. Even when India had announced its anti-satellite missile, the Congress party had claimed credit for it despite the fact that it was their own government which hadn’t given clearance for the project. A former DRDO chief, in fact, credited the Modi government for giving them the go-ahead to build the missile.
After the initial setback at the launch of Chandrayaan-2 on July 15, 2019, which led to its postponement, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has today successfully launched the GSLV-MkIII-M1 carrying Chandrayaan-2 from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.
Chandrayaan2’s launch on July 15, 2019 was halted after just an hour before its launch a critical technical snag was detected by ISRO.
Chandrayaan2 about to be launched(Source: Doordarshan)
The Chandrayaan-2 comprises of three integrated parts namely: the Orbiter, the Lander (Vikram) and the Rover (Pragyan). The Rover would be used to conduct experiments on the Moon’s surface. The mission is to land at the south pole of the moon. This would be the world’s first expedition to the south pole region of the Moon.
As per latest news, GSLVMkIII-M1 has successfully injected Chandrayaan 2 into Earth’s orbit.
GSLVMKIII-M1 successfully injected Chandrayaan2 into Earth’s orbit(Source: ISRO)
The average distance between Earth and Moon is 3,84,000 KM. The Vikram lander will land on the Moon on the 48th day of the mission, which begins today. If all goes well, it will land on the moon on 6th or 7th of September.
![[Pictures] Chandrayaan2 launched successfully from Sriharikota](https://i0.wp.com/www.opindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/chandrayaan-takeoff.jpeg?fit=680%2C382&ssl=1 "[Pictures] Chandrayaan2 launched successfully from Sriharikota")
