Autobiography less about myself, says Advani

KOCHI, Apr 27: Senior BJP leader L K Advani today said his autobiography ‘My Country My Life’ was less about his life and more about the political developments in the country and Indian democracy after Independence.

"I feel very happy that the BJP and RSS have been instrumental in building the kind of India we had dreamt about," Advani said addressing a function here to mark the formal launch of his book in Kerala.

Advani said he had always firmly believed that India had "limitless" resources. By utilising modern technology, a healthy, strong, prosperous and enlightened India can be built, he said.

"I have no doubt that this is feasible. The potential is immense. The younger generation in India has far better IQ than we (have)...The exposure they are getting is much more than during our time," he said.

However, the younger generation lacks emotional quotient, which comes from maturity, he said adding, spiritual quotient and moral quotient are necessary and India has that in abundance.

India was now being respected the world over and its potential recognised, Advani said.

"A time will come when the world will accept that the 21^{st century belongs to India" and this is what he has tried to convey through his book, Advani said.}

^{Advani said he was "reluctant" to write the book.}

^{"Had it not been for my daughter and wife, this book would not have been written. When my family heard about my experience as an RSS ‘pracharak’, they said people should know about it," he said.}

^{Referring to remarks from some quarters that the publication of the book was perfectly timed with the party projecting him as its Prime Ministerial candidate, the Opposition leader said this was not correct.}

^{Advani said when he started writing the book, he had even thought of calling it a day in November last year, when he turned 80.}

^{The BJP leader recalled how he went to meet former President A P J Abdul Kalam to invite him to launch his book. Kalam had asked him "Is the book ready?".}

^{Advani said he had told Kalam that it was not yet complete. "I wanted the book to be ready before I was 80," he added.}

^{‘My Country My Life’ is about the political developments in the country and Indian democracy after independence. It not only deals with the past, but also with the present and the future, he said. (PTI)}

Onus on Munde to ensure peace lasts
in Maharashtra BJP unit

MUMBAI, Apr 27: Brokered peace in Maharashtra BJP leadership after Gopinath Munde episode last week may be shortlived unless he decides to go with emerging collective leadership in the state unit after Pramod Mahajan’s death.

Party sources said the difference in the style of functioning between state unit chief Nitin Gadkari and Munde was responsible for the recent crisis.

While Munde was used to asserting himself and getting things done the way he wanted during Mahajan’s lifetime, Gadkari had introduced decentralisation of decision making and collective leadership in the state unit.

Nobody in the state unit denies Munde’s contribution to expanding the party’s base throughout the state. "He is a mass leader and the party has always projected him as BJP’s face in the state," sources added.

But, at the same time, Gadkari known for his administrative and organisational abilities should be given the due space for the party to grow in the state, they said.

Instead of being wary of leaders around him, Munde should work collectively with Gadkari and other senior leaders if he wants to sustain the existing mass base and strengthen it further, sources said.

Sources said due to last week’s episode, Munde’s image as well as that of the party had suffered a dent. As a damage control exercise, the central leadership has suggested frequent meetings of the core group in the state unit which includes among other leaders Gadkari and Munde for better co-ordination.

Sources feel finding a ‘common enemy’ and engaging themselves in political activities will help Gadkari and Munde to resolve their personality clashes and differences.

Munde may seem to have won the battle in the media, but not in the eyes of the central leadership or the state unit.

They said the central leadership has taken serious note of the ‘of the record’ comments made by Gadkari and Munde in the media after the issue was resolved and asked both the groups to exercise restrain.

Despite being miffed with Munde for making a public outburst and causing a severe dent to the party’s image, the leadership had to take a compromise stand and remove Madhu Chavan from the post of Mumbai unit president to pacify Munde, as the Lok Sabha and assembly polls are a year away.

But, his other demands of making him in charge of Maharashtra affairs and insistence of making Raj Purohit or Kirit Somaiya as the Mumbai president were outrightly rejected. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani even asked him to apologise publicly for his act, sources added.

Gopal Shetty’s name emerged as consensus candidate after it was suggested by former Petroleum Minister Ram Naik, sources said.

Gadkari has established a system of collective leadership and decentralisation of power envisaged by the RSS bringing in senior leaders like Eknath Khadse, Raghunath Kulkarni, Vinod Tawde and Munde.

"This irritated Munde because he felt power was slipping from his hands," sources said.

Besides, Munde was also enraged that his nominees were not alloted tickets to Rajya Sabha and Legislative council.

He had wanted Mahajan’s widow Rekha Mahajan for the Rajya Sabha seat which eventually went to Prakash Javdekar.

Similarly, he did not wish Pandurang Phundkar and Vinod Tawde to be renominated to the Legislative council.

Chavan’s appointment as Mumbai president was the last straw. Even though, the appointment was completely by democratic and as per the system suggested by Munde himself.

Sources said since the name decided by the panel after consulting several officebearers and workers was not acceptable to Munde, he decided to flex his muscles.

According to them, the claim of the Munde camp that 35 district presidents of the total 43 and nearly 60 legislators backing him in his rebellion was not factual.

"Of the 13 district presidents, who pledged support to Munde, nine were from Marathwada region, one from Vidarbha, two from western Maharashtra and one from Thane," they said.

Even at the Legislators meeting convened by Eknath Khadse, majority of MLAs made it clear that supporting Munde did not mean expressing loss of confidence of the leadership of Nitin Gadkari.

In fact, the meeting itself was convened on directions of Gadkari. "The Munde faction created a hype about the support he was getting from all quarters and this was not contradicted by the other group," sources said.

Sources felt that Munde may have feared that like in Gujarat, where the leadership ended the long tenure of Keshubhai Patel by bringing in Narendra Modi, it would do the same in Maharashtra by foisting Gadkari and Khadse on him.

Munde also felt wary of the additional leadership coming up in the form of state general secretary Vinod Tawde.

Sources said Tawde’s win in the recent biennial elections to the Legislative Council with the highest number of votes was unexpected. Earlier, a protege of Mahajan and Munde, Munde may have felt that Tawde has become big enough to continue to remain in his shadow.

Besides, Tawde’s growing clout in Mumbai and Thane region as well as Konkan which will send over 60 MLAs to the assembly post delimitation in 2009 assembly polls is another reason of Munde’s apathy to him, sources added.

They said Munde should realise there is no threat to his leadership. He should take along with him new leadership that has developed over the last few years to give a new direction to the party.

"He should also learn to ignore trivial local issues. During the days when Mahajan was alive, Munde decided everything from appointments in local bodies to candidates for legislature and Parliament."

The fact that no party workers or officebearers are with him except from Marathwada should be seen as an alarming situation for Munde that he is losing his hold over the state unit.

"Most of the appointments to party posts have been done by Munde himself," sources said.

Sources did not envisage any threat to the party due to the recent crisis in elections. "Once elections draw nearer, everything will be forgotten. Besides, BJP is a cadre based party where the ideology and party reigns supreme over an individual," sources added.

Stressing the point, sources said Munde who was defiant and decided not to meet the central leadership despite being summoned finally relented and flew to Delhi to meet Advani and other leaders.

Munde realised that if he stretches the issue more, he will lose support of party workers which he had gained when he first went public with his outburst against the leadership. (PTI)

LS panel for selectivity in providing Par
documents to courts

NEW DELHI, Apr 27: Amid increasing calls for transparency in the functioning of public institutions, a Lok Sabha committee has favoured selectivity in the matter of providing documents to courts and investigating agencies from Parliament.

The Lok Sabha Privileges Committee headed by senior Congress member V Kishore Chandra Deo held that it was not desirable for Parliament to provide all documents in such cases.

The reasoning being given is that several officials and others testify before Parliamentary committees in strict confidence and this helps in understanding a particular situation.

If such documents were made available to courts and investigating agencies or made public, they could be utilised against the persons concerned even by their superiors to harass them while in service.

This could block the flow of correct information to arrive at a proper decision, sources said.

Only last year, a Supreme Court directive to a Parliamentary Standing Committee on the OBC issue had created a controversy, but it was deftly resolved.

The Privileges Committee which is expected to submit its report in this session to Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has favoured the need for selectivity in the matter in view of the sensitivities involved.

Another reasoning being given is that the plea for opening the Parliamentary committee to the media was being opposed as the officers who normally depose would shy away from projecting the correct picture.

With the misconduct of members becoming a controversial issue, another Lok Sabha committee has recommended certain broad parameters to guide MPs in their behaviour.

The committee had been asked to deliberate on the matter by the Speaker in the backdrop of the cash-for-query scam and the MPLAD scandal, sources said.

The committee was asked to go into the issue as there were certain instances which did not form a breach of privilege and nor could be challenged in a court of law.

Another Lok Sabha committee has ruled against codification of privileges of members taking a cue from the British example where such a practice was not in vogue.

The committee also headed by Deo which went into codification issue felt that it was a wrong notion that the members enjoyed a lot of privileges. (PTI)

First phase of Golden Quadrilateral finally ‘completed’

NEW DELHI, Apr 27: Having missed two earlier deadlines for its completion, the Government has finally managed to "complete" the first phase of the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP) upgrading roads linking the four main metropolitan cities.

Ninety-seven per cent of work in the first phase, which involved upgradation of 6,359 km of National Highways connecting the four metros, was finished last year, when the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways decided to call it "complete".

The project, popularly known as Golden Quadrilateral, was initially supposed to have been completed by June 2004, after it was given in-principle approval by the government in December 2000.

However, on the expiry of first deadline, it was only 29 per cent complete.

Subsequently, its deadline was further extended to December 2005, but the work was not complete even by then.

To ensure that subsequent phases of NHDP are not similarly delayed, a Parliamentary committee has suggested steps like appointment of state-level coordinators for land acquisition, one of the main problems confronting the project.

The Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings suggested simplification of procedure for issuing notifications for acquisition.

It also recommended that National Highways Authority of India should prepare monthly progress reports for each project, indicating clearly the target date of completion, delay if any and reasons behind it including the status of land acquisition.

Besides, a Committee of Secretaries (COS) headed by the Cabinet Secretary should hold review meetings for the project more frequently, the panel said.

Performance of contractors should also be monitored on daily basis, and a time-limit for processing of bids for award of contracts must be fixed and should be strictly adhered to in order to avoid any delay, it added.

In its reply to the suggestions, the Government said it has taken appropriate steps towards implementing them.

The Ministry told the committee that the state governments were taking steps wherever needed and the Centre’s help was provided, as and when required.

While that may be the case, even the second phase of NHDP, called North South East West (NSEW) is also to be completed as of now.

Though it was initially supposed to have been completed by December 2007, the deadline has now been shifted to December 2008. (PTI)

Pak grants consular access to jailed Indian fishermen

NEW DELHI, Apr 27: Hopes for the early release of 436 Indian fishermen languishing in Pakistani jails have risen with Islamabad granting consular access to all of them.

The decision to grant the consular access was conveyed to India yesterday, official sources said.

The process to undertake the consular access is expected to begin tomorrow and is likely to take about a week, they said.

The consular access, by which the nationality and other antecedents of a prisoner are ascertained, is a crucial step before repatriation.

India has been pressing Pakistan for the consular access so that repatriation of the fishermen could be expedited.

The gesture is significant as it comes ahead of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Pakistan for talks with his counterpart next month.

India has already granted consular access to all the 14 Pakistani fishermen lodged in jails here, the sources said.

Early repatriation of fishermen has been one of the key issues of discussions between the two countries.

The two sides set up in February last year a joint committee of judges to ensure expeditious release and humane treatment of prisoners in either country.

The Pakistan-India Joint Judicial Committee on Prisoners in February this year recommended that the two countries exchange the list of each other’s nationals lodged in their jails.

The panel had suggested several other steps, including immediate release of prisoners who had completed their sentences and whose nationality had been verified. (PTI)

National and not international laws are supreme: SC

NEW DELHI, Apr 27: National laws are supreme and must prevail over international laws in case there is a conflict between the two, the Supreme Court has held.

A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhan and Dalveer Bhandari, while dismissing the petitions of several oil drilling companies said, " In the event where they donot run into such conflicts, the sovereignty and the integrity of the Repulic and the supremacy of the constituted legislature in making the laws may not be subject to external rules except to the extent legitimately accepted by the constituted legislatures themselves.

"The question whether the courts can look into the provisions of the international treaties/conventions is no longer res integra. this quote has held in Gramophone Company of India case that even in the absence of municipal laws, the trearies/conventions can be looked into and enforced if they are not in conflict with the municipal law."

It was further held that the same might not be looked into but could also be used to interpret municipal laws so as to bring them in consonance with the international law.

Several companies including Aban, Loyd, Chiles, Offshore Ltd and others had challenged Bombay High Court judgement upholding the action of the custom department levying of custom duty on transshipment of goods/stores imported by drilling contractors and suppplied to oil rigs, as store for consumption onboard on the oil rigs.

The High Court had held that the spare parts or equipment for the oil rigs were stores and the custom department is entitled to demand custom duty as oil rigs are foreign going vessels.

The apex court in its Seventy-three page judgement ruled, Article 127 of the UNCLOAS 1982 deals with the custom duties, taxes and other charges. Clause one provides that traffic in transit shall not be subject to any custom duty, taxes or other charges except charges levied for specific services rendered."

According to this article where the goods are in transit to other countries shall not be subject to any custom duties, taxes or otrher charges.

In other words there is no prohibition for levying custom duties on the goods which are not in transit for onboard transmission to any other country. (UNI)

A "Bush fever" that did not affect Rashtrapati Bhavan!

NEW DELHI, Apr 27: Dr A P J Abdul Kalam’s five-year tenure at Rashtrapati Bhavan not only transformed the august office, making it more accessible, but the functioning style of the presidential staff as well, raising the level of confidence among them.

During US President George W Bush’s visit to India in 2006, the staff refused to change the carpets or allow the American secret service and policemen take over the security at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

In his book titled "The Kalam Effect: My Years With The President," Dr Kalam’s then secretary P M Nair, in one of the chapters, gives an account of President Bush’s visit to the Rashtrapati Bhavan in mid-February 2006.

"I had a call from a very, very important office of the Government. The call was from a very senior officer in that office. In his polished, bureaucratic way, he sounded me that perhaps the carpets in the corridors of the Rashtrapati Bhavan could be changed. In an equally controlled voice I inquired why.

"The reply came: ‘Bush is coming.’ I am a patient of hypertension and when tension hits I have no patience. As I respected the caller I simply said, "No, obviously not. Whatever is good enough in the Rashtrapati Bhavan for other presidents and heads of state should be good enough for the US President too. He rang off," says Mr Nair.

He further says that a similar call came from a very senior Ministry of External Affairs functionary, who wanted to inspect the facilities at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

"He said, ‘PM, at your convenience let us jointly inspect the facilities in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. You know, President Bush is coming.’ I know, I said. There is nothing to inspect. This is not the first time a head of state is visiting. Whatever was good last week for that head of state who visited us is good enough for the one who is visiting us next week too. This senior officer with whom I had a perfect equation and understanding did not say a word further," adds Mr Nair.

The phones did not ring any further either, at least on this matter, he writes.

Mr Nair further says he had heard that when American presidents came in the past, their secret service and policemen had taken over security even at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and officials there were subjected to their security and surveillance.

There was much written about in the press generally about the extraordinary measures they (Americans) took on such visits abroad by their President, he adds.

"All somewhat intimidating. Whatever, but regarding Rashtrapati Bhavan and their role in maintaining security there, this was not acceptable to me. And I told the President (Dr Kalam) about my views the next day. He chucked in response, and that conveyed his confidence and trust in what I proposed. I knew he had approved my approach. That was enough for me."

"I made it clear to the intelligence Bureau that as far as the Rashtrapati Bhavan was concerned, the security responsibilities would be entirely that of the Indian police and security agencies and none from other country would be allowed, even to supervise. The only concession that was given was to have just one sniper on top of the building, but hidden and unseen by anyone else. And this we agreed to as a one-off. A similar request had not come from anywhere else before," adds Mr Nair.

The banquet was an event in itself. It was preceded by President Bush’s formal call on Dr Kalam. The plasma screen once again throbbed into life, much to the amusement and astonishment of President Bush and his wife, Laura.

President Bush expressed his appreciation of the welcome in a handwritten letter to Dr Kalam. Ms Laura Bush wrote to the President too, thanking him for the hospitality.

"The tricolour continued to fly atop the Rashtrapati Bhavan proudly," writes Mr Nair. (UNI)

India much awaited mission to space,
planned to launch in 2015

BANGALORE, Apr 27: India’s much awaited mission to space, planned to be launched in 2015, may not be a ‘manned’ one as ISRO is not sure whether it would be a man or a woman who will have the privilege of being an astronaut for this ambitious programme.

Faced with the dilemna, ISRO has now renamed its mega venture, costing around Rs 10,000 crore, as ‘Indian human space flight’, which ISRO officials hope would satisfy die-hard feminists!

The Bangalore-based space agency has completed the project report that has clearly spelt out the roadmap.

"It (the flight) is expected to be approved by the Union Cabinet in a month or two. As it’s also a matter of pride (for the nation), we see no hurdle in its clearance", an ISRO official said.

"ISRO’s annual budget is around Rs 4,000 crore. An additional Rs 10,000 crore spread over five-six years is not a big issue", the official said.

But the task before ISRO, which carried out studies for more than five years to examine the technological challenges of such a mission and the Indian capability to undertake it, is not so simple.

The objective of the ‘Indian human space flight’ is to develop a space vehicle to carry a crew of two to low earth orbit and return safely to a pre-determined destination. The duration of the proposed mission is about a week.

There will be provision for emergency mission abort and crew rescue.

The main task before ISRO is "man-rating" of indigenously built Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), which would launch an autonomous orbital mission vehicle. "The reliability of GSLV is 90 per cent. Man-rating means its reliability should be 99.99 per cent", the official said.

Then facilities will have be established to train astronauts, besides designing of crew module.

In January last year, ISRO demonstrated India’s capability in important technologies such as aero-thermo structures, deceleration and floatation systems, navigation, guidance and control, with the successful launch, in-orbit operation, re-entry and recovery of SRE-1 (space capsule recovery experiment). (PTI)

When Kalam lectured Musharraf to avoid Kashmir!

NEW DELHI, Apr 27: Though not a politician or a diplomat, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam dodged some critical issues like Kashmir during his tenure as President in such a manner that on one occasion even blunt-talking Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf could do little but listen to him in rapt silence.

In his book titled "The Kalam Effect: My Years With The President," Dr Kalam’s then secretary P M Nair, in one of the chapters, gives an account of General Musharraf’s visit to Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2005.

"Gen Musharraf was visiting India. A visit by the President of Pakistan is always a significant event, and there was the usual hubbub in diplomatic circles, as also in the press. Among his appointments was a call on President Kalam."

Mr Nair says he went to Dr Kalam a day before the visit. "Sir, General Musharraf is calling on you tomorrow."

"Yes I know," Dr Kalam replied and waited, wondering what Mr Nair was about to say.

"Certainly, sir, he will raise the Kashmir issue with you. You have to be prepared for the same."

Dr Kalam paused for a moment, looked at him, smiled and said, "Don’t worry, I shall deal with it."

Mr Nair further writes that "his (Dr Kalam’s) confidence was reassuring, yet I left his room wondering how he would deal with an issue which could nettle the best diplomats, and had derailed one famous summit meeting, the one at Agra. Besides being at the heart of several conflicts with that country (Pakistan)."

Evening came, after an eventful day in which a cricket match between the Pakistani and Indian teams was the highlight. The General’s remark about the hair of star batsman (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni added colour to the news reports, says Mr Nair in the book.

At 1930 hrs General Musharraf arrived in a cavalcade of cars and was led to the North Drawing Room on the first floor of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Dr Kalam received him in the state, ushered him to his seat and sat next to him. The Indian and Pakistani officials occupied their appointed places. The call began, slated for 30 minutes.

Smiles on both sides; pleasantries were exchanged. And Dr Kalam began. "Mr President, like India you also have a lot of rural areas and don’t you think we should both do whatever is possible to develop them on priority?"

What could General Musharraf say but ‘Yes," writes Mr Nair.

And then Dr Kalam really began. "Mr President, I will tell you something about PURA very briefly. PURA means Providing Urban Facilities in Rural Areas."

The plasma screen came alive and the description of what PURA was and what it could achieve lasted a ‘brief’ 26 minutes, says Mr Nair.

General Musharraf evinced keen interest and when it was over, smiled and said, "Thank you, Mr President. India is lucky to have a scientist President like you."

Handshakes followed and adieu. Scientists can be diplomats too, concludes Mr Nair. (UNI)

Eunuchs want restoration of their Mughal era role

PATNA, Apr 27: On the pattern of Mughal era when eunuchs had an important role in palaces, the third gender population in Bihar want to be involved in the state’s social welfare development projects.

In the Mughal empire, eunuchs were employed to take care of harems and some of them became aides of queens. Being castrated males, they could not exploit women of the harems sexually, but were able to carry out domestic works. In the recent Bollywood film, Jodhaa Akbar, a eunuch was shown as a trusted lieutenant of Jodhaabai.

"We have suffered a lot for centuries and most of us live in abject poverty. We want restoration of our recognition on the pattern of Mughal era," Kali Hijra, a leader of the eunuchs in Bihar, said.

Hijra, who had unsuccessfully contested the last Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Patna, said, the eunuchs have formed welfare associations demanding right to employment, marriage and child adoption among other things.

Another eunuch Lalan Hijra expressed similar opinion and said the State Government should consider reservation for transgender people in various Government concerns. The Government should address the identity crisis the eunuchs face, Lalan said.

"In all the application forms, from birth registration to school or college admission or for voter card, there are only two columns for sex-male (M) and female (F). It is not good," Lalan said and demanded that another column for the third gender people be included.

Kali Hijra who faced the problem while filling form of ward councillor, said it was a pointer on their status in the society. (PTI)

Rape: Low convictions, a major worry

NEW DELHI, Apr 27: Rape, molestation and abductions, the crimes are numerous but low conviction rates for the same is one of the major reason for the growing number of offences against women, point out experts.

"Apart from other factors, the low conviction rate in the cases of rape or molestation is the biggest worry we have today. There is hardly any deterrence. Law should provide fast track courts to deal with such cases," says Girija Vyas, Chairperson, National Commission for Women (NCW).

While there were 37,000 cases of molestation and eve-teasing in 2006-07, the conviction rate for such crimes, is below 30 per cent. For rape it is just a dismal 27 per cent.

Brinda Karat, All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), member says, "I have raised the issue in the Parliament several times that there is a need to step up conviction rate in rape cases drastically. Poor legal system, wrong understanding of policemen in these cases and lengthy procedures especially in child rape where after horrifying rounds of investigation the victim starts feeling that she is an accused and should not have registered the case, are few reasons for low conviction rate."

"In every 10 hours, a girl of the age of 1-10 is being raped in India. We are raising this issue and have demanded enforcement of stringent laws by Government," she adds.

Reacting to a recent incident in which a minor was raped by a constable and his accomplice in a moving car in the national capital, Vyas says, "This is a special case and it should be dealt with a fast track court. On many occasions, complains do not get registered on time and then it is very difficult to prove that rape actually happened. It should be registered within 24 hours of the incident."

NCW has also recommended enhanced punishment for rape and other forms of sexual assault, Girija Vyas says.

However, retired judge Rajinder Sachar does not think that low conviction rate is one of the reason for increase in rape cases and claims there is law in place to tackle each and every crime. "Why blaming conviction rate. Blame it to dirty mentality, moral decline in the society and bad investigation on the part of police. We give bail after properly hearing both the parties," says the former chief justice of Delhi High Court.

Psychiatrist Samir Parikh says that Government should enforce some laws to protect the right of rape victims and provide easier access for them to approach law enforcing agencies. "The rising number of cases suggest that the fear of ‘consequence of action’ in metros is on decline and the perception of ‘get away with anything’ is growing. Why is it that in Delhi young girls in buses don’t find any support when they are harassed?" he asks.

"In cases of child molestation or rape, the victim suffering from mental agony find it very difficult to follow the police norms. The effect of the heinous crime is long lasting. They think they may become object of ridicule amongst school friends, relatives and hence does not file a case," he says.

Adds Vyas "There should be some provision for rape victims so that they can come in the mainstream again. In most of the cases, the victim fearing backlash from the society does not resister a case in police station."

"After the rape, a victim is supposedly raped ten times through police enquiry, lawyer’s questions and society attitude. We have came across many cases in which parents have left the girl to battle it out on her own. They can’t afford the costs. And then the conviction rate is negligible," says Abdul Mahabood, Director, Snehi, a non-profit community for psycho-social support and mental health care.

Advocate Sanjeev Kumar says that comparing the older days the conviction rate in rape cases has increased. "As of today, conviction rate has increased. Earlier it was below 10 percent. But in cases where the registration of case gets delayed, judiciary finds it very difficult to give verdict due to lack of medical reports or non-confirmation of the age of the victim."

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in its annual report had reported that Delhi occupies the top slot in crimes against women. Rape (533) and molestation (629) rates in Delhi were much higher as compared with other mega cities, revealed the report. Delhi, in fact, accounted for 31.2 per cent of the total rape cases reported in big cities. (PTI)

Muslim scholar’s discourse on
Ramayana, Geeta hit among Hindus

RAMANATHAPURAM, TN, Apr 27: Every Thursday, the Kothanda Rama Swamy Temple here is packed to capacity by devotees to listen to the discourse on Kamba Ramayana, not by a Hindu teacher but by a Muslim scholar, M Abdul Salaam, whose secular lectures are popular in local mosques and churches as well.

Four years ago, Salaam, who was then a Tamil lecturer at a local college, was conferred the nickname "Geeta Salaam", after he delivered an eloquent discourse on Bhagavad Geeta. He surprised everyone with his knowledge of the holy book.

Later, Salaam replaced a Hindu scholar, who cancelled his lecture on Geeta at the last minute and since then he became the most sought after speaker of religious discourses of local Hindu, Muslim and Christian religious institutions.

His postal address is also very famous.

Such is Salaam’s fame in Ramanathapuram, which in Hindu mythology acquires its own significance as Lord Rama was believed to have traversed through it to nearby Rameswaram island on way to Lanka for rescuing Sita from the clutches of Ravana that, letters bearing ‘Geeta Salaam, Ramathapuram District’ can find their way to his house easily.

Salaam sees no contradiction in giving discourses on Ramayana, Geeta and Bible, besides Koran.

"If I can understand Koran, I can understand Geeta and Bible, however, complex the philosophy they tried to enunciate," he said.

It was only after studying scriptures of other religions he said he understood all religions preached "one and the same", the philosophy of universal brotherhood.

"If we can shower love on animals why not our own brothers and sisters though they may belong to different religion?" asked Salaam.

"Similarly, when we can read all sundry material why not read scriptures of other religions and try to understand. After all, different religions show the same path for enlightenment," he said.

A Tamil literature student, Salaam was attracted to Geeta and Ramayana by the love for language and his passion to understand other religions.

Though he does not know Sanskrit, he could read only transliterated version. He has 12 different editions of Geeta and various interpretations-Dwaita, Adwaita and Visishtadwaita. During his lectures, he even suggests that the devotees read particular sections of Geeta to rid off their problems.

Salaam is also popular among Muslims for his Milad Nabi lectures and Christians for Christmas and new year discourses.

"The preachings of Islam and Christianity were almost same. "Siddha prushas" (great persons) were there among Hindus, Muslims and Christians. They did not divide the people on caste or religious lines," he said.

Elaborating on the similarities of different religions, Saalam said even the timing of worship were almost same. "We (Muslims) offer namaz five times... And I think Hindus also offer pooja same number of times. Both Hindus and Muslims consider early morning and evening as the good time to seek the blessings and love of God. Surrendering oneself completely to God is also preached by all religions," he said.

It was not a rosy path to fame for Salaam, who initially had to endure hostility from the Orthodox Hindus when he began delivering lectures at temples, but gradually they accepted him.

He say, his Muslim brothers did not object to his discourse on Ramayana either. "They know I am preaching for God," he said.

The Hindus visit Durgahs and also the Vailankanni Church of the Mother Mary and others go to the temple. "Our district itself is named after Lord Rama. When one talks of Rama or Allah or Christ... He or she talks about God and forgets religion," Salaam said.

"A real lover of God could not be a fanatic. Neither can a fanatic realise God nor he is liked by God. I only open the mind of the people with my lectures, Once the mind opens, the darkness goes," he said.

"My next ambition is to give lectures on Mahabharata. Inshaallah, I will do it..," Salaam says. (PTI)