Abu Dhabi to set up pioneering $6bn chip plant UAE to have Mideast’s first microchip factory

Abu Dhabi to set up pioneering $6bn chip plant UAE to have Mideast’s first microchip factory

A microchip laid on a finger (File)

DUBAI (Al Arabiya)

The UAE is set to be the first country in the Middle East to set up a microchip factory which will start production in 2015, the UAE-based newspaper The National reports.

The pioneering project will cost the Abu Dhabi Government-owned Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) between $6 and $7 billion.

After months of study the company decided to base the project near Abu Dhabi International Airport.

“$6bn to $7bn is the estimated cost of what it will take to build a state of the art fabricating facility anywhere in the world,” said a spokesman for ATIC.

UAE eyeing demand for high-tech products

Emerging markets in the Gulf and India have increased demand for high-tech products, an opportunity UAE is eyeing to seize.

“It’s our strong belief that Abu Dhabi will be a hub as part of the global technology network,” he said.

It is estimated that the rising demand in the sector means the semiconductor foundry industry will be worth $26.8 billion, said the technology research firm IC Insights, propelling the UAE capital on to the world stage of technological development.

The microchip project will create employment for 1,000 to 1, 5000 individuals, and will help building a talent base essential for the successful operation of chip-making plant.

Talent gap

The talent gap is a “huge concern” in the launch of high-tech ventures such as the Abu Dhabi microchip plant, said Ranjit Rajan, the research director at IDC Middle East, Turkey and Africa.

“One of the biggest concerns with establishing high-tech manufacturing in general is lack of skills. In spite of all the Government has invested in education, it takes time for this to yield results,” he said.

Rajan said there were several reasons behind ATIC’s decision to build a new plant in Abu Dhabi. One factor was the geographical position of the country between the markets in the East and West. Another was the expected increase in demand for microchips. A third was that the semiconductor business was not as labor intensive as other parts of the technology manufacturing industry, where much of the production has been outsourced to cheaper labor markets.

“The UAE can’t compete there, so it’s looking at areas that are not labor intensive but are technology intensive,” Rajan added.

He said the semiconductor business suited Abu Dhabi as it “requires a lot of investment, and not everyone can do that”.

ATIC investment expansion

ATIC has pledged $3.6 billion in the expansion capacity of its Globalfoundries microchip business, and this investment will be divided between Globalfoundries chip-making plants in Germany and the U.S.

“About $1.6 bn of that will be in Dresden, the other $2 bn will be in New York,” the spokesman said.

ATIC has gained 65.8 percent stake in Globalfoundries after it paid its U.S. counterpart Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) $2.1 billion. While ATIC’s stake has since grown to 73 percent since March, the spokesman said it did not intend to take 100 per cent ownership of Globalfoundries.

“Every new dollar we invest in Globalfoundries will, by evolution, reduce the percentage of what [AMD] owns in it. The intention is to continue to have a long partnership with AMD and not buy [Globalfoundries] outright. It’s not our intention to buy their share completely,” he said.

ATIC plans to broaden its investment focus next year. “Right now, the focus is on Globalfoundries. As you look at 2011, you will see that perspective start to broaden. You’ll see complementary kinds of investments in the technology ecosystem in 2011 and beyond,” the spokesman said.

He said design companies, intellectual property companies and those that serve chip-making plants were possible investment targets.

ATIC said the Abu Dhabi plant would “be part of the Globalfoundries network” but added that ATIC may provide auxiliary services for the facility.

Lower Saxony counters Islamophobia in Europe German state to teach Islam in schools

Lower Saxony counters Islamophobia in Europe German state to teach Islam in schools

Islamic education is currently experimental in 42 Lower Saxony schools

The German state of Lower Saxony will start including Islam in its schools’ core curriculum as part of an initiative to counter growing anti-Islam sentiments in Europe.

Dr. Bernd Althusmann, Minister for Education at the northwestern state of Lower Saxony, announced that schools in the state will start including Islamic education in their main curriculum, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat reported Thursday.

	Islam is not just a religion, it's also a political system. Islam is intolerant towards those who think differently
Conservative Berlin MP René Stadtkewitz

“I think we will be able to start implementation by the academic year after the next ,” Althusmann said during a visit to an elementary school in the city of Hanover and in which he attended an Islamic education class.

For the time being, Islamic education has not exceeded a few experimental models in 42 schools in Lower Saxony. Almost 2,000 Muslim students in these schools currently get Islamic education in the state.

The initiative was triggered by recent waves of anti-Islam sentiments, especially with the recent establishment of a conservative party modeled after the Dutch Part for Freedom led by controversial MP Geert Wilders whose movie Fitna outraged Muslims all over the world.

The new party, called Freedom, was founded by Berlin MP René Stadtkewitz who was kicked out of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union for his views against Islam and for inviting Geert Wilders to give a speech in Berlin.

Stadtkewitz, 45, said that Islam is the reason why immigrants fail to integrate into the German society because of its rejection of different views.

“Islam is not just a religion, it's also a political system. Islam is intolerant towards those who think differently,” he said in statement following the foundation of the party.

	One encounters, in varying degrees, a fear of the other, a fear of the future, and a fundamental anxiety about the loss of identity in an increasingly complex world
French Institute for International Relations founder Dominique Moisi

Culture of fear

Anti-immigration parties are not new to Europe. France’s National Front Party under the leadership of Jean-Marie Le Pen and Italy’s North League.

According to Dominique Moisi, founder and senior advisor at the Paris-based French Institute for International Relations, this anti-Islamic trend is not new to Europe , but has only been gaining more momentum in recent years.

For Moisi, it is the culture of fear that determines the way the West perceives Muslims.

“One encounters, in varying degrees, a fear of the other, a fear of the future, and a fundamental anxiety about the loss of identity in an increasingly complex world,” he wrote in his article entitled “The Clash of Emotions.”

This fear, experts argue, has increased since the onset of the global financial crisis. European politicians, they add, take advantage of the situation and capitalize on this fear in order to incite hatred against Muslims

Pope admits church lacked vigilance

Pope admits church lacked vigilance

Pontiff criticises own church over sex abuse scandal, saying he was shocked by the "perversion" among the priesthood.

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Pope Benedict will hold mass at Bellahousten Park in Glasgow on Thursday [AFP]

Pope Benedict XVI has criticised his church for being "insufficiently vigilant" over child sex abuse allegations, in what amounts to be his strongest criticism of the raging scandal so far.

The pontiff told reporters that he was shocked by what he called "a perversion" of the priesthood as he flew to the United Kingdom for a historic visit on Thursday.

"It is also a great sadness that the authority of the church was not sufficiently vigilant and not sufficiently quick and decisive in taking the necessary measures," he said.

His visit, the first ever official state trip by a pontiff, has been marred by anger over revelations of decades of child abuse within the Catholic church.

The comments of a close aide to the Pope, who likened landing in Britain to arriving in a "third-world country," have also threatened to overshadow the trip.

Victims of abuse have dismissed the pontiff's comments, describing them as "hurtful, not helpful".

"It's disingenuous to say church officials have been slow and insufficiently vigilant in dealing with clergy sex crimes and cover ups," Joell Casteix of the US-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (Snap) said.

"On the contrary, they've been prompt and vigilant, but in concealing, not preventing, these horrors."

Symbolic prayers

Benedict, who touched down in Edinburgh, Scotland on Thursday morning, has been met by Queen Elizabeth II and will host an open-air mass later in the day.

But the highlight of the four-day trip will be a beatification mass in Birmingham for 19th century English cardinal John Henry Newman.

It will also feature symbolic prayers with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the head of the world's Anglicans.

But the visit has come under fire from campaigners complaining that $18m of British taxpayers' money is being used to fund the state visit while the church is still under fire over its handling of clerical abuse cases across the world.

Margaret Kennedy of Ministry and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors said that victims would demonstrate as the pope travelled around the country.

"We have been refused three times access to the pope," she said.

"In other words, this visit means that the only way survivors can meet the pope is by protesting in the street."

Peter Saunders, the chief executive of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, urged Benedict to do more to help the victims of clerical abuse and said that he hoped the issue would be addressed in the coming days.

"I would tell him that I was sick and tired of telling my story of abuse, because everytime I tell it I relive some of it, but the reason I have to keep telling it is that we're not doing enough to support survivors of abuse and not doing enough to protect victims," said Saunders, who remains a Catholic despite being abused as a boy.

"And I would tell the Pope what it was actually like to be abused and how it left me feeling."

Other opponents of the visit, including human rights campaigners and secularists, are angry at the Vatican's stance on homosexuality, abortion and contraception, among other issues. They have organised a "Protest the Pope" march for Saturday.

'Hostility' acknowledged

The Catholic Church acknowledged that there was some "hostility" brushed off the planned protests.

"I think everywhere there are critics to the Catholic Church, to the proposals of church, but this is rather normal, and we are not surprised by this" Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman

"I think everywhere there are critics to the Catholic Church, to the proposals of church, but this is rather normal, and we are not surprised by this," Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told Al Jazeera.

"I don't think that it's very wide or diffused hostility."

The Vatican has also sought to play down comments by Cardinal Walter Kasper, who recently retired from the Vatican's office in charge of relations with other Christian denominations, comparing the UK with a developing nation.

"Britain today is a secularised, pluralistic country. If you arrive at Heathrow airport, you sometimes think you had arrived in a third-world country," he reportedly told Germany's Focus magazine this week.

Lombardi said Kasper's comments were not intended as a slight, but simply reflected the cultural diversity instantly evident upon landing in the capital.

He intended to refer to "a cosmopolitan reality, a melting pot of ordinary humanity and all of its diversity and its problems," Lombardi said.

Kasper had been due to take part in the visit but pulled out last minute citing illness.

British apathy

Benedict's visit to the UK is the first by a pontiff since Pope John Paul II made a non-state pastoral visit in 1982. Benedict's visit has failed to excite the public imagination like that of his predecessor.

An Ipsos Mori poll conducted for the Catholic magazine The Tablet and published last week revealed widespread indifference among Britons, with 63 per cent neither in favour nor against the visit.

Disappointingly for organisers, this has been reflected in ticket sales for the planned masses. Only 55,000 people are expected at the main event in Birmingham which is able to host 80,000 worshippers.

The first event at Bellahouston Park on Thursday, which will include performances by an 800-strong choir and Britain's Got Talent star Susan Boyle, might be one-third empty.

Pilgrims have been asked to pay up to $39 to attend the masses as a contribution towards the cost of the visi

French Senate votes to ban burqa

The French Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a bill banning the burqa-style Islamic veil on public streets and other places, a measure that affects less than 2,000 women but that has been widely seen as a symbolic defense of French values.The Senate voted 246-1 in favour of the bill in a final step toward making the ban a law – though it now must pass muster with France’s constitutional watchdog.The bill was overwhelmingly passed in July in the lower house, the National Assembly.Many Muslims believe the legislation is one more blow to France’s No. 2 religion and risks raising the level of Islamophobia in a country where mosques, like synagogues, are sporadic targets of hate.But the law’s many proponents say it will preserve the nation’s values, including its secular foundations and a notion of fraternity that is contrary to those who hide their faces.

Darul Uloom Deoband appeals people to respect Ayodhya verdict

Leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has appealed to people to respect the verdict of the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on the Ayodhya title suit.

"We have full confidence in the judicial system of the country. We appeal to people to respect the verdict of the Court and maintain peace and communal harmony in the country," Seminary's deputy vice-chancellor Maulana Abdul Khalique Madrasi said.

Supporting the view of Deoband, Uttar Pradesh Imams' Organisation President Mufti Zulfikar Ali said, "We should respect the verdict and if any party is not satisfied with the judgement it could appeal to the Supreme Court."

The Allahabad High Court will pronounce its judgement on Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit on September 24

Babri verdict: Government appeals for calm

The Indian government on Thursday appealed to people to maintain calm when the judiciary rules on the Babri mosque row September 24.

A resolution passed by the cabinet urged Indians to "maintain equanimity and tranquility in the aftermath of the judgement", tourism minister Ambika Soni said.

"There should be no attempt by any section to provoke any other section or indulge in any expression of opinion that will hurt the sentiments of other people," she said.

Pune blast: More lies, fabrications from ATS & Maha Govt.

With the last week’s arrests in the February 2010 Pune blast case, the Maharashtra Government, ATS and Corporate Media have once again gone berserk with their planted stories and fictitious evidence. The Maharashtra ATS led by Rakesh Maria claims to have finally cracked the case and apprehended the perpetrators.

But let us begin by raising certain facts, questions & inferences.

The facts
Ex-ATS Chief Raghuvanshi had clearly named Sarang Kulkarni & Prashant Juvekar as possible suspects in the Pune attack (TOI, March 3, 2010).

Sarang Kulkarni is also a suspect in the Goa terror attacks & is wanted by the NIA (2009). Kulkarni is a resident of Pune & was seen frequenting the Shivaji Nagar area but was never arrested as “his mobile is switched off & it is difficult to establish his location”. Kulkarni was “also suspected to have transported the chemicals & ammunition for the Goa bomb”. Interestingly the Court is not willing to provide copies of the Goa Charge-sheet to the media.

After this episode, Raghuvanshi was transferred & Mr. Rakesh Maria was appointed in his stead.

CCTV footage
Rakesh Maria is basing his entire case on the footage from the CCTV camera from “within the German Bakery positioned over the cash counter”.

Therefore let us deal with this supposed clinching evidence.

The following statement was issued by Rashmi Shukla (Inspector General of Police, Law & Order): “The Bakery has no CCTV’s. The O Hotel which has CCTV’s is located opposite the bakery. The ATS is now analysing the footage”. (14/02/10).

Then as per reports that were garnered by the Pune Mirror team, they said that “the investigators were handicapped as the CCTV footage was not providing any clues”.

If one were to vividly recall the statements by the ATS & the Police, which were widely reported in the media, it was the fact that the investigation was totally handicapped as the CCTV footage was either not available or the footage was far too grainy to provide any semblance of clarity.

After Mr. Rakesh Maria was appointed as the new Chief of the Maharashtra ATS, he made the following remarks to Mateen Hafeez of the Times of India. He stated that the CCTV footage from the Cash counter was available, though it was of a highly damaged nature. And secondly he stated that he suspected Riyaz Bhatkal as the perpetrator.

We immediately organized a delegation of Punekars & Mumbaikars & met Mr. Rakesh Maria. He reaffirmed that they had CCTV footage from the cash counter, “but it was highly damaged & unclear”. He stated that there is a “special software” that can help with the process. Does such a software really exist? Then I asked him as to why he stated the name of Riyaz Bhatkal without having seen the footage. To this, he retorted that he had been misquoted by the media. I called up Mateen Hafeez, who stands by his story. Thus Mr. Maria had decided as to who he was to finally “copy, cut & paste” into his special software.

Missing cache of 195 kg explosives & RDX (Ahmednagar, Sep 2, 2006)
The ATS is supposedly flummoxed about the origin of the RDX used in the Pune blast. But the point is that since the last four years, there has been the unsolved case about the missing RDX in Maharashtra. The point is that a large cache of explosives that included RDX, were found in Shankar Shelke’s scrap yard in Ahmednagar. The origin of this RDX is suspected to be the Ahmednagar Fort, which is Army Ordnance. It was the Malegaon investigations that pursued the involvement of Col. Purohit & Sadhvi Pragnya that led to Shelke, who was then interrogated by the police. He died in prison. The police say that he committed suicide, whilst his wife claims that the police murdered him.

This case is not being pursued by the ATS, NIA or IB or even by the Media for that matter. Thus yes, the RDX that was used in the Pune terror attack could have come from the Ahmednagar source.

The formula of terror used by the Abhinav Bharat & Sanatan Sanstha includes the use of a mix of Ammonium Nitrate & RDX as is being revealed now. Interestingly in all such cases, the CCTV cameras too were not functioning. This was certainly the common pattern of the terror attacks in Thane, Vashi, Panvel & Ajmer. Again in the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks the 16 CCTV cameras were malfunctional.

There is clearly an influential & well protected terror network that is amassing large quantities of detonators, gelatine sticks, Ammonium Nitrate & RDX. The recent story from Madhya Pradesh, of more than 163 trucks carrying explosives having simply vanished is extremely dangerous & poses a grave threat to national security. (http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/madhya-pradesh-103-more-explosive-lade...). The report also mentions "hundreds more", but this does not seem to attract the sustained coverage or investigation by the agencies or by the media.

Reasons for the Pune terror attack
1) To cover up the murder of Advocate Shahid Azmi on 11 February 2010, just two days prior to the terror attack on the German Bakery.
2) To sabotage the Indo-Pakistan talks scheduled for the 25th of February '10.
3) To increase the strategic advantage for Israel by linking the Chabad House factor.
(http://awamibharat.blogspot.com/2010/02/press-conference-shahid-azmis-mu...)

All of the above clearly point to elements of the right-wing RSS, Abhinav Bharat & Sanatan Sanstha to having perpetrated the terror attack. They clearly do have support within the present government of Maharashtra, both within the ruling political elite, bureaucracy, the ATS, State IB & the Police.

Post Nanded & Malegaon, we are fully aware of the fact that the government of Maharashtra at all levels has been trying to shield the true perpetrators. Even though the CM Ashok Chavan is an MLA from Nanded, he has never pushed for the Nanded investigation & has very good relations with the RSS. Even RR Patil (Home Minister, Maharashtra) tried his best to delay the investigations into the Nanded blasts, as was also the case with the Malegaon investigation. If it was not for Hemant Karkare's role, we would have never known the truth. And undoubtedly Hemant Karkare was sacrificed as pawn in this entire sordid affair. (http://www.countercurrents.org/hansa130510.htm).

It is this very government & its ATS that is covering up the very murder of Hemant Karkare. They are trying to bury the case of the missing bullet proof jacket, as well as the true nature of the bullets that led to his death.
(http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne130609coverstory.asp) (http://www.twocircles.net/2010jun03/26_11_court_s_observation_karkare_s_...)

It is the same duo of RR Patil & Rakesh Maria, who stands thoroughly discredited in their role during the 26/11 terror attack, the Fahim Ansari case, where the supposed prime local mastermind of 26/11 was let off by the Court for fabrication of evidence (http://www.india-server.com/news/fahim-ansari-and-sabauddin-ahmed-25659....). Again recently in the case of the Mulund blasts, Rakesh Maria even failed to file the charge-sheets against the accused, leave alone the case even reaching the Courts (http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/times-of-india-the/mi_8012/is_20...).

Such is their dismal & dishonest track record.

About Mirza Baig & others
Now for the prime suspect & latest mastermind Mirza Baig who is also the chief of the Maharashtra LeT (how many times have we heard that before?? I've run out of count!!). As is always the case with supposed IM operatives, he has a criminal record & that is what has made it very easy to entrap him. In the various cases of entrapment or false terror cases, it is Muslims with a criminal background, who are then entrapped as terrorists. Mirza Baig clearly fits the pattern. He has been linked to criminal cases in Pune ('07) & Bombay ('08), for supplying weapons to criminal gangs.

He is also sort to be linked to the Aurangabad arms haul case of 2006. Interestingly, "Though Baig knew about the arms haul, he was neither questioned nor arrested in the case," said an ATS officer. Which basically means that the ATS had decided to use Mirza Baig in some other terror case & thus Pune . . .

Though the entire media refers to the Aurangabad Arms Haul Case (2006), not a single writer mentions the fact that even the trial for the same has not yet started after 4 years, leave alone any convictions. Here the ATS has entrapped a number of innocent Muslim youth & that will be proved by the Courts in good time.

It was after this false case that the year 2006 witnessed a series of terror attacks in Bombay, Malegaon, Beed, Jalna, Parbhani & the rest that followed, which are now being exposed & traced to the Abhinav Bharat & Sanatan Sanstha.

Again, even though Bilal Sheikh is supposed to have supplied the RDX, he has not been booked for the terror attack, but has been booked under another case. He too has a criminal record in Nasik. Moshin Chawdhary needs to be further investigated, as he has been missing for over 5 years. As for Yaseen or Riyaz, or whichever of the Bhatkal's who are always the fall guys, we wonder if they are even alive. Their parents (who are under constant surveillance) have not been in contact with them for over 10 years & have expressed their fears & doubts in this matter.

According to Mr. Maria, Mirza Baig was on the run. But it is clear that Baig was employed in an internet cafe & regularly met his parents on a monthly basis. Maria also states that there is a large module active across Maharashtra, but yet these cells were not active during 26/11!! And for all these hundreds if not thousands of terror operatives on the loose, he could only entrap the innocent Fahim Ansari.

Fabricated evidence
Within a few days after R. Maria took over, he basically said that the CCTV footage was of extremely poor quality & yet mentioned Riyaz Bhatkal. So he clearly had set up his prey. He now needed to create & fix the evidence as per the political direction that was given to him by P. Chidambaram, Ashok Chavan & RR Patil. He needs to, if he wants the coveted job of Mumbai's next Police Commissioner.

The point is that since the first day after the Pune 13/2 terror attack, the ATS had clearly stated that there was no CCTV footage whatsoever, or even if available, was highly damaged & grainy. That is why both the ATS & the government at times alluded to the possible hand of right-wing Hindutva terror organizations as a distinct possibility. But yet only Muslim youth were detained & interrogated, even though Pune is the capital of the Abhinav Bharat. Thus there was never any clinching CCTV footage. The evidence is a total fabrication.

Also according to ATS Chief Maria, now there is a confluence of SIMI & IM activists. He is trying to create a scary scenario. But the reality is that there is a more devious game at play. (http://ghulammuhammed.blogspot.com/2009/08/fwd-manmohan-singh-conspiracy...)

After the Supreme Court appointed Special Tribunal gave the SIMI a clean chit as it could not find evidence against SIMI to sustain the ban, the security apparatus was in a state of deep crisis, as they had built up the entire terror bogey on SIMI cells. (http://www.tehelka.com/story_main40.asp?filename=Ne160808simihere_simith...). The work of the Special Tribunal was stalled. Then a few days ago the Special Tribunal received 5 threatening emails from the IM. This, they said proved the link between SIMI & IM & then extended the ban on SIMI. So where the entire investigation agencies & the Special Tribunal failed, the emails of the IM succeeded!! How very convenient & banal.

Indian Mujahedeen (IM) seems to be a covert operation of the IB & ATS, whereby they entrap Muslim youth, mainly criminals & informers & use them as fodder during encounter killings & to “conclude” their investigations.

As for the utter lack of forensic evidence, do note that the Fire Brigade had sprayed the entire German Bakery Area with water & they say that they never had any forensic evidence as all the clues were washed away. How very convenient!! Mr. Satyapal Singh the then Police Commissioner of Pune, must be held responsible for this willful criminal act of destruction of the evidence.

Thus now the ATS says that they have caught the perpetrators by using "human intelligence" (another name for khabris or informers & false-witnesses) & on the basis of a "tip-off" by "some people" & lastly the (non-existent) "highly damaged" CCTV footage for cracking the case.

Baig is supposed to have revealed all "under sustained interrogation" - we all know that that means. And for those that do not - it means 3rd degree torture!! But one would have thought that the alleged LeT Chief of Maharashtra would have withstood the torture for more than the 24 hours, during which he was singing like a canary.

Thus the investigation is not even bothering to summon the victims & witnesses who could play a vital role in identifying the terrorists.

As for the evidence that they found at one of Baig’s houses, that included 1200 mg of RDX, soldering iron, 2 mobile sets, SIM cards & fake identities -our ATS is amongst the best at creating & planting false evidence & staging false encounters. There is none better than the Maharashtra ATS & their record is only second to that of Gujarat.

Another point that is common to supposed LeT commanders on the record of the ATS, they always have families that are very poor, survive on their daily earnings & none of these LeT operatives seem to care for their families in terms of providing them the lucre that is showered upon them. In that, our cricketers are far better.

And lastly, since we have last heard, the Pune Bar Association has threatened to boycott any lawyer who will defend the accused.

A conspiracy of silence exists!
To add to this outlandish story, Maharashtra Chief Minister Mr. Ashok Chavan immediately announced an award of Rs 500,000/- to the ATS for having successfully nabbed the terrorists & thereby bringing an end to the investigations. With the highly notorious record that the Maharashtra ATS & Police have earned for themselves, could not the Mr. Chavan waited for the Court verdict??

More interestingly, this time Union Home Minister Mr. P Chidambaram seems to have learnt his lessons since the last time & has decided to keep quiet. As one would recall, Mr. Chidambaram went ballistic & had congratulated the ATS on having caught Abdus Samad the “prime suspect & mastermind” of the Pune attack. Chidambaram as we all know, fell flat on his face, as he does most of the time these days. His latest missive on Saffron terror was highly embarrassing.

Thus going by the facts as above, it clearly goes to prove that the investigation is “pre-determined & fixed” to ensure the outcome

Haj 2010: 1.7 lac pilgrims from India; Bhopal, Goa new embarkation points

New Delhi: This year approximately 1,70,000 pilgrims from India will be going for Haj. Out of these 1,25,000 pilgrims will go through Haj Committee of India. The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to various issues concerning the Haj 2010 operations.

Air travel arrangements for these 1,25,000 pilgrims will be made by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. These pilgrims will be carried from 21 embarkation points through chartered flights. Bhopal and Goa have been added as new embarkation points this year.

This year each pilgrim going on Haj through Haj Committee of India will pay Rs.16,000/-( plus airport charges) as air fare and the balance air fare (cost of operations) will be borne by the Government.

This year most of the pilgrims will be carried by Saudi Arabian Airlines, National Private Air Services Company Limited (NAS) and Al-Wafeer Air, which have been selected through a sealed tender process. Air India will coordinate the operations and provide support on cost basis, wherever required.

The number of pilgrims who could perform Haj during a particular year is decided by the Saudi Arabian Government.

Security beef-up before Ayodhya verdict creating terror'

Lucknow : Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ram Gopal Yadav here Thursday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of creating terror and panic among people by "unnecessarily" deploying security personnel across the state ahead of the Ayodhya verdict Sep 24.

"The state government's unnecessary exercise related to strengthening of security in the wake of the Ayodhya verdict is creating a tense atmosphere in the state," Yadav told reporters here at a press conference.

"Security personnel are being deployed at every crossing, village, colony and other places across the state...Schools, colleges are being transformed as temporary prisons in the wake of the verdict on the Ayodhya title suit," he said.

"Everything is peaceful...neither any party nor any individual has till now behaved in a manner that could raise security concerns...Still the government is deploying more and more security personnel...It's all resulting in terror and panic among the public," he added.

Yadav also said that his party has planned a massive campaign against the Mayawati-led government after October once the panchayat elections get over.

"The decision to launch the campaign has been taken by the party's central leadership...We would hold demonstrations, public meetings and carry out other activities for apprising the public about the corrupt practices (of the government)," said Yadav.

The Allahabad High Court is to deliver its verdict on Ayodhya's Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute Sep 24.

Rival claims by Hindu and Muslim groups to the disputed site led to the demolition of the 16th century Babri Masjid by Hindu mobs Dec 6, 1992, triggering widespread communal violence that left thousands dead across the country

My visit to riot-affected Ratlam

By V.K. Tripathi,

A communal conflagration erupted in Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh) on September 3, 2010 on the issue of defacing Danipura mosque by cow dung (gobar) at the time of evening prayer. Few doors in the neighbourhood were damaged, a few vehicles were also damaged but no person was hurt. Few hours later a confrontation erupted between Muslims and police which took a very serious turn. Some people pelted stones on police and the latter resorted to traumatic house to house search in Sheranipura, beating a large number of people and arresting hundreds of them. Even after eight days majority of those arrested were behind the bars. The anguished Muslim community did not celebrate Eid (on September 11) in Ratlam district as well as in the adjoining districts of Mandsor and Neemach. People displayed a black ribbon on their hand as a mark of protest against the police action.
I learnt about the incident on September 8 through an e-mail from Dr. Sujat Vali from Godhra. When I called him, he gave the phone number of his sister Shabana who lives in Ratlam. Shabana apprised me of the tense situation in Ratlam. I called Mr. L.S. Hardenia, a prominent secular activist in Bhopal, he also furnished some details. I decided to go to Ratlam on the day of Eid.

I left Delhi on the night of September 10 by Swaraj Express and reached Ratlam at 7: 45 AM. I informed Shabana and her husband Mr. Munawar Jiva Khan of my arrival and said that I would reach their home after meeting DM and SP and visiting the site where trouble began. I started walking towards the city. On my way I went to a medical store and talked to its owner, a middle aged Sikh. He said that the riot had occurred in Mochipura, Sheranipura, Danipura area. I went to that area. As I entered Mochipura I was struck by the poverty of the area. The city has a population of 3 lakh, of which 1 lakh are Jains/ Baniyas, 60 thousand Muslims and rest others. Mochipura and Danipura are mixed populations. I talked to Muslims standing near a mosque. One of them, a barber, said that there was no quarrel between Hindus and Muslims, only police had tortured and robbed them and put their dear ones in prison. Similar tales I heard from several others. As I proceeded ahead, I saw 5 police men standing on a platform. I talked to them, gave a copy of Sadbhav Mission Patrika and explained the purpose of my visit. I was surprised by their positive response. After I left they read the magazine and informed the Additional Superintendent of Police about the goal of my visit. The ASP expressed his willingness to meet me.

A victim with plastered hand

I walked to the Danipura Mosque. There were signs of cow dung spray on the side wall of the mosque, however, it could not be a cause of a major confrontation. Muslims say cow dung was thrown at the door of the mosque also but there was no one inside the mosque with whom I could confirm. Police later told me that Imam was in prison. I talked to two middle aged Gurjars (there are 15 Gurjar families on two sides of the mosque who have buffalos and sell milk) outside their homes. One of them said that this was the only cow dung on the mosque wall. The other said that he had filed a complaint with Jan Sunwai ten days ago as loudspeaker at the mosque was very loud. On September 3, around 5 PM police came for an enquiry. After the police left, people from the mosque came and said why did he not talk directly to them and thus a quarrel developed. He showed his door and the door of a neighbour that were damaged on that day. Some electrical appliance was also damaged. But it was not something that happens in a riot.

As I was returning from the mosque two policemen came and said that the Additional Superintendent of Police Mr. Vyas wanted to meet me. In a little while he arrived along with Additional District Magistrate Mr. Saluja, Deputy Collector and DSP. I told them the purpose of my visit and what I input I had got from the people. They said that when tension continued police came to the mosque, then several thousand people assembled with swords and other arms. I said that during Ramzan people assemble in large numbers for Taravih prayer but they do not have arms. There might be may be 50 or 100 people with some sort of arms but not more. The ASP agreed with my assessment. Then he said, when police tried to disperse them they resorted to stone pelting. As police chased them, they went into a big mosque and someone went on the mike and started shouting Islam is in danger, then police had to carry the counter offensive and search operation and arrests were made. I argued with them for half an hour about the need for restraint as most people affected by such operations are innocent. I gave them a copy of People Centric Nationalism and copies of Sadbhav Mission Patrika. From there I went to the big mosque. Every one over there was complaining of police excesses. Then I went to Nagar Qazi. There were five members of the family. They greeted me with warmth and openness. Their version of the incident was objective and unbiased. They had praise for DIG Ved Prakash Sharma and advised me to meet him.

At 1 PM I reached Shabana and Jiva Khan’s place. They were immensely warm and offered me lunch. Shaban connected me to Congress President Dr. rajesh Sharma. He was out of town, however, he said he had met the DM in this connection and was in touch with Mr. Kanti Lal Bhuria, MP from Ratlam and Minister of state at the Center. Mr. Bhuria is out the country and would return on the 18th. Mr. Khan later took me to Manav Kalyan organization president Mr. Agarwal. He had all praise for police action and blamed Muslims. I could understand his position when he showered praise on Modi. From there we went to the residence of Ms Yasmin, President Mahila Congress. She was also arrested but was released same day. She was deeply anguished by police atrocities. From there we went to DM’s residence. He was home but busy. Then we went to DIG’s residence. He was warm and said that he was working on how to release hundred or so people who were in prison. It was 6PM by then and Mr. Jivakhan took me to train station.
The incidence has caused deep wound physical as well psychological on the Muslims who are economically hard pressed in Ratlam. The arrested persons must be released without delay, people must be compensated for the damage caused during the search operation (some even allege that money and ornaments were taken away) and it must be investigated why the situation was not handled tactfully and why innocent people in such huge numbers were implicated when there was no injury to anyone.

(The author teaches at Delhi-IIT