Islamist-Naxal-CWG operators target West Bengal to destroy it’s Hindu identity.

For the Dubious Role of Mamata Banerjee, the Islamist-Naxal-CWG tie up has been geared up to increase subversive activities in West Bengal. Conspiracy to destroy Hindu identity of West Bengal.
Naxals forged ties with ISI with SIMI’s help: Bengal DGP

Reports complied from the input of Sudhi Ranjan Sen , NDTV and Vishwa Mohan, TNN | Oct 19, 2012 | NEW DELHI: West Bengal’s top cop today told the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that there was clear and a growing link between the CPI (Maoist) and Pakistan’s dreaded Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Agency. West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) Naparajit Mukerjee also told the MHA that the link between the Maoist and the ISI was clear in four districts bordering Bangladesh, including Murshidabad.

Mr Mukerjee made this revelation to the MHA in a meeting to review the progress made by states to deal with the threat of Maoist insurgency. Maoists have a strong to moderate presence in as many as nine states in India. Central security agencies have earlier warned about the growing links between the CPI (Maoist) and militant Islamic outfits like the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). A link between Pakistan’s ISI – accused of being the master mind of the 26/11 Mumbai strikes and also believed to have strong links with terrorist organisations the Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT) – and CPI (Maoist) hasn’t yet been said so definitively.

In a related development, the MHA has asked the states not to swap hardcore Maoist to secure the release of hostages. In May this year, the Maoist had kidnapped Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon. He was kept a hostage for 13 days and Maoists had demanded the release of several hardcore arrested insurgents. The MHA has also asked the states to have a trained and dedicated team of negotiators for hostage negotiations. Maoists may have been facing all-round reverses in West Bengal ever since chief minister Mamata Banerjee took charge of the state last year, but they have forged a deadly alliance with the Pakistani spy agency ISI through overground radicals and remnants of the banned outfit SIMI during the period.

Revelation was made by the West Bengal police chief Naparajit Mukherjee here on Thursday when he told a gathering of chief secretaries and DGPs of other naxal-affected states about the growing Maoist-ISI nexus in four districts of the state.

Expressing his anguish over the development, he is learnt to have said that the nexus had been reported after arrests of some Maoists who elaborated how overground sympathizers of the Red Ultras acted as a ‘link’ for them.

Murshidabad, West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura are the four districts where the West Bengal Police had noticed actions that hinted at Maoist-ISI linkages. The link is believed to be helping the ultras in getting arms and ammunition through existing network of north-east insurgents.

Though the Union home ministry did not add to what Mukherjee told the gathering over the nefarious link, security and intelligence agencies spoke about the possibility through Maoists sympathizers. They also said that the Maoists’ support to the Jammu & Kashmir terrorists for their cause in the bordering state had never been a secret.

The disclosure of Mukherjee comes even as Bengal has shown remarkable change in the situation where it effectively controlled the Red menace in the past one year through consistent intelligence-based operations against the Red Ultras.

Home ministry latest figures on naxal violence show that West Bengal – once a hotbed of Maoist activities – has, in fact, moved closer to what Andhra Pradesh had achieved by reporting zero casualty consistently in past so many years.

Ministry’s statistics, based on state’s reports, show that none of three highly Maoist-affected districts – West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura — did not reported any killing in the past 10 months. The period, which incidentally coincides with the Banerjee’s rule in the state, had also seen the elimination of senior naxal leaders including top CPI(Maoist) politburo member Kishenji and arrest of several others during joint operations of state police and central paramilitary forces.

West Midnapore, which witnessed as many as 360 deaths (out the casualty list, death of 95% Hindus proved that the Maoists targeted Hindus to terrorize the common people to control them under gun fire. – Ed. Hindu Existence.) of civilians and security personnel during 2009-11, has reported zero casualty this year. Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, Murshidabad and Malda have also not reported any casualty.

Officials here believed that human intelligence-based ‘specific’ operations as well as the CM’s approach to reach out to people directly in the Maoist-affected districts had played important role in achieving such a situation in West Bengal.

“Mamata Bannerjee is the only chief minister who holds regular meetings and rallies right in the naxals’ dominated districts. This political move to fill the vacuum created by the retreating Maoists proves to be a boon for West Bengal”, said a senior home ministry official.

Hindu Existence says: West Bengal was created by Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee by cutting the territory of East Pakistan, only to make a safe and secured place of Bengali Hindus. Patriotic Hindu Saint Acahray Swami Pranavanada (Founder of Bharat Sevashram Sangha) and Dr. Mukherjee (Founder-President of Jana Sangha) contributed their all endeavour relentlessly to make West Bengal as a fortified land of Bengali Hindus. History tells us who were with Dr. Mukherjee that time and who opposed it to tag this land with East Pakistan for retaining an Islamic Supremacy over the Bengali Hindus.

Again, those descendants of Muslim Leaguers are presently trying to regain the Islamic Supremacy in West Bengal with a hand to hand conspiracy between Naxalites, ISI-DGFI-SIMI and various Christian War Groups (CWG). In the event of murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati by the Maoist and CWG nexus, brought the truth of Naxal-Christian coordination against Hindus in the broad day light.

Manifestations like going to Haj by the senior most Communist Leader – Razzak Molla, meeting of ADGP(T) – Nazrul Islam with Naxalite leader  Santosh Rana to create a Dalit-Muslim force in West Bengal, as reported or hobnobbing with Islamist like Taha Siddique or Nurar Rahaman Barkati by Mamata Banerjee herself or pretensions of the WB CM by adopting an Islamic culture and dress-up even in Hindu festivals, are the clear milestones of a Changing West Bengal within a Islamic frame work.

We must convey our gratitude to Mr Naparajit Mukherjee, DGP, West Bengal Police for his courageous stand to reveal the up-growing threat of Islamic and Naxalite threat to West Bengal with all its seriousness.

Allah’s Missionaries in West Bengal.

Afghan Woman's Beheading Latest In Alarming Trend

HERAT, Afghanistan -- A disturbing spate of violent attacks against women has gripped western Afghanistan, where over a dozen women have been killed this year.

In the latest incident, an 18-year-old identified only as Najibullah was arrested on October 13 in connection with the gruesome torture and beheading two days earlier of a woman in the western city of Herat, near the border with Iran.

Mahgul, a 25-year-old newlywed, was found dead outside her home by her family, who then carried her mutilated body to the local Department for Women's Affairs to raise awareness of her killing.

Najibullah, who gave a confession in front of journalists and television cameras on October 15, said he was forced to carry out the act by his aunt, Mahgul's mother-in-law, Parigul. He said Parigul restrained Mahgul, while he took a sharp knife and beheaded her.

"My uncle's wife told me I should kill this person. I said I couldn't kill her. She told me, 'If you can't kill her, then help me do it.' She forced me and I helped her," Najibullah recalled.

"She took me inside her home and hid me. When [Mahgul's] husband left to go to the bakery, she told me to come out. She held her [Mahgul's] legs while I beheaded her," he continued. "I asked her [Parigul] why she wanted to behead Mahgul. She said, 'I hate her because she doesn't listen to me.'"

Herat's police chief, General Sayed Abdul Ghafar, said police had initially arrested Mahgul's mother-in-law, father-in-law, and husband, but later also arrested Najibullah after witnesses came forward to say they had seen him carrying a bloody knife as he left the crime scene on the night of the killing.

Ghafar, who said the four had yet to be formally charged, said the investigation concluded that the main motive for the crime was Mahgul's refusal to become a prostitute, a demand he said was made by her in-laws.

Mahgul's family, who expressed their shock at the brutal killing, rallied along with dozens of women's right activists outside a police station in Herat on October 15 to protest what they said were delays by the police in bringing charges over the crime.

In a statement released on October 17, Amnesty International strongly condemned the beheading. "The tragic fate of Mahgul is one more incident that highlights the violent atmosphere that women and girls face in Afghanistan and the region," said Suzanne Nossel, Amnesty International USA executive director.

Plague Of Violence In Herat

Mahgul's murder comes after the body of a 30-year-old woman was found in Herat's Pamanare district at the beginning of October. The victim, who had had her nose, ears, and fingers removed, was taken to Herat regional hospital, where doctors said she was tortured before being killed.

Herat's district attorney office, who confirmed the authorities had yet to make any arrests in that case, said investigations were ongoing.

The two recent cases bring to around 20 the number of women slain this year, according to Herat's Department for Women's Affairs office, which added that family members were accused of involvement in most of the cases.

The slayings have worked to highlight the bleak situation for women in Afghanistan, where domestic abuse is routine, arranged marriages are the norm, and female suicide rates are among the highest in the world.

Afghan women have won back basic rights in education, voting, and employment since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001, but many are still routinely subjected to domestic violence and abuse.

Herat, in particular, has been grappling with high levels of violence against women, mostly because it is one of the largest and most populous provinces in Afghanistan. The director of the local Department of Women's Affairs in Herat, Jamshidi Mahbubeh, says her office has documented more than 700 cases involving violence against women in the past year.

The cases, she says, include those involving domestic violence and abuse, torture, murder, physical mutilation, and women who have committed suicide.

Seeking Justice For Women

Herat has the highest number of cases of self-immolation -- women who set fire to themselves -- in the country. Many try to commit suicide because they are subjected to domestic violence and abuse. Most cases involve young women burning themselves with household fuel or cooking oil. Nearly all suffer horrific scarring and in some cases the injuries result in death.

According to estimates by the Department of Women's Affairs, at least 80 women in Herat have died in the last year due to self-immolation.

Armand Halimzada, a human rights activist, says doctors, researchers, and activists have not come to any clear conclusions as to why there are so many self-immolation cases in Herat. There is, however, one prominent theory: "that this practice has roots in Iran and Afghan refugees returning from Iran have imported this culture."

Lailama Rahimi, a women's rights activist, has called on the authorities to do more to enforce a 2009 law on eliminating violence against women, which rights activists say is still only periodically enforced.

Rahimi says many women who have suffered from violence almost never receive justice. Even if their cases go to trial, she says, the majority result in the acquittal of the perpetrators, the dropping of charges to less serious crimes, convictions with shorter sentences, and female victims themselves being accused of "moral crimes" for making private matters public.

That failure, she says, is ensuring the culture of violence against Afghan women continues. "All the concerns we have today, we have had for a long time. The difficulties we [women] face are due to [Afghanistan's] tribal culture," she says. "This [failure by the authorities] is why we are seeing this violence against women continue."

Jihadi terror suspect could face tough odds in court

Editor's note: Peter Bergen, CNN's national security analyst, is a director at the New America Foundation and the author of the new book "Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden -- From 9/11 to Abbottabad." Jennifer Rowland is a program associate at the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank that seeks innovative solutions across the ideological spectrum.
(CNN) -- The man charged Wednesday with attempting to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the latest alleged jihadist to be charged in a law enforcement sting, may or may not have had the capability to create a major terrorist incident. But if his case follows the pattern of other similar sting operations, what is clear is that he faces very long odds in court.

Quazi Mohammad Rezwanual Ahsan Nafis, a 21-year-old Bangladeshi from Queens, is accused of plotting to detonate a 1,000-pound bomb outside the Federal Reserve building in Manhattan.

Sounds pretty terrifying. But as acting Assistant FBI Director Mary Galligan explained, "It is important to emphasize that the public was never at risk ... because two of the defendant's 'accomplices' were actually an FBI source and an FBI undercover agent."

According to the complaint against him, Nafis did travel to the United States by his own account to wage "jihad." But Nafis doesn't seem like the sharpest aspiring terrorist. According to the complaint, Nafis believed that the undercover agent he was talking to had traveled overseas to meet al Qaeda's leadership to get approval for the New York plot during the summer of this year.

Not too many folks are known to have traveled to Pakistan's tribal regions from the United States to meet with al Qaeda's leaders in recent years.

Terror plotting: Bravado or sincerity?

Yet Nafis will be quite unlikely to successfully mount a defense that he was entrapped by the feds.

Since September 11, 2001, 207 individuals have been indicted on charges related to jihadist terrorism. Of those, 94 had interacted with an informant or an undercover law enforcement officer in the leadup to their arrest, according to data compiled by the New America Foundation.

Defense attorneys and members of the local community have in many of those cases accused authorities of entrapment, though that claim is rarely used as an official defense, since entrapment is extremely difficult to prove.

In one such contentious case in 2004, two imams at a mosque in Albany, New York, Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain, became embroiled in an elaborate terrorism plot created entirely by the FBI after Hossain approached a longtime FBI informant to ask about obtaining an illegal driver's license for his brother. Then, after agreeing to launder money that the FBI informant said would be used to buy a surface-to-air missile for terrorists, the two men were tried and convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison on money laundering and terrorism charges.

Aref -- who spoke broken English -- maintained throughout the trial that he hadn't even known he was laundering money, much less that he was supporting terrorism, and dozens of community members -- Muslim and non-Muslim -- wrote letters to the courts and to local newspapers describing Aref as a devoted father and peace-loving, law-abiding member of society.

However, the odds are stacked against suspects like Aref. Of the 81 jihadist terrorism suspects who have gone to trial since 9/11 in cases involving an undercover agent or informant, every single one has either been convicted or pleaded guilty.

Entrapment defenses just haven't worked in post-9/11 jihadist terrorism cases.

By contrast, of the 45 non-jihadist terrorism suspects -- who include neo-Nazis, anarchists and anti-government extremists -- who have gone on trial since 9/11 in plots involving undercover agents or informants, the rate of successfully obtaining convictions or guilty pleas was about 77% rather than the 100% conviction rate in jihadist terrorism cases.

New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Wednesday, "Whether al Qaeda operatives like Iyman Faris or those inspired by them like Jose Pimentel, terrorists have tried time and again to make New York City their killing field. We're up to 15 plots and counting since 9/11, with the Federal Reserve now added to a list of iconic targets that previously included the Brooklyn Bridge, the New York Stock Exchange and Citicorp Center."

But few of these 15 plots were truly threatening to New York.

One of the terrorist suspects Kelly mentioned, Pimentel, allegedly came close last year to completing the construction of three pipe bombs he planned to use against New York police officers and returning U.S. troops, before authorities arrested him.

But the FBI had turned down more than one request from the New York City Police Department to get involved with the investigation because its agents were of the opinion that Pimentel "didn't have the predisposition or the ability to do anything on his own," according to one anonymous law enforcement official.

In fact, multiple acquaintances of Pimentel's told police he was mentally unstable and had once tried to circumcise himself. He had difficulty drilling the holes in the pipe bomb parts that the undercover informant had provided him with and asked an upstairs neighbor to help him. This doesn't sound like a cunning terrorist plotting to wreak havoc on the American public.

Similarly, the other terrorist mentioned by Kelly, Pakistani-American Iyman Faris, was certainly someone who had met with al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan, but the harebrained plan he hatched to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge was to use a blowtorch to burn through the massive steel cables of the bridge, which had no chance of succeeding and which he never attempted.

The good news is that even these not especially threatening cases, like that of Nafis, are becoming increasingly unusual. Since 2009, jihadist terrorism cases in the United States has been on a steady decline, with only three suspected jihadists indicted in 2012, compared with 25 in 2011 and a record 44 in 2009.

Why these jihadists' terrorism cases have so precipitously declined in number is hard to diagnose precisely. But law enforcement efforts, which are well-publicized as in the Nafis case, have surely had a significant deterrent effect, and the ideology of al Qaeda has continued to lose whatever appeal it once enjoyed among a tiny minority of Muslims living in the United States.

Read more

Rumah dikunci, barangan dicampak keluar

Protest against temple demolition outside DBKL

DBKL revokes temple eviction notice

The Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman temple at Jalan P Ramlee is saved for now, after DBKL agreed to revoke its eviction order.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has officially revoked the eviction order issued to Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman Temple at Jalana P Ramlee on Sept 25.

Temple committee member, M Nalini, confirmed the receipt of the revocation letter at 5pm this evening.

In a SMS to all temple devotees and committee members, Nalini said the temple received a letter from DBKL this evening, revoking the earlier eviction notice.

This morning, about 50 people protested in front of DBKL against the proposed demolition of the 100-year-old temple located at Jalan P Ramlee.

The entourage, which arrived at 11am, was led by PKR vice-president N Surendran and the temple chairman S Balasubramaniam. Also present were DAP MPs M Manogaran, Tan Kok Wai, Fong Kui Lun and WargaAman secretary-general S Barathidasan.

The temple, located at the Golden Triangle area, was slapped with an eviction notice by DBKL last month, asking the occupants to relocate within 30 days.

The notice was issued despite an on-going court proceeding between DBKL and the temple committee on the land matter.

“The notice is illegal as the case is still in court. And you’re doing this when Deepavali is just around the corner. Don’t anger the Indian community,” said Manogaran.

Tan said DBKL’s move showed how Barisan Nasional treated the Indian community and had no respect towards freedom of religion as guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.

“I’m surprised DBKL can be so stupid. The officer involved must be punished for this,” said the Cheras MP.

DBKL director-general’s aide, Shahlan Amborz Zainuddin, arrived to meet the protesters and listed their demand before going back into his office.

About 20 minutes later, Shahlan arrived, together with DBKL’s deputy director of Design and Building Management, Alias Majoh, who promised that the order would be revoked.

Siva, Xavier accused of betraying the poor

Former Bukit Raja estate workers tell Pakatan to sideline them.

PETALING JAYA: Former employees of Bukit Raja Estate today accused Subang MP R Sivarasa and Seri Andalas Assemblyman Xavier Jayakumar of betraying them and demanded that they resign their offices.

Their spokesman P Mathialakan said the two had made false statements to the media about the allocation of land on which Sime Darby, their former employer, would build houses for them.

The long simmering issue made the news again yesterday when the Star quoted a Sime Darby Property (SDP) official as saying that his company had identified an 15-acre plot for houses costing RM77,000 each for 75 families.

Mathialakan recalled that both Sivarasa and Xavier had stated that Sime Darby did not allocate 15 acres, but a much smaller plot for the houses.

Sivarasa, who has been representing the former workers as their lawyer in the tussle with Sime Darby, was reported to have said that there was never any promise of a 15-acre plot.

Xavier, who heads the Selangor executive committee responsible for the welfare of plantation workers, has made a similar statement.

“After SDP’s statement, we now know who is trying to cheat the poor of their land,” Mathialakan told FMT.

The former workers have faced a long and bitter struggle to get their houses. In 2007, the Barisan Nasional government in Selangor allocated 15 acres for the houses.

However, according to the former workers, after Pakatan Rakyat took over Selangor, it diverted eight of the 15 acres for a project to build luxury homes.

“We have a letter from Sivarasa himself that Sime Darby had given 15 acres for low cost houses, Mathialakan said. “But now to the media he says we were not given 15 acres.”

Claiming that he was not against Pakatan Rakyat, he called on the opposition front’s leadership to sideline leaders who were not truthful to the poor.

“They have not only betrayed us, but the entire Indian community, which supported Pakatan in 2008,” he said.

Both Sivarasa and Xavier are PKR members.

Gold investors to occupy PMO

They are tired of being given the runaround.

PUTRAJAYA: Investors in the Bestino gold scheme will demonstrate outside Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s office to pressure him to meet them over their grievances.

The “Occupy PMO (Prime Minister’s Office)” rally will begin on Oct 30, according to K Kunasegaran of the Bestino Action Committee. He did not say how long the demonstration would last.

He alleged that a PMO official treated the committee members badly yesterday when they tried to book an appointment with the Prime Minister and was dishonest about the whereabouts of Najib’s special officer for Indian affairs, Ravin Ponniah.

“We were told Ravin was in Parliament, but we knew that he had finished a meeting with Bukit Jalil ex-plantation workers in his office just five minutes before our arrival,” he said.

“This is just one example of how the Najib administration ignores the interest of the public while pleading for our votes.”

Bestino was the nation’s largest gold investment scheme. It had collected more than RM411million from investors before Bank Negara and Securities Commission officers raided it 2010 on suspicion of money laundering.

Since then, investors have been trying to get back their money by petitioning both Bestino and Bank Negara.

Kunasegaran’s committee claims to represent all of the investors, who number 6,746.

He told FMT that the PMO official who dealt with his team today appeared to have ignored a memorandum he had sent on Oct 4, which he said contained “complete details” of the Bestino affair.

Accompanying the memorandum was a letter seeking an appointment with the Prime Minister.

“Unfortunately, we received a letter from PMO asking the investors to refer back to Bank Negara,” Kunasegaran he said.

“This was ridiculous. Bank Negara had already suggested that we bring up the matter with the Finance Ministry.”

He said Bank Negara officials, after sitting through a series of meetings with the investors, had eventually told them that the central bank had little power over the matter.

Details from those meetings were included in the memorandum to Najib, he added.

“But the PMO decided to kick the investors back to Bank Negara,” he said.

“It is seems like the PMO official has not read the memorandum and simply diverted the issue back to Bank Negara.”

Compensation

FMT also learned today that the Bukit Jalil estate ex-workers who met Ravin Ponniah refused to discuss with him a new compensation offer from the government to the 42 families who are forced to relocate.

They were more concerned about the status of a Tamil school and a Hindu temple located on a site earmarked for a Muslim cemetery, according to S Balakrishnan, who leads a committee fighting for the former workers’ rights.

According to him, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) in 2006 divided the former plantation into cemetery plots for various religious communities, the largest being for Muslims.

“However, in 2010, DBKL came out with a new plan where the entire land was given to the Muslim cemetery,” he said.

“So what is the status of the school and temple?”

He said he also raised the question of why the land had two different lot numbers when it had entirely been earmarked for a Muslim cemetery.

“It is clear that something fishy is going on and we need the government to clear the air,” he said.

About the compensation offer, Balakrishnan said the new figure was RM85,000 per family.

The previous offer was RM35,000 plus a flat costing RM42,000. The new offer does not include a flat.

Who wants to be a millionaire?

To those who still doubt that Umno is the curse of the Malays, try cutting off the links between Umno and these people, and see what happens.
COMMENT

Most people are familiar with the song or TV game show “Who wants to be a millionaire?”. Had that question “Who wants to be a millionaire?” been put to Malaysians in the past, a majority of the rakyat would have responded, “Yes, I would”; but today, in Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s prosperous “1Malaysia”, the most likely reply from a Barisan Nasional crony would be a dismissive, “Huh. I’m already a multi-millionaire.”

The secret to success? Being an Umno politician, of course; but entry to this exclusive club is conditional upon selling one’s soul, integrity and mind, to serve a new master – Umno and all it stands for. So, while some Malays mock other religions for being idolatrous, they conveniently forget that they themselves worship the goddess Umno.

Umno uses religion for control. Umno’s brand of Islam is not to make better people out of the Malays, to ensure they live harmoniously with Malaysians of other faiths and to practise the tenets of their religion. Instead, Islam is used liberally in Umno politics, to subjugate and subdue the Malays. Few Malays speak up, because to be seen questioning Umno might be misconstrued as doubting Islam.

The intricate relationship between politics and business existed long before independence, but during former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s era, business and politics became inseparable. Under the guise of the NEP (New Economic Policy), the purpose of which was to lift the Malays out of poverty, Mahathir made some Malays millionaires, in what could only be described as an “overnight sensation”.

Umno expanded this business-cum-politics relationship, so that in today’s Malaysia, Najib makes no attempt to hide fraud and criminal activity; he just says it is for Umno, so it must be right. Najib does not even bother to deny that having close ties with Umno, will make Umno politicians and their cronies, members of the “millionaire’s club”.

Established businessmen, landowners, celebrity divas and VVIPs have all become millionaires, some with eight-figure fortunes, all because they pay homage to Umno. Civil servants, members of the judiciary, policemen and chief ministers all have the capacity to make several millions.

To those who still doubt that Umno is the curse of the Malays, try cutting off the links between Umno and these people, and see what happens. Imagine a child learning to ride a bicycle. The use of stabilisers will help. When these are removed, the child may tumble, but after a while, he will get the knack. Why are Malays so afraid of developing their own abilities?

At the event “Sepagi Bersama Perdana Menteri” (A morning with the prime minister) in Teluk Intan yesterday, Najib ridiculed the efforts of the opposition in bringing development to the country, but he was full of praise for BN’s track record and experience in development. He rubbished claims that the opposition coalition was stronger than BN.

Najib said, “The BN government knows that in shouldering the responsibility, we’ve got to have a sense of humanity and tawadduk [humility] to understand the aspirations of the people, to feel the pulse of people.”

Must win to survive

Talking about pulse, was Najib at all bothered that the son of one of his ministers can escape punishment after he and his bodyguard beat up men who are only doing their jobs? Would Najib care to comment on the high scale corruption of his ministers and why he is afraid of sacking them?

Did Najib sense the rakyat’s anger when Michael Chia attempted to smuggle RM40 million into the country? Was he aware that Sabah Umno members are furious that their party’s name was sullied? They believe that to protect Chief Minister Musa Aman, Najib claimed the money was meant for Sabah Umno. It is alleged that the money was Musa’s. One wonders how a chief minister would acquire that amount of cash.

Does Najib understand the rage of the rakyat when chief ministers abuse the public purse and use it for personal functions, like the recent wedding of the son of Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam, or last year’s scandal, when Najib was alleged to have abused his position and flown close friends and family to attend the engagement party of his daughter to the nephew of the Kazakhstan president?

Najib told the Perak crowd that despite the changing times, the guiding principles of BN had not altered and that it was necessary to have continuity: “The government should have continuity because if there is no continuity, the government can’t make long-term plans.”

Even a fool can see that Umno needs to win the 13th general election to survive. Umno needs to stay in power, to further ravage the country; Umno politicians need to raid the treasury to maintain their lifestyle. The alternative is a long prison term for robbing the nation, when the rakyat makes them answerable for their crimes.

Najib claimed that change was not good for the country because the people and nation would lose out: “As a developing country with a future, we need continuity, we need it not just for the sake of power, but for the people to get greater benefits under the BN.”

Najib might as well have said, “We need to continue to hoodwink you for Umno’s prolonged benefit.”

He then blamed the opposition for causing dissent among the masses, and teaching them a hatred of BN. He said that BN was confident of winning the GE13.

Naturally, Najib failed to mention the harassment of NGOs, civil liberty groups, the alternative media, the opposition and the ordinary members of the rakyat who have been championing true democracy. He omitted to say that his budget was an election budget.

Najib then told the 10,000-strong audience that BN had plans to develop the coastline of Perak and that the West Coast Expressway project would bring benefit to the people from Taiping to Banting.

Predictably, a few more BN cronies will become millionaires from this lucrative highway project, but most members of the rakyat will gain nothing.

Mariam Mokhtar is a FMT columnist.

Nazri: I did not interfere with probe

With public criticism coming hard and fast after the Home Ministry confirmed that his son was in the clear, Nazri Aziz today clarified that he did not interfere with police investigations.

PETALING JAYA: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz has denied accusations that he misused his position to influence the outcome of the criminal investigation involving his son.

“I did not interfere at all in the investigations,” the de facto law minister told FMT today.

However, Nazri declined to comment on the cases itself, pointing out that it would be a conflict of interest to do so given his ministerial position.

“I can’t comment because that is my son… I cannot be using my government post to say something that may be favourable to my son,” he explained.

He also said that since the parliamentary reply had come from the home minister himself, and not something from his ministry, he was not in a position to clarify.

“The answer [regarding his son] came from the home minster. I’m not the home minister. I wouldn’t know anything about it,” he added.

On a similar note, Nazri also said that he did not blame the public for being interested in the case.

“There is nothing I can do. I am a very important person. I am very influential. My children know this and we all [my family] know that their lives will always be affected. We have to face such public scrutiny. This is something we have to accept,” he added.

The minister said that he did not feel that it was unfair that people questioned the cases.

“I don’t think it’s unfair. When it came out in the papers today, and I just found out, I realised that public scrutiny will always be there. If I cannot take it, I leave politics,” he said.

Nazri said that neutral parties, such as the police investigators, should clarify the facts of the case.

Asked if the media could interview his son, Nazri said: “He would (most likely) be bias, and defend himself. I think there is no need. Go to the neutral authorities. Talk to the police, don’t talk to me.”

Opposition leaders raise questions

On Wednesday, the Home Ministry confirmed that Nazri’s son, Mohamed Nedim, was not involved in an assault case in March this year and a murder in 2004.

The parliamentary written reply to a question posed by Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo-Burne stated that Mohamed Nedim’s bodyguard, and not him, was the one involved in the alleged assault of a security supervisor at a luxury condominium in March 2012.

The home minister’s statement also said that the case had been “settled amicably by both parties”.

Loh’s had also asked about the murder of one Darren Kang at the Uncle Don restaurant in Sri Hartamas, to which the Home Ministry had said investigations by the police had found that Mohamed Nedim was not involved.

Five Thai nationals were found guilty after being charged and convicted for five years by the court, it said.

On March 20, it was claimed that Mohamed Nedim assaulted a security supervisor at the condominium in Mont Kiara following a “minor altercation”.

It was alleged that Mohamed Nedim’s actions, where he had choked the supervisor before landing a punch on his head, were captured on CCTV. However, the police later said that the video footage showed that the minister’s son was not involved.

PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin had previously brought up the incident of Kang, alleging that Nazri’s son was involved. It was reported that Nazri’s son was among those police had questioned over the case.

Earlier today, PKR and DAP had both questioned the assault case, and whether it was right for the Home Ministry to clear Nazri’s son, questioning if the case was closed because it involved a Umno minister’s family member.

After mega dinner, mega disaster awaits the MCA — Koon Yew Yin

OCT 19 — It was reported in The Star that several thousand people attended the mega dinner in the Ipoh Stadium, organised by the Perak MCA, on October 14.

In his speech, Dr Chua Soi Lek, the MCA president, urged the guests to vote for Barisan National because it had established a solid foundation dating back to independence. He also said that the DAP would not be able to defend the Chinese even if Pakatan Rakyat took over power because it is subservient to PAS and PKR.

At the function, Dr Chua presented RM500,000 to 44 Chinese primary schools and six national-type secondary schools or RM10,000 for each school.

Various thoughts come to my mind on reading the report of the mega dinner. One is of disbelief that MCA leaders can stoop so low in using public funds for Chinese education in their attempt to win a few seats in the coming elections. But we should not be surprised especially when we look at the MCA’s track record in the 2008 general election in Perak where it won only one state and three parliamentary seats.

A chairman of one of the Chinese schools told me that he did not attend the dinner because he did not want to appear so stupid as to accept the RM10,000 bribe to vote for the MCA.

Learning from the senior partner, electoral bribery appears to be the main item in the standard operating procedure manual of the MCA for the coming election. But unlike Umno in the peninsula, and Taib Mahmud and Musa Aman in Sarawak and Sabah who have billions in their political slush funds, the MCA can only throw out crumbs — such is the party’s impotency and poor standing in BN and the governmental system.

See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil

With regard to Dr Chua’s statement that the DAP is subservient to PAS and PKR, it is necessary to remind MCA supporters that almost every act of the Perak Pakatan Rakyat administration before BN unfairly regained control was criticised by the mainstream press, especially by Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian.

Chinese readers of the Malay papers and media will be familiar — and must be thoroughly disgusted — with the racist campaign of hate and poison poured out on a daily basis by Umno, the MCA’s partner, which owns the mainstream Malay papers.

Now what has the MCA to say about Utusan’s lies and dirty reporting — nothing! The silence of the MCA in response to the racist brainwashing engaged in by Umno speaks volumes about the low quality and lack of backbone of the MCA’s leaders — past and present.

We now see that the Malays are being peddled the line that the Pakatan Rakyat is selling out to the non-Malays and that there is a Christian plot to take over the country.

These dirty tricks and political spinning have not only continued but have gotten worse. Increasingly racial and religious extremist sentiments are coming to the forefront which all of us need to condemn if our country’s social fabric is not to be torn apart. But does the MCA dare to speak out? No, instead it is a party to these dirty tactics.

National Education: Monumental MCA Failing

It is pathetic to see the MCA going round the country and throwing out crumbs to the Chinese schools. During the past 50 years, not only has the MCA failed Chinese education dismally but it has also been a leading partner in the decline of our national school system. Today our national schools are characterised by regressive language and religious dogmas, dismal performance, low standards and unemployable products. No middle- or upper-middle-class parent — whether Chinese, Malay, Indian or from any community — would want to have their young children schooled in the sekolah rendah kebangsaan and sekolah menengah if they can help it.

This national disgrace has the MCA as one of its leading players. The party has held the deputy minister of education portfolio for umpteen years. Can the MCA point to any educational innovation that it has introduced? Can the MCA point to any educational policy of merit, fairness, and tolerance that it has been responsible for since independence?

The Chinese deputy minister of education or Dr Chua may be good at giving speeches to Chinese schools and giving out chicken feed funds but when it comes to helping determine the course of national educational policy in key areas, their position is more like that of the office boy.

Let’s take the National Education Blueprint report. Now what is the MCA to say about the establishment of the matriculation college system which has discriminated against the deserving non-Bumiputeras. Malaysian public universities offer a one-year matriculation programme. These courses have largely catered to the Bumiputera population and are deemed as having a much lower standard, qualifying criteria and final examination requirement for entry into university. This situation is in contrast to that which non-Bumiputera students face as they are required to sit for the much tougher two-year STPM in Form 6. Now how did this system come about if the MCA has not been a willing accessory to the educational discrimination and injustice.

A Fair National Policy: What Has The MCA Done?

Many Malaysians, including myself, fully support the policy that attention should be given to the educational needs of the underprivileged in society, with appropriate consideration and greater weight to those in the poorer rural-based Bumiputera (Malays and non-Malay Bumiputera) community. However, the needs of deserving non-Malays should also be treated fairly and equally.

For example, information on awards should be publicly disclosed and widely disseminated. The government’s scholarship policy tacitly endorsed by the MCA has been indiscriminately applied to favour of the well-to-do from one community. Without proper checks and balances, it has had a crippling effect on Malaysian parents and their children, and this includes many poorer Malays.

But I suspect MCA leaders do not care about this and other flaws in our education system. After all, their children are not studying in the local Chinese schools that are receiving a pittance in government aid but studying abroad in expensive private schools and universities — many at taxpayers’ expense.

This is why I, and many of my friends, am of the opinion that a mega disaster is awaiting for the MCA in the coming elections.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Pena bercabang-cabang Dr Mahathir

 

ULASAN Pada 2001, Dr Mahathir Mohamad menyifatkan Malaysiakini sebagai "pengkhianat" negara.

Waktu itu portal berita ini dituduh mengambil dana hartawan George Soros, spekulator yang dituduh dalang perosak ekonomi Asia susulan "kesan tom yam" keruntuhan mata wang bath.

Lima tahun kemudian, mantan perdana menteri tidak semena-mena menerima penjelasan Soros bahawa beliau tidak terlibat meranapkan ekonomi negara dalam krisis 1997 selepas satu pertemuan di Kuala Lumpur.

Padahal Soros dan Mahathir pernah menjalin permusuhan senyap sejak awal 1990-an.

Dalam tempoh berbaik-baik dengan Soros itu, Dr Mahathir memberikan wawancara kepada Malaysiakini, media dalam talian yang didakwa "pengkhianat" sewaktu di puncak kuasanya.

Mahathir mempergunakan Malaysiakini - seperti juga taktiknya berbaik-baik dengan Soros - waktu itu kerana beliau sedang berperang besar dengan pengganti pilihannya sendiri, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, sehingga parti dan media arus perdana membelakangkannya.

Hanya Malaysiakini satu-satunya media alternatif yang sepadan dengan media besar arus perdana. Maka, beliau memilih Malaysiakini, selain pentas-pentas ceramahnya di serata negara.

Tujuan rasmi (siapa tahu tujuan tidak rasmi pertemuan Soros-Mahathir?) berbaik-baik itu dilaporkan untuk bersama-sama menentang presiden George Bush yang mengamalkan dasar perang demi petroleum.

Dana gelap kepada Abramoff
Padahal, kemunculan awal Bush ini disambut positif oleh Umno dan media arus perdana atas kejayaannya menewaskan calon Demokrat, Al Gore pada tahun 2000.

Mereka bergembira atas kenaikan Bush semata-mata dendam mereka pada Gore - sewaktu itu, 1998, naib presiden Amerika Syarikat - yang pernah melemparkan percikan sokongan pada Gerakan Reformasi dalam ucapannya di Kuala Lumpur.

Susulan kemenangan Bush, Dr Mahathir secara senyap-senyap mengatur pula pertemuan dengan presiden Amerika Syarikat itu di Rumah Putih pada 2002.

Maka tersebarlah foto kedua-dua pemimpin ini berjabat tangan sambil tersenyum ke serata dunia.

Namun, kehebatan Dr Mahathir ini terbongkar apabila beliau dituduh menggunakan AS$1.2 juta (RM4.56 juta) kepada pelobi Jack Abramoff untuk membeli janji temu dengan Bush.

Dana yang disalurkan secara gelap kepada Abramoff - bersama taktik gelap pelobi itu sendiri - menyebabkan Senat Amerika menyiasatnya.

Abramoff akhirnya mengaku bersalah, dan pada waktu yang sama mendedahkan tembelang di sebalik makna jabat tangan Mahathir-Bush, empat tahun sebelum Mahathir-Soros berbaik-baik untuk menentang presiden tersebut.

[Dr Mahathir akhirnya mengakui kewujudan dana ini tetapi menafikan ia dibayar oleh kerajaan Malaysia.]

Bolak-balik perseteruan Dr M
Seperti hubungan mesra Mahathir-Anwar Ibrahim dan Mahathir-Abdullah, semua imej indah beliau dengan Soros dan Bush berakhir dengan sikap perseteruan.

Abdullah diangkat sebagai pengganti Anwar sewaktu bekas "anak didiknya" menjadi musuh nombor satunya. Kemudian Abdullah menjadi musuhnya pula.

Di saat itulah, Mahathir mempergunakan Malaysiakini dalam empat wawancaranya, termasuk menjelang pilihan raya umum 2008, untuk menentang Abdullah. Selepas itu beliau tidak berminat lagi ditemubual akhbar portal ini.

Sikap sebegini - berbolak-balik dalam persahabatan dan perseteruan - sudah lama mendarah daging dalam kelicikan politik Mahathir, seperti dilihat sejak 1980-an.

Musa Hitam, seorang lagi bekas timbalannya, diangkat menjadi regu kuatnya sewaktu perlunya tokoh Johor itu dipergunakan untuk menentang kemaraan Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Musa akhirnya tersungkur dan sekali gus tersingkir dengan beban sejarah yang ditanggungnya hingga saat ini.

Jadi tidaklah menghairankan apabila Mahathir menyerang Soros dan sekali gus Malaysiakini semula dalam artikelnya di New Sunday Times baru-baru ini.

Padahal akhbar itu pernah juga menjadi kecaman utama beliau dan sekutu-sekutunya sewaktu berperang dengan Abdullah. 

Lidah orang politik
Cuma, beliau mungkin terasa sasarannya (Malaysiakini) terlalu kecil dalam skema analisisnya dan tidak pula sepadan dengan status besarnya sebagai perdana menteri selama 22 tahun.

Lalu, bagi menampakkan artikelnya itu besar setaraf dengan kenegarawanannya, maka diolah pula slogan "undi untuk pembangkang bermakna undi untuk Soros"!

Dalam wawancara terakhirnya di Malaysiakini, hanya tiga hari sebelum 8 Mac 2008, Dr Mahathir menyokong penuh barisan pembangkang - perlunya pembangkang yang menunjukkan sisi-sisi hodoh wajah politik kerajaan.

Orang kerajaan dan orang parti pemerintah hanya tahu membodek, tambahnya ketika berperang dengan Abdullah dan dengan New Straits Times empat tahun lalu.

Negara kita akan jahanam jika pembangkang lembik seperti politik Singapura, katanya lagi, merujuk negara yang tidak pernah disenanginya itu.

Tanpa sebarang perubahan, barisan pembangkang yang sama - dan "NGO seperti Malaysiakini" itu juga - kini dianggapnya "ejen Soros" untuk "menukar rejim" BN.

Kita boleh faham lidah bercabang orang politik; hal itu tidak perlu dihairankan. Namun kita tidak pernah melihat mata pena bercabang-cabang seperti digunakan Dr Mahathir di dada akhbar pada Ahad itu.

---

FATHI ARIS OMAR ketua pengarang Malaysiakini.

Call to extend deadline for consultation on education blueprint

By CPI

The Centre for Policy Initiatives urges leaders from both sides of the political divide to pay heed to the urgent concerns expressed by educationists and civil society organizations with regard to the National Educational Blueprint 2013-2025.

Since its release more than a month ago on Sept 12, the blueprint has drawn markedly little response from our politicians either those in Barisan Nasional or in Pakatan Rakyat who are supposedly representing the interests of the stakeholders.

This lack of response is inexplicable and irresponsible given the importance of education to the future of our young generation and our national interest.

There is a genuine fear by Gerakan Bertindak Malaysia – a non-political, multiracial and multi-religious coalition of over 25 NGOs including CPI – that this blueprint will be hastily finalized before its many weaknesses are fully discussed and ironed out.

We share GBM’s view that the current deadline of October 2012 for the blueprint implementation is too short notice for public scrutiny of a plan that attempts to undo the damage inflicted on our education system over the past three decades and that will be in force for the next 12 years.

Extension of the period of public consultation and feedback must also be accompanied by the disclosure of key expert inputs and research data that have so far been denied to the public for reasons that cannot be justified.

As one example, the Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) has advocated for the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics and Science in English (PPSMI) to be continued as an option for interested students.

Like the issue of the vernacular school stream, PPSMI is similarly excluded from the blueprint.

A decision by the Education Ministry to decisively shut the door to further appeals prompted Dr Anwar Hassan, PAGE Ipoh chapter coordinator, to suggest that if at the end of the day the cabinet refuses to budge on PPSMI and expanded English coverage, “concerned parents have no option but to look after the needs of their children on their own initiative and means. Those who can afford it will certainly opt for international schools or go abroad”.

What then about parents who cannot afford to pay for private tuition or other alternatives and remain captive to the public school system? Contentious issues such as PPSMI are yet to be brought to a satisfactory conclusion via the blueprint.

The onus is on our politicians to step up to the plate to bring the necessary discussion into the public domain. For the sake of transparency and accountability, the blueprint submissions to the Education Ministry by the academic and professional panels must be released to the public in the same way that the civil society organizations have made their memoranda and recommendations on education accessible to all.

The current Parliamentary sitting provides the opportunity for a bi-partisan push from BN and PR politicians to depart from their normal political affiliation and to speak out as parents and members of a larger community of Malaysians determined to ensure the best educational system for our young.

We hope that they will rise to the occasion by a consensus decision requiring the Ministry of Education to extend the period of public consultation and delay the implementation of key contentious policies contained in the blueprint.

Umno Sets Up Special Committee To Check Sabotage Of BN Electoral Candidates

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 (Bernama) -- The Umno Supreme Council decided to set up a special committee to monitor and take immediate action against any party member who betrays the party or sabotages Barisan Nasional (BN) electoral candidates, Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

Najib, who is the prime minister, said the committee would be chaired by Tan Sri Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen Tengku Ismail, who is also chairman of the party's disciplinary board.

"This special committee is a reflection of the party's desire for immediate firm action to be taken against any member who does anything detrimental to the party's interests," Najib said after chairing a meeting of the Supreme Council, here Friday.

He said the committee would comprise several Supreme Council members without vested interests besides the disciplinary board members and certain other quarters, in accordance with Article 10.15 and Article 20.3 of the Umno Constitution.

"We agreed that the definitions of sabotage and betrayal of the party be explained so that everyone understands clearly the action that can be taken under the articles," he said.

Najib explained that sabotage and betrayal included instigating action against the party besides misusing funds, such as not spending money for electoral purposes.

He said the action that could be taken against the offenders included suspension or expulsion from the party apart from other action subject to the articles in the party constitution.

"We also agreed to appoint a member in each division who can report to the committee, besides reporting directly to the headquarters and via online," he said.

Najib said the party had taken action against members for sabotaging and betraying the party.

"Action has been taken before this, but now we want to be firmer. Previously, the action was delayed, taking even months before the penalty was handed down. Now, we want the process to be expedited," he said.

On the Umno General Assembly scheduled for next month, Najib said the Supreme Council had approved three motions, on the economy, religion and education, and added that there would also be the debate on the president's policy speech.

"We have appointed the Supreme Council representatives for the Wanita Umno, Umno Youth and Puteri Umno assemblies," he said.

Malaysia’s bridges to nowhere

We shouldn’t be surprised at the RM20m ‘bridge to nowhere’ in Sarawak, as revealed in the Auditor-General’s report. We have seen it happen before – in Putrajaya of all places.

Incomplete bridge in Pekan Pantu, Sarawak

Incomplete bridge in Putrajaya
Perhaps it is time for a guided tour of unfinished, useless and redundant projects in the country? It could be a major attraction for photography buffs as the above picture illustrates. Several people selected that photo for a Flickr Award!
And this one as well:

Maybe in a hundred years, people will think we have some stunning ruins.
In case you are wondering, that bridge is from the incomplete Putrajaya monorail project. The “suspended suspension bridge”, as someone put it! Read this Star report for some background:

The elevated track was 90% complete when the project stalled in 2004 because the Government had not approved further funding.
MTrans Monorail Sdn Bhd (MTrans) was appointed to finish the project within 30 months. The plan was to have two monorail lines with a total length of 20km, divided into 13.2km for Line 1 and 6.8km for Line 2.

And we won’t mention the Malacca monorail here.