Issues of India

Issues of India
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They Consider the Weakest Person of the
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Alarming Fall In Groundwater Levels In India

Posted on December 27, 2017
With declining recharge rates and sharply increasing extraction pace, the groundwater situation needs urgent
attention and demands a change in irrigation and cropping methods.
Overview
Groundwater is the water that seeps through

rocks and soil and is stored below the ground. The rocks in which ground water is stored are called aquifers.
Aquifers are typically made up of gravel, sand, sandstone or limestone.
Question: What is the most extracted natural resource in the world? Answer: Groundwater!
Yes, planet earth gives us this invisible asset that sustains a range of human activities. Blinded by Western
development model of perennial GDP growth humanity is busy plundering even this resource. And foolishly take
its availability for granted without bothering to know how the groundwater reservoirs replenish themselves. It
may be surprising for many people to know that India is the world’s largest user of groundwater, oblivious to the
fact that since the 1980s the groundwater tables have been continuously dropping.
India annually extracts around 251 cubic kilometer groundwater which is 25% of the total global annual extraction
and 26 times the water stored in the Bhakra Dam. In comparison, together China and the US extract just 112 cu
km. Clearly, India’s water resource planning is very bad and farmers find it easy to use groundwater without much
attention to which crops to grow. Ninety percent of the groundwater extracted is used for irrigation that covers 60
percent of the total irrigated area.
According to the 2016 Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) report, in the year ending January 2016 barely 3%
well structures registered a rise in water level more than 4 metres, 35% showed lesser rise and 64% wells showed
decline in water level. It is an alarming finding. The replenishment takes place through rainfall, back flows from
irrigation and seepage from canals, other water bodies and conservation structures.
If the situation continues as it is, we are steadily inching towards catastrophe. Water, in any way, is going to be the
reason for future troubles and conflicts in ways more than one. As climate change is altering the monsoon pattern,
the stress on groundwater resources is likely to increase.
India’s groundwater use was just about 7 cubic kilometer in 1940; it went up to around 270 cubic kilometer at the
millennium end. Since 1950, the total share of groundwater in irrigation has nearly doubled. The groundwater
extraction rose sharply during the late 70s and 80s. People connect it with the Green Revolution during which two
things happened: one, building of large dams by governments and two, small and marginal farmers bored wells
everywhere. Thus, today livelihood of 26 crore farmers and agricultural laborers crucially revolves around
groundwater.
In response to the drought of 1972, drilling technology and hand pumps were introduced in India. As a result, by
now there are around 30 million groundwater structures in India that are replenished by around 3 million
perennial springs in the country, but very little is done to preserve them.
The over-exploitation of groundwater has created a series of problems, particularly in the agriculture-intensive
belts across India. The situation is becoming particularly acute in the Northwest, where the groundwater levels
have plunged from 8m to 16m below ground. As the levels fall, rising pumping costs ultimately makes extraction
uneconomical; small formers and labourers get directly impacted. The average farmer in Punjab, Rajasthan and
Haryana faces the prospect of having no groundwater left for irrigation by 2025.
Groundwater scenario in Punjab – the champion of Green Revolution, shows a heavy deficit that would take up to
30 years only to restore to normal levels. In comparison, the poorer Odisha still has healthier groundwater tables,
but there is talk of taking Green Revolution to the Eastern India that would make things worse.
Ground Water Availability
The map shows that ground water level has

significantly reduced in the north- western region of the country. There are other pockets across the country
where the water level is below more than 10 metres, when sophisticated equipment is needed for extraction.
As of April 2015, the annual water availability of the country in terms of natural runoff (flow) in the rivers was
about 1,869 billion cubic meter (BCM)/year. However, the usable portion was estimated as 1,123 BCM/year
because of the constraints of topography and uneven distribution of the resource in various river basins. Of this,
the share of surface water was 690 BCM/year and groundwater was 433 BCM/year. Around 35 BCM of ground
water is lost to natural discharge – as seepage to water bodies or oceans in coastal areas and as transpiration by
plants whose roots extend up to the water table. So the net annual groundwater availability for the entire country
was 398 BCM.
The overall contribution of rainfall to the country’s annual groundwater resource is 68% and the rest comes from
other resources, such as canal seepage, return flow from irrigation, recharge from tanks, ponds and water
conservation structures etc. Given the increasing population, India’s per capita annual availability of water
reduced by 15% from 1,816 cubic metre in 2001 to 1,544 cubic metre in 2011.
Ground Water Development

Ground water development is a ratio of the
annual ground water extraction to the net annual ground water availability. It indicates the quantity of ground
water available for use. 0-70% is considered safe, 70-90% is semi-critical, 90-100% is critical, and over 100% is
considered over-exploited. The table here gives the level of ground water development in different states over the
past two decades.
In the states of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, the annual ground water consumption is more than annual
ground water recharge. In the states of Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh and the Union
Territory of Puducherry, the level of ground water development is 70% or above. Over the years, usage of ground
water has increased in areas where the resource was readily available. This has resulted in an increase in overall
ground water development from 58% in 2004 to 62% in 2011, as illustrated in Figure 3.
Groundwater Use Pattern
As mentioned earlier, the availability of surface water (690 BCM/year) is greater than groundwater (433
BCM/year). However, groundwater, being available almost everywhere through bore wells, is easily accessible and
thus, forms the largest share of agriculture and drinking water supply. Of the extracted groundwater around 89%
is used in the irrigation sector, 9% is used for the domestic purposes and the remainder 2% goes into industrial
use. Groundwater also fulfils 50% of urban water requirements and 85% of rural domestic water requirements.
Irrigation Through Groundwater
Major means of irrigation in the country are

canals, tanks and wells, including tube-wells. Of all these sources, groundwater contributes the largest share.
Wells – dug wells, shallow tube-wells and deep tube wells – provide about 62% of water for irrigation, followed by
canals with around 25%.
Over the years, there has been a steady rise in the groundwater utilisation for irrigation while other sources
remained stagnated in the volume terms. As can be seen from the image above, the tube-well share has increased
exponentially. There is a clear correlation in rise in groundwater use with the onset of the Green Revolution that
demanded intensive use of inputs like water and fertilizers to boost crop production. Incentives such as credit for
irrigation equipment and subsidies for electricity supply have further worsened the situation. Low power tariffs
have led to excessive and wasteful water usage, leading to a sharp fall in water tables.
Groundwater Contamination
Table here shows the number of states and districts affected
by geogenic contaminants as on July 2014.
Ground water is considered contaminated when certain

pollutants are present in excess of the limits prescribed for
drinking water. The commonly observed contaminants include
arsenic, fluoride, nitrate and iron, which are geogenic in
nature. Geogenic contaminants are those that occur as a result
of geological processes happening within the earth’s crust.
Besides, there are other contaminants such as bacteria,
phosphates and heavy metals resulting from human activities – from domestic sewage, agricultural practices and
industrial effluents. The sources of contamination include pollution by landfills, septic tanks, leaky underground
gas tanks, and from overuse of fertilizers and pesticides. It has been pointed out that nearly 60% of all districts in
the country have issues related to either availability of ground water, or quality of ground water, or both.
Government studies have revealed high arsenic content in groundwater of 68 districts in 10 states – Haryana,
Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Assam, Manipur and Karnataka.
Some Key Issues
There are some vital issues related to the groundwater usage; for instance
Estimation of Groundwater Resources
A clearer picture of the state of aquifers in India will be greatly useful in managing the groundwater resources of
the country. The current assessment methodology relied on observation of just around 15000 wells and then
extrapolating to guess the status of around 30 million groundwater structures; it is neither accurate nor
representative. There is a need for more extensive information gathering and shift from development to
management of water resources.
Agricultural Crop Pricing and Water Intensive Crops
Since the 80s, roughly 84% of the total addition to the net
irrigated area has come through groundwater, agriculture
sector being the prime driver. Decisions of cropping intensity
and pattern are taken largely independent of the status of
groundwater availability in most areas. Another factor was pin
pointed by the High-Level Committee on restructuring of the
Food Corporation of India in 2014, chaired by Mr. Shanta
Kumar. It found that although Minimum Support Prices
(MSPs) are currently announced for 23 crops, the effective
price support is for wheat and rice. This creates highly skewed incentive structures in favour of wheat and paddy,
which are water intensive crops and depend heavily on ground water for their growth. Additionally, Indian
agriculture is highly water inefficient. The table here above the average amount of water (in cubic meters/tonne)
needed to grow different crops in different countries. As can be seen, India irrigation system is highly wasteful; it
uses almost twice the amount of water to grow crops as compared to China and United States.
The Committee also suggested that cropping pattern needed to be diversified by providing better price support for
pulses and oilseeds. This would also incentivize the production of these food grains. For reducing dependence of
agriculture on groundwater, other experts have suggested the use of demand management measures in
agriculture. For example,
Dry-season crop planning for specific areas depending upon the aquifer type, monsoonal rainfall and
groundwater table level. This would include some shift towards higher-value and less-water consuming crops.
Adoption of modern efficient irrigation technologies such as drip and sprinkler systems.
Controlling groundwater extraction through regulatory measures such as restricting the depth of irrigation
water wells, establishing and enforcing minimum spacing between irrigations.
Energy Subsidies and Groundwater Extraction
The practice of providing power subsidies for agriculture has played a major role in reckless use and over
extraction of groundwater in India. Moreover, electricity supply is not metered and a flat tariff is charged
depending on the horsepower of the pump. So some kind of regulation on the use of electricity is needed to avoid
wastage of groundwater. Separate electric feeders for pumping ground water for agricultural use could address the
issue.
The state of Gujarat solved this problem through its ‘Jyotigram’ scheme which was launched during 2003-2006
by investing 1450 crore rupees. It involved separation of agricultural electricity feeders from non-agricultural ones
and establishing a tight regime for farm power rationing in the rural Gujarat. By 2006, the state had covered
almost all of its 18,000 villages under the scheme of rationalized power supply. This led to two major benefits: (i)
villages receive 24 hour three-phase power supply for domestic uses, in schools, hospitals, village industries, all
subject to metered tariff, and (ii) tube-well owners receive eight hours/day of power of full voltage on a pre-
announced schedule.
National River Linking Project
Government proposes to physically transfer 178 billion cubic meter water annual across river basins by building
12,500 km water canal network. The estimated cost of the proposal is massive: $120-billion. This is the largest
such project in the world — aiming to expand irrigated agriculture by moving water from “water surplus” to
“water deficit” basins. The first of the planned canals linking the Kaveri and Godavari rivers was completed on
September 16, 2015.
Experts opine that merely transferring water would not solve the problem of falling water tables. It would need a
simultaneous increase in the storage capacity to be effective. They also advise working on other plans to reduce
stress on groundwater – such as promoting more efficient irrigation, growing less water-intensive crops in the dry
season and moving away from water-intensive crops in areas where there is less water.
Conclusion
While government is paying a lot of attention to river cleaning (although nothing much has happened beyond
sloganeering) it would be best if groundwater replenishment is coupled with this initiative. Further, MNREGA
work can be directed towards strengthening the water bodies that play a crucial role in recharging groundwater
reservoirs.
What is needed is action; the time for talk has already passed!
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India’s “Unity In Diversity” Is Unique In The World

When the colonial British were leaving India after gifting Pakistan to Muslims, they were convinced that India a
conglomerate of 565 princely States would never stay united as one nation for long; it would fragment into several
pieces within next few years. Most Western leaders held the same opinion. Clearly, the myriad diversity – lingual,
cultural, traditional, and geographical – was beyond their rational comprehension shaped by the monotheist
Christian philosophy that discourages diverse opinions. In fact, they had seen no prior example of such highly
diversified but united entity anywhere in the world. But history post-1947 suggests that they needed some extra
learning to justify their ‘expert’ title – the Indian ‘unity in diversity’ is still going strong at the age of 70.
Let’s look at the recent history of fragmentations.

End of the First World War gave birth to several new nations –
Finland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungry,
Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia etc.
The mono-cultural Islamic State of Pakistan could not stay

intact even for a quarter century; in 1971 the East Pakistan
wing became sovereign Bangladesh. It is still battling to keep
together the Balochs, Pakhtuns and Sindhis. Yet, its vengeful
jihadi ideology keeps it busy trying to break India! The Muslim
Middle East is highly divided and turbulent despite common
faith, culture and traditions; it is weird to see Shia Iran
standing aloof from rest of the Sunni states as if there are two
separate Islams! The Kurd’s are restless for a separate nation.
The dream nation of global jihadis, the Islamic State of Iraq
and Syria (ISIS) was born and gone already despite the
hallucination of forming global Caliphate!!
Europeans who lecture the world on democracy and liberalism can’t stay united as one “European Union” despite
the common Christian cultural monorail. After Brexit many more nations are likely to leave the EU. In Spain,
Catalonians are restless for a divorce. Between 1989 and 1992 Yugoslavia broke into seven pieces. In 1991, the
USSR gave birth to 15 nations. Chechnyans are still demanding separation from Russia.
Creation of Israel in 1948 brought misery for the Palestinians. Very recently in 2011, Sudan broke into two pieces.
It is clear, religions can hardly keep united their own “believers” – they can only divide the humanity!! Why is that
so? That’s because they have degenerated to the level of rigid and spiritless ‘faiths’ and ‘beliefs.’
In major democracies like the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Australia arrival of people from across the
world has brought diversities over the decades. Now they are discovering new challenges of heterogeneity and
multi-cultural social setup despite the romantic ideal of ‘secularism’ to accommodate different “faiths.” They have
much to learn about managing diversities beyond their so-called “secularism.” Many people foolishly think that
“secularism” unites people of different “faiths.” It is utter ignorance to think that a Bible Believer will not have a
discriminating mindset against say a Quran Believer because that discrimination is inherent in his “belief.” The
same goes with the Quran believer.
Why Religions Fail, But Dharma Succeeds!
Starting from 1000 AD, Mohammadan barbarians repeatedly

plundered and destroyed the Somnath temple over several
centuries; and it got built that many times! Looters often
indulged in mass slaughter and slave taking. But Hindus never
lost trust in power of goodness; this is the resilience of trust in
Dharma!! Dharma does not live in temples, costumes or
rituals – it lives people’s understanding and not in the words
of some special Book. In the 14th century, philosopher Amir
Khusro wrote that Gujarati Muslims used to first visit the
Somnath temple to pay their respect before departing for Hajj
pilgrimage. These unfortunate ex-Hindus had retained the
Dharma wisdom despite label change under fear!
Most globe watchers wonder how India has managed to assimilate so much diverse forces into one national
mainstream. If they really want to find out the unifying force behind Indian unity, they need to understand the
essence of Indian culture (that goes far beyond their superficial ‘secularism’ to downplay religious monoculture)
where diversity is a natural part of life.
However, before doing that they first need to understand the limits of their invention called ‘religion.’ Religion
fails primarily because it tries to erase the human diversity which is natural – by forcing a uniform mindset on all
“believers.” It ignores the natural reality that no two people have the same fingerprints; in fact, no two people can
have even the same mindset or the same thinking. Therefore, diversity or dissimilarity is already built-in the
humanity at the individual level – as a natural trait. It can’t be erased by inventing artificial god philosophies and
forcing them on people.
On the contrary, recognition of this human diversity and its respect is an inherent part of Indian ethos which
directly comes from its ancient Vedic philosophy that revolves around “Dharma.” Dharma is easily the most
important Sanskrit word of Vedic literature pointing out to the profound idea of truth or reality. In fact, the
Reality of nature is the Truth! Unfortunately, foreign languages have no equivalent words to convey the meaning
of Dharma. Even in India misguided foreign educated left leaning people have wrongly translated Dharma in
English as “religion.” That’s absolutely absurd.
For the lay people, the Vedic science deals with how the universe or existence is governed by nature’s laws; and
how everything happens according to the laws already existing in the nature. If human life is led as per these laws
life is good, and going against them automatically brings pain and suffering. For instance, you can’t hurt someone
without hurting yourself in some way – it’s a nature’s law. “Dharma” points to such natural order, the right ethics
and adopting them in personal conduct. It is all about right human values and morality, and their practice in life.
Thus, all India-born different philosophies of life like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism etc stress the right
human conduct in their own ways. But they all translate into practice of non-violence, non-greed, and
understanding the natural law of Karma which means doing good deeds bring good fruits in future and harming
others invite pain and misery. Equating these philosophies with what is called ‘religion’ in English Language is
sheer ignorance and deceptive as well.
The highly profound Vedic literature and Upnishads resulted from the experience of countless Yogis and sages of
the past; they were adept scientists exploring the inner world through meditational techniques. They discovered
that everything is interconnected through some divine force that pervades everything and every being – this
reality has been also often called God, although not necessary. Thus, Indians respect all forms of life as well as
nature’s rivers and mountains; and see humanity as one big family (vasudeva Kutumbakam) – disregarding
diversities. This knowledge permeates throughout India, right from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Meghalaya to
Maharashtra.
In fact, in ancient times when the boundaries extended to most of East Asia and to Afghanistan and beyond in the
West, the Western and Chinese travelers saw just “One India” everywhere, despite so much diversities. Even early
Christians and Muslims who had to escape their homeland to avoid religious persecution and found shelter on the
Indian soil merged among congenial Hindus effortlessly despite their foreign appearance and ‘faith’.
Indians practice such a lifestyle in various ways “regardless of their beliefs” – using their own wisdom, knowledge
and rationality. They remain their own master, have full freedom to explore and are responsible for everything
they do or don’t do. They don’t have to surrender to some specially invented god or his special son or messenger
and then robotically indulge in some pre-specified set of “beliefs” and ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ given by unknown
strangers.
For the programmed minds of Muslims and Christians

such an unstructured and open art of living with
absolute freedom of thinking and believing is certainly
very uncomfortable and confusing – and certainly a big
responsibility. But this is what human freedom is all
about – taking responsibility to live without imposed
alien ideas of others!!
What the West called “Religions” – whether say, Christianity or Islam – initially evolved around teachings of
saintly people, like Jesus or Mohammad, to help people lead virtuous life with right moral values – pointing to the
same nature’s laws described more elaborately in the ancient Indian scriptures. But the clergy classes turned
“religions” into political philosophies of dominance. For the masses, religions degenerated to mere ossified “faith”
and “belief” as the basic purpose was lost. Therefore, all we see today is the my-god-better-than-your-god type of
scenario.
Religions are Inherently Divisive
Surely, the most basic defect in religions is their

“divisive nature.” By design, a religion can’t unite the
humanity – it can only divide people into ‘believers’ and
‘non-believers’ with a rock-solid dividing line.
Comically, the force of fragmentation continues even
among the so-called “believers” of a common ideology.
Thus, today there are 73 different sects of Islam and 146 subdivisions of Christianity! If each of these cults has its
own “truth” and “God” there must be 219 different “truths” and “Gods” which is hilarious and a comedy of
collective irrationality!!
Another serious defect in religions is the centrality of some invented ‘god’ – and YOU must BELIEVE in it and
then believe the ‘whole package’ given in the so-called holy-book without questioning!! Nothing can get more
irrational and restrictive than this. Someone has rightly described ‘religion’ – a religion is just a fiction created
around a fictional god. So, religions create yet another division: theist vs atheist. It’s another useless and silly
debate. Buddha’s teaching is devoid of god but his followers are among the most peaceful people in the world. Just
think of Tibet; although devoured by communist China Tibetans don’t indulge in vengefulness or terrorism. And,
all that the Buddha taught was pure ‘Dharma’ – not ‘religion’!!
Yet, another distortion is that a ‘conversion industry’ invariably follows the “faith” to increase the number of
‘believers.’ Thus, there are various types of Muslim and Christian “conversion industries” funded liberally by their
respective charities. So quite naturally, thinkers of the Christian West are worried about losing the number race to
Muslims in next 25-30 years – due to their rather high fertility rate and pre-Islamic practices of child marriage
and polygamy.
Further, in the hands of fanatics or deranged people, “faith” is highly dangerous – it can be more fatal than the
deadly cholera or ebola viruses!! On the flipside, it is also true that excessive indulgence in “faith” can also trap
people into permanent hallucination. Jihadi terrorism that we see today is a good example of that – religion has
turned them into self-destructive “humanoids.” In the past two millenniums, insane “believers” have killed more
people in their so-called holy-crusades or holy-jihads than all other wars of the history combined. The history of
Islamic expansion since the 7th century AD is nothing but a repetitive tale of human genocide and terror “in the
glory of Allah.” For example, explore: 1000 Years of Islamic Jihad in India.
It is fair to say that today there are very few people who really understand the very purpose of their ‘religion’ –
which is to establish them in right human values and conduct; the vast majority is just the crowd of ‘believers’ or
‘faithists’ lost in rituals and costumes.
Wise Indian Muslims as well as Indian Christians feel safe in India because the majority Hindu community is
inherently tolerant and accommodative by nature and their philosophy is unifying, unlike their own divisive
“faith.” They feel further safe because there is no “Hindu conversion industry” with “manipulative sharks”
scheming to change their “faith” label. And they are absolutely right!!
Indian Christians and Muslims have the golden chance to re-board the Dharma expressway, from where their
ancestors were forced out in the past! Don’t let the ‘imposed foreign faith’ become a barrier for national
integration.
You may also like to explore:
World Needs More Dharma, Less Religion!

Can Trump Really Wipe Out “Radical Islamic Terrorism”?
Rise Of Global Terrorism
After climate change and global warming “radical Islamic terrorism”, as the US
President Trump calls it, is another global threat that worries the global
community. If climate change and global warming are purely ‘secular’
phenomena the menace of this jihadi terrorism is purely ‘religious’ – a “terror
God” is pleased whenever his ‘true disciples’ kill innocent people. However, both
do not recognize national or geographical boundaries – like flash-floods,
landslides and earthquakes the jihadis also strike suddenly. Although their
global brand ambassador, the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS),
has lost territory in the Middle East its “virtual Islamic Caliphate” continues to thrive in the cyberspace –
radicalizing and recruiting Muslims to eliminate ‘infidels’ from the world. Thanks to its high-tech marketing
propaganda on the internet and social media platforms, the glamour of jihadi terrorism has spread widely and
penetrated deeply in the Muslim societies around the world. Now other jihad corporations are also perfecting the
virtual skills for global jihad. Of around 7.6 billion global population, only about 1.6 billion are “believers.” The
rest 6 billion are “infidels” – representing a huge unfinished work for the global jihadis!
Walking on the footsteps of the ISIS is the Islamic State of Pakistan (ISP)
in the South Asia – the biggest Islamic State in the world, with over 200
million Muslims. While the ISIS was born and gone just in few years the
ISP has managed to survive, despite bifurcation in 1971, since its Islamic
birth in 1947. It proudly houses mighty terror corporations like the
Haqqanis, Taliban, and Al Qaeda along with several dozen other jihadi
enterprises. Its ex-President, Pervez Musharraf, proudly declares on TV
channels that he has very high regard for the globally wanted terrorist
Hafiz Saeed – the mastermind of Mumbai terror attack of 2008. Its secret
agency ISI not only runs numerous jihad factories in the country but also
actively nurtures terror units in other countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar. It also has several India focused
jihadi outfits like JeM, LeT and HM for whom the presence of over 1000 million “infidel” Hindus in the
neighborhood is a mouth watering proposition. The “holy warriors” routinely cross into Indian border and soon
get dispatched to hell by the Indian security forces, despite the promise of 72 virgins in heaven by their Pakistani
godfathers!
As part of its jihadi agenda, Pakistan ISI is doing its best to radicalize Indian Muslims and exploit the historical
Hindu-Muslim fault line. Therefore, the hazard of jihadi terrorism is unlikely to disappear at least from the South
Asia, and Hindu India would always remain their sworn enemy for wielding the 1400 year old “sword of Islam”.
Dream of Islamic Dominance!
Although the tradition of violence in the name of Islam is as old as

Islam itself, the roots of the current spell of global jihadi terrorism
can be traced back to the fight against the Soviet occupation of
Afghanistan in 1980s during the last decade of the cold war era.
Using its close ally Pakistan, the US created an army of Afghan
jihadis and pitted them against the communists. Reflecting the
peculiarity of Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan Muslimun), around
20,000 Mujahideens also arrived from different parts of the world
to join the jihad (“holy war”) to drive out the non-Muslim “infidels” from Afghanistan. A big number came from
the Middle East including, the rich Saudi national Osama bin Laden. They turned it into a typical Islam vs ‘infidel’
battle. Certainly, the Americans then could not imagine that this jihadi monster, like the Bhasmasur of Indian
mythology, would one day turn against them and the whole humanity!
When the communists decided to end their decade long occupation of Afghanistan, the global jihadis like bin
Laden went ecstatic. They projected it as yet another historic victory of Islam over the non-believers, conveniently
ignoring the fact that the long drawn US cold war policies had already eaten away the might of the mighty Soviets
to a significant extent. Thus, the Soviets not only withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 but the whole communist
bloc too fell apart soon thereafter. [It is the same reason why colonial powers like Britain and France had to
withdraw from their colonies at the end of second WW2.]
This victory emboldened the hardcore jihadis like Osama bin Laden to prepare for a much “bigger
jihad” – reflecting their deep-rooted Islamic dream of conquering the whole world. The deadly
Hollywood style September 11, 2001 attack on the US soil was the first quantum leap.
Masterminded by Osama, it successfully demonstrated their capability to strike even the
mightiest in the world. 15 out of 19 terrorists were from the Saudi Arabia – the motherland of the
most suppressive version of Islam, Wahhabism that promotes radicalism and motivates
terrorists to do what they do.
In retaliation, the US troops arrived in Afghanistan hunting Osama, and threw away the Pak backed Taliban
government. But it took them 10 years to hunt down bin Laden in 2011 because he was living safely inside the
radicalized Pakistan. However, even after 16 years of military presence, endless drone attacks and dropping the
“mother of all bombs” they have failed to root out the jihadi hazard. On the contrary, jihadis appear to have grown
stronger over the years, the credit for which again fully goes to Pakistan which is religiously obsessed to groom
terrorism as an undeclared state policy – while posing of as the “biggest victim of terrorism” before the
international community. It even wants the world to acknowledge its “high sacrifices” made in the global war or
terror!!
Pakistan Turns Into A Jihadi “Islamic State”
Soviets withdrawal from the Afghanistan did not just inflate the ego of the Al
Qaeda masters it also distorted the cocky brains of Pak generals and turned
them rogue. Rather than dismantling the jihadi factories after the Soviet
departure in 1989 they decided to divert the trained jihadis against its ‘eternal’
enemy India. Thus, Pakistan started infiltrating battle hardened jihadis into
Kashmir. It also created India-focused terror groups like JeM, HM and LeT to
continue its undeclared war of attrition in the form of bloody Islamic jihad
against Hindu India, particularly in Kashmir.
The 2002 Parliament attack and 2008 Mumbai terror attack are like most precious victory trophies for Islamic
Pakistan in its jihad against the “infidel” Hindu India. Pak sponsored jihadi violence is a daily feature in Kashmir.
Now Pakistan plans to equip jihadis with high-tech weapons for night warfare and is training them to handle even
chemical weapons. Winter months always posed problems for the Pak jihadis to cross into the Indian side, so now
Pakistan is importing protective winter gears for the jihadis so that they can carry on their violence uninterrupted
throughout the year.
On the flip side, the love for jihadis and fundamentalists has already caused un-repairable damage to Pak society
which is now badly infected with all types of jihadi viruses while the nation stands exposed internationally as a
sponsor of terrorism. Global leaders are worried not only about Pakistan’s future stability as a country but also
about terrorists taking control of its nuclear arsenal. They are also concerned about Pak military pushing
fundamentalists into the political mainstream to weaken the “somewhat” civilian government. After North Korea,
Pakistan is the only country in the world that threatens its neighbor with nuclear attack on regular basis. It is also
an open secret that Pakistan clandestinely supplied nuclear technology to North Korea.
ignoring Pak’s vehement protest the US wants India to play the
dominant role in the development of Afghanistan and peace in the
entire region. President Trump has coined the term “Indo-Pacific” to
further emphasize India’s emerging new dominant role in the global
politics along with Japan and Australia.
“Good Terrorists” and “Bad Terrorists”
The global efforts to wipe out terrorism have so far remained

ineffective primarily due to the distinction: bad-terrorists vs good-terrorists. Thus, Osama and with his Al Qaeda
gang were “good-terrorists” as long as they fought the Soviets in the 1980s. They became “really bad” after the
9/11 attack in 2001!
Between the departure of the Soviets from Afghanistan in 1989 and 2001 Kashmir remained the hotbed of Pak
sponsored terrorism because Pak sent “good terrorists” for jihadi violence; they were of course “bad terrorists” for
India. Americans remained unconcerned because they had never tasted the hurt of jihadi terrorism. In fact, the
global community never bothered to listen whenever India raised the issue of jihadi terrorism. Over the decades,
Pakistan has created several gangs of “good-terrorists” like JeM, HM, LeT specifically to hurt India. The Shia
Hezbollah group is “good” for Iran but “bad” for Saudis, Israelis and Americans. Hamas is “bad” for Israel but
good the Palestinians, Arab nations and Iran.
So, terrorists are always “good” for their godfathers. In fact, they are important pawns in the politics in the Middle
East and North Africa (MENA) and South Asian regions – in the later region, primarily due to the Islamic State of
Pakistan. Their biggest advantage is that they can do things and operate in ways not possible for the soldiers of
official army whose conduct is governed by international protocols. Thus, Pakistan could launch Kargil invasion
using terrorists and mutilate bodies of Indian soldiers or use them to attack Indian soldiers at the border and
behead them. It also used trained suicidal jihadis to attack Indian parliament in 2002 and Mumbai in 2008 to kill
“as many ‘infidels’ as they could, till death.” Such substandard things are not possible with soldiers.
Realistically, the distinction of good/bad terrorist is unlikely to disappear because they have emerged as strategic
assets for most Muslim nations. A country like Pakistan, which is devoid of any positive national goal other then
the single point hate-India agenda, can never think of wiping out jihadi terrorism – no matter how hard the US
and India try – because it is the only thing to justify its Islamic birth as a nation, nearing its expiry date!
Radicalization Through Social Media
A peculiar angle has emerged

with Jihadi violence in recent
years due to increasing
penetration of Internet and
popularity of social media
around the world. Now, for
instance, global terror groups
can use social media and net
connectivity to radicalize
Muslims (lone wolf tactic) in any
country. They can even give
online training in bomb making and various ways to create panic, disrupt societies and kill people. Social media is
a great channel for brainwashing and radicalization through videos, chats and multimedia material. Thus, people
around the world have to be constantly watchful – there is no way to know if the Hafiz Saeed, Assiduddin Owasi or
Pervez Musharraf living next door is not a radicalized lone wolf waiting for his chance to attack them.
The global Muslim population is around 1.6 Billion. Imagine if just 0.1 percent of this population is radicalized.
That’s staggering 1.6 million potential terrorists threatening humanity.
A peculiar angle has emerged
with Jihadi violence in recent
years due to increasing
penetration of Internet and
popularity of social media
around the world. Now, for
instance, global terror groups
can use social media and net
connectivity to radicalize
Muslims (lone wolf tactic) in any
country. They can even give
online training in bomb making and various ways to create panic, disrupt societies and kill people. Social media is
a great channel for brainwashing and radicalization through videos, chats and multimedia material. Thus, people
around the world have to be constantly watchful – there is no way to know if the Hafiz Saeed, Assiduddin Owasi or
Pervez Musharraf living next door is not a radicalized lone wolf waiting for his chance to attack them.
How To Fight The War “On Terror” More Effectively
President Trump must evolve ways to plug online

radicalization along with closing the sources of
weapons and terror funding so that as the existing
jihadis gets killed, no more crop up to replace them.
But it would still not counter the ideology that creates
terrorists at the first place.
President Trump’s two predecessors after the 2001 9/11 attack, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, did not see
Jihadi terrorism on ideological lines. Republican Bush, however, was close in his description of jihadi terrorism as
Islamic fascism of the terrorists who had perverted the ‘peaceful teachings of Islam.’ But he carried on his “War on
Terror” as a “war against the evil” – not against the ideology.
His successor Barack Obama, wanting to be more politically correct, further distanced himself from the
ideological reference and downgraded Bush’s “War on Terror” to a “fight” – a fight against specific terrorist
groups. The phrase “terrorism has no religion” became fashionable among global leaders. He introduced drones to
chase and kill terrorists in order to save American casualties. Americans felt relieved at this but he could not wipe
out terrorism because as terrorists got killed many more were ready to replace them. The supply chain of fresh
terrorists kept working, in fact more efficiently than ever. He failed to realize that the ideologically motivated
jihadis are not like other underworld criminals who happen to be Muslims. Thus he only killed terrorists – and
terrorism continued flourishing.
Republicans have long condemned Obama for failing to properly assess the threat. Trump and his team are more
straightforward and quite close to calling a spade, a spade. Dumping the self delusion of ‘terrorism has no religion’
and the compulsion of ‘political correctness’ they chose to talk pointedly in terms of ‘radical Islamic terrorism’.
Can Trump Really Wipe Out “Radical Islamic Terrorism”?
Rise Of Global Terrorism
After climate change and global warming “radical Islamic terrorism”, as the US President Trump calls it, is
another global threat that worries the global community. If climate change and global warming are purely ‘secular’
phenomena the menace of this jihadi terrorism is purely ‘religious’ – a “terror God” is pleased whenever his ‘true
disciples’ kill innocent people. However, both do not recognize national or geographical boundaries – like flash-
floods, landslides and earthquakes the jihadis also strike suddenly. Although their global brand ambassador, the
so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has lost territory in the Middle East its “virtual Islamic Caliphate”
continues to thrive in the cyberspace – radicalizing and recruiting Muslims to eliminate ‘infidels’ from the world.
Thanks to its high-tech marketing propaganda on the internet and social media platforms, the glamour of jihadi
terrorism has spread widely and penetrated deeply in the Muslim societies around the world. Now other jihad
corporations are also perfecting the virtual skills for global jihad. Of around 7.6 billion global population, only
about 1.6 billion are “believers.” The rest 6 billion are “infidels” – representing a huge unfinished work for the
global jihadis!
Walking on the footsteps of the ISIS is the Islamic State of Pakistan (ISP) in the South Asia – the biggest Islamic
State in the world, with over 200 million Muslims. While the ISIS was born and gone just in few years the ISP has
managed to survive, despite bifurcation in 1971, since its Islamic birth in 1947. It proudly houses mighty terror
corporations like the Haqqanis, Taliban, and Al Qaeda along with several dozen other jihadi enterprises. Its ex-
President, Pervez Musharraf, proudly declares on TV channels that he has very high regard for the globally wanted
terrorist Hafiz Saeed – the mastermind of Mumbai terror attack of 2008. Its secret agency ISI not only runs
numerous jihad factories in the country but also actively nurtures terror units in other countries like Bangladesh
and Myanmar. It also has several India focused jihadi outfits like JeM, LeT and HM for whom the presence of
over 1000 million “infidel” Hindus in the neighborhood is a mouth watering proposition. The “holy warriors”
routinely cross into Indian border and soon get dispatched to hell by the Indian security forces, despite the
promise of 72 virgins in heaven by their Pakistani godfathers!
Although the tradition of violence in the name of Islam is as old as Islam itself, the roots of the current spell of
global jihadi terrorism can be traced back to the fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1980s
during the last decade of the cold war era. Using its close ally Pakistan, the US created an army of Afghan jihadis
and pitted them against the communists. Reflecting the peculiarity of Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan Muslimun),
around 20,000 Mujahideens also arrived from different parts of the world to join the jihad (“holy war”) to drive
out the non-Muslim “infidels” from Afghanistan. A big number came from the Middle East including, the rich
Saudi national Osama bin Laden. They turned it into a typical Islam vs ‘infidel’ battle. Certainly, the Americans
then could not imagine that this jihadi monster, like the Bhasmasur of Indian mythology, would one day turn
against them and the whole humanity!
This victory emboldened the hardcore jihadis like Osama bin Laden to prepare for a much “bigger jihad” –
reflecting their deep-rooted Islamic dream of conquering the whole world. The deadly Hollywood style September
11, 2001 attack on the US soil was the first quantum leap. Masterminded by Osama, it successfully demonstrated
over 1000 million “infidel” Hindus in the neighborhood is a mouth watering proposition. The “holy warriors”
routinely cross into Indian border and soon get dispatched to hell by the Indian security forces, despite the
promise of 72 virgins in heaven by their Pakistani godfathers!
Although the tradition of violence in the name of Islam is as old as Islam itself, the roots of the current spell of
global jihadi terrorism can be traced back to the fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1980s
during the last decade of the cold war era. Using its close ally Pakistan, the US created an army of Afghan jihadis
and pitted them against the communists. Reflecting the peculiarity of Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan Muslimun),
around 20,000 Mujahideens also arrived from different parts of the world to join the jihad (“holy war”) to drive
out the non-Muslim “infidels” from Afghanistan. A big number came from the Middle East including, the rich
Saudi national Osama bin Laden. They turned it into a typical Islam vs ‘infidel’ battle. Certainly, the Americans
then could not imagine that this jihadi monster, like the Bhasmasur of Indian mythology, would one day turn
against them and the whole humanity!
This victory emboldened the hardcore jihadis like Osama bin Laden to prepare for a much “bigger jihad” –
reflecting their deep-rooted Islamic dream of conquering the whole world. The deadly Hollywood style September
11, 2001 attack on the US soil was the first quantum leap. Masterminded by Osama, it successfully demonstrated
their capability to strike even the mightiest in the world. 15 out of 19 terrorists were from the Saudi Arabia – the
motherland of the most suppressive version of Islam, Wahhabism that promotes radicalism and motivates
terrorists to do what they do.
In retaliation, the US troops arrived in Afghanistan hunting Osama, and threw away the Pak backed Taliban
government. But it took them 10 years to hunt down bin Laden in 2011 because he was living safely inside the
radicalized Pakistan. However, even after 16 years of military presence, endless drone attacks and dropping the
“mother of all bombs” they have failed to root out the jihadi hazard. On the contrary, jihadis appear to have grown
stronger over the years, the credit for which again fully goes to Pakistan which is religiously obsessed to groom
terrorism as an undeclared state policy – while posing of as the “biggest victim of terrorism” before the
international community. It even wants the world to acknowledge its “high sacrifices” made in the global war or
terror!!
Pakistan Turns Into A Jihadi “Islamic State”
Soviets withdrawal from the Afghanistan did not just inflate the ego of the Al Qaeda masters it also distorted the
cocky brains of Pak generals and turned them rogue. Rather than dismantling the jihadi factories after the Soviet
departure in 1989 they decided to divert the trained jihadis against its ‘eternal’ enemy India. Thus, Pakistan
started infiltrating battle hardened jihadis into Kashmir. It also created India-focused terror groups like JeM, HM
and LeT to continue its undeclared war of attrition in the form of bloody Islamic jihad against Hindu India,
particularly in Kashmir.
The 2002 Parliament attack and 2008 Mumbai terror attack are like most precious victory trophies for Islamic
Pakistan in its jihad against the “infidel” Hindu India. Pak sponsored jihadi violence is a daily feature in Kashmir.
Now Pakistan plans to equip jihadis with high-tech weapons for night warfare and is training them to handle even
global community never bothered to listen whenever India raised the issue of jihadi terrorism. Over the decades,
Pakistan has created several gangs of “good-terrorists” like JeM, HM, LeT specifically to hurt India. The Shia
Hezbollah group is “good” for Iran but “bad” for Saudis, Israelis and Americans. Hamas is “bad” for Israel but
good the Palestinians, Arab nations and Iran.
So, terrorists are always “good” for their godfathers. In fact, they are important pawns in the politics in the Middle
East and North Africa (MENA) and South Asian regions – in the later region, primarily due to the Islamic State of
Pakistan. Their biggest advantage is that they can do things and operate in ways not possible for the soldiers of
official army whose conduct is governed by international protocols. Thus, Pakistan could launch Kargil invasion
using terrorists and mutilate bodies of Indian soldiers or use them to attack Indian soldiers at the border and
behead them. It also used trained suicidal jihadis to attack Indian parliament in 2002 and Mumbai in 2008 to kill
“as many ‘infidels’ as they could, till death.” Such substandard things are not possible with soldiers.
Realistically, the distinction of good/bad terrorist is unlikely to disappear because they have emerged as strategic
assets for most Muslim nations. A country like Pakistan, which is devoid of any positive national goal other then
the single point hate-India agenda, can never think of wiping out jihadi terrorism – no matter how hard the US
and India try – because it is the only thing to justify its Islamic birth as a nation, nearing its expiry date!
Radicalization Through Social Media
A peculiar angle has emerged with Jihadi violence in recent years due to increasing penetration of Internet and
popularity of social media around the world. Now, for instance, global terror groups can use social media and net
connectivity to radicalize Muslims (lone wolf tactic) in any country. They can even give online training in bomb
making and various ways to create panic, disrupt societies and kill people. Social media is a great channel for
brainwashing and radicalization through videos, chats and multimedia material. Thus, people around the world
have to be constantly watchful – there is no way to know if the Hafiz Saeed, Assiduddin Owasi or Pervez
Musharraf living next door is not a radicalized lone wolf waiting for his chance to attack them.
President Trump must evolve ways to plug online radicalization along with closing the sources of weapons and
terror funding so that as the existing jihadis gets killed, no more crop up to replace them. But it would still not
counter the ideology that creates terrorists at the first place.
have to be constantly watchful – there is no way to know if the Hafiz Saeed, Assiduddin Owasi or Pervez
Musharraf living next door is not a radicalized lone wolf waiting for his chance to attack them.
President Trump must evolve ways to plug online radicalization along with closing the sources of weapons and
terror funding so that as the existing jihadis gets killed, no more crop up to replace them. But it would still not
counter the ideology that creates terrorists at the first place.
Interrogation of captured terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan also revealed that the top brains of terror outfits like
the Al Qaeda and Taliban were genuine ideologues, adherents to the fundamentalist Salafi/Wahhabi strain of
Islam. This ideology exploits the dual role of Mohammad – a social reformer saint and a political leader who
fought wars. It solely focuses on the later and interprets Quranic verses out of context and in a totally distorted
manner to glorify violence as a god given duty. In doing so, it entirely throws away the spiritual “essence” of Islam
and turns it into a totalitarian political ideology. Irrationality is deeply ingrained in their thinking, which easily
enters the domain of insanity. Yet, whether irrational or insane, terrorists do have a political ideology that no sane
person would equate with the religion of Islam. In fact, their ideology appears totally alien to even Muslims.
Yet, they have an ideology which must be countered through a well devised narrative. Muslim scholars can make
significant contribution here. In fact, they should have prevented misuse of their religion in such as a gross way at
the first place. But alone they are vulnerable because of the very real fear of being killed – killing dissenters is a
deep rooted practice of the fundamentalists in the Muslim societies. This deep-rooted violent tradition has largely
left Muslim societies at the mercy of fundamentalists.
President Trump must collaborate with progressive Islamic elements such as scholars, intellectuals, and Muslim
activists and create a vocal global entity that would counter and expose radical preachers and brainwashing
experts who prepare the raw material for the terror industry. Saudi Prince’s recent desire to wipe out global
terrorism gives some optimism. The Wahhabi scholars of his country can play a vital role in depoliticizing Islam
by eliminating distorted interpretation of Quran.
The Comedy Of Trump’s “Triple Talaq” To Pakistan!

Posted on September 21, 2017
Pakistan’s commitment against terrorism is firm like rock. It wants to keep fighting the terrorists for rest of its
life! And it’s the only country in the whole world wanting to do that!! But it’s only possible if it continues to
produce them – after all you can kill a terrorist only once; it’s pure commonsense. Trump should understand that!
Trump is also so ignorant. He not only could not understand Pak’s heavenly love for jehadis terrorism, he also
failed to note its divine hate for India, full of so many kafirs. If Pakistan were a jehadi terrorist it would have by
now already blown its suicide vest to destroy India and reached jannat!
Pakistan Must Win Bangladesh War in Kashmir!
If Trump is talking like this it sure must be a devious conspiracy of Modi

and Indian devil RAW who poisoned Trump’s ears. They are really bad.
Now they are planning to setup high-tech Israeli fencing at the border. In
fact, Trump should convince India not to do that; it would deny products
of its Jehad factories their ‘right and freedom’ to kill and die to reach
‘jannat’ directly from Kashmir. The fencing would also put Pakistanis at
great risk because jehadis would then have no option but to ‘perform their
religious rites’ inside Pakistan. Whenever it happens all blames would go
to Trump for endangering Pakistani lives!
Lately, India has beefed up its border surveillance and its military has been killing Pak trained jehadis sent there
on divine mission and is locking up its agents who pay Kashmiri kids to throw stones at Indian army-men. It is
unbelievable how Americans could join hands with such a hostile India. If Modi succeeds in his plan both jehadis
and stone throwers would soon go out of job! There is already so much unemployment everywhere. India was
really wonderful before Modi became PM in 2014. Modi is really anti-Islam; he doesn’t even practice Muslim
‘appeasement’ like others. Many of its mouthpieces are having a hard time in India. It is really hard to deal with
Modi’s India.
Trump is also ignorant of history. He must understand that Pakistan has to win its Bangladesh war in Kashmir!
But since India is too mighty, it can’t win a direct war. So it has to depend upon the jehadis to hurt India. In 1971,
devil Indians helped East Pakistanis to become Bangladesh. They also captured 93,000 of its army men and
grabbed 5000 square km of its land in West Pakistan. How could Indians do such a bad thing to Pakistan – the
only country in the world formed in the name of religion. It badly hurt Pakistan’s Islamic pride. Trump should
know that Islam was, and still is, the only reason for its existence! He must know that Islam is its only identity.
Pakistan lost in 1971 because it did not have jehad factories and jehadi products then. But situation is changed
today. Now it has a thriving terror industry with indigenous brainwash centers and almost ‘Nobel Quality’
professors of jehad science and technology; its products have won worldwide acclaim. No corner of the globe is
beyond the reach of its jehadis. In fact, they can go where even American fighter jets and drones can’t reach!
Pakistan is no longer a Muslim country; it is a Wahhabi nation now. In fact, more Wahhabi than Saudi Arabia. If
Saudis know Wahhabism in theory, Pakistan actually practices it! So, if ‘not now then when’ it can think of
winning the lost war of 1971! Americans should recall how Pakistan helped them train jehadis fighter to drive out
the communists from Afghanistan in the 1980s. But they never bothered to dismantle the jehad paraphernalia
after the communist left and Pakistan was burdened to look after their welfare.
Now it’s time that the US returned the favour by helping it win the Bangladesh war in Kashmir! But instead it is
talking talaq, how ungrateful? Then it is also talking of conditional aid. Can there be conditionalities in marriage,
even if it were a marriage of convenience?
Mr Trump must answer!
Posted in Pakistan | Tagged donald trump, Pak sponsor terrorism, Pakistan, Pakistan terrorists | Leave a comment
India Ends Triple Talaq; Why Shah Bano Failed in 1985?

Trump is also ignorant of history. He must understand that Pakistan has to win its Bangladesh war in Kashmir!
But since India is too mighty, it can’t win a direct war. So it has to depend upon the jehadis to hurt India. In 1971,
devil Indians helped East Pakistanis to become Bangladesh. They also captured 93,000 of its army men and
grabbed 5000 square km of its land in West Pakistan. How could Indians do such a bad thing to Pakistan – the
only country in the world formed in the name of religion. It badly hurt Pakistan’s Islamic pride. Trump should
know that Islam was, and still is, the only reason for its existence! He must know that Islam is its only identity.
Pakistan lost in 1971 because it did not have jehad factories and jehadi products then. But situation is changed
today. Now it has a thriving terror industry with indigenous brainwash centers and almost ‘Nobel Quality’
professors of jehad science and technology; its products have won worldwide acclaim. No corner of the globe is
beyond the reach of its jehadis. In fact, they can go where even American fighter jets and drones can’t reach!
Pakistan is no longer a Muslim country; it is a Wahhabi nation now. In fact, more Wahhabi than Saudi Arabia. If
Saudis know Wahhabism in theory, Pakistan actually practices it! So, if ‘not now then when’ it can think of
winning the lost war of 1971! Americans should recall how Pakistan helped them train jehadis fighter to drive out
the communists from Afghanistan in the 1980s. But they never bothered to dismantle the jehad paraphernalia
after the communist left and Pakistan was burdened to look after their welfare.
Now it’s time that the US returned the favour by helping it win the Bangladesh war in Kashmir! But instead it is
talking talaq, how ungrateful? Then it is also talking of conditional aid. Can there be conditionalities in marriage,
even if it were a marriage of convenience?
Mr Trump must answer!
Posted in Pakistan | Tagged donald trump, Pak sponsor terrorism, Pakistan, Pakistan terrorists | Leave a comment
India Ends Triple Talaq; Why Shah Bano Failed in 1985?

Posted on August 26, 2017
India got freedom in 1947 from British exploitation. But it took another 70 years for Indian Muslim women to
gain freedom from the whimsical ‘triple talaq’, promoted by backward looking clergy in the name of Islam and
Sharia. The AIMPLB clearly emerged as the biggest hurdle in granting freedom, equality and dignity to Muslim
women..
August 22 Brings Dignity and Freedom For Muslim Women
August 22, 2017 will be remembered by all Indian Muslim women as the day
when they got freedom from the oppressive practice of sudden and arbitrary
out-of-court ‘triple talaq’ deliberately sustained by the maulavis in the name of
‘Islam’ and ‘Sharia’. It brought unbelievable sense of relief and freedom for the
90 million women under the veil for the first time in their life. Although not
fully out of the oppressive patriarchal shadow, Muslim women can now hope
for some sense of dignity and security in their lives. It was something political
pundits have never thought feasible, given the deep rooted cult of maulvi
appeasement politics in the political establishment.
What is remarkable is that the initiative came from the triple talaq victims
encouraged by women groups. But this time they were actively supported by
the Union government of the Bhartiya Janata Party, which is staunchly against Muslim appeasement politics.
Modi government firmly stood for women’s rights and gender justice in the Supreme Court. Needless to say,
lawyer politicians from the Congress Party (the mother of all Muslim appeasement gimmicks) argued for maulavis
represented by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) but failed give a single rational argument that
triple talaq has anything to do with Islam.
August 22 must also be the darkest day in the life of backward looking maulanas because the SC verdict jolted
their patriarchal stranglehold over women of the community. It also gave a severe blow to their uniquely irrational
Here is a Little Secret, why Rajiv Gandhi acted the way he did.
In a Lok Sabha TV debate on August 25, an SC advocate Amitabh Sinha revealed a startling secret – on how the
then Congress Leaders looked at the Maulavis protest against the SC verdict. He cited the comment of a senior
Party leader Arjun Singh: “If they want to remain stuck in a hole, let them be.” And thus, Rajiv Gandhi went ahead
with the Constitutional amendment to mollify protesting mullahs and preserve the vote bank.
Thus, as long as the appeasement politicians ruled the central government Muslim women remained oppressed
and exploited because the ruling elites could never think of going against the wishes of maulavis for fear of losing
the vote bank. Despite the baseless and malicious campaign against the BJP that it fuels Hindu-Muslim conflict
and that Muslims would be in trouble if it comes to power, Modi proved that only and he and his party are actually
secular. Isn’t it surprising that since 2014 people have not heard of communal clashes and corruption scandals
that were regular features for 10 years under the Congress led UPA government.
No surprise if a large fraction of Muslim women go with the BJP in future elections. It would discourage mullah
promoted isolationism in the community and a big leap towards true national integration!
Are Muslim Women only Objects to be Used and Thrown Away?
In a recent survey an NGO found that of all divorced Muslim women, 66 percent were divorced orally; 7.6 percent
through letter, 3.4 percent on phone. In recent years, social media emerged as another channel to throw away
wives whimsically – reflecting the typical use, abuse and dump mindset of the male community.
The Census 2011 data shows that around half of all married Muslim women got married before the legal marriage
age of 18; of which around one in seven even before 14. Such early marriages deprive them the opportunity of
acquiring education or financial freedom. Child marriage is the proven cause of backwardness and poverty in
communities across the world.
If you wonder why women’s status is so weak in the Muslim

community, just listen to any typical maulavi or qazi talk and you
would soon conclude that all rights and freedom belongs to men
alone – as per ‘their’ Islam and Sharia. Many have been proudly
declaring on TV channels that even if the man is drunk and utters
talaq three times the marriage is instantly over. ‘Their’ Islam is blind
to justice for the estranged wife and concern for the abandoned
children. As a result, a Muslim man could send the TTT words from
Dubai just days after the marriage or he could wait for 10 years, 20
years… he would still be always fully backed by the qazis whose livelihood depend upon propagating injustice to
women ‘in the name of Islam’.
The human civilization has crossed the 20th century and is preparing for the global challenges of the 21st century.
But Indian maulvis just can’t shed their ossified mindset; they appear mentally incapable of absorbing progressive
modern ideas. They obsessively resist change talks of gender equality and equal rights to men and women – again
hiding behind the smokescreen of Islam or Sharia.
‘Their’ Islam and Sharia can impose any injustice or irrationality particularly on women. Nikah halala is perhaps
their favorite; it is a mouth watering proposition for sex lover maulvis. It comes in the picture if the divorced
woman wants to remarry her previous husband. As per ‘their’ Islam she has to now marry another man, must have
sex with him, and get divorced – only then she gets ‘purified’ to remarry her ex husband. What a nonsense logic!!
News channels recently exposed how so many maulavis remain ever eager to become ‘one night husband’ for a
hefty pre-fixed fee! It doesn’t even matter if these ‘play boy’ maulvis are already married. This is a frightening and
exploitative proposition for helpless and already harassed women. Imagine the immense mental agony,
humiliation and exploitation a woman feels while going through such halala marriage for rape. But the ‘Islam’ of
these maulvis allows it. Most certainly, like jehadi terrorists these stuck brain maulavis are the biggest enemies of
their own religion.
If you wonder why women’s status is so weak in the Muslim community, just
talk and you would soon conclude that all rights and freedom
belongs to men alone – as per ‘their’ Islam and Sharia. Many have
been proudly declaring on TV channels that even if the man is drunk
and utters talaq three times the marriage is instantly over. ‘Their’
Islam is blind to justice for the estranged wife and concern for the
abandoned children. As a result, a Muslim man could send the TTT
words from Dubai just days after the marriage or he could wait for
10 years, 20 years… he would still be always fully backed by the qazis
whose livelihood depend upon propagating injustice to women ‘in the name of Islam’.
But Indian maulvis just can’t shed their ossified mindset; they appear mentally incapable of absorbing progressive
modern ideas. They obsessively resist change talks of gender equality and equal rights to men and women – again
hiding behind the smokescreen of Islam or Sharia.
‘Their’ Islam and Sharia can impose any injustice or irrationality particularly on women. Nikah halala is perhaps
their favorite; it is a mouth watering proposition for sex lover maulvis. It comes in the picture if the divorced
woman wants to remarry her previous husband. As per ‘their’ Islam she has to now marry another man, must have
sex with him, and get divorced – only then she gets ‘purified’ to remarry her ex husband. What a nonsense logic!!
News channels recently exposed how so many maulavis remain ever eager to become ‘one night husband’ for a
hefty pre-fixed fee! It doesn’t even matter if these ‘play boy’ maulvis are already married. This is a frightening and
exploitative proposition for helpless and already harassed women. Imagine the immense mental agony,
humiliation and exploitation a woman feels while going through such halala marriage for rape. But the ‘Islam’ of
these maulvis allows it. Most certainly, like jehadi terrorists these stuck brain maulavis are the biggest enemies of
their own religion.
It would be wrong to say that they are issues only of 90 million ‘Muslim women’. They are serious issues that
vitiate the social atmosphere and culture of the whole country – which stands for justice, dignity and freedom for
all its citizens. Maulvis tend to forget that Muslim women are ‘Indian citizens’ of a secular democracy too and that
they have the same Constitutional rights as any other Indian citizen.
Over 22 Islamic countries (including neighboring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan) banned ‘triple talaq’
long ago. Egypt was the first country to ban it in 1929; Pakistan banned it in 1956 after a weird and unethical
behaviour of its then PM. But a secular country India where 85% people are not Muslim had to wait 70 years after
independence to ban it. It is really disturbing to see how badly the maulvis have been spoiled by the appeasement
politicians during all these decades.
AIMPLB Symbolizes Injustice and Oppression of Women
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is a self-declared mouthpiece of
ALL Indian Muslims. But don’t conclude that it represents all Indian Muslims or wants
to promote education and development in the Muslim community. In reality, it is just
a club of cocky and backward looking fundamentalist mullahs, who are highly allergic
to progress or change. Even in the 21st century they behave as if mentally stuck in the
7th century tribal society of Arab desert. Symbolizing patriarchy and backwardness the
only thing they wants is to maintain their stranglehold on the community. They almost
compulsively oppose every talk of freedom, equality and dignity to women. And they always do so, in the name of
Islam or Sharia.
Saudi Arabia society is the best reflection of their mindset. The status of women in Sharia society can be judged
from the restrictions listed here. There is no dignity, freedom or respect for women as human being. Although the
Saudi monarch has just recently announced that Saudi women would be allowed to drive from June 2018, the list
of oppressive laws against women is very long. A Saudi Maulvi recently pronounced that a woman’s mental
capability is only one-fourth as compared with a man. In a Sharia society a rape victim is highly susceptible to
End of triple talaq should be seen as an important but only a tiny step towards justice and dignity for Muslim
women. Talaq is still a privilege of men. However, now it is time to exploit the space created by the SC verdict to
fight for further freedom.
Human life is all about developing various potentials that lie dormant in us. A religion is meant to help people
‘liberate’ from the shackles of ignorance and destructive thinking. But when it starts to imprison people into rigid
thinking and promote irrationality, it becomes a serious obstacle to human growth and social progress. Radical
Islamists and terrorists are the best example of that.
It is time for the younger generation of Muslim community to come forward, focus on acquiring modern
education and join the national mainstream to enjoy fruits of development and freedom in the 21st century world.
The most effective way to lift the mullah controlled Muslim community out of backwardness and patriarchy is to
focus on girls’ education and stop their marriages before 18.
Perhaps the best way to integrate the Muslim community into national mainstream is to embrace the uniform civil
code. It is opposed by the AIMPLB and obscurantist maulvis because it would weaken their political hold on the
community, but embracing ucc would certainly be the most progressive step for the community.
You may also like to know what Wahhabi Islam is.
Posted in Women | Tagged AIMPLB, Shah Bano case, Triple talaq | Leave a comment
India’s Obsession for ‘GDP Growth’ Is Killing Farmers

Posted on July 26, 2017
With an ongoing petition on farmer suicides in the Supreme Court, the debate appears to be heating up again –
only to fade away much too soon! And, poor farmers would continue to end their lives.
Citing National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the Union agriculture minister recently informed the Parliament
that 11,400 farmers committed suicide in 2016, compared with 12,602 such deaths in 2015.
The minster also said that in 2016-17, Rs 3,560 crore was paid towards premium under the crop insurance scheme
and Rs 3,548 crore was claimed by the farmers. The figures for 2015-16 were Rs 3,760 crore and 4,710 crore,
respectively. He also talked about various Government initiatives and that Rs 10 lakh crore are allotted for farm
credit in the current year.
Needless to say, most of this money will go in the pockets of companies supplying fertilizers, tractor, seeds,
pesticides and so on. The farmers would remain where they are – in poverty! And yes, the GDP would get bigger!!
All government allocations are basically designed to expand the gross domestic product (GDP). It’s all about
economic expansion by helping companies, little about farmers and their wellbeing.
Statisticians playing with the NCRB data come to the obvious conclusion that suicides in the farming sector are
largely due to economic distress than those in the non-farming community, except for Maharashtra and Kerala.
They conclude that it is a regional problem, not a country-wide phenomenon. Other experts who study
demographic surveys tell us that farmers are not the most suicide-prone group in the country. But those farmers
who committed suicide needed counseling more than economic palliatives!!
Really? Would that clear their debt burden or increase their income?
Such analyses are hallucinations of chart master ‘experts’ who have never actually walked on a paddy field. They
are designed more for media debates in AC studios of TV channels; if at all a channel finds any commercial value
India’s Obsession for ‘GDP Growth’ Is Killing Farmers
With an ongoing petition on farmer suicides in the Supreme Court, the debate appears to be heating up again –
only to fade away much too soon! And, poor farmers would continue to end their lives.
Citing National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the Union agriculture minister recently informed the Parliament
that 11,400 farmers committed suicide in 2016, compared with 12,602 such deaths in 2015.
The minster also said that in 2016-17, Rs 3,560 crore was paid towards premium under the crop insurance scheme
and Rs 3,548 crore was claimed by the farmers. The figures for 2015-16 were Rs 3,760 crore and 4,710 crore,
respectively. He also talked about various Government initiatives and that Rs 10 lakh crore are allotted for farm
credit in the current year.
Needless to say, most of this money will go in the pockets of companies supplying fertilizers, tractor, seeds,
pesticides and so on. The farmers would remain where they are – in poverty! And yes, the GDP would get bigger!!
All government allocations are basically designed to expand the gross domestic product (GDP). It’s all about
economic expansion by helping companies, little about farmers and their wellbeing.
Statisticians playing with the NCRB data come to the obvious conclusion that suicides in the farming sector are
largely due to economic distress than those in the non-farming community, except for Maharashtra and Kerala.
They conclude that it is a regional problem, not a country-wide phenomenon. Other experts who study
demographic surveys tell us that farmers are not the most suicide-prone group in the country. But those farmers
who committed suicide needed counseling more than economic palliatives!!
Really? Would that clear their debt burden or increase their income?
Such analyses are hallucinations of chart master ‘experts’ who have never actually walked on a paddy field. They
are designed more for media debates in AC studios of TV channels; if at all a channel finds any commercial value
in it. For these number crunchers, farmer suicide statistics at best provide wonderful topics for MPhil or PhD
thesis. But neither the government nor the ‘experts’ talk about the root cause of farmers’ suicide that has been
going on for 2 decades. Thus, they have no solution.
‘GDP Centric’ Development
Since the economic liberalization in the early 1990s and weakening of license Raj, industrial sector became
prominent for the government. Today this sector contributes the most to GDP growth. As a result, the share of
farming sector in the GDP gets smaller each year. Currently, the farming sector contributes only about 15
percent towards the GDP. Moreover, the farmers who kill themselves due to financial distress are among the
poorest. Their contribution to GDP is only miniscule. They are also voiceless and choice less. Why would any
policy maker care about them?
Moving from farming based economy to industrial economy necessarily involves shifting more and more people
for the farming community of the villages to the industrial sector to become cheap industrial labor force. It also
means displacing the tribal communities from their mineral ridden lands and converting them into industrial
labor. In reality, farmers and tribals are the biggest victims of India’s GDP growth story since past two decades.
Some months ago, some half-brained pseudo-economists were debating this topic on a TV channel devoted to
capital market. One ‘expert’ said something implying that: in order to have ‘lowest cost’ industrial labor, it is
important that farming labors and tribals should be displaced from where they live and be forced to migrate to
distant towns where they become rootless.
Such brain-dead intellectuals know nothing about human wellbeing, human dignity and what ‘development’ is
really about. Their task becomes much easier as ‘GDP growth’ becomes the only national obsession.
Unfortunately, we live in a copy cat country that believes in adopting western concepts without Indianization.
Solution lies in creating a better composite indicator of development. Such a composite development index can be
easily created following the ideas behind the construct of multidimensional poverty index (MPI).
I hope someone in the NITI elite group is thinking along this line.
You may like to explore further
Why “Development” should Focus on People, Not Economy

Why Is India So Obsessed with GDP Growth?
Posted in Economy and Business | Tagged farmer suicide, GDP growth | Leave a comment
It was unfair to blame the local forest-dependent communities for the destruction of forests when the Forest
Department has not been able to get its house in order, it said.
It is also alleged that the current developmental policies of allowing mega projects has destroyed more trees
than the TD rights holders, besides causing large-scale destruction to ecology as well as loss of livelihood for
the local communities.
It is estimated that just to lay the transmission line of JayPee’s hydel power project in Wangtoo Karcham,
thousands of trees of extremely precious cedrus deodara of the alpine range would be sacrificed in Nichar tehsil
the tribal district of Kinnaur alone.
Similarly the ecology is being devastated with the commissioning of various cement plants in the state.
Gujrat Ambuja cements limited in Darla

JayPee in Malokhar both in Solan districts
Lafarge in Karsog in Mandi district, etc
These cement plants have not only adversely effected the ecology of the area but are also responsible for the
sudden increase of asthma cases in the surrounding region.
Specific Objections
Critics of the new policy call it anti poor and state that the mafia and the
rich would continue to derive maximum benefit from the new policy also
for the following reasons.
Poor Can’t afford it. The new policy states that timber would be
provided at 30% of the actual cost. A cubic meter of timber of cedrus
deodara costs around Rs 60000. Which means that 3 cubic meter would
be for Rs. 1,80,000. Now 30% of this amounts to Rs 54,000. This is a
huge amount for any poor family. Over 80% of the total land holders in the
state are marginal farmers – they certainly would find it difficult to raise such a big amount of money.
Ground reality different from premise of the policy. The policy promises of providing timber through
sliviculturally salvage trees. Whereas the reality is that most of the jungles have not been marked for
silviculture and the salvage wood is not been extracted. Such people would loose their right for TD.
Clearly, the policy makers are totally divorced from the ground reality faced by the ordinary people whom they
claim to serve.
Location of timber distribution centers. The new policy does not provide rights from salvage trees from
the local forests where the traditional rights of the people existed or where the people dwelled. The people will
have to get the timber from the Forest Corporation depots, which are at either the Sub divisions, or the Tehsil
headquarters.
Now the problem is: How a peasant, who resides in a far-flung area and has no access to road (or even if he has),
will buy the TD from these depots and then carry it to their homes. It is an improbable proposition for such
farmers. Rich people can easily avail this timber from the such poor by paying them a small sum.
More power to forest guards. From the angle of implementation, critics are also not happy with the idea
of “giving central role to the forest guards”. They say that the guards will not be able to withstand pressures
from the influential or dissatisfied people, which can lead to corruption. They say that it would have been
better if the government had proposed a decentralized and transparent system operational at the village level
for assessment of individuals’ needs and deciding the beneficiaries, the silvicultural availability and
monitoring of proper usage of sanctioned timber.
Posted in Timber Distribution Rights | Tagged critics of timber policy, objections to New timber policy, problem with new TD policy | 1 Comment
Poor Can’t afford it. The new policy states that timber would be provided at 30% of the actual cost. A cubic
meter of timber of cedrus deodara costs around Rs 60000. Which means that 3 cubic meter would be for
Rs. 1,80,000. Now 30% of this amounts to Rs 54,000. This is a huge amount for any poor family. Over 80% of
the total land holders in the state are marginal farmers – they certainly would find it difficult to raise such a
big amount of money.
Ground reality different from premise of the policy. The policy promises of providing timber through
sliviculturally salvage trees. Whereas the reality is that most of the jungles have not been marked for
silviculture and the salvage wood is not been extracted. Such people would loose their right for TD.
Clearly, the policy makers are totally divorced from the ground reality faced by the ordinary people whom they
claim to serve.
Location of timber distribution centers. The new policy does not provide rights from salvage trees from
the local forests where the traditional rights of the people existed or where the people dwelled. The people will
have to get the timber from the Forest Corporation depots, which are at either the Sub divisions, or the Tehsil
headquarters.
Now the problem is: How a peasant, who resides in a far-flung area and has no access to road (or even if he has),
will buy the TD from these depots and then carry it to their homes. It is an improbable proposition for such
farmers. Rich people can easily avail this timber from the such poor by paying them a small sum.
More power to forest guards. From the angle of implementation, critics are also not happy with the idea
of “giving central role to the forest guards”. They say that the guards will not be able to withstand pressures
from the influential or dissatisfied people, which can lead to corruption. They say that it would have been
better if the government had proposed a decentralized and transparent system operational at the village level
for assessment of individuals’ needs and deciding the beneficiaries, the silvicultural availability and
monitoring of proper usage of sanctioned timber.
Posted in Timber Distribution Rights | Tagged critics of timber policy, objections to New timber policy, problem with new TD policy | 1 Comment
Important Features of the New Timber Distribution Policy

H.P. Forest (Timber Distribution to Right Holders) Rules, 2010
After the court order, the new policy drafted by the state government has
the following features:
1. No Timber Distribution shall be granted in the urban area.

Timber Distribution will be done at one place only; Right
Holder will specify the place of choice through an affidavit.
Option specified, it would not be allowed to change.
2. If a person has timber available on his own land holding, his

rights will be limited only to his holding as per the provisions of the Himachal Pradesh Land
Preservation Act, 1978 and rules made there under.
3. If a right holder has sold trees from his private land holding, he will not be granted timber
rights for 10 years.
4. In case a right holder has land holding at more than one place, he shall have option of getting
Timber Distribution at one place only. For this purpose a Right Holder shall submit an affidavit
giving details of his timber rights at different places and his place of option for exercising his
future rights. Option once exercised shall not be allowed to be changed;
2. For additions/alterations – once in 15 years, and
3. Sufferers of natural calamities/fire sufferers: As per actual requirement as recommended by
the Sub Divisional Officer (Civil) and after personal verification by the ACF/DFO concerned.
Priority for grant of Timber Distribution. Priority for grant of Timber Distribution shall be given to the
Right Holders belonging to Below Poverty Line. Right Holders above poverty line shall be granted Timber
Distribution on first come first served basis.
Size and dimensions of Timber Distribution timber. The Timber for distribution to rights holders shall be
converted and sold in different sizes other than the standard sizes made by Himachal Pradesh State Forest
Corporation Ltd for commercial purpose.
Objections to the New Timber Policy
Suggestions to Improve the New Policy
Posted in Timber Distribution Rights | Tagged features of new timber policy, New timber policy | 1 Comment
Misuse of TD Rights and the Court Order

Yes, there is no doubt that the distribution of timber was being misused.
There was and still persists a strong nexus that operates in a mafia form
between the timber merchants, government officials, bureaucrats and the
politicians. But on this premise the basic right of the people
cannot be snatched. When there is fire in the jungle it is the people
surrounding the forest that shoulder the daunting task of diffusing the
forest fire.
There had been THREE general points of contention regarding TD rights:
1. The TD right allowed local villagers to get free trees to help them build and repair their homes. This has
created envy and resentment among people who did not enjoy this right and had to procure wood at commercial
rates instead.
2. Influential persons of the state, in connivance with corrupt forest, revenue and police department officials,
were misusing the TD rights. Hence, instead of building houses from wood procured under TD rights for the
villagers, it was finding its way into furniture factories.
3. Incompetence of the forest department officials. It has been widely felt for a long time that there has been
unsatisfactory supervision of the forests or the department’s officials connived with smugglers in felling trees for
timber.
The Court Order
In 2006, a PIL was filed in the HP High Court regarding the misuse of TD
Rights. A local resident, Ratanjeet Singh, had complained that influential
persons of the state, in connivance with corrupt forest, revenue and police
department officials, were misusing the TD rights. Instead of building
houses from wood procured under TD rights for the villagers, it was
finding its way into furniture factories and even smuggled out of the state
through rivers.
The court directed the HP government not to allow felling of trees under
the timber TD rights. However, the court made it clear that it didn’t intend
to extinguish the traditional TD rights but certain interim directions should be passed to avoid its misuse.
There had been THREE general points of contention regarding TD rights:
1. The TD right allowed local villagers to get free trees to help them
build and repair their homes. This has created envy and resentment
among people who did not enjoy this right and had to procure wood at
commercial rates instead.
2. Influential persons of the state, in connivance with corrupt forest,

revenue and police department officials, were misusing the TD rights. Hence, instead of building houses from
wood procured under TD rights for the villagers, it was finding its way into furniture factories.
3. Incompetence of the forest department officials. It has been widely felt for a long time that there has been
unsatisfactory supervision of the forests or the department’s officials connived with smugglers in felling trees for
timber.
The Court Order
In 2006, a PIL was filed in the HP High Court regarding the misuse of TD
Rights. A local resident, Ratanjeet Singh, had complained that influential
persons of the state, in connivance with corrupt forest, revenue and police
department officials, were misusing the TD rights. Instead of building
houses from wood procured under TD rights for the villagers, it was
finding its way into furniture factories and even smuggled out of the state
through rivers.
The court directed the HP government not to allow felling of trees under
the timber TD rights. However, the court made it clear that it didn’t intend
to extinguish the traditional TD rights but certain interim directions should be passed to avoid its misuse.
Regardless of the intention of the court, the sudden ban put the poor locals to severe hardships and created
furious uproar from the very people for whom the rights were granted at the first place.
Posted in Timber Distribution Rights | Tagged Misuse of TD rights, misuse of timber rights | Leave a comment
Forest Statistics of Himachal Pradesh

Forests are the storehouse of the rich biodiversity. They constitute the
essential life support system besides being a source of timber, fuel, fodder
and medicines etc. They ought to be recognized as water reservoirs,
natural source of soil nutrition, soil creators and soil binders. In Himachal
unlimited scope exists for intensification and diversification of forest
cover.
The total area of Himachal Pradesh is 55,673 sq. km, out of this 66.52% of
the area of the state is legally defined as forestland. This already
underscores the importance of forest in the lives of people in
Himachal Pradesh.
Table 1: Geographical distribution of forests of HP

(Based on the Forest Survey of India Report)
Forest Area Area Km² Percent of Percent of

Geographical area Forest Area
Forest Area (Legally defined) 37,033 66.52 100.00
Area under tree cover 13,082 23.50 35.3

Item 2 and 3 of table 2 combined together show that about 90% forest area is protected and 98% of the forest
cover falls under the forest department. With figures from table 1, almost two-third land of the state, that is forest,
falls under the jurisdiction of the forest department.
These figures underline the importance of the role of the Forest Department Officials whose negligence has
been largely responsible for the misuse of TD rights in the past.
Posted in Timber Distribution Rights | Tagged classification of forests, Forest statistics of Himachal Pradesh, forests in Himachal, geographical area of himachal pradesh | Leave
a comment
Importance of Timber in Himachal Pradesh

Timber is a necessity for the people of Himachal where two-third (67%) of

the total area comes under the forests. The people have just 10% of the
land for carrying out agricultural operations. Hence, the forestland is part
and parcel of daily livelihood of the people of the state and especially
farmers.
Another important issue that needs to be reiterated here is that timber for
house construction cannot be replaced by brick mortar etc because of the
following reasons:
Region being under the seismic zone the houses with wooden structures are best suited to meet such an
eventuality.
The hilly terrain has low road density thereby very difficult for the people to carry industrial material like
cement, sand etc meant for constructing such houses.
The state falls under the temperate zone with extremely cold weather conditions. In such an environment
houses made with traditional wooden structures are more suited to live and can sustain for more than a
hundred years. Brick mortar cement cannot replace.
Posted in Timber Distribution Rights | Tagged importance of timber, Timber | Leave a comment
Traditional Timber Distribution (TD) Rights

Under the traditional rights prior to the ban by the court, people used to get
the following benefits:
1. Timber for house construction. A tree of pine (deodar) etc. used to be

given in 5 years at a nominal price.
2. People were allowed to graze their animals and though the grasslands
were that of the forest department, rights of grazers were recorded and
continued.
3. Fodder leaves for the cattle were allowed.
4. For firewood the dry and dead trees were allowed.
5. Wood for the agricultural equipments and other household needs like bamboo baskets were permitted.
6. Grass from forestland also fell into the ‘TD’ rights category.
Apart from these, certain non -timber produce were also allowed, namely:
The state falls under the temperate zone with extremely cold weather conditions. In such an environment
houses made with traditional wooden structures are more suited to live and can sustain for more than a
hundred years. Brick mortar cement cannot replace.
Posted in Timber Distribution Rights | Tagged importance of timber, Timber | Leave a comment
Traditional Timber Distribution (TD) Rights

Under the traditional rights prior to the ban by the court, people used to get
the following benefits:
1. Timber for house construction. A tree of pine (deodar) etc. used to be

given in 5 years at a nominal price.
2. People were allowed to graze their animals and though the grasslands
were that of the forest department, rights of grazers were recorded and
continued.
3. Fodder leaves for the cattle were allowed.
4. For firewood the dry and dead trees were allowed.
5. Wood for the agricultural equipments and other household needs like bamboo baskets were permitted.
6. Grass from forestland also fell into the ‘TD’ rights category.
Apart from these, certain non -timber produce were also allowed, namely:
1. Fruits and flowers with quality of medicinal value.
2. Edible mushroom.
3. Medicinal plants, roots and bark of trees for various kinds of activities. For example cannabis sativa
commonly known as ‘Charas’, which has a very high intoxication level and the leaves are banned under the NDPS
Act, but the stem has a very high fiber content that is used to make ropes and even local shoes.
In a period of five years under the process of silviculture (art and science of raising trees), timber from trees was
provided to the farmers for construction or maintenance of houses.
It is interesting to note that after the formation of the state (Himachal Pradesh) in 1971 and then subsequently the
coming into existence of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980, this right of the farmers had remained intact.
Posted in Timber Distribution Rights | Tagged Himachal TD rights, Timber rights. TD rights, traditional TD rights | Leave a comment
Historical Perspective of the Timber Policy

Until 1886, people living in the hills across India had absolute right over
the forests, which provided them most of their needs including the much-
needed timber for building their houses. The British restricted the right of
the people and drafted a policy known as the Indian Forest Law in 1878.
This was primarily done to meet the growing demand of wood logs for the
Railway sleepers in the country. After the promulgation of this Act, the
management of forests was taken away from the hands of the people and
the focus was shifted to suit commercial interests of the British. It also
restricted people’s right to timber through the timber distribution (TD) rights.
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State Policies Have No Meaning Unless

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