India Votes 2009: Billionaires' Polls: Hindutva, Islam, & Democracy

By Dr. Abdul Ruff

I

Essentially the billionaire' poll going on in India to make way officially for the rich people among others to enter Parliament as people's representatives is indeed a mockery of democracy. On the one hand the poll is being imposed on unwilling Kashmiris as the freedom leaders have announced a boycott of the Indian poll in an alien Jammu Kashmir now under hegemonic and brutal Indian occupation.. One other, the crucial issues of Babri Mosque reconstruction and surredering of Kashmir soverignty have not been raised in the campign, but the nation has to resolve the issues at the earliest.

Biggest joke is Indian polls being “free & fair”, while the opposite is true. Power of money and muscle as well as blackmail politics is the hall mark of Indian poll and politics and Muslims are the sufferes. India is being literally ruled by the billionaires and other varieties of multinational industrialists by keeping a regime of its liking. They finance national and regional politics, polls, cricketism, nuclearism, terrorism and many other activities both openly and hidden. Earlier these "special" category of "democrats" used to employ politicians as candidates for polls both for the Parliaments and state legislatures, but now many of them have popped up themselves as the prospective Parliamentarians for the next Parliament. Many of the today’s candidates for Parliament to make law for the Indian nation have criminal records, some of them alarmingly serious ones.

Indian billionaires and multi-nationals and other big industrialists are holding a poll to reelect a regime to pursue their global interests with the help of political outfits in the country through a properly constituted election commission to support their cause. Major issues like Kashmir and reconstruction of grand Babri Mosque destroyed during the Congress regime in 1992 are not at all raised in the poll in consensus efforts by all politicians-bureaucrats-intelligence with a view not to appeasing the Muslims in any way but only use them just as the usual vote banks. It means, the Hindus consider Muslims as fools of the worst category and Muslims also seem to admit that.

II

Both Hindu Congress and Hindutva BJP have same or similar agenda in India and one uses the other to stay in politics while the Hindutva elements control both these national parties. Destruction of Grand Babri Mosque was indeed a joint agenda of both and the operation was meticulously engineered by entrusting the Congress premier Narasimha Rao to “do the job” and he did by using the Hindu terrorists, military and polices forces to pull down the historic Mosque in Uttar Pradesh. No party, right, centre or Left, now talks about the Hindu agenda of Babri Mosque and Indian Hindus think the matter is closed for now. Indian premier pledged before Indian nation that the Mosque would be reconstructed at the very site where it stood, but till date Indian government has not done it. Congress is using BJP & co to save its skin. They only threat to pull down some more Mosques.

Israel is used by the USA and Europe as a regional weapons depot to transfer arms to the needy customers in the Third world. India has emerged as one of heaviest purchasers of Israeli arms. In order to track Muslims in India and Kashmir Indian leaders, both Congress and BJP, entered into military contract with Zionist Israel for weapons worth thousands of crores of rupees in which many party bigwigs get lucrative commissions. The BJP regime went for a 5,000 crores for “Barak missiles” and when the Congress came to power a CBI enquiry was instituted on the contract and bribery, but the congress recently signed a contract with Israel for 10,000 crores of weapons, obviously to kill Muslims in the region, and asked the CBI to get out of sight. That is Congress and BJP and their Hindutva links against Muslims and Islam.

As it was expected when offered the premiership to him, Manmohan and the likes have been serving the multinationals in the country and west. A recent report highlights the fact that now many of the aspiring Parliamentarians are billionaires themselves, but the political outfits who float them now rather boldly as the best stuff for the Parliament also claim they want people to elect them to serve the ordinary people. An old Joke? Can mafias, criminals, terrorism financiers, frauds and the likes offer any better governance? Indian Muslims are least bothered about all this, they just want their "favorite party" to win by all "means" and they are satisfied with a few coins offered by the Hindu leaders for their "services". They don’t mind if the Congress-BJP combines pulls down some mosques and keep the Muslims fully terrorized.

III

A vote for Congress party by a Muslim in India is a vote against Mosque and, hence, against their religion Islam and fellow Muslims. Both Congress (and BJP), the Hindu parties, are using some Muslim agents to use internet to mischievously make them vote for Congress automatically just by opening their dirty emails. If one opens the dubious email your vote is automatically cast for UPA- Congress. Though it is only a joke and does not mean anything in reality, still such dubious means being employed by Congress and BJP and other Hindu parties without even raising the issue of Babri Mosque and Kashmir problem is illegal and immoral. It is shameful that Muslims, unable to make Congress recommit itself for the reconstruction of Grand Babri Mosque still, shamelessly canvas for the Hindu forces that destroyed the Babri Mosque on false notions and annexed Jammu Kashmir and killed thousands of innocent Muslims in Kashmir as well as in India.

Congress is a party with hidden agendas against Muslims in India and around and the BJP which s a byproduct of Congress, just support them. Destruction of Babri Mosque and other historic mosques in India has been the target of Congress party but it uses BJP to achieve that object. Muslims cannot deceive themselves and their religion or insult their beliefs by voting the Congress or BJP. It is not to suggest that others parties are better, they all are one and same rotten stuff but they are not directly involved in the ghastly destruction of Babri Mosque and invasion of Jammu Kashmir, however, they also don’t demand the reconstruction of Babri Mosque and vacating the Jammu Kashmir converted by terrorist India as a terror zone.

In projecting BJP as the big threat to Islam and Muslims, Congress has taken Muslim support for granted. Similarly, the Communists and other Third front parties have ensured the bulk of votes of the Muslims sandwiched between Congress and BJP extremist dramas. Congress, a covert Hindutva party, is using, by usual secret arrangement, the Hindutva BJP as a threat to woo the Muslims to vote for Congress which in fact is also a terrific threat to Islam. By just ignoring the calls for vote to these anti-Islamic political outfits, Muslims would in fact honor their religion, their God ALLAH and dignity of Muslims, without fear of backlash form these Hindu outfits, because worst has already been done to Indian Muslims all spheres.

IV

Most Muslims feel they have no proper choices and India has created all possibilities to elect only those the Indian regime offer to them. Muslims have, thus, have a choice among those who destroyed the Grand Babri Mosque, those who created the opportunity for the ghastly demolition by the Hindu terrorists and those who indirectly support tit and never opposed it or asked Indian regime to rebuild the Mosque as promised. The power-cum-benefits sharing tactics of Muslim League and other similar outfits have indeed harmed the Muslims genuine interests and emboldened the Indian state to honor the commit to the nation and world on Babri Mosque.

Grand Babri Mosque was pulled down in 1992 (on the false information supplied by the former Indian rulers from UK) by Indian Hindu terrorists with the backup of state and security forces. Politicians, essentially anti-Muslim, rule India on behalf of industrialists who finance their campaigns. After this poll, many industrialists would become ministers and occupy important positions. Can a poll meant to retain the billionaires in power through a government help the common people, especially the hapless Muslims in a basically Hindu India? Hindu parties and their governments have been fooling the Muslims for decades now. Muslims have to get away from their pressure tactics and ponder over their pathetic existence as well as threat plight in India at least while voting, if at all they choose to vote. Once Muslims begin to think one can expect a basic shift in Indian politics, for, Grand Babri Mosque would be back at its original site; Kashmiris will obtain their sovereignty back from an arrogant and hegemonic India. Muslims will get their legitimate dues in national development, hitherto denied by "secular & democratic" India.

V

As a strategic partner, India is like Israel and USA with hidden agendas to reduce the population of global Muslims and defame Islam by projecting it as a religion of terrorists and killing Muslims by branding them as terrorists, including suspected ones. India, basically ruled by Congress party and its allies, is employing all tricks to marginalize and terrorize the hapless Muslim population in the country. Indian industrialists once elected, don’t require the political MPs for advancing their interests around the world and now even get their own representatives as ambassadors and high-commissioners and other high officials abroad and indoors. Now elections are due shortly and many billionaires, private terrorists, criminals, national pick-pockets, liquor & other mafias and international frauds would reach the Parliament to make laws for “secular & democratic” India. They would use terrorism plank to loot the nation.

In fact, it does not matter who will be the next premier in India which has not so far produced any normal premier- let alone good or great with a vision- who is fare-minded and would take decisions independent of Hindu pressure groups and other capitalist lobbies, and capable of tracking Hindu terrorists and other trouble-shooters for minorities firmly.

The moot issue, therefore, is not which party or alliance would secure more seats and who would be the next premier. In fact, it does not actually matter whether a soft Hindutva regime led by Congress or an extremist Hindutva alliance led by BJP or even a third or fourth front without any program would form the government. But the real issue would be whether the Indian leadership would at all shed its anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim mindset first and then think about the genuine interest of Muslims including the Babri Mosque! Indian façade of democracy and secularism is fake is used to fool the world, but the leaders keep confusing the world with these concepts.

(PS. This is not my personal issue, but an issue concerning Islam and the Muslims across the globe)

European Scene: Poll & Crisis in Moldova

By Dr. Abdul Ruff 

I

Moldova or Moldavia, a former Republic of the Soviet Union and now a part of “democratic” Europe, however, remains, like the Central Asian states that also once formed the parts of the USSR, one of the pro-communist dispensations. Moldavians went to the polls on April 05 to vote for a new parliament that will in course choose a replacement for President Vladimir Voronin, the only Communist leader in Europe and the former Soviet Union. Voronin, in office since 2001, cannot stand for a third consecutive term but has made it plain that he wants to remain close to power by taking another senior post in the manner of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Russia.

The final election results released on April 08 showed the Communist Party with 49.5% of the vote, winning 60 parliamentary seats. That is one seat less than the number required for the party to control the presidential election. Three other parties are more amenable to working with the Communists, and they may pass the 6 percent of support needed to gain a seat in the parliament. The Communists need 61 seats if they want to vote through their candidate for the presidency. No candidate has been named so far. The Communists gain much of their support from the older generations and civil servants.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has already congratulated Voronin on his party's election win, and the Foreign Ministry said Russia was deeply concerned by the events in Moldova.  The Moldova parliament elects the president, and the Communists appeared very close to securing the 61 seats they need in the 101-seat assembly to secure victory for their chosen candidate.  Voronin's Communists, who held 56 of the 101 seats in the outgoing parliament, are far ahead in a field of 15 parties, with support of 36 percent. Three opposition parties, broadly favoring closer ties with Romania and the European Union, lie far behind. Voronin did not rule out forming a coalition in the parliament, saying, "It would be good for as many parties to get in ... then there'll be someone with whom to create a coalition."

Opposition leaders said the election result was fraudulent. Moldova's president has since called for a full recount of disputed elections won by the ruling Communist Party, bowing to a key demand of protesters who stormed the parliament. Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said in an official statement: "I am convinced that a complete recount of votes will become a major argument for maintaining political stability, peace and mutual trust in Moldova".

Meanwhile, about 10,000 demonstrators massed for a second day in the capital of Europe's poorest country to denounce the vote as rigged. The opposition called for ballots to be recounted or the vote to be re-held. Most of the protesters are students who see no future if Communists keep their hold on the former Soviet republic of 4 million people -- located on the European Union's border but within what Russia sees as its sphere of influence. They hurled computers into the street while police took cover behind riot shields. Moldovan protesters ransacked the president's offices and the parliament on April 07in violent protests over parliamentary elections that President Vladimir Voronin said amounted to a "coup d'etat, referring to opposition leaders." RIA-Novosti reported that the authorities and opposition leaders agreed to a recount of votes cast in Sunday's parliamentary election, which was easily won by Voronin's Communist Party. Voronin said in a television address that opposition leaders had embarked on a "path to the violent seizure of power." He said the authorities "would resolutely defend the state against the leaders of the pogrom."

Some of the protesters had carried Romanian flags and called for the unification of Moldova with Romania, its bigger neighbour and even shouted "We are Romanians".  Protesters overwhelmed riot police protecting both the president's office and the parliament -- located opposite each other on the capital Chisinau's main boulevard -- and poured into both buildings through smashed windows. They heaped tables, chairs and papers onto a bonfire outside parliament, and fires could also be seen in some of the building's windows. Some people gathered to demand the release of the 193 people reportedly arrested. Vlad Filat, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, called the demonstrations "a spontaneous action by protesting young people". He said the opposition had tried to prevent excesses.

II

Protestors indirectly sought to end communist regime and also seek better ties with neighboring Rumania. They however did not demand the resignation of Voronin. The leaders of three opposition parties that won seats in parliament spoke to reporters after emerging from talks with Moldova's president and prime minister in the aftermath of protests that caused serious damage to government buildings. They sought to stop violence. "We must stop this violence, secure the right to a recount of all the votes. And we demanded the right to stage peaceful protests “Dorin Chirtoaca, leader of the Liberal Party and mayor of Chisinau, said. Vlad Filat of the Liberal Democrats said the opposition, which stands broadly for closer ties with neighboring Romania, was demanding the right to check all electoral lists.. "As a result of this, I can assure you that the elections were rigged and we will organize a new election."

Opposition leaders called for a halt to the protests and said they were pressing for a recount of all votes cast. Moldovan state television said one young woman choked to death from carbon monoxide poisoning in the parliament building. It cited a senior doctor at Chisinau emergency hospital as saying 34 other protesters had been injured, including two in a serious condition in hospital. Some 80 police officers also received treatment for injuries, it said. Some demonstrators were seen chasing police away after seizing truncheons and riot shields

Officials in Moldova and Russia accused Romania of fomenting the riots, but witnesses said they were spontaneous. Moldova's president has accused neighboring Romania of stoking the protests that erupted into violence in the capital Chisinau. Romania has rejected the accusation as a "provocation". Vladimir Voronin, a communist, was quoted by Russian agency Interfax saying: "We know that certain political forces in Romania are behind this unrest. The Romanian flags fixed on the government buildings in Chisinau attest to this." He ordered that Romania's ambassador be expelled, recalled the Moldovan envoy from Bucharest, and said Romanians would in future need visas to cross into Moldova. But Romania's foreign ministry said: "This accusation is a provocation aimed at the Romanian state." It is "unacceptable that the Communists in power in Chisinau shift the blame for internal problems in Moldova onto Romania and the Romanian people", the statement added.

III

International observers said the vote appeared to have been fair. The EU sent an envoy to Moldova to mediate in the dispute between President Voronin's Communist Party and the three centre-right opposition parties. Observers from the European security body, the OSCE, concluded that the vote had been generally fair, but opposition parties and many students accused the authorities of fraud. A report by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s vote gave a mostly positive assessment of the poll. But the BBC in Moscow says that any Romanian connection with the uprising is to do with economics, rather than politics. EU foreign policy Chief Javier Solana called on all sides to show restraint and to refrain from violence and provocation..

Moldova is one of six former Soviet states with which the EU is due to launch a new program of enhanced ties at a summit in Prague next month. Moldova, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, is the poorest country in Europe, where the average wage is just under $250 (£168) a month. The people speak Romanian and the country shares many cultural links with Romania. However it was annexed by the Soviet Union in World War II and gained independence in 1991. There remains an unresolved conflict with the breakaway region of Trans-Dniester, which has run its own affairs, with Moscow's support, since the end of hostilities in a brief war in 1992.

President Voronin, in power since 2001, is governing a country where poverty has pushed a quarter of adults to work abroad. Voronin has overseen stability and economic growth since 2001 but has been unable to solve the rebellion in its Russian-speaking breakaway region of Transdnestr, where Russia has had troops since Soviet times. The region, like in previous elections, boycotted Sunday's vote. With little mineral resources, Moldova's economy depends on agriculture, including wine production, and remittances from the hundreds of thousands who left the country to work in EU states. The global economic crisis threatens to aggravate Moldova's poverty as workers' remittances dry up.

As it stands now, Moldova's liberal, pro-Western opposition on April 14 dismissed as a "trick" a planned recount of the recent disputed election won by the ruling Communist Party and said it would take no part in the process. Opposition parties demand a new election and say they expect no new results. They say their concern is fraud with voters' lists, which they allege contain the names of dead voters and Moldovans working abroad.

Word of the demonstrations was spread by text message, via the internet, and on social networking tools. Moldovans can see the success that Romania has enjoyed since throwing off communism and joining the EU. On average, Romanians earn five times as much as their Moldovan neighbours. The conclusion that many young Moldovans have come to is that a return to communist government and close friendship with Moscow has brought them nothing. Needless to state that the Western powers are instrumental in the post-poll troubles in Moldova but their merits or otherwise cannot be diagnosed here. Voronin is due to step down, having served the maximum of two consecutive terms.