Porn Painter MF Husain, No Longer Indian, Accepts Qatari Citizenship

Paintings denigrating Hindu gods

MF Husain would no longer be an Indian

DUBAI: M F Husain, revered by many as India’s Picasso, would no longer be an Indian, his son said today, confirming that he had accepted Qatar’s  offer to confer its nationality on him.

Husain, who has been living in self-imposed exile for nearly four years following a spate of cases in India over his controversial paintings of Hindu goddesses, has accepted the offer and it is under process, Husain’s son Owais Husain told PTI here today.

Read M F Husain, Artistic wisdom and social responsiblity

Blast from the Past: Could Pune be a Future Terrorist Target?

An old 2006 article explores the possibility of Islamic terrorism in Pune.

Click: Could Pune be a Future Terrorist Target?

Report on Modules of SIMI/IM Islamic Terrorists in 8 Indian States

Indian Mujahideen strikes deep

Mon, Feb 22 06:08 AM

Uttar Pradesh

SIMI was formed in Aligarh in 1977 and had thousands of members and offices in almost every district of the state before it was banned by the Centre in 2002. The group came under the radar of intelligence agencies after 1998 and the then SIMI president Dr Shahid Badr Falahi was arrested in Bahraich for an alleged provocative speech days after 9/11.

More than 1,200 SIMI members were arrested from the state after the ban. Police say they have evidence to prove that the SIMI was involved in the February 2005 blasts in Varanasi, the Shramjeevi Express blast in July 2005, the Varanasi blasts of March 2006, and serial blasts in courts in Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi in 2007.

Among the prominent members arrested in the state are Abu Bashar of Azamgarh, who is said to have first revealed the existence of IM and its role in blasts across the country, and Shahbaz Ahmed of Lucknow, allegedly involved in the Jaipur blasts. State anti-terrorism squad officials say they are still looking for seven key IM operatives belonging to Azamgarh: Dr Shahnawaz, Ariz Khan alias Junaid, Mohammad Sajid alias Bada Sajid, Mirza Shadab Beig, Mohammad Khalid, Asadullah Akhtar and Salman.

Maharashtra

Mumbai and Pune were the main IM hubs with an extensive network of operatives capable of providing resources for an attack anywhere in the country. The arrests made in 2008 in these two cities laid bare the backbone of the IM. The outfit grew out of the seamy underbelly of Mumbai’s gangland, with Riyaz Bhatkal dabbling in underworld activities before becoming involved in SIMI operations in the Muslim dominated areas of Kurla and Cheetah Camp.

In fact, Riyaz was a suspect in the bomb blasts in Mumbai in 2002 and 2003 and a manhunt was launched for him then. In Pune, IM had set up base in the Kondhwa area, with a control room in an apartment in an upmarket housing society. Mumbai police arrested 21 IM members, including IT engineer Mansoor Peerbhoy, and charged them of forming an organised crime syndicate for terrorist activities and hacking into WiFi accounts to send e-mails claiming credit for bomb blasts.

Among the key missing operatives from the state are Abdus Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer, the face of IM in 2008, Amin alias Raja Ayub Shaikh, Abdul Shakoor Khan alias Irfan, Abu Rashid.

Gujarat

The state has been more a target for SIMI-IM than a hub for the groups, with most men blamed for the 2008 blasts belonging to other states. The blasts were allegedly carried out under the direction, guidance and assistance of Harkat-ul-Jehadi-Islam (HuJI) operative Amir Raza Khan from Pakistan.

Gujarat Police took custody of senior SIMI leaders Safdar Nagori and Abdul Sibli from Madhya Pradesh and others were taken into custody from jails elsewhere. So far, 57 people have been arrested for the blasts and 38 named in the conspiracy are at large.

Madhya Pradesh

The strong SIMI network in the state helped IM recruit and train members the way it did in UP. In 2008, 13 SIMI leaders, including the outfit’s general secretary Safdar Nagori and his brother Kamruddin, were arrested following raids in Indore. The police described the arrested as active members from Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

The arrested also included SIMI’s Karnataka unit chief Hafiz Hussain and Shibli, the mainstay of the group in Kerala. In April 2008, the police neutralised a SIMI training camp in Choral, a popular holiday spot, 35 km from Bhopal. Qayamuddin Kapadia, suspected to be one of the main conspirators of the Ahmedabad serial blasts, was arrested from the state in November 2008. Last April, IM operative Saif-ur-Rahman was arrested from a train in Jabalpur. The Azamgarh resident is accused of planting bombs in Jaipur and Ahmedabad.

Kerala

Although Kerala has not been an IM target, the state is home to some of its key members and several places hosted secret indoctrination, arms training camps after 2005. According to Gujarat police, 37 hardcore SIMI activists had participated in a bomb-making and tough-terrain training camp in Vagamon in 2007. Aluva, Paravoor and Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district, Erattupetta in Kottayam and old Kannur city are known to have been used by the IM while half-a-dozen men arrested for being linked to Lashkar are from Kannur city.

Prominent among the key SIMI-IM operators from Kerala are C A M Basheer, an aeronautical engineer from Aluva and the former national president of SIMI. Other SIMI leaders from Kerala are Peediyekkal Shibili, his brother Shaduli and Ansar Maulavi. They were arrested in Indore in March 2008. Sarfraz Nawaz, secretary at the SIMI Delhi office, was picked up by the RAW from Muscat last year.

The police had found that Nawaz financed the Bangalore blasts and knew Basheer. Sainudheen alias Satharbhai of Malappuram designed the explosives for Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Surat in 2008. Tadiyantavide Nazeer, who had played a key role in recruiting youth for training at Lashkar camps, was nabbed last November and is suspected to have been with the IM in 2008. Key players absconding from Kerala are C A M Basheer, Ayoob, Ummer Farook and Subaih.

Karnataka

While the Bhatkal brothers, Riyaz Shahbandari and Iqbal Shahbandari, used their coastal hometown of Bhatkal as an IM hub, the activities of the group elsewhere in the state were restricted largely to the northern districts of Bijapur, Bidar and Gulbarga. A spurt in SIMI activities occurred in 2007 when various senior members from Karnataka and Kerala tried to reorganise a hardline version.

While the core group had 25-30 members, the effort to revive the SIMI in 2007 saw training camps being held on the Karnataka-Goa border, in the Hubli-Dharwad region and at Ernakulam in Kerala through 2006-07. Much of the network that emerged during this period was busted by Karnataka police through 2008. The IM members blamed for the Hyderabad and Ahmedabad blasts were trained in a remote village in Chikamagalur district.

Although the IM is not held directly responsible for the July 2008 blasts in Bangalore, Riyaz Bhatkal and the perpetrators of the attack a small group of men from Kerala led by former Kerala SIMI activists obtained integrated chip timers for bombs from a common source. The Bhatkal brothers and the Bangalore bombers used a Hyderabad house as a hideout. Besides the Bhatkal brothers, key IM members from the state on the loose are bomb expert Yasin Bhatkal and Mudassar.

Andhra Pradesh

Mufti Abu Bashir, arrested for the Gujarat blasts, Maulana Abdul Aleem Islahi, a SIMI sympathiser who runs a madrasa in Hyderabad, Raziuddin Nasir and Safdar Nagori were involved in setting up the SIMI-IM network in the state. The SIMI set up several religious institutions to continue its activities after it was banned and police suspect Darsgah-e-Jihad-o-Shahadat and Tehrik Tahfuz-e-Shair-e-Islam were two among them.

Maulana Naseeruddin of Tehrik was arrested by Gujarat Police in 2004 for his involvement in the murder of former minister of state for home Haren Pandya. Scores of SIMI-IM members were picked up during the crackdown after the twin-blasts of August 2007 and the Mecca Masjid blasts. They included Raziuddin Nasir, Mohtasin Billa, Mohammed Nissar, Mohammed Muqeemuddin Yaser, Mohammed Sohail, Maulana Naseeruddin and Jaber Naseeruddin.

Police claim that they have managed to “finish off” SIMI-IM in the state after “tightening the noose around a few madrasas whose activities were suspect”. Vikar Ahmed, who shot at two policemen in Hyderabad last August, is the only one absconding, besides a few sympathisers against whom police say they do not have evidence.

Delhi

The Delhi module of IM was led by Atif Ameen and is blamed for the serial blasts of 2008 in the Capital. After the blasts, the Delhi Police cracked Ameen’s module in Batla House and killed two Atif and Mohammad Sajid. Five IM members were also arrested from Delhi: Mohammad Saif, Zeeshan Ahmed, Mohammad Shakeel, Zia-Ur-Rehman and Saqib Nisar. Two others, Shahzad Ahmed and Ariz Khan alias Pappu managed to flee but Shahzad was arrested from Azamgarh this month. The Delhi Police continues to look for 12 SIMI-IM members, including Amir Raza Khan, Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal, Mohammad Khaild, Salman, Asadullah Akhtar, Dr Shahnawaz, Mohammad Sajid and Ariz Khan.

With inputs from Bhupendra Pandey, Johnson T A, Sreenivas Janyala, Shaju Philip and Neeraj Chauhan

Islamic terrorists Kidnap Hindu in Pakistan, Demand 1 Crore Ransom

Rs 10m ransom demand for Hindu man abducted in Pak
PTI, Feb 24, 2010

PESHAWAR: Days after beheading of two abducted Sikhs by Taliban in the restive tribal belt, a Pakistani Hindu man has been reportedly kidnapped from here and his abductors have demanded Rs 10 million for his release. 

Robin Singh, a computer engineer, was kidnapped by unknown persons from a market on University Road last Friday, a local politician said on Tuesday. He was kidnapped while going to Nowshera for some work. 

The kidnappers have demanded Rs 10 million from Singh’s relatives, said Sahib Singh, a member of the district assembly in Peshawar. 

Robin Singh’s brother Rajan Singh has registered a case at West Cantonment police station, Sahib Singh said. However, officials at the police station said they were not aware of the registration of a First Information Report in this regard. They said Robin Singh might not have been abducted from their jurisdiction. 

In a statement issued on Monday, President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the kidnapping of Robin Singh. The President directed authorities to take steps for the recovery of Singh. 

The incident comes to light days after the recovery of the beheaded bodies of two abducted Sikhs — Mahal Singh and Jaspal Singh — in Pakistan’s tribal belt. 

Another two to four Sikhs are still being held by the Taliban. The kidnapping and killing of the Sikhs has been condemned by leaders of Pakistan’s minority Sikh community. 

Pune youths start facebook on German bakery Islamic terror blast

These youth need a foundation course on Islamic terrorism in India

History of Jihad and Islamic terrorism in India
Pune youngsters vent anger in virtual world on blast

Pune/New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) ‘How dare they touch Pune?’, fumed an angry and anguished Swaroopa Sanap, a Pune youngster, on popular social networking website Facebook, a day after a blast ripped through the popular German bakery in the city leaving nine people dead.

Hapless and angry, hundreds of people – mostly youngsters – gave vent to their emotions in the virtual world after the blast took place.

A community created on Facebook, ‘In Memory of those who died in the Pune Koregaon Park bomb blast’, just hours after the terror bombing, immediately registered 1,339 members and is adding on more.

One of the members, Shivdeep Deokar, wrote how he tried to help the victims after the blast took place.

‘I was at the German Bakery 5 minutes after the bomb blast. Tried to help a lot of people there. My house is in lane five (at a distance from the bakery) but I felt the vibrations till my house. We rushed to see what’s wrong… there were around 10 to 15 bodies lying on the road,’ Deokar described.

Sharing his predicament, he wrote: ‘Did not know what to do. Only four cops were there. There were not less than 20-25 bodies, but reports say it’s much less.’

The Koregaon park where the German bakery is located, is a popular hangout zone for youngsters since it has a number of pubs, lounges and cafes. The area is often called a foodie’s delight.

Even as the city’s youngsters opened up their hearts in the virtual world, strangers offered condolences and motivation to fight back.

Said Akash Narangi: ‘Our city, our German bakery blown up – how dare these people torch anything and everything? What are our politicians doing? If our home ministry knew that Pune was a target, why didn’t they do anything to prevent it?’

Replied Ananya Sengupta of Delhi: ‘Don’t worry, Pune and German Bakery will fight back.’

The Facebook group has sent out a message to observe five minutes silence at 7.15 p.m. Sunday – the time of the blast Saturday – in memory of those who were killed and injured in the blast.

At least 60 people were also injured in the blast, including 10 foreign nationals.
Indo Asian News Service

Karachi Project: ISI, LeT getting Indian Muslim terrorists together in Karachi for attack

‘ISI, LeT getting Indian jihadis together in Karachi for attack’

Feb 01, 2010

Headley is accused of recceing Mumbai and other Indian cities for the Lashkar-e-Toiba as part of the preparations for 26/11.

The ISI has put together a team of Indian jihadis in Karachi, and is waiting to launch them into the country on a terrorist project, alleged terror suspects David Coleman Headley and Mohammad Amjad Khwaja have told their interrogators.

Headley was arrested by the FBI in Chicago in October last year, and is accused of recceing Mumbai and other Indian cities for the Lashkar-e-Toiba as part of the preparations for 26/11. Khwaja, belonging to the Harkat-ul Jihad-i Islami, was arrested on January 18, and is being held in Hyderabad.

Headley has described the “Karachi project” to FBI interrogators, details of which have been shared with New Delhi, sources said. He is believed to have said that both the ISI and the Lashkar have been training Indian nationals in terrorist activities, and using them for anti-India “projects” from time to time.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also been able to unearth significant details about Headley’s movements in Pakistan through his e-mail correspondence. Contents of his Gmail account were shared with New Delhi following an official request to Google.

Details of Headley’s movements in and out of India, reported in The Indian Express last Thursday, show that he flew into Mumbai from Karachi and returned to the same city twice over the last three years — once in late 2006, and then again in April 2008.

Evidence of the ISI-Lashkar Karachi project has also come independently from HuJI man Khwaja, who was picked up by Chennai Police on his return from Saudi Arabia on a Pakistani passport. Top sources said Khwaja has told his interrogators that a large number of highly-indoctrinated jihadi Indian nationals have been housed in the Pakistani port city.

Khwaja is understood to have revealed that he met alleged Indian Mujahideen terrorists Amir Raza Khan and Riyaz Bhatkal in Karachi, both of whom are staying in the city’s Defence enclave, probably under the ISI’s protection.

Khwaja, who visited Mecca and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia before he was arrested, is believed to have confessed to planning the October 2005 attack on the STF office in Hyderabad, but has been silent on his suspected role in the Mecca Masjid and Gokul Chat blasts in 2007.

Khwaja is learnt to have provided details of HuJI operations in Bangladesh, and the outfit’s coordination with Lashkar leaders based in Manshera and Muridke in Pakistan. The Hyderabad Police are expected to approach the court for permission to carry out a narco test on him shortly.

Meanwhile, a team of officers from Bangalore are also expected to interrogate Khwaja in connection with his revelations on Riaz Bhatkal, who, along with his brother Iqbal, are believed to have joined hands with hardline elements from the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) to carry out the bombings attributed to the Indian Mujahideen between 2006 and 2008. Much of the planning and preparation for these attacks took place at the port town of Bhatkal near Mangalore.

Khwaja is of interest to the Karnataka Police also on account of his alleged interaction with Amir Raza Khan, the gangster-turned-jihadi who is believed to have played a crucial supporting role in Indian Mujahideen operations.

(With Johnson TA in Bangalore)

Rajinder Singh, first Sikh to join British right wing party BNP: Only party he feels would take on Islamic fundamentalism

Rajinder Singh: ‘Why I’m proud to join the BNP’
Monday 15th February 2010

A 78-year-old Sikh, soon to be the first non-white member of the BNP, told today why he supports the far-right party.

Rajinder Singh (pictured) spoke a day after the BNP voted to change its constitution to allow black and Asian people to join.

The party made the decision at an extraordinary general meeting in Essex yesterday after it was told by Central London County Court to amend its constitution to comply with race relations laws or face legal action by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Yesterday, leader Nick Griffin said he expected to welcome Mr Singh soon as the BNP’s first non-white member.

Today, Mr Singh said he would gladly join the party, although being a member or not would not change his support of its policies.

“If they say ‘join’, I can’t chicken out now,” he said.

“I will support them to the hilt, for their policies.

“I’m just pleased for them, not pleased for myself, because it doesn’t change anything in me.

“It doesn’t change my attitude to them, my loyalty to them. That doesn’t change whether I am a member or not. I am still loyal to them.”

Speaking at his home in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, Mr Singh praised Mr Griffin for “taking on the whole storm of lefties” who, he said, wanted to encourage multiculturalism.

Mr Singh, who was born in West Punjab, India, said he left the country in 1967 after seeing years of violence caused by the partition of the country, which also saw the death of his father.

Today he said the BNP was the only party he felt would take on the spread of Islamic fundamentalism, and “save” Britain – preventing any repetition of what he had seen in India.

He said: “Britain is changing, it’s not the Britain I came to when I came in. The British people are worried, and the BNP is the expression of their worry.

“BNP are home-grown sons of this soil, not home-grown terrorists – there’s a big distinction.

“They want to save this country and, when they save it for themselves, it will be good for me too.”

He said he felt the BNP was currently “put in the corner” but added: “Opening up the doors to Asians will make them legal, make them diluted. It’s all positive, positive, positive.”

The retired schoolteacher, who provided a character reference for Mr Griffin at his trial in 2006, said he adhered to the idea of “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” and had adopted the “British way of life”.

“Some Sikhs say ‘You are not a Sikh’, but I have core Sikh values,” he added.

Responding to suggestions that he may be being used by the party, Mr Singh said: “I don’t say that he used me. My point of view is that I helped them out.

“From my side, I am being helpful and that’s a positive thing. From his side, there’s a little bit of joy that I am here and making the face of the party acceptable.”

But he said it would take time before more non-white members joined the party, especially after incidents such as its membership list being published, and the backlash some members received.

“The Labour Party pronounces judgment on the BNP as if they are wolves, and at the same time overlook the real wolves who say ‘We will Islamise Britain, we will enforce Sharia law’,” he said.

“I will not become Islamised, I would rather die.”

But when asked about some of the BNP’s other policies, Mr Singh maintained that its efforts to combat Muslim extremism were the most important.

He said: “Imagine a ship, huge inside, with chandeliers and dining tables.

“But there is a pinprick-sized hole in the hull. Nothing else matters.

“Nick Griffin is plugging that gap. And when the gap is plugged, we can get on with eating the meal. You think of the security of the ship first and then have champagne and a candlelit dinner.

“The British way of life is only ensured if that hole is plugged. But Tony Blair himself took an axe to it, by opening up the gates.”

He said he had seen the “potential of Islam” in India and did not want to see it repeated in Britain.

“Islam is global, it has zero loyalty to Britain.

“The BNP are sons of soil and they are standing up for their soil.

“I wish we had a counterpart of the BNP in India in 1946.”

But today the Unison union called for racism to be kicked out of politics.

General secretary Dave Prentis said: “Without the efforts of workers from abroad, the NHS would crumble, our schools couldn’t function and our elderly and vulnerable would be without the care they need.

“It is time that this massive contribution to our country was recognised.

“The BNP’s commitment not to be a ‘whites only’ party should not fool anyone.

“It is a ploy to make sure they can take part in the next election.

“They were forced to make a change to their constitution after legal action was taken against them. The party are already backtracking by promising not to become ‘multiracial’.

“However much they try to deny it, racism is at the heart of the BNP.

“And racism should have no part in 21st century Britain. It is time to kick racism out of politics.”

Pakistan Taliban behead two Sikhs, send heads to gurdwara

Taliban kill 2 Sikhs, send heads to Pak gurdwara
Omer Farooq Khan, TNN, Feb 22, 2010

PESHAWAR/NEW DELHI: The Taliban has reportedly beheaded two Sikhs in Pakistan’s lawless tribal region bordering Afghanistan and sent the heads to a gurdwara. 

Jaspal Singh and Mahan Singh, both businessmen, were kidnapped from Tira Valley, in Khyber agency, and Darra Adamkheil, in Orakzai agency, on January 19 and held for ransom. Sources in the area told TOI on Sunday that they were killed because they were paying `protection’ money to a rival faction. 

However, according to security sources in New Delhi, Jaspal and Mahan were reportedly told to convert to Islam or face death. When they refused, their heads were chopped off and sent to the Bhai Joga Singh gurdwara in Peshawar. 

The Indian government has taken serious note of this and is in touch with the high commission in Islamabad. “This incident is shocking. We are looking into it,” a source said. 

The miniscule Sikh community in NWFP and Afghanistan has been under pressure from the Taliban to embrace Islam, official sources said. The Taliban, during their reign in Afghanistan, had imposed jiziya — a religious tax — on all minorities, mostly Hindus and Sikhs. They were made to wear a piece of yellow cloth on their breast pocket to identify themselves. 

Pakistani Taliban behead 2 Sikhs
PTI 
Peshawar/Islamabad, February 21, 2010 

Two Sikhs who were kidnapped over a month back have been beheaded by the Pakistani Taliban in the country’s restive tribal belt in a brutal act by the militants.

Some more members of the minority community are still in the custody of the rebels.

The body of Jaspal Singh was found in the Khyber tribal region, located a short distance from the provincial capital of Peshawar, while the body of Mahal Singh was found in the Aurakzai Agency, sources said on Sunday night

There was confusion about the total number of Sikhs who were kidnapped for ransom from the Bara area of Khyber Agency by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. A source said four Sikhs were abducted while another report said the total number of kidnapped persons was six.

The Sikhs were kidnapped 34 days ago and the Taliban had demanded Rs 30 million as ransom for their release. Two of the kidnapped Sikhs were beheaded after the expiry of the deadline for the payment of the ransom, sources said.

Gurvinder Singh and Gurjit Singh are still in the custody of the militants, sources said.

The kidnapping occurred in an area where there the government has virtually no control and the militants are in a dominant position, sources said.

A sizeable number of Sikhs lived in the tribal belt, particularly Aurakzai Agency, till the Taliban imposed ‘jiziya’ or religious tax on them last year. Most members of the community then fled to cities across Pakistan. 

Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (DSGPC) condemned the incident and said that Pakistan government should take strong action against Taliban. 

A weak, unstable Pakistan is in India’s interest. When Pakistan broke up in 1971, India enjoyed peace for 20 years

Via  Link

A strong and stable Pakistan is in India’s best interests.

This argument is as old as the hills. The underlying assumption is that
were Pakistan to break up, thousands of mad militants would attack
India. There is a tiny grain of truth to this view so I will not dismiss
it out of hand but consider the opposite view.

In 1971, Pakistan broke up. Half of the country actually seceded and
became Bangladesh. The immediate consequence of this weak and enfeebled
Pakistan was two decades of peace. Throughout the 70s and the 80s, we
had very little trouble from Islamabad. Plus, with East Pakistan gone,
funding for rebels in Nagaland and Mizoram dried up. Consequently, both
problems were solved and the insurgencies ended.

If Pakistan were to break up, if Sindh or Baluchistan seceded, there is
no way this could do India any harm. Rather Pakistan would be so
obsessed with its own problems that we would have a degree of peace.

Further, the real threat to India is not from freelance jihadis. They
are quite happy killing other Pakistanis. The threat to us comes from
organised terror planned by state and semi-state actors. Such forces are
at their peak when Pakistan is strong and stable.

Partition was good for India

An undivided India on Jinnah’s terms would have reduced the whole of the region to Pakistan-like chaos. We would have had not just three countries, but more than 20 of them, allowing none to survive as secular nations. By agreeing to Partition, Nehru and Patel saved the rest of the nation from the mess Jinnah created. They did the right thing.

Partition was good
R Jagannathan
Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Excerpts

(Partition) It allowed Pakistan to experiment with its Muslim identity and India with its Hindu-dominated, but secular, ideology. Today it is more or less clear which approach is right. It is also significant that Jinnah, who was so insistent on a Muslim veto in undivided India, did not give the same veto to minorities in Pakistan. His stand was thus totally hypocritical and self-serving.

But it is still too early to declare victory for secularism. The ideological battle will have to be fought to the bitter end, and only one can win. Jinnah’s ideological progeny in India continue to oppose secular laws in India and the army in Pakistan still believes in perpetual conflict with India. The only difference is that the ruling powers in Pakistan have shifted to indirect action — through jihadi terror in Kashmir and elsewhere — against India and secularism. That struggle is not about to end and our prime minister’s pusillanimity towards Pakistan is not going to help. Nothing emboldens Pakistan’s army and the ruling elite more than signs of indecisiveness and confusion in India.

Coming back to the idea of Partition, despite frequent lip-service to the idea of an undivided India by the Sangh Parivar and even secularists, the bitter truth is that it was the best thing to happen to us. An undivided India on Jinnah’s terms would have reduced the whole of the region to Pakistan-like chaos. We would have had not just three countries, but more than 20 of them, allowing none to survive as secular nations. By agreeing to Partition, Nehru and Patel saved the rest of the nation from the mess Jinnah created. They did the right thing.