Arnab Goswami's Fatwa-No Hindus In Muslim Areas

(MediaCrooks)

The Congress is not the only one still struggling to come to terms with the election loss. Some media houses and their editors are in a quandary. This is because unlike the past 25 years this is the first time there is a single party with a full majority. For “self-styled morality anchors” like Barkha Dutt and Arnab Goswami this is a problem because they are unable to manipulate a party or its alliance partners to concoct news. And since that “communal” party has come to power they have been consistently concocting some fake story or the other to claim extremists are raising their ugly heads. Of course, by “extremists” they obviously mean Hindus in some way or the other. But the blatant and extreme abuse of Hindus and Hinduism that happened on Timesnow on July 25through Arnab Goswami has established a new threshold for barbaric behaviour by a TV anchor. This scumbag who shouts all the time and accuses others of shouting has embarked on a new mission of inciting communal hatred through his channel.

On July 25 in his debate Arnab raged against the Hindus for 4 issues: One Goa MLADeepak Dhavalikar said with Modi as PM India could be a “Hindu Nation”, two the Goa Deputy CM Francis D’Souza defended Dhavalikar’s right to his opinion and said it is Hindustan and all are Hindus and that he was a Christian Hindu. Third, was Dinanath Batra who has written some texts seeking “Akhand Bharat” and fourth and most important a dispute relating to loudspeakers at a Hindu temple in Moradabad which is a predominantly Muslim area. The anti-Hindu venom-menu was complete. What Arnab unleashed was phenomenal hatred and attempts to somehow imply that it’s Modi and BJP was the culprit behind all these events. Let’s watch the first debate (9.28 mins – Note: The videos in this post are edited to keep only the relevant portions. Full videos of the debate are on Timesnow site and also Youtube):

So much ruckus over the “Hindu nation” comment. First, the MLA, Dhavalikar, made that statement in the Goa Assembly and he is well within his rights to speak his mind. The law allows him that benefit as much as it allowed Asad Owaisi to make his “3rd wav radicalisation” threat in the parliament. MLAs and MPs have complete freedom of speech as long as they are speaking within the legislatures. So Arnab is wrong to make a big issue out of it. Secondly, Francis D’Souza didn’t make the “Hindu nation” comment on his own. He was asked by a reporter on Dhavalikar’s comment to which he responded saying “everyone has his opinion, you have yours, I have mine and Dhavalikar has his” and there is no need to make a controversy out of everything. When pestered, D’Souza said that we call it “Hindustan” and in that sense everyone is a Hindu and that he is a Christian Hindu. This was blown up deliberately to create a controversy.

To all this, Arnab rages asking if India is a “Hindu nation” in the religious sense of the term when D’Souza was stating that only in the sense of what is being referred to as Hindustan and not as a religion. He himself is a Christian and that is pretty obvious to any moron so why would he refer to that in religious terms. But then like theMaharashtra Sadan waiter or Sania Mirza Arnab wants some Hindu-bashing or BJP-bashing for fun. When told that Hinduism is a way of life and there is nothing wrong with that he disputes the 1995 SC observation in a case relating to Bal Thackeray. Where Arnab’s moronery reaches a peak is that he says the SC said “Hinduism is a way of life” in upholding an HC judgement over Bal Thackeray using religion for politics. Whether a judgement is favourable or unfavourable to a party, the SC’s observation still remains valid. Since when do morons like Arnab start deciding that the SC observation on a specific issue is valid only when a judgement goes one way? The SC’s observation on Hinduism stands no matter the silly interpretation of Arnab or media crooks like him. The SC’s observation does not become invalid because it criticises BalT as Arnab points out. This is how stupid the man is.

As the BJP spokie Sudhanshu Trivedi points out, it will be hard to define Hinduism in a manner that one can clearly define Christianity or Islam. And what has Ashok Singhal’s demands or statements got to do with this? So, when your arguments are stupid you bring in other elements to show Hindus or BJP in a poor light. What exactly is wrong with Singhal making his statements or demands? He can make as many demands as he wants as long as he is not threatening or invoking violence to seek his demands. If he seeks Muslims to respect Hindu sentiments and surrender Ayodhya what crime does he commit? Does he threaten to attack them if they didn’t? He may even seek India to conquer Pakistan and annexe it. Which law prohibits him from saying that? Such stupid issues are tagged on to BJP for mere political agenda of Arnab. Behind all this what is Arnab really hiding? The fact that the most communal and religion-based agenda crooks are Congress and its clones.

At 4.32 in the video Trivedi rightly asks that if religion has no place in secular nature of our govt why should MMS say “Muslims have the first right over resources?” Next he points out that the same Congress declared in Mizoram that if they won they will rule by Catholic principles. What is all that crap? That’s not fantasy that is the truth. BJP didn’t say if they came to power they will rule according to Hindutva.

Arnab then pounces on Dinanath Batra who wants “Akhand Bharat”. Now he too may want an “Akhand Bharat” from Afghanistan to Cambodia or whatever. But does anyone really want that? I certainly do not want Pakistan or Afghanistan or Bangladesh back as part of India. It would be the biggest nuisance to this country. So one man’s whimsical dreams are an issue? Arnab’s argument is that the Gujarat Board endorses that book. There are many book that State Boards endorse half of which belong in the dustbin. Instead of cherry picking on one single book, the media morons would do well to look up all the books that state boards endorse, especially Commie states, and you would realise most of them are terrible and some even anti-national. In addition, the same media morons would do well to pick on the fake history books that our Commies have written and filled with lies.

Arnab rants as if the Akhand Bharat is a mountain that is going to fall on people’s heads. There are text books that have biographies of Pappus like Rahul Gandhi and passages about Barkha Dutt. Are we to believe our kids should be taught about these rogues? It is clearly a matter of sheer opinion of those who run the boards and only a good national policy on this can eliminate such stupidity. This is a bogus topic to be clubbed with any BJP agenda of the Centre. This is just to pick on something to use as a stick to beat up Modi. For every case of some Hindu’s whimsical statements or writings there are hundreds of Mullahs issuing Fatwas which are unconstitutional. Ever see Hindu-hating media pull them up? No, they pee in their pants and skirts fearing for their life. Recently, another Mullah wanted to send a militia of 5Lakh Muslim Sunnis. Can Arnab dare to pull him up? No! Because, if Arnab dared, his neck would be under threat and so would be his studio. But Hindus don’t pose that threat so hate them and bash them as frequently as you can and tag them as “Communal” because the BJP is largely supported by Hindus. That’s coward Arnab for you.

When Rahul Easwar brings up Shah Bano case, Arnab asks why that should come in here. Well, why should Ashok Singhal come in here? Only those diversions that suit your agenda are acceptable? The Shah Bano case is the most shameful chapter of this country nullifying an SC judgement to please the Muslims. That is an act of religion-based law making and not based on the prevailing Constitution. But yeah, that is a “separate” issue which shouldn’t be brought up because it hurts the cause of Arnab’s mindless Hindu-bashing exercise.

At around 7.55 in the video Trivedi correctly summarises the “sickular” media mafia’s approach to Hindus and BJP as a party. Riots in Gujarat, blame BJP! Riots in Kishtwar,blame BJP! Riots in UP, blame BJP! Riots in Bihar, blame BJP! Riots in Hyderabad,blame BJP! Riots in Jupiter, blame BJP! Oops! Reminds me of the Mafia bosses; they want their cut no matter how your business is doing. No matter what the riots and who ignites them, blame the BJP and the Hindus. Like I said in my previous post our media doesn’t give a damn if Hindus die. They rejoice it and so does Arnab. During the course of the show it was pretty clear that Arnab was wrong and on the backfoot. I am discounting all the bogus rants of that Commie bimbo called Atul Anjan because Commies never make any sense. They still harp on RSS killed MKGandhi and such nonsense. The mischief Arnab played will be evident from the fact that in the video that Timesnow uploaded on their site of this particular debate, the following portion was deleted:

All these bogus questions and the outrageous demand by Arnab for a “guarantee” from Trivedi to prevent violence at Moradabad was deleted. Why? Why should a guy from BJP guarantee there will be no violence in Moradabad when they are neither in govt nor the main Opposition in that state? Tomorrow this moron Arnab will demand BJP to guarantee there will be no violence in Tamil Nadu or Kerala? Such is the sickness of Arnab that he wants to accuse the Hindus of fomenting violence when the opposite has always been the case. In any “group” clashes as our stupid media calls them, one party is always a known entity.

Truth, as pointed out by Trivedi, is that the courts did not hold Modi responsible for Gujarat 2002 and the SC held UP govt responsible for Muzaffarnagar. But Hindus are the criminals who kill others, is it? The people of the “peaceful” religion were on another trip elsewhere inSaharanpur. The political parties and media first started point fingers at BJP but found their lies can’t travel far so started blaming the SP. That’s how criminals like Arnab work in the media. There is another trick that Arnab employed to concoct this entire anti-Hindu fake debate. He thoughtShahid Siddiqui will be handy for some Hindu-bashing but it turns out Shahid had views that weren’t sympathetic to the Muslim stand so he dropped him with a lie saying debate was cancelled when it was not. It is okay for TV channels to pick and choose panellists with opposing views to create an artificial balance in the debate but to tell a person with views opposed to Arnab’s that the topic was “cancelled” is blatant mischief which exposes the motive of anti-Hindu hate-mongering. Let’s watch the second video of this extended debate (4.49 mins):

Okay! So Arnab starts out saying it will be difficult for the BJP to do this “surreptitiously’. What is surreptitious about what is going in Moradabad? In this day and age when stray acts of stupidity are captured on mobiles is this guy still thinking that open acts in the public domain are undertaken covertly? There is nothing covert about all this. But the worse was yet to come. Arnab rants that the loudspeaker at a temple is a “new phenomenon” and there is no tradition of Hindu temples having loudspeakers. That’s a LIE! And which world does this hate-monger live in? At Tirupati the morning “Suprabhatam” plays on loudspeakers in the entire temple town complex. Many important holy shrines in the south, north and west have loudspeakers. I wonder if Arnab has ever been to any of the major Hindu temples. And then he wants to expose the “ignorance” of Sambit Patra, the BJP spokie, when in reality it is Arnab who is the bimbo here. Ignorance!

Mind you, there is no riot in Moradabad and Sambit Patra asks the right question “by repeated discussion on this are you forcing a riot on this country?” That nailed it! That is exactly what our media morons have been striving for all these last 2 months. When cornered, Arnab quickly shifts the topic to “people are dying on the streets, they want food”. So then discuss that instead of loudspeakers. Others are diverting the topic he accuses but what is Arnab doing when cornered? Why then do you discuss snoopgate or Gaza or any topic? Discuss food and people on the streets all the time. Such is the tomfoolery of our anchors. They want to see a spate of communal riots and then claim “we told you so about Modi”. These headlines will than travel across the world to paint the Modi-govt as communal riot-mongers even BJP has nothing to do with it. Trust me; it is indeed happening as this clip shows:

Clearly, the ones instigating the riots in Saharanpur appear to be Congis and the targets of the Muslim rioters were Sikhs. BJP had nothing to do with it but that’s the objective of Arnab and hate-mongers like him. They will quietly whisper to themselves “Mission Accomplished”. That’s the agenda. It doesn’t end there. Arnab goes on to make one of the most audacious and hate-filled statement yet. He says “You create a temple, you create a conflict, and you put up a loudspeaker”. What was that crap all about? BJP is in the business of creating or putting up temples in Muslim areas? And what the hell does Arnab mean by implying you can’t have temples in Muslim areas where Hindus are a minority? Is it unlawful or unconstitutional and Hindus should vacate Muslim-majority areas or should be killed or thrown out like KPs? This is what the mindless nonsense of Arnab implies and in his rage and agenda of bashing BJP he forgets what nonsense he talks. It doesn’t occur to hate-mongers like Arnab that Islamists are building an “Islamic University” at Tirupati which is one of the holiest sites for Hindus. Will Muslims tolerate such an act? And Arnab wants to destroy a temple just because it is in a Muslim dominated area? That’s as good as saying Hindus should not live in or practice their religion in Muslim-majority areas. Who the hell is this guy to make these laws?

By Arnab’s stupid logic Muslims should not live in a Hindu-majority country at all. More power to separatists, ISIS, IM… Kill Hindus living in Muslim areas. Arnab supports it. As Sambit rightly points out Arnab wants to inflame communal passions and if he can provoke a riot that would be a bonus for whoever his masters are and their money. This is the media agenda when they make the Maharashtra Sadan a “communal” issue or get Sania Mirza to go on a “tear-jerking” trip on TV channels. Yeah, the iRudaliBarkha Dutt is always there to exploit Muslims to incite more hatred against Hindus and BJP. Now Arnab has become Sagarika Ghose who did the same earlier on CNN-IBN. Yesterday was Eid. As usual, Muslims occupied public places for their morning prayers. Mosques are not enough, private society grounds are not enough for them. Where do they go? Here, take a look:

That is Bandra station in Mumbai. The ANI tweet conveniently blacks out the exact location. MSM for you! Not only have the Muslims blocked out the entire station front yard, they have extended themselves to the main road just outside the station. This is “Sickularism” for Arnab and similar hate-mongers. How do govts allow permission to people for such blockade of railway stations? And in previous years Muslims have occupied even highways and expressways in mass gatherings. And the MSM morons have a problem with Hindus and a loudspeaker in Moradabad. Day after day, week after week the MSM and certain political parties encourage the minorities to do the most outrageous things and then protect them as victims. They ask Hindus to be tolerant. And when some stray guy makes some comment, hatemongers like Arnab turn it into a great calamity that has fallen on the nation which threatens the very survival of India. That’s the game. By the way, as they rant about Hindu atrocities with “words” that torture and threaten the nation; on the ground physically the reverse is happening as Arnab’s own reporter (Aditya Kaul) ironically slams his stupidity and irony:

The perverted MSM crooks like Arnab will tolerate destruction of Hindu temples. They will tolerate Mullahs issuing fatwas. They will tolerate a Mullah wanting to raise a militia (who will eventually be at your door as bill collectors or blood collectors). None of that is a threat to them. But a loudspeaker at a temple in Moradabad is a problem and for that Arnab is willing to unleash extraordinary hate against Hindus and their practices. He claims he too is a proud Hindu. No moron, you’re not a Hindu, you’re a media crook. And you do no favour to Hindus or anyone by claiming to be a Hindu.

Forget what the SC said about Hinduism. The most important observation to come from the SC in recent years is the way it lambasted the media for exposing innocents to death by their stupid coverage of the 26/11 attacks (read the full SC report). There are criminals in the media who relish a tragedy, including communal riots. Many of them have made a fortune scavenging on the Gujarat riots. It is time the Modi govt framed adequate laws to make the media liable if they provoke communal hatred through their concocted debates. People like Arnab Goswami don’t have the right to tell Hindus where to live and what to practice. Arnab is inadvertently and foolishly provoking Muslim hatred for Hindus. We can do without such anchors.

1947 Partition Archive: Preserving the Past

Sonya Rehman
(She is a journalist based in Lahore, Pakistan)

The 1947 Partition Archive is creating an oral history of a momentous time.

 Even those of us who have been direct beneficiaries of the world’s digital media revolution are finding it increasingly challenging to retain and sort through information. The chance to mull over a certain story, opinion piece, or photo-essay is fast becoming a luxury. The makers and takers of news are forgetting how to reflect; real analysis is getting lost in the adrenaline rush of instant gratification and consumption.

It is for this reason, and this reason alone, that the need to preserve and archive stories from our shared past become so very vital. Why? Identity. Understanding who we came from and what we endured, the paths our ancestors walked and the paths we tread upon today.
The 1947 Partition Archive, established in 2011, is one such oral history archive doing its bit to preserve a slice of history: shared memories and experiences of the partition of the subcontinent, British India, in 1947. Founded by Dr. Guneeta Singh Bhalla, a physicist, the archive features an abundance of rich, poignant stories of partition from all walks of life.
Born in Delhi, Bhalla and her family immigrated to the U.S. when she was ten. Through her years growing up, Bhalla would listen to personal stories of partition from her maternal and paternal grandparents, both. However, her paternal grandparents’ stories had more of an impact on her since they had to leave their ancestral home, their belongings, and their lives in Lahore (the place of birth of Bhalla’s father, in Pakistan), and flee to India, immediately following partition. Like countless families, they had to start from scratch.
“I knew it was a really traumatic and large-scale event but I never learned about it in high school here in the U.S.,” states Bhalla, “In fact, it was not even mentioned in my textbooks, while in contrast, we learned about the Holocaust in Europe and Hiroshima/Nagasaki for a whole semester in my World History class.” This bothered Bhalla. And it wasn’t just in school, even during college, “the reaction was always the same: it was probably not ‘a big deal’ because it was not written about in textbooks.”
States Bhalla: “[It] bothered me because the sentiment contrasted so sharply with the stories I heard. The thought that we could let such a massive historical event slip through the cracks without documenting it at the level that it should have been, deeply troubled me.”
Even though Bhalla knew she had to do something, she wasn’t sure how to put her plan to motion. Years passed and then, in 2008, while visiting Japan for her PhD research work, Bhalla decided to visit Hiroshima primarily because her great grandfather “was stationed there during [WWII] and was not far from Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped.”
While visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial during her trip, Bhalla happened upon the witness archives of those who had endured the tragedy. “That’s when it clicked,” she states, “It was so powerful to hear the stories of [the] survivors. Suddenly it was all very real and human and I felt their pain much more than watching videos of the mushroom cloud or reading written accounts of those hours that followed the dropping of the bomb. I knew the same had to be done for partition.”
And so, with her camcorder, Bhalla started a series of interviews during a trip to India the year after visiting Japan. “In 2010, the last member of my family who remembered partition as an adult died before I could reach him to record his story. I was living in Berkeley by then,” she states, “I was deeply troubled, not only by his passing, but by the tremendous loss of knowledge that my generation was facing. My great uncle took with him an immense amount of knowledge and wisdom, and it was now gone forever. It was the absolute totality of that moment that made me realize that this work needed to be done on a larger scale.”
Thus Bhalla’s recruitment drive for her initiative began towards the end of 2010. Bhalla and her team decided the best way to collect numerous stories at a rapid pace would be to crowd-source the stories of partition. Currently, the 1947 Partition Archive comprises 11 individuals in South Asia, 18 in the U.S., and more than two hundred “citizen historians” spread out across nine countries. Today, the archive contains 1,100 oral histories, thanks to the dedication and hard work of the team and volunteers.
Anyone anywhere in the world can be a part of the archive, and once on board, as a volunteer, individuals are taught how to record interviews via the archive’s online seminars, free of charge.
“Many had not shared [their] stories in such detail even with their families,” Bhalla states, in response to her initial experiences interviewing those who had been affected by partition. “It was a powerful experience for me that really fueled my drive for this work. I once interviewed a 93-year-old man in Batala who commented at the end of a very long interview: ‘I feel I can die now, thank you.’ I felt like we were doing something really positive for all those who had made such huge sacrifices at that time, but did not get the platform they needed to share their stories.”
But can the archive serve as a bridge of understanding between both countries? Would it be optimistic to assume that the initiative could aid in rectifying the pain of the past?
“I would love to go on answering this question, but I shall refrain. This leads us into politics and we, at the archive, stay away from politics,” Bhalla states, “We are only concerned with human stories – [the] basic emotions and experiences that are common to humans regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or any of those surface differences.”

Retired Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju Hurled Hand Grenade At UPA Government

(BS)

A controversy erupted today over an allegation by former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, who is due to retire as Chairman of Press Council of India in October, that three ex-Chief Justices of India made "improper compromises" during UPA rule in retaining a judge in Tamil Nadu under corruption cloud.

The allegation on how an unnamed additional judge of Madras High Court was given extension at the instance of UPA-I government owing to pressure from an ally, a "Tamil Nadu party", apparently DMK, and then confirmed as a permanent judge led to an uproar in Parliament by AIADMK MPs even as questions were raised by parties like Congress on its timing.

Katju made the charge while alleging how the three former CJIs--Justices R C Lahoti, Y K Sabharwal and K G Balakrishnan --made "improper compromises" in allowing the judge to continue in office despite an "adverse" Intelligence Bureau(IB) report on allegations of corruption against him. There was no immediate reaction from the three ex-CJIs.

"These three former CJIs made improper compromises. Justice Lahoti who started it, then Justice Sabharwal and then Justice Balakrishnan. These are CJIs who can surrender. Is a CJI going to surrender to political pressure or not going to surrender to political pressure?," Katju, who became the Chief Justice of Madras High Court in November 2004, told TV channels.

Katju, who was a Supreme Court judge from 2006 to 2011, was appointed as the PCI Chairman on October 5, 2011 and is due to retire on October 4 this year.

"The fact is that they(ex-CJIs) did succumb," Katju said when asked what made them "succumb" to political pressure.

"When there was an adverse IB report saying that this man is corrupt what was the justification of extending his term as a HC judge. All the CJIs made improper compromises," he said

"There was no justification for giving him another term of one year and then Justice Lahoti retired. Justice Sabharwal also I think once or twice gave him term as additional judge and then he also retired. Justice Balakrishnan made this judge permanent judge although he tranferred him to another High Court," he said.

Katju said he came to know that the reason for all this was that at that time the UPA-I government was dependent on allies for support and one of them was a 'Tamil Nadu party', one of whose leaders was given bail by the additional judge when he was a district judge.

"That leader was a solid supporter of this corrupt judge," he said, adding pressure was sought to be put on the Manmohan Singh government so that there was no threat to it.

Asked why he was making this disclosure several years after this episode, a rattled Katju said the timing was "immaterial" and instead the matter should be probed to find out whether it was correct or not.

Finally Assam government decides to provide refugee status to Bangladeshi Hindus in Assam

Guwahati: In a major development, Assam government has decided to give refugee status to the Bangladeshi nationals who have crossed the border fearing persecution in that country. This was decided in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The state government will now request the Government of India to frame a policy for granting asylum to the persons who have fled religious persecution and discrimination and taken refuge in India on humanitarian grounds.
This is what BJP was advocating for a long time for the Hindu migrants. Meanwhile, several organizations and political parties have opposed the move of the state government.
“The meeting has decided that the people who have come to India fearing persecution in Bangladeshi in various means will be given refugee status,” state forest and tourism minister Rockybul Hussain told reporters. It may be mentioned that Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi had submitted a memorandum to the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on April 20, 2012, pleading that Bangladeshi citizens who had to flee due to religious persecution and discrimination at the time of partition should not be treated as foreigners on humanitarian grounds.
    The statement assumes significance as Gogoi was cynical about the idea of giving refugee status to the Bengali Hindus as was demanded by the BJP.
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been advocating on the issue before the election when he had addressed public rallies in various places of the state.
    Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), prime regional party of the state who led anti-foreigners movement in the state in 1985 criticized the step of the government. All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the apex students’ body of the region also slammed the state government on this. “This is highly condemnable. A foreigner should not be categorized by his religion. We will not let it happen. Every illegal foreigner who have entered the state after 1971 has to leave the state,” AASU advisor Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharyya said.
   Char Chapori Sahitya Parishad (CCSP), a literary body of the state also reacted on this. CCSP president Hafiz Ahmed said that Assam is not a dumping ground for the foreigners. “We oppose the decision of the state government. This is a ridiculous decision of the state government to divide the foreigners on the basis of religion,” Ahmed said.

Pope Francis's Confession-2 Percent Of Priests Are Pedophiles;Terms Clergy Sex Abuse 'A Leprosy'

(HP)

ROME, July 13 (Reuters) - About 2 percent of Roman Catholic clerics are sexual abusers, an Italian newspaper on Sunday quoted Pope Francis as saying, adding that the pontiff considered the crime "a leprosy in our house".
But the Vatican issued a statement saying some parts of a long article in the left-leaning La Repubblica were not accurate, including one that quoted the pope as saying that there were cardinals among the abusers.

The article was a reconstruction of an hour-long conversation between the pope and the newspaper's founder, Eugenio Scalfari, an atheist who has written about several past encounters with the pope.

"Many of my collaborators who fight with me (against pedophilia) reassure me with reliable statistics that say that the level of pedophilia in the Church is at about 2 percent," Francis was quoted as saying.

"This data should hearten me but I have to tell you that it does not hearten me at all. In fact, I think that it is very grave," he was quoted as saying.

The pope was quoted as saying that, while most pedophilia took place in family situations, "even we have this leprosy in our house".

According to Church statistics for 2012, the latest available, there are about 414,000 Roman Catholic priests in the world.

The Vatican issued a statement noting Scalfari's tradition of having long conversations with public figures without taking notes or taping them, and then reconstructing them from memory. Scalfari, 90, is one of Italy's best known journalists.

While acknowledging that the conversation had taken place, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi issued a statement saying that not all the phrases could be attributed "with certainty" to the pope.

Lombardi said that, in particular, a quote attributed to the pope saying cardinals were among the sex abusers was not accurate and accused the paper of trying to "manipulate naive readers".

Last week, the Argentine pope held his first meeting with victims of sexual abuse by priests.

He told them the Church should "weep and make reparation" for crimes that he said had taken on the dimensions of a sacrilegious cult. He vowed zero tolerance for abusers and said bishops would be held accountable if they covered up crimes by priests in their diocese. 

Benjamin Netanyahu-Israel won't bow to international pressure on Gaza airstrikes

(RTE)


Israel has said it will not bow to international pressure to end air strikes in Gaza that officials there said had killed almost 100 Palestinians, despite an offer by US President Barack Obama to help negotiate a ceasefire with militants.

Asked if Israel might move from the mostly aerial attacks of the past four days into a ground war in Gaza to stop militant rocket fire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu replied: "we are weighing all possibilities and preparing for all possibilities".

"No international pressure will prevent us from acting with all power," he told reporters in Tel Aviv a day after a telephone conversation with Obama about the worst flare-up in Israeli-Palestinian violence in almost two years.
Washington also affirmed Israel's right to defend itself in a statement from the Pentagon.

But Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel told Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon he was concerned "about the risk of further escalation and emphasised the need for all sides to do everything they can to protect civilian lives and restore calm".

A rocket caused the first serious Israeli casualty — one of eight people hurt when a fuel tanker was hit at a service station in Ashdod, 30km north of Gaza, and Palestinian militants warned international airlines they would fire rockets at Tel Aviv's main airport.

Medical officials in Gaza said at least 75 civilians, including 23 children, were among at least 99 people killed in the aerial bombardments which Israel began on Tuesday. They included 12 killed today.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the United Nations Security Council to order an immediate truce.

But Israel said it was determined to end cross-border rocket attacks that intensified last month after its forces arrested hundreds of activists from the Islamist Hamas movement in the occupied West Bank following the abduction there of three Jewish teenagers who were later found killed.

A Palestinian youth was killed in Jerusalem in a suspected Israeli revenge attack.

Israel's campaign "will continue until we are certain that quiet returns to Israeli citizens", Netanyahu said. Israel had attacked more than 1,000 targets in Gaza and there were "more to go".

Israel's military commander, Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz, said his forces were ready to act as needed - an indication of a readiness to send in tanks and other ground troops, as Israel last did for two weeks in early 2009.

"We are in the midst of an assault and we are prepared to expand it as much as is required, to wherever is required, with whatever force will be required and for as long as will be required," Mr Gantz said.

Western-backed Abbas, who is based in the West Bank and agreed a power-sharing deal with Gaza's dominant Hamas in April after years of feuding, called for international help:

"The Palestinian leadership urges the Security Council to quickly issue a clear condemnation of this Israeli aggression and impose a commitment of a mutual ceasefire immediately," he said.

The rocket salvoes by the hardline movement and its allies, some striking more than 100 km (60 miles) from Gaza, have killed no one so far.

Israeli leaders have hinted they could order troops into the Gaza Strip, a 40-km sliver of coastline that is home to nearly two million people.

Some 20,000 reservists have already been mobilised, the army says.

UN doubts over strikes

The United Nations human rights chief has voiced serious doubts that Israeli's military operation against Gaza complied with international law banning the targeting of civilians.

International law requires Israel to take all measures to ensure that its attacks are proportional, distinguish between military and civilian objects, and avoid civilian casualties, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said.

Ms Pillay said: "We have received deeply disturbing reports that many of the civilian casualties, including of children, occurred as a result of strikes on homes.”

“Such reports raise serious doubt about whether the Israeli strikes have been in accordance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law," the statement added.

Tough time for Sonia-Rahul due to amendment in I-T Act Section 12AA

(TOI)

NEW DELHI: Young Indian, a company in which Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul hold majority stake, could be in fresh trouble over its takeover of the National Herald publication. The Budget has proposed an amendment in the Income Tax Act empowering officials to cancel registration of charitable trusts is the department is convinced that any income or property of the trust is applied for personal benefit of specified persons like author of trust, trustees etc.

The amendment proposed is in the Section 12AA of the I-T Act and will take effect from 1st October, 2014.

The existing provisions of section 12AA had limited jurisdiction where the registration could only be cancelled if the activities of a trust or institution are found not to be genuine, or the activities are not in accordance with the objects of the trust or institution.
The I-T department has already served notice on the Young Indian and the Associate Journals which earlier owned the National Herald and other publications of the trusts. The Associate Journals was taken over by another company called the
Young Indian which was incorporated in 2010 and in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul held majority stake.
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had filed a case against the Congress president and some others, alleging that they had used party funds to acquire the properties of National Herald.

VHP international President Ashok Chowgule asks Aamir if he apologised to Modi

(Agency)

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has sought a clarification from actor Aamir Khan if he had apologised for his March 2005 statement on the Gujarat riots before meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently.

In a letter to Aamir Khan on Saturday, VHP’s working president (External) Ashok Chowgule said the actor was signatory to a statement in 2005 which had held Mr. Modi directly responsible for “the act of genocide” in Gujarat.

“If you still hold on to this view point, we are surprised that you decided to meet a person whom you have called such vile terms… The question now arises whether you have apologised to Mr. Modi for signing the statement. From your Twitter comments, we do not read that you have apologised,” Mr. Chowgule said.

He said if the actor had not apologised and yet met the Prime Minister it would “breed a huge sense of cynicism among the people” as they would wonder if he was seeking any special favours from the present government. The VHP functionary said, in his letter, that he would like to hear from Mr. Khan on the issue.

Bhiwandi court summoned Rahul Gandhi on October 7 for his remarks against RSS

(Agency)

New Delhi: A Bhiwandi court in Maharashtra on Friday summoned Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh. While addressing a Lok Sabha election rally, Rahul had linked the RSS with Mahatma Gandhi's killing.
The RSS had filed a criminal application against Rahul over his recent remarks.
On March 6, while addressing a party rally at Sonale sports ground in Bhiwandi, Rahul had said that the RSS shot Mahatma Gandhi and now they were using his name to campaign for elections.
Rahul has been asked to appear before the court on October 7.

India asks UN Military observers to vacate Delhi premises

(PTI)

New Delhi, July 8: India has asked the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to vacate the government bungalow to “rationalise” the presence of the group which government says has “outlived its relevance”.

Asserting that it has been India’s “consistent and long- standing view that UNMOGIP has outlived its mandate”, Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry Syed Akbaruddin said they have “monetised” various facilities extended to the organisation.

UNMOGIP was given the bungalow free of charge 40 years ago.

“We have asked the UNMOGIP to vacate the government bungalow on Purana Qila Road which they have been occupying free of charge. This is in line with our effort to rationalize the UNMOGIP presence in India. As part of this exercise, we have also monetized some of the facilities that UNMOGIP had been availing free of cost till now,” he said.

Indian stand is that UNMOGIP’s role has been overtaken by the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the Line of Control.

Asked if any deadline has been given, Akbaruddin said, “These are diplomatic communications and in diplomacy you are aware that these things are worked out quietly behind the scenes and once it is worked out we will let you know. It is a decision that we have taken that they will need to vacate.”

Explaining further what he meant by the term “rationalize UNMOGIP presence in India”, he said, “We are in budgetary season and everybody is tightening their belts.”

“Rationalisation means that you pay for what you get, he said, adding that it also means monetisation of services that is provided.

“And as far as the UN is concerned, I am certain it is an organisation with adequate resources with no paucity of funds. So we should not be bothered about it too much,” he said.

UNMOGIP in New Delhi is currently based out of a Type VII bungalow in Purana Qila Road.

Officials said the UN organisation was free to take any private property on rent.

UNMOGIP observers have been located at the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir since 1949 and supervise the truce between the two neighbours.

As of May, UNMOGIP has 40 military observers, 23 international civilian personnel and 45 local civilian staff.

The observer group is financed by the United Nations regular budget and appropriations for biennium 2014-2015 are USD 19.64 million.

The small UN mission has its main offices in J&K capital Srinagar and in Pakistani administered Kashmir capital Islamabad as part of a UN Security Council resolution to supervise the ceasefire in the divided region.

New Delhi has argued that the UN had little role to play after India and Pakistan signed the Simla Pact in 1972 under which the two countries agreed to resolve all disputes including Kashmir bilaterally.

Pakistan, however, has frequently called for third-party involvement to settle the dispute in Kashmir.

The military authorities of Pakistan have continued to lodge complaints with UNMOGIP about ceasefire violations in Kashmir.

The military authorities of India have lodged no complaints since January 1972 and have restricted the activities of the UN observers on the Indian side of the Line of Control. They have, however, continued to provide accommodation, transport and other facilities to the observers.

(Additional inputs from Agencies)