Straight from PMO files, how Sonia ruled as proxy PM

As NAC chairperson, she summoned bureaucrats and sought compliance reports from Manmohan’s govt, which had no option but to implement her recommendations

The Centre has decided to make 710 files of the National Advisory Council (NAC) public. They provide a glimpse of the ecosystem that exercised absolute power with no accountability over the government between 2004 and 2014 and reveal the influence the NAC, formed under the chairmanship of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, exercised on policy-making in coal, power, disinvestment, real estate, governance, social and industrial sectors.

Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh

Express has exclusively accessed files, revealing that the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government followed up on the “suggestions”. The NAC summoned bureaucrats to its office at 2 Motilal Nehru Place, wrote to ministers and sought compliance reports, though its charter defines its function as a body to provide inputs for policy formulation and provide support to the government in legislative business. The content of the files shows that the UPA government had no choice but to implement the NAC’s recommendations.

Here is an excerpt from the minutes of an NAC meeting held on October 29, 2005: “It was agreed that while implementation of the various recommendations of the commission would be the direct responsibility of the government agencies and other institutions, it would still be imperative to monitor and evaluate this process, closely, independently and credibly.”

Did Sonia Gandhi lack trust in Manmohan’s capabilities? File N.11012/2/2014-NAC (dated February 25) shows that the NAC was taking up various agendas and sending the government recommendations.

“The recommendations on ‘Development of sports in the NE’ have already been communicated to the government by the chairperson vide letters dated 21st February 2014. The recommendations on ‘Development of cooperatives in India’ are also being sent to the government with the approval of chairperson,” a note in the file said.

Illustration by Amit Bandre

Super Cabinet
File (N.9) relating to the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises contains a letter from NAC chairperson Sonia Gandhi to the then PM Manmohan Singh, dated September 16, 2004. She had been informed about the government’s plan to reconstitute the Disinvestment Commission and set up a new board in its place.

Sonia wrote, “I would like to suggest that the first item in the terms of reference of the new board should be such as to enable it to look into ways and means for strengthening public sector enterprises in general and making them more autonomous and professional. The functioning of the board should not be limited only to restructuring or advising on the closure or sale of public sector enterprises that are referred to it by the government. I hope this matter will be considered on priority and a clear decision taken before the constitution of the board for reconstruction of public sector enterprises.”

Files show the PM carried out her recommendations. On Feb 27, 2006, Sonia asked Manmohan to institute an apex mechanism for the manufacturing sector. “I thought that the issues outlined above needed to be taken up without delay for further consideration in the government,” read Sonia’s letter (1728/CP/NAC/06). A note in a file dated Oct 27, 2006 and addressed to Sonia revealed that “A special mechanism in the form of a high-level committee on manufacturing for implementation has been created as suggested in your letter to the PM.”

(Source: TNIE)

Is Indira Gandhi’s another name Maimuna Begum? Read the shocking facts about Gandhi family!

Dynasty Family of Congress Party has one too many skeletons in their cupboards! The more you dig History, more and more the Nehru- Gandhi skeletons tumble out! Let’s unearth the  skeleton of Feroze Gandhi,  husband of Indira Gandhi aka Maimuna Begum and Father in law of Sonia Gandhi aka Antonia  Maino. As this skeleton has been deeply and securely buried by the Congress Dynasty, be ready for a profuse rotten stink its exhumation is going to cause! A friendly warning!

Mystery surrounds the Founder of Gandhi Dynasty, Feroze Gandhi whom the Royal Family chose to suppress. Some call him Muslim, some Parsi due to his one parent being Muslim and one Parsi. His original surname is said to be either Khan or Ghandy.  Feroze’s father Jehangir Ghandy was said to be either a Marine Engineer in Killick Nixon or a Liquor and Provisions Merchant from Allahabad. Some say, these Ghandys were family friends of Nehrus while some say Feroze entered the Nehru household by ‘befriending’ Kamala Nehru! Such are the contradictory bits of information available about our Mystery man!

Feroze was a prankster, an indomitable freedom fighter, blessed with a fine hand at mechanical matters as well as a green thumb, having a thorough knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita, egalitarian, democrat and crusader for press freedom. (Refer ‘The Forgotten Gandhi’ by Bertil Falk)

Marrying  Indira Nehru turned out to be like tying a knot with Self-destruction for Feroze Gandhi. The couple had got married by facing a furor of Indians. Inter-religion marriage between a Hindu Brahmin and a Parsi Muslim was indigestible during Pre-Independence era.  Young Indira must have been head over heels in love with Feroze.  The love-birds had a secret ‘Nikaah’ in a Mosque where Indira was converted to Islam and renamed as ‘Maimuna Begum’. According to Indira Gandhi, the days she spent with Feroze in London after their Nikaah were the happiest days of her life! After their return, the couple had a Vedic Wedding for the sake of Indians and published the photo of the same in Newspapers. Playing with religious sentiments of Indians is in the genes of Congress Party.

It is said that Indira blackmailed her father Jawaharlal Nehru about his affair with Padmaja Naidu and pulled his consent for her marriage with Feroze. Nehru was worried about Indira’s political prospects seeing the contempt this wedding alliance had caused among Indians. It is said that M. K. Gandhi came to his rescue by changing Feroze’s surname as ‘Gandhi’ by presenting an affidavit in Mumbai Court through a renowned lawyer Sir Sapru, a close associate of Motilal Nehru. M K Gandhi even appealed to Indians to keep aside their anger and bless the newly-weds.

The marital bliss of this couple was extremely short-lived. After Rajiv’s birth,  Indira and Feroze had unofficially parted ways. To keep the fake façade of Nehru- Gandhi Dynasty, Feroze could not divorce Indira. Though entangled in unfinished marriage with Feroze, Indira had her second son Sanjay from Mohammad Yunus, Indira’s close aide and advisor.  Feroze had to legally father a baby born out of his wife’s illicit relationship.  As a baby, Sanjay Gandhi was circumcised following Islam custom. (Source: ‘The Nehru Dynasty’ by K N Rao)

Later Indira Gandhi had a prolonged affair of a decade with M O Mathai, Personal Secretary of Jawaharlal Nehru. Mathai had become a resident member of Teen Murthy Bhavan where Feroze was also put up to quench the rumors of separation. Mathai and Indira made no bones to hide their illegal affair from Feroze. In early fifties, Indira even became pregnant from Mathai but got it aborted. This affair gave rise to rivalry between Mathai and Feroze. In 1958, the affair came to an abrupt end when Mathai caught Indira red handed with a Young Brahmachari in her bedroom. (Source- Reminiscences of the Nehru Age by M O Mathai ) Link:

http://myblogkirannaik.blogspot.in/2011/09/she-written-by-m-o-mathai.html

https://archive.org/details/ReminiscencesOfTheNehruAgeBy-m-o-mathai

Feroze had become Lok Sabha MP by then and moved to his quarters. It was unbearable for him to stay under the same roof with Indira and Nehru. He demanded on Rajiv’s custody but was denied. (as only Rajiv was his genetic son). They even denied him an access to Teen Murthy Bhavan. The bitterness in the relationships with Indira caused a mental block for him that prevented him from visiting Rajiv. His last decade of life was full of loneliness and he started neglecting his health. In spite of the failure on the domestic front, Feroze Gandhi was very Investigating Parliamentarian. He made his mark in Parliament by exposing the LIC (which had invested money in companies owned by Calcutta businessman Haridas Mundhra), which led to the resignation of then finance minister TT Krishnamachari, a Nehru favorite. This angered Nehru a lot.

Feroze spoke rarely in Parliament. But whenever he spoke, he made a mark! The more he started getting political acclaim, the more he got into the bad books of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. His piloted the Parliamentary Proceedings (Protection of Publication) Act 1956 which empowered media as well as the members of the Indian parliament. During the Emergency era, the Act was amended but was brought back in 1977.

On personal front, he found happiness again and talked to Indira for a divorce so that he could remarry. And suddenly he expired at the age of 47 years in 1960. His death was said to be from heart attack. But his untimely death proved timely for Indira and Nehru. They both felt relieved by his death. Even today, mystery shrouds his death. (As per Author R V Bhasin Advocate, Supreme Court)

When Nehru witnessed a large crowd of needy, poor and laborers gathered to pay their respects to their dead leader, he couldn’t stop uttering, “I had no idea Feroze was so popular!” With six decades of Congress Rule, Feroze Gandhi has been successfully robbed of his identity as a freedom fighter and an acclaimed Politician!

(Source: Post Card)

MO Mathai version of truth regarding Nehru Dynasty

At the very beginning of his book, 'The Nehru Dynasty',
Astrologer K.N. Rao mentions the names of Jawaharlal's father and grandfather.

Jawaharlal's father was believed to be Motilal and Motilal's
father was one Gangadhar Nehru.

We all know that Jawaharlal's only daughter was Indira
Priyadarshini Nehru; Kamala Nehru was her mother, who died in Switzerland
of tuberculosis. She was totally against Indira's proposed marriage
with Feroze.  Why? No one tells us that!

Now, who is this Feroze?  We are told by many that
he was the son of the family grocer.  The grocer supplied wines, etc..
to Anand Bhavan (previously known as Ishrat Manzil)

What was the family grocer's name?

One frequently hears that Rajiv Gandhi's grandfather was
Pandit Nehru. But then we all know that everyone has two grandfathers,
the paternal and the maternal grandfathers.

In fact, the paternal grandfather is deemed to be the
more important grandfather in most societies.

Why is it then, nowhere, we find Rajiv Gandhi's paternal
grandfather' s name?  It appears that the reason is simply. Rajiv
Gandhi's paternal grandfather was a Muslim gentleman from the Junagadh
area of Gujarat .

This Muslim grocer by the name of Nawab Khan, had married
a Parsi woman after converting her to Islam.

This is the source where from the myth of Rajiv being
a Parsi was derived. Rajiv's father Feroze, was Feroze Khan before he married
Indira, against Kamala Nehru's wishes.

Feroze's mother's family name was Ghandy, often associated
with Parsis and this was changed to Gandhi, sometime before his wedding
with Indira, by an affidavit.

The fact of the matter is that (and this fact can be found
in many writings) Indira was very lonely. Chased out of the Shantiniketan
University by Guru Dev Rabindranath himself for misdemeanour, the lonely
girl was all by herself, while father Jawaharlal was busy with politics,
pretty women and illicit sex, the mother was in hospital.

Feroze Khan, the grocer's son was then in England and
he was quite sympathetic to Indira and soon enough she changed her religion,
became a Muslim woman and married Feroze Khan in a London mosque.

Nehru was not happy, Kamala was dead already or dying.
The news of this marriage eventually reached Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
(better known as Mahatma Gandhi) .

Gandhi urgently called Nehru and practically ordered him
to ask the young man to change his name from Khan to Gandhi. It had nothing
to do with change of religion, from Islam to Hinduism for instance.
It was just a case of a change of name by an affidavit.  And so Feroze
Khan became Feroze Gandhi.

The surprising thing is that the apostle of truth, the
old man soon to be declared India 's Mahatma and the 'Father of the Nation'
didn't mention this game of his in the famous book, 'My Experiments with
Truth'.  Why?

When they returned to India , a mock 'Vedic marriage' was
instituted for public consumption.

On this subject, writes M.O. Mathai (a long-time Private
Secretary of Nehru) in his renowned (but now suppressed by the GOI! ) 'Reminiscences
of the Nehru Age' on page 94, second paragraph: ' For some inexplicable
reason, Nehru allowed the marriage to be performed according to Vedic rites
in 1942.  An inter-religious and inter-caste marriage under Vedic
rites at that time was not valid in law. To be legal, it had to be a civil
marriage .'

It's a known fact that after Rajiv's birth Indira and
Feroze lived separately, but they were not divorced.  Feroze used
to harass Nehru frequently for money and also interfere in Nehru's political
activities. Nehru got fed up and left instructions not to allow him into
the Prime Minister's residence Trimurthi Bhavan.

Mathai writes that the death of Feroze came as a relief
to Nehru and Indira. The death of Feroze in 1960 before he could consolidate
his own political forces, is itself a mystery. Feroze had even planned
to remarry.

Those who try to keep tabs on our leaders in spite of
all the suppressions and deliberate misinformation, are aware of the fact
that the second son of Indira (or Mrs .Feroze Khan) known as Sanjay Gandhi
was not the son of Feroze.  He was the son of another Muslim gentleman,
Mohammad Yunus.

Here in passing, we might mention that the second son
was originally named Sanjiv. It rhymed with Rajiv, the elder brother's
name.  It was changed to Sanjay when he was arrested by the British
police in England and his passport impounded, for having stolen a car.

Krishna Menon was then India 's High Commissioner in London .
He offered to issue another passport to the felon who changed his name
to Sanjay.   Incidentally, Sanjay's marriage with the Sikh
girl Menaka (now they call her Maneka for Indira Gandhi found the name
of mythological Lord Indra's Court dancer rather offensive !!) took place
quite surprisingly in Mohammad Yunus's house in New Delhi  

The marriage with Menaka who was a model (She had model
for Bombay Dyeing wearing just a towel) was not so ordinary either.
Sanjay was notorious in getting unwed young women pregnant.  Menaka
too was rendered pregnant by Sanjay.

It was then that her father, Colonel Anand, threatened
Sanjay with dire consequences if he did not marry her daughter and that
did the trick.

Sanjay married Menaka. It was widely reported in Delhi
at the time that Mohammad Yunus was unhappy at the marriage of Sanjay with
Menaka.  Apparently he had wanted to get him married with a Muslim
girl of his choice.  It was Mohammad Yunus who cried the most
when Sanjay died in the plane accident.

In Yunus's book, 'Persons, Passions & Politics' one
discovers that baby Sanjay had been circumcised following Islamic custom,
although the reason stated was phimosis.  It was always believed
that Sanjay used to blackmail Indira Gandhi and due to this she used to
turn a blind eye when Sanjay Gandhi started to run the country as though
it were his personal freedom..  Was he black mailing her with
the secret of who his real father was?  When the news of Sanjay's
death reached Indira Gandhi, the first thing she wanted to know was about
the bunch of keys which Sanjay had with him.

Nehru was no less a player in producing bastards.
At least one case is very graphically described by M.O. Mathai in his 'Reminiscences
of the Nehru Age', page 206.

Mathai writes:
'In the autumn of 1948 a young woman from Benares arrived
in New Delhi as a sanyasini named Shraddha Mata (an assumed and not a real
name). She was a Sanskrit scholar well versed in the ancient Indian scriptures
and mythology.  People, including MPs, thronged to her to hear her
discourses. One day S.D. Upadhyaya, Nehru's old employee, brought a letter
in Hindi from Shraddha Mata. Nehru gave her an interview in the PM's house.
As she departed, I noticed (Mathai is speaking here) that she was young,
shapely and beautiful.  Meetings of Nehru with her became rather frequent,
mostly after he finished his work at night.  During one of Nehru's
visits to Lucknow , Shraddha Mata turned up there and Upadhyaya brought
a letter from her as usual. Nehru sent her the reply and she visited Nehru
at  midnight...'  Suddenly Shraddha Mata disappeared.

 In November 1949 a convent in Bangalore sent a decent
looking person to Delhi with a bundle of letters. He said that a young
woman from northern India arrived at the convent a few months ago and gave
birth to a baby boy. She refused to divulge her name or give any particulars
about herself.  She left the convent as soon as she was well
enough to move out but left the child behind.

She however forgot to take with her a small cloth bundle
in which, among other things, several letters in Hindi were found. The
Mother Superior, who was a foreigner, had the letters examined and was
told they were from the Prime Minister.

The person who brought the letters surrendered them...'I
(Mathai) made discreet inquiries repeatedly about the boy but failed to
get a clue about his whereabouts. Convents in such matters are extremely
tight-lipped and secretive.

Had I succeeded in locating the boy, I would have adopted
him. He must have grown up as a Catholic Christian blissfully ignorant
of who his father was.'

Coming back to Rajiv Gandhi, we all know now that he changed
his so called Parsi religion to become a Catholic to marry Sania Maino
of Turin , Italy .  Rajiv became Roberto.  His daughter's
name is Bianca and son's name is Raul.  Quite cleverly the same
names are presented to the people of India as Priyanka and Rahul.

What is amazing is the extent of our people's ignorance
in such matters. The press conference that Rajiv Gandhi gave in London
after taking over as Prime minister of India was very informative. In this
press conference, Rajiv boasted that he was NOT a Hindu but a Parsi.
Mind you, speaking of the Parsi religion, he had no Parsi ancestor at all.
His grandmother (father's mother) had turned Muslim after having abandoned
the Parsi religion to marry Nawab Khan.  

It is the western press that waged a blitz of misinformation
on behalf of Rajiv. From the New York Times to the Los Angeles Times and
the Washington Post, the big guns raised Rajiv to heaven.  The children's
encyclopaedias recorded that Rajiv was a qualified Mechanical Engineer
from the revered University of Cambridge . No doubt US kids are among the
most misinformed in the world today!  The reality is that in
all three years of his tenure at  that University Rajiv had not passed
a single exam. He had therefore to leave Cambridge without a certificate.

Sonia too had the same benevolent treatment. She was stated
to be a student in Cambridge . Such a description is calculated to mislead
Indians. She was a student in Cambridge all right, but not of the University
of Cambridge , but of one of those fly by night language schools where foreign
students come to learn English. Sonia was working as an 'au pair' girl
in Cambridge and trying to learn English at the same time.  And surprise
of surprises, Rajiv was even cremated as per Vedic rites in full view of
India's public.

This is the Nehru dynasty that India worships and now
a foreigner leads a prestigious national party because of just one qualification
being married into the Nehru family.  Maneka Gandhi, though Indian,
herself is being accepted by the non-Congress parties not because she was
a former model or an animal lover, but for her links to the Nehru family.

(Source: Perusing the Shelves)

7 conspiracy theories that will shake your beliefs about India’s history

Over the course of history, especially during the last century or so, many unexplained events and incidents have chosen India as the stage. Man is curious by nature, and the uncertain nature of events pushes us to find alternate explanations to rationalize things beyond our understanding. That is how conspiracy theories are conceived. There's no concrete proof to verify these theories, but they're fascinating nonetheless.Here are 7 conspiracy theories that are bound to leave you baffled:

1. The deaths of martyrs Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajaguru
Could Gandhi have saved them?
Scheduled to be hanged to death on 24th March for the Lahore Conspiracy case involving the killing of Officer John Saunders, they were instead hanged a day earlier on 23rd March 1931. There have been many conspiracy theories to explain this. One theory says that Mahatma Gandhi had the choice of saving these brave men, but did not do enough before signing the Gandhi-Irwin pact. But to that, Gandhi supporters say that he did not have enough influence on the British to stop the hanging.

Was Gandhi a co-conspirator in their deaths?
There is another theory according to which, Gandhi conspired with the British to execute Bhagat Singh, as he was a threat to the Mahatma's ideologies. Then again, many say that his leadership was never under threat and he would not have gained anything from it in any way.

Were they never hanged, but shot by the Saunders family, for revenge, instead?
A third theory also exists. A book titled Some Hidden Facts: Martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh- Secrets unfurled by an Intelligence Bureau Agent of British-India by K.S. Kooner and G.S. Sindhra,  states that the 3 prisoners were hung in a manner that they were in semi conscious state and taken outside the prison to be shot by members of the Saunder's family for revenge.

Why were the bodies cremated in secret?
Further doubt arises as to how they died since their bodies were not sent to their families, instead the jail authority broke the rear wall, cremated the bodies secretly in the dark and threw the ashes into the Sutlej River.

2. The death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
Did he even die?
In August, 1945, Netaji boarded a flight that had taken various stops on route to Darein as he was headed to the Soviet Union. The plane stopped one final time at Taipei, Taiwan (then Taihoku, Formosa), but right after take off, it crashed and Bose emerged from it with 3rd degree burns and succumbed to his injuries later.

But then, none of his companions who were left behind saw any body, photographs or a death certificate. Within hours of his reported demise, conspiracy theories rose that he was still alive. This wasn't the first time he would have mysteriously disappeared. So there were reasons to believe that he faked his own death.

A companion met him a year after he 'died.'
His bodyguard, who turned 102 in 2006, mentioned that he met Bose a year after the alleged crash in Thailand. He had mastered the art of disguise having tricked the British countless times. There are also rumours that he attended Gandhiji's funeral as a sadhu in Delhi in 1948. A party called the 'Subhasbadi Janata', claimed that he was the chief sadhu of an ashram in Shaulmari. The sadhu in question forever denied being the real Subhas Chandra Bose and died in 1977.

Who was Gumnami Baba?
It was later said that Bose had settled in Faizabad disguised as a sadhu by the name of Gumnami Baba. The remaining members of the Bose family were approached for donating a milliliter of a blood for matching their DNA with that of the Gumnami Baba. However the results were negative. (the pic below is only for representational purpose.)

3. The death of Lal Bahadur Shastri
Why was there no post-mortem?
The second Prime Minister of India, originator of the popular phrase, "Jai Jawaan, Jai Kisan", died on 11th January 1966. He was in Tashkent to formally end the 1965 war with Pakistan with the signing of the Tashkent Agreement with Ayub Khan. It is claimed that he died of a heart attack, however, there was no post-mortem conducted. His son Sunil asked why his body had dark blue spots and cuts on the abdomen if not autopsy was performed, but that went in vain. His personal physician confirmed he had no sign of heart trouble before.

Why weren't the RTIs answered?
RTIs were filed pertaining to documents related to the cause of death but the PMO said there was only one classified document which was exempted from disclosure as it could cause international disharmony and spoil foreign relations. The Home Ministry referred the matter to the National Archives and the Delhi Police for retrieving any documents or information based on the incident. His son Sunil claimed it was absurd how the death of a sitting Prime Minister was looked into by district level police instead of higher authorities.

What about the word of a CIA agent?
Gregory Douglas, a journalist, interviewed CIA operative Robert Crowley, who confirmed that the death of the Prime Minister and Dr Homi Bhabha (father of Nuclear Science in India) was the work of the CIA. As Shastri wanted to go ahead with nuclear tests, the US got wary of India emerging as a reformed state and also of Indo-Russian dominance in the region.

4. Death of Homi Jehangir Bhabha
How come there was no debris of the Air India flight 101?
The flight had reportedly crashed near Mont Blanc on 24 January, 1966 but there was no debris found. If anything was recovered, it was an Indian diplomatic jute bag marked Ministry of External Affairs, Delhi; containing  newspapers, calendars and a personal letter. What is weird is that the bag was found in 2012. And anyway, it was a type 'c' bag and therefore, held no important documents.

The control tower had confirmation that the flight had no technical problems. Was it sabotage?
The flight was piloted by one of the most experienced pilots of Air India, who had radioed the control tower that all instruments were working fine.  The plane was flying at 19,000 feet, at least 3,000 feet above the Mont Blanc summit and a few minutes later it crashed right into it. Was there a sabotage? It is said that there was a bomb in the luggage compartment that went off, forcing the flight to crash and killing everyone on board.

A CIA agent confirmed sabotage.
The same CIA agent, Robert Crawley, who had confirmed that the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri was planned by the US, said that Homi Bhabha's death too was part of the same plot. The reason being the same: India's rise to nuclear power. Everyone knew that Dr Homi Bhabha was the father of Indian nuclear physics. He and Shastri were both in favour of India being a nuclear power, which threatened the US and thus, the CIA stepped in to sabotage the Air India flight 101, killing Bhabha and 116 others.

5. The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty
Jawaharlal Nehru's affairs
It is said that Panditji had several affairs, few of them being with Edwina Mountbatten (wife of Lord Mountbatten), Padmaja Naidu (Sarojini Naidu's daughter) and Shraddha Mata. Shraddha Mata had delivered a still born child in a catholic hospital in Bangalore and was looked after by Dr Ezekiel. After her departure to Delhi, Dr Ezekiel recovered letters that she had forgotten to carry with her, which were revealed to have been written by PM Nehru.

Indira converted to Islam after marrying Feroze.
It is believed that Indira Nehru, had changed her name to Maimuna Begum after being wed to Feroze Gandhi. But Jawaharlal Nehru opposed this, seeing that their stature in Indian politics was of prime concern, so he asked them to adopt the surname Gandhi. Feroze was believed to be Parsi and his surname was Gandhy. But since 'Gandhi' as a surname was more influential, the couple adopted that and even performed a mock vedic marriage in India.

The death of Sanjay Gandhi
Some believe that Sanjay had learnt of his biological father, who was another Muslim man and not Feroze. This led to him blackmailing his mother Indira Gandhi and also controlling the political scenario during the emergency. However, his death raised more questions. He died of a plane crash that had no explosion apparently. The reason was cited to be head injury. But due to his ideologies not being in sync with the part or his mother's, conspiracy theorists believed that his death was not an accident but part of a plot by members of his own party.

6. The death of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerji
Syama Prasad Mookerji was a great politician in his own right. He had resigned from Nehru's first cabinet and formed Bharatiya Jana Sangh. He was against Congress's decision of opting for an independent status, a different emblem and a separate Prime Minister to Kashmir. He was arrested when he entered Kashmir for a rally in 1953 and was admitted to a hospital 90 days after for being ill. However, there was no post mortem performed on his body and it was sent directly to Kolkata and not Delhi. His mother's repeated requests were ignored by Nehru and later PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee stated that Dr Mookerjee died due to negligence committed by Jawahar Lal Nehru.

This conspiracy theory isn't a part of India's history per se, but in another 50 years, it will be.

7. The death of Ajmal Kasab
Why was he executed before Afzal Guru?
Afzal Guru who had been arrested in 2001 for his role in the attack on the Parliament, was tried in 2002. Whereas, Kasab was arrested in 2008. Why did his execution precede Guru's? He had been tried 6 years after Guru's arrest. Though the time gap between their execution was only a few months but if the mercy petition of both the convicts was to be rejected, shouldn't have Guru's turn come first? Unless, there was something that was kept secret as to why Ajmal Kasab's execution happened before Afzal Guru's.

Why take him to Pune to be hanged?
The government had already spent crores for keeping Kasab in a high security prison in Mumbai's Arthur Road jail. When the time for his execution neared, he was suddenly transferred to Yerwada Jail in Pune, which also facilitates hanging procedures and he was hanged the very next day on 21st Novemeber, 2012. Though bringing the hangman to Mumbai seemed more prudent, they took Kasab to Pune instead. Why exactly was this step necessary? Why not do it in Mumbai itself? When he was brought to Pune only the jail superintendent was informed of his identity and no one else.

Why all the secrecy? Was he even hanged or did he die of dengue?
It is said that Kasab was suffering from Dengue and had actually died due to not being treated properly. He may have just been buried in Pune instead of being hanged in either of the cities. The hanging was so secretive that even top leaders of the UPA like Sonia Gandhi were informed when the news came on TV. What baffled most conspiracy theorists was that the government had invested so much time and money in protecting Kasab and then suddenly announced his death over the news. Once his mercy petition was rejected, his execution was due and the decision was made public. Then why would you suddenly execute him secretly? Unless he had already succumbed to the disease and there was no other option left but to stage a hanging in a different city. There are however no doubts that his fate was sealed, it was the manner in which things unfolded that tickled the fancies of conspiracy theorists.

Baffled? Shocked? Stunned? We are too!

(Source: Scoop Whoop)

Over the top

By Masood Hassan

HRK – Hina Rabbani Khar is drop dead gorgeous. Her three day fashion onslaught has left the Indians gasping for breath and ambulances howling all over the countryside. Here we are crooning with delight – the men exchanging high fives, the women – the sensible ones that is, shaking their heads slowly from side to side. Is HRK the nuclear device that we promised we’d explode over the Indian capital? Have we scored a major diplomatic victory over arch enemy India? Is HRK going to lead the country armed with nothing but a Hermes bag and change global policies with a snap of her diamond encrusted fingers? As the euphoria subsides and her Birkin bag is safely stowed away along with her undoubtedly large Hermes collection, we, the ordinary riff-raff of this despondently poor country need to take a good long look at the events of last week. If we don’t, rest assured the lollypops in Islamabad certainly won’t. Introspection is not as fashionable as Roberto Cavalli shades.

Let’s get one thing straight. One dresses for the occasion. Anyone recall Angelina Jolie’s ‘designer’ outfits on her many visits to the Afghan camps? There is a time and place for all things. I think HRK didn’t quite get that right. She has many things going for her but maturity and a sense of balance seem to be virtues that Pakistan’s new foreign minister does not care about much.

It is amazing that the old hands at Hotel Scherezade that masquerades as Pakistan’s foreign office thought little of actually ‘briefing’ Lady Bond before she flew in her special aircraft to New Delhi. (No PIA please. That’s for the plebs). Did anyone tell her what precisely was her mission, if any on her maiden voyage to India? I doubt it. While she must have spent an enormous amount of time choosing her wardrobe and accessories – she has a talent for accessories as a gushing designer confided last week, one wishes there were men or women who could have briefed her on how she must conduct herself – but this is unlikely in a country where ‘yes sir, yes sir, three bags full’, is the most successful strategy.

As it is the ‘success’ of her trip is best summed up in the joint communiqué glued eternally together with Fevikool, the wonder Indian adhesive, that both sides will stick to their points of view. As before one might add. Sure we can talk till the cows come home but that much has more or less been there almost always, so those crooning about a ‘great diplomatic victory’, need a knock on the head administered by Mr Ijaz Butt. Having demolished cricket, he now has the world’s largest bat collection.

India may be many things to many people but even the most vitriolic Indian-haters grudgingly accept that our two countries are now worlds apart – poles apart will no longer do justice to the real on-ground situation. The Indians are suave diplomats and they manage – with all its warts, the world’s largest democracy. Whether this is for public consumption or genuinely felt, there is a strong current of simplicity that runs across India and does not require 3-D glasses to see. All of us who have travelled to India have been surprised by their casual attitude to attire given most days. We who are so class and caste conscious on the other hand must display all the banal outer vestments since we value these far more than any principles.

The Indians thus dress so simply that you can mistake them for minions whereas they may be billionaires. They go to work in loose sandals and creased trousers or faded jeans but sit and make strategic decisions that run into billions of dollars and have the power to change the direction of their huge country. Simplicity is not a put on like our constant bowing and scraping to the Maker without any meaning or sincerity. Our rulers and high stake rollers live in mansions of glory. Indians richer than their counterparts here live in modest homes. Retired generals there live in small houses or high rise flats whereas our medal laden over-fed blobs lord it over topping all records of ostentation. Time and again you are flattened by this simplicity on display in India – if it’s a put on, my God they should give a Lifetime Achievement Award to all the affluent and influential people who live there.

It is in this context that one finds HRK’s jaunt into India nauseating and in gross bad taste. Did she go to a tense foreign ministers’ meeting or launch a fashion show? Did she read up on India? She represents an impoverished country, now permanently and shamelessly begging day and night for sustenance, for alms, for mercy to keep Ms Khar and her ilk in clover. She is part of one of the most disastrous governments it has been our misfortune to have – incompetent, brazen, cruel and corrupt. When it is knocked out sooner or later, no one will shed tears for the fallen leaders who have given loot and plunder a new dimension adding to that great robbery repertoire fine tuned to an art by their predecessors.

HRK’s government boasts of a two percent growth rate against India’s nine percent, has no power or gas and soon will have no water. It groans under loans, yet gives walloping funding to keep the ‘khakis’ happy, depriving millions of men, women and children such basics as health, education and sanctity of life yet live like kings. Its representatives like HRK and 24 other ministers in 2010 paid no income tax because they were poor. HRK coughed up Rs7,500 agricultural tax and declared that she couldn’t even afford a car! I suppose BMWs and Mercs must fall under the ‘donkey’ category.

She should have perhaps studied tapes on Sonia Gandhi who is always in cotton saris, her hair pulled back and with hardly any make up. You would not catch Sonia dead with a garish and ridiculously priced, diamond-laden wrist watch (Arab style) or pricey south sea pearls and US$900 Jimmy Choo shoes, but then that’s Sonia and this is Hina – chalk and cheese with Devonshire in between. When the PM who spends more time on his clothes than on the pressing needs of his wretched country went to Paris and called upon the French president, he ensured that he was all trussed up in a reportedly US$10,000 suit. Lady Bond, although it was evening had her designer shades perched on top of her pretty head. Babes out partying might do so for a lark but FMs with feudal blood coursing through their veins should avoid such nonsense. What a fantastic thing it would have been had she chosen to dress most simply, travelled by her national airline and told the Indians that she was here, in all humility and sincerity to move on and build bridges for the generations ahead. She should have said my country is struggling – with terrorism, suicide bombers, law and order, the Afghan problem, a poor economy and so on but that we would prevail if there is peace.

But then this is the stuff dreams are made of. In real life nothing like that happens – not here and we lost yet another opportunity to tell the world we are not shallow buffoons and idiots. Pakistanis are blaming the Indian media and Ms Khar left Islamabad in a huff, but when you set yourself up as she did, what is the media going to make of that? The ‘fash frat’ as one Indian newspaper said, had a field day and we had the customary egg on our face.

The writer is a Lahore-based columnist. Email: masoodhasan66@gmail.com

(Source: The News)