Rahul Gandhi warned U.S. of growth of extremist Hindu groups: WikiLeaks-

Rahul Gandhi warned U.S. of growth of extremist Hindu groups: WikiLeaks

Jason Burke

A leaked U.S. diplomatic cable from New Delhi reveals that Rahul Gandhi feared the emergence of Hindu extremist groups. File Photo: PTI Related

NEWS

(DON'T WANT TO COMMENT ON THE BASIS OF THIS NEWS,BUT YES,IN MY VIEW HINDU EXTREMISM IS NOT A REGULAR PHENOMENON IN OUR COUNTRY. AT TIMES ONE CAN SEE ITS OUTBREAK AS IT HAPPENED DURING PARTITION,OR AYODHYA ISSUE,OR GUJRAT RIOTS,OR IN MUBAI LONG TIME BACK, AND THIS IS ALSO TRUE THAT ONE SHOULD CHECK ANY WRONG ISSUES CROPPING UP FOR WHATEVER REASONS IN THE BEGINING ONLY,OTHERWISE ITS BECOME TOUGH TO CONTROL.FEW INCEDENCES OF BLAST BY DESI PEOPLE USING DESI EXPLOSIVES CAN NOT BE IGNORED BUT IT CAN NOT BE COMPARED BY WHAT LeT DOES, OR WHY INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN OR SUCH ORGANIZATIONS ARE CROPPING UP AND THEIR DETAILS.PROBLEMS IN CHRUCHES IN ORRISSA,KERALA, OR PROBLEMS IN THE NORTHEAST WHERE CHRISTIANS ARE IN BIG NUMBERS WAS ALSO NOTICIABLE.BUT THIS IS ALSO TRUE THAT PEOPLE MARCHING WITH TRISHULS,TALWARS,WHETHER THEY ARE HINDU,SIKH,MUSLIM,CHRISTEN,WOMEN....OR ANY GROUP OF CITIZENS IS NOT RIGHT,AS IT IS AGAINST LAW,NEITHER SUCH PROCESSION,NEITHER INAFLAMATTERY LECTURES ARE PERMITTED IN PUBLIC PLACES OR IN ANY SUCH GATHERINGS....ETC AND IT NEED TO BE CHECKED SERIOUSLY.

AND MR RAHUL GANDHI HAD SAID ANY SUCH COMMENTS TO ANYONE OF OTHER COUNTRY,THEN HE SHOULD CHECK HIS FORIEGN POLICIES AND VIEWS ABOUT HOW TO 'CHECK','HANDLE IT' OR 'TACKLE IT' WITH INSIDERS IN APPROPRIATE FORUM FIRST,WHETHER IN PARLIAMENT OR WITHIN PARTY OR COMMITTEES.OR HE CAN TAKE SUGGGESSTIONS OR DISCUSS IT WITH THEM.IT GOOD TO BE WORRIED OR CAUTIOUS ABOUT COUNTRY'S SECURITY AT HOME FRONT OR AT BORDER.BUT ANNOUNCING FROM ANYPLATFORM NEED A BIT OF PREPARATIONS AND CONSULTATIONS WITH RELATED OFFICIALS OR PERSONS FIRST.

AND DEFINITLY TRY TO CREATE CONDUSIVE ATMOSPHERE WHICH SPREAD PEACE AND NOT WAR, SPECIALLY IN SENSITIVE TIME.

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KRANTI AND SHANTI,REVOLUTION AND PEACE,THOUGH ITS INTERRELATED OR ITS TWO SIDES OF A SAME COIN.....MAY BE ITS THE WAY BHAGAT SINGH OR GANDHIJI THOUGHT. INITIAL MISSION AND GOAL OF SHRI SARDAR PATELJI, MAHATMA GANDHIJI,SHRI SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSEJI,BHAGAT SINGHJI,NEHRUJI ETC WERE THE SAME,THOUGH THEIR BACKGROUND,THINKING,UPBRINGING AND WAY OF FUNCTIONING,IDEOLOGY,PLATFORM WERE DIFFERENT AND THEY ALL GOT EVOLVED WITH THE TIME.THERE CAN BE SILENT REVOLUTIONS AND CHANGES IN MINDSETS AND ON GROUND IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION ALSO.

ITS SAD THAT NOTHING CONCRETE ABOUT 26/11 INCIDENT CAME OUT TILL NOW. YESTERDAY I SAW MR HAFEEZ SAYEED GIVING SPEECHES AGAINST INDIA IN PAKISTAN ON TV,FREELY AND FEARLESSLY.ITS NOT A GOOD SIGN,SPECIALLY WHEN WE ARE EMPHASISING AND TRYING TO IMPROVE INDIA'S RELATION WITH PAK. RECENTLY WE PAID RESPECT TO SHAHEEDS ON 13/DEC. AGAIN IT WENT BY,NOTHING HAPPEN TO 'AFZAL GURU,NOTHING MUCH CAME OUT OF KASAB CASE...!!! ITS GOOD THAT THEY GOT ARRESTED ALIVE,SO THAT WE GOT FEW IMFORMATION OUT FROM THEM,BUT OUR COUNTRY AND VICTIM'S FAMILIES ARE STILL AWAITING FOR THE JUSTICE!!!...VIBHA)

India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir

Rahul Gandhi, the "crown prince" of Indian politics, told the American ambassador last year that Hindu extremist groups could pose a greater threat to his country than Muslim militants.

In comments likely to cause a storm in India, Gandhi, who is considered a likely prime ministerial candidate, warned Timothy Roemer that though "there was evidence of some support for [Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba] among certain elements in India's indigenous Muslim community, the bigger threat may be the growth of radicalised Hindu groups, which create religious tensions and political confrontations with the Muslim community".

The 40-year-old son of the Congress party president, Sonia Gandhi, said that "the risk of a 'home-grown' extremist front, reacting to terror attacks coming from Pakistan or from Islamist groups in India, was a growing concern and one that demanded constant attention".

His words were revealed in one of 4,000 leaked U.S. diplomatic cables sent from Delhi. The cables reveal a difficult but increasingly warm relationship between a prickly emerging power and a superpower keen to be friends but on its own terms.

The Americans are keen to find allies in the "raucous democracy" of India, and appear to believe Rahul Gandhi could be one. Though earlier dispatches were sceptical of his prospects, Mr. Roemer recently told Washington "the rising profile of young leaders like Rahul Gandhi provides us an opening to expand the constituency in support of the strategic partnership".

In the cables, U.S. diplomats complain of bureaucratic inertia, a lack of capacity, oversensitivity, corrupt or populist politicians and a bureaucracy stuck in the era of the cold war. However, they appear to recognise that a respectful and conciliatory approach to the booming and increasingly self-confident India pays dividends. Despite worries about torture, corruption and deep social problems, US diplomats still see the country as a natural ally.

Their view of Indian politicians is variable, however. The failure of Sonia Gandhi, who chairs the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition, to overcome opposition to a nuclear power agreement is criticised heavily.

A deal would see, the U.S. diplomats said, a big boost for clean energy in India and a market worth $150bn for American companies. "Mrs Gandhi never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity," one cable sent in November 2007 said.

Public anger after the terrorist attacks on Mumbai in November 2008 had allowed "people to vent other long-simmering grievances against government - its corruption, its pompous use of symbols of authority like security guards and vehicle sirens, its indifference to providing health and education services", a cable sent in December 2008 said.

Indian officials repeatedly protest that America is too soft on Pakistan and make demands for Washington to insist on Islamabad, or the Pakistani army, shutting down Lashkar e-Taiba. "If you want to end malaria you have to get rid of the swamp," the Indian national security adviser told the FBI director last year. Another recurrent topic is the Indian fear of a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan allowing a "fanatical" regime influenced by Pakistan to take over.

In the face of pressure from American diplomats to encourage democracy in Burma, Indian officials are frank. One, in 2004, is reported as saying that Aung San Suu Kyi's "day has come and gone" adding that the UN has little credibility and the EU is too "obvious, shabby, shortsighted ... to play a meaningful role in the country".

On Iran too, there are tensions. In May 2008 India's then foreign secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon, met the U.S. ambassador after a stopover in India by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mr. Menon did not like Ahmadinejad's "self-congratulatory, self-referential" style, but cautioned that "this government has to be seen following an independent foreign policy, not responding to dictation from the U.S.". Another cable describes Indians as "loth to admit publicly that India and the US have begun co-ordinating foreign policies". Mr. Menon told one top visiting US official that there was no "big idea" to energise Indo-American relations.

The relationship between India and the U.S. appears best characterised by a 2006 meeting between Maria Shriver, wife of the California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sonia Gandhi. The meeting, U.S. diplomats reported, went well. "Usually withdrawn and reserved ... this was a more relaxed Sonia, possibly because she felt a personal rapport with Maria Shriver," one official wrote to Washington.

Yet a different reading of the meeting was possible. When Shriver congratulated Ms. Gandhi for her resoluteness and called her "courageous", her interlocutor was "clearly embarrassed by this adulation". Invited to a "women's conference" in California, Gandhi "made no commitment to attend."

Copyright: Guardian News & Media 2010