About the open letter from Col. Harish Puri

You have to read this. It came in the Pakistan news dailies recently.
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=172290

I read in Chidanand Rajghatta's column, TOI, that the letter stung the pakistanis so much that the newspaper had to issue an apology for publishing it. :)

Then you have to proceed to the reactions to the letter and to the reactions themselves.
http://ishaal.instablogs.com/entry/you-asked-for-it-col-harish-puri/

I think its foolish to believe Pakistan will vanquish Taliban and walk towards world peace. Even it means its good for the pakistanis themselves first. It works against their establishment.
As long as they have Taliban, they can keep getting funds and military aid from America. As long as they can manage that, they can keep challenging Indian forces and inciting unrest in India.
As it appears, the average pakistani serves the country better by joining Taliban than by working in the fields or industries. Cool proposition!

Not only does Pakistan sustain the battle with Taliban to drive bigger margins from US, it also pushes the wealthy nations to think that they will be worse off, if Taliban gets hold of any of its nuclear weapons. More money then.
Taliban quietly evacuating Buner as quietly as they came and 'seized' control, is one such example.
The world media's reaction swayed from pole to pole, something like, 'oh, Taliban is now just 100km from Islamabad and they're going to takeover Pakistan like they took over Afghanistan' to 'ah, the Taliban retreated. The Army's in control. The nukes are in safe custody.'

Wonder if the Indian and American govts are even sighting an end to this problem.

Kasab's trial

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was caught massacring Mumbai public on 26th Nov, 2008.
Its established that he's a terrorist and Pakistani and caught while committing the act.
What is the need to try him in the court? Why give him a chance to hoodwink justice?

I have read that the cop who helped disarming him lost his life. So many lost fighting Kasab and his accomplices. Isn't there no value for these peoples lives? What is the need to accord a foreigner-terrorist with the privileges of our judicial system? He conspired with his accomplices and together massacred more than 150 people.
Is he same as a Pakistani who just overstayed his welcome in India? or is he a Bangladeshi labourer working in Rajasthan without proper documents? Or even as terrorist, is he Indian?

I think Kasab should be handed over to the army as a prisoner-of-war.
I think some of Indian laws may not hold good for all situations. That is where the elected representatives come into picture. They should discuss/brainstorm/debate in the parliament oh how to convict terrorists and make necessary amendments to such laws.
If it doesn't happen soon, we may even see Dawood/Prabhakaran in Indian courts getting anticipatory bail and delaying conviction by decades.

Wishlist to the new government

I'm listing out my expectations from the next Indian central government.
After all what can a humble taxpaying voter do but expect..

1. Crush terrorism and all its forms - ISI supported, Naxalites, Goondas/Rowdies/Underworld, ULFA, etc.
2. Resolution of Kashmir issue for ever. India should be one country, one flag, one anthem.
3. All weather roads connecting all the towns in India.
Completion of the Golden quadrilateral as visualized by Vajpayee and embarking on more ambitious road building projects on the lines of the US freeway system.
Building roads provides massive employment and promotes industrialization in remote areas.
It increases domestic trade and allows businessmen from far corners to sell their wares in the markets
4. Minimum of 5 Gold medals in the next Olympics.
5. The courts to deliver justice faster.
6. Higher quality educations in all public schools.
7. Stop reservations in schools/colleges/companies for people based on caste system.
Go ahead and help out people who can't afford education. Offer people with weak financial background, subsidies or loans. Make the schools better so that every child comes out self confident. But don't offer jobs/college-seats to less meritorious candidates.

More to come