US for taking action against extremist Hindu MP

WASHINGTON : The United States expects India to take action under Indian law against members of Parliament belonging to the extremist #Hindu party Shiv Sena who force-fed a fasting #Muslim in New Delhi.

“We are aware of the alleged reports and video, I think, of these MPs forcing a fasting Muslim to eat during Ramadan,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters at the daily press briefing.

She was replying to a question when the incident about Shiv Sena MP Rajan Baburao Vichare forcefully feeding a Muslim was raised as an issue of human rights and religious freedom at the daily briefing.

“We, of course, would expect any allegation of this kind of assault would be dealt with under Indian law,” the spokesperson added.

Broadly speaking, Harf noted, “of course, religious freedom and human rights are pillars of our foreign policy, and call upon government officials at all levels to promote religious freedom and ensure accountability for all incidents that disrespect, violate or harm individual rights such as this one.”
Asked if religious freedom and human rights will be a subject of discussion when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington later this years, the spokesperson replied: “It’s certainly a topic we discuss all the time with various partners.  I have absolutely no preview for what our discussions will look like during his visit.”

Shiv Sena has a history of inciting religious violence. It was blamed for inciting tensions between Hindu and Muslim communities during the 1993 Mumbai riots, in which about 900 people died.

The party was founded to keep south Indian migrants out of Maharashtra state and to halt the spread of Islam. It is currently the sixth largest in parliament with 18 seats and is an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Nation News

The Gods Seem to Have Been Working Out

Lord Vishnu and his wife, goddess Lakshmi Anil Vishal Printers

NEW DELHI—#India's Hindu gods and goddesses are getting a superhero makeover.

In new comics, paintings and popular books, depictions of Vishnu, Rama and other greats in the Hindu pantheon are being reimagined to give the deities broad shoulders, six-pack abs, flashy get-ups and smoldering good looks.

In "Shiva: The Legends of the Immortal," a series of graphic novels, the title character boasts bulging muscles that ripple under his tiger-skin wrap and dark tresses that blow in the wind as he battles with his trident.

That is a big shift from the standard iconography of the past century, which has tended to portray the gods in beneficent and contemplative poses, modestly clad and with bodies that are often curvy and, well, soft.

Hindu gods "were also warriors. They were supposed to be strong so they could fight anybody," says Satyaki Pal, a 24-year-old business school student who reads graphic novels. The tougher, new look "is appealing to younger people," he says.

In traditional depictions, for instance, Vishnu, Hinduism's four-armed god of preservation is often shown reclining, with his wife, Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, sitting at his feet.

But in the graphic novel "Dashaavatar," a ripped Vishnu, in one of his incarnations as half fish, battles a demon that is part horse, part fish. Surrounded by roiling ocean waters, the god clenches his four fists—then shoots laser beams from his eyes. "Sszzzttt!"

People today require "a little bit more visual convincing" of gods' extraordinary powers, says Sandeep Virdi, a 26-year-old graphic-novel fan from Delhi who applauds the new looks.

Prakash Sharma, a spokesman for Vishva Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council, says his organization isn't opposed to presenting Hindu gods as muscular and strong. "But there should not be an effort to change the original character" of the deities, he says, adding the portrayal shouldn't be demeaning.

The changes are part of a reimagining of Hindu stories that supporters say makes them more relevant to India's middle-class youth, who are navigating a far different world than the one in which their parents lived.

Young Indians "want to connect to the tradition in a very different manner," says Joseph M.T., assistant professor of sociology at University of Mumbai. The gods' new look has "resonance to an aspiring India at some level."

Graphic novel publishers say they are careful to show respect to the gods in the story lines, even while giving them a more powerful look. And to be sure, traditional depictions still abound in mainstream media, including old-school comic books and the calendars that hang in many Hindu households.

Indian stories are populated with larger-than-life deities. Hanuman, for instance, lifted a mountain on one hand. Shiva has a third eye on his forehead, which when he is angry can release fire. Indians young and old share a basic knowledge of the Hindu epics, the "Ramayana" and "Mahabharata," believed to be thousands of years old.

Contemporary artists and authors say Hinduism's multitude of gods and goddesses deserve an updated look.

One New Delhi artist, 23-year-old Anirudh Sainath Krishnamani, says he was disappointed as a child by the fair-skinned and clean-shaven depiction of Lord Rama in a TV serialization of the god's story in the "Ramayana."

Mr. Krishnamani says that image doesn't comport with the Rama described in Hindu texts, where Rama fights many battles and single-handedly slays 14,000 demons.

Rama "was this really macho, warrior kind of person," he says. He shouldn't be "looking like this really soft and nice-nice person."

A recent digitally-rendered piece by Mr. Krishnamani shows Rama with a dark complexion, dreadlocks and broad chest, aiming an arrow while riding on the back of Hanuman, the monkey-god, who is slicing through the sky like a jet.

Another Delhi-based artist, Anant Mishra, shows gods in clothes and settings that might not seem out of place in a Western comic book. In one painting, Hanuman lounges in a Batmobile-like vehicle in the sky, wearing armor appropriate for a sci-fi film, watching over an apocalyptic scene on earth.

Not everyone is thrilled with the changed iconography. Mr. Krishnamani was asked to remove three of his paintings from an exhibition in Bangalore last year because they showed goddesses in various states of undress. In one, Shiva kissed his wife Sati, who was topless.

Indian publishers such as Holy Cow Entertainment, Vimanika Comics and Campfire Graphic Novels have launched comic books and graphic novels that combine familiar story lines with new scenes and dialogue.

"We're trying to give cutting-edge art to the same old mythological stories," says Vivek Goel, founder of Holy Cow Entertainment.

Some readers like that the new comic books explore different themes. One of the best-selling graphic novels in India is about Ravana, who kidnaps Rama's wife Sita in the epic "Ramayana."

Hindu deity Shiva is shown as a warrior chieftain
 in a graphic novel. Vimanika Comics

Ravana has typically been portrayed as a villain in India. In an early TV serial, his character was played by an actor with a double chin. But in the new graphic novels Ravana sports a lean, muscular physique, and the story lines turn him into a romantic anti-hero of sorts, who was a scholar before he took Sita.

A trilogy of recent novels on Shiva blends Indian stories with the hot genres of science fiction and fantasy, and has become a best-selling book series in India, with 2 million copies in print, according to its publisher Westland Ltd.

The author, Amish Tripathi, "is humanizing these characters into Tolkienean heroes," says Layne Little, a professor of religious studies at the University of California, Berkeley, referring to J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings."

Mr. Tripathi says he has read "The Lord of the Rings," but didn't specifically draw inspiration from it. He says readers of his books have told him that by reading about their god in a modern idiom "they felt more connected with their heritage."

The books also humanize these larger-than-life figures in unfamiliar ways. Shiva is shown as a man questioning traditions. He burns with romance and anger and is conflicted over right and wrong.

Historically, Shiva is shown as omniscient though given to bursts of anger.

At one point in the Shiva trilogy, Shiva talks about people's expectations. "By the Holy Lake, can I really deliver these people from their troubles?" he asks his companion. "If there was a one-on-one battle, I could take on any enemy in order to protect your people. But I am no leader. And I am certainly not a 'destroyer of evil.' " WSJ

Indians Go Missing in Iraq, Stirring Fears at Home

Iftikaar Ayub Khan's nephew left for Iraq from his home in Kalyan, India in May. He was last heard from in early June. Jesse Pesta/The Wall Street Journal

KALYAN, #India—When four friends from this small town outside #Mumbai disappeared in May—and then turned up in #Iraq—it awakened fears of a new type of discontent among young Muslims in India.

Police say they are looking into whether the four went to Iraq to join a Sunni Muslim insurgent group. Relatives and friends of the men, who are in their early 20s, said militancy would be out of character, and said they believe the four went looking for jobs or to visit religious sites.

Despite the uncertainty about the men's intentions, there is widespread concern that stems in part from India's complex relationship with its Muslim minority and fears in India about Islamist terror.

For days, Indian newspapers have been running stories about these men and others who are alleged by unnamed law-enforcement and intelligence sources to have joined up with militants in Iraq and Syria.

In a sign of the national interest in the case, India's home minister met with relatives of the four friends from Kalyan on Friday. The family members were seeking government help to bring them home.

Ministry spokesman Kuldeep Singh Dhatwalia said on Sunday that it "has been brought to the government's notice" that the four friends "may have been motivated" to join radical forces.

Police said they have found no evidence of wrongdoing by the group. If they do find the young men are linked to the extremist group Islamic State, it would be "a paradigm shift" with important consequences for how India polices terrorism, said Deven Bharti, a senior official in the state police in Maharashtra, which is home to Mumbai and Kalyan.

Modern India was formed more than a half-century ago in a bloody "partition" involving a mass migration of Muslims to the new state of Pakistan and Hindus from Muslim-majority areas into India. Muslims make up about 13% of India's billion-plus population.

One concern about the four youths is the possibility that young people in India may be receiving, and responding to, international messages of militancy in new ways. That would be a departure because, as a general rule, Muslims in India have tended to focus on issues within South Asia—regional politics, for instance, or questions of discrimination, or the disputed territory of Kashmir on the Pakistan border—as opposed to conflicts such as Iraq's.

One notable change in recent years: International militant messages have begun reaching the ears of more youths within India. Here in Kalyan, police and locals noted that India's widening access to the Internet has given more people access to inflammatory videos and messages. For instance, spam messages sent on the popular smartphone service WhatsApp that ask recipients to "rise up" against attacks on Sunni or Shia Islam have become commonplace, they said.

"There has definitely been a change in Muslim youth being aware of issues concerning them globally," said Ravindra Tayde, a senior police inspector in the area where the four men live.

Relatives of the four young men expressed concerns over changes like these, while stressing their belief that the four men may have been misunderstood. "There has been a change in awareness of global issues affecting Islam," said Iftikaar Ayub Khan, an uncle of one of the four men, Arif Fayyaz Majeed, a 22-year-old engineering graduate.

However, Mr. Khan said, the four young men may have simply wanted to find good jobs and "get economically stable in life." In addition to Mr. Majeed, the group included two engineering students and one man who worked in a call center.

Mr. Majeed's father said his family is "frustrated with the Indian press reports accusing the boys of fighting in Iraq." The parents of the other three men couldn't be reached.

Sitting on a porch in a monsoon downpour after Friday prayers, a group of relatives and friends of Mr. Majeed's said he graduated from a respected private high school where he played on the cricket and soccer teams. Cricket "was his passion," said Shadab Shaikh, a cousin.

The four disappeared on May 24. The uncle, Mr. Khan, said Mr. Majeed on that evening, after playing cricket with friends, told his family he was "going for some work." When he didn't return home by the following evening, his family filed a missing-persons report. Within a few days, the families realized the four friends were all gone, he said.

Around May 28, the four called or sent texts to their families saying they were in Iraq and were fine. The travel agent who organized their trip said the four disappeared on the sixth day of a seven-day tour of religious sites, according to Mr. Khan.

The last contact came on June 7, when the four again indicated they were fine, according to the uncle and the police.

In Kalyan, the men were also volunteers with a local group, Islamic Guidance Centre, an organization that says it helps young Muslims engage in mainstream Indian society by, for instance, organizing field trips to old-age homes to chat with lonely residents.

Some Indian press reports have suggested that one of the IGC's volunteers, Adil Dolare, may have been a catalyst for the men's decision to go to Iraq. Mr. Dolare, an importer of dried fruits from Afghanistan, said that wasn't true.

In a sign of the tensions surrounding the case, Mr. Dolare says that within hours of his name appearing in the press, he lost business. Mr. Dolare—who is also trying to break into the field of exporting shoes to Kabul—said his Indian shipping agent sent him an email rejecting his footwear consignment, which it previously had agreed to carry. The email read in part: "Don't try to get in touch with us again." WSJ

Fear hails Modi’s order for destruction of historical files

On Modi’s directive the Indian home ministry in less than a month, destroyed nearly 1,500,000 files.— AFP file photo

NEW DELHI: Controll­ing historical memory yields useful dividends in politics. Destroying historical evidence is a time-tested strategy of autocrats, clai­med academics and other assorted protesters here on Tuesday after Indian prime minister got hundreds of thousands of “historically relevant” files destroyed.

Times of India said on Mr Modi’s directive the Indian home ministry has gone on ‘a cleanliness drive’ and, in less than a month, destroyed nearly 1,500,000 files that had gathered dust for years.

While going through the almirahs of North Block, where the ministry is loca­ted, officials also found some interesting files which gave an insight to some historic moments, the paper said.

One of these files was about the presidential sanction given to pay India’s first governor general Lord Mountbatten a princely sum of Rs64,000 as TA/DA allowance for moving back to his country.

In today’s terms, the amount will be equivalent to several crores of rupees, a ministry official said.

Another snippet that came out was that after India’s first president Rajendra Prasad refused to take any pension, it was eventually sent to the government’s calamity fund.

Even the salary of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was sent to the calamity fund after he refused it, the files showed.

Crucially, another file has details about the cabinet meeting that was called before the death of Maha­tma Gandhi was annou­nced, an official said.

Asked if these files of historic value were saved or junked, an official expres­sed ignorance, the report said.

Academics suspected the government’s motive in ordering the destruction of priceless historical sources.

“In the absence of any assurance that files of historical value will be preserved or even vetted bef­ore being destroyed, all those who respect knowledge and historical resea­rch have cause to be gravely alarmed at this news,” wrote historian Dilip Simeon.

“The files destined for the shredders may be of the highest historical value and it is unacceptable that the prime minister and home minister should destroy them without a transparent vetting process by respec­ted scholars… India’s historical archive is not the private property of the RSS and Mr Modi,” Mr Simeon said. Dawn News

Sharif sends sari for Modi’s mother

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. — File photo

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra #Modi will hold bilateral talks with US President Barack #Obama who has invited him to Washington in September, and Mr Modi will possibly meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during the annual #UN gathering, official sources said on Thursday.

Mr Modi said in a Tweet on Thursday he was happy to receive a sari for his mother from Mr Sharif, a return gift in a way for the Indian prime minister’s gesture of sending a shawl for Mr Sharif’s mother.

“Nawaz Sharif ji has sent a wonderful white Sari for my Mother. I am really grateful to him & will send it to my mother very soon.”

On a less private note the two leaders will have plenty of work to finish before they meet at the Saarc summit in Kathmandu in November. Mr Sharif said recently that the summit agenda will be hydrocarbons and energy cooperation. Such cooperation has been discussed and speculated on with big Indian business houses, including those that supported Mr Modi’s election campaign, seen as keen to do business in Pakistan.

Given Mr Modi’s style of shunning media scrutiny, the journey from now till they meet in New York, will find the prime minister’s exchanging more than saris and shawls for their mothers. There is a whole gamut of business and political issues to earmark.

On the US front, Mr Modi has accepted an invitation from Mr Obama to have bilateral discussions in Washington in September, potentially opening a new chapter in a sometimes edgy relationship between the two countries.

Reports quoted government sources in Delhi as saying that the United States has offered September 30 as the date for the meeting, and the Indian side has asked for it to be advanced to September 26, around the time of Mr Modi’s maiden address at the United Nations General Assembly.

S Jaishankar, the Indian Ambassador to the United States, is flying to New Delhi on June 8 for consultations with South Block and the Prime Minister’s office, and will brief Mr Modi on the relationship and how to take it forward, The Hindustan Times said.

“The meeting between Modi and Obama will mean that the US view on the Indian PM has come full circle from the time it imposed a visa ban on him in 2005 in connection with the Gujarat riots three years earlier,” the paper said. The process of rapprochement started in February, when its recently retired ambassador to India, Nancy Powell, went to Ahmedabad to meet Modi, then a PM candidate.

It also comes after an especially difficult period in the relationship, sparked by the arrest and humiliation of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York over allegations of visa fraud, and a particularly sharp retaliation by the Indian side.

But there could be a meeting of minds on economic ties, the Hindustan Times said. Mr Modi has spoken often of the need to make India’s diplomacy trade-focused, and wants big ticket investments from mega corporations like GE, IBM and Microsoft.

The US companies, while broadly enthusiastic about India, have turned skittish of late due to stalled economic reforms, slow growth, and issues over tax, intellectual property and preferential market access.

With Modi becoming the prime minister, the Indian embassy in Washington has started serious diplomatic efforts to lure investment. For their part, some US defence contractors are keen to sell military hardware to the world’s biggest arms importer. Dawn News

India arrests 4 in rape, death of teen sisters

Villiagers gather around the bodies of two teenage sisters
 hanging from a tree in Karta Village, India , on may 28, 2014

LUCKNOW, #India (AP) — A group of men, including at least two police officers, raped and killed two teenage sisters in rural India then hung their bodies from a mango tree, authorities said Thursday, announcing the arrests of four men.

Villagers found the girls' bodies hanging from the tree Wednesday morning, hours after they disappeared from fields near their home in Katra village in Uttar Pradesh state, police Superintendent Atul Saxena said. The girls, who were 14 and 15, had gone into the fields because there was no toilet in their home.

Hundreds of angry villagers stayed next to the tree for the rest of Wednesday, silently protesting alleged police inaction in the case. Indian TV footage showed the villagers sitting under the girls' bodies as they swung in the wind, and preventing authorities from taking them down from the tree until the suspects were arrested.

Katra is about 180 miles southwest of the state capital, Lucknow.

Police arrested the four men later in the day and were searching for three more suspects.

Autopsies confirmed the girls had been #gangraped and strangled before being hanged, Saxena said.

The villagers accused the chief of the local police station of ignoring a complaint by the girls' father Tuesday night that the girls were missing. The station chief has since been suspended.

The family belongs to the Dalit community, also called "untouchables" and considered the lowest rung in India's age-old caste system.

India tightened its anti-rape laws last year, making gang rape punishable by the death penalty, even in cases where the victim survives. The new laws came after the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in New Delhi that triggered nationwide protests.

Records show a rape is committed every 22 minutes in India, a nation of 1.2 billion people. Activists say that number is low because of an entrenched culture of tolerance for sexual violence, which leads many cases to go unreported. Women are often pressed by family or police to stay quiet about sexual assault, experts say, and those who do report cases are often subjected to public ridicule or social stigma.

Last month, the head of Uttar Pradesh state's governing party, the regionally prominent Samajwadi Party, told an election rally that the party was opposed to the law calling for gang rapists to be executed.

"Boys will be boys," Mulayam Singh Yadav said. "They make mistakes." --USA Today

Hindu-Muslim clashes in Modi’s heartland

Angry crowds set fire to several shops and vehicles - India

AHMEDABAD - #Indian police fired teargas to break up clashes between #Hindu and #Muslim mobs in Narendra Modi’s heartland of Gujarat on the eve of his swearing in as prime minister, officials said Monday.
Angry crowds set fire to several shops and vehicles and pelted stones at each other during the clashes in western Gujarat state’s main city of Ahmedabad on Sunday night, police and fire officials said. Ahmedabad joint police commissioner Manoj Shashidhar said officers fired teargas to halt the violence which left four people injured.

Shashidhar said an investigation was under way into the clashes which appear to have started when two cars from the different communities crashed in an accident during a marriage procession. “The incident flared up following a petty argument between people of two communities on Sunday night in Gomtipur area of the city. The situation was immediately brought under control,” Shashidhar told AFP. The incident escalated when mobs set property on fire, Ahmedabad chief fire officer MS Dastur told AFP. “Some three shops, one mini-bus and a couple of two wheelers were burnt during the incident,” Dastur said. The clashes came as Hindu nationalist Modi, chief minister of Gujarat for 13 years, was set to be sworn as premier on Monday after a landslide victory at elections as head of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Modi has pledged national unity as he attempts to revive the faltering economy, but he remains tainted by anti-Muslim riots on his watch in Gujarat in 2002 that left at least 1,000 people, mainly Muslims, dead. Modi has denied wrongdoing and a court investigation found he has no case to answer. But some members of religious minorities fear a rise in communal tensions under Modi government and warn they will be sidelined at the expense of the Hindu majority.
THREE  killed in IHK firing

APP adds: Three Indian troops including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) were killed when a trooper shot dead his two senior colleagues before turning the weapon on himself in Poonch district in Indian Occupied Kashmir.

According to KMS, an irate Indian trooper, Naik Darshan Kumar fired indiscriminately at his colleagues, killing two of them, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), Subedar Chameel Singh, and later ended his life at forward Madaan Post in Digwar sector in the district, the police spokesman said.
Meanwhile, the police claimed to have recovered a body of an aged unidentified man near Hassanwani in Pulwama district. The Nation News

Hindu sages, military bands and fireworks as Modi sworn in

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) greets President Pranab Mukherjee after taking his oath at the presidential palace in New Delhi May 26, 2014.

(Reuters) - A ceremony involving military bands, #Hindu holy men and a vegetarian high tea was laid on at the president's mansion on Monday for Narendra #Modi's swearing-in as prime minister of the world's largest democracy.

Modi and his ministers took their oaths at Rashtrapati Bhavan, a colonial-era sandstone mansion with 340 rooms in the heart of New Delhi.

Around 4,000 guests were invited, ranging from members of outgoing Nehru-Gandhi dynasty to top industrialists, Bollywood actors and the leaders of India's neighbours - including arch-rival Pakistan.

Swearing-in ceremonies traditionally take place in the mansion's former ballroom, but Modi and his ministers took their oaths at an open-air event in its sweeping forecourt, in order to accommodate the unusually big audience.

The forecourt, covered in red carpets for the event, was heavily guarded with snipers on the rooftops of the mansion and some of the surrounding buildings. Military bands played bagpipes at the mansion's entrance.

Modi's critics accuse of him of harbouring Hindu supremacist views but since winning the election 10 days ago he has taken steps widely viewed as inclusive, such as inviting the prime minister of Pakistan, a Muslim neighbour against whom India has fought three wars.

Those in the crowd at the early evening ceremony included Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a Hindu guru popular with middle class, and Salman Khan, a Muslim Bollywood action hero.

Modi arrived on time - an unusual occurrence for an Indian politician - in a grey SUV, impeccably dressed in a beige waistcoat over a long white shirt. During the 90-minute-long ceremony, BJP workers at the party's nearby national headquarters set off fireworks in celebration.

As per tradition, the president's office was only due to disclose which ministers would run which ministries after the ceremony. Modi is a highly private figure and even senior party leaders have been kept in the dark about his plans, prompting a week of frantic guessing games in Delhi's political circles.

Rashtrapati Bhavan took eight years to build and was completed in 1929. It was designed as a home for the colonial viceroys of India by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the British architect who designed much of New Delhi's wide avenues and elegant bungalows. Reuters

At least 10 died in India passenger train crash: Railway officials

Indian Railways trains are lined up for inspection in Hyderabad on February 24, 2010 (AFP Photo/Noah Seelam)

New Delhi (AFP) - A passenger express train slammed into a stationary freight train in northern #India on Monday, killing at least 10 people with others feared trapped in the wreckage, an official told AFP.

"What we know now is that six bogies of the train derailed following the collision and at least 10 people have died," the Indian Railways official said in New Delhi.

India says consulate in western Afghanistan attacked

File Photo

NEW DELHI: Gunmen attacked India's consulate in the main western Afghan city of Herat Friday before being repelled by security forces, the foreign ministry in New Delhi said.

“Earlier this morning, the #Indian consulate in Herat was attacked,” foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told the news channel NDTV.

“One gunman was shot by the ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) while they were trying to breach the consulate,” he said, adding that Indian and Afghan security forces had been “successful in rebutting this attack”.

While there was no word from India of who was behind the attack, it comes days after incoming prime minister Narendra Modi invited #Pakistan's premier Nawaz Sharif to his inauguration ceremony in Delhi next Monday.

India has previously accused Pakistan's security services of being behind attacks on Indian targets in Afghanistan.
Source: Dawn News

Modi invites Sharif to swearing-in

(Left) Pakistani Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif and (Right) New Indian Prime Minister and Bharat Janta Party's Leader Mr. Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI  - Indian prime minister-elect Narendra #Modi has invited Pakistan’s premier Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in next Monday in a surprising diplomatic statement that he intends to improve strained relations.

A government official said Wednesday invitations to the ceremony had been sent to all heads of government from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) which includes Pakistan. “These communications have just gone off in the afternoon and we are now awaiting a response,” said Indian foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin. Pakistan’s Foreign Office confirmed on Wednesday Pakistan has received Indian invitation, but no decision about attending the ceremony has been made as yet.

Meanwhile, the US has also welcomes Modi’s invitation for Sharif.  Modi will take the oath as prime minister 10 days after his right-wing Hindu nationalist BJP scored a landslide victory, securing the first majority by a single party in 30 years.

The hardline leader was expected to usher in a more muscular foreign policy, insisting on the campaign trail other countries would respect India only if it showed strong political leadership.

Sharif has hailed Modi’s “impressive victory” and many diplomats hope the two men can thaw ties between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Sharif has cited his working relationship with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India’s last prime minister under the BJP, as a reason for optimism, according to diplomatic sources.

In 1999, during Sharif’s second term in power, Vajpayee rode a bus to the Pakistani city of Lahore to sign a peace accord and raise hopes of normalised ties.

The invitation signals Modi’s intention to tackle India’s most troubled bilateral relationship at a time when Sharif is also keen on talks, analysts say.

“It’s a very important gesture,” said Manoj Joshi, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think-tank.

“It definitely shows Modi’s intentions to focus on immediate neighbours and it’s a realistic signal: realism in the sense that unless you have good relations with neighbours you can hardly focus beyond,” he said.
The traditionally strained ties warmed slightly toward the end of the term of outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but still remain frosty amid mutual distrust and regular skirmishes along their disputed Kashmir border.

Singh’s Congress party, which crashed to its worst-ever defeat in the elections, brushed aside political hostility and welcomed the invitation to Saarc leaders.

“It’s the prerogative of the prime minister who he wants to invite,” Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi told a news conference.

“We hope this positive initiative will translate into something substantive.”
Modi warned during campaigning that talks could not be held with Pakistan until all violence ceased.
Key issues remain the disputed Kashmir region and militancy, which New Delhi frequently accuses Pakistan of backing.

While Pakistan’s civilian leaders and business community favour closer ties, many ordinary Pakistani revile Modi. He is tainted by 2002 religious riots in his home state of Gujarat that killed 1,000 people, mostly Muslims.

Fear and cautious hope for India’s Muslims in Modi era

Millions of India's Muslims fear Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi's landslide election will fuel religious discrimination, intolerance and even bring bloodshed, but some are also prepared to give him a chance.

The right-wing hardliner stormed to victory at the polls, throwing the left-leaning secular Congress from office and handing his Bharatiya Janata Party (#BJP) a powerful mandate for promised sweeping reforms.

Critics warn the size of the victory will empower Modi, steeped in Hindu nationalist ideology and tainted by anti-Muslims riots, to run roughshod over religious minorities, particularly India's 150 million #Muslims.

But some, at least, are hopeful that Modi's promise during the campaign of jobs and development to revive the stalled economy will benefit all classes, castes and religions, not just the Hindu majority. 

Sam Panthaky/AFP/File
File photo shows an Indian Muslim praying at the Mausoleum of
Sultan Ahmed Shah,the founder of Ahmedabad city, on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha

"My hopes have been rekindled, I am looking forward to better days under his rule," sai

d Abdul Salaam, 29, a Muslim tailor in Varanasi, a Hindu holy city which has a sizeable Muslim community.

Salaam pointed to the prosperity of western Gujarat state, where Modi was chief minister for 13 years, saying he hoped these policies could be reproduced nationally.

Muslim widow Parveen Banu, whose family was killed in communal riots in Gujarat, said the BJP leader would not dare turn against Muslims after weeks on the campaign trail preaching national unity.

Banu remembers running through the blood-splattered alleys of Gujarat's main city of Ahmedabad to escape the Hindu mobs that killed her husband and four children.

Banu, 40, has since rebuilt her life and now runs a shop selling mutton minutes from her home in a Muslim slum -- 12 years after the riots that killed at least 1,000 people, mostly Muslims.

- 'Of course Modi hates Muslims' -

As chief minister at the time, Modi is dogged by allegations he failed to stop the bloodshed, although he has been cleared by a court investigation.

"Of course Modi hates Muslims, but as prime minister can he really afford to show it?" Banu said to AFP.

Sam Panthaky/AFP/File
An Indian Muslim woman prays on the banks of the
Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad in 2013

"Plus, he has spoken of cultural unity and he has to live up to our expectations and I believe he will. He's not crazy.

"I just hope Allah shows him the right way."

Despite the optimism that some Muslims have, many fear life under a Modi-led government and voted in large numbers against him. According to a nationwide post-poll survey, only nine percent of Muslims voted for the BJP while 43 percent opted for Congress.

"Muslims are the only community to vote in big numbers for Congress," Sanjay Kumar, whose Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies conducted the poll, told AFP.

Congress, India's national secular force that has ruled for all but 13 years since independence, was obliterated, winning just 44 seats in the 543-member parliament.

Modi secured the strongest mandate of any Indian leader for 30 years, after the BJP won 282 seats, dominating even in states with large Muslim populations such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The number of Muslim lawmakers dropped from 30 in the outgoing parliament to a record low of 24, limiting their clout for the next five years, The Times of India said.

- No one can stop him -

According to a nationwide post-poll survey, only nine percent of
Muslims voted for the BJP while 43 percent opted for Congress

Nazma Begum, who runs a small cloth-dyeing business in Varanasi, said she feared few could now stop Modi and the hardline Hindu nationalist groups that are allied to the incoming prime minister.

"I find Modi scary. I never imagined he would have such a big win. It's sad because now he will have a free rein, he will do as he pleases. Who would dare to question him?" the 40-year-old Muslim widow told AFP.

Modi himself struck a note of unity in his first comments after his win, saying: "I want to take all of you with me to take this country forward."

But while Modi has stressed inclusiveness and development, his top aide Amit Shah was briefly banned from campaigning for inflammatory comments seen as a bid to polarise voters along religious lines.

Modi also fought and won the seat of the sacred city Varanasi, viewed as an effective way of burnishing his Hindu nationalist credentials.

In the only Muslim-majority state, where an insurgency has long raged against Indian rule in favour of independence or merger with Pakistan, some Muslims are hopeful for Modi for different reasons.

Chief Muslim cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said he wanted the new government to take "bold steps" to solve the dispute over Kashmir.

Modi told media during the campaign that he would pursue the policies followed by former BJP premier Atal Behari Vajpayee, who sought several times to make permanent peace with Pakistan over Kashmir.

"Modi has won on the promise of development and progress which can happen when there is peace, but an unresolved Kashmir issue is a hindrance to peace," Farooq told AFP.

Source: Post US

Hero's welcome for PM-elect Modi as he arrives in Delhi

Chief Minister of the western Indian state of Gujarat and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime-ministerial candidate Narendra Modi waves as he arrives at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on May 17 ,2014. — Photo by AFP

NEW DELHI: Thousands of flag-waving supporters mobbed Indian prime minister-elect Narendra Modi as he made a triumphant entrance in New Delhi Saturday after securing a historic victory for his Hindu nationalist party.

The 63-year-old flew into Delhi's main airport in the late morning from his home state of Gujarat to bask in the glory of a landslide for the Bharatiya Janata Party and begin organising his cabinet.
The controversial politician, a former tea boy tainted by anti-Muslim riots on his watch as chief minister in Gujarat, has the strongest mandate of any Indian leader in 30 years.

A crowd of party supporters, waiting at the airport since early morning but entertained by a marching band and thumping dance music, burst through police barricades at the sight of his cavalcade.

He emerged from the door, smiling and flashing victory signs, as many strained for a glimpse and showered the vehicle in rose petals.

“Modi is our lion! He will work for the people of India, he will work for development, he will work for every Indian,” shouted Om Dutt, a 39-year-old shop owner, reflecting heady expectations of what he will deliver.
As he drive to his party headquarters in the centre of the capital, thousands lined the streets dressed in t-shirts bearing his face, with police having to frequently push back well-wishers.

“I thank the BJP workers wholeheartedly,” he said at a festive headquarters flanked by senior party figures such as Rajnath Singh and Ravi Shankar Prasad who are likely to take government roles.
The BJP won the first majority in parliament for 30 years on Friday after a campaign by Modi focused on delivering new jobs, development and clean government.
The triumph redrew India's political map, handing him a huge mandate for change, and heaping humiliation on the ruling Gandhi political dynasty whose Congress party has been in power for 10 years.

He won't discriminate

In national capitals across the world, leaders readjusted to the change in leadership, with the US and Europe having to quickly embrace a man who has been shunned for a decade.

Modi was boycotted by many Western countries over anti-Muslim riots in 2002 that left about 1,000 dead and a legacy of suspicion that the religious hardliner did too little to prevent the killing.
The strict vegetarian, steeped in the ideology of Hindu nationalism, has always denied wrongdoing and investigators have found no evidence to prosecute him.

The United States, Britain and Australia were quick to extend invitations for him to visit, while Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from neighbouring Pakistan rang to offer congratulations on an “impressive victory.”
Outgoing Prime Minster Manmohan Singh was set to resign on Saturday, ending his 10 years in charge, and a final televised address thanked the Indian people for their support.

“Today India is a far stronger country than it was a decade ago,” the 81-year-old said in a typically low-key speech — a great contrast to the bombastic high-energy style of his successor.

Modi's supporters on Saturday were insistent that their hero had been elected on a mandate to change India by creating jobs, developing infrastructure and battling endemic corruption.
“He won't discriminate, he will take everyone with him,” Shubham Anand, a 19-year-old student, told AFP as he stood waiting for Modi in eastern Delhi.
“We need a strong government in India,” he added.

In his first comments on Friday night, Modi was at pains to stress that he would work for all of India's 1.2 billion people — including its 150 million Muslims — to make this “India's century”.
“It is my responsibility to take all of you with me to run this country,” Modi said as thousands chanted his name.
Indian newspapers hailed the game-changing election results but said it was vital that Modi allayed the fears of religious minorities who did not vote for him.

“Narendra Modi has scripted one of the most gloriously spectacular political triumphs in the history of independent India,” wrote Pratap Bhanu Mehta from the Centre for Policy Research think-tank.
Figures from the Election Commission showed the BJP had secured 279 seats and was projected to win another three in the 543-member parliament, the first majority by a single party since 1984.
The Congress, India's national secular force that has ruled for all but 13 years since independence, was left obliterated, holding just 44 seats — a quarter of its tally in 2009.

The defeat raises questions about the endurance of the Gandhi political dynasty after 43-year-old Rahul, leading campaigning nationally for the first time, suffered such humiliating
Source: Dawn news

Can anyone stop Narendra Modi?

Narendra Modi BJP Party Leader

WHO does not marvel at the prospect of #India going to the polls? Starting on April 7th, illiterate villagers and destitute slum-dwellers will have an equal say alongside Mumbai’s millionaires in picking their government. Almost 815m citizens are eligible to cast their ballots in nine phases of voting over five weeks—the largest collective democratic act in history.

But who does not also deplore the fecklessness and venality of India’s politicians? The country is teeming with problems, but a decade under a coalition led by the Congress party has left it rudderless. Growth has fallen by half, to about 5%—too low to provide work for the millions of young Indians joining the job market each year. Reforms go undone, roads and electricity remain unavailable, children are left uneducated. Meanwhile politicians and officials are reckoned to have taken bribes worth between $4 billion and $12 billion during Congress’s tenure. The business of politics, Indians conclude, is corruption. #BJP

No wonder that the overwhelming favourite to become India’s next prime minister is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Narendra Modi. He could not be more different from Rahul Gandhi, his Congress party rival. The great-grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first premier, Mr Gandhi would ascend to office as if by divine right. Mr Modi is a former teaseller propelled to the top by sheer ability. Mr Gandhi seems not to know his own mind—even whether he wants power. Mr Modi’s performance as chief minister of Gujarat shows that he is set on economic development and can make it happen. Mr Gandhi’s coalition is tainted by corruption. By comparison Mr Modi is clean. So there is much to admire. Despite that, this newspaper cannot bring itself to back Mr Modi for India’s highest office.

Modi’s odium

The reason begins with a Hindu rampage against Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, in which at least 1,000 people were slaughtered. The orgy of murder and rape in Ahmedabad and the surrounding towns and villages was revenge for the killing of 59 Hindu pilgrims on a train by Muslims.

Mr Modi had helped organise a march on the holy site at Ayodhya in 1990 which, two years later, led to the deaths of 2,000 in Hindu-Muslim clashes. A lifelong member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist group in whose cause he has vowed lifelong celibacy, he made speeches early in his career that shamelessly whipped up Hindus against Muslims. In 2002 Mr Modi was chief minister and he was accused of allowing or even abetting the pogrom.

Mr Modi’s defenders, and there are many, especially among the business elite, point to two things. First, repeated investigations—including by the admirably independent Supreme Court—have found nothing to charge their man with. And second, they say, Mr Modi has changed. He has worked tirelessly to attract investment and to boost business for the benefit of Hindus and Muslims alike. Think, they say, of the huge gains to poor Muslims across India of a well-run economy.

On both counts, that is too generous. One reason why the inquiries into the riots were inconclusive is that a great deal of evidence was lost or wilfully destroyed. And if the facts in 2002 are murky, so are Mr Modi’s views now. He could put the pogroms behind him by explaining what happened and apologising. Yet he refuses to answer questions about them. In a rare comment last year he said he regretted Muslims’ suffering as he would that of a puppy run over by a car. Amid the uproar, he said he meant only that Hindus care about all life. Muslims—and chauvinist Hindus—heard a different message. Unlike other BJP leaders, Mr Modi has refused to wear a Muslim skullcap and failed to condemn riots in Uttar Pradesh in 2013 when most of the victims were Muslim.

The lesser of two evils

“Dog-whistle” politics is deplorable in any country. But in India violence between Hindus and Muslims is never far from the surface. At partition, when British India fractured, about 12m people were uprooted and hundreds of thousands perished. Since 2002 communal violence has died down, but there are hundreds of incidents and scores of deaths each year. Sometimes, as in Uttar Pradesh, the violence is on an alarming scale. The spark could also come from outside. In Mumbai in 2008 India suffered horrific attacks by terrorists from Muslim Pakistan—a nagging, nuclear-armed presence next door.

By refusing to put Muslim fears to rest, Mr Modi feeds them. By clinging to the anti-Muslim vote, he nurtures it. India at its finest is a joyous cacophony of peoples and faiths, of holy men and rebels. The best of them, such as the late columnist Khushwant Singh are painfully aware of the damage caused by communal hatred. Mr Modi might start well in Delhi but sooner or later he will have to cope with a sectarian slaughter or a crisis with Pakistan—and nobody, least of all the modernisers praising him now, knows what he will do nor how Muslims, in turn, will react to such a divisive man.

If Mr Modi were to explain his role in the violence and show genuine remorse, we would consider backing him, but he never has; it would be wrong for a man who has thrived on division to become prime minister of a country as fissile as India. We do not find the prospect of a government led by Congress under Mr Gandhi an inspiring one. But we have to recommend it to Indians as the less disturbing option.

If Congress wins, which is unlikely, it must strive to renew itself and to reform India. Mr Gandhi should make a virtue of his diffidence by stepping back from politics and promoting modernisers to the fore. There are plenty of them and modernity is what Indian voters increasingly demand  . If, more probably, victory goes to the BJP, its coalition partners should hold out for a prime minister other than Mr Modi.
And if they still choose Mr Modi? We would wish him well, and we would be delighted for him to prove us wrong by governing India in a modern, honest and fair way. But for now he should be judged on his record—which is that of a man who is still associated with sectarian hatred. There is nothing modern, honest or fair about that. India deserves better.
Source: Economists

Modi wins sweep victory, vote counting shows

Early results on Friday from India's five-week long general election indicated a landslide victory for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Narendra Modi.

The Hindu nationalist BJP on its own was leading with 272 seats, according to Reuters, giving it a majority in the 543-seat parliament.

In Mumbai, India's stock index soared over 4 percent to a fresh record high as investors factored in a Modi-win. The rupee strengthened more than one percent to its highest level in almost 10 months at around 58.70 against the dollar.

"There is a likelihood that the BJP and its NDA (National Democratic Alliance) could get a super majority or at least get majority," Jahangir Aziz, head of emerging market Asia economic research at JP Morgan, told CNBC.

"If that happens, I think the market will heave a sigh of relief because that's what it has been pricing in over the last five days," he added.

Indian supporters of chief minister of western Gujarat state and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi pose with his cutout. Indranil Mukherjee | AFP | Getty Images

Returns from the 989 counting centers have been rolling in thick and fast throughout the morning. Exit polls have indicated a clear victory for the #BJP and its allies.

Results showed #Modi ahead in both the constituencies he contested - in Vadodara in his home state of Gujarat and in the #Hindu holy city of Varanasi, Reuters reported.

Rahul Gandhi, who led the Congress campaign, was lagging in his seat of Amethi, a family bastion that has been held his uncle, father and mother, Sonia.

A clear majority would give Modi, a tea vendor's son and the chief minister in the western state of Gujarat, a clear mandate to push through hit economic agenda.

Modi has promised that, if elected, he would take decisive steps to unblock stalled investments in power, road and rail projects to revive economic growth that has fallen to a decade low of below 5 percent.
"Modi has said very clearly that its 'toilets over temples.' For a deeply religious man, that kind of very stark statement is an interesting indication of his commitment to develop the country," Thomas R. Pickering, a former U.S. ambassador to India told CNBC.

Modi, credited for his pro-business policies in Gujarat, has raised expectations that he will be able to revive India's economic fortunes.
Source: CNBC News

5,000 Hindus migrating to India every year, NA told

ISLAMABAD: A member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani revealed in the National Assembly on Monday that around 5,000 Hindus are migrating from Pakistan to #India every year.

PML-N MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani said that influential people were converting religion of Hindu girls in interior Sindh. – File Photo

Commenting on law and order situation in the country, the PML-N MNA said that six incidents of religious desecration happened within last two months in Sindh, majority of the incidents were regarding burning the religious books of #Hindu minority in the province.

Vankwani said that it was the constitutional rights of the people, belonging to different minorities, to practice their religion freely in Pakistan. “Are we not part of Pakistan?” he questioned.

He said that influential people were forcefully converting religion of Hindu girls in interior Sindh, urging the government to take steps to counter such attempts from Muslim majority in the country.
The PML-N lawmaker also said that it was the teaching of all the religions to respect other faiths but the minorities had failed to get equal rights in Pakistan.

He suggested that the government should set up a parliamentary committee to discuss the issues related to minorities in this regard.

Later, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed said the government will ensure the protection of minorities at all cost as it is mentioned in the Constitution of Pakistan.

Earlier, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Shazia Marri said that sympathies of the militans were present within the political parties’ ranks otherwise it was not difficult to stop terrorist activities in the country.
Marri said that some political leaders called the Pakistani Taliban as their “angry brothers.”
“I pray to God to please protect us from such brothers,” she added.

The PPP leader said that it was the government’s responsibility to focus on the law and order situation for the progress of Pakistan otherwise tourists and investors from foreign countries will not come to the country.
She also urged the government to protect the rights of religious minorities in the country.
Source: Dawn News

Indian elections through Pakistani eyes: From Bangalore to Hyderabad

Hyderabad was the capital of the largest princely state of the same name that was ruled by Muslim monarchs for centuries. After its inclusion into #India, its Maratha, Kannada and Telugu speaking areas were separated and merged with the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh respectively. The city of Hyderabad served as the capital of Andhra Pradesh. The four century old monument, Char Minar, has become a symbol of Hyderabad. It is situated in the middle of an extremely crowded market with narrow lanes that are typical to all older parts of our cities. The old parts of the city are still dominantly inhabited by #Muslims.

Many Muslims in Hyderabad have assimilated themselves into the communally mixed society and politics of Andhra Pradesh but some stick to maintaining a separate and distinct identity. The older parts of the city that are dominantly inhabited by Muslims generally vote for Majilis-i-Ittehadul Muslameen. In the provincial assembly elections of 2009, the party was successful on seven of the eight city constituencies that it had contested. The party is generally considered as an ally of Congress.

More minars in the city of Char Minar: Development has been the top demand of the people from their election candidates every where. In fact one of the major criteria the electors tend to use to assess the parties and their candidates is how much will they be supportive of developing their constituencies. And in all the places in India, I have been to, development invariably means concrete structures, flyovers, underpasses, bus lanes etc and I also saw one or more mega projects underway at all of these places. In the social circles, there are debates both for and against this approach towards development and there are stories of massive frauds and embezzlements. I am alien to neither this definition of development nor to the debates surrounding it, so I can equally participate in all of these

The state of Andhra Pradesh will be split into two, Telanaga and Andhra, on June 2, 2014. The legal measures and administrative planning has already been completed. Telengana consists of the Telugu speaking parts of the former princely state of Hyderabad. It only had hesitantly accepted its merger with Telugu speaking parts of Madras state when India redrew its internal boundaries in 1950s. It has been accusing the Andhra of exploiting its resources and denying it due share in the 'development pie'.

River water sharing has been contentious within the state of Andhra Pradesh. Almost two-third of the catchment area of the regions two large rivers, Krishna and Godavari, lies in the Deccan plateau region of Telangana while it only gets a fifth from the canal irrigation system. The rest goes to the coastal regions of Seemandhra. The farmers of the Telangana region have struggled for over half century along side its salaried middle class to get the region the status of a separate state.

Most Muslims in Hyderabad insist on maintaining a distinct identity and one very visible expression of this, you can't miss noticing in Hyderabad, is women in black burqas and they are not a minority here, I saw more black burqas in Hyderabad than I could ever see in Lahore or Karachi. The communities vigilantly guards its women and inter-religion relations among young women and men are not only discouraged but violations often face violent reactions as well.

The other important symbol of identity for Muslims in Andhra Pradesh is Urdu. It was once the dominant language of governance and education in the state but as the generalised governance system of India replaced the princely rule in 1948, Urdu lost its status. The efforts for resurrecting it by the Muslim community organizations get a boost every time, they feel the need to assert their distinct identity.

Habibuddin, in picture above, teaches Urdu at Abid Ali Khan Educational Trust, in Hyderabad that has taught the language to over six hundred thousand boys and girls in past 20 years through its three short courses.

Hyderabad is the hub of Indian IT industry with global corporations like Facebook, Google, Microsoft and others making it their second home. IT is the biggest source of employment here and there are thousands and thousands of institutes here that offer the young job seekers trainings in various IT related skills and knowledge. The catchment area do these institutions not only includes residents of Hyderabad but its surroundings and other parts of this and the nearby states

 Hyderabad's phenomenal economic growth over past decade has created new imbalances and gave more twists to its politics. It invited a massive influx of professionals from other states raising the issue of local and non-local beneficiaries. It also sharpened further the contentious issue of economic disparity among people of Telangana and Andhra. The public sector jobs have a reserved quota for lower castes but the same does not apply to the private sector. This has increased the pressure on the limited public sector to be more judicious in offering employment to the lower castes.

"Our cities can't do without the lower castes such as scavengers. The civic authorities are unable to meet the new challenges and the whole system thus tends to sustain the caste divide," said a Bahujan activist as we discussed the reasons behind the continued abject poverty despite the city making strides on the economic front.

Hyderabad has historically been a hub of trade in pearls and large diamonds. The last Muslim monarch, Sir Osman Ali Khan, of the princely state of Hyderabad was considered the richest man of the world in his time. His collection of gold and diamonds was worth half a billion pounds. The stories of the wealth of the ruler of the largest princely state of India, who was also known as Nizam of Hyderabad, sound like the ones from Alif Laila.

Nizam's glory is all gone now but it has definitely left some mark on Hyderabadi aesthetics. All the public statues here are painted golden unlike other places where they stand in black, greys or at the most in copper red. During a meeting at a local tuck shop, the host ordered the waiter 'golden' for all the friends. I amusingly waited to discover only to discover that it meant milk tea (doodh patti) rich in flavour and colour!
You can easily call Hyderabad 'the biryani capital of India'. Every friend of yours knowing that you are in the city will suggest you to not miss the opportunity to dine at one or the biryani joint. The most frequently recommended one, however, proved to be a disappointment for me - rice were well done, it wasn't too spicy but the quality of meat was low and the raita was too runny.

What I missed the most, however, was the aroma that makes you utter 'wow'. The place is very popular and has the biggest share in Hyderabad's big deg of biryani. The security arrangement at the restaurant was amazingly detailed with walk through gates, patting and separate search cabin for women. Friends told me that the business has been receiving threats for various reasons. Coming from Bangalore, it was strange for me as there I had visited a minister who was meeting public without any security around. Maybe #Hyderabad is too cautious of its culinary heritage

 Source of this wonderful and comprehensive report: The Dawn News