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Ban Gautam Gambhir had hardly ended his celebrations of double ton in the third test between India and Australia when he was handed a one-match ban for a level 2 offense as per the International Cricket Council Code of Conduct on Friday morning. According to the rules he can appeal against the decision within 24 hours of the notification of the decision. The ban has been imposed on Gambhir for deliberately elbowing Australian all-rounder Shane Watson one the first day of the third test being played in the Firoze Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi. During the hearing, match referee Chris Broad had found both Gambhir and Watson guilty of conduct contrary to the spirit of the game. Watson too, was fined 10 percent of his match fee. Because of ban Gambhir can not play in the fourth and the final test match of the series that will be played in Nagpur. Meanwhile, Gambhir have decided to appeal against the one-test ban decision.

Sydney Test Though, it is not an abnormal incident as for as the test cricket is concerned, because such kind of incidents happen almost in every test, sometimes they get ignored and sometimes can result in some minor punishments. In the second test Zaheer Khan was also fined 50 percent of his match fee. But this incident has a special significance if we recall the incidents of Sydney test that was played between both the teams and resulted in one of the biggest international cricket controversy. After that test Australian players had made allegations of racism against their counterparts. After it Indian team had decided to quit the tour which had forced the Australians to backtrack.

Aggressiveness As the series is progressing rivalry between both the teams is also rising to the new heights. Though both the teams say that ‘what ever happens in the playground, is left in the playground’ but former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist’s comments are totally different to their claims. Earlier he had targeted Sachin Tendulkar and now it is the turn of Ganguly and Bhaji. All these incidents, collectively, indicate that both the teams have not forgotten the bad memories of the Sydney test. Some younger players of both of the teams are following the same path of the their seniors. Though aggressiveness is the part of the game but some times they cross the limits and it results in such incidents.

Blasts Serial blasts in various Indian cities have put the centre government under tremendous pressure. First it was Jaipur which was followed by Bangalore, Ahmadabad, Surat, the national capital Delhi and now Assam. All these cities were targeted by the terrorists in a well-planned method. Though after the Jamia Nagar encounter various security agencies were claiming that they have failed terrorists’ planning of conducting similar kind of destructive activities but Assam blasts have once again exposed that how old, wrong and misguiding our secret services are. On the other hand centre as well as state governments, too, are busy with their own political interests instead of fighting the threat with a firm will.

Security Agencies After blasts and Jamia Nagar encounter, leaders of various national and regional parties were busy to pacify a particular community. They were doing this with an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections in various states. In this way, instead of favoring that particular community they were, indirectly linking it with the terrorists. We can not deny that police, secret agencies and the centre government have completely failed to prevent the disaster in its earlier stages. If security agencies had some information about the serial blasts, they did nothing to prevent the incidents from happening. In the second stage various state police departments tried to take the ‘credit’ by bursting the ‘terrorist cells’ but their eyes opened only after it when city after city became target of the serial blasts. Indirectly the various state police departments, too, helped the terrorists by not sharing the information with their counterparts.

Government The first two failures can be removed by increasing cooperation between various secret and police departments but what can be done with the centre government that has only ‘one eye’. When more than thirty lakh people were rendered homeless and begging for food and shelter because of Kosi floods it had been ‘blinded’ by the n-deal. It also failed to take appropriate action at the right time when communal riots had broken up in Orissa and Assam. It is true that India faced may problems in a very short span of time but it is also true that centre government stepped in only after PM Manmohan Singh took initiative. Now the question lies what the other ‘ministers’ were doing. Home minister Shivraj Patil was busy handling ‘home’ instead of nation. Same was with other ministers too. Now elections are nearing and all the political parties have started to use these incidents as issues in the elections. Instead of removing the shortcomings all the ‘responsible forces’ are blaming each other for the failures.

Shooting Kashmiri fruit traders stopped the shooting of a Hindi movie on Thursday and also forced the producer to delete all those scenes that were objectionable to the local people and portrayed them in bad lights. Director Rahul Dholakia was shooting some for his movie ‘Lamha’ in the Parimpora Fruit Mandi in the summer capital of the state, Srinagar. The local people objected to a seen that was being shot in the market. In the shot a person, clad in Kashmiri clothes was showed holding a gun while the others were loading fruits in a truck. In the scene fruit traders were presented as involved in the arms trade. Interestingly, the film unit was shooting without prior permission from the concerned authorities.

Objections The local people and the fruit traders had objected to the scene as it could be disastrous to the new opened trade links between the divided parts of the state. It must be learnt that India and Pakistan have resumed trade between both the divided parts of the state after the period of more than six decades. Thousands of people have died because of militancy in the state. Such scene in the film could have sent wrong messages about the Kashmiri people to the world community. So the Fruit traders objected to the shooting of the scene and also forced the film director to show the other reels also, later on all the objectionable reels were destroyed. The film crew also vowed not to show anything objectionable in the film.

Director On the other hand Dholakia claimed that he had sought permission from some shopkeepers of the fruit market for the shoot but they had not informed the fruit traders association. He said that film is based on a love story and presents Kashmir in a positive way. He said that ‘Lamha’ is only a commercial movies and has nothing to do with the political situation in the state. When asked about the gun wielding person being part of the shoot at the local fruit market, the director said, “ He was a bodyguard and not part of the actors in the film”. But on the other hand local traders said that fruit cartons loaded with artificial guns and ammunition were being shot in the particular scene when they forced the film unit to stop the shooting.

Migrant Laborers Recent developments have forced every Indian to think many times before migrating to other part of the country. Bihar and UP are the major source of manual power for all sectors of the Indian economy. Bihar and UP are one of the most poor northern states and billions of laborers migrate to other parts of the country where their work for some months and return to their native places. After freedom these states could not progress as they were expected to which resulted in migration of labor to other states where they could find more work and wages. Punjab, Haryana and some other metropolitan cities are the main destinations of the migrant laborers. These Bihari and UP laborers have contributed a lot in nation building.  They have a very big hand behind Punjab and Haryana’s success in the field of agriculture. They have contributed a lot in every field of the economy. Without them Punjab’s agricultural output will be reduced to 50%.

MNS Though these north Indian laborers have contributed a lot in the progress of every state but some narrow minded politicians have started to target them with the motive of gaining political ground. One of such ‘leaders’ is MNS chief Raj Thackeray who with his party activists have been targeting the north Indians for last some months. Though Maharashtra government has ignored his ‘moves’ for some time but at last it had to take a strict action following the MNS activists’ attack on the Railway Board examinees. It had resulted in death of a Bihari youth and violence agitations in Bihar in which crores of railway property had been damaged.

Nationalism Elections are nearing and politicians are at pains to raise every ‘petty’ issue to take advantage over their rivals. The present situation has forced some Bihari leaders to take stand against Raj Thackeray. Which has resulted in Maharashtra Vs Bihar. Instead of defusing the situation all the ‘national’ and ‘patriotic’ parties are fueling the fire. Rift between north Indians and south Indians is widening day by day.  Encounter of a Bihari youth inside a bus in Mumbai and lynching of another Bihari youth inside a train have added more fuel to the fire. Instead of taking adequate step to handle the crisis all the political parties are fighting the war by using media. All these developments have put Bihar against Maharashtra which will result in defeat of nationalism. 

Double Centuries Earlier, on day two, Gambhir completed his double century which included 26 fours and 1 six. He was dismissed by Shane Watson when he was on 206. But before that he and Laxman had added 278 runs in the Indian total. Sourav Ganguly could make only five runs and was dismissed by Simon Katich leaving India to 444 for five. Man of the match of the previous test, Mahendra Singh Dhoni added 27 off 29 balls and was dismissed by Shane Watson. The next two Indian batsmen Kumble and Zaheer Khan kept their opponents at tenterhooks. Kumble made 45 runs and was trapped by M Johnson. Zaheer made 28 runs and remained not out along with Laxman. As soon as Laxman completed his double century India declared its inning on 613 for 7.

Australian openers started their inning with caution. When the day’s play was called off Matthew Hayden was playing at 16 while Simon Katich was at 29.

Blasts India’s northeastern state Assam was rocked by 13 serial blasts on Thursday October 30 in which more than 50 people are feared dead while many injured. It is being said that death toll can increase as more bodies are being suspected to be buried under the debris at the blast sites and condition of some injured people is being stated to be critical. According to the police sources all the bombs were of high-intensity and happened simultaneously at around 11.30. All the bombs were planted in the crowded places to maximize the death toll. There was more crowd in the markets as compared to the normal days as people were celebrating the festival ,’Bhaiya Dooj’.

Places A few weeks ago state was in international news because of riots between local ‘Bodos’ and the illegal Bangladeshi Muslim migrants in which almost 50 Bodos had been killed and thousands had been rendered homeless and are still living in relief camps. Bomb blasts occurred simultaneously in four districts of the state. Four bomb blasts occurred in Guwahati in which almost 25 people have been killed. Almost 10 people have died in Kokrajhar town in three explosions. Three bombs exploded in Barpeta in which three persons have died while two persons have died in Bongaigaon in one explosion. A red alert has been sounded in the state following the blasts. Though no terrorist group has taken the responsibility for the blasts but police have suspected the hand of banned ULFS and HUJI behind the blasts.

Elections Assam serial blasts are another clear sign of the failure of UPA government and intelligence agencies. UPA government had tried to drift the attention of the public from the recent bomb attacks by creating a controversy on the Delhi encounter and targeting the some non-Congress state governments by raising other issues. Though they had succeeded in their motive but nothing was done to prevent and counter such terrorist acts. Assam blasts have once again exposed UPA government’s lack of policy and will to tackle the problem of terrorism. assembly elections in six states are scheduled to be conducted in November and December which will be followed by Lok Sabha elections soon. In these elections terrorism will be one of the main issue and UPA alliance will have to pay the price for its failure to tackle the terrorism in an adequate way.

                     Hindu Terrorist Outfit Behind Malegaon Blast

Bomb Blasts Initial intelligence reports have hinted to the involvement of a right-wing Hindu group in the Malegaon (Mumbai) blasts in the September month of this year. Malegaon is a textile town and most of the population is Muslim. Anti-Terrorist Squad have arrested three persons including a ’sadhvi’ in connection with the blast in which six persons had died.  The names of  the tree arrested persons are Pragnya Singh Chandrapal Singh, 38, Shiv Narayan Gopal Singh Kalsanghra, 36, and Shyam Bhawarlal Sahu, 42. Pragnya is a ’sadhvi’ who had took ’sanyas’ in 2007. A name of an Hindu organization has figured in the investigation which was founded by Pragna. The motorcycle that was used in the bomb blast also belongs to Pragna. Though, the ‘militants’ had tried all efforts to hide the ownership of the vehicle but investigation agency had succeeded in retrieving the engine and the chassis numbers with the help of the forensic department.

Hindu Groups Some months ago two former members of a Hindu organization were found involved in making of low-intensity bombs. But it is the first time that any Hindu Organization has been found involved in carrying out bomb blasts. But involvement of a woman is the most shocking development. It is the new face of the Hindu terror. It is being said that Pragnya is a former member of Durga Vahini, the women wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad. In recent months communal violence had erupted in many states and in most of the cases fundamental Hindus had targeted the minority communities. In future same kind on incidents can happen. If it happens so then it can’t be denied that the riots will kill scores of people. It is the starting point if the government and the ‘patriotic’ Hindu organizations fail to control the situation in its initial stages then it will be very destructive for the unity of the country and to the fame of the group.

Criminal Elements VHP along with some other Hindu organizations project themselves as ‘patriotic’ groups but the religious touch has always distracted them from the righteous path. In recent years criminal elements have entered these groups who remain always in search of appropriate time to target the minority communities for their personal benefits. Same has happened in Orissa and some other states where Christians were targeted. There are some instances when the attackers had killed even those Hindus who had tried to same the Christian. Such kind of people are not doing any good to their religion, community, state or nation except their personal interests.

Australian Inning One day three in Mohali test Indian bowlers pushed the Australians on back foot as they dismissed all the Australian team for 268 and gave India a lead of 200 hundred runs. When the play resumed Australians were at 102 for four. Shane Watson had joined M Hussey and they both tried to steer Australia out of danger zone as they began their game on a cautious note. But they soon were in troubles when Hussey was dismissed by Ishant Sharma. He edged Sharma’s ball and Dhoni took his catch. He had made 54 runs. He was soon followed by wicketkeeper Brad Haddin.(9). He was dismissed by Harbhajan Singh. Shane Watson kept on loosing partners as Cameron White was sent back shortly before the lunch for 5. He misread Mishra’s googly that crashed through his defence. It was only Brett Lee who could stay for longer time as compared to other batsmen. He, with Watson, added 73 runs for the eight wicket. The partnership was broken was Harbhajan Singh. He edged a ball while defending and was caught at first slip by Rahul Dravid. All-rounder, Watson made 78 runs that included 10 fours and a six. He was dismissed by Mishra. The last batman, Peter Siddle was also dismissed by Mishra.

2^nd Inning India instead of enforcing follow-on decided to bat  and were comfortably placed at 100 for no wicket when the day’s play was called off. Virender Sehwag was playing at 53 while the second opener Gautam Gambhir was at 46. Whit its 100 runs in the second inning India has taken the lead of 301 runs over Australians and have arrested their grip over the match. If Sehwag and Gambhir stay  for some more time then it India can pose a very total and in less time with more than one day’s play remaining. If the Indian bowlers continue to dominate then Australians can not evade the defeat. But for it Indian batmen will have to score at a high rate.

Attractions One day three Indian debutant bowler Amit Mishra has emerged as a star as he took five wickets and has become the sixth Indian bowler who have taken five wicket on debut. He had been included into the Indian team in place of injured Anil Kumhle. On the other hand, Australian star of the day was all-rounder Shane Watson who completed his maiden half century.

Announcement Suspense ended on Sunday when Election Commission of India announced the dates of the assembly elections in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The elections will we held in seven phases for the 87 assembly seats in the state. The first phase of the polls will be held on November 17 and it will be followed by next six phases on November 23, November 30, December 7, December 17 and December 24. The votes will be counted on December 28 and the results will be announced on the same day. Earlier EC had announced the dated of the five state assembly elections except elections in J&K.

Political Situation Amarnath land row had lead to the premature downfall of he congress led government in the state. After it,political situation in the state had become very tense and more than 50 people have lost their lives in both parts of the state. Because of the tense situation in the Kashmir region, most of the political parties were not enthusiastic about the elections but they had not said openly against or in favor of the elections. Earlier it was being said that elections in the present situation will lead to a poor turnout in the Kashmir region. But state political parties also feared that delay in election will give an upper hand to separatists. In such circumstance EC had to take some ‘ bold decision’ otherwise it will have to wait for next six month to hold the election only after the winter season.

Necessity Earlier, PDP was against the early elections in the state but NC had favored the elections. Congress had left the decision to the EC while BJP wanted immediate announcement of elections in the state. In the initial two phases, elections will be held in Leh and Kargil regions as these areas are snow bound. Earlier elections used to be held in four or five phases in the state but EC has decided to hold them in seven phases because of the political instability in the state. In recent months, separatist Hurriyat leaders have exploited the public anger against New Delhi and had projected it as freedom struggle. In such circumstances, further delay in the elections could have given more time to the separatist for ‘free play’. EC has taken an important and necessary decision and it will push the separatists on back foot.

Golden Age After the downfall of Maurya Dynasty India, especially north-India, was divided in small kingdoms. But in the South some dynasties continued to rule for centuries but they could not unite India as Mauryans had done. It was the Gupta Dynasty that emerged as a major power in the early years of fourth century and united India into a nation. Gupta Empire’s time is also considered to be the golden age of India as India was at its peak in the fields of science, mathematics, astronomy,religion, Indian philosophy and literature during their reign. Kalidasa and Aryabhatta are the two famous figures of that time. It was Aryabhatta who had first claimed that earth revolves around the sun. He also gave the concept of Zero to the world. He had contributed a lot to mathematics also. He has been discovered that he knew about the concept of pie(22/7) also. Kalidasa was a playwright who had written ‘Shakuntala’. Indian literature of that age has influenced the Greek literature a lot.

Origin Gupta Dynasty was at its prime from 300 to 600 AD centuries. Huns conquered Guptas and had took over northern India. But some inscriptions indicate that some Guptas ruled during the 12^th and 13^th  century AD though in small states. Nothing concrete has been found about the origin of the Guptas. Only Chinese traveler I-tsing(Hieun-Tsang) has once mentioned name of ‘Maharaja Sri-Gupta’ who had built a temple for Chinese travelers 500 hundred years before. He had visited Indian during the seventh century. No concrete evidence is available but we can assume that Sri Gupta was the first Gupta ruler who might have been the ruler or present Bengal. A copper  inscription has been found in Poona in which Prabhavati Gupta (Daughter of Chanrdragupta-II) has described that Sri Gupta was the first Gupta ruler who probably ruled around 240-280 century AD. His successor was Ghatotkhacha who probably ruled around 280-319 century AD. Only Prabhavati Gupta has mentioned his name by describing him as the Gupta King.

Rise To Power Guptas emerged as a major political power with their marital relationship with Lichchhavi rulers of Magdha. Chandragupta, the successor of Gatotkhacha,  received capital Patliputra as in dowry. From this point we can say that Chandragupta has risen to power because of his connection with the Lichchhivies. He took advantage of his marital alliance with the Lichchhivies and added the whole fertile Gangetic valley into his kingdom. He also won some more northern parts of India. He could rule only for 15 years probably from 320-335 AD. He was succeeded by Samudragupta in 335 AD. He is also called the ‘India Napoleon’ because when he died he had won more than 20 kingdoms and had incorporated them into his kingdom. Padmavati, Malwas, Yeaudheyas, Arjunayanas, Maduras and Abhiras were some of his neighboring kingdoms that he had won. He was not only a warrior but also a patron of art and literature. He was a staunch Hindu but he never interfered the matters of others religions. He had good relations with he neighboring and remote countries. He performed Aashvamadha Yajna and assumed the title of Maharahadhiraja( The King of Kings). He showed great nobility towards defeated king and gave back their territories to them. This pattern was followed by Moguls after centuries. He ruled for 45 years and was succeeded by Chandragupta-II also known as Vikramaditya in 380 AD.

Territory It is said that he had conquered most of Ashoka’s territory except modern Afghanistan and some north-Indian parts. He spent most of his life military campaigns. He started his military campaign by winning Shichchhatra and then Padmavati. Then he conquered some Kingdoms of the  modern Nepal, Bengal and Assam. After it he defeated the tribal states of north that included Malvas, the Yaudheyas, the Arjunayanas, the Abhiras and the Maduras. Kushanas and Sakas had also accepted his authority. He issued seven different type of coins. He himself was a poet and musician. It is said that only Indra was equal to him in playing veena.

Meeting The fourth Indo-Pak joint anti-terror mechanism talks round started on Friday, October 24 in New Delhi. PM Manmohan Singh and President Asif Ali Zardari during their meeting on September 24 in New York, on the sidelines of the UNGC summit had agreed to hold joint anti-terrorism meetings at regular intervals. The Delhi meeting was a part of the agreement. Vivek Katju, special secretary in the external affairs ministry led the Indian delegation while Pakistan delegation was led by Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry, additional secretary in the foreign affairs ministry. According to an official, “The meeting was held in a positive, constructive and forward looking atmosphere”.

Kabul Attack During the meeting both the sided discussed to increase cooperation in identifying counter-terrorism mechanism and also assist in the investigations into terror related matters. Both the sides exchanged information on all issues that are of mutual concern including the Kabul bomb attack on the Indian Embassy. During the meeting Kabul attack was the main issue on which both the sides discussed. India shared the evidence and also the intelligence intercepts by the US agencies with their counterparts. All this evidence points to the ISI’s alleged role in the attack. But Pakistani side has denied the possibility of any kind of connection between ISI and Kabul attack but has promised to continue an independent investigation in the case.

Peace-Process Kabul bombing had put the composite Decalogue between both the countries under stress. Though US and Afghanistan also had openly held ISI responsible for the attack but Pakistan government has repeatedly denied the charges. After the attack Pakistan government was under pressure as the world community had condemned ISI for its alleged involvement in it. Because of the political problems  both the countries could not go ahead wit the peace process for more than one year. Increase in infiltration, LoC fire exchange and Kabul attack had put the peace process under pressure. It was only after the formation of new government in Pakistan that the peace-process was resumed. Current meeting was one of the part of peace initiatives that both the countries have started after the resumption of dialog.

Civil War Sri Lanka is fighting a civil-war against LTTE for decades in which thousands of people have died. LTTE is considered to be world’s most deadliest terrorist outfit. It is the alone terrorist outfit that is very powerful even in sea and air. It is responsible for the killings of some important political leaders of Sri Lanka as well as India. LTTE is responsible for the the killing of a Sri Lankan President and also for the killing of the former Indian Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. India was the first country that had declared LTTE, a terrorist outfit.

War Front After the failure of dialog, Sri Lanka government had started military offensive against the terrorist organization. After it LTTE has been defeated at many fronts. Now Sri Lankan army has reached very near to the LTTE military headquarter Kilinochi. It is being considered as the last strongest LTTE point and they can not stay there for a long time as their power has declined a lot. For last some days both the sides are fighting an intensive and close battle. Because of the battle thousands of Tamil civilians have been displaced and rendered homeless without adequate food and shelter over their heads. Even UN had also ended its humanitarian projects after they were asked by the LTTE to leave the area.

Indian Side Though war is being fought in Sri Lanka but some pro-Tamil political parties of India have become restless. As LTTE is heading towards loosing the battle , Indian leaders have become overactive. Even a party that is also supporting Manmohan Singh lead UPA government had threatened to withdraw its support. It had asked the Manmohan Singh government to discontinue the arms’ supply to the Sri Lankan military. It has also blamed that Sri Lankan military is killing the unarmed Tamil civilians who are fleeing the war prone area. After it, Indian foreign minister had visited the island country and shared Indian concerns in the matter. Sri Lankan government has also clarified that it is also trying to protect the civilians and it are only rumors that civilians have been targeted.

Rape Victim A nun who was raped during the Orissa anti-Christian riots has come first time in the open in the national capital Delhi on Friday, October 24. She has demanded CBI inquiry into the incident as she has charged the state police being ‘friendly’ with the ‘rapists’. This incident had happened on August 25 after two days of the alleged murder of a VHP leader. She, along with a priest was dragged out of their hiding place and were beaten by the rioters. Later on she was raped by one of the rioters in an adjoining building. The priest had claimed that when they were dragged and beaten up the rioters in full public view, some police personals were also present there but they did nothing instead of their repeated requests to same them.

Incident Two days ago, on October 22, Supreme Court had ruled out the CBI inquiry in the incident and asked her to cooperate with the Orissa police in the investigation. But in her first conference she has alleged that Orissa police, instead of taking her statement had pressurized her not to file a complaint against the rapists. In her hand-written four page statement she has said that a mob of 40-50 rioters had beat her up  and ripped her clothes apart. Later on she was dragged to a person and raped by an attacker while two of the attackers stood on her hands.

Government After the incident, the victim had left the state and had remained underground almost for two months. Her allegation about state police’s biased attitude can be said the major reason for her hiding. When violence in the state was at its peak their were very few chances of her getting justice. If today, state government is too ‘keen’ to conduct a ‘fare investigation’ of the incident only national and international pressure is reason otherwise she too could have been met the same fate of other ‘victims’ who are missing even after two months of  the riots. State police took one month to collect her medical report and after that investigation in the incident was started. Today by initiating ‘fare investigations’ in the incident, state government wants the cover the other incidents and wipe out its hand of the riots.

Outside Support Australians are great learners. But former Australian cricket player Gilchrist is the greatest learner. If Brett Lee have learnt singing in India Gilchrist have learnt the ‘outside support mantra’ from the coalition governments of India. After the humiliating defeat in the Mohali test Australian media had written that after the retirement of some ‘great’ players like Gilchrist and Warne their team is looking like only the shadow of the previous team. Some papers had asked Warne to come out of his retirement and play again for his side. Though some former Australian cricketers have said that Mohali defeat is only a ‘bad phase’ and will end soon. But it is only Gilchrist who has come forward to the ‘rescue’ of his side and has given ‘outside support’ to his side.

Gilchrist Barring some minor disputes both the sides are trying their best to keep the emotions under control but the memories of previous test series are haunting them again and again. It must be borne in mind that during India’s tour to Australia last year, affairs had gone out of hand after the Sydney test and Indian players had threatened to abandon the series among allegations of racism on Harbhajan Singh. Though both the sides had buried the past ‘ghost’ and are playing with the ‘game spirit’ but Gilchrist’s autobiography has once again opened the wounds. An extract of his autobiography will appear in the magazine ‘Good Weekend’,in which he has questioned Tendulkar’s honesty in the “Monkeygate” affair. During the appeal, in his testimony, Sachin had said hat Harbhajan used a Hindi term that sounded like “monkey” to Australian ears. 

Marketing Test series between India and Australia is going on. At this point Gilchrist’s remarks have shocked the cricket lovers. According to a western journalist his comments ‘might inflame tensions between two sides’. Tendulkar has a special status in the cricket world while Gilchrist had retired from the game, then it is not fare on his part to make such comments. But some formers cricketers have termed his comments  only as a ‘marketing strategy’ for his soon to be released autobiography. If it is so, then he has succeeded in his effort to arouse the curiosity of the cricket lovers.

Confrontation After freedom India and Pakistan have fought four wars including the Kargil war and there in no end in sight that confrontation between both the countries will end soon. Pakistan was created as an Islamic nation But more than 33 crore Muslims live in India, a number that is more than total of the Pakistan’s population. India is emerging as the second most fastest economy and it is being expected that in next 20 years it will be a world power. But on the other hand Pakistan is in its worst time after independence. According to some think tanks it is almost near to get the status of a failed state. When India was launching its maiden lunar mission into the space, Pakistani government was begging for financial help from the world powers but no one came ahead to bail the nation out of crisis except IMF. But Why this is happening?

Dictators The reason is very simple. Successive rule of military dictators is responsible for the social, educational and economical decline. It were the military rulers who ‘led’ Pakistan to wars against India and when they got defeated they used political leaders to share the ‘burden’. Both the nations lost a lot in these wars. Pakistani rulers spent more on defense budget than on education and removal of poverty and illiteracy. Excessive expenditure on ‘defense’ has provided them arms and poverty and illiteracy have provided them with thousands of ‘jehadies’. Though they have succeeded to bleed their enemies for a short time but in long term they have brought their nation almost near to a collapse. Pakistan’s policy of confrontation with India, in disguise, has forced it to be dependent on foreign nations. Pakistani rulers, blinded, because of their anti-India policies, did everything at every cost. Because of this ‘blindness’ they had even forgot their real ‘national interests’ and today Pakistan is paying the price for this blindness.

Option No nation can change its neighbors but enemies can be made friends. Pakistan is going through its worst time since independence and for some extent its dependency on foreign nations and anti-India stand is responsible. To steer it out of this crisis Pakistani leadership will have to apply a new approach to normalize its relations with neighboring countries. It can get huge benefits by increasing cooperation with neighbors India and China that are the fastest emerging economies of the world. This is the only way left with Pakistani leadership for saving their nation from collapse.