My Opinion

After failing to browbeat India by issuing jingoistic statements on the Dokalam standoff through its Foreign Ministry and state-run media, China has resorted to “live-fire drill” in Tibet to show that its tanks and missile batteries can easily reach the Line of Actual Control. This is not the first time China has done this. It is part of its diplomatic and military strategy. First, heat up the atmosphere by issuing threatening statements, then create tension on the border by sending its soldiers, and follow it up with live-fire drill exercises. China’s sole aim is to browbeat Indian army to withdraw from Dokalam, but the government of India has made it amply clear that if China desires peace and wants to defuse tension, it will have to come to the negotiation table. India will not be cowed down by aggressive military posturing.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate have taken action against RJD supremo Lalu Prasad’s wife, son, daughter and son-in-law in several benami property transactions, and the process for legal action under Prevention of Money Laundering Act has begun. Under present circumstances, the ruling Janata Dal(United)-RJD combine is facing tremendous political pressure. Voices are being raised for Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav, who is Deputy Chief Minister, to resign, but he is adamant on not doing so. The Congress is part of the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) that won the Bihar polls. Congress president Sonia Gandhi is worried that the united opposition challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre may fizzle out if the grand alliance in Bihar breaks. That is why, she has asked her party leaders to salvage the alliance. Lalu Prasad is now in a fix. He cannot antagonise both Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Sonia Gandhi simultaneously. The jury is still out on how and when Tejashwi Yadav will quit because an FIR has been filed against him.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha has come out with a remark backing Lalu Prasad. In his comment, the film star has said mere filing of FIR does not mean, a minister should quit. He said there are several ministers in different parties who have not resigned despite cases against them. Sinha has expressed the hope that the RJD-JD(U) rift will soon be over and Bihar will not be pushed into early elections. Shatrughan Sinha is a nice gentleman and he is my personal friend. But it seems, in politics, he is yet to acquire the required level of sagacity. He often plays the wrong dice. When he was sulking in BJP, he indicated that he was with Nitish Kumar, but now when he finds that Nitish may again join hands with BJP, he has thrown in his lot with Lalu Prasad. Somebody should remind Sinha that he once used to praise his political guru L.K.Advani for resigning after the latter’s name came out in the Hawala diary case. The same person (Sinha) is now saying that mere levelling of charges does not mean that somebody should resign.

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A group of self-styled Gorakshaks brutally thrashed a Muslim man carrying mutton near Nagpur, and he is now fighting for his life in hospital. It turned out that the victim was an office-bearer of the BJP minorities morcha. In public life, I often meet people who ask me who these lynchers are, to which party to do they belong, to which ideology they subscribe to, and my reply is: they are goons (goondas), they indulge in hooliganism, they have nothing to do with any party or any ideology. Thursday’s incident near Nagpur has brought this out clearly. This is a matter that pertains to public interest. Despite several warnings from our Prime Minister, these goons carry on with their attacks without any fear. They call themselves Gorakshaks to save themselves from the arms of the law. Time has now come for the government to take strong deterrent action against these goons. I would rather want that the action should be so severe that nobody should dare to repeat such acts in future.

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Television viewers were witness to a shameful incident on Wednesday in which RJD supremo Lalu Prasad’s son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav hurled abuses, like ‘goonda’, ‘BJP agent’, at media persons who were asking him uncomfortable questions about the recent CBI raids. This was soon followed by his security staff beating up some media persons who were persistently questioning Yadav. The Bihar politician did not even attempt to stop his security staff.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party Janata Dal (United) had asked him to reply to the charges of money laundering and benami transactions. But instead of responding to the queries, Tejashwi began a tirade against the journalists. The fact is: FIR has been lodged against him, CBI has conducted raids at his residence, there are charges of acquiring benami properties too. It is the duty of the Fourth Estate to seek replies to these charges. The manner in which his security staff attacked the members of the media indicates that Tejashwi is possibly responsible for this incident. Security personnel would never have raised their hand on media persons without the concurrence of the leader. At least Tejashwi should learn from his father Lalu Prasad, an experienced politician. Serious charges of corruption were levelled against Lalu, he was imprisoned, but he never misbehaved with the media. Whether Lalu or Tejashwi, or for that matter, any other leader, they would have to face the barrage of questions from media, because they are in public life. Media has a special role to play in a democracy, and political leaders should understand this.

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The dastardly killings of innocent men and women returning from Amarnath Yatra have exposed the true face of terrorists and their handlers across the border. The civil society in Kashmir valley has come out in the open to condemn the killings. Terrorists have not only killed Hindu pilgrims, they have killed the very soul of Kashmiriyat, and have harmed the cause of Kashmiris. Time has now come to hunt out the terrorists and exterminate them. The nation should now stand with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in their fight against terrorism. We expect Operation All Out being carried out by the security forces against terrorists, to become successful. We also expect the J&K Human Rights Commission not to raise questions about the “human rights” of killers and terrorists this time.

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The brutal and dastardly attack on Amarnath Yatra pilgrims near Anantnag on Monday evening is an inhuman act that will be written in black letters in the annals of Jammu and Kashmir. Terrorists did not even spare innocent women and children who had gone for pilgrimage. I am at a loss for words to describe the pain inflicted on the next of kin of those killed and those injured, battling for life in hospitals.

According to J&K police, the attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, two of whom were Pakistani nationals. This terror attack calls for swift and decisive retribution on part of the security forces. Terror has no religion, it is brutal, uncivilised and inhuman. The nation must stand as a solid rock against such separatist forces and must not give leeway to such elements. The nation will not be cowed down by such dastardly acts. The ground reality is that the terrorists are fast losing their battle in the Valley, most of them have been annihilated and such inhuman attack reflects the growing sense of desperation in their ranks.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi reminded the world about the terror massacre caused by Hafiz Mohammed Saeed’s outfit, sheltered by Pakistan, when he met the 26/11 Mumbai attack survivor child Moshe, who was two years old at that time. People who were caught in the crossfire at the Taj Hotel, Oberoi Hotel, CST station and Nariman House, still shudder when they recollect those fearful moments. In one stroke, Modi reminded the world about how Pakistan is sheltering and training terrorists. India should learn a lot from Israel while countering terror attacks: how to eliminate terrorists and cut off their supply lines. Israel is a small country with a population of 80 lakh, out of which nearly 30 lakh youths are in the Israeli Defence Forces. They have the

In one stroke, Modi reminded the world about how Pakistan is sheltering and training terrorists. India should learn a lot from Israel while countering terror attacks: how to eliminate terrorists and cut off their supply lines. Israel is a small country with a population of 80 lakh, out of which nearly 30 lakh youths are in the Israeli Defence Forces. They have the will power and technology to tackle terrorists. India can also learn a lot in agriculture from Israelis. Now that seven key agreements have been signed, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has fixed deadlines for their implementation. These will translate into reality within five months and will be effective from January 1 next year. Normally one rarely sees such timebound agreements.

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“Today is July 4, exactly 41 years since Operation Entebbe. The day when your Prime Minister, and my friend, Bibi, lost his older brother Yoni, while saving the lives of so many Israeli hostages. Your heroes are an inspiration for the younger generations.”

PM Modi made a special reference to Operation Entebbe in his arrival speech in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Raid of Entebbe is considered a landmark rescue operation in the history of counter-terrorism. 41 years back, on 27th June 1976, a flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by members of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and German Revolutionary Cells. More than 100 Israeli passengers were captured by the militants in the hijack.

The hijackers diverted the plane to Entebbe in Uganda, where it was welcomed by the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. The defence forces of Israel with the help of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, executed a meticulous operation to rescue its citizens.

On 4th July 1976, a team of 100 Israeli commandos landed 5000 kilometres away to launch the raid. Within a time span of 90 minutes, the plane passengers were rescued. The operation witnessed one casualty, that of, Benjamin Netanyahu’s elder brother, Yonatan Netanyahu .

Prime Minister Modi mentioned this operation in his speech because India wants cooperation with Israel to fight terrorism. The manner in which the entire Israeli political leadership welcomed our Prime Minister was historic. You will be surprised to know that Israel was formed in 1948, but India had no diplomatic relations with the Jewish state for 44 years. It was in 1992 that the first diplomatic relation was established. No Indian PM visited Israel for the last 70 years. It now seems as if Israel was waiting for the Indian Prime Minister to visit their country all these years.

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The recent interview given by US-designated global terrorist and United Jehad Council chief Syed Salahuddin to a Pakistani TV journalist is explosive. For the first time, he has admitted on camera that Pakistan is funding, training and providing weapons to so-called Kashmiri terrorists. He spewed venom against India saying his Hizbul men can wreak havoc anywhere in India. Behind this veil of sheer bravado, lurks his fear of his outfit being stamped out by the security forces in Kashmir. Army and security forces in the Valley have been given a free hand: to eliminate all terrorists. Targeted operations are taking place. In the last 42 days, 75 terrorists have been killed. Almost all top commanders of Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen have been eliminated. On top of it, the US, to whom Pakistan looks up for support, has declared Salahuddin, a global terrorist. There is panic in the terrorist camp. More such ‘interviews’ may come forth, more venom may get spewed against India. However, the writing on the wall is clear: the days of terror in Kashmir valley are numbered.

Goods and Services Tax has been rolled out in the country.  I have christened this revolutionary tax reform as “Doosri Azadi” or India’s Second Independence as the GST law will transform India’s economic landscape.

US President Donald Trump, in fact, is so impressed with India’s GST move that he is considering implementing the same in his country. However, India is leading the way today with the implementation of the new indirect tax regime.

Just like any revolutionary reform, the execution of GST law is not bereft of struggles. There might be initial hiccups, common man and traders might face a few challenges. Many are already criticising the GST legislation. To ward off their apprehensions, PM Modi has decided to address various groups and answer all their queries.

Very few had expected that Modi government would be able to conform to the GST deadline of 1^st July. The country has witnessed similar empty promises by many Government regimes before. Huge credit goes to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for GST’s timely implementation. The GST Council comprised members of different parties and ideologies. But Jaitley accomplished this nearly impossible task of achieving consensus on GST legislation.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited three nations in a span of four days, covered 26,000 kilometres, remained airborne for 33 hours, and used up every minute of the remaining 62 hours. I am really surprised at the number of meetings he attended, discussing crucial issues with heads of state and government, and meeting CEOs of reputed companies. These are all masters in their own field. It is no easy matter to clinch deals with these head honchos without adequate preparations. I have myself travelled with several Prime Ministers in the past. Normally these Prime Ministers after jet lag used to spend nights in hotels, took early morning briefings from their staff, and, at most, held two or three meetings during the day. But Prime Minister Modi not only attended several official meetings in a single day but also met people from diverse fields for 10 to 15 minutes daily. These were not scheduled meetings. The most important thing is that he works with non-stop zeal, in the glare of cameras, but with nary a frown or worry on his face, without showing any sign of fatigue. I have no other alternative but to appreciate our Prime Minister for his workaholic nature.

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When Prime Minister Narendra Modi set out on his trip to the US to meet President Donald Trump, there were sceptics who were pointing out Modi’s ‘friendship’ with former President Barack Obama. They were doubtful about how Trump would react. But the electric chemistry that evolved between Modi and Trump at the White House belies those apprehensions. Trump has declared that he was a “true friend” of India. Trump’s remarks have given more power to Indian diplomacy. On the eve of Modi’s Washington visit, the US declared United Jehad Council and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin as an “international terrorist”. This has raised the hackles of those in Pakistan who were eulogising Salahuddin as a “freedom fighter”. There have been protests in Pakistan against this US move. At a different level, the country that is most wary of Indo-US friendship is China. The US has openly backed India’s position on China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, and China is worried about it. A Chinese diplomat has commented that India should not harbour the illusion that it can “sideline” China by befriending the US. The aggressively anti-Indian Chinese policy is now being reflected on the normally peaceful Sikkim border, where Chinese soldiers have smashed Indian bunkers and openly tried to transgress the border. China has also stopped the travel of Kailash Mansarovar yatris, in a clear attempt at needling India on a sensitive religious issue.

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