Human rights groups and Indo Canadians demand an enquiry
Canada-based human rights groups have demanded a public inquiry
into a Sikh parade in Surrey to mark the Baisakhi celebrations in which
Air India bombing mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar and several Sikh
assassins were glorified as martyrs. Sikh separatist slogans were also
chanted by parade organizers and in the presence of ministers from
British Columbia and the police took no action. More
ANALYSIS
The 'least
bad' Option in France
Will a Conservative Ultra Nationalist France Last?
Dr Swaraj Singh THE
recent election of Nicholas Sarkozy as the President of France is likely to
deepen divisions inside France and can also lead to a growing confrontation with
Islam and the third world. The fifty-two years old Hungarian-born immigrant
defeated the socialist candidate Segolene Royal by a wide margin, 53.06% to
46.96%. Sarkozy may prove to be the most divisive president France has
ever had. More
The 1857
uprising By Ishtiaq Ahmed THE month of May 2007 marks the 150th
anniversary of a popular uprising in the Indian subcontinent against the English
East India Company. It has been described as the Sepoy Mutiny by British writers
because it originated among the native soldiers employed and trained by the
Company. More
E D I T O R I A L
Back to
the future
WHAT
sense one can make of South Asia, the region in turmoil? Pakistan
always fond of exporting jihadi militancy across to India and other
countries is having a bitter taste on the streets of Karachi, borders
with Afghanistan and in its entire North West Frontier Province and
Blochistan. On May 12 with more than 30 people dead, over 150 injured
and dozens of cars, buses and other property set ablaze in a matter of
few hours; the mayhem in Karachi continues to send shock-waves and
spontaneous nationwide protests across the country. More
FOCUS
Pakistan
Military Inc. How it Keeps Democracy
at Bay Gobind Thukral WE
all know the power of military in Pakistan. It has ruled more than half the
years during the last six decades of independence. It has an unprecedented
control over country’s political, economic social spheres like no other army. It
is a dominant class by itself. Entrenched in the corporate sector and it is also
the biggest land owner with thousand of hectares of fertile land. Pakistani
companies and their assets are largely in the hands of serving or retired
military officers. The line between the military and the corporate sector is
very thin. What future democracy and elections have in the circumstances? More
LITERATURE
Karl Marx and
The First Indian War of Independence Dr. Jaspal Singh THE
great Indian Republic in the recent days has been commemorating the
hundred fifty years of the great revolt euphemistically called the First
Indian War of Independence. Karl Marx has also meditated over this event
at the time when the ubiquitous revolt was spreading all over the
country in the fifties of the nineteenth century. Incidentally a recent
survey conducted by the BBC, England establishes Marx as the greatest
intellectual of the 2nd millennium of the Christian era. More
Akhar, a
Punjabi Word Processor Jagpal S Tiwana TILL
now Punjabi keyboard was used to type Punjabi; it was just a type writer with no
formatting features of a modern word processor. Now thanks to Punjabi
University, Patiala we have with us 'Akhar' a Punjabi word processor developed
by Dr. Gurpreet Singh Lehal, Professor and Head, Computer Science Department.
Akhar is a full fledged word processor with many attractive features. It
not only has all the tools of MS-Word like, Bold, Italics,
Underline, small, large fonts, setting margins, bullets and numbering,
Find and Replace and other formatting commands etc, but one can
also create a table, insert a picture or OLE object, alphabetize and
analyze the text and save the document in html and Punjabi format.
More
With Compliments
from
Gogi Sidhu
President
Satish K. Jain
Executive Vice President
1301, Mahalo Place, Rancho Dominguez, CA 90220 U.S.A. www.magnespec.com
Phone:- 0013106032262
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B.S.E.E., P.E. Principal
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Ph. 703-385-2558
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FEATURES
A Good Mind
at the Punjab Agriculture University Gobind Thukral WE
all know very well that farm policies are not decided by scientists or vice
chancellors of agriculture universities. The policies come under the domain of
political economy where politicians and planners decide. A good pro farmer
policy would always be pro people and enrich the country. We had that
period during the initial decades of independence and were able to overcome
starvation and hunger in a big way. No longer now. Public spending on the farm
and related sectors have dwindled considerably. More
Bhai Santa Singh A Unique Exponent of Guru’s Hymns -1 Harjap Singh Aujla AS a child I was used to waking up
between 6 and 7am. But on one cold early winter morning of 1948 my mother woke
me up at about 4:30am, gave me a bath and made my “Joora” (a bun of combed and
knotted hair worn by the Sikhs). After I put on new clothes, she took me to the
family radio and asked me to operate it. I pushed the on-button and the light
came on. Soon the sound appeared. The sign-on tune of All India Radio looked
like a great achievement. More
Partitions,
Memories and Reconciliation-2 Satya P. Gautam I
had shifted from my village to the city for further education after completing
class three in the village school. Our house, in the city of Jalandhar, was
located in Bazaar Nauhariyan. At the end of the Bazaar was the tall and
impressively elegant Minarets of Imam Nasser’s Mausoleum. Till mid sixties,
every alternate year, an enormous number of devotees used to come from across
the border to pay their homage to the saint in the Urs at Imam Nasser. Among the
devotees came my grandfather’s friends or acquaintances. They would invariably
visit our house to share their old feelings of friendship, affection, nostalgia
and delightful gifts.
More
COMMENT
Pakistan: A
Sham Election Plan Evidently
President Pervez Musharraf wants to eat the cake and have it too. Or
rather keep it with him for eternity. He dons the uniform as he has done
since October 1999 when he seized power in a bloodless coup. Military
takeovers as it happened last year in Thailand. More
LAW
& JUSTICE
Is Old Game of
Defections Over? Indian
parliamentarians had earned the dubious distinction of Aya Rams and Gaya Rams;
jumping from one political party to another in matter of days. Defections not
only sullied the image, but brought in money bags and muscle power and provided
instability to the political party system and the governance. A new
constitutional amendment ends all this. Senior advocate and a commentator on
public affairs, Joginder Singh Toor discusses how it would add to the
stability and end horse trading among the legislators. More
ENVIRONMENT
Global
Warming; what it means? Khushwant Toor THE Earth's climate has
changed many times during the planet's history, with events ranging
from ice ages to long periods of warmth. Historically, natural
factors such as volcanic eruptions, changes in the Earth's orbit,
and the amount of energy released from the Sun have affected the
Earth's climate. Beginning late in the 18th century, human
activities associated with the Industrial Revolution have also
changed the composition of the atmosphere and therefore likely are
influencing the Earth's climate. More
Joginder
Singh Ahluwalia
is the President and CEO of Walia Insurance Agencies Ltd.
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Corruption
curse By Ishtiaq Ahmed IN
the last few weeks, many readers have written to me and said that Pakistan's
biggest problem is corruption and not fundamentalism. Therefore, they tell me, I
must fix my gaze at the right spot. One reader, Shahid Husain, put it very
succinctly: "A country will survive bad politics but never bad
administration". As always, in order to express an opinion, I must
clearly define what corruption is because without conceptual
clarity one can go astray and end up saying nothing substantial. I
shall define corruption as the recurrent misuse or rather the
abuse of power and authority by an incumbent in a position of
trust with regard to public funds, public interest and the common
good. The abuse of power and authority is intended to provide
illicit gain, economic as well as jobs, promotions and so on.
More
Remembering
Prem Bhatia Bal Anand THE concept of instituting a
memorial lecture in honour of eminent persons who have rendered
service to the society ha always impressed me. I presume that
Jawaharlal Nehru must have been the one to suggest adopting this
way of institutionalizing the memory of the nation's distinguished
public servants. He himself delivered The First Maulana Azad
Memorial Lecture in 1958. The Patel Memorial Lectures on AIR and
at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad have become prestigious
events commemorating the memory of India's first information &
broadcasting & home minister. As for Jawaharlal himself, his
memory has been indeed best preserved in thoughtful events of the
oratorical kind, not only in India but in many other places dear
to him, like the Cambridge University. More
Pradeep Dheendsa
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Cell. (647)
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SOUTH ASIA POST INC.
Editor:
Gobind Thukral gobindthukral@hotmail.com
Associate Editor: Dr. Jaspal Singh
Assistant Editor: Jyotika J. Thukral Publisher: Khushwant Toor
247, Thistle Down Blvd., Etobicoke Ontario, Canada M9V 1K6
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Copyright: No part or whole content can be reproduced in any form without
express permission of the Editor http://www.southasiapost.org
THE
recent election of Nicholas Sarkozy as the President of France is likely to
deepen divisions inside France and can also lead to a growing confrontation with
Islam and the third world. The fifty-two years old Hungarian-born immigrant
defeated the socialist candidate Segolene Royal by a wide margin, 53.06% to
46.96%. Sarkozy may prove to be the most divisive president France has
ever had. 
WHAT
sense one can make of South Asia, the region in turmoil? Pakistan
always fond of exporting jihadi militancy across to India and other
countries is having a bitter taste on the streets of Karachi, borders
with Afghanistan and in its entire North West Frontier Province and
Blochistan. On May 12 with more than 30 people dead, over 150 injured
and dozens of cars, buses and other property set ablaze in a matter of
few hours; the mayhem in Karachi continues to send shock-waves and
spontaneous nationwide protests across the country. 
WE
all know the power of military in Pakistan. It has ruled more than half the
years during the last six decades of independence. It has an unprecedented
control over country’s political, economic social spheres like no other army. It
is a dominant class by itself. Entrenched in the corporate sector and it is also
the biggest land owner with thousand of hectares of fertile land. Pakistani
companies and their assets are largely in the hands of serving or retired
military officers. The line between the military and the corporate sector is
very thin. What future democracy and elections have in the circumstances? 
THE
great Indian Republic in the recent days has been commemorating the
hundred fifty years of the great revolt euphemistically called the First
Indian War of Independence. Karl Marx has also meditated over this event
at the time when the ubiquitous revolt was spreading all over the
country in the fifties of the nineteenth century. Incidentally a recent
survey conducted by the BBC, England establishes Marx as the greatest
intellectual of the 2nd millennium of the Christian era. 
WE
all know very well that farm policies are not decided by scientists or vice
chancellors of agriculture universities. The policies come under the domain of
political economy where politicians and planners decide. A good pro farmer
policy would always be pro people and enrich the country. We had that
period during the initial decades of independence and were able to overcome
starvation and hunger in a big way. No longer now. Public spending on the farm
and related sectors have dwindled considerably. 
I
had shifted from my village to the city for further education after completing
class three in the village school. Our house, in the city of Jalandhar, was
located in Bazaar Nauhariyan. At the end of the Bazaar was the tall and
impressively elegant Minarets of Imam Nasser’s Mausoleum. Till mid sixties,
every alternate year, an enormous number of devotees used to come from across
the border to pay their homage to the saint in the Urs at Imam Nasser. Among the
devotees came my grandfather’s friends or acquaintances. They would invariably
visit our house to share their old feelings of friendship, affection, nostalgia
and delightful gifts.
