Disgracefully India is among the least peaceful places in the world

Thursday, Jun 10, 2010 The Hindu by Narayan Lakshman

Washington: India is among the least peaceful of major countries in the world and is getting even less peaceful year on year. This was the major finding of the Global Peace Index Report (GPI), an annual publication by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), a think tank focused on researching the relationship between economics, business and peace.

According to the 2010 report, which considered a range of peace-related variables among 149 countries, India's rank was 128, six ranks lower than its 2009 position.

Some of India's key neighbours in South Asia ranked in the bottom 20 per cent along with India — Sri Lanka was ranked 133rd, Pakistan 145th and Afghanistan 147th. However, Nepal did much better, ranked in 82nd place and Bangladesh in 87th. Bhutan, ranked at 36th, narrowly missed being in the top 20 per cent of nations.

Commenting on the results the IEP said, “South Asia saw the greatest decrease in peacefulness, as a result of increased involvement in conflicts, a rise in deaths from internal conflict and human rights abuses. It added, “The main countries experiencing decreases in peacefulness were India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.”

The report's authors also observed that, overall, the world became “slightly less peaceful in the past year,” adding that in some nations, an intensification of conflicts and growing instability appears to be linked to the global economic downturn in late 2008 and early 2009.

While most developed countries including those of Western Europe and Canada, ranked in the top 20 per cent of peaceful nations, the United States was an anomaly, ranking at 85th, outranked by countries such as Rwanda, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

India also ranked 19th out of 25 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The leader in the region, New Zealand, was also the most peaceful nation globally. Close on its heels were Iceland and Japan. Iraq was estimated to be the least peaceful, accompanied at the bottom of the table by Somalia, Afghanistan and Sudan.

The identification and weighting of indicators in the GPI, which is compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, was undertaken by an international panel of experts in the study of peace.

“How peaceful a country is depends on the internal structures, institutions, and attitudes that sustain and promote peace as well as on external factors,” said Clyde McConaghy, board director of the IEP.
India among least peaceful places in world

Moderator Comment
Citizens in India are not safe including the tourists. This is obvious from media reports of rape, kidnap, murder, criminals let loose, criminal councillors/ politicians, fakes right from medicines to currency, corrupt bureaucracy, money laundering, black money and criminalisation of citizens by the state. The list of atrocities on citizens by the bureaucracy and criminals is endless!
Only Politicians are safe because they are protected by NSG like security personnel. Common citizens have no protection at all as it is illegal to own guns for self defence. The Nation urgently requires Police and Judicial reforms if we need to redeem our status in the comity of civilised Nations. The bureaucracy has made mockery of our Democracy for the last 63 years. The GDP and economic growth are no indicators of our sordid decline in human values and glaring and squalid poverty of the large majority of our citizens.

World marks Gandhi's 140th anniversary

One hundred forty years ago this month Mohandas K. Gandhi was born in Porbandar, Gujarat, India -- destined, as no one could have guessed, to restore "the jewel in the crown" of a foreign empire to its homeland. We join many in celebrating the birth -- or what the Mahatma himself wanted to call "spinning wheel birthday" -- that shows, on the one hand, the unlimited potential of a human being to become a force for lasting change and reminds us, on the other hand, how much further the change he launched has got to go. We invite you to join us for that celebration and continue the work.
Celebrate 140 years of Gandhian Nonviolent Resistance

2:33pm Friday 2nd October 2009
Political leaders paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on the 140th anniversary of his birth today, which is also World Non-Violence Day.

India’s prime minister Manmohan Singh joined the leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party L K Advani in New Delhi at Rajghat, the memorial to the Mahatma (meaning Great Soul).

Others who attended included the country’s vice president and leader of the main ruling Congress Party Sonia Gandhi.

The event is also celebrated as World Non-Violence Day and Mr Obama urged all nations to “live his ideals and celebrate the dignity of all human beings”.

On the day marking the birth of a man who gave up everything to live an austere life, German luxury penmaker Montblanc unveiled a limited edition fountain pen in honour of Gandhi.

Only 241 pens, each with a price tag of 17,000 euros (£15,600), will be manufactured - one for each mile he walked to the shore in Dandi where he protested a colonial tax on salt.

Born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the man characterised by his dhoti - a loose cloth around his waist - and spectacles, was the pioneer of a mass civil disobedience movement based firmly on total non-violence which led to the end of British colonial rule and independence for the country in 1947.
World marks Gandhi's 140th anniversary
Nation pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 140th birth anniversary

Mahatma is Obama’s hero

Power Profiles showcase successful people who you can learn from. If there is any golden rule to follow, take advice from people who are already there.
The Hindu: Thursday, Sep 10, 2009
WASHINGTON: United States President Barack Obama has said if given a chance he would like to have a meal with his “real hero” Mahatma Gandhi, although the apostle of peace did not eat a lot.

Mr. Obama’s response came to a question from a ninth grade student at the Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, who asked him if he could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who it would be.

“Dinner with anyone dead or alive? Well, you know, dead or alive, that’s a pretty big list,” he said amidst laughter. “You know, I think that it might be Gandhi, who is a real hero of mine,” Mr. Obama said. “Now, it would probably be a really small meal because he didn’t eat a lot.”

He said Gandhiji was someone who has inspired people across the world for the past several generations. “He [Gandhiji] is somebody whom I find a lot of inspiration in. He inspired Dr. King [Martin Luther], so if it hadn’t been for the non-violent movement in India, you might not have seen the same non-violent movement for civil rights here in the United States,” he said. — PTI
Mahatma is Obama's hero

Contribution of the Armed Forces to the Freedom Movement

Dear Friends,
This to inform you of the publication of my latest book, CONTRIBUTION OF THE ARMED FORCES TO THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT IN INDIA. This was the result of project that I did in 2007-08 for the USI.
I am attaching the front and rear jacket and a copy of the contents page.
Regards
Maj Gen VK Singh (Retd)


Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research
United Service Institution of India New Delhi
Contribution of the Armed Forces to the Freedom Movement in India
Maj Gen VK Singh
knowledge world
KW Publishers Pvt Ltd
New Delhi
Contents
List of Abbreviations v
Glossary of Hindustani Terms vii
Prologue ix
1 The Vellore Mutiny –1806 1
2 The Barrackpore Mutiny – 1824 11
3 The Great Indian Mutiny – 1857 19
4 The Singapore Mutiny – 1915 55
5 The Peshawar Mutiny – 1930 69
6 Mutinies and Revolts During World War ii81
7 The Air Force Mutiny - 1946 91
8 The Naval Mutiny – 1946 105
9 The Jubbulpore Mutiny – 1946 131
10 Nationalism in the Armed Forces 151
11 The Soldier’s Contribution to Indian Independence 167
Bibliography 185

REAR JACKET
The saga of India’s independence movement has been documented by scores of Indian and foreign authors, but none has documented the role of the Indian soldier in the struggle for freedom from British rule. The general public remains unaware and the nation’s leaders have never acknowledged or appreciated the part played by the military in this important chapter of our history. Some lost their lives, while many were deprived of their livelihood and liberty, without recognition or compensation. This book attempts to undo this injustice and acquaint the nation with the soldier’s contribution to the freedom movement.

Except for the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857, also called the First War of Indian Independence, historians have virtually ignored the uprisings by soldiers that occurred during the British Raj, many of which were politically motivated and inspired by a spirit of nationalism. Though the mutiny of 1857 was quelled, the spirit of nationalism that it kindled could not be extinguished. A number of smaller mutinies and revolts took place during the next 90 years, especially during the two World Wars and immediately after wards. These rebellions were instrumental in the decision of the British Government to pull out of India in August 1947.

The non violent struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi is universally credited for India’s independence in 1947. However, documentary evidence of that period conclusively proves that the crucial factor in the British decision to quit India was the realization that they could no longer trust the Indian military to maintain control over India. Had the Indian Armed Forces remained staunch, British rule would have continued for at least another 10 to 15 years.

Major General VK Singh is career soldier who was commissioned into the Corps of Signals on 27 June 1965. He served in the Army for 37 years, his last appointment being Chief Signal Officer of the Western Army. In November 2000 he joined the Cabinet Secretariat, (R&AW), where he served up to June 2004, when he retired from government service.

Major General VK Singh’s varied interests include adventure sports, military history and journalism. A regular contributor to magazines and journals, many of his short stories and poems were published in the Illustrated Weekly, Filmfare, Femina and Eve’s Weekly in the seventies and eighties. In later years he took to professional writing and has authored four books. His previous books are Through – Saga of the Corps of Signals (2001); Leadership in the Indian Army - Biographies of Twelve Soldiers, (2005); History of the Corps of Signals, Volume II, (2006) and India’s External Intelligence – Secrets of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in 2007.

Order the Book
Delhi: KW Publishers Pvt Ltd, 4676/21, Ansari Road, New Delhi - 110002.
tel 23289555, 23264676 e mail mail@kwpub.in and knowledgeworld@vsnl.net
Bombay: 15 Jay Kay Industrial Estate, Linking Road Extn., Santa Cruz,(W), Mumbai 400054