Thursday, December 27, 2007

Ramayana Action Figures

November 25, 2007
KIDS: American Company's Ramayana Action Figures

With the weekend after Thanksgiving being the busiest time for shopping each year, I figured some of you looking for South Asian-themed gifts this year might want to consider something unusual that came to our attention.

From a press release by the Pennsylavania-based Kridana Toys:

ARDMORE, PA: My name is Mahender Swami Nathan.

I am an Indian-American and the founder of Kridana.
We are a toy company focused on bringing the Great Indian Epics to new generations through the power of play.
We've just launched our first products: action figures of Lord Rama and Shri Hanuman from the Ramayana – one of the most popular epics both within India and across Asia – made with the involvement of some of the toy industry's top craftsmen. We've also published our first comic book issues.
These stories bring to life key vignettes for both Rama and Hanuman as first told in the Ramayana 2000 years ago and now retold through the inks and colors of today's top comic book artists, including the world-renown Mike Turner of Aspen Comics who drew our inaugural cover.Check us out at Kridana.com and don't hesitate to call me with pre-story questions for pitches. We're currently selling product in the U.S. and Canada, our first target markets. Our products are currently available at our own website, and in December we expect to be selling through select toy and comic book stores and also general food and merchandise stores catering to the Asian-Indian market.

The seven-inch-tall Rama and Hanuman figures sell for $15 each and are available at the site.
My first question, given all the news about toy recalls from big manufacturers was whether I'd be able to trust a tiny company making its first products. While the Kridana toys are made in China, its site goes out of its way to prove its safety credentials. From its "product safety" section:

Our toys are produced to the highest standards in a modern factory which we have inspected ourselves. They are tested rigorously by an outside, 3rd-party lab: SGS Group of Switzerland (learn more about them). And, when we say we test, we don’t test once or twice; we pull toys from throughout the actual production run to send to SGS, ensuring that the toys which pass SGS’s standards are the same ones your child is playing with at home.

We feel so passionately about safety that we’re taking the unusual step of putting our test results here, on kridana.com, for you to see. It’s true that some of these pages read like a chemistry report, but, we’re an educational toy company!
Take a look at the press release below (Nathan's contacts below, too) and post your comments below. Also see coverage at SepiaMutiny and Ultrabrown.

Press release

Kridana Toys Unveils First-Ever Action Figures Based On Great Indian Epics
Kridana (kree-da-na): Sanskrit, meaning toy or plaything.

ARDMORE, PA: My name is Mahender Swami Nathan. I am an Indian-American and the founder of Kridana. We are a toy company focused on bringing the Great Indian Epics to new generations through the power of play. We've just launched our first products: action figures of Lord Rama and Shri Hanuman from the Ramayana – one of the most popular epics both within India and across Asia – made with the involvement of some of the toy industry's top craftsmen. We've also published our first comic book issues. These stories bring to life key vignettes for both Rama and Hanuman as first told in the Ramayana 2,000 years ago and now retold through the inks and colors of today's top comic book artists, including the world-renown Mike Turner of Aspen Comics who drew our inaugural cover.

In the Ramayana, Lord Rama, an exiled prince, searches the world over for his kidnapped wife Sita. Hanuman becomes his most faithful assistant along the way. As a child growing up in India and the United States, I was captivated by this world of heroes, demons, adventures and intrigue.

While I treasured my Transformers and GI Joes, I longed to bring Hanuman to my friends' houses to save the day. As an adult, I'm excited to finally bring the Ramayana's incomprable heroism, honor, duty and love into childrens' everyday worlds in the ways that they enjoy and understand -- the 3-D play of toys and the 2-D stories of comics.

Our toys are collectible quality but durable enough to stand up to whatever kids can dish out. We choose to manufacture with a 30-year veteran of the toy industry, and all of our production runs are rigorously tested by independent, 3rd-party labs to ensure both the toys' mechanical safety and the absence of dangerous lead levels in their paint. Moreover, both Hanuman and Rama are made from non-phthalate PVC plastic, an environmentally friendly plastic that is safer for our children. (Many European countries, as well as California starting in 2009, mandate the usage of non-phthalate PVCs in children's toys for this very safety concern.)
Sometime in 2008 we plan to bring out another action figure: Ravana, the ultimate demon king. Over time we will expand our products to include not only an ever broader range of the characters from the Ramayana but also those from other Indian Epics.

Check us out at Kridana.com and don't hesitate to call me with pre-story questions for pitches. We're currently selling product in the U.S. and Canada, our first target markets. Our products are currently available at our own website, and in December we expect to be selling through select toy and comic book stores and also general food and merchandise stores catering to the Asian-Indian market. Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,Mahender Swami NathanCo-president & Founder,Kridana.commahender[at]kridana.com610-529-6701

2.3 Millions Hindus In America

STATISTICS: Nearly 2.3 million Hindus estimated in America

Hinduism Today estimates that there are more than 2,290,000 Hindus in the United States. The editors decided to use the percentage of Hindus in India - 81% of the population - and apply that against the total number of Asian Indians in America. Here's an excerpt from the Jan/Feb/March issue of the magazine:

"The 2006 [American Community] Survey, which was released in October, 2007, counted 2,482,141 Asian Indians.

This includes those of Indian origin coming from countries such as Trinidad, Kenya, Surinam and Fiji. To update this figure for 2008, we must consider the average annual growth rate for Asian Indians.

In the year 2000, the decennial census counted 1,678,765 Asian Indians; the Survey estimated 2,482,141 in 2006, which works out to an annual growth rate of about 6.8 percent. Using that growth rate to extrapolate the 2006 Survey result two years, we calculate 2,831,190 Asian Indians in 2008. Assuming 81% of these Asian Indians are Hindus, just as in India, we conclude that of the 2,831,190 Asian Indians, 2,290,000 are Hindus--qed! But despite the compelling logic of this analysis, Hinduism Today has never seen it published elsewhere. What about the other estimates?"

The article then addresses the problem with the definitive figure, cited by the American Religious Identification Survey, or ARIS:

"This was a telephone survey involving 50,281 households. ARIS concluded that 0.4% of America's population, or about 1.2 million people in 2008, are Hindus.
In the absence of a more extensive study, this has become a semi-official number, sustained by the ARIS report's easy availability at the main US Census Bureau website. Before the advent of the American Community Survey, there was no way of challenging ARIS' conclusions. The ARIS report forthrightly acknowledges its limits.

It admits, "because the survey depends on telephone interviews, overcoming language barriers has proven prohibitively costly. In effect, this survey has interviewed only the English-speaking population of the US. In addition, many new immigrants originate in societies and states where responding to personal questions over the telephone is an alien experience, and discussions of one's religious beliefs and identification are deemed to be risky."

"The report's conclusion mentions the impressive growth of Hinduism in America, observing, "there are more than three times as many Hindus in the US today as there were in 1990. Undoubtedly, due to the limitations of this study, we have not picked up the full impact of those changes yet." Unfortunately, the ARIS estimate is typically quoted as fact, with no mention of these caveats."
Earlier on SAJAforum:

Census USA South asian..

CENSUS: The top South Asian surnames in America (Patel et al)

According to a new Census study, based on returns from the year 2000 (Excel spreadsheet via the NY Times) the most common surname in America is... Smith.
No surprise there. So, what's the most common desi surname?

That would be... Patel. It's the 172nd most common surname in America (way up from its standing in 1990, when it was a mere #591). By these Census figures, there were 145,066 Patels in the country,

resulting in 54 occurrences per 100,000 people.

Just over 91% of all Patels are classified as Asians.

Between scrolling down the Excel spreadsheet and randomly plugging in other names into the Times page, here are a few other desi names I found in the Top 5000.

Singh - #396 (#1306 in 1990) - there were 72,642 Singhs in all
Khan - #665 (#1728)
Shah - #831 (#2194)
Kumar - #2293 (#5154)
Desai - #2540 (#5068)
Gupta - #3173 (#6863)
Reddy - #3313 (#3776)
Mehta - #3377 (#7589)
Rao - #3872 (#7375)

How's that for nominal (get it?) progress? I realize a couple of these names, like Khan or Rao, may also be found outside of South Asia but thought it better to err on the side of inclusion (although, controversially, I didn't accept Gay, #974, as a cognate of Ghai).
I also figure some names, like Chowdhury/Choudhry and other variations, might've been serious contenders if not for all the different spellings. Sorry, Bangla-philes. Sadly,
Venugopal didn't even receive an honorable mention;
nor did Screwvalla or Palaniappan.
Update: Thanks to Mitra Kalita for pointing out a name I'd missed -
Sharma - #2247
Any other suggestions? Plug in any other South Asian names here - if they make the Top 5,000 let us know below.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Congress Trying to Divide India, Muslim First

UPA trying to divide India

Sandhya JainThe PioneerDecember 26, 2007

If the British used communal electorates to secure Partition in barely four decades, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance may succeed faster in eating the fruit of its desire to allocate 15 per cent of the funds for development and welfare schemes exclusively for minorities.

BJP president Rajnath Singh has done well to oppose this divisive munificence, which may or may not salvage the Congress's shrinking minority vote-bank, but will certainly intensify communal competitiveness and friction nationwide.

Such dangerously disruptive minority appeasement will not merely alter the definition of secularism, whose traditional meaning is state disinterest in the denominational affiliations of its citizens.

France, father of Western secularism, later extended this principal from Christianity to all religions.

In Nehruvian India, secularism began as apathy to the majority Hindu faith and solicitude towards Islam. Over the decades, this extended progressively to excessive minority appeasement and hatred of all things Hindu.

Now, under the UPA dispensation, secularism is synonymous with a 'Muslim first' policy, making it difficult to distinguish India from neighbouring Islamic countries

The BJP rightly fears that the Centre's special 15-point programme for minorities in the 11th Plan draft paper could trigger competitive communal demands for budgetary allocations. Worse, it may stimulate caste-based demands for resource allocation, with consequences one does not dare dwell upon.

Not only will this overturn the traditional holistic approach to national development, it may unravel the nation itself. The pre-programmed Sachar Committee report on the socio-economic conditions of Muslims, pretext for this dangerous step, militates against constitutional injunctions against discrimination on grounds of religion, and is a fit subject for public interest litigation.

Given these high stakes, the BJP States did well to oppose 'communal budgeting' at the recent National Development Council meeting.

Pointing to the threat to the social fabric, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi wisely suggested that funds for various schemes and programmes be allocated solely on the basis of socio-economic criteria, leaving execution to the States.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh also insisted that rather than caste or religion, economic criteria alone should determine allocation of funds for welfare schemes.

With the challenge of poverty intact, the 11th Plan should resist the lure of a communal shortcut to development.

Amid the UPA's bid to heighten communal sensitivities, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes' chairman, Mr Buta Singh, has defused a high-voltage issue with finesse. An old Congressman, Mr Singh must have been under considerable pressure to endorse the recommendations of the Justice Ranganath Mishra National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The NCRLM had on May 15, 2007, recommended that Scheduled Caste status, hitherto restricted to groups among Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, be de-linked from religion by amending the Constitution (SCs) Order, 1950, and extended to "Dalit Christians" and "Dalit Muslims".

Possibly anticipating the Ranganath Mishra Commission's recommendations, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes had declared in February 2007 that the basic parameter for classification as Scheduled Caste was "untouchability", which does not exist in the theology of Christianity and Islam.

In October 2007, the NCSC said the proposed reservation for "Dalit Christians" should not poach upon existing reservation for Scheduled Castes. Finally, on December 7, 2007, it declared there was no evidence that "Dalit Christians" and "Dalit Muslims" suffered "untouchability"; hence, they were not entitled to Scheduled Caste status.

This flawless reasoning will make it difficult for the UPA to extend quota benefits to Dalit converts to Christianity and Islam. Any attempt to grant additional quota for 'minority Dalits' could violate the Supreme Court's 50 per cent ceiling on reservation.

The remaining option of carving Dalit converts a share out of the 27 per cent OBC quota is fraught with political danger; indeed, neither SCs nor OBCs will agree to share their quota pie. Mr Buta Singh's opinion is critical because a PIL in the apex court is seeking SC status and quota benefits for converts to Christianity.

Conversion lobbies in Christianity and Islam will find it difficult to overcome this roadblock. In order to procure a share of the coveted reservation quota for neo-converts, they will have to admit that Christianity and Islam practice untouchability in India! It will be difficult to do this without attracting penal provisions under the law for discrimination on grounds of caste or race (applicable to Islam). This will knock the bottom out of the moral high ground on which these two faiths stand and berate Hindu dharma and varna-jati for inegalitarian practices, violative of human dignity.

More importantly, it would have a deleterious impact upon both religions world-wide if they admit practicing and institutionalising discrimination in faith in any country. It may be pertinent that long before the collapse of the Soviet Union and fall of the Berlin Wall, Stalin rang the death-knell of Communism with his proclamation of "socialism in one country". This may have been pragmatic and necessary to consolidate his hold upon Russia, but it militated against the very ethos of a totalitarian, millenarian ideology. After that, it was only a matter of time for Marxism to be recognised as the monotheist god that failed.

Christianity and Islam should be cautious about leaping into this well without application of mind. Any further insistence on a quota for Dalit converts should be met with a nationwide ban on religious conversion as such conversion is admittedly promoting communal ill will and caste discrimination!

Indeed, the demand for SC status for Dalit converts should be taken as a tacit admission of the wilful presence of untouchability in Islam and Christianity, and the conversions declared breach of trust, illegal, violative of human dignity, and detrimental to religious and cultural freedom. All converts suffering discrimination should immediately revert to their native traditions.

Interestingly, the Poor Christian Liberation Movement has condemned this church conspiracy to push 'Dalit Christians' into the Scheduled Caste list. PCLM president RL Francis says Dalits converted to Christianity to preserve their dignity, for which they sacrificed reservation benefits under the Constitution. Indian church authorities betrayed them on both counts and are guilty of collective sin, aggravated by the pernicious attempt to promote casteism in Christianity. Mr Francis's call for compensation for the 20 million 'Dalit Christians' who have suffered economic loss by converting deserves consideration as a class action suit by the apex court.

Shame on Congress

Shame on Congress: Swamy

24.12.2007PRESS RELEASE

The impressive victory at the polls of the BJP under the leadership of Narendra Modi was a result of a potent combination of his first rate development record, unalloyed Hindutva, and unreticent anti-Sonia exposure.

The same combination will work in other States going to polls in 2008, and finally in the Lok Sabha elections.
Instead of recognizing that the people of India are rejecting Ms.Sonia Gandhi and her dumb son Rahul Gandhi in state after State including from where they both were elected to Parliament, namely, Uttar Pradesh, the Congress Party is quoted to have stated gracelessly (New Indian Express, Chennai, today) that "Fascist do sometimes win, sometimes more than once". This crude remark is however more applicable to Ms.Sonia Gandhi whose father Stefano Maino had volunteered and joined Hitler's fascist German army in 1941 and landed in a Soviet prison in Vladimir, near St.Petersburg. There, seeing the German army being routed, he defected to another version of the Fascists, viz., the Soviet KGB, Ms.Sonia Gandhi's mother Paola is even today a member of the National Front in Italy which adores Mussolini and fronts for the Fascists.

Hence, seeing the trend in India, Ms.Sonia and her family should pack up their bags and leave for Italy. In the time of 1971 War and 1977 JP victory, she had fled with her children temporarily. But now she should do so permanently. (SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY)

Say With Pride , We Are Hindus

We are in denial Negating identity causes inaction, sloth and lethargy
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

If you come across a Communist, with a Hindu name, and ask him about his identity, he will deny being a Hindu.

Yet, a Muslim Communist often claims his identity without hesitation.

One wonders what causes this difference in attitude. It is interesting to probe into the psyche of identity, which often is a source of security, insecurity, conflict and comfort.

Perhaps the following reasons would answer the identity crises of the Hindus.
The broadmindedness of Hinduism, its inherent inclusiveness and secularism, makes Hindus feel guilty about claiming their identity, as it is embedded in their philosophy that it is wrong to exclude others. Claiming a religious identity makes them feel they are excluding others and so they shy away from doing so. Hindus have been traditionally groomed by the Vedanta to drop all identities. This has deeply influenced the Hindu psyche. Hindu philosophy is woven around egolessness.

Let alone their religion, some sadhus don't even say their name; they would say, "What's in a name?" Sanyasis are even shy to talk about their parentage.

A renowned ascetic in Rishikesh would meet with everybody, but not his own mother and family. When asked, he would say, "I am Vedanti; once I have taken sanyasa, I have dropped all my identities." This is an erroneous understanding of Vedanta.

Why do we fear the identity so much? Seeing identity as stumbling blocks for one's growth is ignorance. Sanyasa is transcending identity; it is being in that centredness from where you have equal love and compassion for all. It is the unshakable light and richness that one has found in one's Being which is universal. Transcending identity is different from denying identity.

When religious leaders themselves denounce their identity, the community follows suit. This is akin to the thought that secularism is anti-religion. Caste identity is in some places much stronger than religious identity.

The normal tendency is to go for one single identity than for a dual one.

So, between caste and religion, many Hindus seem to go for caste. Hindus feel ashamed of the ills of Hinduism — its superstition, untouchability, and practices like sati are usually highlighted in the media, rather than its unparalleled philosophy and scientific temperament.

Thus, for several centuries Hindu bashing has been a fashion. The media seems to have given the prerogative of Hindu identity to the RSS and VHP and secular-minded Hindus would not like to associate with these two organisations.

As a result they shy away from their own identity. Within India itself, we witness a great deal of ignorance about the Hindu religion and its scriptures. Although Hindus form 80 per cent population of India, there is still only one university which teaches Hinduism — whereas there are five which teach Islam, five which teach Christianity, two which teach Sikhism and one that teaches Jainism.

You would find every Muslim would know a couple of verses from the Quran; you can hardly find a Christian who has not read the Bible.

But Hindus who know Sanskrit or a few shlokas are rare.
Most educated Hindus know the Bible; they know Christmas carols.
When they know nothing about their religion, how can they take pride in it?

There are 1.25 billion Hindus in the world, a little over one-sixth of the world's population, but you hardly find a single Hindu lobby at international forums.

You will find a Christian lobby, a Muslim lobby or a Jewish lobby, but you can't find a Hindu lobby.

Just 12 million Jews in the world are such a powerful voice.

Buddhists also have a voice and make their presence felt at world forums.

In countries of south and central America and in Europe, although they are secular democracies, they are not shy to proclaim their allegiance to Christianity.

You will find the religious symbol of the Cross placed in their parliaments;

chaplains offer prayer before every official dinner.

While associations like YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) have gained wide acceptance. Why then is it that Hindu associations are viewed with scepticism?

A strong community is an asset to any nation. A weak community will always be in fear and because of insecurity will become aggressive. It is the pride in one's identity which strengthens the community. Identity is in no way contradictory to universality.

People often ask, "Will not the concept of global family, Vasudhaiva Kutambakam, contradict patriotism? Similarly, will your religious identity not conflict with your universality?'' The answer is "No". Your duty as a family man is not a hindrance for your realisation that you are Brahman.

You don't need to run away to the forest to realise "All this is Brahman". Your being spiritual in no way contradicts your being a socially responsible citizen. In fact, it enhances your ability to care and share.

The conflict in the world is because people are either stuck in their identity, and die for it, or shy away from their identity and lose their roots. One has to opt for a middle path. The ideal situation will be when every religion transcends its identity.

Until that time, it is unwise for the Hindus to let go of their identity. We cannot, and should not, eliminate differences on this planet. We need to celebrate the differences. And this is the uniqueness of Bharat — from the atheism of Charvaka to Bhakthi Panth and Sufism, it's one beautiful bouquet. An identity is related to an action.
Denial of identity will dump you in inaction, sloth and lethargy and hence Krishna reminds Arjuna of his Kshatriya identity even while giving "Brahma gyan" to remind him of his duties and responsibilities.
Otherwise while giving this High knowledge of the Self, why would Krishna remind him again and again of his limited identity. The limited identity in no way contradicts the universal one.

A policeman cannot perform his duties — steer the traffic — if he fails to acknowledge his identity.

Similarly, if a businessman shies away from his identity, he cannot function. The same is the story of Hindu identity.

India cannot make a distinct mark on the world if it ignores its religious and spiritual heritage.
...................
Say with pride, We are Hindus

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Know The Truth Behind Sonia Gandhi

: Sonia Gandhi, By Dr. Subramanian Swamy

Do You Know Your Sonia? By Dr. Subramanian Swamy

Ms. Sonia Gandhi's background as is publicized by her and her Congress Party today, is based on three lies to hide the ugly reality of her life.

First, her real name is Antonia not Sonia.

The Italian Ambassador in New Delhi revealed this in a letter dated April 27, 1983 to the Union Home Ministry which letter has not been made public.

Antonia is Sonia's real name in her birth certificate.

Sonia is the name given to her subsequently by her father, Stefano Maino [now deceased] following his return from Russia where he had been a prisoner of war.

Stefano had joined the Nazi army as a volunteer.

Sonia is a Russian not Italian name.

While spending two years in a Russian jail, Sonia's father had become quite pro-Soviet; especially after the liberating US army in Italy had confiscated all fascists' properties including his.

Second, she was not born in Orbassano as she claims in her bio data submitted to Parliament on becoming MP, but in Luciana as stated in her birth certificate.

She perhaps would like to hide the place of her birth because of her father's connection with the Nazis and Mussolini's Fascists,
and her family's continuing connections with the Nazi-Fascists underground that is still surviving since 1945 in Italy.

Luciana is where Nazi-Fascist network is headquartered, and is on the Italian-Swiss border.

There can be no other explanation for this otherwise meaningless lie.

Third, Sonia Gandhi has not studied beyond High School.

She has falsely claimed in her affidavit filed as a contesting candidate before the Rae Bareli Returning Officer in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, that she qualified and got a diploma inEnglish from the prestigious University of Cambridge, UK.

The truth is that Ms. Gandhi has never studied in any college anywhere.


She did go to a Catholic nun run seminary-school called Maria Ausiliatrice in Giaveno [15 kms from adopted home town of Orbassabo]. Poverty those days forced young Italian girls to go to such missionaries and then in their teens go to UK to get jobs as cleaning maids, waitresses and au pair.

The Mainos were poor those days.

Her father was a mason and mother a share cropper. Sonia thus went to the town of Cambridge and first learnt some English in a teaching shop called Lennox School [which has since 1970 been wound up].

That is all her "education" is--learnt enough English language to get domestic help jobs.

But in Indian society education is highly valued. Thus, to fool the Indian public, Sonia Gandhi willfully fibbed about her qualifications in Parliamentary records [which is a Breach of Ethics Rules] and in a sworn affidavit [which is criminal offence under IPC, severe enough to disqualify her from being MP]. In popular parlance, this is >called 420 or 10 "numberi" [not to be confused with 10 Janpath].

These three lies indicate that Ms. Sonia Gandhi has something to hide, or has a hidden agenda for India. We need to find out more about her.

III Ms. Sonia Gandhi upon learning enough English became a waitress in Varsity Restaurant in Cambridge town.

She first met Rajiv when he came to the restaurant in 1965.

Rajiv was a student in the University, but could not cope with the academic rigour for long.

So he had to depart in 1966 for London where he was briefly in Imperial College of Engineering as a student.

Sonia too moved to London, and according my information, got a job with an outfit run by Salman Thassir, a debonair Pakistani based in Lahore, and who has a export-import company headquartered in Dubai but who spends most of his time in London.

This fits the profile of an ISI functionary. Obviously, Sonia made enough money in this job to loan Rajiv funds in London, who was obviously living beyond his allowances [Indira herself expressed anguish to me on this score in late 1965 when she invited me to a private tea at the Guest House in Brandeis University]. Rajiv's letters to Sanjay, who was also in London then, clearly indicate that he was in financial debt to Sonia because he requested Sanjay who obviously had more access to money, to pay off the debt.

However, Rajiv was not the only friend Sonia was seeing those days.

Madhavrao Scindia and a German by name Stiegler are worth mentioning as other good friends of Sonia.

Madhavrao's friendship continued even after Sonia's marriage to Rajiv.
Scindia in 1982 was involved in a traffic accident near IIT, Delhi main gate while driving a car at 2 AM. Sonia was the only other passenger. Both were badly injured. A student of IIT who was burning midnight oil was out for a cup of coffee. He picked them up from the car, hailed an auto rickshaw and sent an injured Sonia to Mrs Indira Gandhi's house since she insisted in not going to a hospital. Madhavrao had broken a leg and in too much pain to make any demand. He was taken to hospital by the Delhi Police who had arrived a little after Sonia had left the scene.

In later years, Madhavrao had become privately critical of Sonia, and told some close friends about his apprehensions about Sonia. It is a pity that he died in mysterious circumstances in an aircrash.

The circumstance under which Rajiv hastily married Sonia in a Church in Orbassano is controversial but that was his personal matter that has no public significance.

But what is of public significance is that Indira Gandhi who was initially dead set against the marriage for reasons known to her, relented to hold a registry marriage with Hindu ceremonial trappings in New Delhi only after the pro-Soviet T.N. Kaul prevailed upon her to accept the marriage in "the larger interest of cementing Indo-Soviet Friendship".

Kaul would not have intervened unless the Soviet Union had asked him to. IV Such has been the extensive patronage from the beginning extended to Sonia Gandhi from the Soviets. When a Prime Minister of India's son dates a girl in London, the KGB which valued Indo-Soviet relations, obviously would investigate her and find out that she was the daughter of Stefano, their old reliable Italian contact.

Thus, Sonia with Rajiv meant deeper access to the household of the Indian Prime Minister. Hence cementing the Rajiv-Sonia relations was in the Soviet national interest and they went to work on it.
And they did through their then existing moles in the Indira Gandhi camp.

After her marriage to Rajiv, the Soviet connection with the Mainos was fortified and nurtured by generous financial help through commissions and kickbacks on every Indo,Soviet trade deal and defence purchases. According to the respected Swiss magazine, Schweitzer Illustrate [November 1991 issue], Rajiv Gandhi had about $ 2 billion in numbered Swiss bank accounts,which Sonia inherited upon his assassination.

Dr. Yevgenia Albats, Ph.D [Harvard], is a noted Russian scholar and journalist, and was a member of the KGB Commission set up by President Yeltsin in August 1991. She was privy to the Soviet intelligence files that documented these deals and KGB >facilitation of the same. In her book,The State Within a State. The KGB in Soviet Union, she even gives the file numbers of such intelligence files, which can now be accessed by any Indian government through a formal request to the Kremlin. The Russsian Government in 1992 was confronted by the Albats' disclosure; they confirmed it through their official spokesperson to the press [which was published in Hindu in 1992], defending such financial payments as necessary in "Soviet ideological interest".

When the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, things changed for Ms. Sonia Gandhi. Her patrons evaporated. The rump that became Russia was in a financial mess and disorder.

So Ms. Sonia Gandhi became a supporter of another communist country to the annoyance of the Russians. The national security ramification of this 'annoyance' is now >significant: The President of Russia today is Putin, a former dyed-in-the-wool KGB officer.

Upon Dr. Manmohan Singh's government taking office, Russia called back it's career diplomat Ambassador in New Delhi and immediately posted as the new Ambassador a person who was the KGB station chief in New Delhi during the 1970s.

In view of Dr. Albats confirmed >revelation, it stands to reason that the new Ambassador would have known first hand about Sonia's connections with the KGB. He may have in fact been >her "controller". The new Indian government which is defacto Sonia's, cannot afford to annoy him or even disregard Russian demands coming from him? They will obviously placate him so as not to risk exposure.

Is this not a major national security risk and a delicate matter for the nation? Of course, all Indians would like good normal and healthy relations with Russia.

Who can forget their assistance to us in times of need? Today's Russia is the residual legatee of that Soviet Union which helped India. But just because of that, should we tolerate those in our government set up having clandestine links with a foreign spy agency?

In the United States, the government did not tolerate an American spying for Israel even though the two countries are as close as any two countries can be.

National security and friendship are as different as chalk and cheese.

In December 2001, I had filed a Writ Petition in the Delhi High Court with the photocopies of the KGB documents, and sought a CBI investigation, which the Vajpayee Government was refusing. Earlier, Minister of State for CBI, Vasundara Raje [now Rajasthan CM], on my letter dated March 3, 2001, had ordered the CBI to investigate.

But after Sonia Gandhi and her party stalled the proceedings of Parliament on this issue, the then Prime Minister Vajpayee cancelled Vasundara's direction to the CBI.

The Delhi High Court issued a direction to the CBI to ascertain from Russia the truth of my charges. The CBI procrastinated for three years, and finally told the Court without an FIR registered the Russians will not entertain any such query. But who stopped the CBI from registering an FIR? The next hearing of the case is on September 8th.> ---------> V>

After Sonia married Rajiv, she went about minting money with scant regard for Indian laws and treasures. Within a few years the Mainos went from utter poverty to billionaires.

There was no area that was left out for the rip-off. On November 19, 1974, as fresh entrant to Parliament, I asked the then Prime Minister Ms. Indira Gandhi on the floor of the House if her daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi was acting as an insurance agent of a public sector insurance company [Oriental Fire & Insurance], giving the Prime Minister's official residence as her business address, and using undue influence to insure all the officers of the PMO while remaining an Italian citizen [thus violating FERA]?


There was uproar in Parliament, but Mrs. Indira Gandhi had no alternative but to cut her losses. She made a rare >admission that it was so, and that it was by mistake, but that Sonia had >resigned from her insurance agent status [after my question]. But Sonia was >incorrigible. Her contempt for Indian law continued to manifest.

The Justice A.C. Gupta Commission set up by the Janata Party government in 1977 came out with a voluminous report on the Maruti Company then owned by the Gandhi family, and has listed eight violations of FERA, Companies >Act, and Foreigners Registration Act by Sonia Gandhi. She was never >prosecuted, but can be still prosecuted because under Indian law, economic >crimes not subject to the statute of limitation.

In January 1980, Indira Gandhi returned as Prime Minister. The first thing Sonia did was to enroll herself as a voter. This was a gross violation of the law, enough to cause cancellation of her visa [since she was admittedly an Italian citizen then]. There was some hullabaloo in the >press about it, so the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer got her name deleted >in 1982. But in January 1983, she again enrolled herself as a voter! Such >is her revealed disdain for Indian laws and that is her mindset even today.> VI The bottom line observed in Sonia's mindset is that she can always run back to Italy if she becomes vulnerable at anytime. In Peru, President Fujimori who all along claimed to be "born Peruvian", faced with a >corruption charge fled to Japan with his loot and reclaimed his Japanese >citizenship.>

In 1977, when the Janata Party defeated the Congress at the polls, and
the government, Sonia with her two children, abandoned Indira Gandhi
and ran to the Italian Embassy in New Delhi and hid there. Rajiv Gandhi was >a government servant then [as an Indian Airlines pilot], but he too tagged >along and hid in that foreign embassy ! Such was her baneful influence on >him. Rajiv did snap out Sonia's influence after 1989, but alas he was >assassinated before he could rectify it.

Those close to Rajiv knew that he was planning set things right about Sonia after the 1991 elections. She did too know of it because he had told her. Ever wonder why Sonia's closest advisers are those whom Rajiv literally hated?

Ambika Soni is one such name. Ever wonder why she asked the President of India to set aside, on a mercy petition, the Supreme Court judgment directing that Rajiv Gandhi's LTTE killers be hanged to death, when she was not similarly moved for >Satwant Singh who killed Indira Gandhi or recently for Dhanajoy Chattopadhyaya?

The explanation for this special consideration for the LTTE lies in what Rajiv had told her in 1990. Those who have no love for India will not hesitate to plunder her treasures. Mohammed Ghori, Nadir Shah, and the British scum in the East India Company made no secret of it.

But Sonia Gandhi has been more discreet, but as greedy, in her looting of Indian treasures. When Indira >Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were PrimeMinisters, not a day passed when the PM's >security did not go to the New Delhi, or Chennai international airport to >send crates and crates unchecked by customs to Rome. Air India and Alitalia >were the carriers. Mr. Arjun Singh first as CM, later as Union Minister in >charge of Culture was her hatchet man. Indian temple sculpture of gods and >goddesses, antiques, pichwai paintings, shatoosh shawls, coins, and you >name it, were transported to Italy to be first displayed in two shops owned >by her sister [ i.e., Anuskha alias Alessandra]. These shops located in >blue-collar areas of Rivolta [shop name: Etnica] and Orbassano [shop >name:Ganpati] did little business because> which blue collar Italian wants Indian antiques? The shops were to make >false bills, and thereafter these treasures were taken to London for >auction by Sotheby's and Christies. Some of this ill-gotten money from >auction went into Rahul Gandhi's National way into the Gandhi family >account in the Bank of America in Cayman Islands. Rahul's expenses and tuition fees for the one-year he was at Harvard, was paid from the Cayman Island account. What kind of people are these Gandhi-Mainos that bite the very hand of Bharat Mata that fed them and gave them a good life?

How can the nation trust such greedy thieves? Since I failed to persuade the Vajpayee government to defend India's treasures from plunder by the Mainos, I approached the Delhi High Court in a PIL.

The first Bench of the court issued notice to the Government, but since the Indian government dragged it's feet, the Court directed the CBI to seek Interpol's and Italian government's help. The Italian government justifiably asked for a Letter Rogatory for which a FIR is a pre-requisite.

But the Interpol did oblige and submitted two voluminous reports, which the Court directed the CBI to hand over to me. But CBI has refused, and has claimed privilege! The CBI has also been caught lying in court by telling the judges that Alessandra Maino is a name of a man, and Via Bellini 14, Orbassano is a name of a village [not the street address of the Maino's residence].

Although the CBI counsel had to apologise to the court stating he made a mistake, he has been promoted to Additional Solicitor General by the new government! The Vajpayee-Sonia mutual assistance pact is in full view. The case now comes up on September 8th. But the most sinister aspect of Sonia Gandhi's character is her connection with terrorists. I am still working on it, but she has had long >connection with the Habash group of Palestinian, and has funded Palestinian >families that lost their kith and kin in a suicide bombing or hijacking >episode.

This, Rajiv Gandhi himself told me and was confirmed to me [the funding] by Yassir Arafat when I met him in Tunis on October 17, 1990 at the request of Rajiv Gandhi. Rajiv Gandhi and I were good friends from >1978, but became very close buddies after V.P. Singh had betrayed him in >1987. We met practically every day, mostly in the early hours from 1AM to 4AM. It was at my suggestion that he made Chandrashekhar the PM. And >contrary to public impression, he was not mainly responsible for the fall >of Chandrashekar government in which I was a Minister. Besides the Palestinian extremists, the Maino family have had extensive business dealings with Saddam Hussein, and surprisingly with the LTTE ["the >Tamil Tigers"] since 1984.

Sonia's mother Paola Predebon Maino, and businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi were the main contacts with the Tigers. The mother used the LTTE for money laundering and Quattrocchi for selling >weapons to earn commissions.> Sonia's conduit to the LTTE has been and is through Arjun Singh who uses >Bangalore as the nodal point for contact. There is a string of >circumstantial evidence pointing to the prima facie possibility that the Maino family may have contracted the LTTE to kill Rajiv Gandhi. The family may have assured the LTTE that nothing would happen to them because they could ensure it is blamed on the Sikhs or the evidence so much fudged that no court would convict them. But D.R. Karthikeyan of the CBI who led the SIT investigation got the support of Narasimha Rao and cracked the case, and got the LTTE convicted in the trial court, and which conviction was upheld in the Supreme Court.

Although on the involvement of Congress Party in the assassination, DRK soft peddled on a number of leads perhaps because he did not want political >controversy to put roadblocks on his investigation as a whole. The Justice >J. S. Verma Commission, which was set up as the last official act of the Chandrashekhar government before demitting office on June 21, 1991, did find that the Congress leaders had disrupted the security arrangements for the Sriperumbudur meeting.

The Commission wanted further probe into it but the Rao government rejected that demand. In the meantime under Sonia's pressure, the Jain Commission was set up by the Rao government, which tried to muddy the waters and thus exonerate the LTTE. But the trial court judgment convicting the LTTE came earlier, and that sinister effort too failed. Nowadays, Sonia is quite unabashed in having political alliance with those who praise Rajiv Gandhi's killers. No Indian widow would ever do that.

My investigations into Sonia's involvement in Rajiv's assassination is therefore still on. I am also author of a best seller titled Assassination Of Rajiv Gandhi,Unasked Questions and Unanswered Queri