Indo-UK News & Discussion 9th Aug 2011

Haresh · Post by **Haresh** » 28 Mar 2012 23:47

India's army chief describes 'alarming' state of military in leaked letter

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... etter.html

India's air defences 'largely obsolete'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... olete.html

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 31 Mar 2012 01:21

New developments in the Paki vote-bank politics of UQ.
George Galloway wins Bradford West by-election

anishns · Post by **anishns** » 31 Mar 2012 03:48

^^^

For the uninitiated what does it mean?
Thanks!

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 31 Mar 2012 06:58

respect party is a leftist ultra islamic alliance.

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 31 Mar 2012 08:11

He features regularly on Al Jazeera and has his own chat show. But his first rise in the East End - the so-called Bangla Town area - is interesting in the current context. The BD origin candidate bunked his old Labour affiliation and went into local council hustings as an independent - but he seems to be coordinating with Labour off-channel, and perhaps might even be reabsorbed. So Galloway first earned Islamic "respect" from BD support and then was admitted to Paki confidence? His personal life might have played a role in his initial attraction for the culture.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 01 Apr 2012 06:21

Another bizarre tale of an assassination plot of a Russian exile in London,this time allegedly by Chechen foces.

MI5 warns of assassination plot against Redgrave friend
A dramatic plot to assassinate a Russian politician on the streets of London has been uncovered by MI5.

deleted by moderator - please respect copyright

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 04 Apr 2012 22:49

The UK has been making definite moves to ingratiate the Islamists even by making the US take all the blame for Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. The UK is now trying to make itself look like the patsy at worst, for its role in all that.

This is being done not just by its local politicians like Galloway, but by its media, including the BBC. Of late there have been BBC documentaries showing that "Al-Qaeda does not exist" (meaning it was just an figment spun by the US/Israel), and more documentaries on the WMD hoax created about Iraq. Example:

Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, aka "Curveball", an Iraqi defector who falsified testimony about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, confirms that he made the whole thing up in an interview airing this week on the BBC2 TV series, "Modern Spies." The former chemical engineer's "confidence trick" was used by the Bush administration to justify going to war with Iraq in 2003.

I hope the American public realize that the crock of shit they need to drop is not necessarily Israel, but more so the "atavistic" poodle that regularly whispers into their ears and leaves them holding the baby after every violent operation - Britain.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 04 Apr 2012 23:22

Carl wrote: This is being done not just by its local politicians like Galloway, but by its media, including the BBC. Of late there have been BBC documentaries showing that "Al-Qaeda does not exist" .

Carl ji, which doc are you refferring to wrt AQ doesnt exist?

BTW, that documentary on intelligence wass focusing on single source problems - which is what curveball was. The germans said he wasnt reliable - US said he was reliable and was used to fit what the administration wanted to hear - this was asked to US retired intelligence officials who basically agreed thats what happened.

UK's decision to go to war in Iraq is because of the realisation that they are no longer capable of punching above their weight on their own - this was revealed by Tony Blair's advisor in a BBC documentary to commmemorate the Falklands war.

Haresh · Post by **Haresh** » 04 Apr 2012 23:42

More Bull from the Daily Wail.
The comments are so funny

Just don't add a diving board! The incredible apartments that have swimming pools instead of balconies

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1r64ldjNj

Tanaji · Post by **Tanaji** » 05 Apr 2012 00:23

The Rajoana affair seems to be making a big impact on UK based Sikhs, but notthat much in India. Can anyone who is in UK comment on the ground situation?

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 05 Apr 2012 03:40

shyamd wrote:Carl ji, which doc are you referring to wrt AQ doesnt exist?

Replays of older interviews with people like author Jason Burke (author of "Al Qaeda"), etc., saying that the Us "invented" the idea whereas Bin Laden didn't really have any support at all, even the gunmen seen with him in videos are merely "hired for the day", etc. Whatever the truth of all this, it is interesting that the BBC highlights this -- and then projects it solely on the US, without any reference to the UK.

anishns · Post by **anishns** » 05 Apr 2012 09:01

Aal ij Naat well between poodle and master

American intelligence agencies spooked by Britain's open courts

American spy agencies refused to give Britain’s intelligence services full details of a “Mumbai-style” terrorist plot in this country because they feared that top-secret sources would be exposed, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 07 Apr 2012 15:16

News for uk visa students india
link

“That means only those graduating from a university, and having a job offer from a reputable employer accredited by the U.K. Border Agency at a salary of £20,000 or more, will be able to continue living and working in the U.K. in order to benefit the British economy,” it said.
..
The new rules are part of a government crackdown on non-EU immigration to fulfil the Conservative Party's election pledge to drastically cut down immigration levels.

UK discontinues post-study visa

JwalaMukhi · Post by **JwalaMukhi** » 14 Apr 2012 06:59

bishaki day April 13th... another solemn anniversary...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE9_zB8k_lk

Haresh · Post by **Haresh** » 14 Apr 2012 14:25

London Metropolitan University mulls alcohol ban for 'conservative Muslim students'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/un ... dents.html

arun · Post by **arun** » 15 Apr 2012 14:29

British parliamentarian of Pakistani origin, Nazir Ahmed, expresses solidarity with the chief of Islamic Terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Hafiz Muhammad Saeed by offering a bounty for the capture of the current and former Presidents of the US.

The infiltration of Jihadi Islamic Terrorism supporting persons into the UK Parliament can become a matter of concern for India:

‘Sterling’ bounty offered for Obama, Bush

sunnyP · Post by **sunnyP** » 16 Apr 2012 04:41

A Labour peer has been suspended from the party after accusations he called for a £10m bounty for the capture of US President Obama and President Bush.

Lord Ahmed is reported to have made the call after the US offered a $10m bounty for the conviction of the founder of a Pakistani-based militant group.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17723890

Atri · Post by **Atri** » 17 Apr 2012 01:14

Our IT companies may relocate to other European countries, India warns UK

from TOIlet..

P.S - Read the comments to witness Dhimmitude of few Indians coupled with condescension of firangs blossoming to its fullest..

Certified "Bokaachodaas"..

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 18 Apr 2012 07:43

Blast from the past,what? Will we also find papers relating to India?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/apr/1 ... ial-crimes

Britain destroyed records of colonial crimes
Review finds thousands of papers detailing shameful acts were culled, while others were kept secret illegally

Britain destroyed records of colonial crimes

Review finds thousands of papers detailing shameful acts were culled, while others were kept secret illegally

Ian Cobain, Owen Bowcott and Richard Norton-Taylor
The Guardian, Wednesday 18 April 2012

Hanslope Park, where the Foreign Office kept a secret archive of colonial papers. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian

Thousands of documents detailing some of the most shameful acts and crimes committed during the final years of the British empire were systematically destroyed to prevent them falling into the hands of post-independence governments, an official review has concluded.

Those papers that survived the purge were flown discreetly to Britain where they were hidden for 50 years in a secret Foreign Office archive, beyond the reach of historians and members of the public, and in breach of legal obligations for them to be transferred into the public domain.

The archive came to light last year when a group of Kenyans detained and allegedly tortured during the Mau Mau rebellion won the right to sue the British government. The Foreign Office promised to release the 8,800 files from 37 former colonies held at the highly-secure government communications centre at Hanslope Park in Buckinghamshire.

The historian appointed to oversee the review and transfer, Tony Badger, master of Clare College, Cambridge, says the discovery of the archive put the Foreign Office in an "embarrassing, scandalous" position. "These documents should have been in the public archives in the 1980s," he said. "It's long overdue." The first of them are made available to the public on Wednesday at the National Archive at Kew, Surrey.

The papers at Hanslope Park include monthly intelligence reports on the "elimination" of the colonial authority's enemies in 1950s Malaya; records showing ministers in London were aware of the torture and murder of Mau Mau insurgents in Kenya, including a case of aman said to have been "roasted alive"; and papers detailing the lengths to which the UK went to forcibly remove islanders from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

However, among the documents are a handful which show that many of the most sensitive papers from Britain's late colonial era were not hidden away, but simply destroyed. These papers give the instructions for systematic destruction issued in 1961 after Iain Macleod, secretary of state for the colonies, directed that post-independence governments should not get any material that "might embarrass Her Majesty's government", that could "embarrass members of the police, military forces, public servants or others eg police informers", that might compromise intelligence sources, or that might "be used unethically by ministers in the successor government".

Among the documents that appear to have been destroyed were: records of the abuse of Mau Mau insurgents detained by British colonial authorities, who were tortured and sometimes murdered; reports that may have detailed the alleged massacre of 24 unarmed villagers in Malaya by soldiers of the Scots Guards in 1948; most of the sensitive documents kept by colonial authorities in Aden, where the army's Intelligence Corps operated a secret torture centre for several years in the 1960s; and every sensitive document kept by the authorities in British Guiana, a colony whose policies were heavily influenced by successive US governments and whose post-independence leader was toppled in a coup orchestrated by the CIA.

The documents that were not destroyed appear to have been kept secret not only to protect the UK's reputation, but to shield the government from litigation. If the small group of Mau Mau detainees are successful in their legal action, thousands more veterans are expected to follow.

It is a case that is being closely watched by fFormer Eoka guerillas who were detained by the British in 1950s Cyprus, and possibly by many others who were imprisoned and interrogated between 1946 and 1967, as Britain fought a series of rearguard actions across its rapidly dimishing empire.

The documents show that colonial officials were instructed to separate those papers to be left in place after independence – usually known as "Legacy files" – from those that were to be selected for destruction or removal to the UK. In many colonies, these were described as watch files, and stamped with a red letter W.

The papers at Kew depict a period of mounting anxiety amid fears that some of the incriminating watch files might be leaked. Officials were warned that they would be prosecuted if they took any any paperwork home – and some were. As independence grew closer, large caches of files were removed from colonial ministries to governors' offices, where new safes were installed.

In Uganda, the process was codenamed Operation Legacy. In Kenya, a vetting process, described as "a thorough purge", was overseen by colonial Special Branch officers.
Implementation of the purge Photograph: The National Archives

Clear instructions were issued that no Africans were to be involved: only an individual who was "a servant of the Kenya government who is a British subject of European descent" could participate in the purge.
Colonial paper states that documents should only be seen by British subjects Photograph: The National Archives

Painstaking measures were taken to prevent post-independence governments from learning that the watch files had ever existed. One instruction states: "The legacy files must leave no reference to watch material. Indeed, the very existence of the watch series, though it may be guessed at, should never be revealed."

When a single watch file was to be removed from a group of legacy files, a "twin file" – or dummy – was to be created to insert in its place. If this was not practicable, the documents were to be removed en masse. There was concern that Macleod's directions should not be divulged – "there is of course the risk of embarrassment should the circular be compromised" – and officials taking part in the purge were even warned to keep their W stamps in a safe place.

Many of the watch files ended up at Hanslope Park. They came from 37 different former colonies, and filled 200 metres of shelving. But it is becoming clear that much of the most damning material was probably destroyed. Officials in some colonies, such as Kenya, were told that there should be a presumption in favour of disposal of documents rather than removal to the UK – "emphasis is placed upon destruction" – and that no trace of either the documents or their incineration should remain. When documents were burned, "the waste should be reduced to ash and the ashes broken up".

Some idea of the scale of the operation and the amount of documents that were erased from history can be gleaned from a handful of instruction documents that survived the purge. In certain circumstances, colonial officials in Kenya were informed, "it is permissible, as an alternative to destruction by fire, for documents to be packed in weighted crates and dumped in very deep and current-free water at maximum practicable distance from the coast".
Order to destroy documents by fire Photograph: The National Archives

Documents that survive from Malaya suggest a far more haphazard destruction process, with relatively junior officials being permitted to decide what should be burned and what should be sent to London.

Dr Ed Hampshire, diplomatic and colonial record specialist at the National Archive, said the 1,200 files so far transferred from Hanslope Park represented "gold dust" for historians, with the occasional nugget, rather than a haul that calls for instant reinterpretation of history. However, only one sixth of the secret archive has so far been transferred. The remainder are expected to be at Kew by the end of 2013.

More on this story

British troops on patrol in Malayan jungle

Colonial Office files detail 'eliminations' to choke Malayan insurgency

Documents transferred to National Archives lay bare how communist groups were targeted in long jungle war

Diego Garcia archives shed light on fate of deported Chagos islanders

Britain planned poison gas tests in Botswana, records reveal

The colonial papers: FCO transparency is a carefully cultivated myth

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 18 Apr 2012 09:45

Philip, because India is big, fairly powerful, growing and above all a perceived *competitor*, there are not likely to be articles sympathetic to India's colonial experience. If they are seen, they will be hidden in the middle or back pages of newspapers, or very obscure. Africa is viewed as purely pitiable, too backward and disorganised to be a competitor. And hence more deserving of sympathy. Even Ireland, which went through a somewhat similar experience to India, will be referred to more sympathetically, because it doesn't have the size, resources, power or comprehensive capability that India does.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 19 Apr 2012 09:41

Brivik alleges inspired by an "English" mentor.The prosecution is not sure whether he is telling the truth as much of his statements appear to be fictitious and he may actually be a lone "sane" madman.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... hears.html

Anders Breivik's Norway massacre partly inspired by 'English mentor', trial hears

Anders Behring Breivik's massacre in Norway was partly inspired by an "English mentor" who ranked among the most "brilliant political and military tacticians" in Europe, the killer declared yesterday.
Self-confessed mass murderer and right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik (L) stands next to his lawyer Geir Lippestad (R), at the central court in Oslo, on the third day of his trial, on April 18, 2012.
Self-confessed mass murderer and right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik at the central court in Oslo, on the third day of his trial Photo: AFP
David Blair

By David Blair, Oslo
18 Apr 2012

Norway killer Anders Behring Breivik trial: day three as it happened

During a meeting with this founding member of the "Knights Templar" in London, Breivik scribbled 50 pages of notes on how they would, together, "seize power in Western Europe".

The third day of Breivik's trial in Oslo heard him set out the ideological roots of the carnage he inflicted on 22 July last year, claiming 77 lives. But the flustered and perplexed killer wilted under cross-examination, eventually declaring that he wanted either freedom or the death penalty, because that was the only sentence he could "respect".

The turning point in Breivik's transformation into a "militant nationalist" with a "crusader identity" was a meeting with three men in London a decade ago. "I did not fully comprehend at the time how privileged I was to be in the company of some of the most brilliant political and military tacticians of Europe," he wrote in his manifesto. "Some of us were unfamiliar with eachother beforehand, so I guess we all took a high risk meeting face to face."
Related Articles

Breivik trial: day three as it happened
18 Apr 2012

Breivik trial: the 'real' Lionheart
18 Apr 2012

Breivik: death or acquittal only logical outcomes
18 Apr 2012

Breivik 'unable to distinguish reality' says professor
18 Apr 2012

Prosecutors set out Breivik evidence
18 Apr 2012

Breivik refuses to answer questions about 'English mentor'
18 Apr 2012

On Wednesday Breivik adamantly refused to name any of the participants. However, his statement to the police identified the Briton who hosted the gathering as "Richard".

The real "Richard" - at least in Breivik's mind - could be Paul Ray, a founder of the far-right English Defence League, who now lives in Malta and used to blog under the name "Lionheart". Mr Ray has denied ever meeting Breivik, but acknowledged that he might have had some influence over the Norwegian.

Yet the prosecution suspect that Breivik invented this London gathering. They believe the "Knights Templar" may be nothing but a figment of his imagination.

Under questioning, the killer could not remember when this supposedly seminal encounter had taken place, saying that it could have been April 30 or 1 May 2002. His credit card records show that he did visit two London cafes over that period.

Inga Bejer Engh, the prosecutor, asked him flatly whether he had invented the meeting. "No, I haven't made up anything," replied Breivik, while conceding that his manifesto contained a "pompous" description of the gathering, which he had earlier described as "four sweaty guys in a basement".

His statement to the police said the other participants were an "English Christian Atheist" and a "French Catholic". Five others were said to have attended "by proxy". This meeting supposedly created the "Knights Templar" with the aim of saving Europe from Islamic colonisation. The crusading group's definition of a Christian is someone who celebrates Christmas - believing in God is optional.

Earlier, Breivik had travelled to Liberia to meet another member of this supposed network. This journey to West Africa required him to pose as an aid worker with Unicef and later as a "blood diamond" dealer.

There Breivik met a Serb ultra-nationalist who was hiding from international justice. "From our point of view, he was a military hero, but from the point of view of the international criminal tribunal, he was a war criminal," said the killer. He declined to name the man, but said that he travelled directly from Liberia to London to represent the Serb at the meeting.

The aim was to form one-man cells which would carry out "spectacular" attacks every "5 - 12 years" before taking over Europe in "50 - 100 years", according to Breivik's manifesto. There would be no small assaults, only bloodstained atrocities, in order to achieve maximum psychological impact.

Al-Qaeda was the inspiration, said Breivik, adding that his goal was to form "the al-Qaeda for Christian nationalists in Europe".

As the day went on, Breivik was increasingly discomfited by Ms Engh's questioning. Suddenly he burst out: "There are only two logical outcomes to this trial: one is acquittal and the other is the death penalty."

Ms Engh, visibly astonished, asked whether he wanted Norway to change the law to allow him to suffer capital punishment. "I don't want that, but I would have respected it," replied Breivik, adding that prison was a "pathetic punishment" for his crimes.

A lay judge stood down on Tuesday after calling for the death penalty. This, added Breivik, had been "a shame". If a prosecutor's job is to cause a defendant to hang himself, Ms Engh succeeded beyond her own expectations yesterday. The case continues with another three days of testimony from Breivik.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 19 Apr 2012 12:03

Atri wrote:Our IT companies may relocate to other European countries, India warns UK

from TOIlet..

P.S - Read the comments to witness Dhimmitude of few Indians coupled with condescension of firangs blossoming to its fullest.. Certified "Bokaachodaas"..

OK which of you misfits has been soiling my good name in ToIlet??

DigvijayBoseDK (India)
17 Apr, 2012 09:35 PM
RSS and Bajrang dal is responsible for this situation of Indian IT companies in UK. I strongly condemn RSS/VHP and Bajrang dal. I forgot to add Ram Sene and Shiva Sena also. So I demand the resignation of British PM Barack Obama.

DigvijayBoseDK replies to ralph
16 hrs ago (07:46 PM)

Rahul Baba told me Barack Obama is British PM. I trust in him and Congress Party more than in you. Please don't try to misled me. You too have to take Barack Obama as PM.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 22 Apr 2012 01:45

UK gets infusion of fresh new blood.
Bradford's cousin marriage boom

The tradition of marrying a cousin is becoming more entrenched among British-born Pakistanis living in Bradford than it was a generation ago, writes Winifred Robinson.

This has been the surprise finding of the Born in Bradford research project . It's a huge long-term study of 14,000 mothers and babies in the city, the largest ever undertaken in the UK. Half of the families in the project are Asian.

Cousin marriage has important implications for health because marrying a cousin increases the risks of passing on genetic disorders. Bradford has three times the national rate among children for disabilities including deafness and blindness.

[...]
Ruba was 18 when she married her second cousin. Her children have I-cell disease, a rare disorder which has prevented them growing and developing as they should, from the start.

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 22 Apr 2012 03:54

The Ugly Brutishness of Modern Britain
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... lenews_wsj

Under the circumstances, it is hardly surprising that, according to a survey recently conducted by Lloyds Bank, a fifth of all people with assets of more than $640,000 are thinking of leaving the country. Personally I am surprised it is so few. Other surveys have shown that at least 50% of the population wants to leave, in the main to flee the other 50% of the population.

The paralysis of the public administration in the face of the problem induces a state of despair in the more civilized half of the population. (The public sector now accounts for more than 50% of British GDP, so the paralysis is not caused by a lack of resources.) Recently, for example, three people stripped naked a vulnerable young man of low intelligence, tied him to a lamppost, covered him in food, insulted him and left him there for four hours, then cut him down so carelessly that he banged his head on the ground (by the time he reached the hospital he was in a state of hypothermia). They were not even sent to prison.

In other words, practically no behavior is now beyond the pale for the British state. Sadly, the freedom to behave badly is almost the only freedom valued by, or left to, young Britons.

What has caused this collapse of civility in Britain, which was, within living memory, a civil country? In my view, it is a demotic version of egalitariansim, allied with multiculturalism.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 29 Apr 2012 21:29

Call for new U.K. visa rule to keep out Modi

http://www.thehindu.com/news/internatio ... epage=true

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi could be among those likely to be affected by new immigration rules under which non-European Union citizens accused of serious human rights abuses may be banned from entering Britain.

Rights campaigners on Sunday said that they would demand that the proposed rules should be used to keep out Mr. Modi because of his role in the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat.

There were widespread protests when he was allowed to visit Britain in 2003, and a planned visit in 2005 was called off at the last minute after a determined bid by rights groups to get an arrest warrant against him.

The South Asia Solidarity Group said such a law must be applied to Mr Modi as his role in the Gujarat “genocide” was well-documented.

“We as a group are not in favour of Britain monitoring human rights abuses in other countries but if there is going to be such a law it should be used to ban Narendra Modi because a wide range of human rights groups and independent organisations, including Amnesty, have noted his role in the Gujarat genocide. We hope political considerations will not override this in case of Mr. Modi,’’ said its spokesperson Amrit Wilson.

Currently, only those regarded as a threat to national security can be denied entry into Britain but the new rules, expected to be announced tomorrow as part of the Government’s Human Rights Report, would allow ministers to refuse visa in cases where there is “reliable and credible evidence that an individual has committed human rights abuses”.

The Observer quoted one official as saying that this would mean that those involved in serious human rights abuses such as torture, murder or illegal detention “won’t have an open ticket to the U.K.”.

The Foreign Office declined to give details saying the report was embargoed until Monday morning.

There was scepticism in some circles whether the rule would be fairly and uniformly applied after it emerged that there would be no blanket ban on human rights abusers and ministers would still have the discretion to waive it in individual cases.

“It looks like an attempt to target those the government of the day doesn’t like rather than a serious bid to deter human rights abusers,” said one campaigner.

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » 30 Apr 2012 00:14

nawabs wrote:Call for new U.K. visa rule to keep out Modi

http://www.thehindu.com/news/internatio ... epage=true
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi could be among those likely to be affected by new immigration rules under which non-European Union citizens accused of serious human rights abuses may be banned from entering Britain......................

Yeah, right on the nose soon after a Royal Wedding where amongst the
guests were members of the Bahraini Royal family and only recently on a
state visit was the Chinese head of state.

Lets dig a little bit deeper. We have his individual called Ian Henderson of
whom the following is said.......

In September 1997, the European Parliament passed a resolution
condemning the use of torture in Bahrain,[9] and called on Britain to order
Henderson to leave the country.[2]

In an interview published in the Sunday Herald on 21 November 1999, a
Bahraini claiming to have been tortured by Henderson described the
encounter:

“ "My first experience of Henderson took place in 1982 when I was hanged
like a chicken at the office of Adel Flaifel, one of Henderson's henchmen.
"I was hanged by my arms and legs when Henderson entered the room
and said: 'Do you want to confess?'. He immediately assaulted me in an
immoral way and after a while he left the room."

Hassan said he was naked at the time and Henderson beat him over the
buttocks. He went on: "The encounter lasted about 10 minutes during
which I was in severe pain. The three torturers - Flaifel, Abdulla Al Tanak
and Abdulla Al Dowsari - stopped when he entered the room awaiting
further instructions from him, but upon receiving satisfactory approval from
him, they resumed their beating.[10]

and then we have....

Henderson was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II with the CBE 1986,
George Medal 1954 (and Bar 1955), Queen Elizabeth Coronation Medal
1953, Mentioned in Despatches 1955 and Kenya Police Medal for
Distinguished Services 1952. He was honoured by Government of Bahrain
with Order of Bahrain 1st Class and Bahrain Meritorious Service Medal 1st
Class.

And he resides in the UK quite freely. Surprisingly Amnesty International
which is based in the UK and the Crown appear not to have any knowledge
of the above but have confirmed information about a fellow called N. Modi
some 5000 miles away!

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 30 Apr 2012 08:11

British convert and aid worker went to Pakistan to serve that society in gratitude for all the religious beatitude he has received. While doing khidmat there, he was rewarded with the highest ecstasy - first he was kidnapped by Pathans, then given shahadat.

Kidnapped UK aid worker Khalil Dale killed in Pakistan

ArmenT · Post by **ArmenT** » 30 Apr 2012 13:07

Looks like the UK is taking Olympic security pretty seriously now. From the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17884897

The Ministry of Defence is considering placing surface-to-air missiles on residential flats during the Olympics.

An east London estate, where 700 people live, has received leaflets saying a "Higher Velocity Missile system" could be placed on a water tower.
...
...
Rushana Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, said: "It looks like it's been imposed without proper consultation.

"I will be asking the government to explain why. The MoD does need to look at this again."

The leaflet states that members of the Armed Forces will be at the location for a military exercise between 2 and 7 May.

It goes on to say there will be a "major national exercise" from 2 to 10 May to test the Armed Forces' capabilities for providing security during the Olympics.

The document added that if the government decides to use the missiles during the Games, the soldiers could be "operationally deployed for a period of up to two months this summer".

The world has learned some hard lessons from NYC and Mumbai. The Brits aren't taking any chances.

svenkat · Post by **svenkat** » 30 Apr 2012 13:51

Deny the British empire's crimes? No, we ignore them

There is one thing you can say for the Holocaust deniers: at least they know what they are denying. In order to sustain the lies they tell, they must engage in strenuous falsification. To dismiss Britain's colonial atrocities, no such effort is required. Most people appear to be unaware that anything needs to be denied.

The story of benign imperialism, whose overriding purpose was not to seize land, labour and commodities but to teach the natives English, table manners and double-entry bookkeeping, is a myth that has been carefully propagated by the right-wing press. But it draws its power from a remarkable national ability to airbrush and disregard our past.

The recent revelations, that the British government systematically destroyed the documents detailing mistreatment of its colonial subjects, and that the Foreign Office then lied about a secret cache of files containing lesser revelations, is by any standards a big story. But it was either ignored or consigned to a footnote by most of the British press. I was unable to find any mention of the secret archive on the Telegraph's website. The Mail's only coverage, as far as I can determine, was an opinion piece by a historian called Lawrence James, who used the occasion to insist that any deficiencies in the management of the colonies were the work of “a sprinkling of misfits, incompetents and bullies,” while everyone else was “dedicated, loyal and disciplined.”

Research by Elkins
The British government's suppression of evidence was scarcely necessary. Even when the documentation of great crimes is abundant, it is not denied but simply ignored. In an article for the Daily Mail in 2010, for example, the historian Dominic Sandbrook announced that “Britain's empire stands out as a beacon of tolerance, decency and the rule of law … Nor did Britain countenance anything like the dreadful tortures committed in French Algeria.” Could he really have been unaware of the history he is disavowing?

Caroline Elkins, a professor at Harvard, spent nearly 10 years compiling the evidence contained in her book Britain's Gulag: the Brutal End of Empire in Kenya. She started her research with the belief that the British account of the suppression of the Kikuyu's Mau Mau revolt in the 1950s was largely accurate. Then she discovered that most of the documentation had been destroyed. She worked through the remaining archives, and conducted 600 hours of interviews with Kikuyu survivors — rebels and loyalists — and British guards, settlers and officials. Her book is fully and thoroughly documented. It won the Pulitzer prize. But as far as Sandbrook, James and other imperial apologists are concerned, it might as well never have been written.

Elkins reveals that the British detained not 80,000 Kikuyu, as the official histories maintain, but almost the entire population of one-and-a-half million people, in camps and fortified villages. There, thousands were beaten to death or died from malnutrition, typhoid, tuberculosis and dysentery. In some camps almost all the children died.

The inmates were used as slave labour. Above the gates were edifying slogans, such as “Labour and freedom” and “He who helps himself will also be helped.” Loudspeakers broadcast the national anthem and patriotic exhortations. People deemed to have disobeyed the rules were killed in front of the others. The survivors were forced to dig mass graves, which were quickly filled. Unless you have a strong stomach I advise you to skip the next paragraph.

Details of interrogation, torture
Interrogation under torture was widespread. Many of the men were anally raped, using knives, broken bottles, rifle barrels, snakes and scorpions. A favourite technique was to hold a man upside down, his head in a bucket of water, while sand was rammed into his rectum with a stick. Women were gang-raped by the guards. People were mauled by dogs and electrocuted. The British devised a special tool which they used for first crushing and then ripping off testicles. They used pliers to mutilate women's breasts. They cut off inmates' ears and fingers and gouged out their eyes. They dragged people behind Land Rovers until their bodies disintegrated. Men were rolled up in barbed wire and kicked around the compound.

Elkins provides a wealth of evidence to show that the horrors of the camps were endorsed at the highest levels. The Governor of Kenya, Sir Evelyn Baring, regularly intervened to prevent the perpetrators from being brought to justice. The Colonial Secretary, Alan Lennox-Boyd, repeatedly lied to the House of Commons. This is a vast, systematic crime for which there has been no reckoning. No matter. Even those who acknowledge that something happened write as if Elkins and her work did not exist. In the Telegraph, Daniel Hannan maintains that just 11 people were beaten to death. Apart from that, “1,090 terrorists were hanged and as many as 71,000 detained without due process.”

The British did not do body counts, and most victims were buried in unmarked graves. But it is clear that tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, of Kikuyu died in the camps and during the round-ups. Hannan's is one of the most blatant examples of revisionism I have ever encountered.

Without explaining what this means, Lawrence James concedes that “harsh measures” were sometimes used, but he maintains that “while the Mau Mau were terrorising the Kikuyu, veterinary surgeons in the Colonial Service were teaching tribesmen how to deal with cattle plagues.” The theft of the Kikuyu's land and livestock, the starvation and killings, the widespread support among the Kikuyu for the Mau Mau's attempt to reclaim their land and freedom: all vanish into thin air. Both men maintain that the British government acted to stop any abuses as soon as they were revealed.

What I find remarkable is not that they write such things, but that these distortions go almost unchallenged. The myths of the empire are so well-established that we appear to blot out countervailing stories even as they are told. As evidence from the manufactured Indian famines of the 1870s and from the treatment of other colonies accumulates, British imperialism emerges as no better and in some cases even worse than the imperialism practised by other nations. Yet the myth of the civilising mission remains untroubled by the evidence. (A fully referenced version of this article can be found at www.monbiot.com)

SureshP · Post by **SureshP** » 30 Apr 2012 18:22

Granny army helps India's school children via the cloud
By Jane Wakefield
Technology reporter

No-one does love and encouragement better than a granny. Now that love is being spread across continents, as UK-based grandmothers extend their embrace to school children thousands of miles away in India.

Jackie Barrow isn't a granny yet but as a retired teacher she felt she might qualify for an advert in The Guardian newspaper calling for volunteers to help teach children in India.

She did and today, three years on, she is reading "Not Now Bernard" via Skype to a small group of children in the Indian city of Pune.

They love it and are engaged in the experience as she holds up an Easter egg to show them how children in the UK celebrated the recent holiday.

Advice and praise

The Granny Cloud project is the brainchild of Prof Sugata Mitra, best-known for his hole-in-the-wall computer scheme which put basic PCs into some of the poorest parts of India.

The work is being supported by the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University, and MIT's iLab project.

Prof Mitra installed the first such computer on the wall of his south Delhi office, opposite a slum. He was amazed to see that the children, initially curious about the machine, soon became self-taught experts.

Within days the children were able to browse the internet, cut and paste copy, drag and drop items and create folders.

The children liked to draw, discovering how to use the Microsoft Paint programme to create paintings.

Then they moved on to downloading games and playing them. By the second month they had discovered MP3 music files and were downloading songs.

Prof Mitra noticed they did best when an adult was present offering advice and encouragement over their shoulders.

There was, he reasoned, no-one so encouraging as a granny and so the idea was born.

The official name of the project is Sole (self organised learning environments) but it is more commonly known as the granny cloud.

The grannies, or e-mediators as they are officially known, are not teachers and the sessions they conduct with the children in India are not lessons.

The children enjoy the sessions and their English is improving

Instead they read stories to the children and talk about things relevant to them and to the UK. The point, said Prof Mitra, was that they provided encouragement and praise and became a "virtual granny" to the children.

Problems

Jackie lives in a rural area 15 miles (24km) outside Manchester - a world away from Pune.

"We chat about my garden. In the spring I show them pictures of the lambs in the fields by the house and in the winter, pictures of the snow. If I go to London I take a picture of myself there. They love it," she said.

The e-mediators encourage each other, staying in touch via a Facebook page and a wiki, on which they offer tips for what went well and what did not work.

There were now around 300 "grannies" involved in the scheme and it was growing all the time, Prof Mitra told the BBC.

But it has not been without its problems.

"After three years it still feels as if we are at a pilot stage. There are so many things that still need to be worked out," he said.

He is very upfront about the challenges the project has faced.

"This type of e-mediation is intended for the not-so-good schools but they don't want it. The teachers don't have great interest, there is not enough electricity, there are hundreds of reasons why it doesn't work," he said.

Using Skype to connect the grannies with the children may be cheap but it isn't always reliable.

The connection often goes down, as it did on the day Jackie was teaching.

"One out of 10 sessions have a problem so it is not unusable and the children have no expectations. They are happy to revert to messaging," said Prof Mitra.

Initially he put his grannies to work with schools in Hydrerabad where cultural differences between the backgrounds of the UK volunteers and the children they were connecting to soon became very obvious.

"The schools were predominately Muslim and, with hindsight, that may not have been the best choice," said Prof Mitra.

Jackie agreed that religion can be a sensitive topic and does her best now to avoid any religious references.

She added that, at first, there was a more general lack of enthusiasm for the scheme. "There were lots of problems. No-one from the school seemed prepared to facilitate the sessions. In one town there was just one guy on a bicycle going from one centre to another opening up," she said.

"The teachers are often not qualified, not competent with IT, can't speak English and maybe felt threatened by this kind of intervention," she added.

Preoccupied parents

Now she conducts her sessions at an after-school club, dubbed Khelgar, where there are lots of encouraging staff.

Chief among them is Suneeta Kulkarni, who has the incredibly challenging job of co-ordinating the scheme across the whole of India.

For her the rewards are obvious.

"I have seen big differences in the children. They have learnt lots of words and when Jackie holds something up they now attempt to read the words," she said.

What do the children make of a story such as Not Now Bernard, a quintessentially British book about a boy whose protestations to his parents about a monster in the garden fall on deaf ears with tragic consequences.

"Parents across the world are preoccupied, it is a universal message," said Ms Kulkarni.

Retirement cloud

The scheme has now been extended to four schools in Columbia, South America where, said Prof Mitra, it was doing very well.

It is also being used in schools much closer to home.

In Gateshead where literacy levels are lower than the national average, schools such as St Aidan's Church of England primary school are embracing the idea of the granny cloud and using e-mediators to engage children at the very early stages of reading.

"The teachers love it as they can go off and have a cup of tea and the children are very excited about a granny appearing on the screen," said Prof Mitra.

The professor is hopeful that the project can be taken on by a big organisation and made to work at a global scale.

"In terms of potential we have just scratched the surface," he said.

He also sees huge potential for extending the role of the e-mediators into a "retirement cloud".

"We have a silent workforce, retired engineers, doctors, plumbers - all with great expertise to share," he said.

"I hope that at some stage the government picks it up. Retired people can input their information in a 21st retirement club on the cloud for everyone to tap into."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17114718

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 30 Apr 2012 23:27

As evidence from the manufactured Indian famines of the 1870s and from the treatment of other colonies accumulates, British imperialism emerges as no better and in some cases even worse than the imperialism practised by other nations. Yet the myth of the civilising mission remains untroubled by the evidence

But this is where the narrative always goes off the rails: the unspeakable crimes against humanity were precisely the culture of the English and Christians in general. The horrifying events in contemporary Ireland were only being equalled in India.

When your religion encourages theft and murder of the nonbeliever, it absolves you of any moral responsibility.

The British have learned less than the Germans-if you go to the British Museum and Albert and Victoria Museum there are displays on the last Mughal empror and mention is made of his sons. Curiosly history for the British public does not include any mention let alone descriptions of the murders of those sons.

Of course when there is no scholarship coming out of India or Kenya, one is thankful for the likes of Monbiot who has managed to loosen the upper lip and shame both the British and callous Indians

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 01 May 2012 01:55

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/ap ... tion-india
UK aid helps to fund forced sterilisation of India's poor

Tens of millions of pounds of UK aid money have been spent on a programme that has forcibly sterilised Indian women and men, the Observer has learned. Many have died as a result of botched operations, while others have been left bleeding and in agony. A number of pregnant women selected for sterilisation suffered miscarriages and lost their babies.The UK agreed to give India £166m to fund the programme, despite allegations that the money would be used to sterilise the poor in an attempt to curb the country's burgeoning population of 1.2 billion people.Sterilisation has been mired in controversy for years. With officials and doctors paid a bonus for every operation, poor and little-educated men and women in rural areas are routinely rounded up and sterilised without having a chance to object. Activists say some are told they are going to health camps for operations that will improve their general wellbeing and only discover the truth after going under the knife.Court documents filed in India earlier this month claim that many victims have been left in pain, with little or no aftercare. Across the country, there have been numerous reports of deaths and of pregnant women suffering miscarriages after being selected for sterilisation without being warned that they would lose their unborn babies.
Yet a working paper published by the UK's Department for International Development in 2010 cited the need to fight climate change as one of the key reasons for pressing ahead with such programmes. The document argued that reducing population numbers would cut greenhouse gases, although it warned that there were "complex human rights and ethical issues" involved in forced population control.The latest allegations centre on the states of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, both targeted by the UK government for aid after a review of funding last year. In February, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh had to publicly warn off his officials after widespread reports of forced sterilisation. A few days later, 35-year-old Rekha Wasnik bled to death in the state after doctors sterilised her. The wife of a poor labourer, she was pregnant with twins at the time. She began bleeding on the operating table and a postmortem cited the operation as the cause of death.

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 01 May 2012 04:02

Oh yes, as the Economist does skim this website, I should add that The British Gulag has never been reviewed by that monkey rag.

Of course the Guardian in a continuing tradition of integrity has dealt with it a number of times.

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 03 May 2012 00:53

Long shot, but there is a chance.

SNP holds cards in Scottish independence vote

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/snp-ho ... atest_news

Most years Scotland’s local government elections could be ignored. Not this time. This week it’s only new councils being elected, but in just over two years Scotland votes on a referendum that could end a 300-year union with England and lead to full independence and the end of the United Kingdom as we know it.

With the Scottish National Party (SNP) now a majority government in a devolved parliament, momentum toward independence could already be past the point of no return.

Most recent opinion polls show support for independence is fairly static at around 39%, although those undecided have been edging up in line with a fall in support for the existing union.

The continuing Eurozone debt crisis is likely to make many think twice about a nation of just over 5 million cutting ties to its far larger neighbor. But perhaps the strongest card the SNP holds isn't only being in government — but also having two more years and charismatic leader Alex Salmond to make its case.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 03 May 2012 04:25

The mysterious death of an MI 6 officer,has now been found to be murder.The officer who was apparently an expert in cryptology and codebreaking,was bizzarely found stuffed into a locked holdall! Amazingly,thus far his dearth was treated as a case of accidental death,assuming he stuffed himself into the holdall,as if trying out some exotic position from the Kamasutra! Officially,the investigators are completely baffled by this sensational case.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... crime.html

Coroner: MI6 spy's death was probably a crime
The MI6 spy found dead in a padlocked sports holdall was probably 'unlawfully killed' in a criminal act, a coroner concluded.

By Tom Whitehead, and Martin Evans

10:00PM BST 02 May 2012

• Gareth Williams was probably unlawfully killed - coroner
• 'Criminally mediated' - third party locked bag and placed in bath
• Spy probably died of poison or carbon dioxide inside bag
• Clothes did not fit codebreaker and probably bought as gifts
• Little evidence death due to bondage games
• Family calls on Met chief to review the case and SO15 'failings'
• MI6 chief Sawers apologises for delay in raising alarm
• Police appeal for information from public as probe goes on

Gareth Williams’s death most likely involved a third party and he was either poisoned or suffocated, Dr Fiona Wilcox said.

She said the possibility that a member of the intelligence services was involved in the maths prodigy’s death remained a “legitimate line of inquiry” for police.

The head of MI6, Sir John Sawers, apologised to Mr Williams’s family for failing to report him missing for a week.

In a statement, family members said the delay had “exacerbated” their grief. They also criticised the intelligence service for its “failure and reluctance” to make information available.
Related Articles

Blundering investigation means mystery may not be solved
02 May 2012

Police investigating new lines of inquiry
02 May 2012

Gareth Williams verdict: unanswered questions
02 May 2012

Family of Gareth Williams call for police review of case
02 May 2012

Gareth Williams inquest gallery
02 May 2012

Gareth Williams profile
02 May 2012

The Metropolitan Police announced an urgent review of the case after concerns were raised over how some evidence was handled by MI6 and counter-terrorism officers during the two-year investigation.

Martin Hewitt, a deputy assistant commissioner at the Met, said the force was still investigating weak traces of DNA of at least two other people found in the flat in an attempt to identify a suspect.

Tests on whether there is a DNA sample on a towel found in Mr Williams’s kitchen could also be concluded within weeks.

There is also an investigation into whether a telephone that had been reset shortly before Mr Williams died could have held any clues. The coroner wondered whether it may have contained evidence of an arrangement to meet someone.

The naked, decomposing body of Mr Williams, a codebreaker on secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, the signals intelligence agency, was found in a padlocked holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, London, in August 2010.

Despite an intensive police investigation, no one has been arrested and the circumstances surrounding his death have remained a mystery.

At the end of an eight-day inquest, Dr Wilcox concluded that a third party was most likely involved, adding: “The cause of death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated. I am therefore satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully.”

Recording a narrative verdict at Westminster coroner’s court, she said that Mr Williams was probably alive when he entered the bag and died either from an “unknown poison” or was overcome by carbon dioxide in the tight space.

She criticised the way MI6 and Det Supt Michael Broster, of the Met’s counter-terrorism unit, had handled aspects of the case.

Det Supt Broster acted as a link between the intelligence service and the Met team investigating the death, headed by Det Chief Insp Jackie Sebire.

It emerged this week that nine memory sticks potentially belonging to Mr Williams and a sports bag similar to the one in which he was found were discovered at MI6 but never disclosed to DCI Sebire.

There were also concerns over what precautions were taken to ensure his belongings were secured at work following his death.

An MI6 spokesman added: “We fully cooperated with the police and will continue to do so during the ongoing investigation. We gave all the evidence to the police when they wanted it; at no time did we withhold any evidence.”

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 03 May 2012 11:15

Eurozone crisis: No long rope for Europe
Letter from London - sudehsna Sen

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opi ... 930533.cms

Roperia · Post by **Roperia** » 03 May 2012 15:19

This is good news. He should be made to sing like a parrot as to how ISI uses these thugs for conducting terrorist attacks in India - is it just havala or there is logistic support as well.

UK court orders extradition of Dawood Ibrahim aide Tiger Hanif to India

Neela · Post by **Neela** » 04 May 2012 12:52

Tee hee

Let the ( cheeky ) games begin!

"Train on Argentinian soil, compete on British soil." - a hat tip to the guy that came up with this.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 04 May 2012 13:00

UK aid helps to fund forced sterilisation of India's poor
This after the British pointing out how the aid from UK helps Indian poor.

Tens of millions of pounds of UK aid money have been spent on a programme that has forcibly sterilised Indian women and men, the Observer has learned. Many have died as a result of botched operations, while others have been left bleeding and in agony. A number of pregnant women selected for sterilisation suffered miscarriages and lost their babies.
..
Sterilisation has been mired in controversy for years. With officials and doctors paid a bonus for every operation, poor and little-educated men and women in rural areas are routinely rounded up and sterilised without having a chance to object. Activists say some are told they are going to health camps for operations that will improve their general wellbeing and only discover the truth after going under the knife.
..
A 2009 Indian government report said that nearly half a million sterilisations had been carried out the previous year but warned of problems with quality control and financial management.

In 2006, India's ministry of health and family welfare published a report into sterilisation, which warned of growing concerns, and the following year an Indian government audit of the programme warned of continuing problems with sterilisation camps. "Quality of sterilisation services in the camps is a matter of concern," it said. It also said the quality of services was affected because much of the work was crammed into the final part of the financial year.

When it announced changes to aid for India last year, the DfID promised to improve the lives of more than 10 million poor women and girls. It said: "We condemn forced sterilisation and have taken steps to ensure that not a penny of UK aid could support it. The UK does not fund sterilisation centres anywhere.

kish · Post by **kish** » 04 May 2012 14:01

Roperia wrote:This is good news. He should be made to sing like a parrot as to how ISI uses these thugs for conducting terrorist attacks in India - is it just havala or there is logistic support as well.

UK court orders extradition of Dawood Ibrahim aide Tiger Hanif to India

He can appeal against this verdict. He may not be extradited for atleast another year.