Marching Ahead With Your Support

It gives me immense pleasure to inform all our esteemed readers that this week on November 30, 2012, Uday India has entered fourth years of its glorious publication. We all are in an upbeat mood to go ahead with a mission of strengthening the ethos of nationalistic journalism. It is not time for us to celebrate but our responsibility has been multi-fold to retain our basic character for the sake of our nation, no matter how long and sticky road may come. Bottlenecks are there to match Uday India with other national and international weeklies. When one talks about the standards of journalism then of course, Uday India stands first in the quotients of honesty, integrity and nationalism. We have the acceptibility, as is witnessed by our readers’ tremendous response from all spheres of society. In the field of competitive journalism, it becomes really hard to follow the ethos, but we leave the judgement to our readers to pronounce—where does Uday India stand? Certainly I can assure that we are far away from the world of paid news and yellow journalism. Today, we the Uday India family certainly require the support of the nationalists to sustain ourself. Completing three years is not a mean achievement, but we certainly take the credit of creating history in forming a band of dedicated readers in and around the world. When one looks at a flower one should smile at it to marvel at its fragrance and beauty. It is our rich culture to always appreciate and respect those who deserve it. We are not demanding kudos but we certainly need readers’ feedback for our survival in the age of competitive journalism. Neither have we any set agenda nor are we propagating anything that would create an unpleasant atmosphere. This week, we are explaining why former Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa is launching his own party—despite the toughest challenge he has ever faced in his political career. We have analysed why there is a least chance for the lotus to bloom again in the southern state? Why the yes man of yesterday, Yeddie is keeping away from the BJP.

It is unfortunate to note that when we commemorated the fourth anniversary of the 26/11 attack on Mumbai last week, the country witnessed two important instances of utter disregard to those who risked or laid down their lives for the country. A former NSG commando, Naik Surender Singh, who had killed two terrorists at the Taj Mahal Hotel during the 26/11 siege but was rendered completely deaf due to injuries he suffered in the process, had been handed a raw deal and deprived of pension and disability benefits due to him despite risking his life for the country. He was compulsorily retired following injuries he suffered during the operation conducted at the Taj Hotel and was compelled to run from pillar to post for the last 13 months for money due to him. He demanded an inquiry into the funds given as donations by the public alleging that the money was selectively distributed. It is an irony that in a country where a cricketer gets Rs 1 crore just to swing his bat, people like Singh are forced to beg for their rights. In the other incident, the father of Captain Saurabh Kalia, the hero of the Kargil war, has been fighting a battle against the government for his son’s dignity. Pakistan army had captured Captain Saurabh Kalia on May 15, 1999, from Kaksar area of Kargil sector. He was kept in captivity for over 22 days and subjected to unprecedented torture as evident from his body. Moved by the torture meted out to his son by Pakistan army, NK Kalia, father of Saurabh Kalia, launched a struggle to declare the act a war crime. In order to declare a war crime, the Ministry of Defence needs to write to the Ministry of External Affairs, which then takes up the matter with the UN Human Rights Council. The council then refers the matter to the General Assembly, which can declare war crime. It then goes to the international court of justice. But the government did not follow up the case with the UN. A good government will always fight for the welfare of their soldiers, but owing to our government’s lethargic, unprofessional and inefficient attitude, our soldiers continue to suffer. It is indeed sad that a son of India was tortured to death by Pakistan in contravention to all the rules of war, common decency and Geneva Convention. It’s a tragedy that the government refuses to take action against Pakistan in this regard. Far from taking up the case with the international bodies concerned and getting the guilty punished, the government is sitting on its backside pretending to be asleep. India should teach Pakistan a hard and unforgettable lesson to curb the future atrocities against our citizens. But one wonders whether the inept leadership of the country is capable of handling situations like this.

Deepak Kumar Rath