Some random thoughts on this project - Reading thru the rediff pages on Lt.Saurabh Kalia & his family, his life & how he was tortured to death - was like some emotional journey thru some pages from past with many qns tht are still left unanswered.
Wht Karthik wrote here was/is partly what I had in my mind aswell, when we were thinking of working on this Project. What exactly are we looking for here. It obviously involves informing public of the whole ordeal, but wht is the bigger cause here that we are aiming at?? And how exactly do we think there is a feasibility of it. On one hand we talk of things like every human has capability to save another - register for organ donation, register for bone marrow drives and so on. And the other end we have ppl like these who torture other ppl to death. What a contradiction! This is beyond inhuman actually, wayy more than what one calls animalish. As a normal human, I am honestly saying this, I would prefer to live in a country like USA that makes a statement tht *We will not remain silent, we will not keep taking this sh**, or remain with a white flag in hand - whever u try to fiddle with our dignity.* I definitely take pride in saying I am an Indian, tht luv u have for ur mother country can never be less, but, I would like my country to stand by me, and put the ppl who did this to my soldier, to justice. If justice is in hanging the ppl who did this, so be it. I am not commenting here on whether waging a war as America did, or trying to wipe out Iraq is right or wrong. But, the immediate reaction tht this country had towards the ppl who actually took so many lives, is something I wholeheartedly liked/commended. Yes, it takes many a times 10 more lives or 100 more lives to make tht statement, but, its not the no of lives at stake that matter here, its that respect within u for ur country, tht u will not compromise for. I remember something tht happnd around 6 months after 9/11 here. In one of the building across WallStreet in NY me and my friends were sharing a pool table with an american. In general conversation this man went on and actually said "...why dont' u just give kashmir and save all those lives & fights at the border..". Mind u, I am not really a person who argues getting extremely patriotic or someone who looses the mental balance becos some X said something abt our country. But, this particular line really got to me. I immediately asked .." Wud u just give away NewYork if Osama promises he will not attack u again???..." and looking straight into his face added..."....One attack, one day, one event & the next day u wage a war, try wipe out an entire country - Countless attacks till date, countless lives lost, and still gng on right at this very minute as we speak here, how do u think we shud react?? " Later on thru someone els thr I came to know tht he was one of the employess who worked his whole life in the WTC building and lost every single colleague of his. He was out of town on some office work tht day, which spared his life, and to date he regrets having lived after tht day to digest tht whole thing. He has burnt flags from his office, photographs of his colleagues and so on - on every wall in his appartment, wishing everyday he cud just be a part of them on the wall instead. This is really sad, I know. Perhaps wht he said did not really mean as it sounded. When our country or any country for tht matter registers Soldiers, doesnt' it promise anything to them or their families??? Something as basic as an assurance that the country will be with them come what may from the enemies, and if anything like this happns they will make sure the ppl who did this will be brought to justice?? Atleast not let their sacrifice fade away with time, and none questioned/punished for such a dreadful deed???? No one will/shud send their sons & daughters into the army if this goes on like this, why shud they. Leaders of this nation are incapable of restoring ur sacrifice's integrity. All I am expecting from my end of this fight wud be that our own govt first answer this mother & father. These parents who wudve never had a moment in peace knowing how their son died, and hoping every day to know who exactly did this to him. Isnt' tht something minimal tht they deserve to know?? Rest will be later - govt taking it to UN or whtever. I donot think tht end is gng to be the easy, or if anything will happn on tht end tht early. ITs been 5 yrs, and on a very honest note, I cannot imagine this father's battle since then. He deserves an apology, from our own Govt first. And this has to be told in front of the media - specially for the fact tht nothing has been done for this long on this matter. What a shame! Divya On 10/5/07, Karthik Jalamangala <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Suresh, > > This is very good approach to the issue. I looked at the webpage as > well. It looks very good. If you or Prasanthi can cleanup the missing links, > I want to post the page on my blog and start pushing the issue forward. > > Getting media and bloggers involved is the best approach to tackle > this problem. As more people become aware of this issue, the pressure on > government increases. The RTI is likely to get processed faster (BTW, is > there a time limit on RTI reply?) > > However, one concern I have is, what will the government do eventually > after all this? India is a peaceful country, unlike Israel or USA which > chase their enemies to the corners of the world! So, it is very unlikely > that outside of the corridors of the parliament, something aggressive is > going to happen. That is exactly what Manmohan Singh government has done so > far ... it has managed to keep peace at the borders. > > This peace is however a dangerous one because the perpetrators of > border violence have come inside the country now and the victims are now not > only the soldiers of the borders but innocent victims, as Hyderabad city has > witnessed more than 2-3 times recently. > > This is an angle that the group has to consider because after RTI and > all, the government will come back saying they've negotiated peace on the > borders! Please give a thought to that aspect as well. > > Nevertheless, I assure my full support to 'Operation Vijay', because > it will help cleanup a huge mess in itself. > > Cheers! > Karthik > > On 10/4/07, suresh < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Only this time this operation will be to fight for our Soldiers. > > > > One biggest strength and hope with this mission is the support we are > > getting from Dr.Kalia and his family members. > > > > Now what we need to do is > > 1) I've spoken to Uma Sudhir , NDTV Reporter regarding this and she > > agreed to meet us. So i will send an email to prasanthi with her cell > > number. I will also be sending an email to her explaining what we are doing > > and what we expect from her. This meeting will be more of a guidance and > > advice as to how w can move forward from here. > > > > 2) Educate Ourselves: as to what exactly we are fighting for : because > > this is related to the human rights, the army and above all pakistan , we > > need to educate. The webpage prasanthi comes really handy , so that's a good > > beginning. Infact i've just modified the website ( click > > here<http://tomakeadifference.net/captainsaurabh.html>) , > > there is still some work need to be done. So prasanthi feel free to make any > > changes. > > > > 3) Plan of action: Media is a double edged sword, it can make or break. > > We need to get in the eye of the media. We need to start > > a) writing to them > > b) talking to them > > c) organzinging press meets > > d) rallying the defence and army personnel > > e) rallying the general public through fliers, banners and posters. > > > > > > 4) what do we expect? At this point we want to bring the government's > > attention to this matter and start pressurizing them from that point on. > > > > > > > > > > *ulprasanthi <prasutmad.finance@ gmail.com>* wrote: > > > > Friends, > > > > We got the details from Dr. Kalia. I posted the mail as it is in > > birdsofsamefeathers google group. I will post in our group as well. > > > > I didn't go through the documents yet. Dr. Kalia rang to me after he > > has sent an email to me. I was online only waiting for his mail. I was > > searching google meanwhile. Lt. Saurav's mother spoke with me. Later I > > spoke with his brother, Vaibhav too. > > > > What he told is that they are not fighting for Saurav. They are > > bothered about every soldier. They do not want the same to be repeated > > to any other soldier. > > > > (In fact I forgot to share that morning when I asked Dr. Kalia on if > > he has any idea about the soldiers in Saurav's troop, he replied that > > during some functions, all the families gather and those people do not > > know anything. Most of them are illiterates or not so well educated.) > > > > They want to file a PIL on what steps govt. has taken. The only > > response they get from the govt. is that 'we will bring this issue. we > > will see.' I asked him how would it be if we file an RTI because they > > have to give clear answers but not the vague ones. Vaibhav ji told > > that it would be a good idea too. So we will first file an RTI and > > once we get the reply, we can file a PIL. > > > > I have been thinking and I felt like to pursue this case seriously we > > must have a separate Web site dedicated to him. Instead of searching > > through google we can have all the details at one place and also we > > can share our efforts and updates in that Web site. Soon we can get > > traffic and it gets immediate attention too. > > > > I again rang to them and asked what name should I give to the Web > > site. In fact I wanted to register but something in me asked me to > > slow down and first talk to his family about the name as well. I told > > this to Dr. Kalia, he said that he is not a software person and so > > asked me to talk to Vaibhav ji. Vaibhav said that it would be a good > > idea too. He said that he will discuss with his father and will get > > back to me tomorrow. > > > > He is online most of the day, in google. We have numbers as well. So > > we will be in touch. > > > > Friends, > > > > We have to gear up. Let us write the names who are willing to form a > > team specially for this issue. > > > > Based on the response so far, I listed these names. Can I count on you? > > > > 1. Chaitanya > > 2. Divya > > 3. Ravi Shankar > > 4. Suresh Ediga > > > > From other teams, Kishore from Sayam Cheddam. > > Ajit Dembla of ToastMasters. > > Murthy garu of Marg Foundation. > > > > Major Shivkiran and Colonel Gauri Shankar would be our advisors. > > Hopefully they will talk to the Ex-servicemen forum and other defence > > related forums. > > > > Rakesh from BHUMI told he too is interested. > > > > Anyone else? Because we have to pursue it very very seriously. > > > > Can we go ahead with this plan? > > > > 1. Go through all the documents sent by Dr. Kalia and compile a report > > based on it. ----Today itself -- Oct 4, 2007 > > > > 2. Talk to Rakesh and get an appointment of Nagendra garu to discuss > > on the RTI factor. ----Today itself -- Oct 4, 2007 > > > > 3. Will wait for the reply from Dr. Kalia and Vaibhav Kalia about > > their response about the Web site. If they agree, immediately we will > > register. ---- Tomorrow - Oct 5, 2007 > > > > 4. By Oct 8, 2007, we will get the domain and immediately we will post > > all the details. > > > > What else? > > > > Who are for this cause? Please share your views. > > > > Let us have this deadline: June 12, 2008 > > > > Thank you. > > > > with regards, > > Prasanthi. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > *I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still > > i can do something. I will not refuse to do something I can do . ( Helen > > Keller ) > > Suri > > * > > * > > Suri's blog <http://www.sureshe.wordpress.com/> > > > > http://bhookh.com > > http://aidindia.org > > http://www.giftofvision.org > > http://foodindia.org.in/ > > http://www.workingc hild.org/ > > http://studentsforb hopal.org/ > > * > > > > ------------------------------ > > Catch up on fall's hot new shows > > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/tv/mail/tagline/falltv/evt=47093/*http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/3658+%0A>on > > Yahoo! TV. Watch previews, get listings, and more! > > > > > >
