Hindus Uprooted By Bangladesh Land Administration

Kanuria Mukshudpur under Gopalganj distric filed case of release his ancestral property from VP(Kh) list under section 14 ( Kha) , but Local land officials including Tahsildar in connivance of political goons are spoiling Sheikh Hasina’s good efforts of transferring the property to the owner.

This sort of reports of thousand grievances pouring in different land offices in Bangladesh.

The Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, ‘The scrapping of Section 14 (kha) of the Vested Property Act had dispelled the complexities over such properties of Hindus. It may be recalled that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in July 2012 asked the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to perform their duties sincerely for the welfare of the common people as well as to give special attention to rural development and creating more employments. "Remember, the facilities you get, including salaries and allowances, come from the incomes of the common people. Your main objective should be to work for them and you should keep this in mind all the time,” Sheikh Hasina told the DCs while addressing the inaugural session of the 3-day Deputy Commissioners Conference 2012 at her office.

About the government’s ongoing move on digitisation of land records, Sheikh Hasina directed the DCs to ensure correct recording of the land so that the real owners are not harassed. Urging the DCs to be the servants (sebok) of the common people, the Prime Minister also sought their cooperation in fulfilling the pledges of the government given to the common people. She stressed starting the development works from the very beginning of the fiscal year and also urged the DCs to enforce the Vested Property Return (amendment) Act 2011 properly in their respective areas. Mentioning that a transparent, accountable and pro-development administration is needed to build a democratic, moderate and non-communal state system, Sheikh Hasina said one stop service, public hearing day, district web portal and video conferencing are playing a supportive role to this end.

But as a human right group, we have been getting reports from different districts including Dhaka metropolitan that the land administration like AC land and Tahasilders in the field are demanding high stake of money for mutation, transferring land under VP Act (Kha) list. On the other hand Land ministry issued circular in May 2014 stating if the incumbent does not release land with in a year of this circular would automatically turn those lands under government custody.

It may be stated here that the circular issued by additional secretary (law) to the Ministry of Land Md Ibrahim Hossain Khan vide no- 31.00.0000.045.065.12(Part)-242 dated:22 May 2014 enjoys that anybody claiming property included in the newly repealed vested property ‘kha’ schedule property requires to establish his titles in respect of the property claimed within the period of one year from the date of publication of the circular, failing which the property shall become government khas land under the provision of Section 92 of the State Acquisition & Tenancy Act-1950.

Reports gather from all concerns of the country indicate that more than Six lakh (0.6 million) mutation cases have already been filed before the Assistant Commissioner (Land) and Tahsil offices in the country and May more are being filed everyday. Then for even 1%( one percent)of the person cases has not been disposed of since the annulment of Kha list and things have been made extremely difficult for the relief seekers by the beurocratic Mechanizations on dubious grounds which in most cases tantamount to extortion and denial of justice. It this present state of things continues, these cases can not be disposed of even in twelve years and the sufferers will be those who have already suffered for last fifty years.

‘It should not be enough to repeal the Vested Property Act, but it should be made an effective implementation so that the members of the minority communities are not deprived.’ Awami League advisory council member and minister without portfolio Suranjit Sengupta said there are many obstacles to make the Vested Property (Repeal) Act into an effective law.

‘The beneficiaries adopted many tactics and resorted to dilly-dallying and dirty tricks in making the law effective. The conspiracy is still on, Suranjit said, ‘The philosophy of father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was that the members of the minority community were not subjected to legal hassles only because for their religious belief. Later, Bangabandhu’s philosophy in this regard was incorporated in the constitution.’

Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities ( HRCBM), an NGO in special consultative status with ECOSOC of the United Nations and also registered under Bangladesh society Act, appeals to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to kindly look into the matter on the priority basis so that the sufferers are not made to suffer further losses and humiliation at the behest of interested quarters, which is the sole beneficiaries of the Vested Property Laws ,the government never got benefit out of vested property. Bangladesh Non-Muslim Citizens Society strongly demand immediate cancellation of the circular in question and urge upon the government to direct the Land Revenue field offices to speedily dispose of the cases within specified period, otherwise all good intentions of the government shall go in vain.

Rights groups in Bangladesh earlier urged the government to expedite the implementation process of the Vested Property Return (Amendment) Act with a view to ensuring social discipline and justice by returning those lands to the genuine owners. “The government will have to make people aware about the provisions of the law through state-run BTV, private television channels and newspapers and let them know what needs to be done to establish their rights,” The Hindus have been suffering a lot since long centering the issue. “It’s now being delayed again. We apprehend that people might be deprived of their due rights.”

Parliament passed the Vested Property Return (Amendment) Bill aimed at smooth return of the vested properties to their rightful owners. What an irony of fate of Hindus, they are wondering hither and thither after filing case of returning their ancestral property, whereas government machineries in the field behaving otherwise. The district administration changed the land record of Devuttar Property and put as Khas land (Khatian no 1 of DC custody and some cases lease out to Muslims lease .

Over the last four decades in Bangladesh, The religious minorities in Bangladesh have been subjected to every conceivable form of indignity, socio-political discrimination, denial of equity and justice, dispossession of ancestral households under Vested Property Act, unequal application law, violation of Human Rights and Constitutional provisions, terrorizing and humiliation by using rape, vandalizing temples & worship places including forced convert to Islam and forced marriage to under aged girls and finally grabbing lands and compelled them for quit Bangladesh to take shelter in India as “stateless citizens”. Both the Governments of Bangladesh and India knew well that Bangladeshi Hindus were leaving their ancestral home silently and becoming ‘stateless citizens’ in the surrounding Indian States the Indian press and the Government circle at times have been highlighting the issue of the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh living in India.

Bangladesh Government has always maintained that there have been no so-called illegal immigrants from Bangladesh to India. It is interesting that no discussion on minority related issues have yet been held between India and Bangladesh in their bilateral talks or GSS meeting. Bangladesh Hindus have lost 22 lakh acres of their land and houses during the last six years (2001-2006), a Dhaka University Professor says. The market value of this land is Taka 2, 52,000 crore (about $156 million), which is more than half of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) reports Bangladesh dailies in Sept 2007...'This is a man-made problem contrary to the spirit of humanity. We have to get rid of this uncivilised state of affairs to establish a civilised society. Otherwise, we have to face a bigger historic catastrophe,' Professor Abdul Barkat, who teaches economics, insists in his research paper, 'Deprivation of affected million families: Living with Vested Property in Bangladesh'. Thus the estimated total missing Hindu population was 8.1 million during 1964-2001, i.e., 218,919 Hindus missing each year.

In other words, if out-migration of the Hindu population is caused mainly by communal disharmony resulting from the Enemy / Vested Property Acts, the approximate size of the missing Hindu population would be 600 persons per day during 1964-2001. The approximate size of the missing Hindu population was as high as 705 persons per day during 1964-1971, as against 521 persons per day during 1971-1981, decreasing to 438 persons per day during 1981-1991, and rising to 767 persons per day during 1991-2001.The four-decades-old law has seen around a million Hindus lose at least 2.1 million acres of land.

Living with Vested Property in Bangladesh'.

Politically powerful people grabbed most of the Hindu lands during the reign of Begum Khaleda Zia's BNP-led four-party alliance between 2001 and 2006. Forty-five per cent of the land grabbers were affiliated with the BNP, 31 per cent with the Awami League, eight per cent with Jamaat-e-Islami and six per cent with the Jatiya Party and other political organisations, the New Age, Dhaka daily quotes Prof Barkat as saying in his report.

As a result the silent migration of Hindus from this country could not be stopped. The minority community including Buddhist, Christians and Adibashis in Bangladesh participated in the War of Liberation so that in the newly liberated country we would enjoy equal status and rights along with the majority community. But in practice, the persecution of the Hindus continued like Pakistani days even after independence. Whatever the reason, every violence against the religious minority, especially against Hindus and adibashis, was either to take away their property and valuables or to establish terror among them. And also to scare them so they leave the country and the attacker’s beneficiaries could grab their property.

The Bangladesh Land Ministry by its field offices has been complimenting the land grabbers by issuing circulars that violates the rights of minority Hindus which tantamount to uproot Bangladesh Hindus. In spite of all good intention of government of Jananetri Sheikh Hasina to put an end to the miseries of a class of unlucky citizens particularly the Hindu citizens, the present circular of land ministry issued on 22 May 2014 is just a ploy to make a class of citizens’ property less and uprooted. This, according to many, is a kind of state-deception at the behest of beurocratic innovations so long lavishly exercised by the same group of beneficiaries, who always thrive at the misery of minority Hindus. In Bangladesh, being a Hindu means being a victim of oppression, torture and discrimination. This is Hindus fate in Bangladesh. Many may say that these rights pertain to the whole of humanity, why only address them in the context of minorities. True, but it is only through identifying social discrimination and ethno-racialism as social indicators of poverty and lack of justice that we can identify those very factors, which are equally responsible for the underdevelopment of minority communities as well as the hampered growth of a secular and democratic polity.”

Rabindranath Trivedi - the Secretary General, Human Rights congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM), an NGO in special consultative status with ECOSOC of the United Nations and registered under Bangladesh society Act.

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Indian jihadist group calls for attacks on non Muslims

Indian jihadist group calls for  attacks on non Muslims

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By Rupam Jain Nair

A group of Indian Islamic militants, operating out of Pakistan, has called for attacks on non Muslims in the region in retaliation for U.S.-led air strikes on fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The head of the little-known Ansar al-Tawhid fi’Bilad al-Hind urged Muslims to kill foreigners and other infidels in mainly Hindu India where Muslims have largely stayed away from global jihad.

"If you are in the fortunate position to kill an American or European, whether French or Australian or Canadian, or other unbelievers who have declared war on the Islamic State, then do so," said Maulana Abdul Rehman al-Nadwi al-Hindi in a 30-minute video posted online last week.

Indian security analysts said that Maulana Abdul Rehman is a pseudonym for fugitive jihadist Sultan Abdul Kadir Armar, a former resident of southern India who attended an Islamist seminary before going to Pakistan.

"Kill the idol worshippers wherever you find them ... shoot them if you can, stab them, throw stones at their heads, poison them, run them over, burn their fields - and if you are unable ... spit in their faces," al-Hindi said, referring to Hindus.

The emergence of a Islamic State-aligned militant group in India comes weeks after al Qaeda announced the formation of an Indian branch, aiming to rouse the world's third largest Muslim population into action.

"There is no doubt that the radicalisation process has begun in different parts of the country. Islamic fundamentalists are seeking to indoctrinate Indian Muslims," said Ajay Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi which monitors militant groups across South Asia.

The rapid rise of the Islamic State has evoked admiration among some groups in India and the flags of the insurgent group have appeared at rallies in Indian Kashmir, the country's only Muslim-majority state and the site of a nearly 25-year armed revolt.

The push for new jihadi recruits comes at a time of increased tension between Muslims and Hindus in India following the election of Narendra Modi as prime minister in May. Some of Modi's Hindu nationalist followers have been stirring up communal differences.

India has long believed that its democracy provided a platform for Muslims and other minority groups to address grievances and that they didn't have to turn to violent jihad to pursue their aims.

Modi said last month that al Qaeda would struggle to recruit members from India's 175-million strong Muslim community and praised Muslims for their commitment to fight for the country.

Two suspected al Qaeda supporters were killed when a bomb they were making exploded in a house in the state of West Bengal on Oct. 2, police told Reuters. Police said they found documents linked to al Qaeda and Chechen rebels.

 

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China's Anti-Occupy Media Offensive 'Not Aimed At Hong Kong'

China's Anti-Occupy Media Offensive 'Not Aimed At Hong Kong'

Beijing clearly didn't expect such a mass "Umbrella Revolution" in Hong Kong, and it is secretly scared by it. After taking the line that the Occupy Central movement was instigated by "a small number of people," and spun the line, accompanied by loud laughter, that "Hong Kong extremists are a paper tiger," Beijing must have believed, once it had come up with its plan for fake universal suffrage, that it had the situation under control, and that victory was within its grasp. What it hadn't bargained for was the mood of protest among Hong Kong people.

The official media mouthpieces of the ruling Chinese Communist Party have criticized the Occupy Central campaign in the manner of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). They have launched broadside after broadside of acrimony and shrill rhetoric on the Hong Kong protesters, day in, day out. Their criticisms focus on three areas:

1. The Occupy Central movement is illegal and represents an attack on the rule of law in Hong Kong. Actually, it's the central government that has led the way in attacking the rule of law in Hong Kong. Their dictum that judges should set aside their judicial independence and be "patriotic," (which means they should love the party) is just one of a number of dire examples.

2. The Occupy Central movement has harmed Hong Kong's economy. Ever since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule [in 1997], the [ruling] Chinese Communist Party has been damaging Hong Kong's economy with its close ties between officials and companies driving up property and consumer prices, widening the gap between rich and poor and turning Hong Kong to a money-laundering center for party officials. This has not only made Hong Kong people angry; it has dealt a real body blow to their economy.

3. The Occupy Central movement is the result of "overseas forces." Actually, the U.K. and the U.S. have given out quite vague messages on this occasion, causing dissatisfaction among the people of Hong Kong. Beijing's accusations that "overseas forces" are somehow involved is pretty far-fetched, and puts words into other people's mouths. Back in the day ... the Chinese Communist Party quite openly engaged foreign powers to sow civil strife and cause disarray, so as to seize power. For it to shout about overseas forces now is the pot calling the kettle black.

'Three Unswervinglys'

Beijing's propaganda about Hong Kong is all about the "Three Unswervinglys": to unswervingly implement the "one country, two systems" principle and the Basic Law; to unswervingly support the development of democracy in Hong Kong to promote the rule of law; and to unswervingly safeguard the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.

In the past 17 years, the party has in fact unswervingly tampered with the "one country, two systems" principle and the Basic Law, unswervingly hindered Hong Kong's democratic development, and unswervingly damaged our long-term prosperity and stability.

From the point of view of Hong Kong people, who have enjoyed freedom of the press, Beijing is making a noise and having its say, but what it says is a joke. Beijing's media offensive has been either ineffective or counter-productive when aimed at Hong Kong people. In fact, the gentlemen of Zhongnanhai probably already know that. Because their massive wave of criticism hasn't been aimed at the people of Hong Kong at all, but at those in mainland China.

The thing the Chinese Communist Party fears most isn't the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, but the possibility that the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong might spread to mainland China.

That is the fear that prompted the party to detain people for passing on information about the Occupy Central protests inside China. In a burlesque parody of their own paranoid weakness, Chinese police have even started questioning people with raised umbrellas on the streets.

Beijing's order to C.Y. Leung that he move the Hong Kong police in hard and fast against the protesters [on Sept. 28] also sprang from the same fear. The result was an equally quick defeat.

That tactic failed, so they tried another; mobilizing the triads to attack Hong Kong students with violence. The red and the black staged this joint farce, which bore all the hallmarks of the Communist Party: violence, bloodshed, sexual assault, corruption (sending people to pay the anti-Occupy mobs)...

Refusal to change

After dealing with the Tiananmen bloodshed of 25 years ago, the Chinese Communist Party leadership came to the following conclusions:

No concessions to be made from the outset; the pro-democracy movement should have been labelled unrest from the outset; and there should have been clear-cut opposition to said unrest from the outset.

Faced with the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement today, Zhongnanhai has learned its lesson of no compromise and no concessions from 25 years ago, while all this daily verbiage from thePeople's Daily's op-ed columns is nothing more than a rehash of that infamous [April 26] editorial titled "Resolutely Oppose Turmoil."

All of this shows that Beijing still relies on imperial modes of thought when faced with the question of democracy in Hong Kong. Even this new leadership has been unable to escape the old ideas from 25 years ago.

Such is the banal quality of its leaders' minds and the backwardness of the Communist Party, that it can only respond to innumerable changes with a refusal to change.

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Chinese Leader Xi Caught in a Bind Over Unprecedented Hong Kong Protests

Chinese Leader Xi Caught in a Bind Over Unprecedented Hong Kong Protests

Chinese President Xi Jinping is caught between a rock and a hard place as protesters occupy key parts of Hong Kong in their unprecedented quest for full democracy for the former British colony. 

If Xi gives in to the demands of demonstrators for the resignation of the unpopular Hong Kong Chief Executive C. Y. Leung and for open elections for the top post in the Chinese semi-autonomous territory, it would deal a severe blow to his tough guy image.

It could also trigger copycat protests demanding political reforms on the mainland. Beijing has already taken pre-emptive action by censoring news and social media comments about the rare show of mass civil disobedience in Hong Kong.

On the other hand, cracking down on the mostly student protests would conjure up images of the bloody suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing and draw global condemnation and sanctions at a time when Chinese industrial production has slowed to its lowest level since the 2008 global financial crisis.

The coveted status of Hong Kong as a regional freewheeling capitalist hub may also be shattered.

Beijing could try other options, such as confining the protests to a small area of Hong Kong and hope that they run their course—there is already a split in the pro-democracy camp and rumblings among traders about business being hit by the mass demonstrations—or it could set up a panel of the various political groups in Hong Kong to consider a way out for the territory's political future.

"None of the options is likely very attractive to the Chinese leadership," Elizabeth Economy, a China expert at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) said. "All come with not insignificant political and economic costs," she said in a blog post Monday. 

Granting the protestors their biggest demand—an open slate of candidates determined by universal suffrage for the landmark 2017 election in Hong Kong—also "seems well outside the realm of possibility," she said.

But Economy appears hopeful of a peaceful resolution.

As the Tiananmen and Hong Kong protests are 25 years apart and in different parts of China—one in the capital on the mainland and the other in a business hub run as part of a "one country, two systems" model—"it leaves open the hope" that the current demonstrations "will not result in the same violent suppression that befell those in Tiananmen," she said.

Rising tensions

Tensions are increasing, however.

Protesters have already occupied Hong Kong's busiest areas, including Admiralty, where the local government is based, the Central business district, the Causeway Bay shopping center, and the heavily-populated Mong Kok district in Kowloon.

Although riot police have mostly withdrawn following criticism over their use of tear gas and pepper spray on protesters on Sunday, the demonstrations involving tens of thousands are expected to snowball on China's National Day holiday on Wednesday, the deadline set by the Occupy Central civil disobedience movement for a government response to their demands.

It said "new civil disobedience plans" would be announced if the government refuses to budge.

Already facing violence in China's other autonomous regions in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia, Xi could have averted the turmoil in Hong Kong.

"The events in Hong Kong this past weekend were as unfortunate as they were unnecessary," said Richard Bush, an East Asia expert at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

He said it had been clear since 2012 on how to elect Hong Kong’s chief executive and that a sensible compromise was possible.

Such a scenario will allow competitive elections—the pro-democracy camp’s hope—without creating too much uncertainty or instability, which is Beijing’s fear, Bush said in a blog post. 

Moderate democrats had proposed approaches that would have led to such a compromise, he said.

Lot of control
In the end, however, the Chinese government set electoral parameters that would allow a one-person, one-vote election, but would give it and its allies in Hong Kong a lot of control over who could run. 

"With those rules of the game, Hong Kong’s radicals were empowered, and the instability that occurred last weekend was almost inevitable," Bush said. 

"Beijing has been quick to blame the pan-democrats for the disorder, but it had the power and the opportunity to facilitate a good outcome," he pointed out.

With protests set to escalate, can Xi, who has emerged as China's most powerful leader since Deng Xiaoping, contain and neutralize them and avoid a contagion effect on the mainland?

“This is already much bigger than anything the Beijing or Hong Kong authorities expected,” Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University who studies democratic development, told The New York Times. 

“They have no strategy for peacefully defusing it, because that would require negotiations, and I don’t think President Xi Jinping will allow that," he said. "Now, if he yields, he will look weak, something he clearly detests.”

No easy solution

Economy of the Council on Foreign Relations says there is no easy solution. 

She thinks Xi should dump Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung and replace him with locally respected figures, like former city chief secretary Anson Chan or Christine Loh, a senior environment official and ex-founder of a Hong Kong human rights group.

"[T]he best outcome for now might be to test the waters by replacing C.Y. Leung not with a lackey of Beijing or a democracy activist but with a politician such as Anson Chan or Christine Loh, who have impeccable political credentials, as well as strong managerial experience," Economy said. 

"The next three years could then be a test case for what a more independent-minded Hong Kong leader might mean for the island’s relations with the mainland and provide guidance for further revisions to Beijing’s current limited conception of universal suffrage," she said.

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FBI Releases Documents proving Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun fled to Argentina in a Submarine

FBI Releases Documents Proving Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun fled to Argentina in a Submarine

Newly declassified FBI documents prove that the government knew Hitler was alive and well, and living in the Andes Mountains long after World War II.

On April 30 1945, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker. His body was later discovered and identified by the Soviets before being rushed back to Russia. Is it really possible that the Soviets have been lying all this time, and that history has purposely been rewritten?

No one thought so until the release of the FBI documents. It seems that it is possible that the most hated man in history escaped war torn Germany and lived a bucolic and peaceful life in the beautiful foothills of the Andes Mountains.

The Intelligence Community Knew.

Recently released FBI documents are beginning to show that not only wasHitler and Eva Braun’s suicide faked, the infamous pair might have had help from the director of the OSS himself, Allen Dulles.

: Hitler and Eva Braun fled Berlin and died in Argentina

In one FBI document from Los Angles, it is revealed that the agency was well aware of a mysterious submarine making its way up the Argentinian coast dropping off high level Nazi officials. What is even more astonishing is the fact that the FBI knew he was in fact living in the foothills of the Andes.

Who is the Mysterious Informant?

In a Los Angeles letter to the Bureau in August of 1945, an unidentified informant agreed to exchange information for political asylum. What he told agents was stunning.

The informant not only knew Hitler was in Argentina, he was one of the confirmed four men who had met the German submarine. Apparently, two submarines had landed on the Argentinian coast, and Hitler with Eva Braun was on board the second.

The Argentinian government not only welcomed the former German dictator, but also aided in his hiding. The informant went on to not only give detailed directions to the villages that Hitler and his party had passed through, but also credible physical details concerning Hitler.

While for obvious reasons the informant is never named in the FBI papers, he was credible enough to be believed by some agents.

The FBI Tried to Hide Hitler’s Whereabouts.

Even with a detailed physical description and directions the FBI still did not follow up on these new leads. Even with evidence placing the German sub U-530 on the Argentinian coast shortly before finally surrounding, and plenty of eye witness accounts of German official being dropped off, no one investigated.

Even More Evidence is Found:

Along with the FBI documents detailing an eye witness account of Hitler’s whereabouts in Argentina, more evidence is coming to light to help prove that Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun did not die in that bunker.

In 1945, the Naval Attaché in Buenos Aires informed Washington there was a high probability that Hitler and Eva Braun had just arrived in Argentina. This coincides with the sightings of the submarine U-530. Added proof comes in the form of newspaper articles detailing the construction of a Bavarian styled mansion in the foothills of the Andes Mountains.

Further proof comes in the form of architect Alejandro Bustillo who wrote about his design and construction of Hitler’s new home which was financed by earlier wealthy German immigrants.

Irrefutable Evidence that Hitler Escaped:

Perhaps the most damming evidence that Hitler did survive the fall of Germany lies in Russia. With the Soviet occupation of Germany, Hitler’s supposed remains were quickly hidden and sent off to Russia, never to be seen again. That is until 2009, when an archeologist from Connecticut State, Nicholas Bellatoni was allowed to perform DNA testing on one of the skull fragments recovered.

What he discovered set off a reaction through the intelligence and scholarly communities. Not only did the DNA not match any recorded samples thought to be Hitler’s, they did not match Eva Braun’s familiar DNA either. So the question is, what did the Soviets discover in the bunker, and where is Hitler?

Even former general and President Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote to Washington.

It was not only General Eisenhower who was concerned over Hitler’s compete disappearance, Stalin also expressed his concerns. In 1945, the Stars and Stripes newspaper quoted then General Eisenhower as believing that the real possibility existed of Hitler living safely and comfortably in Argentina.

Is it Possible?

With all of the new found evidence coming to light, it is possible and even likely that not only did Hitler escape from Germany; he had the help of the international intelligence community. Released FBI documents prove that they were not only aware of Hitler’s presence in Argentina; they were also helping to cover it up.

It would not be the first time the OSS helped a high ranking Nazi official to escape punishment and capture. Look at the story of Adolf Eichmann who was located in Argentina in the 1960’s.

Did Hitler escape to Argentina? The answer is yes,

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TheBeginnings of Democracy in HongKong,China

TheBeginnings of Democracy in HongKong,China

These Images Are Crying Loudly
Pro. Democracy Protests
HongKong Government Calls Off Student Talks

Protesters occupied key parts of the Asian financial hub last week, after riot police used tear gas in a failed attempt to disperse the crowds.Under Hong Kong's current system, the chief executive is elected by a 1,200-person committee that consists primarily of pro-Beijing groups.

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HongKong democracy timeline1984: Britain and China sign an agreement where Hong Kong is guaranteed "a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs" for 50 years following the handover in 1997June-July 2014: Pro-democracy activists hold an unofficial referendum on political reform and a large rally. This is followed by protests by pro-Beijing activists31 August 2014: China says it will allow direct elections in 2017, but voters will only be able to choose from a list of pre-approved candidates. Activists stage protests22 September 2014: Student groups launch a week-long boycott of classes in protest28 September 2014: Occupy Central and student protests join forces and take over central Hong Kong2 October 2014: Chief Executive CY Leung refuses demands for his resignation, offers talks with government. Student leaders later accept the offer2017: Direct elections for chief executive due to take place

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Hong Kong government calls off student talks

Hong Kong government calls off student talks

Hong Kong's government has called off a meeting on Friday with student leaders of the pro-democracy movement.

Chief Secretary Carrie Lam said it would be "impossible to have a constructive dialogue" after protest leaders called for an increase in efforts to occupy main protest areas.

The protesters want a fully free vote in elections due to be held in 2017 for the post of chief executive.

Last week thousands of demonstrators paralysed parts of the city.

But mass demonstrations have largely subsided in recent days, although the barricades remain in place.

What happens next will largely depend on whether people do indeed rally once again to the cause, prolonging the political crisis, or whether the movement continues to dwindle of its own accord, the BBC's John Sudworth in Hong Kong reports.

'Cleaning up mess'

Hours before Ms Lam's announcement student leaders had asked for an escalation of those activities if concessions were not made by the government.

Chief Secretary Carrie Lam asked for the "illegal" occupations to stopThe protests have had a significant impact on businesses and shops in Hong Kong

Ms Lam accused them of "undermining trust" in the proposed talks.

"The dialogue cannot be deployed as an excuse to incite more people to join the protest," she said. "The illegal occupation activists must stop."

Pro-democracy leaders later urged the authorities to return to the negotiating table.

"The chaos was caused by the government. They are responsible for cleaning up the mess," Alex Chow, the president of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS), was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

Meanwhile, pro-democracy MPs in the former British colony threw their weight behind the protests by pledging to block key legislature.

Protesters occupied key parts of the Asian financial hub last week, after riot police used tear gas in a failed attempt to disperse the crowds.

Under Hong Kong's current system, the chief executive is elected by a 1,200-person committee that consists primarily of pro-Beijing groups.

In August, Beijing said it would allow a public vote in the 2017 elections. However, China wants all candidates to be approved by the committee - effectively giving it the ability to screen out candidates.

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Farmers Fight Coca-Cola as India’s Groundwater Dries Up

 Farmer Fight Coca-Cola as India's Groundwater Dries Up

Village women stand near a well which dries up during the summer months near the Coca Cola Co. bottling plant in Mehediganj, Varanasi. India draws 230 cubic kilometers of groundwater a year, more than a quarter of the global total, World Bank data shows.

Savitri Rai winces as she recounts how police beat her when she protested against groundwater extraction at a Coca-Cola Co. (KO) plant near her farm in India. A decade later, she said her water supplies keep dwindling.

“We have to dig ever deeper wells,” the 60-year-old said outside her mud house in Mehadiganj village in Uttar Pradesh state, blaming the beverage company’s bottling line a kilometer (0.6 miles) away. Coca-Cola, which declined to comment on Rai’s allegations, in August scrapped a $24 million expansion at the site, citing delays in permits to extract more water.

Such flashpoints add pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve groundwater management in the world’s biggest user of the resource as he seeks to transform India into a manufacturing hub. Growing aquifer overexploitation by farms, businesses and cities imperils India’s development goals, according to the World Bank, signaling challenges for industries from mining to brewing in need of reliable water sources.

“You have unregulated use of a resource which is not easily renewed,” said Upmanu Lall, a professor of earth and environmental engineering at Columbia University in New York. “It’s a really significant concern over the whole country.”

India draws 230 cubic kilometers of groundwater a year, more than a quarter of the global total, World Bank data shows. Agriculture uses the most, growing about 70 percent of India’s grains with it, followed by industry.

Arm’s Length

The $1.9 trillion economy operates the world’s biggest food subsidy program, and about 742 million people live in rural areas, making farming an economic lifeline.

While groundwater is the main drinking water for more than 1.5 billion people worldwide, pollutants such as arsenic make it unfit for humans in a third of India’s 600 districts, WWF India and Accenture Plc saidlast year. The country faces some of the world’s worst water challenges, they said.

In Mehadiganj, about 20 kilometers from the holy city of Varanasi, 28-year-old farmer Sabita Rai said she used to extract water with buckets attached to ropes only as long as her arm. Then the wells dried up.

“We’re too poor to drill deeper,” she said, adding that her searches for water now extend further from her home.

Kamlesh Sharma, a spokesman for Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt., Coca-Cola’s Indian business, said the company had no further comments about the plant at Mehadiganj beyond an Aug. 22 letter to the Uttar Pradesh state government.

Shared Risk

In the letter, the company said an “inordinate” delay in getting clearances from the Central Ground Water Authority for greater extraction set back the 1.45 billion rupee ($24 million) expansion, causing financial losses.

The area is classified as “critical” for groundwater, according to the letter, and the company took required steps such as rainwater harvesting to recharge twice the amount of water to be abstracted.

Coca-Cola said it plans to find a new Uttar Pradesh site for the planned 600 bottle-a-minute plant while continuing to run its 15-year-old returnable glass bottle line at Mehadiganj.

Water quality and availability in India are “already interrupting operations for some companies,” said Joe Phelan, a director at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in New Delhi. “The key is for more companies to engage with communities and fellow water users in reducing shared water risk.”

‘Go Dry’

A 2009 study by the University of California, Irvine, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration showed groundwater depletion in northwestern India from 2002 to 2008 was equivalent to a net loss triple the capacity of Lake Mead, the largest man-made reservoir in the U.S.

Depletion in northwestern India, covering Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, has continued at about the same rate, said Matthew Rodell, chief of the Hydrological Sciences Laboratory at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

“As groundwater levels decline, people’s wells will continue to go dry and they’ll have to dig deeper,” he said. “Eventually, they’ll reach the bottom of the aquifer or water quality will decline to the point where it becomes unusable.”

Modi’s steps to address water shortages include initial implementation of a plan to connect 30 rivers, a project estimated a decade ago to cost $92 billion.

India’s Central Ground Water Board said in July it plans to build rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge structuresaround the country.

Convincing States

The central government is trying to convince states, which administer the resource, to pass a law to curb overuse. Thirteen of India’s 36 states and union territories have enacted the legislation, the federal administration said in August.

Companies such as SABMiller India Ltd. and United Breweries Ltd., both based in Bengaluru, said they are taking steps to conserve water. SABMiller is working with farmers near its units in Rajasthan, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh to raise groundwater levels, vice president Meenakshi Sharma said.

SABMiller said it uses 3 liters (0.8 gallon) of water per liter of beverage, and United Breweries said it uses about 3.5 liters. PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. said audited reports show it uses 2.08 liters. While Atlanta-based Coca-Cola didn’t provide its usage for this article, it’s reported a 1.9 percent annual improvement in water efficiency and has trimmed water usage 8 percent since 2010.

Soil Moisture

The risk is conservation steps fail to address the scale of the task. The river-linking initiative, for example, ignores the reality that groundwater dependence will last many years, the South Asian Network on Dams, Rivers and People has said.

Columbia’s Lall said technology can be part of the solution, such as soil-moisture sensors costing as little 450 rupees that help farmers prevent excessive crop watering. Once groundwater is depleted, dealing with drought becomes very difficult, he said.

Government data shows a groundwaterdrop in 56 percent of wells in 2013 compared with the average for the decade through 2012, based on levels before the July-to-September monsoon.

At the same time, tension over water is evident. Jayaji Suryavanshi, leader of Jayakwadi Pani Sangharsh Kruti Samiti, a farmers’ organization, said he led protests against breweries in Aurangabad in Maharashtra state last year. He plans to contest local elections to help farmers.

In Mehadiganj, 35-year-old Urmila Vishwakarma said she takes water from 240 feet down versus 65 feet in prior years.

“Our biggest battle is for water,” she said. “Our situation has become critical.”

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