from Photographers Blog:
Left teary-eyed after an onion attack
Onions have been a very important part of Indian history. Governments have fallen here over the price of onions. So last week when our commodities correspondent Rajendra Jadhav suggested a story on the skyrocketing prices of vegetables, onions seemed the natural peg. The idea was to do something simple around the price of a vegetable as it changes from the field to the dinner table. Our destination was the wholesale onion market in Nashik, Maharashtra, one of the highest producers of onions in the country. Nothing had prepared us for what we were about to encounter.
On Monday, prices of onions nose-dived over a ban on exports by the government and the arrival of new stock through imports. Unaware of this, we went to the onion market in Lasalgaon.
Upon reaching the location, both Rajendra and I got busy. I photographed the way onions were being loaded on small tractors. We then moved to the other side of the market where the auction was to take place. But here something unexpected happened - we were greeted by angry farmers who accused us, the media, of pushing prices down; we were the only two there at the time.
Their anger was such, we instantly shelved our plans of taking pictures and started walking back towards our car. But from then on, it all went awry.
The crowd turned hostile and started throwing onions at me. They were yelling and screaming. A stone was hurled at me. I started running towards the car, shouting at my driver to open the door. I got in but my driver was too nervous to stay inside the car. So as luck would have it, a mob surrounded my car and my driver was nowhere to be seen. I tried to stay as calm as I could.
Is the Lashkar-e-Taiba plotting another Mumbai?
The Jamestown Foundation, a U.S.-based think tank, has warned of a renewed threat to India from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
It quotes intelligence sources as saying the LeT’s marine wing may be planning a Mumbai-type incursion to target vital installations in the coastal states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa.
The group is also reported to have funneled huge amounts of money from its Gulf-based networks to fund activities in India.
It is not the first time such a warning has been issued, since the attacks in November. The U.S. embassy still has a warden message on its website dated June 2, 2009, warning U.S. citizens there is a “high threat of terrorism throughout India.
India’s Home Minister P. Chidambaram wasn’t too happy with the advisory when it was issued, arguing the country was safe to travel. But if his own intelligence agencies are talking of a second 26/11, you have to ask yourself if you should not be taking these warnings seriously.
The Jamestown Foundation said the LeT was using the Gulf networks and hawala channels to route money for operations not just in India, but in Pakistan itself.
What is Justice , Raja ?
Killing, burning and religious genocide, forced exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from their own homeland, by using an ‘imported’ terrorist religion ?
400,000 Hindus had been displaced and killed by Islamic terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir,before the Indian army moved in.
Would you justify Direct Action Day, 1946 the same way you are justifying the 26/11 attacks ?
Pakistan cricket plunges into crisis
It’s just not cricket.
Ducking for cover as bullets replaced bouncers… players evacuated in a military helicopter that lands right next to a 22-yard pitch… the same strip at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium that saw Thilan Samaraweera score a double century the previous evening.
Samaraweera was hit on his leg during an audacious attack by armed militants on a convoy taking his team to the venue, an attack that left six cricketers injured and more than half-a-dozen Pakistani security personnel killed.
The world of cricket will never be the same again.
More worrying is the fate of Pakistani cricket. Tours to Pakistan were already a trickle with teams like Australia refusing to travel.
The matches against Sri Lanka came after more than a year of near pariah status. And even this tour was hastily arranged after India pulled out post-26/11.
After months of shadow boxing and pulled punches, the ICC had to suspend international cricket in Pakistan.
being an indian,i can’t thank God enough that india cancelled its tour of Pakistan.God knows what would have happened to them.Maybe the incident was top show how deep terrorism has reached into the core of Pakistan.
All the same i also feel sorry for the Pakistani public and people…Pakistan has always enjoyed and has been good at cricket.Now without any tours,PCB will find it difficult to maintain pakistani cricket at its current standards.
India in 2008: The year that was
Yet another year is coming to an end and independent India’s idea of being a republic is a year older. But is it any wiser?
On many counts, 2008 was both tumultuous and memorable for India, testing its men and the manner in which they confronted the challenges.
It was a year which saw the Manmohan Singh government face some of the toughest questions in its 4-year rule.
For that matter, some of the questions were directed at the people, the polity and the nation itself, which is still on edge after horrific images of a militant rampage on Mumbai made headlines around the world in late November.
It was a promising start to the year with the economy growing at well above 8 pct and the Sensex touching a staggering 21,000 points in late January.
Inflation was the only worry as global crude prices were near the 100-dollar mark.
2008 was indeed an eventful year. But it had more negatives than positives.
Yes, we had a good stint in Olympics and Cricket. But, we had to face so many terrorist attacks across India. The economic crisis also added to the gloom of the public. In a nutshell, I would consider 2008 to be the year best forgotten.
The young face of militancy
When the first pictures of the Mumbai attackers were shown on national television, they sent a shiver down my spine.
Staring back at me from the television screen was a guy about my age, dressed in a dark T-shirt with ‘Versace’ written across it, clad in jeans, hair falling across his forehead and a blue backpack slung over one shoulder.
The first thought that struck me was “this guy should be in college right now.”
He had the look typical of any college student or young professional.
He definitely did not look capable of pumping bullets indiscriminately at innocent passers-by from an automatic weapon or hold so many people hostage at one of Mumbai’s posh hubs.
For the first time since a string of bombings over the past few months, militancy now has a definite clean-shaven, young face that does not seem to care if it is seen or heard as it appears fleetingly at the windows of a luxury hotel between encounters with commandos.
No more of the crude bomb chucking from motorbikes or the nameless and faceless shadows leaving vehicles loaded with explosives to blow up in crowded markets.
we the indian r all 2gather and we never allow any one 2 disturb u r royalty and culture, we r very devoted 2 all people who dide in tererist attack…..
Crap happens~! What a crazy story though! Haha! Keep on shooting! Your pictures are fantastic!