Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, facing impeachment on charges drawn up by the governing coalition, has announced that he is resigning.

He went on national TV to say that while he was confident the charges would not stand, this was not the time for more confrontation.

He is accused of violation of the constitution and gross misconduct.

Mr Musharraf has been a key ally of the US in its “war on terror” since he took power in a bloodless coup in 1999.

Reaction in Pakistan is overwhelmingly one of relief that a bruising and lengthy impeachment battle has been avoided, the BBC’s Mark Dummett reports from Islamabad.

The key issue now is whether the ruling coalition, which had pushed for Mr Musharraf’s exit since winning the February election, can stay united and deliver on its promises, he says.

It will have to agree on a new president, then persuade allies like the US and UK, and its neighbours like India and Afghanistan, that it will be committed to defeating militancy and terrorism, our correspondent adds.

International reaction to Mr Musharraf’s resignation was mixed, with the US hailing him as strong ally against terrorism but Afghanistan welcoming his departure as a boost to democracy.

‘No bravado’

Looking calm and dressed soberly in a dark suit and tie, President Musharraf said he had decided to resign after consulting his allies and advisers.

In a defiant speech, he said he had believed it was his destiny to save Pakistan, helped by God, and that he had prevented it from being declared a terrorist state.

In a clear reference to his political opponents, he accused unnamed elements of putting themselves above the country and seeking to betray it.

“Not a single charge can be proved against me,” he said, while conceding he had made mistakes.

An impeachment process would have plunged the country into more uncertainty, he said, and it was no time for “individual bravado”.

The outgoing president listed social, economic and infrastructural improvements made during his rule.

“I leave myself in the hands of the people,” he concluded.

Cheering crowds poured into the streets of Pakistan’s big cities to celebrate Mr Musharraf’s departure. In Karachi, lawyers danced in jubilation.

‘A friend to the US’

Once Mr Musharraf’s resignation letter is received and accepted by the speaker of Pakistan’s lower house of parliament, the speaker of the upper house will take over as acting president.

He is Muhammad Mian Sumroo, a member of the pro-Musharraf faction of the Pakistan Muslim League.

The new president must be elected by both houses of Pakistan’s parliament and the four provincial assemblies.

Reacting to news of the resignation, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised him as a “friend to the United States and one of the world’s most committed partners in the war against terrorism and extremism”.

She said the US would work with Pakistan’s new leaders, pressing on them the need to stem “the growth of extremism”.

The UK government wished Mr Musharraf well but stressed that relations did not depend on one individual.

India said it had no comment to make on the resignation since it was an internal matter of Pakistan.

Neighbouring Afghanistan, whose own President, Hamid Karzai, had a very fraught relationship with Mr Musharraf, hoped his departure would boost democracy in both countries.

Mounting pressure

Mr Musharraf’s resignation followed more than a year of turbulence.

The unrest began last March when he confronted the judiciary, suspending the chief justice. After widespread strikes and protests, his decision was overturned by the Supreme Court.

Mr Musharraf won the presidential election in October – but the Supreme Court refused to confirm the result.

In November, he declared a state of emergency, citing increasing attacks by militants but eventually stood down as head of the army, giving up his main power base.

The parliamentary election this February, handed a clear victory to the two main opposition parties.

The coalition struck a deal to impeach the president earlier this month and finalised their charges against him hours before he stepped down. — BBC.

General Hari Singh Nalwa was Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Commander in Chief. One day during a hunt, a tiger pounced on him. Caught unawares, Hari Singh seized him by the jaw and killed him with his bare hands.

Ace shooter Abhinav Bindra is a descendant of the famed General. His mother, Babli, is Nalwa’s fifth generation. Except Abhinav uses an air rifle instead of a sword and the sporting arena  instead of the battlefield. If Abhinav is the proud Indian to have bagged a gold for his country, his ancestor was the one whose name was minted on Punjab’s currency.

Parents absent

Abhinav’s bedtime tales were not legends. His mother fed him on “real stuff” including the tiger story  which, of course,  Abhinav never believed. 

During his practice sessions, Babli would “tag along”. Call it a “mother’s protective instinct” because, as Babli told HT: “I was scared Abhinav would have an accident or suffer an injury. It is a risky game”. At outstation camps, where the food was inedible, she even cooked for him. It is but ironic that when the defining moment came in Beijing, she was not present: “No tickets for the show, no accommodation” she says: “I wanted to be there, to watch him and give him the first hug”. The smile wanes as she fights back tears: “It is a regret with which I will live”.

O boy! It’s a boy…

With Abhinav’s birth, Babli’s pains ended. Literally. Her first born being a girl, the family, husband included, were desperate for a male child. To Babli, it made little difference though. But when the eight pounds “bundle of joy” was delivered, Babli muttered: “Thank God it is a boy and I don’t have to get pregnant again”.  She turned over and went off to sleep while the family danced.

Babli wanted her son to be a doctor: “That is because I wanted to be one and could not be. Marriage, family and then children took up all my time”. 

Sports woman

She grew up imagining herself with a scalpel till her father advised her against it. She would have flown off to the US to pursue a doctorate in psychology, had marriage not grounded her. She shifted focus and gave up whatever she was good at, including sports, a fact she plays down. Not  many know  that Kanwarjit Kaur alias Babli led her school and college teams in basketball, table tennis and hockey. She also played for the nationals and has been up on the podium bagging trophies: “It is a different feeling altogether” she says. 

Ugly landscape

Laurels apart, Abhinav’s gold has done one thing for Babli. It has helped her dress up the huge wall across the foyer in their palatial farmhouse. This wall, she had always told herself, was meant for “that one picture”: the picture of her son hugging the trophy. “I knew it would happen but till it did I used the landscape as a stop gap” Babli said. Every time she saw it, a thought nagged her: “When will this ugly landscape be replaced?”  That apart, she has plans to gift a Bentley car to her “baba”.

Mama tell papa…

Abhinav has always needed “mama” around. She acts as his buffer. An introvert, Abhinav is sensitive to public gaze or criticism. Consequently reports of his father’s riches or influence unnerve him. Or stories about the grand wedding being planned  for the country’s “most eligible bachelor”. Each time there is a hype, Abhinav pleads with Babli: “Mama tell papa… not to…”

Babli is and perhaps will remain Abhinav’s strength in silence. From fetching him from school daily to sobbing silently during his health lows, Babli did not throw in the towel. Nor did she let her son ever do that. 

Today the spotlight is on Abhinav. Babli is better known as his mother. What has, however, been given a go-by is the fact that she shaped today’s hero. In the process, she trampled on her dreams and built his…

— KumKum Chadha in HT

Renowned spiritual leader and the founder of the Art of
Living, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, held wide ranging discussions in Jammu and
Kashmir with leaders from all sections of society during his two-day visit to resolve the
Shri Amarnath Shrine imbroglio over August 12 and 13th.
On the second day of the visit on Wednesday in Srinagar, Sri Sri met Governor N. N.
Vohra; Hurriyat leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Mufti of
Srinagar, Mufti Bashiruddin and many representatives of the civil society in Srinagar.
In his interactions Sri Sri emphasized the role of civil society in restoring normalcy in the
state. “The civil society should come forward for resolution of the issue so that peace is
restored in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
On Tuesday in Jammu, Sri Sri met with representatives of 32 organisations that make up
the Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (AYSS), members of the Muslim Front Jammu, Bar
Association, Sadhu Samaj, university professors and doctors. He appealed for communal
harmony and peace in the region. He assured them that justice would be done and asked
them to be patient.
Advising the protestors against taking the law into ones own hands, Sri Sri said, “Dialogue
is the only way to resolve the present crisis.” He added that the leaders in J&K also
expressed to him their desire for a peaceful settlement. “No one should harm women and
children,” he urged.
“Jammu and Kashmir are like two eyes. If one is hurt, the other will also bleed,” he said.
He termed the recent happening in J&K as most unfortunate. “The deep wounds and scars
need to be healed fast,” he said. Calling upon the administration to be impartial and give a
human and healing touch, he asked the Centre to act fast and resolve the issue.
Sri Sri underlined the need for the majority community to take responsibility for protecting
the minority community. “Wherever Hindus are in majority, they need to protect the
Muslims and vice versa,” he said.
During the visit, thousands of people from all parts of Jammu and Kashmir met Sri Sri.
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar meets with Mirwaiz Umer Farooq in his bid to
resolve the Amarnath Shrine imbroglio in Srinagar on Wednesday. Sri Sri was
on a two-day visit to the state to meet leaders from all sections of society in his
bid to resolve the crisis in the state.
As part of his meetings with the stakeholders of the Amarnath Shrine issue, His
Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar met the J&K Governor Shri N. N. Vohra. Sri Sri was
on a two-day visit to the state to interact with leaders from all sections of
society in his bid to resolve the crisis in the state.

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar discusses ways to resolve the Amarnath
imbroglio with Muslim leaders in Jammu on Tuesday. Sri Sri interacted with the
leaders from all the sections of society in his bid to resolve the crisis in Jammu
and Kashmir

Three weeks after serial blasts rocked Ahmedabad, killing 57 people, Gujarat police claimed a major breakthrough with the arrest of 10 activists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), including nine from Gujarat. 

The formal announcement of these arrests was made only after the alleged mastermind, Mufti Abdul Bashar Kasmi, was picked up from Sarai Meer locality in Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. A Gujarat police team struggled to convince their reluctant UP counterparts about Bashar’s involvement and it took some phone calls between higher-ups in the two states to sort things out.

Bashar was arrested in a joint operation and produced before the special CBI judge (Lucknow) Rekha Dixit who allowed 3 day transit-remand to Gujarat police.

Police officials in Ahmedabad claimed that the group headed by SIMI leader Safdar Nagori had executed similar blasts in Jaipur, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

After Nagori’s arrest in Indore in March ’08, Mufti Bashar had wrested control of SIMI’s terror module.

The breakthrough is bound to boost the sagging morale of Indian agencies in the forefront of the war on terror. It’s the first time that police have moved with this kind of speed and thoroughness after a terror attack.

It also marks a new level of coordination between state police forces and with central intelligence agencies, a factor cited as a negative after each terror attack.

“We say this with pleasure and pride that our investigations would lead to the cracking of other serial blasts in the country,” said Gujarat DGP, P C Pande, acknowledging the contribution of police forces from Delhi, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Maharashtra in the investigations, apart from central agencies.

Bashar re-grouped the SIMI network after Nagori’s arrest and plotted the Ahmedabad blasts with the help of a Mumbai-based techie, an employee of Wipro who is still at large.

“SIMI operatives were working under the guise of Indian Mujahideen. Remove the first and last letters of SIMI, and you have the IM,” said Pande.
Announcing the arrest of Mufti Abdul Bashar Kasmi, Gujarat DGP, P C Pande said: “Mufti had paid frequent visits to Gujarat and the Ahmedabad and Surat terror strikes were planned during a camp held in January 2008 in the forests of Pavagadh, 50 km from Vadodara.

Bashar planned the attacks in the house of Yunus Mansuri in Bapunagar area of Ahmedabad,” said joint commissioner of police (crime) Ashish Bhatia, who led the investigations.

“Raw material for making the bombs arrived from Madhya Pradesh and a house in Vatva area of Ahmedabad was rented by the group to make the bombs. While some bombs were made at Yunus’ residence, the rest were manufactured in Vadodara and sent to Surat,” said Bhatia.

Crime branch officials said the two cars that were turned into deadly bombs in the Civil Hospital and L G Hospital blasts in Ahmedabad were stolen from Mumbai by SIMI activists from MP.

The cars were handed over to the terror group in Vapi town of Gujarat and the car-lifters stayed in Bharuch with key SIMI operative, Sajid Mansuri, whose arrest earlier this week unravelled the whole plot. The cars were later brought to Ahmedabad and fitted with the bombs.

Police have also identified the people and places from where second-hand bicycles were procured for use in the blasts.

Mobile Phones: Five pre-paid mobile cards — purchased at the same time — getting only incoming calls from different PCOs before suddenly being switched off on the day of the Ahmedabad serial blasts (July 26) presented a vital clue to the cops. However, the role of human intellegence has been proved crucial in the arrests, police said.

Alerted to the coincidence by a source, the investigators took pains to sift through details to reach the perpetrators who had taken care not to leave clues behind — either in Ahmedabad or Surat in July, Jaipur in May or even in UP serial blasts (Faizabad, Lucknow and Varanasi) in November last year. Gujarat DGP P C Pande, while giving details of the success story in Ahmedabad on Saturday, rightly mentioned the role of “human intelligence” which helped the cops in cracking the case. The technological intelligence provided on the basis of the tip-off from their source helped the police complete the loop.

Experts who hold technique to be crucial in an age where terrorists are increasingly using the latest in technology too have warned against excessive reliance on it to the exclusion of the task of developing and keeping sources.

Investigations into the Hyderbad Mecca mosque blast case remain at a dead-end despite cops having the mobile phone and SIM card — used in the unexploded bomb — in their possession. The phone could take them only to the vendors from whom the terrorists had, using fictitious details and photographs, procured the SIM and hand-sets.

Details of calls made from the phone prior to the blasts also could not throw any clue. Officials in the investigating agencies admit that there is no substitute for ‘human intelligence’ during a probe. The Ahmedabad case showed how effective it can be, giving credence to the experts’ repeated pleas of strengthening “beat policing” — the old-fashioned way of keeping details on the unusual people as well as activities — in a mohalla/locality.

Interestingly, the Ahmedabad case also showed how a mundane and irritating exercise — traffic checking — can yield leads for investigation into major terrorist strikes. It was the arrest of one SIMI activist, Riyazuddin Nasir at Honnali in Davangere district of Karnataka, during a routine check by cops in Karnataka, which landed the cops a cache of information on the network of terrorists.

Nasir, who had his terrorist training in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), was an active member of SIMI. His father, Moulana Naseruddin, who was earlier arrested by the Gujarat Police, has been in a Gujarat jail for his involvement in other terror-related cases. — Courtesy Times of India

KATHMANDU: Maoist chief Prachanda was on Friday elected as the first Prime Minister in post-monarchy Nepal as he swept a Constituent Assembly vote trouncing his Nepali Congress rival, four months after leading the former rebels to a surprise victory in the polls.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda, 53, chairman of CPN-Maoist that launched a decade-long armed struggle against monarchy, grabbed 464 votes out of the 577 cast in the 601-strong Constituent Assembly, after he received the backing of another major Left party the CPN(UML) and the Terai-based Madhesi Rights People’s Forum.

Nepali Congress’ candidate and former premier Sher Bahadur Deuba failed to muster a simple majority, winning just 113 votes in an election that saw the major party which had dominated the country’s polity being isolated.

The elections ended a four-month long logjam over government formation which saw the mainstream parties locked in a bitter power struggle.

Prachanda’s predecessor G P Koirala of Nepali Congress had already resigned under pressure from Maoists and was working in an interim capacity.

With Prachanda at helm, the Maoists are expected to get nine portfolios including the key ministries of Finance, Defence and Foreign Affairs, highly placed sources said. — PTI

The embers of “freedom” have flared into a struggle for separatism in Kashmir. Thanks mainly to the fundamentalist politics pursued by certain political parties. These parties have always failed to understand and questioned the ‘other cheek’ philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi.

A few months ago, during a talk-back show on East-side Radio in Sydney, the topic ‘forgiveness’ was floated and maximum number of callers responded with ‘revenge’ and the topic of discussion ‘forgiveness’ got lost in the melee. The moderator Mandhir Kohli sounded exasperated at the results until someone responded with a comment that you need a lot of courage to forgive and the revenge is easy and pursued by the Weak. This brought Kohli back ‘life’ and the talk was back on track with more such responses.

Forgiveness is not weakness. The fundamentalists should understand. Some benefits for Haj and less for Amarnath Yatris is not appeasement. If the Kashmir crisis has come to this stage, then all the political parties will have to share the blame. The police, CRPF and the Army too form the immediate cause for the situation. Instead of control they all have let the situation get out of control.

Sitaram Yechury, the politburo member of the CPM, was asked to lead a delegation to Kashmir to assess the situation. He reported the situation to be ‘under control’ but the turn of events now is to the contrary. The reason he gives is the provocative statements by the fundamentalist parties and the extremists taking advantage of them.

Regarding the root cause of the situation, the Rajya Sabha member says is the lethal combination of communalism and separatism. Inflammable passions continue to be roused with communalism and separatism feeding on each other. It is, indeed, a matter of shame that the situation has been allowed to come to such a pass. Worse, no tangible steps appear to have been initiated even after an all-party delegation held discussions with a cross section of public opinion makers both in Jammu and Kashmir.

The dispute centres round a widely circulated belief that land allocated to the Amarnath Shrine Board was withdrawn under pressure from the extremists in the valley. The facts, however, are to the contrary. Ownership of forest land cannot be transferred under law. 

However, the government can permit a change in the pattern of land use. Earlier, the state government had allocated some land to the Board to provide facilities to the pilgrims. Since this had become a controversy, the new Governor withdrew his predecessor’s decision seeking an assurance from the state government that it would undertake the responsibility for providing all required facilities. 

These are, indeed, being provided now and the yatra continues. In fact, in 2005, a similar situation occurred when the allocated land for the Board, whose ex-officio chairman is the Governor (if he is a Hindu), was rescinded. At that time, the issue never became a controversy. 

Today it has led to a raging agitation, first in Jammu and now in the valley, shows that this has been mounted keeping in view the forthcoming assembly elections in October and the general elections in 2009. Communal passions are being sharply aroused. Rumours are spreading like wildfire; Hindus are prevented from undertaking the yatra while the Haj is subsidised. 

Likewise, extremist elements in the valley are whipping up passions, invoking parallel visions of Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands: a prelude for altering the demographic composition of the valley.

Yechury writes: Standing at the Parimahal, built by the tragic Mughal Prince Dara Sikoh to study celestial bodies — but intended for higher theological discourses on the commonalties between Vedanta and Islamic Sufism— one could not help but reflect on the precariousness of such lofty visions. Such syncretic civilisational ethos that India is capable of scaling has unfortunately been grounded, yet again, by fundamentalist elements who seek to destroy this potential.   

Such a conflagration , which has a very dangerous potential for undermining the unity and integrity of India, is being created in order to reap electoral and political benefits. This has serious implications threatening the very security of our country and creating a fertile ground for cross-border terrorism to raise its ugly head. The RSS/BJP, who are spearheading the agitation in Jammu, have called a three-day all-India bandh. The brazen provocative assertions of L.K. Advani at the BJP’s yuva rally the other day, declared unambiguously the sharpening of communal passions to further consolidate its ‘Hindu votebank’. 

This, in turn, feeds the extremist response in the valley.  They, thus, strengthen each other.  Recollect, on the eve of 1999 general elections in India, the information secretary of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba said: “The BJP suits us. Within a year they have made us into a nuclear and missile power.

Lashkar-e-Tayyeba is getting a good response because of the BJP’s statements. It is much better than before. We pray to God that they come to power again. Then we will emerge even stronger” (Hindustan Times, July 19, 1999). 

Rewrite the script of this tragedy to douse these incendiary flames. Immediately reconstitute the Shrine Board in a manner that is acceptable to all. The land under question, while remaining under State ownership, must be used for creating temporary facilities for the yatra in accordance with the J&K High Court judgement.

However, if the dispute is only a mask for a larger agenda for both the RSS and the Kashmiri extremists, who invoke pent up feelings of injustice and ‘perceived’ injustice, then these must be met squarely. India’s unity and integrity are non-negotiable. With this as the basis, the UPA government must invite, first separately, then, together both the sides to hammer out an acceptable solution.

Both sides must suspend the agitation to allow this process to succeed. Failing this, the UPA, fearless of electoral consequences, must unhesitatingly uphold the Constitution and the law of the land.

The BJP and other parties should think of the nation now as it is clear that even if it comes to power it has no means to contain the situation. — The IST and HT

   

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has said the country needs political stability for economic development and to fight militancy.

Speaking on the eve of Pakistan’s Independence Day, Mr Musharraf said: “Differences should be buried.”

His comments came amid increasing pressure on him from the ruling coalition to step down or face charges of corruption and abuse of power.

Mr Musharraf has clung to power despite the defeat of his allies in elections.

“I appeal to all elements to adopt an approach of reconciliation so that there is political stability and we can firmly confront the real problems facing the country,” Mr Musharraf said in a TV address ahead of Thursday’s Independence Day celebrations.

He said Pakistan was passing through a “difficult phase in its history”.

“Our adversaries are trying to destabilise Pakistan from several fronts, internal as well as external.”

Mr Musharraf said the country’s defence forces were “stronger than ever before”.

Uphill battle

The president’s comments came on a day when the assembly in the province of Sindh passed a resolution calling on him to take a vote of confidence or resign.

The vote follows similar resolutions by the Punjab and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) assemblies.

The BBC’s Chris Morris in Islamabad says that in public, President Musharraf’s supporters are defiant but behind the scenes there are negotiations about a dignified exit.

BBC correspondent says that he could pre-empt impeachment by resigning in the next few days or he could answer the charges brought against him in parliament first.

The numbers do not look good for the man often described by President Bush as a key ally in the American-led war on terror.

“He has two options: to stay and fight or quit and go home,” Mushahid Hussain, secretary-general of the former ruling PML-Q party which supports Mr Musharraf told the Associated Press news agency.

“If he fights back we are with him. We will support him, and that is the preferred option.”

An impeachment would take Pakistani politics into new territory, since no Pakistani leader has faced it before. Coalition leaders insist they have the numbers in parliament.

Mr Musharraf has previously said he would rather resign than face impeachment proceedings.

The president retains the power to dissolve parliament, but most analysts believe he is unlikely to do this.

He took power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and gave up control of the army last year. His allies were routed in elections in February.

Mr Musharraf was elected president for a five-year term last October in a controversial parliamentary vote. He is still thought to have heavy influence over the military and its reaction will remain crucial.

Pakistan has been ruled by military leaders for more than half of its existence since Partition in 1947. — BBC

Nepal is finally about to choose a new prime minister – four months after the country held elections.

It will be a contest between the leader of the former Maoist rebels and a man who served three times as premier.

The Maoist leader, Prachanda, is likely to be the winner but the party of his rival says it is worried about what the former rebels will do to the country.

Political wrangling has left Nepal without a government since it became a republic in late May.

Getting rid of its monarchy in the same month now looks like a mere formality compared with the fraught business of choosing a new government.

Surprise first

Last month, Nepal gained a mainly ceremonial president, but the politicians have argued bitterly about how to find a new executive prime minister and form a cabinet.

It is now almost certain that Maoist leader Prachanda, who spent decades underground, will have the post.

His party came a surprise first in April’s elections and two of the next three parties have decided to support him in Friday’s vote by assembly members.

But the Nepali Congress party – displaced from its old role as the biggest party – is to field a candidate against him, former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Senior Congress politician Minendra Rijal admitted Mr Deuba was likely to lose but said the party wanted to register its strong doubts about the Maoists’ intentions.

He said he feared they wanted to set up a “totalitarian communist regime”. One Maoist leader described this assertion as “totally wrong” and said it was Congress’s reaction to its likely loss of the prime ministerial post.

The two-man contest means the ageing veteran Congress Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala will be quitting the post despite persistent reports that he was angling to keep it.

Even if Prachanda does become prime minister there is still scope for heated arguments as a new coalition cabinet is put together.

Especially controversial is the Maoists’ intention to hold the defence portfolio while their own army remains intact — BBC

 

SOOO    SWEET

 

In the forthcoming  festive season  treat your friends and family with these cakes, pies, slices, baklava, rabri, trifles and tarts. Serve these easy to make mouth watering treats after meal as a dessert or have it with a cup of tea or coffee as a snack. Baklava, cake and slices are also good fillers for children and school lunch boxes.

 

 

 

 

Walnut Date Cake

 

1 ½ cups white self raising flour

1 ½ cups whole meal self raising flour

1 cup dates chopped

½ cup walnuts chopped

½ cup raw sugar

1 tsp bicarb soda

Pinch salt

125 gm butter

2 eggs beaten

¾ cup butter milk

¼ cup lemon juice

1tbs lemon zest

 

1. Sieve flours and bi-carb soda in large glass bowl, add salt and walnuts, mix well and keep aside.
2.  Beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add eggs and beat well.
3. Stir in flour, along with dates and butter milk. Mix nicely and add lemon juice and zest. Mix and pour in a well greased cake tin.
4. Bake in a moderate hot oven for 45- 50 minutes or until cake is done.
5. Take it out and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
6.  Invert the cake on a cake plate and sprinkle icing sugar on top and serve with a dollop of cream on the side.

 

Baklava

 

1 cup pistachios sliced

1 cup walnuts finely chopped

1 tbs castor sugar

6 sheets of filo pastry

100gm butter melted

 

Sugar syrup

 

2 cups white sugar

2 cups water

1 cinnamon stick

4 cloves

Few drops rose essence

 

 

 

1. Lightly grease a baking tray and keep aside.
2. Mix pista and walnuts in a bowl and add pinch of ground cinnamon and sugar. Mix and divide in six portions.
3. Take one filo pastry on a work bench. Brush melted butter on sheet and fold in a half.
4. Put one portion of nuts mixture on long side of pastry and roll up pastry in a log. Brush with butter and place on baking tray.
5. Repeat this with other five sheets and nuts. And bake in a preheated oven for ten minutes on medium or until baklava are golden.
6. Place sugar and water in a pan and bring to boil. Add cinnamon stick and cloves boil hard for 5-6 minutes until syrup is thick.
7. Pour hot syrup on baklava and leave it for half an hour.
8. Sprinkle rose water on top and cut each baklava in thick slices and serve.

  

 

Blueberry Pie

 

For short crust pastry

3 cups plain flour

175 gm chilled butter

½ tsp salt

80 ml iced water

 

For filling

500 gm blue berries

¾ cup castor sugar

4 tbs plain flour

3 tbs fresh orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

2 tsp lemon juice

¼ tsp grated nutmeg

 

1. For pastry rub butter and flour with your finger tips. Add iced water to make firm dough.
2.  Wrap in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge for half an hour.
3. In a glass bowl combine all the blueberries with flour, zest, sugar and nutmeg. Mix and keep aside.
4. Roll out half the pastry and use to line a 23 cm pie dish. Pour blueberry mixture on the pastry. Sprinkle lemon and orange juice on top.
5. Roll out remaining half of the pastry and cut out stars with biscuit cutter and cover the pie. Press the edges to seal the pie.
6. Brush the top with water and sprinkle castor sugar and bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes on 190 c.
7. Serve this pie warm in winter and at room temperature in summer with ice cream.

  

  

Mango and Peach Trifle

 

2 cups vanilla custard

1 cup thickened cream

1 small butter cake

1 mango chopped

2 peach chopped

2tbs sugar

½ cup fresh orange juice

2 tbs pistachio sliced

 

1. Beat cream until soft peaks form. Add custard and mix gently until combined.
2. Sprinkle sugar on mango and peach mixture and keep aside.
3. In a serving bowl arrange cake slices and pour orange juice on top.
4. Spoon half of the custard mixture on top of the cake and arrange mango and peach mixture on top.
5. Cover fruit with remaining custard and sprinkle pistachio slices.
6. Put in fridge and serve after meal as a dessert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pear and Cardamom Tart

 

3 ripe pears

1tsp cardamom seeds

50 gm butter

¼ cup castor sugar

2 sheets puff pastry

 

1. Peel, core and cut pears in half lengthways.
2. Preheat the oven to 220c.
3. In a frying pan, that should go in the oven arrange butter, sugar, cardamom and pears rounded side down.
4. Cook on a medium heat until sugar melts and began to bubble. As soon as sugar caramelized, remove from heat.
5. Place puff pastry on top, tucking the edges down the side of the pan.
6. Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes. Leave to cool for five minutes and invert a pan over plate.
7. Serve this tart warm with dollop of cream on the side.

 

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Coconut Slice

 

2 cups self raising flour

1cup desiccated coconut

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup cocoa powder

½ cup choc chips

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

250 gm butter melted

 

1. Preheat oven on 180c. Line and grease two lamington pans.
2. In a small bowl mix together almonds, sesame seeds and a tablespoon of desiccated coconut and keep aside.
3. In a big bowl mix nicely all above ingredients and pour in the prepared lamington pans.
4. Sprinkle silvered almonds and sesame seeds mixture on top and bake for 20 minutes.
5. Cool chocolate coconut slice in pan before cutting into squares.

  

 

Milk Rabri

 

2 litre full cream milk

200gm white sugar

200gm mixed berries

 

1. Place milk in a heavy based pan and slowly bring to boil.

2. Reduce heat and cook on medium heat, stirring constantly for 20 minutes.

3. Reduce heat to low and cook further stirring now and then, until milk is thick like cream.

4. Add sugar and mix nicely in thick milk. Remove from heat and mix again.

5. Allow to cool Rabri and serve in a small bowl with mixed berries.

 

Note….Strawberries, Raspberries and Black berries go well with Rabri.

 

 

 

Orange and Pistachio Cake

 

1 cup self raising flour

¼ cup plain flour

½ cup semolina

½ cup castor sugar

½ cup milk

2 eggs beaten

125 gm butter melted

½ tsp cardamom powder

½ cup pistachio chopped

 

Orange Syrup

3 oranges

½ cup sugar

80 ml water

 

1. To make syrup we need zest of two oranges and one cup orange juice.

2. Mix one cup of orange juice along with sugar and water in a pan and bring to boil.

3. Boil hard for five minutes and add orange zest and boil again for a minute or so. This is your orange syrup for the cake.

4. To make orange cake, sift self raising and plain flour in a bowl. Add semolina, pistachio, sugar and cardamom powder.

5. Mix and make a well in the centre, add eggs, milk and butter. Mix well with wooden spoon.

6. Spoon into prepared cake pan and bake in a preheated oven on 180c for 45 minutes.

7. Cool in the pan for five minutes and turn over on plate.

8. When ready to serve pour warm syrup on cake slices and serve.

 

Note….To prepare cake pan brush with melted butter and line with non stick baking paper.

 

  

 

Coconut Cup Cakes

 

2 cups self raising flour

300 ml thickened cream

½ cup desiccated coconut

½ cup castor sugar

2 eggs beaten

½ cup milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

 

1. Preheat oven on 180c. Line cup cake tin with patty cases.
2. Sift flour, add coconut and sugar in a large bowl.
3. Add cream, eggs, milk and vanilla essence to flour mixture and mix well.
4. Spoon cake mixture into patty cases and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
5. Test one cake with the skewer. If the skewer is clean then cakes are ready.
6. Cool on wire rack and dust with icing sugar before serving.

 

 

 

 

Lemon Coconut Slice

 

Base

1 cup plain flour

100 gm cold butter

¾ cup desiccated coconut

½ cup white sugar

Pinch of salt

 

Lemon filling

2 eggs beaten

¼ cup lemon juice

¾ cup white sugar

1 tbs plain flour

1 tsp lemon zest

½ tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

 

1. Put all the base ingredients in a food processor and process until forms like bread crumbs.
2. Press this mixture to greased and lined tray and bake on 180c for 25 minutes.
3. For the lemon filling, mix all the filling ingredients until sugar is dissolved.
4. Pour this mixture on top of baked base and bake again for 30 minutes or until set.
5. When cool enough to handle, cut in slices. Sprinkle icing sugar on top and serve.

 

We give below Maan’s interview  he gave to Sanghmitra and printed in The Indian Sub-continent Times’s April 2004 issue. 

 

Meet Gurdas Maan, the human being. He is a different personality off stage. More humble with no airs of a super star. When everybody thought that after the hectic night of dance and music, Maan would be resting in his plush hotel room, the organizers sprang a surprise early next morning with a call at the IST office to say that the legendary singer has taken some time off out of his busy schedule for the media before leaving for Melbourne. The IST representative Sanghmitra responded to the short notice.

 

Q)                   How do you find Sydney?

 

Gurdas Maan: I have been to Sydney before, this is the third time I am coming here but it feels good to be back.

 

Q)How was the show last night?

 

GM The show was excellent. It got better and better with every song. There is a saying that after every action — there is equal reaction and this is exactly what happened last night. Sydneyites’ response to my songs was fabulous and so was my response to them and that encouraged me to perform better and better with every song. The crowd enjoyed listening and I also enjoyed singing..

 

Q) When you got the offer to perform in Australia again, what was your reaction? What were your expectations from the people living here?

 

GM It was overwhelming! I think people living outside of India are more successful in keeping our culture alive. Living in a small community in a foreign land keeps you more and more in contact with each other and more close to each other.

 

Q) What are your views on India and Pakistan? Would you like to perform in Pakistan if given a chance?

 

GM People living in Pakistan and people living in India are not different at all. We all are same people, we eat the same kind of food, and our lifestyle is the same. I would love to perform in Pakistan; I am waiting for that chance.

 

 Q) It is said that behind every successful man there is a woman? Who is behind your success?

 

GM                  There are heaps of women behind my success! (Laughs) No, I am serious, there are so many women behind my success — my daadi who loves me a lot, my mother, my wife and all my fans that include women too.

 

 

Q) Maan Saheb, you are an excellent singer, who did you learn singing from?

 

GM Thank you very much. God gave me this voice but also along with it gave me responsibility to serve people. I used to listen to other singers and that is how I used to sing songs as a hobby with my friends. “Main to yoon hi shauk shauk mein dafli bajata tha, phir logon ne dafli mere gale mein baandh di aur paaon mein ghunguroo daal diye!” (Laughs)

Every artist in the world needs blessings from a guru and after singing for a while I was blessed by Pandit Atma Prakashji and later on I learnt sarangi from Sultan Khan Saheb. 

 

Q) How do you bring such deep truths of life in your songs?

 

GM Experiences! Life is full of experiences. Everyday we experience something or the other and when I put these experiences in a song they become Folk Songs or Lok Geet and when I sing them, the audience react by saying that this is my song…this is what I have been through.

When I go back to India from here I will take experiences from here. Whatever happened last night at the show is an experience and soon they would be converted into a song.

 

Q) These days ‘Punjabi’ songs are very popular in Hindi Films. What do you think is the reason behind this and what influence does it have?

 

GM  It has a very negative influence I would say. These days anything to do

Punjabis is a joke. The moment a person says Punjabi, the first thing that comes in mind is “Balle Balle”.

We have made films in Punjabi, one was “Zindagi Khoobsurat” and the other was “Shidat-e-mohabbat” and Manoj Punj was the director for both.

So now two other movies “Des hua Pardes” and “Political Asylum” are under production with the same director and for which we contacted Juhi Chawla. We told her that one movie is going to be in Punjabi and the other in Hindi, Juhi replied that the project is good but it shouldn’t become a mockery. So this is the negative influence of Punjabi songs in Hindi films that instead of promoting Punjabi culture it is making fun of it.

 

Q)                    Any message for the people of Sydney?

 

GM I would like to thank all those people who came last night for my show, the kids who danced to all my numbers, people who sat there and listened to each and every word of my songs and enjoyed the beat, the families who specially came with their children so that they could learn more about our culture, all the people who were dancing — they obeyed me when I told them to have control on themselves, this shows their respect towards me, and all my fans. Above all my producers, who gave me another chance to perform in Sydney. Thank you to all! God bless you.