Japan vows to invest $35 billion over 5 years in India

[commander]

Can't say. I suspect the mandate they got is a one time shot we won't see again for a while. The question of staying in power is an open one. They could not manage it in 2004. And pro-development govts have had a mixed record in India. Gujarat is the sole exception because of the vibrant business community there. Thing is there is this massive yearning to be better from the youth and they are his key constituents. Hope always springs eternal.

I expect it will take at least three years for their labours to bear fruit or this is what the business community in India generally expects.

Right now the opposition is coming from the judiciary, they are charging the govt with interfering with their independence.

Thing is with the last govt the charge was of judicial over reach. The courts were extending themselves because the executive was weak. That's not the case now and i think the judiciary resents it.

Unless Congress can find a strong leadership who can take charge or Rahul Gandhi somehow changes his ways and begins to do damage control chances of BJP coming to power again is a possibility although coalition government has more chances the next time.

[indian]

Your grandfather was in Burma around the same timeframe, right?

Say a prayer of thanks for me the next time you see him.

And share the story with your family. It is your history. I can understand you wanting to forget the BIA but you should never forget your family.

Sir,Many Indians were present in Burma sir most were employess of the colonial raj sir others like my family members were doing trade in Burma sir. Growing opium in the Eastern Ghats jungles of AP and sending it to China via Burma,Rangoon.Later they started trading in Tobacco but the opium trade still continued till the late 1930s. From Burma they used to trade back in Teak and Rubies. They even frequently used to enter the burmese Jungles in Kachin for teak.even now we have family heirlooms of that past like this sword

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7493091...n/photostream/

When the Japanese invaded Burma they were literaly stuck in Burma till 44.My great grandad along with 3 of his eldest children and 4 of his 8 brothers were stuck in Burma .The were all captured and were used as Penal labour in the burmese Jungles for 6 months later by a stroke of luck he escaped along with his children and two brothers to India via north east. Two his brothers were in the penal camp luckily survived and later settled in Singapore eventually marrying Chinese women there .

Recently we found his memoirs sir and his recollections of his years in burma in that period are particularly horrifying sir

[Oracle]

/\/\/\ Your Flickr link doesn't work.

China set to pump billions of dollars in India, outwit Japan

Both Mr. Xi Jinping & Mr. Narendra Modi were born after WWII. Could these investment and gestures mark a significant progress in Indo-China relations? Let's hope so.

[Oracle]

I never intended to insult those men.. I was only pointing out the possibilities. I get what they have done to our country and had acknowledged it earlier.

Yours posts are a reflection of insult. There's no need to point out possibilities. There are experts in here who specialize in that, and darn good. You weren't born that time, I wasn't too. So keep an open mind and learn from people here, what our history books don't teach.

No arguments?

Your hatred for the British is illogical. The President of India lives in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, originally built for the Viceroy of India. Current PM. Mr. Narendra Modi touched the stairs of Sansad Bhavan (Indian Parliament) in respect, even though it was built by the British. Don't like the Brits, have them bulldozed. But you can't. Many portions of North-East gets it's supplies of bread, vegetables, oils, petrol etc because of the metre-gauge railway track built by the British. It's still functions today with slight maintenance.

What might seem unfair to you is very fair to me. I wish the Brits were here for some more decades, so that I could reach my fcuking home in a day instead of 2 and painful experiences. You don't care and you won't, coz' you were born in South India, which is fairly developed since independence. Had you been born in a remote hill in the NE, you'd been singing a different tune.

[indian]

/\/\/\ Your Flickr link doesn't work.

China set to pump billions of dollars in India, outwit Japan

Both Mr. Xi Jinping & Mr. Narendra Modi were born after WWII. Could these investment and gestures mark a significant progress in Indo-China relations? Let's hope so.

Rectified

[popillol]

Your hatred for the British is illogical. The President of India lives in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, originally built for the Viceroy of India. Current PM. Mr. Narendra Modi touched the stairs of Sansad Bhavan (Indian Parliament) in respect, even though it was built by the British. Don't like the Brits, have them bulldozed.

When we will have enough money, sure, why not. Right now it needs to go for development. Modi touching the stairs of Sansad bhavan had to do with the Constitution written by our freedom fighters and not the building built by British. I think anybody could figure that out.

Many portions of North-East gets it's supplies of bread, vegetables, oils, petrol etc because of the metre-gauge railway track built by the British. It's still functions today with slight maintenance.

You surely ignoring the economic exploitation then. It wasn't a charity done by the British.

What might seem unfair to you is very fair to me. I wish the Brits were here for some more decades, so that I could reach my fcuking home in a day instead of 2 and painful experiences.

Our freedom fighters thought otherwise and they were far more intelligent than you.

You don't care and you won't, coz' you were born in South India, which is fairly developed since independence. Had you been born in a remote hill in the NE, you'd been singing a different tune.

Nobody is denying the under-development. India is still poor. That doesn't mean you instead of cleaning the current system of corruption, start calling the British, the very people the nation fought against and the ones who were primarily responsible for wealth drainage.

[commander]

Yours posts are a reflection of insult. There's no need to point out possibilities. There are experts in here who specialize in that, and darn good. You weren't born that time, I wasn't too. So keep an open mind and learn from people here, what our history books don't teach.

If that's the case then everyone in the world will be insulted over one or the other because until you have some hard documented facts like the sun rises in the east, you are free to speculate. Doesn't necessarily mean you are insulting them, in fact it might lead us to the unearthing the answers that were long hidden or forgotten. The circumstances which lead them to joining the war wasn't clear so I took the liberty to speculate. You don't find it good then come up with some hard facts that I was wrong then I will stand corrected, until then I am free to think.

No arguments?

I can get into the path that you chose but I chose not to. My arguments are reserved for more sensible posts than that.

Your hatred for the British is illogical. The President of India lives in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, originally built for the Viceroy of India. Current PM. Mr. Narendra Modi touched the stairs of Sansad Bhavan (Indian Parliament) in respect, even though it was built by the British. Don't like the Brits, have them bulldozed. But you can't. Many portions of North-East gets it's supplies of bread, vegetables, oils, petrol etc because of the metre-gauge railway track built by the British. It's still functions today with slight maintenance.

popillol provided a very good answer to that so I will skip this part. Except for one, about the bulldozing part, the design might have been of British but it was not the British who build it it was rather thousands of Indian labourers that built those buildings with the materials that were produced in India. Moreover it is not the building that we should be worried about but rather the men that are inside them ruling us :slap:

What might seem unfair to you is very fair to me. I wish the Brits were here for some more decades, so that I could reach my fcuking home in a day instead of 2 and painful experiences. You don't care and you won't, coz' you were born in South India, which is fairly developed since independence. Had you been born in a remote hill in the NE, you'd been singing a different tune.

Yes they laid the foundation not because out of love for our people but for their convenience to keep your,my ancestors as slaves. You don't invade and enslave a nation to build railway lines and telecommunication systems out of love for the people you enslaved do you. I agree it is helping a bit in the modern India but it was the sicular government that was in power for the last 6 decades that would rather loot the country than try to improve our country. You want the British to still rule India so you could reach your home a day earlier ? Man I am glad there aren't many of you around now or during the British Raj. Our founding fathers were wise to get rid of them at the earliest. The elected government of India hasn't done shit is the reason you are going home a day late, atleast you are getting home now aren't you. Had there been a British raj the chances are we might be butlers and house maids for them or could have been rounded up as target practice for them. Southern part of India (Not South India) had developed because of the regional governments (however small the development maybe) that we had and your region failed to elect some good men to power, Not our issue. Remember Southern India wasn't that developed post Independence, my grandfathers,fathers and the likes of so many of my country men worked for it. So come out of this blind love for the British and accept that we had a failed government and we should find ways to rectify it rather than long to become slaves again. By your words now you are insulting all our country men who lost their lives,families fighting for the freedom of our country, how do you feel about it.

[Doktor]

Oracle, the Brits might have been more efficient but it is your country for almost 70 years. It's about time to develop it.

[Bigfella]

I'm not sure I completely agree with that. Japanese crimes have never been actively highlighted by the Western media and elites the same way German ones were; the Holocaust still garners more attention than the greater numbers of Chinese killed by Tokyo's imperialism in the West. Nor do they appear to have been comprehensively investigated the way Hitler's crimes were. Perhaps the issue was that Japanese victims were mostly Asian, or Germany was seen as the greater threat. Either way, I don't think Tokyo was ever pressed to deal with its' past to the same extent as Germany, and it certainly isn't today. With total control of Japan, having subjugated the Emperor himself, the US had a good opportunity to enforce a trend of introspection in Japan. It didn't do so to the point it could have, with the result that Japanese people today have very little idea of events in, say, Nanking.

You continue to overestimate the ability of the US or any other outside power to shape every aspect of Japanese society. Japan has a history of being an extremely insular culture. America had effective control of Japanese society for 4 years. While it was possible to change some things, that is a very short time to do a very big job. Short of multi-generational control over the schooling system I don't see how they could ensure that Japan saw those war crimes the same way we do.

As for postwar treatment of war crimes, over 4,000 Japanese were sentenced to prison or death by the Allies (not including the USSR or Communist China). Close to 1500 of these were death sentences (though not all were carried out). The figures for the various Nuremburg trials are a fraction of this - perhaps as low as 10% (exact figures are hard to find). Ironically, one of the harshest critics of the severity of these sentences & the trials as a whole was India justice Radhabinod Pal, who felt all the suspects at the main trial should be acquitted.

So, if there was any different treatment it was that the Japanese were punished much more harshly.

Given that the bulk of the victims of Japan were Chinese, the responsibility for those prosecutions fell to China, just as responsibility for German war crimes against Russians fell largely to Russia.

As for subsequent treatment of war crimes in media, that is a large & complex issue and I don't see it as related to the self image of Japanese. Those crimes were well known & highly publicized in Australia, the US & Britain in the postwar generation. In some cases they were better known than Nazi war crimes. Japan isn't a part of Western culture & I get the impression it consumes it in a highly selective way & one that often subverts original meanings anyway.

[Bigfella]

If that's the case then everyone in the world will be insulted over one or the other because until you have some hard documented facts like the sun rises in the east, you are free to speculate. Doesn't necessarily mean you are insulting them, in fact it might lead us to the unearthing the answers that were long hidden or forgotten. The circumstances which lead them to joining the war wasn't clear so I took the liberty to speculate. You don't find it good then come up with some hard facts that I was wrong then I will stand corrected, until then I am free to think.

I'm sorry Commander, but that just isn't going to fly here. You made a 'speculation' that was deeply offensive & without foundation. If I 'speculate' that a member of WAB is a paedophile the defence that 'there is no evidence that he/she is not' won't stop me from being banned & losing the respect of anyone here who respects me. The general rule is that the more extreme the claim, the higher the burden of proof. We are talking about 2.5 million volunteers here. if you are going to allege that they were coerced you need evidence. lack of evidence isn't a free for all to just make things up, especially things that cast millions of brave men in such a negative light. I'm prepared to accept that you didn't mean to offend, but pleas think a bit more before you make such speculations.

If one of the white posters here showed the lack of respect for these men that some Indians do the 'victimhood brigade' would be lining up to make accusations of racism & 'colonial mentality'.

Here is a small fragment:

British Indian Army Archives - Indian Memory Project :: Indian Memory Project

Here is part 1 of a British documentary with plenty of Indian voices. The remainder is on youtube. Watch the whole thing. has some flaws, but you get some first hand accounts. Interestingly the Indian Government wouldn't let the program do interviews in India. Wonder why?

I'm sure there is more if you care to look.

[antimony]

Your grandfather was in Burma around the same timeframe, right?

Say a prayer of thanks for me the next time you see him.

And share the story with your family. It is your history. I can understand you wanting to forget the BIA but you should never forget your family.

Sir,

He passed away in '98.

Also, I don't thin we are consciously trying to forget the BIA, just ignoring it.

I personally think a resurgent natinalistic India should have embraced at least this part, and shown the rest of the World how the blood and bravery of our soldiers played a part in saving their bacon.

[Officer of Engineers]

He passed away in '98.

I've read that. I humbly ask you to give a prayer of thanks for me the next time you visit his grave.

[antimony]

I've read that. I humbly ask you to give a prayer of thanks for me the next time you visit his grave.

Sir,

Thank you for those thoughts. He was cremated, but we keep a large picture of him in his last uniform at my mother's family house. He was a JCO, but retired as an Honorary Lieutenant, which I understand is given based on the recommendation of the COAS (Chief of Army Staff).

He was a cool old man, strict to his kids (my mother and uncles) but with a keen sense of childish humour, especially with us grandkids. I fondly remember watching the Republic Day parade with him, with him sitting crosslegged yet ramrod straight on the floor. I always thought he sat up a little straighter when he saw the units marching by.

[sated buddha]

I've never understood this sham of an entire nation and people being made to pay and be contrite and sorry and carry this delivered guilt across generations for what happened in war.

IT'S WAR!

So factors conspired to ensure that one side won and one side lost. Does that mean the side that won came out smelling of roses?

BS!

You won, they lost. Period. Their war criminals got hanged, your's went scot free and were garlanded as heros.

History was written by the victor. History was told by the victor.

And you want every subsequent generation of the vanquished to deal with this shit?

I know what I would do if I was a German or a Japanese.

I'd readily exercise my finger. As I see an entire generation of Japanese doing today.

So the Germans did some national soul searching, and the Japanese did not? Did the Germans also get nuked twice? An apology would beget an apology I think. In the absense of one, you'd be waiting for one. For a very very long time.

[Bigfella]

Like I said, knows the price of everything & the value of nothing.