Manmohan Singh expresses condolences over Pakistan fire tragedies
“I was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of lives in the fire accidents in Karachi and Lahore on Tuesday, September 11,” Singh wrote in his letter to Ashraf.
“On behalf of the government and the people of India, and on my own behalf, I convey our deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the two tragedies,” he added.
The two fire incidents which took place in Lahore and Karachi on September 11 have left hundreds of people dead. The fire in a Karachi factory has alone left over 250 dead.
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@Dr V. C. Bhutani: "Dr Singh, like Nehru, is a man of absolute integrity. One may accuse him of wrong decisions but nobody can accuse him of dishonesty." Well, he is Nehru's orphan as is the whole cabal of Congress leaders today. So, how many wrong decisions is he allowed? Lal Bahadur Shastri offered his resignation to Nehru after one railway accident. As far as "dishonesty" goes, he is perhaps the most intellectually dishonest man in that cabal. (Current Coalgate has exposed him to be so.) If that were not so, he would not have been content to crawl through a loophole in the Indian Constitution every morning into the prime ministerial office and occupy a chair once sat upon by Nehru, a man who proved to be almost all flaws but admittedly a Democrat to his core. He (MMS) is an interloper PM who shamelessly managed to purloin that august office.
"Those who comment here and speak in uncomplimentary terms merely show their own class." Having said the above, did I expose myself as a Shudra in your view?
Good gesture ,feel sad for the poor people.
May God give them the courage to face this adversity
@John B: Your understanding of events and Congress party internal politics is so far out that I cannot even bridge the gap with a comment, so let us agree to disagree (a simple example is that Chidambaram was not even in the Congress when MMS became PM, and Antony was not even a member of parliament). But I am sure he will be touched by your confidence in him - even his biggest fans probably don't compare him to Napolean.
@John B: You lost me when you write " Chidambaram, Antony and now President Pranab Mukherjee are equally powerful politically in Congress party as Sonia Gandhi is..."! I wish they were, it's time we got out of dynastic rule.
good gesture from manmohan singh....our deepest condolences for the pakistanis...may god give strength to the families who've lost their loves ones...
@BlackJack: That was brilliant. I would qualify "He maybe an honest man". He maybe financially honest but lacks intellectual honesty and claiming to be a resident of Assam definitely does not qualify as honest either.
Several of these are graceless comments which do no credit to the people of Pakistan. Here is a mere formal message, and several of the comments set out to dissect history of post-1947 India. There was no need for this and in the context of the message it was wholly irrelevant. Several of the issues mentioned are matters of profound controversy. Dr Singh is an economist par excellence and his views on economics are heard with respect throughout the world, even in Pakistan where scholars (not those who comment here) understand his calibre. Dr Singh, like Nehru, is a man of absolute integrity. One may accuse him of wrong decisions but nobody can accuse him of dishonesty. Those who comment here and speak in uncomplimentary terms merely show their own class. V. C. Bhutani, Delhi, India, 16 Sep 2012, 0450 IST
i feel ashamed at the comments of my fellow indians here,300 people have died u heartless goons, cant you ideologues keep politics out of anything.
@David Smith: @sid:
"This Singh is not King…………."
**Kings are made by king makers and it takes a King to manage King makers"
One cannot be made a King twice.
@BlackJack:
I stand by my statement. I carefully chose my words.
History is written by the events men at the helm do. It is always understood that these men have others in their court who helped these men to achieve glory or infamy. But the men at the helm are not idiots and those in the court are not without daggers.
Chidambaram , Antony and Now President Mukergee are equally powerful politically in congress party as Sonia Gandhi is. These power brokers knew whom they wanted at the helm in a given time and chose the right one and MM Singh convinced the power brokers that he is their man for the time. Kings are made by king makers and it takes a king to manage the king makers.
I am always surprised when people talk that MM Singh was chosen because of his lack of "political ambition". The statement is oxymoron because if the PM office is the political ambition of any one, MM Singh got that, twice; what more political ambition can he have?
MM Singh's vision of Inclusiveness, supported by others of course, plays a vital role and his academic background gave him an edge in the global and domestic affairs. He is instrumental in bringing Burma and Bangladesh to the table, settling outstanding issues with PAK and China, got investment flowing into India, resolved long standing misgivings with US on nuclear technologies, established a strategic iron clad relationship with US despite PAK lobbying against it, kept the long standing Moscow accord intact, and managed the political grid lock and opposition craftily, threw out the rotten apples without hesitation despite the threat of coalition partners, managed the rabid press, and where it needed did not hesitate to use force and withdrawal of it and kept India out of war, turned things around in J&K, and brought India in Afghanistan affairs despite domestic resistance and managed the PAK and the unruly coalition partners.
Napoleon never won all the battles and never won the battles alone. Yet, he is Napoleon.
When history is being made the contemporaries of these men are always unkind and will be happy to nail these men on the cross. But Indian historians cannot write their history without MM Singh. Mr. Rao is a blip in India's history due to events of the time. Yet, when historians write about Mr. Rao, they cannot skip MM Singh.
Coal gate, 3G gate, commonwealth gate? These gates did not protect any and were not pushed under the carpet by his government.
He is a statesman and not a politician.
The days of hereditary politics in congress party is over in India at the federal government beginning with Mr.Rao. But that does not mean Rahul Gandhi won't become PM one day, but it will his own battle on the future.
love from pashtoons to indian prime minister ..
@Blackjack A masterly summary but needed a couple of phrases more "...far from a statesman and an infinite capacity to suffer humiliation. His strength is that he has a constituency of one, and as long as she is satisfied, he has no worries!"
@John B: I disagree in part with your statement. Nehru was certainly a statesman and although not a fan of his economic policies, I acknowledge his great contribution in laying the foundation for a pluralistic democracy. Indira Gandhi was a great political leader, with a level of decisiveness (and deviousness) that has not been seen in Indian politics before or since. Vajpayee was much more statesman than politician - he had an unblemished record as an exemplary parliamentarian that earned respect from outfits of all hues; the BJP has still not recovered from his exit. (The wheeler-dealer of the NDA was Pramod Mahajan, probably the most adept politician of those times despite having no mass-based support). Manmohan Singh is a technocrat whose nomination for the top job was based on zero political ambitions and demonstrated lack of leadership potential - someone who would toe the dynasty line without a murmur of protest; he basks eternally in the glory of economic liberalization that could never have been achieved without risks taken by Narsimha Rao. He may be an honest man, but is not even a mediocre politician, and far from a statesman.
Two statesmen in India politics: Nehru and MM Singh.
Two great politicians of India: Indra Gandhi and Vajpai
The legacy of these two categories of people will last beyond their graves( or ashes).
Manmohan Singh did the right thing. It was a tragedy where 300 innocent poor people died
I wonder if our PM was really sadened by this incident ?!?!?
@sid: To complete two tenures of five years as PM of India is not a joke however what ever may be his weaknesses, he is still the king.
what aboiut farmers in India committing suicides?
He is trying his best to divert attention from his Coalgate scandal, for which he is seen to be directly responsible. The more he tries, the more he fails. Now Supreme Court has taken up the issue and summoned the government to come clean. He is the most pathetic, the most pitiable to occupy the high office he managed to purloin!
Thnx Mr Singh.....love from pak
Thank you Sir Manmohan Singh.
MMS should look into our own country .Your corrupt party killing millions of people indirectly .No need to look for another issue .
I never heard him express condolence or outrage when a train full of Hindus were burned down by Muslims in Godhra.
Of course, these pseudo-secular, anti-Hindu, pro-muslim, weak undemocratic congress government has to appease Indian muslim votes to stay in power.