Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Sunil Dutt - The epitome of an Indian

So much has been written about him already but I have to write something, for he was someone, I always had that strange admiration for. I hardly ever met him or saw in person. All my information about him is gathered through years of media reporting, but still, whatever I read or heard, made me believe that he was an example of a human being, we in India should all aspire to become.

A misfit in politics? No!! Unlike many would like to call him that way, but he was there probably so that he can make a difference. Vir Shanghvi in one of his recent columns in Mid Day, sums up his life as a 'triumph', and I wholeheartedly agree.

Back in 1962-63 when he and his wife had set up the Ajanta Arts troupe and took parties of dancers and singers to the borders of India, to NEFA and to Ladakh to entertain our jawans, it would always be the high point of the values that he cherished. This feat often prevented the pseudo-patriots from branding him as a pseudo-secular. They would love to do that for his innumerable services done toward those who suffered during the riots and other onslaughts in the hands of our ingrown terrorists amongst the majority community.

Then again, during the Rajiv Gandhi government, Dutt strived towards communal harmony and peace, walking around Punjab at a time when tensions between Sikhs and Hindus were at an all time high.

His anti-climax, (as was bound to happen, for doing all this service to the nation) would have definitely come during the Narasimha Rao congress government. Then, he had come to believe that the party had lost its secular moorings and went public with these thoughts. He resigned from the Congress because of its shameful failure to prevent babri demolition and keep the peace during the ghastly Bombay riots of 1993, only to culminate by the infamous Bomb Blasts engineered by D-company 3 months later .

Though he was persuaded to withdraw that resignation, further trauma was in store when his son Sanjay was arrested under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA). The police had charged Sanjay with possession of an unlicensed rifle (he had arms licenses, but not for this particular weapon).

Dutt had then said, in Sanjay’s defence, that he had procured the weapon because of the many threats the family had received in the aftermath of Sunil Dutt’s stand on the riots where he, along with other bigwigs like, Ratan tata, called for the arrest of Shiv Sena chief, Thackery.
Sena chief was then persumably convinced, and so were/still are many Hindus of Bombay and abroad, that in the critical months of December, 1992 and January 1993, Muslim mobs armed to the teeth with hi-tech weapons provided by Pakistan (who else?) would have butchered Hindus in the city had he not ordered his Sainiks to "pre-empt" and "retaliate" and thus eventually "teach the Muslims a lesson", they would have killed all Hindus.

Bal tackery had written highly inflammatory articles in his mouthpiece and created this illusion amongst his Shiv Sainiks which culminated in the slaughter of the minority community while the police simply stood by.

So, Sunil Dutt always believed that while the police could have tried Sanjay under the Arms Act (which would have attracted a possible jail sentence of six months), the decision to charge him under a terrorism law was taken by Narasimha Rao and Sharad Pawar (then Chief Minister of Maharashtra) to punish his father for his stand during the Bombay riots.

Imagine, the apathy and humiliation of a father, when he was forced by law enforcers/law makers, to go and seek mercy from the same criminal for the life of his son, whom he detested and expected the lawmakers to punish. It would have been a filmy story, played out in real life when Dutt went seeking thackery's mercy for the release of his son. Thackery happily obliged. Sunil Dutt has been shown his place and learnt his lessons.

Unusually for a man who had little bitterness about most things, he did not forgive either man(Narasimha,Sharad and Chavan) for the trauma his son suffered, (the case is still under trial a decade later) though of course, both men claimed that they had no ulterior motives but that's hard to believe since

Narasimha Rao was a student of old RSS school and regularly attended shakhas when young and considering vajpayee to be his mentor. Narasimha Rao and Chavan (the then home Minister) have since died. Sharad Pawar was recently seen sharing the same stage with Thackery for the launch of a book written by this don. They are all brothers in arms and Sunil Dutt realised it late.

Even recently, when the Shiv Sena 'threw' out Nirupam (they always play this game to have their people in all the boats) and AICC welcomed him into the party, inspite of Dutt’s objections, the veteran star and activist refused to be downcast.Yes!! he said, it was a disgrace that somebody like Nirupam should be in the Congress. But in politics, you took the rough with smooth.

In the final analysis, India had what he regarded as its first fully-functioning secular government for 15 years - and that was a result worth fighting for.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Civilized versus Uncivil....

Every passing day brings a new (leaked) report of American troops inflicting prolonged, gratuitous torture on suspected terror detainees, be they in Afghan or Iraq - and murdering of the recent two - makes a mockery of Bush administration claims that prisoner abuse is the fault of a few rogue soldiers.

Most of us are already desensitized to these reports. How stupid does this administration think the American people are? Or are they fooling the World? They are not even able to fool the most uncivilized and illeterate of them all, the Muslims.

It's been a year since President Bush first used the "few bad apples" excuse following abuse revelations at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Since then, other reports have rolled in of torture of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the far-flung countries where the United States has outsourced prisoner abuse.

When anyone is held responsible, it is low-ranking service people and even they are let go with 6 months behind doors, after they plead..."so very remorseful and guilty".

High-ranking officers have almost without exception been found blameless and shameless. And Mr. Bush feigns horror at every new revelation, even though he set the stage for torture when he determined in 2002 that the Geneva Conventions don't apply to terror suspects.

The only way for the United States to salvage its reputation in the world and among its own citizens is through the appointment of an independent federal investigator on detainee abuse. But would it ever do? How cleverly Mr. Bush dissolved the cry for an independent enquiry into the 9/11 incidents after he appointed and fired Mr. Henry Kissinger, never to hear about it again.

Anyways, The latest torture accounts come from an internal Army investigation file obtained last week by The New York Times. It shows American military men and women engaging in hideous, immoral acts - the best part often for the fun of it.

One victim was a 22-year-old shy, uneducated and slightly built Afghan taxi driver. Within four days of his detention at America's Bagram center in Afghanistan, most of the man's interrogators were convinced he was innocent of wrongdoing.

But he was interrogated one last time anyway, and died.

Like many prisoners at Bagram, the man's wrists had been shackled to the ceiling for most of his stay. In one 24-hour period, soldiers took turns striking him on the side of his legs just above his knees - a potentially disabling blow used regularly at Bagram.

Soldiers thought it was funny that after every strike the man called "Allah."

An autopsy later showed the man's legs ''had basically been pulpified."

This is sadism.

Mr. Bush's spokesman says allegations about Bagram are "being investigated thoroughly." But 2½ years after the taxi driver and another man were killed there, no one has been convicted. Only seven individuals have been charged, although Army investigators found cause to charge 27.

If this administration is serious about improving America's image in the Islamic world, then it must stop acting as if one mistake in reporting by Newsweek is to blame for the distrust and hatred of Americans abroad. It must start treating detainees, most of whom are Muslim, as humans.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Why we turn blind to facts?

US may be winning battles but... but they ARE NOT winning the war.

If any effort were ever made to understand those from other cultures-then there would be no war. The hatred against Muslims spread by evangelists in the US, by misquoting quranic verses and depicting Muslims as followers of tribal/barbaric practices, has partially been successful with the masses.

With the public face of Abu Ghraib, and the chronic humiliation of those held and released, those in America, will pay for this Adminstrations idiocy for a long long time to come.

I worked with Arabs and Muslims for 10 long years. They DON'T forget nor forgive an insult that goes to the heart of their religion or culture. They bide their time, and strike again, and again, and again. We saw that in Iraq, In palestine, in Moracco and Algeria, and in Afghanistan. Had it been any other community, it would have been flattened to ashes long time ago.

AS to LIES - part of Muslim culture is to HIDE anything done to them that they find shameful. When it DOES become public in some manner-they still acknowledge it only halfheartedly. So I find it hard to believe they would fabricate degradation regarding sexual abuse or abuse of bodily functions.

Lets not kid ourselves. The International Red Cross documented gitmo and Iraqi prison torture before any of us knew anything. Amnesty International, Human Rights watch and many other groups are also documenting it. British solders and Officers have gone on trial and admitted it. The only place where the LIES are due to not acknowledging truth, or hiding truth, are from the group of people sitting in or around White House power structure.

No, I do not want to see the horrors that are yet to come. If US does not get it's troops home soon, I truly fear the future will be a very long dark tunnel for US citizens and their descendants.

Let's be honest, building "permanent" bases (the US Adminstration says don't exist) along oil pipelines around the world is a prescription for disaster.

I have seen DVD's from 3 different people home on leave from Iraq. All include pictures the troops find "funny" of Iraqi's being at best abused, run over by tanks, humvess etc.

Yesterday there were articles that said the riots actually started 3 weeks ago due to civilians being killed by US troops along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border. (I just woke up and do not have the energy to look for the links).

Raw Story and The Guardian have provided links to show the Newsweek Story on torture and abuse is not new nor original. That a Republican governement source stated it would be in a published report-and then later backed down IS the real story of this squabble.

The Independant, Italian, German, Norwegian and other countries have documented evidence of the outrageous US treatment of people. WAKE UP US Citizens! Google for FACTS - meet and talk with Muslims or you too may end up as fodder for this insanity.

It's time you all stand up and protect your own Constitution. Once again Bush and his sidekicks are pointing the finger at the media because the truth received a scary response. This administration is trying to get away with overplaying their hand. Speak out against the regime and vocally protest at any event the Republicans hold. The President is touring the U.S. in an attempt to sell his Social Insecurity plan. Protest at those events so they are unable to divert America's attention from the corruption, lies and unethical behavior.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

What's worse? Gitmo or Bamiyan?

So, Muslims have been asked to make comparisons between what they feel now when US soldiers are reported to have desecrated Quran at Gitmo bases and what the world (at least as it portrayed) felt when Talibanis destroyed Buddha statues?

We all know, Buddha as a diety is largely worshipped/revered by either buddhist community and given lip service by few in India. But nevertheless, seems like the whole world was unison to go up in arms when Taliban bombed the statues. Rightly so, even Muslims governments and scholars had condemned it then. See Islamonline reports, for those who disbelieve.

But there is a major difference between what happened at Gitmo to that took place at Bamiyan. At the risk of being seen as sypathising with Talibs, I have to relate the truth without being a hyprocite.

Afghanistan had (still is) been suffering and bleeding after 25 years of devastating wars. Instead of lending a helping hand, the U.S. was enraged by Afghanistan's sheltering of Osama Bin Laden, who was a monster of it's own creation. After failing to extract OBL out of Afghanistan, the U.S. did what it does best: imposed sanctions on this already shattered nation.

So, When the world practically destroyed the future of afghani children with economic sanctions, they had also lost the right to worry about their past. I remember to have read a communique by the then Taliban government in reply to various Muslims government's request to spare the statues, which stated that their decision to destroy the statues had been made out of anger and frustration rather than anything related to Islam. Their point was that, the International agencies were then spending hefty amounts of money to repair the Buddhist statues, while nothing was being done to address the plight of Afghan children ravaged by malnutrition. It should be known that the statues were tolerated there for 1500 years but with the policies of UN bullied by US, they had turned into a hated symbol of Western preference for rock over Afghan lives. Their anger might be misplaced but was highly understandable.

It was more hypocritical of a country like Russia, for example, to voice its condemnation of the Taliban over the destruction of the Buddhas. It was reported that since the Russian invasion of 1979, "thousands of Hellenistic, Persian and Indian artifacts from Afghanistan's many-layered past have been smuggled out to the voracious and amoral Western art market." Status of gods were sold to the highest bidders in the market like cattles.

If we are, as we claim to be the guardian of cultural heritage, how come no one moved a army or called back it's ambassador to condemn the destruction of the historical Babri Mosque in India? In tearing down the Babri Mosque, Indian mobs threatened to "cleanse" India of all Islamic shrines, palaces and artifacts. Two-hundred million Indian Muslims were attached to the Babri Mosque, while there is not a single Buddhist living in Afghanistan. Later, almost 500 mosques and shrines were destroyed in Gujrat, India during the riots.

In India, we have great democratic system which far surpasses US/UK civilized first world. The governments who did this, were punished and rooted out by my countrymen on both occasions of wilderness. Alas...Bush and Blair have survived and that speaks volumes of the larger hypocritic attitude of these nations and it's majority citizens.

There lies the difference between Gitmo desecration of Quran and Bamiyan Budha destruction. There is absolutely no reason for the state funded and mantained agencies to desecrate something which has not brought any misery to then directly or indirectly. With countless innocent suspects and a U.S. federal court judge itself ruling that military tribunals initiated by the Pentagon to determine the status of terrorist suspects held at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are unconstitutional because they do not satisfy minimal due-process requirements, US is coming out to be worse than Taliban, as at least, Taliban, as a government, didn't break any of it's own constitutional rules or harmed the living beings of any other religion, so much...en-masse!!

You can't debate this one!!

Muslim are real stupid..!Huh!!

When newsweek said its information had come from a "knowledgeable government source" who told the magazine that a military report on abuse at Guantanamo Bay said interrogators had flushed at least one copy of the Qur'an down a toilet in a bid to make detainees talk, it was indeed speaking the truth. So many times earlier we have read the same charges being doled out by innocents held as suspects and released from such hellholes, due to their government or relatives influences. What's new? What's unbelievable?

But, according to Newsweek now, the source later said that he could not be certain that he had seen an account of the incident in the military report. It might have been in other investigative documents or drafts, he said.

Can you imagine...even the afghans were unconvinced whom americans have liberated and put on the path to properity. Forget the rest of the Muslim world!! Even non-Muslims would be smirking at the naivity of the US policy makers or laughing at the utter helplessness and sorry state of Muslim nations. What a stupid world it's considered??

But, in my opinion, I didn't expect the afghan response to this episode to be so overwhelming that it brings about an apology even from a creadible US News magazine, leave alone a single American. Their demand that the US government apologises might be too far fetched, but the fact that it did make US Govt. at least took note of the matter, goes to say that the soul of the Muslims is still alive for the things that they consider as sacred. Post Abu Ghraib pictures, I thought that nothing can be more degrading and disgusting for the Muslim world and if nothing happened then, nothing would happen..ever.

But, Did I hear any protests or demonstrations in the US friendly but fanatic Arabian peninsula against this Quran desecration? Guess NO!!

No democracy, coz the outcome would be Islamists!

After President Islam Karimov's American-trained crack troops massacred an estimated 500 people on the streets of Andizhan, the Uzbek leader insisted that the victims were Islamic terrorists. They were not. But the real danger is now that Islamic extremists, rather than democratic forces, will exploit the power vacuum.

Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were a forgotten corner of the world. Their leaders and regimes had barely changed since the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991 and they had refused to carry out desperately needed reforms.

The US and Europe had little incentive to support democratic change in the region. Instead, the Pentagon established close relations with Uzbekistan in 1998, funding and training Uzbek troops to deal with Islamic extremists.

The CIA and MI6 followed suit, helping to train and re-organise the Uzbek security services which are notorious for torture. After September 2001 the US leased military bases from Mr Karimov while Uzbekistan became one of 10 countries where the CIA has ''rendered'' dozens of al-Qa'eda suspects in the full knowledge that they would be abused thoroughly without any intervention of any kind of HRW.

At the end of January 2005 Mr Karimov issued a warning to Western ambassadors in Tashkent that he would use ''necessary force" to stamp out any democratic unrest in Uzbekistan. Still there was no significant change of policy in London or Washington.

Mr Karimov's repressive system has ensured that all democratic parties are banned. Unlike in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, where there was an organised democratic opposition, one has had democracy training in Uzbekistan.

Nevertheless, the armed group that first attacked the jail in Andizhan were not extremists but relatives of 23 businessmen and traders on trial for their lives. The 23 were the first to be freed in the jail break and from then on the movement became a local popular uprising.

Meanwhile in Tashkent, Mr Karimov is rumoured to be extremely ill. But Western policies have ensured that even if he were toppled by an internal power struggle, his replacement would only be another dictator.

So, this world is indeed going to dogs. Let's see where this mass hypocrisy on the part of "World super powers" leads us al, especially the Muslims.