NOBODY does dismissive better than Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. When confronted with an uncomfortable truth, he has a way of brushing it off with a brusque one liner.
"Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war,'' was one of his classics.
A war gone awry has a way of encouraging a depressing view of its leadership. Rumsfeld cannot so easily dismiss the rising chorus of condemnation from retired generals who have called for his resignation. As Army Maj. Gen. John Riggs told National Public Radio last week, Rumsfeld has fostered an "atmosphere of arrogance" at the Pentagon.
The nation has paid a heavy price for Rumsfeld's arrogance, including strategic miscalculations that have contributed to the quagmire in Iraq, even if the defense secretary won't acknowledge the word. "I don't do quagmires," he once said.
The commanders in the battlefield don't have a choice. They do what they are ordered to do -- at least until they are retired. Now liberated from the chain of command, some of them are providing damning testimony to their lack of confidence in Rumsfeld's leadership.
On Friday, President Bush expressed "full support and deepest appreciation" for his embattled defense secretary. It seems that the stubbornness and obliviousness in this administration goes all the way to the top.
------------------------------------------------
In passing:
**Attila the Hun (406–453)** was the final and most powerful king of the Huns. He reigned over what was then Europe's largest empire, from 434 until his death. His empire stretched from Central Europe to the Black Sea and from the Danube River to the Baltic. During his rule he was among the direst enemies of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires: he invaded the Balkans twice and encircled Constantinople in the second invasion. He marched through Gaul (later France) as far as Orleans before being turned back at Chalons; and he drove the western emperor Valentinian III from his capital at Ravenna in 452.
Though his empire died with him and he left no remarkable legacy, he has become a legendary figure in the history of Europe. In much of Western Europe, he is remembered as the epitome of cruelty and rapacity. Few (like GW Bush jr.)...do praise him too. Afterall, In India, Mahatma's Gandhi's killer is praised by many and so is Hitler.
-------------------------------------------------
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Friday, April 14, 2006
When death is more favoured
"Revenge may be sweet. But for a man with a death wish and delusions of an awaiting paradise, decades in a dismal prison cell, not a quick execution, is the way to achieve it."
Excerpted from: Moussaoui seeks death.
Flashback..2003, When during the trial, in addition to keeping much of the evidence against Moussaoui secret, the Bush government had illegally defied a judge's order to disallow Moussaoui to talk with a captured Al-Qaeda member being held in a secret location bound to testify against him and also disallowed Moussaoui's plea to get the whole proceedings televised.
US Govt's refusal to abide by the said judge's order would have instantly meant that the entire case be dismissed. But true to it's strong arm tactics, the government had also made it quite clear they will put Moussaoui to a military tribunal, where it will be a much simpler matter to deny Moussaoui's defence access to the Al-Qaeda member requested, with no inconveniences like the Constitution to get in the way. And so..the trial moved on.
I think it is safe to assume that any american will agree that all arrested on charges of terrorism are guilty until proven innocent. That is the nature of living in an area saturated with news coverage that declares what they did in such a matter of fact manner as the news organizations do.
This brings me to the point where, If Moussaoui is found guilty (irrespective of his testimonies), any answers the trial might provide as to why he and other al Qaeda members hate America so much will appear only in cold print because despite his request, televised proceedings of the trial are not been granted. Moreover, if the death penalty were imposed on Moussaoui - for four of the six charges against him allow it - the world will neither have seen nor heard the basis for the sentence of death, but merely read about it secondhand.
And if Moussaoui is innocent, even an acquittal likely will not clear his name. The effect of damning and widespread reports that he wanted to learn to fly, but not to take off or land, probably can, at this point, only be superseded by televised evidence to the contrary.
The world also needs to hear our side of this story. The government's opening and closing statements in the Moussaoui trial can tell that story - and televising opening and closing arguments for both prosecution and defense poses no risk to witnesses at all.
Unlike broadcasting an Osama bin Laden video, a televised trial setting ensures that both sides are aired. In the end, it is closed proceedings and secrecy that inspire distrust. Let the people, and the world, judge who is right and who is wrong, who is guilty and who innocent.
Coming back to 2006...We hear that "For some time, Moussaoui's actions have suggested that, for him, life in prison is more horrible than death. At one point, he offered to testify for prosecutors in exchange for better prison conditions. His testimony might as well have been a request to die."
And we still believe happily that his "acceptance of involvement in 9-11" is absolute truth.
April 02 - 2006: "During my last night in captivity, my captors forced me to participate in a propaganda video. They told me I would be released if I cooperated. I was living in a threatening environment, under their control and wanted to go home alive. So I agreed," she said in a statement read by her editor in Boston."
Tha was the recently taken hostage and then freed journalist Jill Carroll for you.
The Iraqi insurgents are so dumb that they never thought of the fact, when she's released..she wouldn't reveal this to the whole world media.
But we believe her!! Who threatened her to change / retract her Anti-US statements?? No one's asking!!
Dumb iraqi terrorists!!
But dumber still..is the whole 9-11 trail and commission. Why? Look at the list of these suicidal 9-11 plane hijackers as furnished by the US government:
Satam al Suqami,
Wail and Waleed al Shehri (two brothers) [Both currently Alive],
Abdul Aziz al Omari [Found Alive],
Fayez Banihammad (from the UAE), Ahmed al Ghamdi, Hamza al Ghamdi,
Mohand al Shehri [Alive],
Saeed al Ghamdi [Alive],
Ahmad al Haznawi,
Ahmed al Nami [Alive], Majed Moqed, and
Salem al Hazmi [Alive.
Source:PrisonPlanet
How can the whole 9-11 related proceedings be taken seriously when they refer to 9/11 'hijackers' who are still alive?
An lastly:
Here is the finest movie about 911 tragedy, made till date. Backed by facts and evidence, it's no 'conspiracy theory', but pure and unadulterated *Truth*
Excerpted from: Moussaoui seeks death.
Flashback..2003, When during the trial, in addition to keeping much of the evidence against Moussaoui secret, the Bush government had illegally defied a judge's order to disallow Moussaoui to talk with a captured Al-Qaeda member being held in a secret location bound to testify against him and also disallowed Moussaoui's plea to get the whole proceedings televised.
US Govt's refusal to abide by the said judge's order would have instantly meant that the entire case be dismissed. But true to it's strong arm tactics, the government had also made it quite clear they will put Moussaoui to a military tribunal, where it will be a much simpler matter to deny Moussaoui's defence access to the Al-Qaeda member requested, with no inconveniences like the Constitution to get in the way. And so..the trial moved on.
I think it is safe to assume that any american will agree that all arrested on charges of terrorism are guilty until proven innocent. That is the nature of living in an area saturated with news coverage that declares what they did in such a matter of fact manner as the news organizations do.
This brings me to the point where, If Moussaoui is found guilty (irrespective of his testimonies), any answers the trial might provide as to why he and other al Qaeda members hate America so much will appear only in cold print because despite his request, televised proceedings of the trial are not been granted. Moreover, if the death penalty were imposed on Moussaoui - for four of the six charges against him allow it - the world will neither have seen nor heard the basis for the sentence of death, but merely read about it secondhand.
And if Moussaoui is innocent, even an acquittal likely will not clear his name. The effect of damning and widespread reports that he wanted to learn to fly, but not to take off or land, probably can, at this point, only be superseded by televised evidence to the contrary.
The world also needs to hear our side of this story. The government's opening and closing statements in the Moussaoui trial can tell that story - and televising opening and closing arguments for both prosecution and defense poses no risk to witnesses at all.
Unlike broadcasting an Osama bin Laden video, a televised trial setting ensures that both sides are aired. In the end, it is closed proceedings and secrecy that inspire distrust. Let the people, and the world, judge who is right and who is wrong, who is guilty and who innocent.
Coming back to 2006...We hear that "For some time, Moussaoui's actions have suggested that, for him, life in prison is more horrible than death. At one point, he offered to testify for prosecutors in exchange for better prison conditions. His testimony might as well have been a request to die."
And we still believe happily that his "acceptance of involvement in 9-11" is absolute truth.
April 02 - 2006: "During my last night in captivity, my captors forced me to participate in a propaganda video. They told me I would be released if I cooperated. I was living in a threatening environment, under their control and wanted to go home alive. So I agreed," she said in a statement read by her editor in Boston."
Tha was the recently taken hostage and then freed journalist Jill Carroll for you.
The Iraqi insurgents are so dumb that they never thought of the fact, when she's released..she wouldn't reveal this to the whole world media.
But we believe her!! Who threatened her to change / retract her Anti-US statements?? No one's asking!!
Dumb iraqi terrorists!!
But dumber still..is the whole 9-11 trail and commission. Why? Look at the list of these suicidal 9-11 plane hijackers as furnished by the US government:
Satam al Suqami,
Wail and Waleed al Shehri (two brothers) [Both currently Alive],
Abdul Aziz al Omari [Found Alive],
Fayez Banihammad (from the UAE), Ahmed al Ghamdi, Hamza al Ghamdi,
Mohand al Shehri [Alive],
Saeed al Ghamdi [Alive],
Ahmad al Haznawi,
Ahmed al Nami [Alive], Majed Moqed, and
Salem al Hazmi [Alive.
Source:PrisonPlanet
How can the whole 9-11 related proceedings be taken seriously when they refer to 9/11 'hijackers' who are still alive?
An lastly:
Here is the finest movie about 911 tragedy, made till date. Backed by facts and evidence, it's no 'conspiracy theory', but pure and unadulterated *Truth*
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Islam's no compulsion in religion clause - is it a joke?
YESTERDAY it was the cartoons. Today we are busy with this chap in Afghanistan who decided to revert from Islam and become a Christian. I am always amazed at how busy we become with the peripherals even as we lose massive amounts of Muslim real estate in Palestine, Afghanistan and lastly Iraq.
To those who are pulling up their sleeves in anger, all in the name of Islam and the Quran, here is what the Quran, the book of Islam, has to say on the freedom of faith: "There is no compulsion in religion, truth stands out clear from error". (2-256)
Elsewhere addressing the Prophet, Allah says: "If it had been thy Lord’s will, all who are on earth would have believed. Wilt thou then compel humankind to become believers!" (10-99)
"If they turn away, We have not sent thee as a guard over them, Thy duty is only to convey [the Message]". (42-48)
There is a difference between a Murtad who after entering and then leaving the Islamic faith, joins the adversary to instigate or conduct war against the Muslim community having taken along secrets and spying on the community and a person who simply changes his religion but remains at peace with the Muslim community. The Murtad is what can be defined as a traitor who in many countries of the world, including Muslim countries, is punished in many cases by death regardless of religious faith.
Apostates was also a term given to those who, during the life of the prophet, bacame Muslims with an intention of re-verting back to their pagan/christian/jewish religion soon afterwards, creatin an illusion of 'been there done that and found nothing useful/divine' , in the minds of other's in the community or new muslims.
Such a mischief had to be stemmed and seriously dealt with. "Death to apostates" was a warning to "Study...Think...Rationalise...and finally Declare" that you have become a Muslims and accepted Islam as a pristine religion of God (Allah).
Having done that and taken your won sweet time to 'be convinced', then you are not allowed to get back on your vows. A very important and useful command to deal with mischief mongers there.
Now are the times when we are shamelessly willing to strike at one another on the flimsiest of pretexts, as happened in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.
All the might and wealth of so called Islamic bloc of OPEC and OIC countries, is unable to help Hamas out of it's serious debt, when American's and Israeli's are against the palestinian's democratic right to choose whom they consider as best suited and most dedicated towards achieving freedom from occupiers.
Anyways..Muslim's puppet and impotent leadership aside, while we, as a community must respond, intellectually, to those who ridicule Islam in word, we Muslims must also remember that Islam is a religion, which has confidence in itself. Islam does not need to coerce people into Islam or retain its adherents through threats or the use of force. Islam’s view is, if you convert to Islam, it’s your gain, if you revert from Islam, it’s your loss. Islam has been around for 14 centuries, and without coercion, is the fastest growing religion today. Such is the self-confidence of Islam.
Rather than seek to punish those who revert from Islam, we must ask ourselves, what is it that could make adherents of Islam want to desert the faith? Are we as Muslims, by our behaviour, giving Islam a bad name? The answer to the second question is a definite Yes making Muslims and non-Muslims, especially those whose knowledge of Islam is scant, turn away from the faith. Let us not forget that most people judge religions on the basis of the behaviour of its followers. We cannot expect everyone to be a real intellectual — capable of seeing the big picture and distinguishing the message (Islam) from the medium (the Muslims) — who seeks the truth about the religion without any prejudice and bias.
-Abdullah Al Rahim-
To those who are pulling up their sleeves in anger, all in the name of Islam and the Quran, here is what the Quran, the book of Islam, has to say on the freedom of faith: "There is no compulsion in religion, truth stands out clear from error". (2-256)
Elsewhere addressing the Prophet, Allah says: "If it had been thy Lord’s will, all who are on earth would have believed. Wilt thou then compel humankind to become believers!" (10-99)
"If they turn away, We have not sent thee as a guard over them, Thy duty is only to convey [the Message]". (42-48)
There is a difference between a Murtad who after entering and then leaving the Islamic faith, joins the adversary to instigate or conduct war against the Muslim community having taken along secrets and spying on the community and a person who simply changes his religion but remains at peace with the Muslim community. The Murtad is what can be defined as a traitor who in many countries of the world, including Muslim countries, is punished in many cases by death regardless of religious faith.
Apostates was also a term given to those who, during the life of the prophet, bacame Muslims with an intention of re-verting back to their pagan/christian/jewish religion soon afterwards, creatin an illusion of 'been there done that and found nothing useful/divine' , in the minds of other's in the community or new muslims.
Such a mischief had to be stemmed and seriously dealt with. "Death to apostates" was a warning to "Study...Think...Rationalise...and finally Declare" that you have become a Muslims and accepted Islam as a pristine religion of God (Allah).
Having done that and taken your won sweet time to 'be convinced', then you are not allowed to get back on your vows. A very important and useful command to deal with mischief mongers there.
Now are the times when we are shamelessly willing to strike at one another on the flimsiest of pretexts, as happened in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.
All the might and wealth of so called Islamic bloc of OPEC and OIC countries, is unable to help Hamas out of it's serious debt, when American's and Israeli's are against the palestinian's democratic right to choose whom they consider as best suited and most dedicated towards achieving freedom from occupiers.
Anyways..Muslim's puppet and impotent leadership aside, while we, as a community must respond, intellectually, to those who ridicule Islam in word, we Muslims must also remember that Islam is a religion, which has confidence in itself. Islam does not need to coerce people into Islam or retain its adherents through threats or the use of force. Islam’s view is, if you convert to Islam, it’s your gain, if you revert from Islam, it’s your loss. Islam has been around for 14 centuries, and without coercion, is the fastest growing religion today. Such is the self-confidence of Islam.
Rather than seek to punish those who revert from Islam, we must ask ourselves, what is it that could make adherents of Islam want to desert the faith? Are we as Muslims, by our behaviour, giving Islam a bad name? The answer to the second question is a definite Yes making Muslims and non-Muslims, especially those whose knowledge of Islam is scant, turn away from the faith. Let us not forget that most people judge religions on the basis of the behaviour of its followers. We cannot expect everyone to be a real intellectual — capable of seeing the big picture and distinguishing the message (Islam) from the medium (the Muslims) — who seeks the truth about the religion without any prejudice and bias.
-Abdullah Al Rahim-
Saturday, April 01, 2006
When faith is put to ultimate tests...
"And certainly, We shall test you with fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give good news to the patient, Who, when afflicted with calamity, say: "Truly! To Allâh we belong and to Him we shall surely return. They are those on whom are the blessings and mercy from their Lord, and it is they who are guidedones."
Now that's God talking to us in Quran. Every human pays a price for ardently believing in what he percieves or is convinced to be the truth. Be it in religious or social terms. It's always been a test of faith to side with the Truth and usually much more easier to side with those who are not on that path.
One such heartrending story I read recently on a Middle eastern newspaper. Such stories never make headlines elsewhere and not even in the Middle East since most of the press is regulated and doesn't usually do western bashing for the rulers affinity towards their western friends but this is a paper which has many Indians amongst it's op-ed writers and journalists and this report is also by one such journalist bringing honor to her profession.
In this report is a story of a father who is being punished for following the noble diktats of charity of his religion which are sufficient for his implication. Funding of Osama during his Anti Soviet stance, Israeli occupation of lands, Support of saddams unjust and uncalled for war against Iran, wouldn't fall into this category of funding terror by US.
Read "Twin Tragedy":
May god save us from such tests in this life, for most of us are weak to see us through without getting insane.
But then...I have heard that God also gives one strength to pass through such calamities when they befall upon them...afterall, I wouldn't have betted a penny if someone asked me that American casualties in Iraq would go beyond a hundred. It was a country and a population with virtually no defenses, no air power and no missiles and an absolute, dictionary defiinition of "sitting duck", ready to take a direct shot.
But men courage to see them through travails and stand steadfast in face of oppression should never be underestimated. That's one lesson Iraq war has taught me.
Anyways...Present american administrations hegemony behind the curtain of it's "War on Terror" is bringing untold miseries on innocents which, if reported in "Truth", aptly qualifies the present Bush regime to be tried as "War criminals".
But who cares!!!
Now that's God talking to us in Quran. Every human pays a price for ardently believing in what he percieves or is convinced to be the truth. Be it in religious or social terms. It's always been a test of faith to side with the Truth and usually much more easier to side with those who are not on that path.
One such heartrending story I read recently on a Middle eastern newspaper. Such stories never make headlines elsewhere and not even in the Middle East since most of the press is regulated and doesn't usually do western bashing for the rulers affinity towards their western friends but this is a paper which has many Indians amongst it's op-ed writers and journalists and this report is also by one such journalist bringing honor to her profession.
In this report is a story of a father who is being punished for following the noble diktats of charity of his religion which are sufficient for his implication. Funding of Osama during his Anti Soviet stance, Israeli occupation of lands, Support of saddams unjust and uncalled for war against Iran, wouldn't fall into this category of funding terror by US.
Read "Twin Tragedy":
May god save us from such tests in this life, for most of us are weak to see us through without getting insane.
But then...I have heard that God also gives one strength to pass through such calamities when they befall upon them...afterall, I wouldn't have betted a penny if someone asked me that American casualties in Iraq would go beyond a hundred. It was a country and a population with virtually no defenses, no air power and no missiles and an absolute, dictionary defiinition of "sitting duck", ready to take a direct shot.
But men courage to see them through travails and stand steadfast in face of oppression should never be underestimated. That's one lesson Iraq war has taught me.
Anyways...Present american administrations hegemony behind the curtain of it's "War on Terror" is bringing untold miseries on innocents which, if reported in "Truth", aptly qualifies the present Bush regime to be tried as "War criminals".
But who cares!!!
Monday, February 20, 2006
Close up on gutter view!
So, as it happened, a few hours before his trial, renowned British historian David Irving retracted today, his denial of the Holocaust.
For those who don't know him, Irving was arrested in Australia under a warrant issued in 1989 for denying the Holocaust in remarks 17 years ago. Some people say tha he risks a 1-10 year prison sentence for denying the Holocaust under Austrian law. Yes!! This was his sole crime..believe me!!
Just to recap a bit, the commonly used figure for the number of Jewish victims is six million. However, this figure is questioned by some historians and intellectuals, chiefly French author Roger Garaudy.
Irving's book, Hitler's War, sparked widespread world controversy when published in 1977 for saying that the Nazi German ruler did not know about the mass killings of Jews until 1943 and that he never ordered the Holocaust. In 2000, the British historian lost a high-profile libel case in London against US historian Deborah Lipstadt, who had called him a "Holocaust denier, anti-Semitic and racist."
Irving's retraction, is however seen as a desperate attempt to avoid a jail sentence.
In another case of 2003, a French court jailed Jean Plantin, editor of a magazine called Akribeia, for publishing works that called into question the scope of the Holocaust. Flemming Rose, the culture editor of Danish mass-circulation Jyllands Posten, which published cartoons mocking Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), was sent on an indefinite leave one day after he told CNN he would consider publishing Holocaust cartoons.
So what does this all mean? Where is the much talked about freedom of speech.
The world has come be "stinking in gutters of hypocrisy" in the last decade.
Or maybe, we now have a quite "close up" view of it.
For those who don't know him, Irving was arrested in Australia under a warrant issued in 1989 for denying the Holocaust in remarks 17 years ago. Some people say tha he risks a 1-10 year prison sentence for denying the Holocaust under Austrian law. Yes!! This was his sole crime..believe me!!
Just to recap a bit, the commonly used figure for the number of Jewish victims is six million. However, this figure is questioned by some historians and intellectuals, chiefly French author Roger Garaudy.
Irving's book, Hitler's War, sparked widespread world controversy when published in 1977 for saying that the Nazi German ruler did not know about the mass killings of Jews until 1943 and that he never ordered the Holocaust. In 2000, the British historian lost a high-profile libel case in London against US historian Deborah Lipstadt, who had called him a "Holocaust denier, anti-Semitic and racist."
Irving's retraction, is however seen as a desperate attempt to avoid a jail sentence.
In another case of 2003, a French court jailed Jean Plantin, editor of a magazine called Akribeia, for publishing works that called into question the scope of the Holocaust. Flemming Rose, the culture editor of Danish mass-circulation Jyllands Posten, which published cartoons mocking Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), was sent on an indefinite leave one day after he told CNN he would consider publishing Holocaust cartoons.
So what does this all mean? Where is the much talked about freedom of speech.
The world has come be "stinking in gutters of hypocrisy" in the last decade.
Or maybe, we now have a quite "close up" view of it.
Monday, February 13, 2006
1400 year old's relevance...
"(O Muslims!) You shall certainly be tried and tested in your possessions and in your personal selves; and
you shall certainly Hear much that will grieve you, from those who received the Book before you and from those who worship many gods. But if you persevere patiently, and guard against evil,-then that will be a determining factor in all affairs." Quran 3:186
you shall certainly Hear much that will grieve you, from those who received the Book before you and from those who worship many gods. But if you persevere patiently, and guard against evil,-then that will be a determining factor in all affairs." Quran 3:186
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Comments on the danish caricatures controversy
We may all find ourselves in situations that require a very quick response, particularly when something that we value or cherish is violated. This could cause anger or a flight of temper. But the Prophet always handled such situations with exemplary ease, ensuring that his approach benefited all people present, and all Muslims. He did not abandon his gentle approach, even in the most infuriating of situations. Today, we cannot imagine that anyone would deliberately urinate inside a mosque. If we were to face such a situation, what would our immediate reaction be? Perhaps we will be more angry than the Prophet’s companions were when a Bedouin did that in front of them. But what was the Prophet’s reaction?
Anas ibn Malik reports: “God’s messenger was sitting in the mosque with some of his companions when a Bedouin urinated inside the mosque. The Prophet’s companions said: ‘What is going on?’ ‘What are you doing?’ The Prophet said to them: ‘Do not interrupt him.’ He subsequently called the man and said to him: ‘These mosques are not the place where one can throw any dirt, urine or stools. They are meant for reciting the Qur’an, glorifying God and prayer.’ He then called for a bucket of water and he poured it over the urine.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Nassaie, Malik and Ahmad).
This is a situation which is certain to infuriate any onlooker. It certainly made the Prophet’s companions angry and we can imagine that some of them were about to rush to the man to stop him or confront him. It's not specifically mentioned that the man did it unknowingly or on purpose.
Same cases confront Muslims year after year. Have we learnt any lessons? Publication of Satanic Verses in UK, News of desecration of Quran at Gitmo, A Hindu religious procession passing right under the mosque on or during Friday prayers in India and the recent danish caricature of Prophet, are just a few of such provocations.
So, how should we respond.
Here a a few of the chosen comments from across the news sites that I gathered and liked...Read on, especially the link to the 'Article' at the end.
-----------------------------------------------------------
* Freedom of speech is everybody's right, But there should be limits.
Everyone has their own intensity about their own faith and it should be respected. You cannot make a fun about any religion.We should respect each other.[Mr Muralee.N.V]
-----------------------------------------------------------
* We are big time hypocrities. I am wondering what this says about us Muslims globally. We are willing to stand up to small Denmark, but think nothing of throwing our money at nations who have not just published some stupid cartoons, but are actually occupying, bombing and destroying Muslim lands? Does anyone see the hypocrisy here? [Anonymous]
-------------------------------------------------------------
* Regarding the rucus made about a cartoon issue in Denmark, at the risk of being misunderstood, I think it is ‘much ado about nothing’. Why?
Well, great men and prophets cannot be belittled by puny men. In fact, most prophets in history have been vilified but their stature remains intact because of their actions and their wisdom.
Next do we really want to make celebrities out of these insensitive people? But that is exactly what we do. Who had heard of this cartoonist outside Denmark before the protests? In a well organised society there is always a legal mechanism to fall back on. The aggrieved party can do that and fight a battle in court against the cartoonist. I am sure there must be laws against insulting people’s religion in Denmark, and it is this path that is the most effective. [From Gabrielle Dube]
------------------------------------------------------------
* The protests in the Middle East have proven that the cartoonist was right. It's falling straight into that trap of being depicted as a violent people and proving the point that, yes, we are. [Tarek Fatah]
------------------------------------------------------------
* If we want to ban Danish products because of some cartoons in a Danish newspaper isn't that the same as saying all Arabs had a part in 9/11? [Thomas Maarup]
------------------------------------------------------------
* But before blaming others on insulting the Holy Prophet (PBUH), I would like to call upon the whole Muslim population of the world. I would like to ask them, what have we reflected out of the teachings of the Holy Prophet. A true Muslim is said to be the reflection of the character of the Holy Prophet. Are we not lacking that character which can show the world the true picture of the teachings of Islam.
The time has come for all the Muslims of the world to gather their heads and find out the root of the problem which is giving our enemies a chance, to speak against Islam and the Prophet of Islam. Let us show the world that we are the followers of the best religion ever preached. [From Mr Syed Abu Turab]
---------------------------------------------------------------
I WAS pleasantly surprised to learn about the mass boycott measures taken against Danish products by the public in the Middle East. The Muslim community is finally learning to leverage its market potential to influence outcomes rather than resorting to violence and death threats. However, we need to fine-tune our reaction a tad bit more to affect the guilty party. Boycotting Danish dairy products to punish a Danish newspaper is like boycotting the use of Microsoft Windows to punish Coca Cola. Secondly, as a staunch believer in free speech, I believe that using our economic and social clout is the way to hinder future attacks against our beliefs as opposed to creating laws barring hate speech or resorting to violence and death threats. I do not question the right of the particular newspaper to print any material, however offensive it may be to me, and on the same token, I reserve the right to campaign against the newspaper and punish it by hitting where it hurts most - in the pocketbook. No amount of insult and mockery of Islam would lower its status one iota. So the reaction should be based not on anger and emotion but on calculated strategy and farsightedness. [— Raza Rizvi, Houston]
---------------------------------------------------------------
WITH great disappointment and sorrow do I, as a Danish citizen, read the comments from Arab people in the newspapers. There is a huge degree of naive misunderstanding here — I have often travelled to Arab countries and respect the Arab people and Islam. However, I have to react when people claim the drawings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to be a Danish thing. It is one stupid editor and one draftsman, and not the 5 million other Danes living in Denmark. We do not judge all Muslims in the world by the doings of Osama Bin Laden. In Denmark, we do not burn the Quran and break down holy Islamic buildings. We know that these fundamentalists are a minority and therefore we do not judge the caring and loving Muslims living in accordance with Islam. So please do not judge the five million Danish people based on the actions of just two people. [— Martin Merstrand]
--------------------------------------------------------------
I AM a Danish Muslim woman who reverted to Islam in 1990. You all speak about the Danish as one people. We have more than 5000 Muslims of Danish birth who did revert to Islam. We all hate what has been done to our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). But to say all Danes are the same or ignorant, is a big mistake.
Allah didn't make Islam, Arabic or African or Asian. Islam is for all nationalities. There are Muslims in all countries. Everybody in the world should respect all other religions. [— Aisha, Odense, Denmark]
And Finally....THE Best of all...
Intellectual Terrorism
Anas ibn Malik reports: “God’s messenger was sitting in the mosque with some of his companions when a Bedouin urinated inside the mosque. The Prophet’s companions said: ‘What is going on?’ ‘What are you doing?’ The Prophet said to them: ‘Do not interrupt him.’ He subsequently called the man and said to him: ‘These mosques are not the place where one can throw any dirt, urine or stools. They are meant for reciting the Qur’an, glorifying God and prayer.’ He then called for a bucket of water and he poured it over the urine.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Nassaie, Malik and Ahmad).
This is a situation which is certain to infuriate any onlooker. It certainly made the Prophet’s companions angry and we can imagine that some of them were about to rush to the man to stop him or confront him. It's not specifically mentioned that the man did it unknowingly or on purpose.
Same cases confront Muslims year after year. Have we learnt any lessons? Publication of Satanic Verses in UK, News of desecration of Quran at Gitmo, A Hindu religious procession passing right under the mosque on or during Friday prayers in India and the recent danish caricature of Prophet, are just a few of such provocations.
So, how should we respond.
Here a a few of the chosen comments from across the news sites that I gathered and liked...Read on, especially the link to the 'Article' at the end.
-----------------------------------------------------------
* Freedom of speech is everybody's right, But there should be limits.
Everyone has their own intensity about their own faith and it should be respected. You cannot make a fun about any religion.We should respect each other.[Mr Muralee.N.V]
-----------------------------------------------------------
* We are big time hypocrities. I am wondering what this says about us Muslims globally. We are willing to stand up to small Denmark, but think nothing of throwing our money at nations who have not just published some stupid cartoons, but are actually occupying, bombing and destroying Muslim lands? Does anyone see the hypocrisy here? [Anonymous]
-------------------------------------------------------------
* Regarding the rucus made about a cartoon issue in Denmark, at the risk of being misunderstood, I think it is ‘much ado about nothing’. Why?
Well, great men and prophets cannot be belittled by puny men. In fact, most prophets in history have been vilified but their stature remains intact because of their actions and their wisdom.
Next do we really want to make celebrities out of these insensitive people? But that is exactly what we do. Who had heard of this cartoonist outside Denmark before the protests? In a well organised society there is always a legal mechanism to fall back on. The aggrieved party can do that and fight a battle in court against the cartoonist. I am sure there must be laws against insulting people’s religion in Denmark, and it is this path that is the most effective. [From Gabrielle Dube]
------------------------------------------------------------
* The protests in the Middle East have proven that the cartoonist was right. It's falling straight into that trap of being depicted as a violent people and proving the point that, yes, we are. [Tarek Fatah]
------------------------------------------------------------
* If we want to ban Danish products because of some cartoons in a Danish newspaper isn't that the same as saying all Arabs had a part in 9/11? [Thomas Maarup]
------------------------------------------------------------
* But before blaming others on insulting the Holy Prophet (PBUH), I would like to call upon the whole Muslim population of the world. I would like to ask them, what have we reflected out of the teachings of the Holy Prophet. A true Muslim is said to be the reflection of the character of the Holy Prophet. Are we not lacking that character which can show the world the true picture of the teachings of Islam.
The time has come for all the Muslims of the world to gather their heads and find out the root of the problem which is giving our enemies a chance, to speak against Islam and the Prophet of Islam. Let us show the world that we are the followers of the best religion ever preached. [From Mr Syed Abu Turab]
---------------------------------------------------------------
I WAS pleasantly surprised to learn about the mass boycott measures taken against Danish products by the public in the Middle East. The Muslim community is finally learning to leverage its market potential to influence outcomes rather than resorting to violence and death threats. However, we need to fine-tune our reaction a tad bit more to affect the guilty party. Boycotting Danish dairy products to punish a Danish newspaper is like boycotting the use of Microsoft Windows to punish Coca Cola. Secondly, as a staunch believer in free speech, I believe that using our economic and social clout is the way to hinder future attacks against our beliefs as opposed to creating laws barring hate speech or resorting to violence and death threats. I do not question the right of the particular newspaper to print any material, however offensive it may be to me, and on the same token, I reserve the right to campaign against the newspaper and punish it by hitting where it hurts most - in the pocketbook. No amount of insult and mockery of Islam would lower its status one iota. So the reaction should be based not on anger and emotion but on calculated strategy and farsightedness. [— Raza Rizvi, Houston]
---------------------------------------------------------------
WITH great disappointment and sorrow do I, as a Danish citizen, read the comments from Arab people in the newspapers. There is a huge degree of naive misunderstanding here — I have often travelled to Arab countries and respect the Arab people and Islam. However, I have to react when people claim the drawings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to be a Danish thing. It is one stupid editor and one draftsman, and not the 5 million other Danes living in Denmark. We do not judge all Muslims in the world by the doings of Osama Bin Laden. In Denmark, we do not burn the Quran and break down holy Islamic buildings. We know that these fundamentalists are a minority and therefore we do not judge the caring and loving Muslims living in accordance with Islam. So please do not judge the five million Danish people based on the actions of just two people. [— Martin Merstrand]
--------------------------------------------------------------
I AM a Danish Muslim woman who reverted to Islam in 1990. You all speak about the Danish as one people. We have more than 5000 Muslims of Danish birth who did revert to Islam. We all hate what has been done to our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). But to say all Danes are the same or ignorant, is a big mistake.
Allah didn't make Islam, Arabic or African or Asian. Islam is for all nationalities. There are Muslims in all countries. Everybody in the world should respect all other religions. [— Aisha, Odense, Denmark]
And Finally....THE Best of all...
Intellectual Terrorism
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Islam and freedom of speech - Is it a dichotomy?
I read this in a readers' opinion column somewhere:
The very essence of "free speech" is the foundation of Western Civilization. To restrict speech, including speech in any form on subjects such as religion, then becomes a fascist movement toward dictatorship. What separates Europe, the United States, and in essence the "free world" from the rest...is "free speech." If radical, religio-fascist elements win this battle, then in the future, such elements are given license and encouragement to attack all levels of Western philosophy and government including freedom of movement, free commerce, and especially the rights of women and minorities. Ergo, to "bend" to the will of Islam, is to then become de facto Muslim. Lastly, it appears that these intolerant oppressive elements...do not have a sense of humor. It is now time for these intolerant religious elements to join the 21st Century, and not plow the rest of Europe back to the 7th Century. Diana, Miami, Florida, USA.
THE furore in the Muslim world over the painful caricatures of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, carried by some sections of the Danish press, is not surprising. Islam doesn’t allow any images and portrayal of the Prophet and his Companions, let alone these sickening caricatures of the best human being that ever lived. No wonder the faithful everywhere find this shameful act most disturbing and painful.
And the whole non-Muslim world knows it...at least since the time the Iranian Ayatollah issued a fatwa against that (since forgotten) pennyworth of a man called 'Salman Rushdie' and made him hugely (in)famous.
So why do westerners (mainly christian westerners) do this time and again?
And not only towards those of Islamic faith, they have tried to embark upon this 'freedom to malign and mock' towards almost every minority community's professed religion. When some French designers took their creative freedom too far printing the images of Hindu religious symbols and signs on footwear and lingerie, Indian Hindus too had to act swiftly forcing French firms and authorities to withdraw the products and offer an unconditional apology. In Britain, the Sikh community stopped the staging of a play that mocked its clergy.
Creative freedom is fine and all artistes are entitled to their poetic licence. But as with all freedoms, this liberty too comes with a degree of responsibility. When creative licence begins to degenerate into licentiousness, it becomes unacceptable. Creativity cannot be at the expense of religious and communal sensitivities. This episode, coming after the Theo Van Gogh incident in the Netherlands last year, suggests that there is a method in this madness. Which is very disturbing. This dangerous misrepresentation and deliberate denigration of Islam and its followers could only widen the rift between the West and Islamic world. We should act before it’s too late.
Someone once said this about freedom's in society: "Your freedom to move your hand around freely in air stops at the point where my nose starts".
Freedom of expression is an internal Danish/European/American/Christian/ whatever issue but these issues have a totally different dimension. “This is about media operating from Denmark having offended millions of Muslims.” Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the prophet, even respectful ones, out of concern that such images could lead to idolatry. To understand the cause of so much anger amongst Muslims is no rocket science. Someone..somewhere really believes in upholding something as very 'sacred'.
Well..the Danish government has broad public backing for it's stance (no-apology to Muslims world) on the cartoons. An opinion poll showed that 79 percent of Danes think Fogh Rasmussen (Danish PM) should not issue an apology and 62 percent say the newspaper should not apologize.
Personally, I don't think Muslims insist on an apology from Fogh even though it's heartening to read that at least 20% of Danes think that he should. Sensible and rational people are still a reality even though a minority.
But the newspaper editor in chief should. That's the least he should be allowed to get away with.
The very essence of "free speech" is the foundation of Western Civilization. To restrict speech, including speech in any form on subjects such as religion, then becomes a fascist movement toward dictatorship. What separates Europe, the United States, and in essence the "free world" from the rest...is "free speech." If radical, religio-fascist elements win this battle, then in the future, such elements are given license and encouragement to attack all levels of Western philosophy and government including freedom of movement, free commerce, and especially the rights of women and minorities. Ergo, to "bend" to the will of Islam, is to then become de facto Muslim. Lastly, it appears that these intolerant oppressive elements...do not have a sense of humor. It is now time for these intolerant religious elements to join the 21st Century, and not plow the rest of Europe back to the 7th Century. Diana, Miami, Florida, USA.
THE furore in the Muslim world over the painful caricatures of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, carried by some sections of the Danish press, is not surprising. Islam doesn’t allow any images and portrayal of the Prophet and his Companions, let alone these sickening caricatures of the best human being that ever lived. No wonder the faithful everywhere find this shameful act most disturbing and painful.
And the whole non-Muslim world knows it...at least since the time the Iranian Ayatollah issued a fatwa against that (since forgotten) pennyworth of a man called 'Salman Rushdie' and made him hugely (in)famous.
So why do westerners (mainly christian westerners) do this time and again?
And not only towards those of Islamic faith, they have tried to embark upon this 'freedom to malign and mock' towards almost every minority community's professed religion. When some French designers took their creative freedom too far printing the images of Hindu religious symbols and signs on footwear and lingerie, Indian Hindus too had to act swiftly forcing French firms and authorities to withdraw the products and offer an unconditional apology. In Britain, the Sikh community stopped the staging of a play that mocked its clergy.
Creative freedom is fine and all artistes are entitled to their poetic licence. But as with all freedoms, this liberty too comes with a degree of responsibility. When creative licence begins to degenerate into licentiousness, it becomes unacceptable. Creativity cannot be at the expense of religious and communal sensitivities. This episode, coming after the Theo Van Gogh incident in the Netherlands last year, suggests that there is a method in this madness. Which is very disturbing. This dangerous misrepresentation and deliberate denigration of Islam and its followers could only widen the rift between the West and Islamic world. We should act before it’s too late.
Someone once said this about freedom's in society: "Your freedom to move your hand around freely in air stops at the point where my nose starts".
Freedom of expression is an internal Danish/European/American/Christian/ whatever issue but these issues have a totally different dimension. “This is about media operating from Denmark having offended millions of Muslims.” Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the prophet, even respectful ones, out of concern that such images could lead to idolatry. To understand the cause of so much anger amongst Muslims is no rocket science. Someone..somewhere really believes in upholding something as very 'sacred'.
Well..the Danish government has broad public backing for it's stance (no-apology to Muslims world) on the cartoons. An opinion poll showed that 79 percent of Danes think Fogh Rasmussen (Danish PM) should not issue an apology and 62 percent say the newspaper should not apologize.
Personally, I don't think Muslims insist on an apology from Fogh even though it's heartening to read that at least 20% of Danes think that he should. Sensible and rational people are still a reality even though a minority.
But the newspaper editor in chief should. That's the least he should be allowed to get away with.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Osama has literary interests too!
It boggles the mind that Osama Bin Laden has had the time and resources to catch up on his reading. In his taped conversation, Bin Laden said, “It is useful for you to read the book ‘The Rogue State’”), sales of this book took off like a rocket. Out of print here on Amazon suggests this fact, (*unless State Dept. ordered Amazon to take it off the Amazon e-shelves!! I hope not*)
Blum had a point way back in 2000 when he wrote that "around the world, the U.S. government is using the tragedy of September 11 not only to justify a war against Afghanistan, but to lay the basis for wars in many other countries as well. Already, the warlords in Washington have hinted that more strategic locations in terms of U.S. interests may be next in line for U.S. or NATO military intervention–for example, Iraq."
..That prophecy had since long materialised.
Blum further writes: "A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn’t have an airforce." If Hamas had missiles, they wouldn't send suicide bombers inside Tel Aviv. A helicopter gunship is all that's required. If Saddam had ICBM's he would have targeted one towards Washington DC as an act of preemption when he was utterly convinced of the overt military threat posed by Bush Jr. Incidently, Bush Jr. also displayed an utter contempt for UN, the like of which was not seen since Hitler's demise.
It's time for Iran to act on the Bush/Sharon much propagated theory of pre-emption.
So why most of us, irrespective of our countries of origin, still HATE to hate US???
The main thing that sets apart the U.S. from it's ill-defined other nations included in 'Axis of Evil', is that it is richer, better equipped, and more systematic–and thus capable of inflicting terror on a far broader scale than its enemies. That’s why civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. once called the U.S. government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world."
It's own population is a ignorant lot. Talk to any Saudi within Saudia borders, he would sing praises for his King. Seldom out of fear but often out of reverance. Why? They have been given every luxury and have been shielded from the happenings of the outside world.
Same in US. Most local Cable TVs are full of news and gossips and extra marital affairs. Reality TV/Sitcoms etc. Who's hooked up with whom and a few 'one for the camera' pics of Bush senior holding a little baby down in earthquake effected regions of Pakistan or Angelina Brad spending time amongst the godforsaken of Africa. This brings about an angelic feeling of American values. The very cruel face is the misery afflicted by US foreign policy (most often a direct result) is seldom shown at home.
No doubt, the technology I use to voice this opinion and tablets I take to keep myself away from headaches I get due to excessive usage of this technology, are all originating from this rogue state and that's a 'Mother of all dichotomies'.
Blum had a point way back in 2000 when he wrote that "around the world, the U.S. government is using the tragedy of September 11 not only to justify a war against Afghanistan, but to lay the basis for wars in many other countries as well. Already, the warlords in Washington have hinted that more strategic locations in terms of U.S. interests may be next in line for U.S. or NATO military intervention–for example, Iraq."
..That prophecy had since long materialised.
Blum further writes: "A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn’t have an airforce." If Hamas had missiles, they wouldn't send suicide bombers inside Tel Aviv. A helicopter gunship is all that's required. If Saddam had ICBM's he would have targeted one towards Washington DC as an act of preemption when he was utterly convinced of the overt military threat posed by Bush Jr. Incidently, Bush Jr. also displayed an utter contempt for UN, the like of which was not seen since Hitler's demise.
It's time for Iran to act on the Bush/Sharon much propagated theory of pre-emption.
So why most of us, irrespective of our countries of origin, still HATE to hate US???
The main thing that sets apart the U.S. from it's ill-defined other nations included in 'Axis of Evil', is that it is richer, better equipped, and more systematic–and thus capable of inflicting terror on a far broader scale than its enemies. That’s why civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. once called the U.S. government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world."
It's own population is a ignorant lot. Talk to any Saudi within Saudia borders, he would sing praises for his King. Seldom out of fear but often out of reverance. Why? They have been given every luxury and have been shielded from the happenings of the outside world.
Same in US. Most local Cable TVs are full of news and gossips and extra marital affairs. Reality TV/Sitcoms etc. Who's hooked up with whom and a few 'one for the camera' pics of Bush senior holding a little baby down in earthquake effected regions of Pakistan or Angelina Brad spending time amongst the godforsaken of Africa. This brings about an angelic feeling of American values. The very cruel face is the misery afflicted by US foreign policy (most often a direct result) is seldom shown at home.
No doubt, the technology I use to voice this opinion and tablets I take to keep myself away from headaches I get due to excessive usage of this technology, are all originating from this rogue state and that's a 'Mother of all dichotomies'.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Hunting for a mouse using Stealth and Predators!
How stupid can someone be? If it's a world power, it sets a dangerous precedence. Israel has always done this under occupied territories. Killing the resistance fighters and terming their resistance as terrorism. Now USA does the same. The recent are it's airstrikes within puppy pakistan in order to kill Zawahiri. Zawahiri - The terrorist. Why is he a terrorist? He kills innocents for no reason!! No...he self confessed that in his orchestrated bombings of Jordan recently, he got his intelligence flawed and he never intended to kill innocents but a few high ranking US officers scheduled there for a meeting.
So, where lies the difference!!
By all means US strikes (within pakistan or outside it's borders) is unjust, and illegal (depending on which argument you take). The U.S. is relying on an overwhelming use of force that depends heavily on electronic gadgetry to deliver a lethal force. That lethal force is disproportionate to the aim of killing one suspected terrorist in the village. Hence you have 18 civilian casualties, instead of just one terrorist. And it is now claimed the terrorist was not even there. Just like Bush's preemptive war against the wrong country, wrong people for all the wrong reasons, this air strike by a drone is also unjust and immoral. As such, it will only bring adverse and inauspicious results to the U.S.
Can you imagine if the U.S. perpetuates this policy of hitting villages, communities, and cities using massive bombs just because it suspects a terrorist hide there? It will have killed mostly civilians in untold numbers, as all U.S. air raids do since Vietnam. It makes this kind of warfare heinous because it is an arrogant and mindless use of brute power. It is an accursed method of warfare, and bodes very ill for the U.S.
As late as 5,000 years ago, there were established by the Vedic culture the laws of engagement. There was no need for armies to annihilate themselves in the field of battle if the commanders instead agree to fight each others mano-a-mano. Whoever wins the hand-to-hand combat brings home the spoil of war, and that sometimes included the whole armies of the defeated king or commander. With the passing of time, and the degradation of adherence to cultural laws, we have come to a point now where you don't really know who your enemies are. "Suspicion" therefore preempts facts. U.S. bombs "suspects" fueled by suspicion and paranoia. Hence, we are killing the wrong persons, who include women, children and the old, and their working animals and demolish and destroy their homes and habitat. That's another "NO, NO, NO" in the warfare rules of righteous times. Any combatant who did that is cursed for all times by these acts. His slide to hell and perdition is already writ in the scroll of destiny and preordained. The curse of old is just as effective in the now, especially in this very worrisome Age.
The Pentagon of Rumsfeld should send its elite commando units and navy seals and black berets to surgically take out these suspects. Then there's honor in the act when you eschew killing civilians. Whether you therefore are successful in taking out the "suspect" or not, you go home happy in the thought that no unnecessary collateral damage were done to non-combatants and civilians. You have pride in the integrity of your calling.
But that is not the case in this present stupid war. No wonder soldiers go home emotionally drained, disoriented, savaged and mentally sick. And many of them will never fully recover. It's a very damaging scar they will carry throughout the rest of their lives.
That's part of the curse inherent in waging an unjust and immoral war on a self-created enemy that never really existed.
So, where lies the difference!!
By all means US strikes (within pakistan or outside it's borders) is unjust, and illegal (depending on which argument you take). The U.S. is relying on an overwhelming use of force that depends heavily on electronic gadgetry to deliver a lethal force. That lethal force is disproportionate to the aim of killing one suspected terrorist in the village. Hence you have 18 civilian casualties, instead of just one terrorist. And it is now claimed the terrorist was not even there. Just like Bush's preemptive war against the wrong country, wrong people for all the wrong reasons, this air strike by a drone is also unjust and immoral. As such, it will only bring adverse and inauspicious results to the U.S.
Can you imagine if the U.S. perpetuates this policy of hitting villages, communities, and cities using massive bombs just because it suspects a terrorist hide there? It will have killed mostly civilians in untold numbers, as all U.S. air raids do since Vietnam. It makes this kind of warfare heinous because it is an arrogant and mindless use of brute power. It is an accursed method of warfare, and bodes very ill for the U.S.
As late as 5,000 years ago, there were established by the Vedic culture the laws of engagement. There was no need for armies to annihilate themselves in the field of battle if the commanders instead agree to fight each others mano-a-mano. Whoever wins the hand-to-hand combat brings home the spoil of war, and that sometimes included the whole armies of the defeated king or commander. With the passing of time, and the degradation of adherence to cultural laws, we have come to a point now where you don't really know who your enemies are. "Suspicion" therefore preempts facts. U.S. bombs "suspects" fueled by suspicion and paranoia. Hence, we are killing the wrong persons, who include women, children and the old, and their working animals and demolish and destroy their homes and habitat. That's another "NO, NO, NO" in the warfare rules of righteous times. Any combatant who did that is cursed for all times by these acts. His slide to hell and perdition is already writ in the scroll of destiny and preordained. The curse of old is just as effective in the now, especially in this very worrisome Age.
The Pentagon of Rumsfeld should send its elite commando units and navy seals and black berets to surgically take out these suspects. Then there's honor in the act when you eschew killing civilians. Whether you therefore are successful in taking out the "suspect" or not, you go home happy in the thought that no unnecessary collateral damage were done to non-combatants and civilians. You have pride in the integrity of your calling.
But that is not the case in this present stupid war. No wonder soldiers go home emotionally drained, disoriented, savaged and mentally sick. And many of them will never fully recover. It's a very damaging scar they will carry throughout the rest of their lives.
That's part of the curse inherent in waging an unjust and immoral war on a self-created enemy that never really existed.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Jill Caroll and the desperate Iraqis
In September 2004, at the height of Abu Ghraib, the disgusting conditions of many Iraqi women prisoners being treated as modern day 'geisha's by American occupiers in Iraq, was highlighted in many articles. One such that still haunts me was published in the Guardian Unlimited in it's Special Report section: After Abu Ghraib!.
These women still languish in Occupier's Jails where they are neither allowed to live nor die but lead a de-sensitized existance.
How else do the desperate iraqis get their women out of the hell the American forces of created? I can't see any way to do that except this which is though blatantly un-islamic and carries with it the stigma of being marked as 'criminally coward' but then...
What else can they do??? They are dealing with an enemy that's equally low on morals!
One that would hardly care for a Journalist reporting for an organisation (CSM) and filing reports that were highly sympathetic to the cause of the American defined 'terrorists' in Iraq fighting against occupiers.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Ultra rich 'temples'
In a recent news item here, it's disclosed that "Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan is to offer a diamond ornament worth about Rs 9 crores at the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, temple officials said."
Such offerings are a common place in most temples. They have been through the ages. The list of bollywood movies that portray theives/bandits making plans to steal diamonds and jewellery out of secured temple vaults is endless too.
The news item further states that "The Tirumala temple is famous for big offerings. A Swiss devotee, Ms Elizabeth, had pledged her entire property, worth Rs 5 crores, to the TTD in memory of her husband in June last year. She requested the TTD to perform Tiruppavai and Abhishekam one day in the month of December every year. During a recent visit, Tamil superstar Rajnikant had promised digital screens worth Rs 1 crore to the TTD to display information."
Little wonder then some invaders who happened to belong to the muslim faith by name, employed the tactic of plundering these temples. If so much wealth is stacked in any mosque, I wouldn't be surprised if it gets vandalised year after year. Wealth is a magnet for vandals, be it the Oil wealth of Kuwait or Iraq or Diamonds stacked up inside the temples.
I am sure, many Hindus would wonder as to what good does this wealth do in temples when millions of Hindus in India are dying of cold and hunger, year after year.
Such offerings are a common place in most temples. They have been through the ages. The list of bollywood movies that portray theives/bandits making plans to steal diamonds and jewellery out of secured temple vaults is endless too.
The news item further states that "The Tirumala temple is famous for big offerings. A Swiss devotee, Ms Elizabeth, had pledged her entire property, worth Rs 5 crores, to the TTD in memory of her husband in June last year. She requested the TTD to perform Tiruppavai and Abhishekam one day in the month of December every year. During a recent visit, Tamil superstar Rajnikant had promised digital screens worth Rs 1 crore to the TTD to display information."
Little wonder then some invaders who happened to belong to the muslim faith by name, employed the tactic of plundering these temples. If so much wealth is stacked in any mosque, I wouldn't be surprised if it gets vandalised year after year. Wealth is a magnet for vandals, be it the Oil wealth of Kuwait or Iraq or Diamonds stacked up inside the temples.
I am sure, many Hindus would wonder as to what good does this wealth do in temples when millions of Hindus in India are dying of cold and hunger, year after year.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Of Swamis and Kings
A Swami's reputation and a King's proposal are currently on the table.
The swami is a millionaire togic guru by the name of 'Ramdev' who has almost revolutionised the concept of Yoga and Ayurved but as is true with most swamis, be they Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari (Indira's personal spiritual guru), or Swami/Bhagwan Sri Sathya Saibaba or Swami/Osho/Bhagwan Rajneesh...even this one of the high flyers is on his way to hit the ground with a loud 'thud'. Though the matter is still to be decided and prima-facie, I don't see much reason for the accuser(Brinda Karat- a self confessed communist and an athiest activist, to have reasons to take money (as the swami defends himself) from foreign multinational drug makers in order to make up this controversy. The reasons are two:
1. Communists are ideologically non-supportive of organised capitalists.
2. Of the recent scandal that involved disclosure of the prevalent practise of 'cash for questions' amongst our 'esteemed' elected parliament members, someone was caught from almost every political party except CPI members. That doesn't mean that there exists no bad apples amongst them but it just gives me lesser reasons to doubt Brinda's credibility of the charges.
Next is the impending visit of King Abdullah of the 'infamous' Saudi Arabia. A controversy over his offer to give funds to renovate and re-paint Jama Masjid in Old Delhi is being raised. In a new report I read: "The media report had said the Saudi ruler, who will be the chief guest at Republic Day, 2006, had made the offer of renovating and repairing the historic mosque to Jama Masjid Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari. The intelligence agencies, however, were reported to have reservations about flow of funds from the Arab country. Asked whether there were any laws in India allowing flow of funds, Sarna said that is what was being examined with various agencies."
Amazing....These agencies would do themselves a small favour if they dig out their files to get to know the source of funds that helped in construction of (now in a dilapidated state) Indira Gandhi International Airport and Indraprastha (since renamed to Indira Gandhi) Indoor stadium of Delhi?
What a skewed logic there? Talk about flow of funds from Arab countries...Huh!! 1.6m Indians in Saudia with over 3.5m in the whole of Gulf, these guys contributes over 50% of India's Foreign exchange reserves of $102b in yr 2002-2003. It's the firang and confused desis of Us and UK who remit funds back in their country, it's more of the Gulf based Indians who don't have/get citizenship in the gulf countries, who do the hard work and pay it back to Indian reserves.
Talk about laws of allowing flow of funds....!! Sometimes mediamen ask really ignorant questions and equally ignorant officials happily oblige.
The swami is a millionaire togic guru by the name of 'Ramdev' who has almost revolutionised the concept of Yoga and Ayurved but as is true with most swamis, be they Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari (Indira's personal spiritual guru), or Swami/Bhagwan Sri Sathya Saibaba or Swami/Osho/Bhagwan Rajneesh...even this one of the high flyers is on his way to hit the ground with a loud 'thud'. Though the matter is still to be decided and prima-facie, I don't see much reason for the accuser(Brinda Karat- a self confessed communist and an athiest activist, to have reasons to take money (as the swami defends himself) from foreign multinational drug makers in order to make up this controversy. The reasons are two:
1. Communists are ideologically non-supportive of organised capitalists.
2. Of the recent scandal that involved disclosure of the prevalent practise of 'cash for questions' amongst our 'esteemed' elected parliament members, someone was caught from almost every political party except CPI members. That doesn't mean that there exists no bad apples amongst them but it just gives me lesser reasons to doubt Brinda's credibility of the charges.
Next is the impending visit of King Abdullah of the 'infamous' Saudi Arabia. A controversy over his offer to give funds to renovate and re-paint Jama Masjid in Old Delhi is being raised. In a new report I read: "The media report had said the Saudi ruler, who will be the chief guest at Republic Day, 2006, had made the offer of renovating and repairing the historic mosque to Jama Masjid Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari. The intelligence agencies, however, were reported to have reservations about flow of funds from the Arab country. Asked whether there were any laws in India allowing flow of funds, Sarna said that is what was being examined with various agencies."
Amazing....These agencies would do themselves a small favour if they dig out their files to get to know the source of funds that helped in construction of (now in a dilapidated state) Indira Gandhi International Airport and Indraprastha (since renamed to Indira Gandhi) Indoor stadium of Delhi?
What a skewed logic there? Talk about flow of funds from Arab countries...Huh!! 1.6m Indians in Saudia with over 3.5m in the whole of Gulf, these guys contributes over 50% of India's Foreign exchange reserves of $102b in yr 2002-2003. It's the firang and confused desis of Us and UK who remit funds back in their country, it's more of the Gulf based Indians who don't have/get citizenship in the gulf countries, who do the hard work and pay it back to Indian reserves.
Talk about laws of allowing flow of funds....!! Sometimes mediamen ask really ignorant questions and equally ignorant officials happily oblige.
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Intelligent Design
The earth is blessed with an atmosphere to accommodate life and nurture the natural habitation of intelligent life. Why do scientists still go to extremes and strive to uphold the failed and utterly stupid Darwin's theory of evolution?
The best proof for pro-God in this controversy is the recent phenomenon that was observed on the surface of the moon. It was reported by NASA a blast, equal in energy to about 70 kg of TNT, occurred near the edge of the moon, an area named as Mare Imbrium (the sea of rains) on November 7, 2005, when a 12-centimetre-wide meteoroid slammed into the ground travelling at 27 km/s.
Needless to say that 'We' on Earth, are protected against zillion objects in the space with our atmosphere and magnetosphere. Media reports from NASA points to a massive blast in moon that is avoided in case of earth on a regular basis based on the existence of the terrestrial atmosphere.
The moon was peppered, too, but unlike the earth, it has no atmosphere to intercept meteoroids and turn them into harmless streaks of light. On the moon, meteoroids hit the ground - and explode.
Cooke estimates that the impact gouged a crater in the moon's surface "about 3 metres wide and 0.4 metres deep." As moon craters go, that's small. "Even the Hubble space telescope couldn''t see it," notes Cooke. The moon is 384,400 km away. At that distance, the smallest things Hubble can distinguish are about 60 metres wide.
And for those who deny Quran as the word of God, should read the following verses. Which man in the seventh century had the scientific data to even imagine this??
O mankind! worship your Lord, Who hath created you and those before you, so that ye may ward off (evil). Who hath appointed the earth a resting-place for you, and the sky a canopy; and causeth water to pour down from the sky, thereby producing fruits as food for you. And do not set up rivals to Allah when ye know (better). - Al-Baqarah 2:21-22
Allah it is Who appointed for you the earth for a dwelling-place and the sky for a canopy, and fashioned you and perfected your shapes, and hath provided you with good things. Such is Allah, your Lord. Then blessed be Allah, the Lord of the Worlds! - Al-Mu'min 40:64.19
Once the most potent weapon in the hands of evolutionists/atheists to deny the existance of God, has now become an intrument out to annihilate all those who doubted it's existance.
There is no other fact but that...the existance of the very Earth we inherit amd universe we live in is a glimpse of MOST INTELLIGENT DESIGN man has ever seen or can comprehend.
The best proof for pro-God in this controversy is the recent phenomenon that was observed on the surface of the moon. It was reported by NASA a blast, equal in energy to about 70 kg of TNT, occurred near the edge of the moon, an area named as Mare Imbrium (the sea of rains) on November 7, 2005, when a 12-centimetre-wide meteoroid slammed into the ground travelling at 27 km/s.
Needless to say that 'We' on Earth, are protected against zillion objects in the space with our atmosphere and magnetosphere. Media reports from NASA points to a massive blast in moon that is avoided in case of earth on a regular basis based on the existence of the terrestrial atmosphere.
The moon was peppered, too, but unlike the earth, it has no atmosphere to intercept meteoroids and turn them into harmless streaks of light. On the moon, meteoroids hit the ground - and explode.
Cooke estimates that the impact gouged a crater in the moon's surface "about 3 metres wide and 0.4 metres deep." As moon craters go, that's small. "Even the Hubble space telescope couldn''t see it," notes Cooke. The moon is 384,400 km away. At that distance, the smallest things Hubble can distinguish are about 60 metres wide.
And for those who deny Quran as the word of God, should read the following verses. Which man in the seventh century had the scientific data to even imagine this??
O mankind! worship your Lord, Who hath created you and those before you, so that ye may ward off (evil). Who hath appointed the earth a resting-place for you, and the sky a canopy; and causeth water to pour down from the sky, thereby producing fruits as food for you. And do not set up rivals to Allah when ye know (better). - Al-Baqarah 2:21-22
Allah it is Who appointed for you the earth for a dwelling-place and the sky for a canopy, and fashioned you and perfected your shapes, and hath provided you with good things. Such is Allah, your Lord. Then blessed be Allah, the Lord of the Worlds! - Al-Mu'min 40:64.19
Once the most potent weapon in the hands of evolutionists/atheists to deny the existance of God, has now become an intrument out to annihilate all those who doubted it's existance.
There is no other fact but that...the existance of the very Earth we inherit amd universe we live in is a glimpse of MOST INTELLIGENT DESIGN man has ever seen or can comprehend.
An open letter to Osama Bin Laden
An Open Letter To Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri (Whoever and Wherever You Are)
Excerpted originally from An Open Letter!
Aslam-o-Alaikum!
Do you know what degree of shame, abomination, misery and wretchedness is being heaped on the innocent and peace-following Muslims all over the world because of this so-called and self styled Jihad of yours?
Do you know how many innocent, unsullied people are being daily butchered as result of this professed Jihad of yours? How many children are being orphaned and women being widowed precisely for the same reason.
And do you know, killing one faultless human being is like killing the entire humanity. You must definitely be knowing that you will surely be held accountable for this all bloodshed. Will you, then, be able to face your God? I challenge, no!
Then, why have you become an agent of some hidden hand. Why are you taking the responsibility of the murder of entire humanity to yourself on his behest. Why are you dragging the Muslims down? Why are you demeaning Islam by presenting it as a terrorist religion? Acting like this, which religion are you rendering a great service to? Are you raising the standard of Islam high or you (if you reflect on it) are causing the heads of the followers of the path of the righteous bow down with shame in-front of the entire humanity.
Today most of the Muslims believe that you are not a true Muslim but planted by the enemies to destroy the image of Islam.
For God’s sake, take recourse to sense, and announce a CEASEFIRE at once so the inhabitants of world may be introduced to that divine aspect of the Muslims at whose hands no soul suffer, whose words and actions bear no tinge of dichotomy, whose speech, when uttered, conveys to others the message of love and protection, whose thoughts, when thought, are devoted to the well being of others. Herein lies the true success, and herein lies the victory of the true religion of Allah.
Copies being sent to Muslim Brothers and Sisters for information and with a request to pray for an earliest end of the war.
S.A.Rehman (Peace Activist)
PAKISTAN
Excerpted originally from An Open Letter!
Aslam-o-Alaikum!
Do you know what degree of shame, abomination, misery and wretchedness is being heaped on the innocent and peace-following Muslims all over the world because of this so-called and self styled Jihad of yours?
Do you know how many innocent, unsullied people are being daily butchered as result of this professed Jihad of yours? How many children are being orphaned and women being widowed precisely for the same reason.
And do you know, killing one faultless human being is like killing the entire humanity. You must definitely be knowing that you will surely be held accountable for this all bloodshed. Will you, then, be able to face your God? I challenge, no!
Then, why have you become an agent of some hidden hand. Why are you taking the responsibility of the murder of entire humanity to yourself on his behest. Why are you dragging the Muslims down? Why are you demeaning Islam by presenting it as a terrorist religion? Acting like this, which religion are you rendering a great service to? Are you raising the standard of Islam high or you (if you reflect on it) are causing the heads of the followers of the path of the righteous bow down with shame in-front of the entire humanity.
Today most of the Muslims believe that you are not a true Muslim but planted by the enemies to destroy the image of Islam.
For God’s sake, take recourse to sense, and announce a CEASEFIRE at once so the inhabitants of world may be introduced to that divine aspect of the Muslims at whose hands no soul suffer, whose words and actions bear no tinge of dichotomy, whose speech, when uttered, conveys to others the message of love and protection, whose thoughts, when thought, are devoted to the well being of others. Herein lies the true success, and herein lies the victory of the true religion of Allah.
Copies being sent to Muslim Brothers and Sisters for information and with a request to pray for an earliest end of the war.
S.A.Rehman (Peace Activist)
PAKISTAN
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Of bribery and 12/13
Parliamentarians were supposed to meet in the afternoon of December 13 to honour those who died saving them five years ago. Instead, they woke up to the stupid acts of Eleven amongst them, caught on camera, accepting bribes for agreeing to do something they were in any case elected to do — raise issues in Parliament. It is ironic that the exposé took place on December 13. I mean..they must be wondering, who elects these bozos who don't even know the basics of taking bribes.
Anyways..when was the last government that tried to measure up itself on the integrity scale? All hopes of change with manmohan at the helm have dashed too. He was considered as 'someone who was in the politics but not of the politics'. But can a lone man change the system these days?
According to recent figures quoted in HT sometime ago, 99 per cent of the people perceive the police to be corrupt, 98 per cent think similarly about political parties and 97 per cent feel likewise about the judiciary. All three need a massive image makeover. This is an unfortunate commentary about the two main arms of governance that give security and justice to the average man and woman.
Moreover, the pattern in India today is to let a local thug evolve into a national don or let a problem fester and when ultimately forced to take notice, then grant some concessions — allocate funds or carve out a new district, a new state, or more reservations but skirt the main issue. These dons fight elections and give themselves a legal acceptance for existance. This only encourages regional and sectional truculence of various hues. Populist promises and actions ‘ghettoise’ us into Marathis, Brahmins, Rajputs, Jats, Kurmis, Yadavs, OBCs, Dalits, Hindus, Muslims, Bengalis, Assamese, Tamilians, Punjabis or whatever.
But isn't a 'hindustani' lost in all this?
Anyways..when was the last government that tried to measure up itself on the integrity scale? All hopes of change with manmohan at the helm have dashed too. He was considered as 'someone who was in the politics but not of the politics'. But can a lone man change the system these days?
According to recent figures quoted in HT sometime ago, 99 per cent of the people perceive the police to be corrupt, 98 per cent think similarly about political parties and 97 per cent feel likewise about the judiciary. All three need a massive image makeover. This is an unfortunate commentary about the two main arms of governance that give security and justice to the average man and woman.
Moreover, the pattern in India today is to let a local thug evolve into a national don or let a problem fester and when ultimately forced to take notice, then grant some concessions — allocate funds or carve out a new district, a new state, or more reservations but skirt the main issue. These dons fight elections and give themselves a legal acceptance for existance. This only encourages regional and sectional truculence of various hues. Populist promises and actions ‘ghettoise’ us into Marathis, Brahmins, Rajputs, Jats, Kurmis, Yadavs, OBCs, Dalits, Hindus, Muslims, Bengalis, Assamese, Tamilians, Punjabis or whatever.
But isn't a 'hindustani' lost in all this?
Sunday, December 11, 2005
When you hafta rule a plural society democratically..
Even a hard-boiled Indian like me, used to cyclical bouts of Hindu-Muslim rioting, was shocked at the entrenched hatred between the two communities in Northern Ireland. The last population survey put the number of Protestants at 54 per cent and Catholics at 42 per cent. The Catholics tend to be visibly poorer and disaffected. But some Protestants feel under siege as the Catholic birth rate is higher and it’s only a matter of time before they outnumber the Protestants. Sounds so familiar to us Indians. Remember... soon 15% Muslim population of India will outnumber 75% Hindus??
Just before visiting Northern Ireland I had attended a brilliant lecture in Oxford—‘Partition: comparative lessons from Ireland, India and Palestine’. The fundamental argument was that Northern Ireland was the laboratory where the British empire-builders perfected their policy of divide and rule. All three countries were hastily partitioned and left with imperfect arrangements that would cast long shadows and sow the seeds for the most intractable problems of the modern age. I saw several other parallels between India and Northern Ireland. The deliberate instigation of violence to polarise communities before elections is an old Indian political trick. The Orangemen’s insistence on taking their parades through Catholic strongholds is eerily similar to chest-thumping Hindu religious processionists triggering a riot while passing through Muslim neighbourhoods and from the provocatively through vacinity of mosques and Lo and Behold!! A muslim always throws a stone on the procession and all hell breaks loose with Muslims businesses and houses targeted almost like clockwork and pre-marked precision.
And after what has happened in Ahmedabad, is it a bizarre flight of fancy to imagine what would emerge if poster painters and other such artists were given a free rein in that city? Standing in the Shankhill-Falls area, I saw Ahmedabad in my mind’s eye. Saffron-hued paintings in middle-class neighbourhoods depicted trishul-bearing youth threatening Muslims with death and eternal punishment. In the Muslim heart of the old city, the graffito depicted rape, murder and pillage at the hands of the state.
- Courtesy Saba's Blog-
Just before visiting Northern Ireland I had attended a brilliant lecture in Oxford—‘Partition: comparative lessons from Ireland, India and Palestine’. The fundamental argument was that Northern Ireland was the laboratory where the British empire-builders perfected their policy of divide and rule. All three countries were hastily partitioned and left with imperfect arrangements that would cast long shadows and sow the seeds for the most intractable problems of the modern age. I saw several other parallels between India and Northern Ireland. The deliberate instigation of violence to polarise communities before elections is an old Indian political trick. The Orangemen’s insistence on taking their parades through Catholic strongholds is eerily similar to chest-thumping Hindu religious processionists triggering a riot while passing through Muslim neighbourhoods and from the provocatively through vacinity of mosques and Lo and Behold!! A muslim always throws a stone on the procession and all hell breaks loose with Muslims businesses and houses targeted almost like clockwork and pre-marked precision.
And after what has happened in Ahmedabad, is it a bizarre flight of fancy to imagine what would emerge if poster painters and other such artists were given a free rein in that city? Standing in the Shankhill-Falls area, I saw Ahmedabad in my mind’s eye. Saffron-hued paintings in middle-class neighbourhoods depicted trishul-bearing youth threatening Muslims with death and eternal punishment. In the Muslim heart of the old city, the graffito depicted rape, murder and pillage at the hands of the state.
- Courtesy Saba's Blog-
Thursday, September 22, 2005
The right place of women ( beyond rhetoric)
It's not a news item anymore(that I link below) and we all know it. Just another example of World's hypocrisy when it claims to treating the fairer sex equally and a (self proclaimed) civilized world, that harps about it continously.
So when I read this news item, I felt pain as to why can't women at the dawn of this century, still be treated with dignity at any place of work, howsoever noble it be, be it nursing the patients in a hospital or defending their country at the borders?
A woman soldier's war in Iraq
Many of us in this world have become utter captives or if I can say, have left our carnal desires so untamed, that no matter what we do, we are in constant need of satisfying our sexual urges, else what explains the news item that reports... "from soldiers to policemen to social workers to fire fighters and even UN personnel, collectively have one thing in common....their need to have prostitutes and exotic dancers tag along, whichever mission they undertake and whatever godforsaken circumstances?
Erotic dancers and strippers are arriving to entertain crowds of police, firefighters and military personnel in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina.
"Sick"...is the word to describe this culture which is becoming more mainstream than we presume. Those few in the western world, who are against it, are seemingly fighting a lost battle. It's a rot that would not hide for long and had potential to bring the civilizations down. History is witness. So are the Bibles, the Torah and the Quran.
So when I read this news item, I felt pain as to why can't women at the dawn of this century, still be treated with dignity at any place of work, howsoever noble it be, be it nursing the patients in a hospital or defending their country at the borders?
A woman soldier's war in Iraq
Many of us in this world have become utter captives or if I can say, have left our carnal desires so untamed, that no matter what we do, we are in constant need of satisfying our sexual urges, else what explains the news item that reports... "from soldiers to policemen to social workers to fire fighters and even UN personnel, collectively have one thing in common....their need to have prostitutes and exotic dancers tag along, whichever mission they undertake and whatever godforsaken circumstances?
Erotic dancers and strippers are arriving to entertain crowds of police, firefighters and military personnel in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina.
"Sick"...is the word to describe this culture which is becoming more mainstream than we presume. Those few in the western world, who are against it, are seemingly fighting a lost battle. It's a rot that would not hide for long and had potential to bring the civilizations down. History is witness. So are the Bibles, the Torah and the Quran.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
From one pocket to another - Wah Taj!
The Taj Mahal was today declared Sunni Wakf property on the ground that it is the grave of a woman whose emperor husband was a Sunni.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the monument’s custodian since 1920 has at least said that it would challenge the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Wakf Board’s verdict in the high court.
I remember the old story about owner trying to slaughter the hen that laid golden eggs but only once a day!
The ASI earns Rs 15 crore a year in Taj revenues; and I wonder if it even spends Rs 1.05 crore. on it's maintenance and upkeep. It's a Jizya that Shahjhan left for Govt. of India to be repaid for a hundred years though he never took it anyways.
The Taj will now be “like a house owned by two warring brothers, no one keen on its proper maintenance”, said the assistant director of ASI, Agra, S.K. Sharma. “The order is not against the ASI, it is against the Taj Mahal.”
I agree.
Sunni Wakf Board. Corrupted to the core. Revelling and eating out on the money left by those who crossed the borders during partition or those who leave a sare of their property to be devoted to social charitable causes of uplifting poor amongst the Muslims. Their pockets are so fill..I wonder where they intend to keep the money they would recieve out of owning the Taj. Taj would be very fortunate if would survive another 50 years if it gets into Wakf hands from ASI. At least, ASI did undertake some maintenance work on it occasionally.
No limit to WAKF greediness I must say!! One look at the delipidated conditions of most of the mosques that are already under Wakf jurisdiction in India, and one could imagine the fate of the Taj in near future.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Manufacturing Terror - 5000th episode
It seems that the longest running soap on Ayodhya, has finally entered into it's last season. With the latest climactic episode getting over,some of the questions about it's weak storyline remain unanswered.
1. An eyewitness told the Zee news media that the attacker performed puja before they entered the complex. Why?
2. The attackers on the disputed site were earlier termed as ‘karsevaks’, whereas now the new official terminology is changed to ‘terrorist’. Why?
3. Earlier, the state and central government failed to stop the demolition of the structure, whereas, this time they saved the makeshift temporary structure very pro-actively. How?
4. It has been noticed that the attack was similar to the attack on Parliament, Akshardham Temple and other places, where all attackers were killed and no clues found. Why do intelligence fail on all occasions of similar attacks instead embarking upon a wild goose chase and implicating innocents in it's aftermath?
I find a methodological weakness in all the episodes, whoever scripted them.
The attack on Indian Parliament!! Why would someone want to do that? A heavily guarded place that is and would not bring any benefit to kashmir or lashkar's cause (if they have a cause to start with, whatsoever). The only ones to benefit would be Hindu right wing and they almost did but for America's priorities in aligning with Musharraf during the year long, India's threatening standoff at the borders with Pakistan, initialted by BJP government then. The fanatics amongst hindus, albeit not being able to launch an attack on Pakistan, did manage to quench their blood thirst by sucking up the blood of 2000 odd Muslims of their own country by in the garb of retaliation, in Gujrat.
And then...It had all seemed so convincing when the terror attack happened in our own Ansal Plaza at Delhi in Nov 2002. So, when the two "terrorists" arrived on at Delhi's most upmarket shopping centre, our super policewallahs were already waiting for them. As soon as the men parked their car in the underground basement and got out they were challenged by a poliwallah and they (the terrorists) allegedly opened fire. In the ensuing 15-minute "encounter" both militants were shot dead. An eyewitness who happened to be a doctor by profession, Dr. H Krishna, later gave a dramatic testimony. He claimed that both men were unarmed when police shot them. He also said that "the men stumbled out of their car and appeared either drugged or suffering from lack of sleep. They were empty-handed and walking with difficulty.
The police opened fire a minute later, killing the "terrorists" instantly".
When Dr Krishna tried to explain this to reporters, officers escorted him away. He later gave his account to India's Asian Age newspaper, and then wisely disappeared off to Australia when police questioned his personal credibility. He must have been on Lashkar's payroll.
Usually, many arrests follow when a suicide attack or even any attack happens in such mysterious circumstances. Remember, that Delhi college lecturer, Geelani, who spent two years in prison after being wrongly convicted of helping plan an attack on the Indian parliament, had also said he was framed by the police. After being freed, he was again attacked in Feb 2005. Our police says, he had gobbled up ISI money and they are getting even. Wow!!The impunity with which ISI carries it's 'getting even' activities on our soil, is amazing. The laxity with which our police is under no hurry to investigate the attack on Mr. Geelani by ISI goons is even more astonishing.
But no such wild goose chase followed the Ansal shootout. Delhi Police probably heaved a sigh of relief by just having gotten away after doing a blunder and got caught like a novice thief. So it was better to forget the usual melodrama enactment post suicide attacks. Thanks to a sympathetic government at the centre.
Anyways...Seems like Ayodhya soap is in it's final moments. India is calm. Share markets are calm except a few lumpen elements trying to whip up passions but failing miserably. Good for India but bad for all those who sucked and cherished on innocent blood of both sides.
And not to forget, Ishrat Jahan Raza, who was shot dead in the company of three Lashkar terrorists in July 2004. Her friends and family members still insist that she was not involved with terrorism. The damning evidence of her involvement with Lashkar appeared in the form of a claim by a Pakistani daily affiliated to Lashkar-e-Tayiba , that she was indeed one of them. The other evidence, was her e-mail ID: ishhateseverybody@hotmail.com. Additional CP, Ahmedabad, Mr. D G Vanzara had wondered, "if she was not a criminal, why did she not keep her ID 'ishloveseverybody'?" The case was closed.
I mean, I always wonder, Why the hell these Muslim self proclaimed 'militant' outfits fall over each other to hurriedly claim all their misadventures and failures? They are yet to, at least in India, claim a target worth taking and have almost always claimed innocent civilian lives. At least, they should learn lessons from their presumed enemies. The mission of Ishrat, if it was to purge Modi from the scene, had failed. Indian Human Rights agencies were condemning Modi and the whole police establishment wa under scrutiny to prove the involvement of Ishrat in the alleged Modi's assasination. Modi himself was under great political pressure within his constituency at the time. Second, the newspapers and television channels had been filing stories about Ishrat Jahan's college-mates, her teachers, and her neighbours telling the world what a good girl she was. She was, they all insisted, the last woman who could be suspected of 'fundamentalist' tendencies. One might argue that if you were a terrorist, would you actually go around announcing to the world that you intended to shoot Narendra Modi? Or would you keep quiet until the time came to act? Persumably the latter. But that was the order before lashker gallantly owned up to to it's failure.
Even if the mission of Ishrat failed, it could have been easier to kill Modi when he was removed from office or Police get's it's power curtailed if it was proven as a fake encounter. It doesn't take a genius to strategise this much.
Instead, the geniuses that inhabit Lashkar-e-taiba, chose to claim responsibility for a failed and callously implemented terror act? Why? A weak script, as always. But who cares...!! Lashker proved to the world, once again, every seemingly innocent looking Muslim boy or girl, should be treated as guilty of aiding and abetting 'Islamic terror' and never proven innocent throughtout his lifespan.
To maintain sanity, I end up linking you to a nice article on the same issue of Ayodhya's latest episode.
Why Ayodhya isn’t an issue any more - By Zafar
1. An eyewitness told the Zee news media that the attacker performed puja before they entered the complex. Why?
2. The attackers on the disputed site were earlier termed as ‘karsevaks’, whereas now the new official terminology is changed to ‘terrorist’. Why?
3. Earlier, the state and central government failed to stop the demolition of the structure, whereas, this time they saved the makeshift temporary structure very pro-actively. How?
4. It has been noticed that the attack was similar to the attack on Parliament, Akshardham Temple and other places, where all attackers were killed and no clues found. Why do intelligence fail on all occasions of similar attacks instead embarking upon a wild goose chase and implicating innocents in it's aftermath?
I find a methodological weakness in all the episodes, whoever scripted them.
The attack on Indian Parliament!! Why would someone want to do that? A heavily guarded place that is and would not bring any benefit to kashmir or lashkar's cause (if they have a cause to start with, whatsoever). The only ones to benefit would be Hindu right wing and they almost did but for America's priorities in aligning with Musharraf during the year long, India's threatening standoff at the borders with Pakistan, initialted by BJP government then. The fanatics amongst hindus, albeit not being able to launch an attack on Pakistan, did manage to quench their blood thirst by sucking up the blood of 2000 odd Muslims of their own country by in the garb of retaliation, in Gujrat.
And then...It had all seemed so convincing when the terror attack happened in our own Ansal Plaza at Delhi in Nov 2002. So, when the two "terrorists" arrived on at Delhi's most upmarket shopping centre, our super policewallahs were already waiting for them. As soon as the men parked their car in the underground basement and got out they were challenged by a poliwallah and they (the terrorists) allegedly opened fire. In the ensuing 15-minute "encounter" both militants were shot dead. An eyewitness who happened to be a doctor by profession, Dr. H Krishna, later gave a dramatic testimony. He claimed that both men were unarmed when police shot them. He also said that "the men stumbled out of their car and appeared either drugged or suffering from lack of sleep. They were empty-handed and walking with difficulty.
The police opened fire a minute later, killing the "terrorists" instantly".
When Dr Krishna tried to explain this to reporters, officers escorted him away. He later gave his account to India's Asian Age newspaper, and then wisely disappeared off to Australia when police questioned his personal credibility. He must have been on Lashkar's payroll.
Usually, many arrests follow when a suicide attack or even any attack happens in such mysterious circumstances. Remember, that Delhi college lecturer, Geelani, who spent two years in prison after being wrongly convicted of helping plan an attack on the Indian parliament, had also said he was framed by the police. After being freed, he was again attacked in Feb 2005. Our police says, he had gobbled up ISI money and they are getting even. Wow!!The impunity with which ISI carries it's 'getting even' activities on our soil, is amazing. The laxity with which our police is under no hurry to investigate the attack on Mr. Geelani by ISI goons is even more astonishing.
But no such wild goose chase followed the Ansal shootout. Delhi Police probably heaved a sigh of relief by just having gotten away after doing a blunder and got caught like a novice thief. So it was better to forget the usual melodrama enactment post suicide attacks. Thanks to a sympathetic government at the centre.
Anyways...Seems like Ayodhya soap is in it's final moments. India is calm. Share markets are calm except a few lumpen elements trying to whip up passions but failing miserably. Good for India but bad for all those who sucked and cherished on innocent blood of both sides.
And not to forget, Ishrat Jahan Raza, who was shot dead in the company of three Lashkar terrorists in July 2004. Her friends and family members still insist that she was not involved with terrorism. The damning evidence of her involvement with Lashkar appeared in the form of a claim by a Pakistani daily affiliated to Lashkar-e-Tayiba , that she was indeed one of them. The other evidence, was her e-mail ID: ishhateseverybody@hotmail.com. Additional CP, Ahmedabad, Mr. D G Vanzara had wondered, "if she was not a criminal, why did she not keep her ID 'ishloveseverybody'?" The case was closed.
I mean, I always wonder, Why the hell these Muslim self proclaimed 'militant' outfits fall over each other to hurriedly claim all their misadventures and failures? They are yet to, at least in India, claim a target worth taking and have almost always claimed innocent civilian lives. At least, they should learn lessons from their presumed enemies. The mission of Ishrat, if it was to purge Modi from the scene, had failed. Indian Human Rights agencies were condemning Modi and the whole police establishment wa under scrutiny to prove the involvement of Ishrat in the alleged Modi's assasination. Modi himself was under great political pressure within his constituency at the time. Second, the newspapers and television channels had been filing stories about Ishrat Jahan's college-mates, her teachers, and her neighbours telling the world what a good girl she was. She was, they all insisted, the last woman who could be suspected of 'fundamentalist' tendencies. One might argue that if you were a terrorist, would you actually go around announcing to the world that you intended to shoot Narendra Modi? Or would you keep quiet until the time came to act? Persumably the latter. But that was the order before lashker gallantly owned up to to it's failure.
Even if the mission of Ishrat failed, it could have been easier to kill Modi when he was removed from office or Police get's it's power curtailed if it was proven as a fake encounter. It doesn't take a genius to strategise this much.
Instead, the geniuses that inhabit Lashkar-e-taiba, chose to claim responsibility for a failed and callously implemented terror act? Why? A weak script, as always. But who cares...!! Lashker proved to the world, once again, every seemingly innocent looking Muslim boy or girl, should be treated as guilty of aiding and abetting 'Islamic terror' and never proven innocent throughtout his lifespan.
To maintain sanity, I end up linking you to a nice article on the same issue of Ayodhya's latest episode.
Why Ayodhya isn’t an issue any more - By Zafar
