A Question

My continent has never been a single political entity in all the time it has been around.... Throughout History, it has repeatedly been parcelled into smaller units, each baying for the blood of the other, pillaging it, eying it's own sisters and daughters and raping them as if  they belonged to another.... never have we understood the fact that we were always one beneath all these exterior differences.... from Ashoka, to Akbar and onto Aurangzeb, we did try to build up an empire that would hold onto all of our lands, but the fact is, our own people often proved to be our enemies in this path.... and again today, we are at it.... what more catastrophe does it need to take place before we can shed our differences to see the similarities? How many more partitions have to take place before we see the value of defence in depth? How much more do we need to hate each other and want to destroy each other to understand that this is us, not the other?

I don't know what's it with us..... a White skin is so important to our consciousness that whether knowingly or subconsciously  we always gravitate to them .... the latest example being the inhuman, filthy and foolish display of  sycophancy; the almost disgusting of self in front of American interests..... we don't mind destroying our own people for the sake of those that come in those white wrappers....

Tan Se To Aazaad Hum Ho Gaye Hain, Mann Se Gayee Naa Ghulaami
Pardesi Bhasha Aur Bhess Ko Hi, Dete Hain Ab Tak Salaami
Bhool Kar Apna Rang, Sikhaen Auron Ka Dhang,
Apnepan Ka Chalan Humse Chhutta!

The tribe of Mir Sadique still thrives in this land..... and my continent still is far away from that dream, that vision of one united country, that thrives from Herat to Galle, from Hotan and Kashghar to Tennasarim, from Sistan to Thimpu and Tawang and from Indira Point bordering Aceh to Male, remains but a pipe dream .....

When shall this land be one? Will this land ever be one?

New Steps in a Old Direction

The 'War Against Terror' by the 'Coalition of the Willing' has created a major political and existential mess for the entire world but due to it's unique position as both victim and aggressor, witness and accused, prosecutor and defence, the Subcontinent is in deeper waters than any other region in this comedy of the absurd. Osama is dead, but he has left behind enough headaches for this region and I am sure this region will go through a bloodbath before even a thought of exorcism can be entertained. As long as our political disunity is a truth, peace is a myth.

Though it can be easily proved that the mess has been created and furthered by actors outside the Subcontinent, the actions of some of the political actors of the area such as Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh cannot escape scrutiny. There are very few political divisions that can say with a degree of certainty that they are in no way responsible or touched by this major concern, an example can be made of Bhutan and to some extent Maldives.Anyways, a lot of water has flown down the river since those days, when the ideology and the infrastructure of the philosophy was created, today my major concern is the immediate impact of the situation on the future.

India should fear the impact of the current situation. There are many in the political establishment who are gloating over the current impasse generated in Pakistan, busy in garnering brownies and gathering laughs but they fail to see that the so-called tight spot is an illusion.

I was saddened and shocked to hear the Army General speaking out of turn on the hot pursuit theory. Does the general, respected as he is, know the implications of such a scenario. Warmongers have been painting pictures of 1971 and 1999 but lot has changed since then....  Pakistan has the 4th largest Nuclear Arsenal that is rising consistently, an immense pool of non-state actors that it can use as a proxy, is not dependent on India in any aspect, has a support structure in form of China and is a 'neighbour'; however uncomfortable that may seem. Also, unlike India it has not agreed to 'No First Use' Clause and it can easily override India's No First-Use Clause by using non-state actors; all of them being on their tight leash..... Why would the respected Army General making such a silly statement?

America is not the saviour of Indian interests, nor is it anything more than a faithless lover who will throw off the yoke of your love, the moment it's realpolitik and economic interests dictate otherwise.... currently, there is no reason why America should dump it's bed-partner, Pakistan and make a love covenant with India- in short this bed is going to lie empty for some more time now!

America needs Pakistan in Afghanistan and let's be clear the Great Game that started with the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813 is still on, in fact it's more urgent, more important and more dangerous and for America that one need of being a player in the region will easily override all other aspects, even bankruptcy. Also the fact that Pakistan is the only reliable go-between America has in it's hand, in case China and America have a disagreement is a clincher; remember China holds the reins of more than a Trillion Dollars in Debt plus has a strong moderating influence on North Korea and is also the rising power, the one expected to throw America on the sidelines...... China publicly supporting a beleaguered Pakistan recently is proof of the geopolitical realities of our times.....

If India needs to fear the situation, Pakistan needs to be terrified of it.... It's open history that none of the dictators supported by America have come to any good in the long run; in the short-run, Pakistan will squeeze America by the balls and maybe even make them dance to the monkey tune but make no mistakes, it's not going to last.... Pakistan's importance in the American psyche is not derived from it's own position per se but because of it's power and reach in secondary and more important regions.... it's the gateway to Central Asia, the point of control for the Afghan heartland, a way to the Middle Kingdom and a watchdog to Iran and Russia; these parameters can change in a blink of an eye.

Secondly, it's foolish to ride a Lion, hoping that someday it will be a tame Lion .... the Mullahs, by history have always shown their desire and fascination for temporal power..... they cannot be controlled forever and one day will demand more than Shylock's pound of flesh... any religious fundamentalism has a way of consuming the one who creates the mess .... be wary and be cautious

Thirdly, the unity and integrity of Pakistan itself is under question.... Baluchistan may go the Bangladesh way if things do not improve, the only reason it has survived in the confederation so far is it's regional proximity to Iran on the extreme western border of the Sub-continent and Afghanistan which is itself in severe turmoil. Sind is restive while the NWFP still dreams of a united Pukhtoonkhwa.

Afghanistan, the northern-most boundary of our Continent also has a lot to fear. Americans need to show to it's local populace that the War on Terror is not Vietnam Part II and may insist on the division of the country in two parts with the Northern and the Southern parts divided .... Partition is a favourite weapon of the colonial and the imperialist powers. They have ruled the world on basis of Partitions and it's obvious that they will try it again...... but this would be very deadly and if America goes ahead with this plan, the backlash will be very dangerous and America will find to it's chagrin that the cure is worse than the disease

We are living in very dangerous times, I hope the people who are leading us can handle it well or our Continent will have nothing but tears and blood to show for our errors of omission and commision

On The Death of a Terrorist

Osama Bin Laden was killed on 2nd May 2011 in Abbotabad, Pakistan....... and the entire world let down a collective sigh of relief..... So what the hell am I doing, writing on a topic that's 17 days stale? Am I out of my mind? Am I gone cuckoo? Well... Maybe, you never know; to be frank, the mass hysteria that followed the assassination, the inglorious and indecent spectacle of jubilation that followed the assassination and almost converted a moment of unbridled victory into a moment of ignominious shame, in a way stopped me in my tracks.

Were these the same people who had been calling themselves the paragons of morality and decency and berating the Other, just a day before the incident? So, to their shameful chagrin, even they were found to have feet of clay... How hard how the morals of the morality crowd fallen!

The only thing that made me feel a little better was a brilliant and humane response from the Vatican and the Lama and the fact that the Muslim world in general, notwithstanding the lunatic fringe, did not make the death of Osama into a matter of Islamic slight...... so somewhere, morality is still alive, and thank them for it!

So what are my views on the Subject?

Osama was a criminal, a terrorist, a man who hijacked a religion, a way of life from it's actuals, changed the rules of the game, and died for it. There is no sympathy for him, not even from a humane angle, he deserved what finally came to him, though I do accept that for being a puny man, he did succeed to keep the most powerful state on Earth in a state of flux for 10 long years - no mean achievement considering that worse dictators like Saddam and Idi Amin failed to do so, even with the entire state machinery behind them.

Still, it was but obvious that when you ride a lion, the lion's gonna get you sometime, the lion in this case being the evil of terrorism ..... I am happy that the man who was responsible for a lot of hate, the man who divided humanity against itself, the man who made a joke of humanity will finally captured..... a great physical victory has been won.

No! The Muslims cannot claim victory, for they failed to save their religion from the evil grasp of the Dajjal; on the contrary he became a hero for a foolish crowd of people who equated his anti-American tirade as a battle-cry against the enemies of Islam! The Muslims had enough chance to stand upto him but at every turn, they failed and in their silence lies their culpability for no law considers ignorance as a mitigating factor for sentence ..... Wake up, Muslims of the world..... your silence is not doing either you or your religion, any help..... Let it be a warning call, lest you be caught napping.....

Read the Quran for yourself - there is a reason why Islam does not have a priestly class, study it, interpret it, and rescue it from the marshes of Abu Jahl and his kin, today dressed up as the faithful ..... Do not forget, the martyrdom of Hussein or Hasan or Ali or Uthman was not at the hands of the so-called infidels, but at the hands of fellow Muslims...... You still have time, don't let it go astray

No! The Americans cannot claim victory, at most they can state that some parity was achieved for the truth remains that it was and is the Americans who created this monster that let loose a blood-bath that will be remembered for years to come..... on the top of it, the disgusting demonstrations that engulfed the cities in US, the rising trend of Islamophobia in the country, only takes away from them what should have been rightly a handsome victory.....

The behaviour of the Students and other personnel in America is in a way reminiscent of the filthy display of arrogance made by the Meccan Confederacy after their victory at the Battle of Uhud...... If this trend remains, this victory would only remain a highmark that would define the high point of their success and would only lead to more debilitating losses in the future..... Wake up Americans.... you still have time

That brings me to the State of Pakistan ..... it's foolishness for the world to talk of Pakistan as a failed state; I would say it's the most successful state on this Earth and no state can even touch base with it's shadow for the brilliance of realpolitik and public relations; it appears as if the Pakistani state is a past master of diplomacy.... nothing and I repeat nothing can break their resolve.....

Osama was obviously in Pakistan by the connivance of the Pakistani State and was finally expedited when the time was ripe, again in the interest of Pakistan.... everything was done to a plan, nothing missed out while America spent billions of dollars in a time of recession for the capture of Osama - money that could have saved many a middle-class American citizens and still, despite it's brazenness, it remains America's first ally on the War of Terror! I am impressed!

As a lasting shot, I would say... the celebrations are premature, Al-Qaeda is a force to reckon with and the announcement of Saif-al-Adil as the new chief of the terrorist outfits shows the depth in the enemy ranks.... A logical response would be to be cautious, and to make a distinction between Al-Qaeda and Islam, not only for the Al-Kaffir but also for the Al-Momin

Maybe then it indeed will be the Death of a Terrorist!