Desicritics Category: Politics: World

Poem For Barack, Michelle, Sasha, and Melia Obama

temporal — Wed, 7 Jan 2009 09:54:02 EST

CALLIE SHELL/AP

barak and michelle
m and i share your concern
for the privacy
and well being
of sasha and melia
may your children
get good education
and medical care
and grow up
balanced individuals
ready to take their place
in the affairs of our world
unlike the children in gaza

ASHRAF AMRA/AP

let me add briefly
am disappointed
at your silence
you did speak out
as president elect
on other issues
is apartheid,
ghettoisation
ethnic cleansing
and loss of civilian lives
not important for you?

Israel & Palestine: Force Is Never the Solution

temporal — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:25:14 EST

Taking advantage of the lame duck Presidency of Bush, the deliberate distancing of President Elect there-is-only-one-president Obama, the holidays in the West and the attending low emphasis of politicians, Israeli Air Force launched a devastating attack on Gaza.

Israel is the non NPT signatory Occupier in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Golan and East Jerusalem, aided (up to 5 billion a year) and abetted by the West.

President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmood Abbas is perceived as an Palestinian Uncle Tom and he was soundly beaten in the elections by Hamas.

The infamous US dichotomy re: democracy sprung into action and immediately cut off all aid to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It also twisted its allies and lackeys' arms (including Canada's) to do the same. This US amnesiac approach is well documented and understood globally. Do as I say, not as I do.

Hamas leadership did not go to the same school.

This latest foray into the Gaza Strip would wane away sooner or later. But the violence and "terrorism" it would spawn would perpetuate the cycle for long.

Can anything be done to avoid the unnecessary spiralling of violence? I have written about the solution before here: Peace With Dignity: Another Gift For Israel

Criticizing Zionism is NOT anti-Semitism. States do not exist without an “official” map. Israel has to exist. Its citizens have a right to live in peace and harmony within its defined borders. They forget that to ensure this its neighbors should also have the same rights.

Both Israel and Palestinians have to demonstrate more effectively that they want to live in peace and do not want to kill, maim, expel from their land. It is for them to deliberate and decide if this should come under One State of Two State solution.

The world should help them reach this decision but should not refrain to remind Israel that it should curb its policies of occupation, subjugation, ethnic cleansing, and terrorising.

We should encourage initiatives that will let all Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace, with dignity, justice and guaranteed fundamental human rights in secure borders, as enshrined in the various UN resolutions.

To remove misgivings, doubts and suspicions, international bodies including the UN, the European Union, OIC should be enlisted to provide guarantees. Peace in the region is not to be equated with death for the state of Israel.

Israel portrays itself as the David but acts as the Goliath in the region. Here are the (boxing preliminary) statistics of Israel and the Palestinians of the occupied Gaza Strip.

The Occupier Goliaths

High quality tanks 970
Medium and low quality tanks 1830
APCs, IFVs, ARVs, LCVs 6930
Self-propelled artillery 1204
Combat warplanes 875
Transport warplanes 84
Training warplanes 171
Military helicopters 286
Heavy SAM batteries 25
Warships 13
Submarines 3
Patrol boats 50 50
nuclear bombs over 300-500

The Occupied Davids

Five major militant factions operate in Gaza. These are the Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad; the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, which is loosely tied to Abbas' Fatah faction; the Popular Resistance Committees, a shadowy umbrella group; and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The size of the groups is unclear, but they are equipped with assault rifles, mortars, anti-tank missiles, homemade rockets and other explosives.

****

The point neoconzix in Israel and the West refuse to fathom: force is never the solution.

Gaza Is Aflame. Again!

Sarah Islam — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:10:05 EST

Just heard on the television that Israeli F-16 bombers have carried out massive air strikes in Gaza which have killed 200 and injured 400 mostly women and children. Scores of dead bodies have been thrown out on the streets as hospitals have no place to keep them.

They said that the weather had been exceptionally beautiful in the West Bank, for the past couple of days. Christmas was celebrated with much pomp and splendor and tourists had thronged Bethlehem for the first time in many years in record breaking numbers. Taking advantage of good weather, Israeli planes bombed around 40 Palestinian police stations, posts and other targets early Saturday morning. Time says that the ‘the first strikes came in a coordinated three-minute blitz’.

Israeli officials say the strikes are being carried out on response to the rocket attacks from Gaza, a Hamas ruled territory. The Israeli Government spokesperson on BBC told viewers that the ‘Palestinians were exaggerating the number of civilian casualties for propaganda purposes’.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in June this year. Israel wants the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shilat. Hamas needed a break to consolidate its control over Gaza. Neither side recognizes the other’s legitimacy but had agreed to negotiate through an Egyptian mediator.

On November 5 this year, the Israeli government sealed all the ways into and out of Gaza. fuel, electricity, food, medical supplies and water equipment are no longer being allowed to enter the besieged Palestinian Territories.

According to Oxfam only 137 trucks of food were allowed into Gaza in November.

Sara Roy, author of Failing Peace: Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict says in the LRB: ‘The majority of commercial bakeries in Gaza – 30 out of 47 – have had to close because they have run out of cooking gas. People are using any fuel they can find to cook with. As the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has made clear, cooking-gas canisters are necessary for generating the warmth to incubate broiler chicks. Shortages of gas and animal feed have forced commercial producers to smother hundreds of thousands of chicks. By April, according to the FAO, there will be no poultry there at all: 70 per cent of Gazans rely on chicken as a major source of protein.’

The holocaust is happening all over again right here, right now. The International Community is not bothered and apart from a few UN warnings, there is no concentrated effort to stop Israel from carrying out violent attacks on the Palestinian people, their properties, their civil institutions, their livestock and their very dignity.

The EU announced recently that it wanted to strengthen its relationship with Israel while the Israeli leadership openly calls for a large-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip . Ehud Barack has just announced that ‘the time to fight in Gaza has come.’

The world is talking about change, countries are quick to pounce on their ‘right to defend’ themselves and Barak Obama’s victory in the US presidential elections has triggered a Mexican wave of joy across the world. It is scary that here is a man who has not even taken over the office yet and people everywhere are already treating him like he is the next best thing after sliced bread.

Obama has already shown his pro-Israel stand and is said to be a firm believer in Israel’s right to defend itself. I suppose we should resign ourselves to Obama murmuring the same clichéd lines when asked to comment on the Isreal-palestine conflict. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has already accused Hamas of having triggered the new bout of violence. So Israel’s hands are clean. Again.

The mind boggles how the world can be so spineless once again and not ask Israel a simple question that Sara Roy asks: ‘How can keeping food and medicine from the people of Gaza protect the people of Israel? How can the impoverishment and suffering of Gaza’s children benefit anyone? International law as well as human decency demands their protection.’

Never before has a noble and dignified slogan like ‘Never Again’ been twisted into such a cruel joke.

India has the dubious distinction of being Israel's principal arms market, as well as being eager customers of Israeli intelligence reports, technological expertise and its propaganda prone foreign policy. Haven’t we all seen how we in India were singing hymns in favour of Israel after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai? Didn’t we all listen in as various experts and the aam junta upheld Israel as a ‘model state’ against combating terrorism on their soil?

Pakistan, on the other hand has always had a hardnosed religious approach to the issue of Palestine. Hardliners in that country have always treated Israel as another Kashmir that is theirs to be fought for. Calls for Jihad have been given many times and truckloads of eager illiterate Pakistani and Afghani youth have left their families to fight for their Palestinian 'brothers and sisters'. Again, a supreme example of how agood idea can be completely distorted.

What Palestine needs right now is not patronizing behavior but a few brave countries to stand in its corner and help their cause in front of the international community. No amount of humanitarian aid or sympathy can help the West Bank. The political leadership in that country has failed. It needs civilian action, not violence, to make the world hear its plight.

There is an overkill of the Israel-Palestinian issue in world media and I suppose a certain fatigue has set in with the common man who does not live in the Middle East. What we need to do right now is to shake ourselves out of this apathy, yes, you and me, and do whatever we can to make the Two-nation theory a plausible option for the world community. Let’s write letters, blog about it and create a human network that not only sympathizes with the Palestinians and their troubles, but is also active enough and strong enough to take this to the end.

This is not a Muslim-Jewish-Christian conflict. This is the unraveling of a society and the annihilation of a people and their way of life. Violence is the not the way forward. Neither is helplessness.

Mumbai Musings And Talking Terrorism

Kavita Chhibber — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:24:48 EST

The past weeks since the terrorist attacks on Mumbai, have gone in round the clock interviews with people from India and Pakistan from different walks of life, talking to Dr Deepak Chopra, Pakistani cricketer politician Imran Khan, counter terrorism experts, UK businessman Sir Gulam Noon, who defied death for the fourth time when he escaped from the burning Taj in what seemed a miracle in just the way the events built up in his case and of course a cross section of people in India and Pakistan.

While you can read all the outstanding interviews and some other really thought provoking articles on my website (www.kavitachhibber.com) in the latest issue, I remember when the initial reportage came in, having read about the previous attacks, and the flooding that left Mumbai paralyzed and other similar attacks across India, I didn't pay much attention to the headlines for a couple of hours, thinking it was indeed some gang war as the media was reporting; until my brother's email that one of his close friends was missing on the 6th floor of the Taj came in and that his last contact with her was at 2 a.m. The friend was well known journalist Sabina Sehgal Saikia and sadly her body was found 2 days later. Just 10 days earlier, she had gone to Ustad Amjad Ali Khan's house to gift her new book to his wife Subhalakshmi Khan, said the Sarod maestro to me as he was about to leave for her funeral.

Soon burning questions and a burning city captured the attention of both the national and international media. Never, said terrorism expert Dr Robert Friedmann to me, has he seen such prolonged international coverage for an attack in India-not just that, he had not even seen that kind of coverage when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in what was a clear case of political terrorism.

As I called people from all over, to get their impressions, one thing emerged with crystal clear precision-while the political leaders in India jumped the gun and immediately started pointing fingers at Pakistan, the people of India were really angry with the breakdown of the political and intelligence system in their own country.

I saw a volcanic anger that I had not seen earlier when a breakdown of infrastructure has happened in any part of India.

While there were some people from the Indian and Pakistani community that sent inflammatory articles, emails and comments to my website, by and large the majority of Indians, no matter what their background, understood that there is a need to separate the state and the government from non state perpetrators of the crime. Most Indians also made the point that they have deep love for the people of Pakistan and recalled the unparalleled hospitality they have been offered every time they visit India. They also said that they realize the Pakistani government is too weak, being run with the blessings of the Military and that the country is now as much a victim of ingrown terrorism: but most Indians were adamant that they cannot excuse the apathy of the state in eliminating these terrorists or those members of the Pakistani government or ISI, that is training these terrorists.

On the Pakistani side, the memories of the ravaged Marriot in Islamabad still fresh in their minds, people were shocked and sympathetic at what happened in India. But that shock and sympathy turned into anger and defensive defiance when the blame game began. The media reporting from India was by and large a prime example of tabloid TV and yellow journalism and a blatant attempt at garnering the highest ratings. Even veteran journalists jumped in the fray-and many people turned into self appointed experts passing judgment, giving an analysis and jumping to all kinds of conclusions while the siege was still on, and little concrete information to base those opinions on.

The Pakistan bashing brought retaliation from Pakistani news media and many Pakistanis I spoke to in the first few days, told me they were convinced the terrorists were Hindus from RSS and BJP paid to create mayhem just before the elections. One told me that Geo TV had specifically conducted an investigation and that the lone captured terrorist wasn't even from the village in Pakistan as claimed. All these presumptions of course have been refuted, and even more so when former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif acknowledged that indeed the terrorist was Pakistani and his family has been isolated from everyone a few days ago in an interview.

Condoleezza Rice arrived and added fuel to the fire by jumping on the "blame Pakistan" wagon. Rice reprimanded the government like a school Principal scolding an errant child, instead of trying to cool tempers and act as a mediator, and as a representative of a global super power, that would in times such as these, be expected to want peace in the subcontinent and would work towards that-especially when the two countries are nuclear powers. And of course accept that US has to accept a lot of the blame for the current chaos in Afghanistan which has flowed into Pakistan.

But then the reason why a large part of the world, hates America, is because America, said Dr Deepak Chopra to me in a conversation - has only self interests and no allies or friends. He made a lot of sense when he said to me "Right now America's interests are the World's interests; our economic system, the economic melt down is telling us now that there is only one economy, the weather patterns are telling us that there is only one ecology; when are we going to learn that there is only one humanity?"

There were many discussions on global terrorism and its Islamic face. Imran Khan the cricketing legend and now the only Politician people of Pakistan and India respect, because of his honesty and integrity, said for the umpteenth time that terrorism has no religion - a sentiment shared by many across the board. He also added that the youngsters many of whom are university graduates, and from middle class families don't even fit the stereotypical image of the so called Islamic terrorist with a beard. There is a lot more to learn why things are the way they are today.

The spirit of Mumbai was invoked by some, and dismissed by others who said every big city has a similar spirit, where people want to get back to normal, but what remained simmering was an anger at the political system that nurtures corruption and is caught napping again and again at times of need.

The good thing, said one interviewee is that the elite have been hit this time, and so those who fill the coffers of these politicians, especially the corporate head honchos are now taking a second look at security and terrorism. There are also lawsuits asking for regulation and a strong criticism of the way the media handled coverage, disclosing crucial and sensitive information, that may have caused the death of many in the two hotels as their location and how many security personnel was involved in counter attack came tumbling out on real time reporting.

There was a conciliatory email by Barkha Dutt, a journalist I used to admire once upon a time, but who has joined the ranks of tabloid reporters, where she said that the media reported only what was told to them. At no point were they briefed to keep things off record. While she has a point and this opens a new discussion on how to train the media and have a close relationship with it in case something of this nature occurs again-it does not take away from the disservice Dutt and similar veteran journalists like her have done. Someone with her experience, should instinctively know when crucial information if reported, can endanger the lives of others and not wait to be spoon fed by those in authority at what she should and should not say. Unfortunately, her apology came a bit too late and as a preventive measure because public opinion against her may make her head roll as well.

I would like to share some lines from 3 of the interviewees that sprung out at me when the interviews were being conducted.

Dr Deepak Chopra:

The first important question is- why is global terrorism predominantly an Islamic phenomenon? Secondly, what is it that radicalizes young Muslim men in relatively middle class families in Europe, Britain and other places? Where is the money coming from? It's very obvious this takes a lot of training, this takes a lot of organization and it is clear that the money pipeline starts in Saudi Arabia in which case we should be asking- what role does the US play in this,

So as long as America thinks only of its own interests, its never going to have a complete understanding. Right now America's interests are the World's interests and they don't understand that; our economic system, the economic melt down is telling us now that there is only one economy, weather patterns are telling us that there is only one ecology; when are we going to learn that there is only one humanity?

Imran Khan cricketing legend and Pakistani Politician:

Terrorism has nothing to do with religion. All root causes of terrorism lie in politics

When they say Islamist terrorists and start looking for a cure in Islam, they are surprised to find that these young terrorists don't fit the stereotype of the Islamic terrorist with the big beard. Then they are even more shocked when they find that most of the suicide attackers-one half of them according to one estimate-are university graduates. What is happening is that Muslims are getting radicalized and it's not because of Islamic extremism, it's because of political issues which are unresolved.

You can always talk about moderate Islam but the struggle between Israel and Palestine is not going to go away unless there is a political resolution; All religions-not just Islam, preach about compassion and justice-no religion wants anyone to kill innocent people or patronize injustice.

To blame a religion is the biggest injustice we do on people of a certain religious community. So when you say Islamist terrorist and try to find solutions in religion you actually make the situation much worse because among the Muslims this war on terror after 9/11 is being perceived as a war against Islam, and when it is perceived as a war against Islam, there will be no shortage of Muslims willing to kill themselves may be to protect their religion. So terrorism needs to be de linked from religion.

Dr Robert R Friedmann: nationally renowned expert on criminal justice and counter terrorism:

The implication then is that just because someone is poor they have a justification to become a terrorist. That is atrocious and a tremendous mistake to suggest that. One has to look at political interests, ideologies, who benefits, what are the strategies; just because someone is poor they become terrorists is simply not backed by any facts.

The first distinction is that all terrorist groups have local interests, though I hesitate to say that about Hamas and Hezbollah because if you look carefully at their writing and ideology they clearly veer into the globalization of terrorist objectives.

Society cannot afford to let terrorism become a part of normal living and treat it like vehicular fatalities and do not do too much about it.

I don't believe that US, Europe, South Africa or Australia, for that matter anyone else can influence Islam and I don't think it's their duty either. I would shy away from religion or religious wars. I think what needs to be done is to let moderate voices within Islam carry that battle inside and not to have outsiders tell the Muslims what to do.

Today there is no safe place in the world....While the public safety community understands the threat, I don't think the public does, in any part of the world-even in Israel."

While questions, allegations continue, I believe that in the end it boils down to personal responsibility whether it's a journalist or a politician or the common man who chose the corrupt or inept politicians who rule, who adds to the ratings of sensational programs by watching and listening to them, the rich who pay to get things done. We have in the end become victims of our own apathy and our own disability, to be , as Gandhi said, the change we want to see in the world.

The buck begins and stops with us all.

Iraq - Shoe-ing Away The Question

Suresh Naig — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 08:28:18 EST

Asking a question is very important for development. A society which is discouraged from asking questions, is a society deprived of development. A person is not expected to ask a question in an autocratic state and it may even cost the life of a person, if the question happened to be uncomfortable to the ruler. Even in a democratic country, many people have lost their lives, asking uncomfortable questions. They are known as “whistle blowers”, and in the recent past an engineer from Karnataka, Manjunath had paid with his life in Bihar, for asking uncomfortable questions to road contractors and Highways department Babus.

However we might have been deprived of many useful things for the society, if Issac Newton had not asked that question, ‘why an apple falls down?’ Had Alexander Fleming not asked that vital question, ‘why one mould is interfering with the growth of another mould’, we might have been deprived of anti-biotics – the powerful arsenal in medicine to fight infections.

Had Gandhi not asked that question, ‘why I am not allowed to travel in first class compartment, even after paying for it?’ we would not have experienced a non-violent philosophy “ahimsa”. The whole Bhagavat Geeta is a treatise in the form of questions and answers, and the central theme of Zen philosophy is only questions.

However, certain questions could be embarrassing in diplomatic parlance, even if it happened to be true. Our earlier Prime Minister Morarjee Desai was known for his diplomatic lapses, by his pointed and uncomfortable questions. He reportedly walked straight to one of the aides, who accompanied the Soviet Premier to India and asked, ‘are you from KGB?’ to the embarrassment of MEA personnel. However they were happy, that their Prime Minister, who was a proponent of “auto urine therapy”, did not offer his “favourite drink” to the Russian delegation.

Though we have been benefited by the answers for certain freak questions, we are better off, by not asking one question, which does not have an answer. This question is an expression of our wishful thinking and the question is “what if it’s true?”

Two persons had asked the above question in Bangalore and they were poorer by few lakhs of rupees. One had asked the question on receiving a mail in his mail box, declaring him as the winner of an international lottery. The other asked the question in response to a mail asking him to be a conduit, in retrieving huge funds stashed away in a foreign country. I am sure most of us would have received these mails and we ignored it, because we are not gullible.

At times even many top leaders showed traits of gullibility, by not only asking that question themselves, but also instigating others to ask the same question ‘what if it’s true?, for certain information which is worth shoeing away.

By not shoeing away the information pertaining to WMD (weapons of mass destruction), Bush had asked the question ‘what if it’s true?’ and he got shoe-d away in Iraq.

Where is The Line?

The Shiva — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 23:22:39 EST

OK, let me rephrase. Is there even a line. How should you react to these ghastly incidents that scar not only your psyche but also drive down that a deep hatred which seems to erupt in anonymity? What happened in Mumbai not only leaves us with questions about the relevance of Pakistan in our lives (as Indians) but also the relevance of the normal day Pakistani that you might bump into on the street. Why is there a shadow version of ourselves that tends to bring out the worst in us when hidden in a mob or a group, but as individuals we tend to think differently. I'm sure there must have been a million social experiments done to study this, but why is there no perfect solution to deal with this problem?

I've read and reread many articles on how to hurt Pakistan into waking up to reality without actually firing a single shot, the sort of Cold-War tactics used by the US to hurt a country where it really matters, economically, culturally or even psychologically. But the thing that's different with the Pakis is this deep rooted feeling of brotherhood some of us Indians feel in times of relative peace with our neighbor. I don't think its a religion thing, its more to do with us wanting to take a higher moral stand, of always wanting to be in peace even during times of pain, of utmost restraint, the same restraint that our Government keeps reminding us, the same restraint the Western World urges us to show. But is the price of restraint worth it?

These questions are meant to be asked because for some of us who arent in the crowd, the anger or restraint we show happens more at a personal level. I've had all these questions running through my mind, because as an Indian in the US, I feel the anger and yet I feel anonymous to the cause. How should I react? Should I even react? The day after the happenings in Mumbai, I was in a cab driven by yes, a Paki. I was with my colleagues, each one with their own immigrant stories but I couldnt expect them to understand how it made me feel sitting in that cab. I sat next to the driver, while he started talking to me about Bollywood and how Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai were in his cab when they visited the city. I just smiled and said nothing, when inside me, all I could feel was the rage of being there. I knew my anger had nothing to do with him as a person, he was just a guy like me, trying to find his way through life. But all I could think of were the dollars I was going to pay him, which would in turn find its way to Pakistan maybe as a family remittance, and who knows might end up in the hands of the same group that sent people to destroy my brethren. After all they are all charities right? Maybe I was being simplistic about the whole thing, or maybe I wasn't.

These thoughts made my head spin that I had to ask my colleague for an aspirin in the car. She didn't have one, and so what happens next, yes you must have guessed it, Mr. Cabbie hands over a couple of aspirins and asks me to have it. I didnt know whether to feel relieved or even angrier. I just took the escapist route and fell asleep. The next day I left the hotel room, prepared for my presentation and guess what, my client was a Pakistani. I again, didn't know what to do. I had to be professional obviously, so I just kept it that way. No small talk, but we could feel the tension. What made the equation a bit skewed was us being three Indians to him being one. I couldn't find that surprising though, there are after all a billion of us in this world.

Though I always wonder what goes on inside the head of a Pakistani soon after these incidents. ( they do happen pretty often) there is one thing I have realized though with my countless experiences with my neighbors. One-on-One they are probably the nicest people in the world. Its when they become bigger than a group of 20, that you start hearing the commentary. In any case we went out for lunch which was more or less in silence except for one colleague of mine who was Chinese and couldn't help himself from talking. Though at some point, my Pakistani client did mention that his wife was from India. I again didnt know what to say. I just said, Great.

Great? Who says that.

Some of these questions do have answers. Like the way my friends decided not to go to a Pakistani owned theatre or a restaurant. Maybe it doesn't matter to the business, but it did matter as a set of principles for them. Like the way, my friend decided against buying a pair of gloves though they were perfect, just because they were made in Pakistan. Would it ever add up, I asked them. They said, they didn't care. Its the same petro-dollar argument new energy advocates use here. Less money for the Saudis, less money to blow us up.

They say you cant generalize. Not everyone belongs to the same mob. But isnt the reason we got to this point because we never had a coherent policy on what we should do. We need not hate, but do we need to love? Why shoot ourselves in the foot when almost 100,000 Indian soldiers have died in the Kashmir conflict and yet Atif Aslam signs record deals with Indian music companies. Yes, he didn't kill anyone and yes the soldiers may not have been killed by Pakistanis ( Afghans and Kashmiris also fought in that insurgency) but isn't it better to solve the leakage through one hole before opening up more taps? And note that I haven't even started talking about the religion aspect of this entire conflict.

In the end, I think, all of us are just trying to find our way out for ourselves. So that we need not be the ones making that crucial decision whether to cut the umbilical cord or not. In essence though, I think Pakistan has already done so, a long time ago.

That Saturday night, I ended up thinking what my friends said, on my long drive home through the rainy streets of San Jose. Each one made a passionate argument, not on how to deal with this situation, but how they would deal with a normal day Pakistani. To me, it sounded idealistic, because of my own recent interactions. But they made their case and said they would stand by it. I though could only see two sets of images in front of my eyes. One of the chaos on the streets of the city I would swear by any day and the other of me walking away from the cab, the minute I found out. The problem though, was, one happened and the other didn't.

poem: hatred and love

temporal — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 03:18:42 EST

Reuters – A clock is seen in front of the
logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse at
the Paradeplatz square in Zurich …

we have to wait a second longer
for 2008 to end
those who exude hatred
would have more
time
                           to maim
                                 to hate
                                 to kill

i hate hatred
                                 but understand the necessity
without                       hatred
love would have no place to flourish

if hatred was a sacrificial goat
it should be rescued and protected

despite the century of holocausts
armenians, gypsies, jews, hindus, muslims,
cambodians, rwandans, bosnians, chechenians...
despite the murders and mayhems
hate should be protected and mirrored

sorry t.s.e. april is not the cruelest month
                                 november is...

each hateful act, each act of violence
enhances the resolve
                                 to hate hatred
                             to love love
even if it be with moistened eyes

India, Pakistan and the Future

Somik Raha — Sat, 6 Dec 2008 14:22:00 EST

The terrorist attacks of Nov 26 will go down in history as a turning point for the people of South Asia, if not the world. The attacks seem to have been orchestrated to destabilize the new democratic government of Pakistan and ensure that no one talks peace between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. The terrorists would have hit a jackpot if internal Hindu-Muslim hatred could have been provoked, leading to more carnage. However, the people of India have responded in a very mature fashion.

First, there is very little talk of revenge against Pakistan. People are angry against the fragile neighbor and at the same time, they recognize that there is little Pakistan can do for India or for its own self, given that it is largely controlled by their military and spy agencies. Second, and more importantly, the ire of the Indian people has been finally turned on India's incompetent civil government. The people of India have had it being governed by imbeciles, and are out on the streets recognizing their frustration. This is unprecedented. Rarely have all the politicians gone into hiding from the media. No one is making statements anymore. Those who are foolhardy enough to do so regret it from both sides of their face. Others are pleading for the politician-bashing to stop. Blogs, facebook groups and the personal internet has come alive with people expressing their anger and desire for change. Noted journalist Barkha Dutt, among others, has been at the receiving end of criticism for the media, prompting her to make a formal response.

We have perhaps never been closer to change than we are now, as the net connects us not just to the traditional newsmakers, but to regular people, who, if inspired to believe that change is possible, can make change happen. Obama's victory this year would hardly have been conceivable in an age without the internet, where an older and out-of-touch political caste would never have believed that such a change would be acceptable to the population. Its funny how our political representatives are most out of touch with the people they represent. As we slowly wake up to the fact that change begins with one person, the time has come to think about what we'd like to change to. Change for change's sake is counterproductive. Most Indians don't know that Mahatma Gandhi opposed a British parliamentary system in his 1913 book, Hind Swaraj or Self Rule. He used uncharacteristically strong words when describing it in Chapter 5, The Condition of England: prostitute and barren.

He wrote, "I pray to God that India may never be in that plight." It is baffling that his disciples did exactly the opposite of what he suggested, and his description would be considered by many as accurate about our parliamentary system today. I suggest that it is time for the Indian people to question the efficacy and ethics of a democracy like the one we have today. It is certainly better than the dictatorial system in China that stifles any voice that threatens it, but democracy cannot be mistaken for freedom, for it is a system where 51% have the right to coerce the remaining 49%, as we have seen the world over. An essay on Plato points out a major failing of a democracy:

.. the rule by the many was no remedy for the ills of oligarchy, according to Plato, because ordinary people were too easily swayed by the emotional and deceptive rhetoric of ambitious politicians. It was the demos, after all, the majority of ordinary people, who time and again had supported the disastrous campaigns of the Peloponnesian War by their votes, who had condoned numerous atrocities and breaches of the law, and who were also responsible for the questionable trial and execution of Socrates.

Sounds so much like the times of Nazi Germany which elected Hitler democratically and executed Jews and others legally. All democracies of our time that go to war do so with the legitimacy of elected governments. I believe that we should encourage people to think about what we want our "free" society to look like, without worrying about whether it is possible. Once we know where we want to go, we can then discuss how to get there.

There is something else that no one is talking about right now, which I think is critical for the survival and progress of South Asia. And that is reunification with Pakistan. Pakistan's existence came out of a negation of the idea of India. Pakistani politicians come to power with strong anti-India rhetoric and Kashmir promises. How can there be peace if Pakistan views India as the other and vice versa? At the same time, reunification is abhorrent to most Pakistanis. The impression is that they needed their own space to practice Islam, without having to apologize or live like a minority. Now that they have their own land, why should they risk becoming a minority again? Besides, who is India or anyone else to use its power and clout to threaten the idea of Pakistan? All valid points. Reunification that is done by force or coercion can only lead to disaster. Is it possible for Pakistan and India to both want to reunite, without losing their individual identities?

Yes. It is time for both Indians and Pakistanis who are sick of their political systems to dream of a South Asian Union, just like the European Union. East Kashmir and West Kashmir would have access to each other, without hindrance, resolving a six decade grievance in the hearts of the Kashmiri people. Pakistan would have access to not just all of Kashmir, but all of India. When a Pakistani citizen comes to an Indian airport, the first question they would get is: do you want a cab? The second might be: do you want a hotel? And India would have access to all of Pakistan, with the same treatment. Suddenly, we are not the other. The Indian and Pakistani troops can patrol the joint borders of South Asia together while the inter-country borders could be opened for free movement with minimal fanfare. You could be driving on the South Asian autobahn from Karachi to New Delhi, and at the border, you'd just see a small sign board saying, "Welcome to India, please continue to drive safely." Imagine?

Contrary to what a lot of Indians think, Pakistani citizens are no different from Indian citizens. They want peace and progress and are as sick of their politicians as we are of ours. What stops both countries from making their borders irrelevant? Here is a story that might shed some light. One economist tried to understand why Pakistan does not import tea from India, instead of paying a lot more to get it from Kenya (this has been written about). The Pakistani establishment cited the Kashmir dispute as the reason. Then, the economist asked why they didn't import tea from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh? Then, the real story came out - Pakistan has massive investments in Kenyan tea, and it is against the business interest of some merchants to let India into the market. What's the best way to stop India? Rake up the Kashmir issue.

India and Pakistan would have been friends and the South Asian Union would have been a reality a long time back were it not for narrow business interests that prevent this from happening. If you think that all the business interests are on the Pakistan side, think again. Domestic business lobbies exist on both sides.

Hatred multiplies with hatred, but dissolves when fired upon with love and compassion. While India strives to come up with a better defense system, the best defense is giving others many reasons to love you. We have a lot of work to do.

Mumbai Terror: Basic Security Issues

Ganadeva Bandyopadhyay — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 09:44:58 EST

Three very common and basic security issues which are over-simplified in the internal security context in India

1) The absence of reliable tracking and recovery of lost/stolen mobiles. The responsibility of the handset maker seems to end with hard-coding the IMEI numbers into the handset. Assuming large operating profits in large markets like India with sale of large numbers of handsets daily, this is possibly an overlooked matter on part of the handset makers as well as network providers. Such shady mobiles can be a possible internal security loophole in the hands of an enterprising terrorist.

2) The absence of strong determination in taking cases involving known shady criminal characters through due legal processes. Frequent terrorist acts have been a grim reminder that small-time criminal networks give support to organisations with more widespread violent agendas in South Asian context.

3) The allowance of pseudo military training of the highest order in the name of moral support for self-determination in disputed areas within the frame-work of a national definition. Is it time for a competition between opposing groups for a direct communication to the gullible supporters?

Are these not just some of the points that are part of the over-simplified and hence underestimated internal security concerns?

A Tale of Two Countries

Neelakantan — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 09:36:51 EST

Two countries. Separated by about 24 hours at their (official) birth, both countries have taken a different path.

Over more than 60 years of independence, both countries have advanced, in slightly different directions though. Today, both the countries use the abundant manpower available with them. They have set up industries from scratch with barely any foreign assistance. Today they are renowned across the globe for their industries. Global interns are keen to work in these enterprises and it is a talent magnet from around the world. The training centres are huge and require considerable investment. Selection procedures are tough and require a decent level of motivation. Both countries have access to the latest communication systems including Blackberries which they use for effective project management. Some projects bomb, but they take in their stride. Clients and vendors are global, as has to be the case whenever the projects of large of such nature. Billing can be upfront or milestone based and can be paid in almost any currency. Many of these companies have operations in other parts of the world - both acquired and organically grown - which allow for a certain degree of operational independence from the headquarters (and plausible deniability if required). A company needs to have, preferably, multiple training centres, offices and enough back up and risk planning capability. It is also important that they are located in catchment areas for the labour. And recruitment centers for have to staffed with local experience. Campus recruitment is ideal though laterals are hired too...The industries that these countries offer expertise in, is considerably mature today...

But in those common paths, there is a distinct difference. Like the by now cliched story of Bollywood movies with twins separated at birth the story of these two countries is remarkably different.

Today, one country is the epicentre of global terrorism outsourcing and another one is the epicentre of global technology outsourcing. Just as every single terror attack big or small finds a linkage in Pakistan, almost every single IT product big or small has some Indian connection.

Without the terror and the technology part, you will actually not see any difference - both of these countries used globalization for entirely different aims. Which goes on to show, each of these countries could have swapped paths or could have used it in a synergistic manner.