Pakistan in a bind

In a few hours time President Obama will announce the increase in troop levels in Afghanistan. If one were to believe the grapevine, indications are that there will be an increase by 30,000 from the American side to the coalition forces. The British have been more conservative and Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced another 500 British troops for Afghanistan. Other nations in the coalition are also expected to increase the troop levels by a few thousand. The message to the world including Taliban and Pakistan is that the west’s commitment to Afghanistan is very real and that they do not plan to abandon the region in a hurry. This is reassuring to the Karzai government that has faced much flak from the west for the corruption and nepotism in his government. The Americans and the British are also actively pursuing a policy of trying to raise an army and a police force that can take over from the coalition forces once they depart. The leader of the opposition in the British parliament made a very valid point when he said that it was important for west not to give an impression that they are tired and will not be there in Afghanistan for long, for any such statements boost up the morale of the enemy forces (read the Taliban).

The Washington Post has reported that the US National Security Advisor, Jim Jones has given a letter from President Obama to President Zardari of Pakistan in which has been outlined the course of action that Pakistan needs to take in its fight against terrorism. The letter specifically mentions al-Qaeda,  Lashkar-i-Toiba (LeT), Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan(TTP), the Taliban (Afghanistan) and the Haqqani group that needs to be tackled by Pakistan. It further says that were Pakistan to take palpable action against these terror groups the US will support Pakistan with arms and financial resources. However, if there is no progress in tackling these groups then the US will use ‘all means’ at its disposal to tackle these terror structures, including the drones with Hellfire missiles to hit targets deeper into Pakistan territory. Clearly, American patience is running short. Earlier, Prime Minister Gordon Brown had said that Osama-bin Laden is in Pakistan and Islamabad should make efforts to apprehend him. This is the first time that a leader from the western world has categorically stated that Osama bin-Laden is in Pakistan. It appears that the west wants to end its operations in Afghanistan at the earliest and from what one hears, if and when they do decide to withdraw, it will be a swift, immediate withdrawal. The chances are that Osama and Mulla Omar are the two main targets of the west and once they are caught the west will start withdrawing.

My hunch is that Osama and Mulla Omar will not be caught quite so soon. They will be caught when it suits the west. Obama is still in the first year of his presidency. His popularity ratings have already dipped. But he is not too bothered. Iran is still some years away from detonating a nuclear bomb. So tackling Tehran is not an immediate priority. There will be some punitive sanctions imposed by the Security Council, especially now that Tehran has declared that they are going to build another ten nuclear reactors. Obama can afford to wait and play on the rhetoric for a few years. The western coalition troops will hold the fort in Afghanistan and there will be a gradual withdrawal from Iraq, making troops available for a possible future operation against Iran. Osama is most likely to be caught only in the fourth year of Obama presidency, as any such success will boost his chances of re-election manifold. If Osama is caught now, people will soon forget all about it, the security forces will get the credit and the roller coaster economy will get precedence that that will not be good for Obama.

Yet, Afghanistan is a difficult terrain and the west is treading carefully. They understand that the success in Afghanistan depends a lot on how they deal with Pakistan. Not only because Pakistan is still the supply route for the western forces, but also because the genesis of the problem lies in Pakistan and not in Afghanistan. If the west wants to root out terror they will need to deal with Islamabad more firmly. The case of David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana has opened the eyes of the west. The Pak terror network runs deep and they have been using all means to strike at the west. While pointing out the various terror outfits that must be dealt with, Washington also realizes that all these organizations have a common thread and are inter-mingled. They may be divided on ethnic lines but when it comes to the west all these terror organizations see the west as their enemy as also India and therefore act as one. Abandoning Afghanistan therefore is not a choice as of now.

From the Pakistan point of view, things are only getting worse. They have no choice but to play along with the demands of the west. The Pakistan army is heavily dependent of western aid to keep it going. There was a news item where it was said that the CIA had given more than 15 billion dollars over the years to Pakistan for the services rendered. This is over and above the aid that Pakistan has received from the US. The US has also promised arms and financial aid for development if Pakistan takes actions against these terror networks. The US has also for the first time mentioned that Pakistan must refrain from using terror as a tool against India and that they expect that those who carried out the 26/11 Mumbai attacks must be brought to book.

For Pakistan, action against the very people they have nurtured over the decades will be very hard to take. They see these terror groups as a strategic asset to be used against the west and India to their advantage. They have been caught and they do not know how to deal with the situation. Must they launch an operation against their own people – the jihadists? They seem to have no options. Because the financial situation is so precarious that Pakistan will not be able to stay afloat for a day without the financial backing of the west. Their foreign exchange reserves are non-existent and their economy is such that they need to import a lot of goods of daily use. The Middle East bubble has burst and Dubai, the el-Dorado for the Pakistani expatriate is an empty shell. Petro-dollars have dried up and they are in severe financial constraint. The army is a white elephant that they can ill afford to maintain without western help. They have no choice but to play ball with Washington and do as they say. To their credit, Islamabad is putting up a brave front and taking the pressure rather well.

Pakistan army and the ISI can understand west’s diktat that they need to act against the terror outfits mentioned. They are even willing to take some cosmetic actions against these outfits – like throwing many of their leaders in ‘jail’. What they are finding hard to digest is Washington’s insistence that Pakistan must stop all terror attacks against India and that they must take action against Hafiz Saeed, Zarar Shah, Illiyas Kashmiri and others. This is unpalatable for Islamabad. They point out that it was Pakistan that was the frontline state during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. They do not tire of reminding the west as to how they helped the west fight the communists. And they therefore just cannot understand that the same United States of America is asking them to stop all attacks against their nemesis – India!!! They feel cheated and used. They do not understand that while they may have helped the west and perhaps that is why they have been so patient with Islamabad, it is also true that Pakistan took these same forces to another level and made them as an extension of the state machinery. These Mujahiddins were transformed from a people fighting a foreign force in Afghanistan to terror groups that were out to destroy the very people who had nurtured them all along. Pakistan gave resources and shelter to these outfits and used them against India. But these terror groups then became ambitious and started targeting the west, as they had been given a healthy dose of radical Islam that saw the west as their enemy.  There is a stage now when the radicalization of the aawam (people) is so complete that they see the west as a monster ready to devour them. From the radicalization of a select group to the radicalization of the Pakistan society has been a steady process. That process has now become so fundamental to the existence of Pakistan as a state that any action against these radicals will see a backlash that will find voice in the streets of the cities of Pakistan. Pakistan is like the Palestinian enclaves of Gaza and West bank with the difference that there is a well trained army at their disposal and this state has nuclear weapons that may not be as safe as we think they are. It now appears that the nuclear button has been shifted from the president to the prime minister of Pakistan. In all likelihood the nuclear button was always with the army chief and these are just postures to show the world that there is an administration in place in Islamabad. The world knows that the army is calling the shots in Pakistan.

Pakistan will need to take some demonstrative action against the terrorist outfits, if they want to keep the concept of Pakistan afloat. They need to understand that the strategic realities in the region have changed. They must realize that both economically and strategically India is a very close ally of the west. It should be clear to them that without the blessings of the West, Pakistan could well be history. The stakes are high not only for Pakistan but for the entire region and for world peace. Pakistan needs to tackle the more fundamental questions of educations and healthcare if they are serious about transforming this vital state. Blindly arming themselves with expensive weapon systems as a ‘balancer’ to India is only going to take Pakistan to a path of self destruction. Sanity demands that the Pakistan state stops engaging with the terror outfits and stops giving arms and money to keep them going. It should not be too difficult, if Pakistan stops trying to compare itself with India all the time. Their fixation with India must end and they need to look at their country in a different light. The world wants a progressive, peaceful and prosperous Pakistan. They must understand what is good for them. Hillary Clinton tried to get this across to the people of Pakistan in no uncertain terms on her recent visit there. She spent as much time talking to the people of Pakistan as she did with the leadership in Islamabad. The west and their neighbors are ready to help them. The only problem is that there is no leader in Pakistan of today that can show them the way. Washington may have no option but to take punitive military action that may see the Af-Pak region in political distress. That is not good for Pakistan or Afghanistan and the whole of South Asia.

Addendum: President Obama called Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to keep him abreast with the decision taken on Afghanistan by his administration. It appears that Obama and Singh during their interaction realized that India was critical to the West’ s initiative in Afghanistan. It is also reported that the US and their allies want India to take up the training of the Afghan security forces. This could be a critical decision for the Manmohan Singh government and India may have to pledge some officers and troops to undertake the task in Afghanistan.

Climate Change, Terrorism and Nuclear Energy

Three news items are making headlines and they have a common thread running through them. The first is the case of a luxury train in Russia having been bombed leading to derailment and loss of life. Another bomb blast on the same line has the security setup in a tizzy in Moscow. This possibly is another terrorist attack.

The second news item that caught my eye was a ‘flood’ in the Saudi city of Jeddah. The city has come to a standstill, the roads have been blocked and the drains are chocked. Jeddah was never ready for such a down pour. Coming in the month of Ramzan, the misery has been compounded as there is a deluge of people from all across the globe. The result has been that ninety eight people have lost their lives in these floods. Is this unlikely downpour due to climate change?

The third news item that is more innocuous and may not have made news in the west is that heavy water was found to have been mixed with drinking water in Kaiga, here in Karnataka. Kaiga nuclear plant is used for power generation and parts of the state depend on Kaiga for their energy needs.  Anil Kakodkar, the chief of the Indian Atomic Energy has termed this as mischief. 55 people have been exposed to radiation and needed to be hospitalized.

The fact is that climate change is a reality. The sea levels are rising, the monsoon cycle has been erratic and the glaciers are melting. Because of the rise in the sea levels humanity may lose some of the most beautiful Pacific islands in the next couple of decades. The monsoons in India this year were extraordinarily late and there was drought declared in many parts of India. And when the rains did come, they were so ferocious that many parts of Bihar were inundated and there was a flood like situation. Many people lost their homes to floods yet again this year. Gangotri, the mouth of river Ganga is not where the glaciers melt and the formation of the river starts now as it used to be some decades ago. One has to tread another few kilometers up the hills to find the source of the Ganges – another indication of global warming!! The Arctic icecap is melting and that could spell disaster in the years to come. Europe and America saw a dip in temperature last winters and that was quite unprecedented. Five to six meters of snow halted life in North America. Is humanity listening? The answer is yes and no.

The fact is that most people realize that our world is in danger because man has pillaged nature indiscriminately. We have had little regard to our environment and we have done as we thought fit with Mother Nature. We have scant respect for our surroundings and we are myopic in our approach.  Ancient Hindus realized that humans were a part of the cycle of life and not life per se. The Western approach that all is for the convenience of the human race is a very ungrateful way of looking at life on this planet.  We are a part of a whole, a small part and not the be all and end all of this planet that has been bestowed with life.

The present US president has taken up the cause of climate change and global warming as his political raison de entre and has vigorously pushed for a global consensus on measures to check global warming with participation from the major economies in the world. The presumption is that with industrialization starts pillage and pollution which consequently contributes to global warming. This is true but may not be the whole story. The focus of this debate seems to be the power industry. The coal burning thermal energy has been targeted most furiously. I do not for a moment defend this method of power generation. Burning coal is surely not the most eco-friendly way of power generation, but I have serious reservations about the alternative that is being bandied about so forcefully. The answer to this problem, the experts say is to go in for the ‘clean’ energy option of – guess what – nuclear energy. Nuclear power plants were all but discarded by most western nations after the eighties Chernobyl disaster. Humans have short memories. People have forgotten what a nightmare Chernobyl was not only for the Soviet Union of that time but also many adjoining countries. Europe was shivering not with the biting cold but because of the possible horrific outcome of the Chernobyl disaster. And now countries like Finland have built one of the largest nuclear power stations in the world. Other western countries and some of the developing countries like India, China and Brazil are looking closely at the developments in Finland so as to be able to build similar nuclear behemoths to serve their increasing power needs.  Even such backward countries like Bangladesh are being encouraged to have nuclear power plants as a source of ‘clean energy’.

Apart from the fundamental environmental questions that emanate from such a rampant use of nuclear power plants and the expertise needed to run them and the paucity of trained staff in such backward nations, I am also concerned about the safety and security of these strategic installations from terror attacks. I am also inclined to think that some of these nations may want to further enrich the uranium at their disposal and try and build nuclear weapons. Proliferation may be a very real outfall of this rampant use of nuclear energy. I know that the IAEA is doing a wonderful job and will keep a hawk’s eye on all these nuclear reactors but some cheating may take place and the checks and balances are not foolproof.

What has happened in Kaiga could well be a terror plot. This is just a precursor to the things to come. No technology is so well guarded and so complicated that a group of persons with vile intentions cannot use it to unleash carnage at a people unmindful of the dangers around them. Access to the control room in a nuclear power plant even for a short time could be enough for a jihadi who has come on a suicide mission to wreck the kind of havoc that we can only imagine. If small weapons like rifles and grenades made a Mumbai happen, access to any of the nuclear installations to one of the jihadis could well mean Armageddon for the region (I do not believe in the year 2012 theory though). This whole debate on climate change to me seems to be a concerted attempt by a lobby to force the world to take up technology that is not necessarily clean but could mean billions of dollars in profits for these multinational behemoths.

For starters we need to realize that our daily life needs to be more environmental friendly. The use of plastics and chemical based materials must be banned. In India the use of polythene bags is rampant and these are the worst environmental hazard. Cows munch on them and many have died because of kilos of such toxics accumulate in their stomachs. The use of trucks and Lorries that run on diesel is a huge pollutant. Railroad is a much cleaner option (Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway has invested heavily in rail road companies in the US looking at the possibilities in future. Returns may start only after at least a decade or so, but then the Guru was always a long term investor). High rise buildings are seen as a solution to the burgeoning housing needs of the modern citizens of metropolises that abound. These are a huge burden on a fragile eco system of any city. The cities need to expand laterally rather than vertically. The onus should be on each home to be a self sufficient and eco-friendly dwelling. In a country like India, solar power is a very real option. Homes must be given licenses only if they comply with solar power generation norms that the state must outline. These may vary according to the size of the home. Public transport, like the Metro must be expanded so that cheap and comfortable option dissuades people from using private vehicles. Besides, if cities expand laterally it will be tedious for people to drive for hours to work. The public option if comfortable and fast will be the preferred option – the environmental friendly option. Wind energy is another source that is not being harnessed. In both solar and wind energy, my only reservation is the lead battery that is used to store the power generated. Lead is carcinogenic and we need to develop better storage options for the power generated. All this can be done without much cost. This high rise homes option is really an ecological disaster and taxes the resources exponentially. While there are many builders here in Bangalore, where I live, offering home solutions in the form of high rise buildings, not many are attracted.  Bangalorean’s want their own ‘house’ and not a flat to live in. Bangalore is expanding like no other city. The Bangalore Metro will only help the city expand further as this a fast, comfortable and cheap option.  Most of these layouts in an ever expanding Bangalore are green and have lots of trees around them.  Most houses have solar panels for water heating. These could be expanded and could well be the source of power for most of these homes. Rainwater harvesting is also being done in most houses, though this could be taken up more vigorously, I feel. The clean air that we breathe is such a boon. But the traffic is increasing and most roads face a traffic jam during peak hours. I hope the public transport option comes fast and the roads can then be free of most of the gasoline guzzling monsters that hum around belching out fumes that suffocate us.

The coming Copenhagen Summit is more of a charade than any real effort at cleaning the environment. I would be impressed if the White House had eco-friendly energy options. It is good that the first lady has again started the kitchen garden in the White House’s sprawling lawns. We need to emulate that too – try and grow organically our own food.  The solutions to climate change that are being put forward just do not excite me. They are not solutions but a mockery and a circus that has little import. Man needs to learn to live with the environment around him. Nature has enough for us all. We need to learn to listen to Mother Nature more closely.

Namaste Obamaji – India firmly where it belongs

Indians are cynical by nature – that is the conclusion that I have drawn from the reaction to the ongoing Manmohan Singh visit to the White House. There are exceptions, though, but by and large the inferences drawn from the Indian prime minister’s visit by various self-styled ‘experts’ is that it is high on hyperbole and low in substance. It does not help at all when our present prime minister does not have the charm of a Rajiv Gandhi or the oratorical skills of a Vajpayee. His starchy gait and fumbling, halting speech belies a man who has a razor sharp mind and knows what he wants and how to get it. Those who know Manmohan Singh swear by his competitiveness and strong will power. The Sardar from Gah, in Jhelum (now in Pakistan) is not only a good economist but also a very pragmatic visionary who understands the needs of his country and his people.

The first interaction between President Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was when they read out the opening speeches welcoming and thanking each other. One could see a bemused smile on the face of President Obama when Manmohan Singh in his inimitable halting style read out his thank you note to the president in front of the media. The Sardar, a man of few words is almost tongue tied as he is just unable to make small talk with dignitaries. It was no different when Obama and Singh walked down the red carpet to give the initial comments. On the way back into the White House too, Singh walked silently.  Later the two were to address a joint statement along with a brief press conference. The two sides were engaged in dialogue way past the scheduled time. It took the two leaders almost twenty minutes to emerge from their talks from the scheduled time while the international media waited impatiently. This time too, the Sardar did not make any small talk as he and Obama came forward to issue their statements and answer the questions. But Obama’s gait had changed and far from the bemused look on his face, he had his jaws tight and one could see that there was an element of respect for the economist turned politician. The American press and the world media failed to notice the change in the demeanor of the president. Both the Indian and the American press corps were allowed just one question each (when the British prime minister is there it is five questions each, generally. We are getting there, slowly but surely). The American journalist jumped at the chance of ‘cornering’ Obama and shot a question as regards the increase in troop levels in Afghanistan. The President gave an elaborate answer and hoped that that would be enough till Thanksgiving. The Indian journalist asked the usual customary question which is to get an assurance whether America was for India and the works. It was a run of the mill question and the two leaders mouthed the usual niceties and that was it. That Singh had struck a chord with Obama, most failed to notice. It is still unclear as to whether the two leaders talked one to one or was it a delegation level meeting only. What is clear is that something substantial transpired between the two leaders and that there was a change in the attitude of President Obama.

By evening, during the salutation at the State dinner, (Indian PM was the first guest of honour during Obama presidency) President  Obama said a Namaste and then welcomed the prime minister and the people there in Hindi (aap ka swagat hai)!! Apart from the pomp and the pageantry there was bonhomie and there was warmth between the two leaders and the two delegations. Contrast this with Obama’s China visit and the difference is as clear as day and night. Obama tried hard to come across as a pleasant leader, which he is but the Chinese stiff upper lip was firmly in place. It is true that the US needs China as China needs US but there was still frostiness in the air. Obama almost looked glad he was out of China when he reached Singapore for the next leg of his East Asia tour.

The state dinner at the White House in honor of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was an elaborate affair. Obama was at his charming, confident best and Singh his usual professorial, starchy self. It was a contrast, yet there was so much in common. The two toasted each other and their nations. The warmth was perceptible in the air. It is clear that what was started by President Bush is being carried forward by President Obama. And that is much more than Civil Nuclear Deal which both have endorsed. Here in India, most experts were hung up on whether the Civil Nuclear Deal will be honored by Obama or will it be sidelined and hang in the air. People are naïve and do not understand the semantics of the ties between India and the US. Such ‘experts’ perhaps were hoping against hope that the Nuclear Deal will be set aside. They underestimate the common sense of the Americans and they most certainly are fooled by the demeanor of our prime minister. Such ‘experts’ have still not understood what the Sharm-el-Sheikh Indo-Pak accord has achieved for India. The fact is that Pakistan has been cornered and the Pakistan army is busy fighting the Taliban on the western front. There has been a displacement of more than a million people within Pakistan and the terrorist attacks have subsided on our side. Both Zardari and Gilani have been sidelined and the army is calling the shots. The Pakistan army has been targeted by the Taliban more than once and even the ISI headquarters in Rawalpindi and their offices in Peshawar have been bombed. Peshawar has become a ghost town and Pakistan is trying to come to terms with its own contradictions. Apart from a few skirmishes in Kashmir, India has remained peaceful. Sharm-el Sheikh accord was at the back of this all. Manmohan Singh showed the courage to go out and do what he had to do. Baluchistan is a non-issue and will remain so. Singh wondered aloud recently, before embarking on his trip to the US that he does not know who to talk to in Pakistan. This is what has become of our envious neighbors. While the people of India would like to see a prosperous and peaceful Pakistan it is also true that our first priority is peace within our borders and that is non-negotiable. Terrorism within India must stop and that includes the violence by the Maoists.  The situation in Pakistan is so precarious that their top political leadership has gone incognito. The Sardar is flying high toasting with President Obama while both Beijing and Islamabad are trying to gather the pieces.

Yes, there has been consternation in Islamabad and in Beijing. They are wary of US and India coming close. This recent visit has cemented the ties between the two natural allies. President Obama did not term the Indo-US relations as ‘indispensable’ for no reason. I am still wondering as to what Prime Minister Singh discussed with President Obama behind closed doors while the media waited. The reality will unfold in the months to come. Suffice to say that the Indo-US relations are very wide ranging covering the entire gamut of issues. India will benefit from this strategic partnership as will the US. In Prime Minister Manmohan Singh we have a silent achiever. In President Obama the American people have a visionary. It’s a heady cocktail. The world is watching. Lest we forget, it was all started by President George W. Bush. Obama is taking forward the good work of his Republican counterparts. The starchy Sardar can come back home safe in the knowledge that it was a job well done. India has firmly arrived on the world stage. Good day Mr. President!!

Addendum: The Pakistan army is finding itself between a rock and a hard place. They do not want to fight the Taliban and now they have started saying that they believe that India is planning a ’short, swift war’, in other words a surgical strike. Nothing could be further from truth. They want to get out of a sticky situation and therefore are making up excuses to withdraw from South Waziristan. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on her recent trip to Islamabad had said that purging Pakistan of the radical elements, most notably the Taliban was in Pakistan’s interest. Evidently,the Pakistan army thinks otherwise. This is not an impossible task, were they to get down to it. If they refuse to clean up the mess, they may be able to needle India in the short run, but with the passage of time they will realize that this was not the best choice. Pakistan may have to pay with its very existence  were they to play ball with the jihadists as a matter of policy.

Prime Minister Singh’s initiative in Washington has already shown some results. Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the 26/11 master mind has been charge-sheeted as have six others. India is very clear that the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks must be brought to book. The US understands India’s stand and has decided to back India on this.

Update 26.11.2009: The fact that a socialite couple from Virginia gate crashed into the state dinner hosted by the Obamas is bigger news. That the state dinner was in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a footnote. Many newspapers have carried the state dinner either for the golden dress worn by First Lady Michelle Obama or for the fact that there was a couple that managed to gate crash into the dinner party. The photos of the gate crashing couple is hot property. The Los Angeles Times has reported it thus:

The Secret Service is looking into its security procedures after determining that a Virginia couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, slipped into Tuesday night’s event even though they were not on the guest list, agency spokesman Ed Donovan said.

What transpired between the two leaders has global implications but that does not concern most people around the world. It is the trivia that makes news. Suits leaders like Manmohan Singh fine, as he does not enjoy the spot light anyway.

Update 28.11.2009: India has voted against Iran at the IAEA. One of the correspondent reported this as follows:

India has voted along with the US, China and other major powers in favour of a German-sponsored resolution at the IAEA on referring the Iran nuclear programme yet again to the UN Security Council.

However, it clarified in its explanation of vote that this decision “cannot be the basis of a renewed punitive approach or new sanctions.”

Three countries, Venezuela, Malaysia and Cuba, voted against the resolution and six abstained: Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Brazil, South Africa and Turkey.

There was a discussion on this on one of the innumerable news channels and there was this ‘most distinguished’ former diplomat Mr. Natwar Singh who not only ran down the prime minister’s visit to the US as low on substance but also criticized India’s decision to vote against Iran at the IAEA. Most of the other panelists were against this move, though some like Mr. Mattoo tried to pass this off as ‘realpolitik’ and ‘national interest over ideology’. This was neither realpolitik nor being pragmatic. This was a necessity. India does not want proliferation in the neighborhood. People do not realize that a nuclear Iran will be a threat to India. Today, we may be having good relations with Iran but sometime in future this relationship may change, especially if Pakistan implodes. They have missiles that have a range of more than 2000 kilometers. They can easily hit Delhi if they wanted to, and if their missiles are nuclear tipped that will compound our problems. This is not ‘realpolitik’ this is simple rationale. Our friend, Israel is the reason for this militarization of Iran and we need to heed the needs of our friends too. A nuclear Iran will be a disaster for the region, including South Asia.

Natwar Singh very pompously said that when he is asked by diplomats as to why he thought that India cannot be a ‘natural ally’ of the US he replies that since India is not a part of the NATO therefore such natural alliance is not possible. This is as ridiculous as one can be. The man calls himself a former diplomat and then shoots off his mouth with such ridiculous statements, it is hard to believe. The fact is there are many countries outside of the NATO that are ‘natural allies’ of the west and the US in particular, Australia and New Zealand being two of them. India is firmly where it belongs, a part of the free, civilized world. India is an extension of the west in this part of the world. Socialists like our ‘intellectual elite’ cannot and do not want to understand this fact.

One little detail. Prime Minister Singh’s aircraft with his staff and entourage landed at the St. Andrews airport in the outskirts of Washington DC. This is a military base and the US president uses it from time to time. Not every one is allowed this facility. I hope our ‘intellectual elite’ get a reality check before they shoot their mouths off. It would not harm the national interest at all if we started behaving as a responsible nuclear weapons state, a fact that was endorsed by President Obama and earlier by President Bush.

Lastly, a Chinese “NGO” (when did this species evolve?) called Asia-Africa Department of Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with foreign countries, arrived in India recently and was making all the right noises including the fact that the Dalai Lama should not be an impediment to Sino-Indian relations. This was right during prime ministers visit to the US. The dragon has blinked, or so it seems.

Our national interest should be our top priority and people of all hues getting so much importance, throwing so much rubbish around is detrimental to our cause. We must look at what is beneficial for us as a nation. This hackneyed rhetoric should not be given media space at all.

Babri Masjid and India’s Muslim-Hindus

There has been an up-roar in the Parliament today. The reason was that the Indian Express has published a story saying that the Justice Liberhan Commission report that was submitted in June of this year has indicted Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani and Murlai Manohar Joshi in the Babri demolition case. This has seen the opposition in an expectedly belligerent mood. The Treasury Benches were sitting pretty, most of the senior leaders including Pranab Mukherjee and P. Chidambram had a faint smile on their faces. Politics was what was being played in the galleries of power. The Congress Party has hit two birds with one stone. While they have been able to put the opposition on the back foot with the good old ‘communal stick’ and the Liberhan Commission report was as good a stick as they could get they have also reminded the voters in Jharkhand of their secular credentials. The other more important need for this leak was that the Congress Party being the ruling coalition was being seen as anti-farmers. It is another matter that Rahul Gandhi met the Prime Minister and impressed upon him the need to revise the decision on the minimum price of sugarcane.  Suddenly the huge farmer’s rally that was organized in Delhi has been pushed to oblivion and Babri demolition is in the news headlines. Now the Congress can claim that it was the Yuvraj, Rahul Gandhi who made the government change their decision and that it is the Gandhi family that cares for the farmers and the poor of this country. The more I look at the sordid politics being played in the name of religion and crass parochial issues being raised again and again, it hurts the sensibilities of ordinary Indians.

Babri Masjid prior to 1992

Interior View under the right dome, with the octagonal fountain used for ablutions in the foreground.

Under the Central dome (where the mihrab used to be) was placed an idol of Lord Rama separated from

this area by a large canvas screen, for several years, before the mosque was sealed by the UP Government,

both Muslims and Hindus offered prayers here.

The fact is that this whole issue of the shahadat (martyrdom) of Babri Masjid is a creation of those forces that were out to pander to the basest sensibilities of the ‘minority community’ (read Muslims).  The Muslims were not as aggrieved as the ‘secular brigade’ that has not stopped crying hoarse trying to bully the Bharatiya Janata Party and their affiliates. This is an old Congress ploy to cow down any time the Hindus try to assert themselves. This has been done so many times so successfully that it amazes many as to how can a people be targeted so blatantly for so long so brazenly. The innate lackadaisical attitude of the Hindus who are divided in castes and sub castes is to be blamed. The Muslims were understanding the sentiments of their Hindu brethren and were even ready to help Hindus build a temple at the place where the Babri Masjid stood. It is the place believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram. The Muslims were large hearted enough and would have willingly given that place for a temple to be built. The Hindu organizations had even decided that as a token of their benevolence a respected Muslim or a Muslim child would be requested to lay the foundation stone for the proposed temple. But the ‘secular’ forces would have none of this and they went to town at their absolute ‘outrage’ at the shahdat of the Babri Masjid.  Bloody riots broke out in Mumbai. Hundreds of temples were demolished in neighboring Bangladesh and Pakistan. Hindus were targeted in both these countries. Reminds me of the times when the country was facing an imminent partition. The Congress could easily have decided on a peaceful transfer of population. But they did not. They even refused to acknowledge that they were signing the document of the acceptance of partition as representatives of Hindus. What followed was carnage on both sides.

The shahadat of Babri Masjid was of little consequence. The Muslims of India just did not care a fig for a building that was a decrepit structure that was in disuse and nobody had offered namaz for decades.  Politics was at a premium and what the nation got was chaos and bloodshed in the name of ‘secularism’. This rabblerousing of the Congress and their socialist Left partners has cost the country a lot. These are the people who are just not secular and do not want that the two major communities live in peace. Because if there is brotherhood between Hindus and Muslims they will not be able to garner votes and win elections. They have therefore instilled a fear psychosis among Muslims. It is a known fact that till middle of the nineteenth century the Babri Masjid was a place where both Hindus and Muslims would pray together. It was a symbol of brotherhood among the two communities. It was after the 1857 gadar (uprising) that the British started their policy of ‘divide and rule’ and the Muslims were encouraged not to let the Hindus pray there. Then they built what is called the Ram chabutra. The locks to the Ram temple were opened during Rajiv Gandhi’s reign. What happened next is well known.

There is this other fact about the Muslims of India. They are unlike Muslims anywhere else. They are Indian Muslims and they have traditionally been liberal. The question is why? For the simple reason that Muslims have imbibed a lot from the Hindu culture. Most of the terrorists are foreigners. Indian Muslims resorting to terrorism is uncommon. They may get swayed by the religious rhetoric from time to time but by and large the Indian Muslims are what one may call with a lot of respect ‘Hinduized’. They see themselves as an extension of the majority that is Hindu. The Pakistanis therefore do not like Indian Muslims and scornfully call them names insisting that they have been ‘Hinduized’. It is true that Indian Muslims are different. The Ganga-Jamuni tehzib is omnipresent and vibrant. Were it not for radical ranting of some of the extreme elements among the Muslims (as there are among Hindus too) the Muslims will be willing to be a part of the Hindu mainstream. They would not shy away even from going to Hindu temples, as a mark of respect. But that would be anathema for the secular intellectual press and those self proclaimed ‘secularists’. What a few bulldozers should have done in broad daylight with the express permission from the district authorities and with the active participation of the local Muslim leadership has been turned to a monster called the shahdat of Babri Masjid on the dreaded 6^th of December, 1992. I am told half a dozen people died trying to break the structure with their bare hands and some rudimentary axes and iron rods, till the dome collapsed killing a few!! What could be sillier? Had the two communities been allowed to confer, the Muslims would have initiated the demolition of the structure. Babri Masjid was not something that the Muslims cherished and more so when they knew that for their fellow Hindu brothers it meant the world as the belief is that Lord Ram was born there. They are magnanimous enough. And we know it. The brouhaha has led to riots and setting up of a commission that has taken all of 17 long years to submit its report. The Congress has not stopped playing politics. They are now using this report to further browbeat the right wing parties. This has vitiated the atmosphere like nothing has. It is time the Muslims of this country tell the secularists in no uncertain terms that they do not need the largesse from their ‘secular’ friends and that they know their Hindu brothers enough that they will not be pushed into a corner fearing the ‘Hindu fundamentalists’. For the Muslims of this country have as much respect and reverence for Hindu gods and goddesses as do the Hindus themselves. They want to be a part of the mainstream and want to be accepted as such. They demand it as their right and will refuse any special privileges and any special treatment. This is already happening, but this will hasten were the Hindus more forthcoming and welcome the Muslims in their festivals and cultural activities. As for the BJP and the rest of the opposition, they must make sure that the focus does not deviate from the welfare of the farmers and that the people who feed this nation get their due. Rather than stalling the House insisting on tabling the Liberhan report they must insist that the issues of the farmers must be addressed and the government must reply as to how they decided on the ridiculous price of Rs 130 per quintal for sugar cane when the retail price of sugar is Rs 40 per kg. The government is responsible for the price rise and that is the issue. Babri is an old hackneyed story that the people of India have consigned to the dustbin of history. Indians, whether Hindus or Muslims need food on their table, and that is the issue. Muslims do not care a fig about Babri Masjid. What they hate is the blatant manner in which they are used to score political points. What the common Indian is concerned about is that their kids sleep with a full stomach at night. And on this basic issue, the government has failed miserably. The opposition would not be doing their duty were they to allow the government to get away on this core issue yet again. Neither the Hindus nor the Muslims of this country would forgive them then.

Addendum: Much as the Hindus would like to build a temple, it is also true that the Babri Masjid was a beautiful structure that should have been taken lock-stock and barrel to another place. It was an archaeologist’s delight and beautifully made.  An archaeological treasure has been lost. There is technology available that could have easily moved the Masjid to another place where Muslims could have prayed regularly. This would have been the best solution. We need to be more sensitive to our own heritage.  But such obvious solutions do do not register on our political leadership.

Update 25.11.2009: The precious Muslim votes it seems are laid on the table for the one that makes the most noise and panders to their ‘needs’ the most. Mr. Amar Singh of the Samajwadi Party indulged in fist fight with Mr. Ahluwalia of the BJP on the issue of tabling the Liberhan report and the contents therein. It was a grandstanding of sorts by Amar Singh in the most ugly manner, trying to win over the Muslim votes. Mr. Ahluwalia was, it seems cementing the Hindu votes. I am sure they are very good friends and this was just a show for the TV cameras that are installed in both the houses of parliament. They think that they have made a smart political move, it also shows their desperateness especially after receiving a drubbing in the recently held by-polls in UP. Later Amer Singh apologized to the house for his behavior, but he made a political point which he believes will pay him rich electoral dividends next time around. Naviety, thy name is the politicians of our country.

Update 30.11.2009: There was this one case of a Hindu boy marrying a Muslim girl. His parents were so incensed that they tortured their son to death. The poor girl reported the matter to the police unable to fathom as to what wrong had her husband done. This kind of cruelty and barbarism cannot be tolerated in an open society like ours. Such acts must be condemned and the perpetrators brought to book.

The Bows, the Dragon and the Dollar

President Barack Obama has done it again – behaved like a school boy, out to get the approval of his minders. This is his third faux pas – if one may call it that. The first one was before his trip to Britain when he pointedly mentioned that he was looking forward to meeting the Queen. The American president was relegated to the back row while Lula de Silva and Prime Minister Gordon Brown had the honor of standing by the side of the Queen. His obvious eagerness at meeting the Queen was construed as his weakness and Barack found himself standing at the back row for the photo op.

The second was when he met King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and gave a deep bow to the man clasping his hand with both of his (photo below). The third was when he again bowed deeply to the Emperor of Japan (photo above). The boy in Barack refuses to grow up. It seems he is looking for approval all the time. It also shows the innate goodness of the man and his simplicity. He is trying hard, as is his family to behave ‘presidential’ but such slips and obvious acquiescence give the game away. I hope Barack Obama realizes that HE and no one else is the emperor of the world. It is America that calls the shots. It is America that is the hyper-power and no other nation. And that he is the leader of the most powerful nation of the world. That it is President Barack Hussein Obama that should be bowed to, feted and indulged by the heads of other nations, including such titular heads as the ‘Emperor of Japan’ and the ‘King of Saudi Arabia’. The boy in him is unable to realize this simple fact.

His recent visit to China has gone on expected lines. Except for some kind of broad agreement on climate change, it appears from the sound bites emanating from Beijing that not much has been achieved. President Hu Jintao in his address pointed out that the US should treat China as an equal partner. He also expectedly harped on the One China policy. The Chinese have taken a hawkish stand vis-à-vis the United States and this should surprise no one. President Obama’s declaration that Tibet was a part of China maybe an endorsement of the stand taken by earlier regimes but it is not clear as to what he has gotten in return for mouthing such conciliatory tone for a nation that has given little. The Taiwanese question was also soft pedaled by President Obama. Nations of the west and even those in the vicinity of China do not realize that one needs to be hard as nails to be able to get ones way with the Chinese. These are one of the most consummate bargainers in the world and have a history and culture that is time immemorial. It is not clear as to what concessions the Chinese have given the Americans. They have refused to rectify the unnatural under-valuation of the yuan. The balance of payment is heavily in China’s favor and that is worrying Washington. The Dragon is breathing fire. That is when the Chinese depend so heavily on the demand from the west for their factories and their economy to remain afloat. They know that the west cannot get a better deal than what they get in China and there is no nation that can compete with them when it comes to manufacturing. They are talking from a position of strength, as they always have.

The Chinese ambitions are sky high. They have sent a cosmonaut in space and that is as high as they want to go. Their ambitions are soaring as are their expectations. It was not a warm meeting, the meeting of friends. There was frostiness in the air when the two leaders spoke. The Chinese ambitions can be gauged from the fact that the Chinese want to replace the American dollar as the world reserve currency. It is true that the Chinese have the largest foreign currency reserves in the world amounting to almost two trillion dollars. The Japanese foreign currency reserves are the second largest. The Chinese have also supported the American spending by purchasing American Treasury Bonds worth more than a trillion dollars. These facts are no doubt very impressive. But does that mean that the American economy is in doldrums and that the American Dream is over?

One glance at the Fortune 500 list tells anyone with commonsense that the American behemoth is chugging along nicely and is only growing in strength. The one company Apple is going to touch a trillion dollars in sales in the foreseeable future. The world’s largest companies in terms of turnover and assets are all American. Exxon-Mobil is the largest company in the world in terms of sales and General Electric is the largest company in the world in terms of profits. There are hundreds of American companies that have a turnover of billions of dollars and many are such companies that most of us who are outside of the US have never heard of. They cater mostly to the domestic market including Canada and have such high sales that they do not need to look beyond their borders. The Americans do not ‘specialize’ in any one field. A glance at their list of top companies is enough for anyone to realize that they are present in every conceivable field, from oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and fertilizers, retail, defense and motors and machinery to just about anything under the sun. Then there are such investment banks as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Berkshire Hathaway and others that have interests in companies around the world including European, Japanese and Indian companies. American corporate presence is much more than the oft mentioned two colas – Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola. The American monolith is way too big for anyone to fully decipher.  For the Chinese to even contemplate a replacement of the dollar with any other currency or floatation of an international currency to replace the dollar is ambitious at best and downright hideous at worst.  It shows the Chinese cheekiness, their cockiness and absolute disregard for any international norms. They are being way too ambitious for their own good without acknowledging the ground realities.

The economic strength of the US is its back bone. The military strength is the other facet of American might. The American technology in the field of arms and ammunitions is by far the best in the world. They have the most powerful army in the world with a capacity to strike the remotest corners of the world at any given time with the most lethal weapons that humans can think of. They also have a presence in all the continents of the globe in the form of military bases that they nurture to their strategic advantage. Many of these military bases are in friendly countries that pay the Americans for their presence and for their ‘security umbrella’. It is said that the United States has more than a thousand military bases across the globe from advanced countries like Australia and Germany to such unlikely of places as Khazakastan (the actual number and location is a well guarded secret). In short, the American presence is just about everywhere. The other fact is that this hyper-power is only increasing in steam with every passing day. I know these are bad times and unemployment in the US is touching almost ten percent but this is just a passing phase. Good times are just around the corner and pundits are forecasting a boom like one that the world has never experienced before.

The Americans have invested heavily in science and technology. The best universities and research facilities are in the US and Europe. The most number of patents that are being applied for come mostly from the US and the western world. These are intellectual property rights that give a steady income to those who own them. The west is sitting pretty in this critical field too.

The American secret service is such that they have made and broken many a political careers around the globe. The head of the CIA is perhaps the second most powerful man on earth. They are undoubtedly one of the most feared secret services in the world! They may be answerable to the American Senate but even that is under strict secrecy.  And they all are at the beck and call of the President of the United States.

And then the Americans have a president who shows a childlike eagerness to meet the Queen of Britain and bows down to an Emperor who will be without clothes were the Americans to withdraw their forces from the island nation of Japan. He also does an elaborate bow to a Middle Eastern Sheikh turned King who would be overthrown the minute the Americans withdraw their pleasure from His Highnesses high office. President Barack Hussein Obama needs a reality check – of a different kind. Will somebody please tell him who he really is and which nation he represents? Long live the Emperor of Emperors Barack Hussein Obama!!!

Update 19.11.2009: ‘China has launched the serial production of J-10, J-11 and FC-1 fighter jets, which are rip-offs of Russia’s Su-27/30 and MiG-29 aircraft. The nation intends to build and sell not less than 1,200 planes at the prices which will be much lower than those of the Russian planes.

	F-16  Fighter jet
	.

The report is not the news for the Russian defense industry. In 2003, China refused to prolong the license for the production of Su-27CK planes and started working on the construction of its own jet – a copy of the Russian analogue. China will put competitive pressure on Russia on the market of spare parts too.

Beijing plans to challenge Russia on its traditional defense industry markets and become the maker of inexpensive and efficient air materiel. Malaysian military officials have already expressed their readiness to cooperate with China at this point. A senior official of Malaysia’s Air Force said that his nation was going to purchase a batch of spare parts to Russian fighter jets from China.’ Source: Pravda, Moscow.

Sample this:

‘The USA refused to sell 66 multi-purpose F-16C/D fighters to Taiwan because of the concerns of the Chinese administration, The Taipei Times wrote. Indeed, why would such a small country as Taiwan need such a large batch of fighter jets?

China has changed the balance of forces to its own advantage during the recent 15 years in the region. China’s Air Force presumably consists of Russian-made Su-27 and Su-30 aircraft. The country also uses its own fourth-generation F-10 aircraft. This fighter is a combination of the technologies used in Russia’s Su-27 and USA’s F-18.‘

Source: Pravda, Moscow

I just hope the west realizes who they are dealing with. There was a photo that I saw of a Rolls Royce that was a replica of the original and which was made in China. The manufacturers were horrified but the Chinese saw nothing wrong with this. China has the dubious distinction of being the nation that has the highest number of users of pirated software. Companies like Microsoft lose billions of dollars every year to this menace. Russians have refused to sell China the Su 33 fighter jet, fearing that the Chinese will make a copy of that too!

I may add that the J-10 fighters (replicas of Su 27) are now being sold to Pakistan in a billion dollar deal, disregarding the fact that the design and technology is copied. For Obama to wilt under pressure and deny Lockheed Martin a multi billion dollar deal was not a smart move. It sends a wrong signal to the world, besides the news is that the French have no such hangups and are selling Taiwan Mirage 2000 -V fighters. American loss is French gain. Bad politics, bad economics President Obama!!!

Obama administration has done the unthinkable. The Sino-US Joint Declaration after the meeting between the two sides mentioned China’s ‘monitoring’ role in South Asia, especially with regards to the Indo-Pak relationship. This is not a concession to China, this is a ridiculous approach to the regional geo-politics. The State Department is going to town ‘clarifying’ that the bilateral relations between India and the US are not dependant on the US relations with any third nation, but the damage has been done. New Delhi has stated very clearly that there will be no ‘third party’ mediation in its relations with Islamabad. Indians are flummoxed by the new American administration approach. This has undone what all had been achieved during the Bush regime. This is surely not the best start to the upcoming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s US visit.  A nation of copycats is at best a paper tiger, or in this case, a paper dragon. For any nation big or small not to see this through says a lot about that nation and its leadership.

Update 20.11.2009: Riyaz Wani reports that: ‘Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq — engaged in “quiet” diplomacy with New Delhi — is going to China after his travel to Pakistan later this year on Islamabad’s invitation. ”Yes, I will visit China soon,” Mirwaiz told The Indian Express. He said he had been invited by the Han Foundation, a Chinese “NGO” to talk about “Muslim” issues. “It is basically a Muslim NGO,” Mirwaiz said.

Mirwaiz, sources said, is likely to meet the meet diplomats and administrators in Beijing to give them his “perspective” on the situation in Kashmir. This comes at a time when the US-China statement on India-Pakistan relations prompted the MEA yesterday to say that there was no third-party role in bilateral relations with Pakistan.’

This is a new development for the Kashmir dispute. India cannot but scoff at such moves. However, in a way, this completes the circle. As the Kashmir dispute is really a tripartite issue any way. The Chinese I am sure will be asked by the Mirwaiz as to by when they are going to vacate the Shaksgam Tract that has been given to them illegally by Pakistan. India will keep a close watch at the developments. Thank you Washington for this latest gift. And we thought that we were standing up for the free world!!!

Update 18.11.2009: In the latest Forbes list of powerful persons in the world the US president Barack Obama has been named as the most powerful person and has been given the top billing.

Update 23.11.2009: The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh has said that there is no substitute for the dollar as the world reserve currency. He remarked that the present downturn is a temporary phase and this will pass. He further said that similar conjectures were being made in the sixties but the dollar prevailed. The Prime Minister is on an official visit to the United States.

Chauvinism – the bane of Indian politics

This is nothing new. Bal Thackerey of Shiv Sena did this in the sixties and the seventies. His nephew Raj Thackerey is doing it in the first decade of the twenty first century. The mantra is the same, the players are different. If we go back a few decades earlier Mohammad Ali Jinnah did this in the name of religion. This is a quick fire way of distinguishing oneself from the rest. One stands out, if only for the lunacy of it all. That is good enough in politics. Many would contend that this is the USP that politicians are looking for. In a society that is so diverse and the difference between the have and the have-nots is so wide, such postures pay rich dividends – at least in the short run.

I am talking about chauvinism of all kinds that the Indian people are subjected to by those aspiring to making it big in the Indian political landscape. Chauvinisms are of different kinds. Some are linguistics, others are caste based and yet others pander to the religious sentiments of the people. This is not an attempt at casting aspersions at any one individual but trying to point out a sordid trend that can lead to strife and discord in the society.

Bal Thackerey of the Shiv Sena first raised the issue of outsiders versus the Marathi manoos (people) and he targeted the Tamilians who had been a part of the Mumabi landscape for decades by then and most of them were fishermen and worked in the docks. He then turned his attention on the North Indians, especially those from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Shiv Sena became a force as a political outfit and even came to power with their allies the Bharatiya Janata Party in the nineties when Manohar Joshi became the Chief Minister.

His nephew who for long was a part of the Shiv Sena later formed his own Maharashtra Navnirman  Sena (MNS) and is doing an encore of what his uncle did in the sixties and the seventies and even later. He has made a mockery of law and has taken this regional chauvinism to ridiculous extent. His contention, as was his uncle’s, is that Maharashtra is for Maharashtrians, especially Mumbai and outsiders are not welcome. He is targeting the people from UP and Bihar, which is nothing new. He made his first such violent ‘protest’ when his men started manhandling boys who had come from North India to write exam for railway recruitment board.  Somehow the media came to know of what was going to happen and the assault on the boys and girls who had come from thousands of miles to write the test was captured in camera. The helplessness of these young men and women was pathetic and they were seen running helter-skelter trying to escape the wrath of the MNS goons. It was a very sordid way of gaining popularity and to make a political point.

The second salvo by Raj Thackerey’s MNS was when the man gave an ultimatum to all shops and business establishments to put up their sign boards in Marathi. This was a diktat given by the strong man and soon enough most shops and business establishments had their boards and hoardings in Marathi. This was again an attempt at showing the people of Mumbai that there was the MNS that cared for the Marathi manoos and the Marathi asmita (pride).

Then there was this case of a film maker having had to apologize to Raj Thackerey for having overlooked the fact that Mumbai was called as ‘Bombay’ in his film. Raj Thackerey made it clear that he would not let the film be released in Mumbai unless the ‘mistake’ was rectified. The film maker not only redubbed those lines but called on Raj Thackerey to personally apologize for the oversight!! This not only did trivialize the Marathi people but also the politics of the state.

Come the state elections, and the MNS did particularly well and won 13 seats in the assembly. Clearly, the Mumbaikers are suckers for this variety of politics, though it may not be anything new. This has emboldened the man. The other fact is that the MNS cut into the Shiv Sena – BJP votes such that the Congress-NCP alliance romped home effortlessly. Chauvinism of the regional kind had the last laugh. Having ensured a Congress-NCP victory, the MNS has been let loose by the powers that be and Raj Thackerey is playing to the galleries again. In politics, it is power any which way. If that means that the social fabric of the society is being torn apart, so what?

The latest diktat from Raj Thackerey is that the State bank of India should not recruit anyone from outside Maharashtra for positions within the state. This is ridiculous. The fact is that the SBI, the Indian Railways and many other such institutions are pan-India bodies and it is impossible for anyone to restrict the appointment from any one region or state. These are Indian institutions and the selection is based on merit and nothing else.  It will be impossible for any of these institutions to select on the basis of region. This is demeaning and absolutely impossible demand and if the SBI or the Indian Railways were to bow down to the diktats of such rowdy elements it will start a wrong precedent.

There may be some Maharashtrians who may be proud of Raj Thackerey but there are many others who are absolutely embarrassed by the man’s chutzpah. The limit was crossed when the MNS legislators barged into the well of the state assembly shouting slogans, threw aside the mike and assaulted Abu Azmi of the Samajwadi Party. Their grouse was that the man was taking the oath in Hindi. It appears that Raj Thackerey had issued a diktat that all MLA’s must take oath in Marathi. Azmi was manhandled and there was a ruckus in the house. These are attempts at scoring cheap brownie points and playing to the galleries in the most disgusting way. I know that Abu Azmi is no saint and he is by no means a parliamentarian worth emulating, but this does not give license to anyone to assault the man for taking the oath in Hindi. It may be added that there were others who had taken the oath in English, prominent among them was Baba Sidique. But that was alright with the MNS. It was Hindi which is the national language that was difficult for them to digest. It amazes me as to how low can one stoop to get political mileage from an issue that is of no consequence. Legislatures in Maharashtra assembly taking the oath in Hindi is nothing new. Many Maharashtrian legislatures have taken oath in Hindi in the past as it is our national language, though they knew Marathi. Such chauvinism may warm the cockles of the heart of some deprived sections of society but there are others who hang their head in embarrassment when such postures are taken by regional parties. Raj Thackerey is successful as there is a void in Maharashtra politics now that Bal Thackerey is in semi-retirement. This politics of regional chauvinism would not work if there was a credible alternative to the old man of Maharashtra politics ready to fill the gap. Udhav Thackerey is at best reacting and emulating Raj and has reduced himself to B team of the MNS. Were Udhav able to communicate effectively and firmly that he was for Mumbai for Maharashtrians as well as those from other parts of the country Raj Thackerey would be singing a different tune. The fact is that if the outsiders were to withdraw from Mumbai the city would come to a standstill. MNS is pandering to a section of the society and playing cheap politics. There is a political void and he is trying to fill in, or claiming to fill the gap. It is more a crisis of credible leadership than anything else. The shortcut is to be as outrageous as possible. Another attempt at asserting his Marathi lineage was when he insisted on giving all interviews in Marathi only when the man can speak Hindi fluently!!!

Regionalism is one issue, the other is religion. Religious chauvinism is also pandered to by the various political parties. Muslims are encouraged to assert their separate identity and they are indulged by the various political parties purely for political gains and they call it secularism. The Muslims were in for a surprise when Baba Ramdev started his address to the Muslim audience in Deoband with “Bismillah Rehman-i- Rahim’, an oft used incantation by the Muslims before starting anything. They found this way of reaching out to the Muslims by the Hindu clergy touching. The clergy at Deoband then declared that practicing Yoga was not un-Islamic. This was a step in the right direction. There are a lot of misgivings and misinformation between the Muslims and the Hindus of this country and they need to be addressed.

It is easy for anyone to say that one is different because of language, religion, caste or region. It is those that say that they are Indian first and anything else later are the ones that need to be emulated. Sachin Tendulkar, a Maharshtrian has said this loud and clear. He is a role model in more ways than one. The Raj Thackerey’s of this nation could take a leaf out of the book of Sachin Tendulkar.

Update 16.11.2009: Bal Thackerey, the Shiv Sena supremo has chastised Sachin Tendulkar in Saamna for his comment about being an Indian first. Essentially, the Shiv Sena has shot itself in the foot when they went ballistic against the darling Maharashtrian cricketer. The man has lost it. It will be best for the Shiv Sena to keep their mouth shut and not try and prove that they are more for the state than their adversary, Raj Thackerey. This impresses no one and only makes Raj Thackerey stronger.

Update 20.11.2009:‘At least 25 people were hurt when Shiv Sena allegedly attacked the offices of IBN7 and IBN Lokmat, the Hindi and Marathi news channels of the IBN Network on Friday afternoon. According to sources, several journalists were beaten up and office property was damaged. CNN-IBN sources quoted Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and State Police Chief D.Shivanand as saying that action would be taken promptly against the attackers. The attack on the IBN offices was in response to the channel airing negative reports about the Shiv Sena and its chief Bala Saheb Thackeray. Media networks across the country have condemned the incident, saying it amounts to a clear attack on press freedom.’ Source:  (ANI)

From being outrageous to absolute asinine – this is surely the nadir. The CNN-IBN offices in Pune and Mumbai were attacks in concert. It was a pre-meditated attack. It is said that such attacks have taken in the past too. The Shiv Sena has taken responsibility for the attacks and seven attackers have been apprehended. CNN-IBN is insisting that the people who have directed the attack must be brought to book – which means the top leadership of the Shiv Sena. The irony is that the Shiv Sena is taking the responsibility for the attacks as if its a feather in their cap. They fail to understand that such acts do not help them at all and chances are that these will backfire. Having said that, it is very unlikely that the top leadership of the Shiv Sena will be charged for these attacks. If the Congress does show this kind of courage it will be welcome. Sena has a bloated sense of grandeur. They should know that they are not a law unto themselves. Udhav Thackeray should relinquish any political ambitions. It is said that he is a good photographer – I am sure he will excel in this vocation.

Update 21.11.2009: There is a race to prove as to who is more for the Marathi manoos. After the attack on CNN-IBN by Shiv Sena the MNS has come up with a demand for a Marathi option in the stock market. This has some weight because if the site is in Gujarati in addition to Hindi and English, then a Marathi version should be there. What bothers most observers is the reason as to why this is being done. They are pandering to a particular audience and this brings in regionalism of the worst kind. Having said that all Indians respect Marathi and the people of Maharashtra have contributed immensely to Indian freedom struggle and have always been at the forefront as saviours of Dharma. The politicization of a people, a language is what irks most Indians.

MNS’s latest demand was reported by the PTI thus:

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) today asked Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to provide all the information in Marathi on its newly launched website. Arvind Gawde, MNS leader from Colaba, met SEBI’’s Deputy Chief Executive officer Ashish Kumar Chauhan and submitted a memorandum highlighting the party’’s demand.

SEBI has recently re-launched its website with options in English, Hindi and Gujarati, Gawde said. “It has conveniently forgotten Marathi despite having its headquarters in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra.

Separatism and the Muslim Umma

The Fort Hood, Texas shooting in which 13 have died and nearly 30 injured has left America shocked. The question that most people are asking is, how could an army officer go on a shooting spree? This incident has been the worst such shooting in American history. This incident was reported thus:

A picture began to emerge Thursday of the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings as a mental health professional who worked to help others in high-stress situations.

The gunman was identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan, 39, a law enforcement source told CNN. Hasan’s office at the base’s Darnall Army Medical Center is about a mile from the shootings, where 13 people were killed and 30 were wounded.

Hasan had been telling his family since 2001 that he wanted to get out of the military, said a spokeswoman for his cousin, Nader Hasan. Hasan told his family he had been taunted after the September 11 attacks, the spokeswoman said.

“He was mortified by the idea of having to deploy,” his cousin told the New York Times. “He had people telling him on a daily basis the horrors they saw over there.” Source: CNN

A few days ago two men were nabbed by the FBI from Chicago. Their names are David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana. Both are Pakistani expatriates. Both have been living in the US and Canada respectively for a long time. They are Lashkar-e Toiba operatives which has very close links with al-Quaeda. They had planned to strike the Danish paper that had published cartoons of Prophet Mohammad. India was also on their target. They had planned strikes on the National Defense College, Delhi and Doon School among other such high profile places in India and the American embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The London bombings were the handiwork of men who were born and brought up in England. Whether they had any links with the al-Quaeda is not clear, what is clear is that they attacked their own countrymen.

The 9/11 attackers were men who had lived and worked in the west for long. Many of them were educated and had pilot license. Yet they attacked America in perhaps one of the most gruesome mass murders in recent history.

None of the attackers was malnourished, uneducated, poverty driven men who had planned and executed these murderous attacks out of desperation. They were well off, educated and had been in the west for a considerable period of time. Yet they decided to attack the very people they were getting their sustenance from. The question is why?

The one common thread among all these men is that they were all Muslims. Is that reason enough to carry out such ghastly acts? The answer lies in the concept of the Umma. Umma in Urdu means brotherhood. The Muslim Umma for the devout means the world. They do not believe in boundaries and the concept of nationhood is anathema to them. For a Muslim, his religion comes first and his duty is towards his faith and then to anyone or anything else. They believe in and long for a world inhabited only by the faithful. They call such a place or such a nation Darul Islam, the land where Islam is the faith of the masses and those from other faiths pay a tax to the state called Jaziya so that they can live and work in peace. A country where the Muslims are in a minority or negligible in number, is called Darul Harb (Land of the Heathen).  It is the duty of every Muslim to try and make the place where he is living Darul Islam. If for that he has to wage a Jihad or holy war, it is considered a pious act.

The Umma or the Muslim Brotherhood is above everything else. That is why Osama bin Laden is getting such support in a foreign land even though he is a Saudi national. The duty of every Muslim is towards his faith and then, if at all, to the country he is living in. It bothered the Fort Hood shooter no ends when he was supposed to go to Iraq. He could not reconcile himself to the fact that he would be fighting his own Muslim brothers. His conscience was pricking him and he tried desperately to get out of the situation, to pay his way out of the army. His desperation turned to fury when he found that there was no way he could escape being posted to Iraq and fight his own Muslim brothers. What he did next may surprise those who do not understand Islam, but to the many who know what it is to be a Muslim, this has come as no surprise at all.

Having said that, I may add that not every Muslim may believe in the Umma quite so vigorously, but for a Muslim to believe in the brotherhood comes naturally to most.

The saving grace is that while Muslims have this natural bonding amongst themselves, Islam like most faiths is not quite as homogeneous as most people believe. There are the Sunnis, who believe in the Sunnat or the Quran as the last word of Allah (God) which was revealed through Prophet Muhammad. Then there are the Shias who believe that the Prophet was not the last messenger of God and that there will be others to follow. Among the Shias there are the Twelver Shias and The Sevener Shias. Then there are other sects and sub sects. There are the Ahmedias and the Khojas and many other smaller sects that make up Islam. It is the Sunnis that are the largest in number. They are followed by the Shias. Iran is a Shia dominated country but it has Sunnis on its south eastern border touching Pakistan.

While these divisions are there it is also true that Muslims come together as one when there is a call that Islam is in danger (Islam khatre mein hai). That there are divisions within Islam come as no surprise, all religions have such divisions, but when there is a call to come together there is a tumultuous response and that is the critical part. That is why there is an Organization of Islamic Countries. Is there any formal organization for the Christian countries? The answer is no. Why? Because they do not have this concept of Christian Brotherhood, like the Muslims have the Umma. An Indian Christian is content in the belief that he is an Indian and Christians from other nations do not expect him to be a Christian first and then an Indian. They expect him to behave as an Indian and would be surprised if his loyalties lay anywhere else. With Muslims, it is different. One is a Muslim first and last and an Indian or a Pakistani or an American as incidental and not central to his being. It is this that defines them as individuals and this is what separates them from the rest. This is what makes them assert their individuality as a people and as a community in any country. Any condemnation of terror acts by the Muslims becomes meaningless because they insist on a separate identity as a divine right and not as a concession. Once the Muslim Umma is in some reasonable numbers in any society they try and assert themselves by dressing differently and ritually going to the local mosque. They then start demanding ‘rights’ over and above what the society would grant as a matter of course. This is also an attempt to try and get the local community to acknowledge their existence as a separate community. They do not want to amalgamate into the host society and insist on their unique identity. What starts on a local level then is taken to the regional and then to the national level in an effort to demand a Darul Islam. The partition of India was a very well planned and orchestrated idea that led to the dismemberment of the country. The same tactics will be applied in Europe and in other countries where Muslims are increasing in numbers.

The problem with Islam is that it has remained static over the centuries and there is no attempt to move with times. Liberalism is cut out with contempt by the vocal orthodoxy that prevails. The tenets of Islam are not taken in the spirit of the times but in an era long past. The faithful are fed on a diet of orthodoxy that makes them suspicious of anything remotely different. For them the Crusades never did end. Any departure from the rote brings in a sense of guilt among the faithful. The Friday prayers are a time to reinforce what has already been taught as the ultimate truth. What happened in Fort Hood was a man so consumed by his faith that he was ready to be a ‘martyr’ if only that would help him escape what he saw as haraam – to fight his own Muslim brothers. Nidal Malik Hassan is a Jordanian and not an Iraqi but he found it repugnant that he was going to fight his Muslim Arab brothers in Iraq. He will go through anything safe in the knowledge that he was true to the Umma. It is time the liberals took over the cudgels of a faith that has failed to move with times. There are millions of liberals who do not speak out. It is time they did and it is time they said enough is enough. We are living in the twenty first century, are we not?

Update 10.11.2009: U.S. intelligence agencies learned an Army psychiatrist contacted an Islamist sympathetic to al Qaeda and relayed that information to authorities before the man allegedly went on a shooting spree that killed 13 people in Texas last week, U.S. officials said on Monday.

While the agencies were monitoring contacts by Anwar al-Awlaki, a fiery, anti-American cleric in Yemen who sympathized with al Qaeda, they came across some communications late last year with the shooting suspect, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, U.S. government officials said. Source: Reuters

Those trying to find psychological reasons for the ‘mental breakdown’ of Nidal Malik Hasan do not realize that the malaise is more fundamental. The man never went to the war zone, was a psychiartist to those who had been there. Let us not bury our head in the sand. We need to understand this problem to be able to help Muslims find a solution to it. That is the only way to make sure such unfortunate incidents do not recur and innocent lives are not lost.

Recommended site: http://pubsecrets.wordpress.com

Update 15.11.2009: A top Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Abdolhossein Moezi. who is Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameinei’s representative in Britain has said that Muslims in the British army should quit as they will have to fight their Muslim brothers in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Times newspaper has reported on Saturday, 14.11.2009. Moezi, the Director of the Islamic Center of England further that ‘Muslims are not allowed to go and kill Muslims’. Moezi believes that Islam and politics are ‘inter-mixed’, because ‘religion could not be ignorant of social issues. Part of social issues is politics, therefore Islam should have some sort of eye on political issues’.

Update 30.11.2009: The Swiss had a poll whether to ban construction of minarets by the 400,000 Muslims residing in Switzerland. The poll gave a resounding verdict for the ban. More than 59% voted for the ban of construction of more minarets. It is evident that the Swiss realized that such symbols had a more fundamental purpose and were an assertion of the Muslims as a religious and political force within their country. The Umma was at work again.

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia while giving a call against terrorism at the time of Ramzan also lamented that the world knows more about Islam than at any other time in history. This was a real disappointment for him. The world media is going berserk criticizing the Swiss for ‘crushing’ the rights of the Muslims in Switzerland!!

Update 30.11.2009: In the ongoing trial of the one Pakistani apprehended in the Mumbai 26/11 attacks of Ajmal Amir Kasab his lawyer Abbas Kazmi has been removed by the honorable court with the observation that Mr. Kazmi was not cooperating with the court. It appears that Mr. Kazmi was trying to unnecessarily prolong the legal proceedings and was also found ‘lying’ at one point. His apologies were accepted by the court and he was allowed to continue. Later, however Judge Tahiliyani decided that since Mr. Kazmi was not cooperating he must be set aside. His deputy, Mr. Pawar has now been appointed to continue with the trial. The judicial proceedings will surely be delayed. It could well be that Mr. Kazmi could not bring himself to be a party to a trial of another Muslim, who for the nature of his crime has little hope. He therefore behaved in  a manner that left no choice with the court but to show him the door. Muslim brotherhood at work again – even with a criminal who has mercilessly murdered scores of innocent fellow Indians? Could well be!!!

Vande Mataram and the Darul Uloom Deoband’s fatwas

There has been much debate on the fatwa issued by the Sunnite seat of learning in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh the Darul Uloom. The ulemas there have issued a fatwa, a decree, urging the Muslims of the nation not to sing the national song of India, Vande Mataram. They say that it is un-Islamic to do ‘sajda’ (bowing down in reverence) to anyone except Allah (God). The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has endorsed the fatwa issued by the Darul Uloom.

There was a conference held at Deoband by Darul Uloom in which a resolution was passed condemning terrorism and it was exhorted by the clergy there that the Muslims must fight this scourge that has inflicted not only India but the world. The Home Minister, Mr. P. Chidambaram graced the occasion as did some other dignitaries including Swami Agnivesh and Baba Ramdev.

Darul Uloom, Deoband is a seminary of the Sunni Muslims and has affiliations across the world.  It was founded in 1866 by several prominent Islamic scholars, headed by Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi. I may add here that Taliban and other ultra-orthodox outfits find their ideological moorings in the edicts of the Darul Uloom, Deoband.  There was much noise in the media as to how the Darul Ulooom had contributed to the freedom struggle and how they have always been faithful to India. The fact is that within the Darul Uloom, Deoband there were two factions, one that supported an undivided India and the other wanted an Islamic state of Pakistan. While Shabbir Ahmed Usmani and Ubaidullah Sindhi and others advocated a separate state of Pakistan for the Muslims of the subcontinent, others like Husain Ahmed Madani called for a united India. They hedged their bets both ways and knew they would never be the losers.

Vande Mataram is a song taken from Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel Anand Math which is a mixture of Bengali and Sanskrit. It is a beautiful song that became the beacon of Indian struggle for Independence. The said novel contains information about the violent revolt of Sanyasis against injustice inflicted by Muslims and the British in Bengal in the year 1772. The song has inspired a whole generation of people against oppression and was to become the national anthem after India’s independence. The only reason it was not approved was that Muslims objected to it. In the year 1937, during the meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Kolkata, it was decided to cut short this National Song, with the sole motive of appeasing Muslims. Thus began the era of misfortune of this song! The Muslims were not satisfied even then. They wanted to eliminate this song completely. On 17th March, 1938, the Chairman of the Muslim League, Barrister Mohammad Ali Jinnah raised objection to reciting the first stanza of ‘Vande Mataram’ also. Many believe that the opposition to Vande Mataram was the beginning of the formation of the Islamic state of Pakistan. Similar objections are being raised again, even though the edited version of the song is sung everywhere. This smacks of times past when Jinnah and the Muslims of the sub-continent were very keen to show a separate identity for themselves.

It is not as if all Muslims endorse what Deoband has proclaimed. Prof. Mushirul Hassan has said that there was no need for the Home Minister to go to Deoband. He added that any presence of the state in such functions gives legitimacy to orthodoxy. Farooq Abdullah said that he had no problem in singing the whole of the song as this is our national song. But then people like Farooq Abdullah are rare in politics. I may add here that the fatwas issued by Deoband include the following:

1. No coeducation for girls above the age of 10.
2. Opposition to women’s reservation bill in the Parliament, adding that this will further erode Muslim representation.
3. The Jamiat strongly opposed the Delhi High Court ruling legitimizing gay sex which it said would lead to “sexual anarchy and recognition of debauchery.”

Within Darul Uloom Deoband there are two factions now. The one led by Mahmood  Madani had organized this conference while the other abstained and called it a farce. It is evident that there are schisms within the Muslim society and there are sects and sub sects and while the Home Minister may have gone there to get an endorsement against terrorism and may have felt he had achieved a lot by roping in Deobandi school of Islam, the fact is that this is mere tokenism and such genuflection in front of the ultra-orthodox only weakens the ordinary Muslim who wants to move forward away from such extreme religious gatherings. Is it not true that most of us do not go to the temple, church or the mosque regularly? Religion has its place and it should not become the center of our existence.

Below are the lyrics of the beautiful song that has given us Indians (including Muslims) a sense of pride and joy:

Lyrics of Vande Mataram

Vande maataraM
sujalaaM suphalaaM malayaja shiitalaaM
SasyashyaamalaaM maataram ||

Shubhrajyotsnaa pulakitayaaminiiM
pullakusumita drumadala shobhiniiM
suhaasiniiM sumadhura bhaashhiNiiM
sukhadaaM varadaaM maataraM ||

Koti koti kantha kalakalaninaada karaale
koti koti bhujai.rdhR^itakharakaravaale
abalaa keno maa eto bale
bahubaladhaariNiiM namaami taariNiiM
ripudalavaariNiiM maataraM ||

Tumi vidyaa tumi dharma
tumi hR^idi tumi marma
tvaM hi praaNaaH shariire

Baahute tumi maa shakti
hR^idaye tumi maa bhakti
tomaara i pratimaa gaDi
mandire mandire ||

TvaM hi durgaa dashapraharaNadhaariNii
kamalaa kamaladala vihaariNii
vaaNii vidyaadaayinii namaami tvaaM

Namaami kamalaaM amalaaM atulaaM
SujalaaM suphalaaM maataraM ||

ShyaamalaaM saralaaM susmitaaM bhuushhitaaM
DharaNiiM bharaNiiM maataraM |”

वन्दे मातरम्
सुजलां सुफलां मलयजशीतलाम्
शस्यशामलां मातरम् ।
शुभ्रज्योत्स्नापुलकितयामिनीं
फुल्लकुसुमितद्रुमदलशोभिनीं
सुहासिनीं सुमधुर भाषिणीं
सुखदां वरदां मातरम् ।। १ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।
कोटि-कोटि-कण्ठ-कल-कल-निनाद-कराले
कोटि-कोटि-भुजैर्धृत-खरकरवाले,
अबला केन मा एत बले ।
बहुबलधारिणीं नमामि तारिणीं
रिपुदलवारिणीं मातरम् ।। २ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।
तुमि विद्या, तुमि धर्म
तुमि हृदि, तुमि मर्म
त्वं हि प्राणा: शरीरे
बाहुते तुमि मा शक्ति,
हृदये तुमि मा भक्ति,
तोमारई प्रतिमा गडि
मन्दिरे-मन्दिरे मातरम् ।। ३ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।
त्वं हि दुर्गा दशप्रहरणधारिणी
कमला कमलदलविहारिणी
वाणी विद्यादायिनी, नमामि त्वाम्
नमामि कमलां अमलां अतुलां
सुजलां सुफलां मातरम् ।। ४ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।
श्यामलां सरलां सुस्मितां भूषितां
धरणीं भरणीं मातरम् ।। ५ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।।

Translation by Shree Aurobindo

Mother, I bow to thee!
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
bright with orchard gleams,
Cool with thy winds of delight,
Dark fields waving Mother of might,
Mother free.

Glory of moonlight dreams,
Over thy branches and lordly streams,
Clad in thy blossoming trees,
Mother, giver of ease
Laughing low and sweet!
Mother I kiss thy feet,
Speaker sweet and low!
Mother, to thee I bow.

Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands
When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands
And seventy million voices roar
Thy dreadful name from shore to shore?
With many strengths who art mighty and stored,
To thee I call Mother and Lord!
Though who savest, arise and save!
To her I cry who ever her foeman drove
Back from plain and Sea
And shook herself free.

Thou art wisdom, thou art law,
Thou art heart, our soul, our breath
Though art love divine, the awe
In our hearts that conquers death.
Thine the strength that nervs the arm,
Thine the beauty, thine the charm.
Every image made divine
In our temples is but thine.

Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen,
With her hands that strike and her
swords of sheen,
Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned,
And the Muse a hundred-toned,
Pure and perfect without peer,
Mother lend thine ear,
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
Bright with thy orchard gleems,
Dark of hue O candid-fair

In thy soul, with jewelled hair
And thy glorious smile divine,
Lovilest of all earthly lands,
Showering wealth from well-stored hands!
Mother, mother mine!
Mother sweet, I bow to thee,
Mother great and free!

The best part about this is that while it is not compulsory of all Indians to sing the song most Indians want to sing this. It is the so-called secularists who have reservations against the song. The most pathetic situation is that of the Bengali secular intellectuals. They are between a rock and a hard place on this one. While they would hate to endorse anything that is seen as ‘communal’, as is this song, the fact that this is a Bengali song interspersed with Sanskrit makes them cringe because they love their language so. They cannot reject this song nor can they advocate it, for obvious reasons. Majority of Muslims would not mind singing the national song, they would rather love it. It is so Indian and just so beautiful.

Darul Uloom, Deoband would also have not raised this issue again. They had their political compulsions. They did not want to be seen bowing down to the Indian state when they passed a fatwa against terrorism. They wanted to be seen to be the leaders of the Muslim community who had a mind of their own. Therefore while condemning terrorism they added a caveat that they exhort Muslims from singing the National song. It was a political assertion, more than anything else. Most Muslims do not take these ulema’s too seriously. But they do have a nuisance value and can turn the masses one way or the other. It was political brinkmanship when the ministers descended on Deoband. This helps no one, not the state, not any political party and definitely not the cause of the fight against terrorism.

The Pipeline of Peace and the Importance of Sharing

Hillary Clinton on her last visit to India was asked a very pointed question by one of the prominent Indian  TV journalist. The question was about American stand on the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline. Mrs. Clinton shook her head and answered in monosyllables. It was a silly question put to the Secretary of State of a nation that has put thousands of lives and billions of dollars on line to get to the Central Asian oil cache. Either the journalist was totally ignorant of what she was asking or she was testing the American resolve on its stand against Iran as a nation and the proposed pipeline per se. India was always circumspect of any such gas pipeline that passes Pakistan without the endorsement of the western powers. This proposed pipeline was called the ‘peace pipeline’ by the Pakistan press. India found that her interests would be marginalized were India to go ahead with the IPI.

The fact of the matter is that the US and their western allies have been posturing for the long proposed TAP (Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline). The creation of the Taliban was to ensure the writ of one force so that  TAP could pass through and its safety ensured. There was no reason for conflict once the Soviets had departed, apart from the fact that the militia transformed into the ultra-orthodox Taliban with modern weapons, tanks and artillery at their disposal. The drug trade further fuelled an explosive situation.

Now that the west is in Afghanistan, one would have imagined that they would be able to control the country. The fact is that the ISAF has limited sway over the hinterland of Afghanistan. There are forces that would hate to see west control the whole of Afghanistan without any resistance. The proposed TAP had been earlier taken up by the now defunct Unocal (there was a serious attempt by the Chinese to take over Unocal before it merged with Chevron) against the Argentinean consortium Bridas. Benazir Bhutto was the prime minister at that time and the present president Asif Ali Zardari was a key player in trying to broker a deal between the Taliban and the oil companies. The fighting intensified such that t oil companies withdrew from the project and chaos reigned. The appearance of the American and the Europeans in Afghanistan again led to an expectation and hope of making the TAP happen. But the Taliban have been active more than ever and Pakistan is loath to see them wither away.

I may add here that the proposed Trans Afghanistan Pipeline (TAP) is designed to tap into the Central Asian oilfields of Daulatabad and Turkmenistan and to get the oil and gas through Afghanistan and Pakistan to the burgeoning Indian market and to be shipped around the world from Pakistan sea ports of Gwadar and Karachi. If one thinks about it, this sure is a win-win situation for all, including the nations that the pipeline will pass through. Were this pipeline to fructify Afghanistan and Pakistan will not only get cheap oil as the transportation costs will be minimal after the initial gestation period, but they will also be able to claim a transit fees that could run into billions of dollars every year. For India also this is an attractive proposition as the pipeline will ensure uninhibited supply of oil and gas at very competitive prices. While the Krishna-Godavari Basin gas find by Reliance Industries is a significant one, it could cater to the eastern and the southern Indian market, the Central Asian TAP gas sources could feed northern and western Indian needs. The region could see a boost in trade and industrialization as the abundant energy could fuel the economy of the region.

The TAP could also be the source of peace in the region. The economics of the safety and security of the pipeline would be such that any conflagration would be a jolt to the economy of the region. Economics will lie heavily and this would be the reason for peace and tranquility in the countries it will pass through. The question is that if this is such an attractive proposition then why has it become impossible for the western companies to make this happen. The first and foremost is the fact that the Turkmenistan fields are not proven oil and gas reserves. But it is believed that there is a good oil cache which is an extension of the Central Asian gas fields. The second reason is that there are forces that would hate to see peace and prosperity in the region. An uninterrupted gas supply at lower than market prices will be a boon to India and that would trigger economic growth in a country that is doing pretty well, as it were. Then, such a gas pipeline will be reason enough for the two countries not to escalate any tension in the foreseeable future. Peace between India and Pakistan would be poison for such forces.

Pakistan has been running with the hares and hunting with the hounds. They are trying to play one against the other and are benefitting in the process. They are posturing that their army is fighting the Taliban when on the ground the reality is that the Taliban are gaining in strength. They are asking for funds from the west to fight the Taliban and are diverting those funds and more to the Taliban to keep them well fed. Pakistan has no option but to do what they are doing. Being faithful to any one party could spell disaster for them. They want to retain their nuclear power position and therefore this becomes imperative.

The fact is that the west needs to learn to be magnanimous, if they are serious about doing business in such a tricky situation. One needs to be pragmatic about the situation, whether it is Afghanistan or Iran. The western countries gave one of the first oil concessions in Iraq to the Chinese oil company. There is relative peace in Iraq now. The Americans and the Europeans must try and rope in both the Russians and the Chinese in Afghanistan for the proposed TAP if they are serious about seeing it fructify. The situation is getting explosive and the west may not be able to stay in Afghanistan for long. They also need to learn to live with situations that are less than ideal. A western style democracy in Afghanistan is some way off.  It is creditable that Afghans could vote and experience the power of democracy. It will take time for Afghanistan to mature enough to follow a democratic setup. Besides democracy may not be the ideal system for a country that has such strong tribal culture that is an island by itself.

If the TAP has to happen the west needs to have constructive dialogue with the other powers including Russia, China and India. TAP could be the pipeline of peace. The way the west is going about its business till now, the region could break up into fragments on ethnic lines and that would mean dissolution of nuclear Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of Iran. It will be a jolt not only to the region but to the entire world.It is also accepted that the least number of governments that one has to deal with, the easier it is. A plethora of states in the region could make it so much more difficult for TAP to happen. A prudent approach will be to try and take everyone along and make TAP a reality. The much hailed Obama USP of community approach could well prove to be the answer to the problems. The region cannot afford to go up in smoke, when so much is at stake. Greed has to be replaced by pragmatism. Sheer power cannot win in these times. TAP could mean peace and prosperity in the region. That could well be the antidote to terrorism that the world is looking for. The upcoming Obama visit to Beijing therefore becomes so much more important. It is well known that Hu Jintao and Obama will discuss Iran, but I hope they do not leave Afghanistan and Iraq out of the equation. These are different times and the need of the hour is to engage all interested parties so that the world can move forward.  The western insistence on a run-off in the presidential election was just a way to buy time, and with Abdullah Abdullah dropping out White House needs to take a call on whether to increase troop levels. President Barack Obama may take the final decision on troop increase in Afghanistan once he is back from Beijing. The fabled Chinese wisdom will be on test as will the third American president to have received the Noble Peace Prize when in office. This will also mean giving concrete assurances about the goodwill for each other as also a surety not to step on each other’s toes. One cannot discount the other and get ones way. Besides, mankind deserves peace and progress. The two leaders and the two nations will be tested. I hope they have the will and the fortitude to move with the needs of times.

Update 13.11.2009: As President Barack Obama embarks on his four nation Far Eastern tour, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Great Britain has already upped the ante and demanded that NATO send at least another 5,000 men to Afghanistan. This was after he had a telephonic conversation with the Afghan president Hamid Karzai. It is very likely that the west is making noises to impress the hosts of the American president so that he can talk from a position of strength. Such orchestrated diplomatic and strategic utterances are not new. China will be vary of an increased western presence in Afghanistan. These are mind games. On the way to Japan, President Obama made a halt at a military base in Alaska and assured the troops there that any increase in troop levels in Afghanistan will be made only if absolutely necessary. The Associated Press reported Prime Minister Browns remarks on sending more troops to Afghanistan thus:

Britain’s prime minister said Friday that North American Treaty Organization nations may contribute 5,000 more troops to Afghanistan — offering key backing as the U.S. decides whether to increase troop levels.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown launched an impassioned defense of the controversial military campaign in Afghanistan during an interview Friday on the BBC, acknowledging that Britain needed to “adjust our approach” amid rising casualties.

The message for China and the rest of the world is loud and clear, that the west is not going to chicken out of the situation and that their commitment to Afghanistan is total. It will be interesting as to how Obama’s visit to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit in Singapore and to Beijing turns out.

President Bush in India

When I first heard that President George W. Bush was one of the speakers at this year’s Hindustan Times  Leadership Summit, I was rather surprised and just a bit excited. He is slated to give his speech at the Hindustan Times Summit later today and the whose who of the Indian political, economic and social elite along with some foreign dignitaries will grace the occasion. I mean during his presidency although one of the cornerstones of the Bush doctrine was a paradigm shift in the way the US looked at Asia and the world and India was at the center of this major diplomatic initiative, yet, Bush came to India for just a day, gave a speech in Delhi and that was it. It amazes me as to why and how dignitaries find little time for issues they believe in when in office and once they are out of position have all the time and the will to go back to what they had advocated in the first place.

President George W. Bush is a sought after speaker now. I have always believed that the man was badly judged both by the American people and the world. I do not for a moment condone the Iraq invasion. But then did not Bill Clinton bomb Baghdad and President George Bush Sr. impose debilitating economic embargo on Iraq. George W. Bush only took forward what was the consistent American policy for more than a decade before he came to power. I also believe that many of these decisions are made regardless of who is the president. There are forces that are strong enough to ensure that the American policy veers one way or the other. I am in no way trying to exonerate President Bush but am only trying to understand how things work and why he did what he did. He did castigate Americans for their ‘addiction to oil’!! His ‘axis of evil’ remark was also very apt and the world is trying to find answers to both Iran and North Korea. Iran is getting more and more difficult. It will take some doing to get them around. My hunch is that Iran will go the Iraq way. I am not too sure Obama has the will to take punitive actions against a rogue regime. It is very easy for Obama administration to say that the focus is now on Afghanistan. I agree that Iraq is by and large peaceful now, but I will be surprised if the Americans are able to stick to their 2012 withdrawal timetable. Obama said that he will spend more resources in Afghanistan. Now when it is crunch time, he is not sure whether he could possibly send more troops to Afghanistan even though his top army commander there Gen. Stanley McChrystal has asked for ‘more boots on the ground’.

President George W. Bush was thought of as a dimwitted bumbling president. Nothing was farther from the truth. Those who know him say that he is a voracious reader. The man has a disarming sense of humor. He cannot help but chuckle at himself.  He quipped  that ‘he was writing a book even though the people back home think I can’t read’!!! Anywhere in the western world the audience may have given a standing ovation for the sense of humor of the man, here in India all this elicited was a polite grin all around. I guess that was good enough for President Bush. The top brass of Indian establishment was there in full force at the Prime Minister’s luncheon and that included Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Home Minister P. Chidambram, Shiv Shankar Menon and so many others. It was India’s way of saying thank you to a man that we Indians are absolutely fond of. There is a reason why President Bush is seen so favorably by us Indians. We see Bush as a visionary. He made a departure from the regular American policy and realized that USA and India are natural allies. He could not see why two of the world’s most prominent democracies with so much potential for mutual cooperation were so wide apart. I concede that this was an idea whose time had come but even then, it needed courage to make that break. And this paradigm shift was not just an increase in bilateral cooperation in various fields but catapulting India as a de facto sixth player on the world stage after the P5. That took a lot of courage and doing and only someone who was absolutely convinced about this could have gone ahead the way President Bush did. Indians could not help but thank the president for his extraordinary vision and for the nuclear deal. The man, true to his style quipped ‘we had to break a bit of China to make that happen’!!! You can fault the man for anything, but one thing most observers will concede, President Bush had a lot of courage.  Even when his approval ratings were plummeting at around 30 percent in America, more than 65% Indians believed that President Bush was doing a good job and saw him as a friend.

The Obama administration, when they took over had a bit of a scorn for the previous regime. Nine months down the line and they realize that not all that the Bush administration was doing was a no-no. I am sure this administration has more respect for the man and what he stood for. America has now started missing Bush, at least some Americans do. The one big Obama push has been the health care bill. I accept that Bush would have never brought such a ‘socialistic’ bill and there I give credit to Obama for his conviction. But on many other fronts I guess Bush was going by the book and the need of the hour, looking firmly to the interests of the US and the world. Guantanamo may be a black mark, but at that time I guess it was a necessity. At the fag-end of his presidency Bush declared that Guantanamo would be closed, but he had too little a time to make that happen. The sheer logistics of the exercise and the judicial expediency involved required has surprised the Obama administration. For Obama to point a finger at the previous regime when in a fix is trying to test the common sense of the people.

As the Obama administration matures, I am sure it will find its way and do a commendable job. But it is clear that the new administration has mellowed down a bit now and has more respect for the previous regime. I guess America has more respect for President Bush now than when he was in office. I know his bloopers were famous, but that was not the whole of Bush. Posterity will judge him more kindly. As for his visit to India, we wish he had found time to come to India for a longer stint when he was in office. But it is a pleasure to have him here amongst his Indian friends any way. I understand Prime Minister Singh was at his chirpy best when he was hosting President Bush for lunch. For Singh to be chirpy takes a lot. Bush is one of the few who gets the best out of Manmohan Singh. The other times when the Prime Minister is at his jovial best, I am told, is when he is with his family.

Addendum: I had a chance to watch the highlights of President Bush’s speech at the HT Summit on the TV. I was floored by his charm and grace. He was applauded more than once by the gathering there and at the end, there was a long applause that spontaneously turned to a standing ovation. I shall not dwell on what all he said. Suffice to say that he was not only hitting the right notes but was an excellent ambassador for his country. I have this feeling that the world over we have a tendency of running down our leaders. Is this out of spite or just lack of respect for our own selves, I do not know. It is when they are gone that we begin to take stock of the loss that we have incurred. President Bush was another such leader who was lampooned and ran down by his own countrymen. Brits are doing the same to Tony Blair (they call him Teflon Tony) and we were equally bad with Indira Gandhi when she was alive and to those who came after her. Bush was not a failure and he would have gone about things differently had he been given some more room to maneuver. We must learn to respect our leaders and have some faith in them. There was this musical legend who literally killed himself. People threw him aside and ridiculed the man. Today thousands line up and dance to his music wearing masks. the man’s name is Michael Jackson. You see, when we run down our leaders such, we are in effect running down our country and by default our own selves. The world begins to take us less seriously. I am not saying that there should not be any checks and balances. All I am saying is that we should refrain from stooping down beyond a point. India and Indians wish President Bush all the best. He was much better than what the world gave him credit for.