Asia Times Online's most interesting and at the same time, most controversial author, Spengler, has written something thought-provoking after quite some time now.
Among the things he discusses, he returns to a theme which is like a key motif of his writings:
Just what is paganism? It is the social order that underlies idolatry: the primacy of the animal ties of ancestry, in which the family is a small clan, the clan is a small tribe, and the tribe is a small nation. Pagans worship their own blood and soil at the altar of their nation. The attraction of self-worship is so strong that ancient Israel again and again fell back into pagan practices, while the self-styled "new Israel" of the Church was gutted in its home continent of Europe. America, a new people composed of people who abandoned ethnic allegiance, survived as the last home of Christianity in the industrial world.
There are some things I agree with and some I feel are baseless. Firstly, I can agree that attachment to clan and tribe at the expense of a wider nation, can definitely be called the starting point and anti-thesis to the Christian social agenda. In the historical sense, this was what was called 'paganism'. But this paganism has nothing to do with idolatry per se, because Christianity presents its own idolatry as well: Christ on the Crucifix, the Holy Virgin etc.It is just that while the pagan has idols which embody the psyche of his own limited clan or tribe, Christianity presents idols embodying the psyche of a vaster collection of mankind, encompassing nations. Basically, Christianity is only a vaster and radical paganism, where you exchange your limited clan,tribal, national loyalties, for a larger supra-national loyalty. Of course, it is a very lofty ideal, one that does offer the potential of uniting peoples, one which calls upon people to dissolve their narrow national psyches into a larger psyche.
Further, for reasons that could wholly be unintentional since Spengler's sole focus are the Abrahamic faiths, his discourse would make it seem that only Christianity and Judaism offer this possibility of a supra-national paganism or are even perfect in such an offer. On the contrary, in the East that we find this noble ideal, of the promise of clans, tribes, nations, merging their psyches into a vast supra-national psyche under the aegis of a Loving God or a Loving Principle, was not only offered, but developed with far less bloodshed and violence than the Judeo-Christian attempt. The Buddha was the first historical personage who offered this message and under his impulse, nations joined hands and melted into a community of monks and laypersons. The Orthodox Hindu reform movements that followed, developed this further under the head of different loving personifications of an almighty loving principle.
The shift from local, tribal psyches emerging into supra-national psyches happened in such a smooth series of steps, that it never led to the kinds of pogroms and persecutions of pagans at the hands of Christians, that happened in Europe. The horrible massacres of pagans and desecrations of pagan shrines by Christian zealots that was witnessed in Europe, was because the shift from the tribal psyche to the supra-national psyche was enforced in swell-swoop, a radical conversion. No wonder then, they would revert back to their national psyches as Spengler bemoaned. Pysches of human societies cannot be changed overnight and this process was well-understood by the thinkers of the East. Those who accepted the Buddha and therefore rejected their tribal identities did not go about butchering their fellow kinsmen if they still were 'pagan'. Nor did the peoples who came together under different Bhakti saints and thus rejected narrow caste affiliations then go about killing their caste-sectarians after acquiring political power.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Is Hinduism really that different?
These days I am beginning to wonder about the endless exoticization of Hinduism! From western academics, journalists and commentators to our own 'home grown' Hindu thinkers, intellectuals and Swamis, everyone presents Hinduism as an unspecifiable chaos, something that can only be explained in terms opposite to what is understood 'conventionally', as a religion.
We read, often, that Hinduism has no founder, has no single book of authority, has no single creed or conception about God, etc. Come on, now, how much of this actually true?
Orthodox Hinduism has always held the Vedas as the ultimate authority. Revealed texts, these constitute the 'Hindu book'. And for founders, how about those Seers - Rishis - to whom these books were revealed? Even the Old testament has dozens of prophets, that doesn't mean Christianity doesn't have a 'founder' ! But yeah, Hinduism being like a 'well-spring religion', unlike say Christianity, which uses the figure of Christ exclusively succeeding the heritage of the Old Testament, or Islam which chooses to focus on Muhammad, Hinduism uses multiple figures such as the various Avatars and later, the great Acharyas and saints and sages. It is a continuously evolving tradition, that's all.
Then, this much-repeated quaint idea that Hinduism alone is unique among world religions in having many different and even competing conceptions about God. What is a religion if it does not have such different conceptions! Anyone who even starts considering the idea of God, soon will realize that there is possibly no single way in which to humanly formulate the concept of a Supreme Being who is capable of intelligently causing this unbelievably vast and complex universe.
Christianity has dozens of sects and viewpoints. Is the Christian God triune, or is he Unitary? How does the person of Christ relate to the ineffable God? What is the relation of God to creation and time? The umbrella of Christianity houses a bewildering number of sects - Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Anglican, Lutherans, Mormons (and many more!) - that each has a competing answer to these questions.
This is true of Islam as well! How does prophet-hood relate to God? What is the source of guidance after Muhammad? What is the nature of God and can He (is it He or She or It?) be known? orthodox Sunnis of the four madhabs, Deobandis, Barelvis, Wahhabis, Twelver Shias, Ismailis, and a myriad different Sufi sects have each their own competing conceptions and ideas. Even Judaism has a multitude of sects that each have their own viewpoints on such fundamental questions. Yeah just that these so-called 'motheistic' religions, especially Islam, will seem to have lesser tolerance for doctrinal variance, but that is just due to prevalent dominance of certain sects, often achieved through violence, intimidation or economic pressure.
The illusion of a single unified doctrine in these religions, does not hold up on closer examination. Truth is, wherever man exercises his intellectual investigation freely, there are bound to be multiple viewpoints. I wish Hindus think for themselves and stop presenting their tradition as uniquely curious and outlandish than all the others out there.
We read, often, that Hinduism has no founder, has no single book of authority, has no single creed or conception about God, etc. Come on, now, how much of this actually true?
Orthodox Hinduism has always held the Vedas as the ultimate authority. Revealed texts, these constitute the 'Hindu book'. And for founders, how about those Seers - Rishis - to whom these books were revealed? Even the Old testament has dozens of prophets, that doesn't mean Christianity doesn't have a 'founder' ! But yeah, Hinduism being like a 'well-spring religion', unlike say Christianity, which uses the figure of Christ exclusively succeeding the heritage of the Old Testament, or Islam which chooses to focus on Muhammad, Hinduism uses multiple figures such as the various Avatars and later, the great Acharyas and saints and sages. It is a continuously evolving tradition, that's all.
Then, this much-repeated quaint idea that Hinduism alone is unique among world religions in having many different and even competing conceptions about God. What is a religion if it does not have such different conceptions! Anyone who even starts considering the idea of God, soon will realize that there is possibly no single way in which to humanly formulate the concept of a Supreme Being who is capable of intelligently causing this unbelievably vast and complex universe.
Christianity has dozens of sects and viewpoints. Is the Christian God triune, or is he Unitary? How does the person of Christ relate to the ineffable God? What is the relation of God to creation and time? The umbrella of Christianity houses a bewildering number of sects - Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Anglican, Lutherans, Mormons (and many more!) - that each has a competing answer to these questions.
This is true of Islam as well! How does prophet-hood relate to God? What is the source of guidance after Muhammad? What is the nature of God and can He (is it He or She or It?) be known? orthodox Sunnis of the four madhabs, Deobandis, Barelvis, Wahhabis, Twelver Shias, Ismailis, and a myriad different Sufi sects have each their own competing conceptions and ideas. Even Judaism has a multitude of sects that each have their own viewpoints on such fundamental questions. Yeah just that these so-called 'motheistic' religions, especially Islam, will seem to have lesser tolerance for doctrinal variance, but that is just due to prevalent dominance of certain sects, often achieved through violence, intimidation or economic pressure.
The illusion of a single unified doctrine in these religions, does not hold up on closer examination. Truth is, wherever man exercises his intellectual investigation freely, there are bound to be multiple viewpoints. I wish Hindus think for themselves and stop presenting their tradition as uniquely curious and outlandish than all the others out there.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
the castes as described by Arrian
Among the other curious things Arrian says in his Indica (as excerpted here), is this very interesting description of the castes as current then (or rather, as interpreted by Arrian from what was current then):
11. All the Indians have been divided into seven castes. Among them are the wise men, fewer in number than the others, but most esteemed in reputation and dignity. For no necessity is incumbent upon them to do any bodily labour; nor do they contribute anything to the commonwealth from the effects of their labour; nor in a word have they any compulsory duty except to offer sacrifices to the gods on behalf of the commonwealth of India. Whoever sacrifices in his private capacity has one of these wise men as a director of the sacrifice, since otherwise he does not offer acceptable sacrifice to the gods. These also are the only Indians skilled in divination; and it is not lawful for anyone to practise the art except for a man who is a wise man. They practise divination in regard to the seasons of the year, and if any calamity befalls the commonwealth. It is not their business to practise their art in regard to the private affairs of individuals, either because the art of divination does not extend to smaller matters, or because it is not worthy of them to labour about such things. Whoever has made three errors in his practise of divination receives no other punishment except that for the future he is compelled to be silent; and there is no one who can compel that man to speak, upon whom the judgment of silence has been passed. These wise men pass their lives naked; in the winter in the sun under the open sky, but in the summer, when the sun holds sway, they live in the meadows and in the marshes under great trees, the shadow of which Nearchus says extends 500 feet all round, and I0,000 men could be shaded under one tree. So large are these trees. They feed on the fruits of the seasons and the inner bark of trees, which is both pleasant and nutritious; not less so than dates.
After these the second caste are the agriculturalists, who are the most numerous class of Indians. These have no martial weapons, nor do they care for deeds of war, but till the soil. They pay dues to the kings or to those cities which are independent. If any war happens to break out among the Indians with each other it is not lawful for them to touch the tillers of the soil, or to lay waste the country itself by destroying the crops. But while others are waging war against each other and slaying each other as they find the chance, they are ploughing in peace and quietness near them, or are gathering in the vintage, or are pruning their vines, or are reaping their crops.
The third caste of Indians are the shepherds and the cowherds, who dwell neither in cities nor in villages; but are nomads and live up and down the mountains. They pay a tax from their flocks and herds. These men also catch birds and hunt wild beasts throughout the land.
12. The fourth caste is that of the artisans and retail tradesmen. These men perform public duties at their own cost, and pay a tax upon their work, except those who make weapons of war. These receive pay from the commonwealth. In this caste are the shipwrights and sailors who sail up and down the rivers.
The fifth caste of the Indians consists of the warriors, who in number come next to the husbandmen and enjoy very great freedom and good cheer. These men practise nothing but warlike exercises. Others make the weapons for them, others provide them with horses; and others serve them in the camp, who groom the horses for them, keep their weapons bright, manage the elephants, keep the chariots in order, and drive the horses. They themselves fight, as long as it is necessary to wage war; but when there is peace, they live with good cheer; and they receive such high pay from the state that they can easily support others from it.
The sixth caste of Indians consists of men who are called overseers. These supervise what is done throughout the country and in the cities, and make reports to the king, where the Indians are ruled by a king, or to the magistrates where the people have a democratic government. It is unlawful for these men to make false reports; but no Indian has incurred the charge of falsehood.
The seventh caste consists of those who assist the king in deliberating on public affairs, or assist the officials in the cities which enjoy a democratic government. This class is small in number, but in wisdom and justice excels all the others. From them are chosen their rulers, governors of provinces, deputies, treasurers, generals, admirals, controllers of expenditure, and superintendents of agriculture.
It is not lawful for anyone to marry a woman from another caste; for example, for husbandmen to marry from the class of artisans or the reverse. It is not lawful for the same man to exercise two trades, or to exchange from one caste into another; for instance, he may not cease to be a shepherd and become a husbandman, or cease to be an artisan and become a shepherd. Only a man from any caste is allowed by them to become a wise man, because the duties of the wise men are not easy, but the most severely laborious of all.
this needs more careful thinking - what is this caste of wise men? Rishis, or the predecessors of the modern Sannyasis?
11. All the Indians have been divided into seven castes. Among them are the wise men, fewer in number than the others, but most esteemed in reputation and dignity. For no necessity is incumbent upon them to do any bodily labour; nor do they contribute anything to the commonwealth from the effects of their labour; nor in a word have they any compulsory duty except to offer sacrifices to the gods on behalf of the commonwealth of India. Whoever sacrifices in his private capacity has one of these wise men as a director of the sacrifice, since otherwise he does not offer acceptable sacrifice to the gods. These also are the only Indians skilled in divination; and it is not lawful for anyone to practise the art except for a man who is a wise man. They practise divination in regard to the seasons of the year, and if any calamity befalls the commonwealth. It is not their business to practise their art in regard to the private affairs of individuals, either because the art of divination does not extend to smaller matters, or because it is not worthy of them to labour about such things. Whoever has made three errors in his practise of divination receives no other punishment except that for the future he is compelled to be silent; and there is no one who can compel that man to speak, upon whom the judgment of silence has been passed. These wise men pass their lives naked; in the winter in the sun under the open sky, but in the summer, when the sun holds sway, they live in the meadows and in the marshes under great trees, the shadow of which Nearchus says extends 500 feet all round, and I0,000 men could be shaded under one tree. So large are these trees. They feed on the fruits of the seasons and the inner bark of trees, which is both pleasant and nutritious; not less so than dates.
After these the second caste are the agriculturalists, who are the most numerous class of Indians. These have no martial weapons, nor do they care for deeds of war, but till the soil. They pay dues to the kings or to those cities which are independent. If any war happens to break out among the Indians with each other it is not lawful for them to touch the tillers of the soil, or to lay waste the country itself by destroying the crops. But while others are waging war against each other and slaying each other as they find the chance, they are ploughing in peace and quietness near them, or are gathering in the vintage, or are pruning their vines, or are reaping their crops.
The third caste of Indians are the shepherds and the cowherds, who dwell neither in cities nor in villages; but are nomads and live up and down the mountains. They pay a tax from their flocks and herds. These men also catch birds and hunt wild beasts throughout the land.
12. The fourth caste is that of the artisans and retail tradesmen. These men perform public duties at their own cost, and pay a tax upon their work, except those who make weapons of war. These receive pay from the commonwealth. In this caste are the shipwrights and sailors who sail up and down the rivers.
The fifth caste of the Indians consists of the warriors, who in number come next to the husbandmen and enjoy very great freedom and good cheer. These men practise nothing but warlike exercises. Others make the weapons for them, others provide them with horses; and others serve them in the camp, who groom the horses for them, keep their weapons bright, manage the elephants, keep the chariots in order, and drive the horses. They themselves fight, as long as it is necessary to wage war; but when there is peace, they live with good cheer; and they receive such high pay from the state that they can easily support others from it.
The sixth caste of Indians consists of men who are called overseers. These supervise what is done throughout the country and in the cities, and make reports to the king, where the Indians are ruled by a king, or to the magistrates where the people have a democratic government. It is unlawful for these men to make false reports; but no Indian has incurred the charge of falsehood.
The seventh caste consists of those who assist the king in deliberating on public affairs, or assist the officials in the cities which enjoy a democratic government. This class is small in number, but in wisdom and justice excels all the others. From them are chosen their rulers, governors of provinces, deputies, treasurers, generals, admirals, controllers of expenditure, and superintendents of agriculture.
It is not lawful for anyone to marry a woman from another caste; for example, for husbandmen to marry from the class of artisans or the reverse. It is not lawful for the same man to exercise two trades, or to exchange from one caste into another; for instance, he may not cease to be a shepherd and become a husbandman, or cease to be an artisan and become a shepherd. Only a man from any caste is allowed by them to become a wise man, because the duties of the wise men are not easy, but the most severely laborious of all.
this needs more careful thinking - what is this caste of wise men? Rishis, or the predecessors of the modern Sannyasis?
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Yuga Purana
One by one lot of myths regarding ancient India and Hinduism are falling off. One major one going around was that ancient Hindus did not have a sense of history.Well it all depends on what you look upon as 'history'. If its ok to accept the accounts of Greek historians, keeping reasonable protions of their descriptions and disregarding their fantastic stories and notions, it should be equally ok to accept the Puranas as history!
Recently a very ancient Purana has been traced and translated by Dr. James Mitchiner, the British Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata.
Fascinating stuff - gicing first-hand accounts of the Indo-Greek and Saka invasions of India. wonder how much more of such material must be lying away as archival material in dusty libraries!
Recently a very ancient Purana has been traced and translated by Dr. James Mitchiner, the British Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata.
Fascinating stuff - gicing first-hand accounts of the Indo-Greek and Saka invasions of India. wonder how much more of such material must be lying away as archival material in dusty libraries!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Benazir..
some v interesting stuff on Benazir and the Bhutto dynasty.
and I had heard about the beauty of Fatima Bhutto, but didnt know she was this strkingly beautiful!
and I had heard about the beauty of Fatima Bhutto, but didnt know she was this strkingly beautiful!
Friday, March 26, 2010
al-fajita
Osama's broadcasts are becoming funnier by the day and soon his al-Qaeda will be flattened out like a fajita.
first came his announcement earlier this year, claiming credit for the failed terror attempt by a Nigerian jehadi. Was this coming from the legendary Osama, who notoriously launched the incredibly well planned 9/11 attacks - pompously claiming a silly failed attempt by a lone disturbed student as a 'great' act of defiance?
and now, his declaration that he would kill any Americans he captures in retaliation of Khalid Shaikh Mehmood is killed, had me in splits. gotta be kidding or the dude must seriously be doing the weed that his Taliban friends famously cultivate if he thinks this is any threat?
gone are the days when the master of jehad used to would promise lightning attacks and threaten Americans with fear in their own homeland. he is so weakened now, all he can come up with, is 'I will kill those I take captives from my neighbourhood'. good fun. the Americans are feeling threatened. ROFL.
first came his announcement earlier this year, claiming credit for the failed terror attempt by a Nigerian jehadi. Was this coming from the legendary Osama, who notoriously launched the incredibly well planned 9/11 attacks - pompously claiming a silly failed attempt by a lone disturbed student as a 'great' act of defiance?
and now, his declaration that he would kill any Americans he captures in retaliation of Khalid Shaikh Mehmood is killed, had me in splits. gotta be kidding or the dude must seriously be doing the weed that his Taliban friends famously cultivate if he thinks this is any threat?
gone are the days when the master of jehad used to would promise lightning attacks and threaten Americans with fear in their own homeland. he is so weakened now, all he can come up with, is 'I will kill those I take captives from my neighbourhood'. good fun. the Americans are feeling threatened. ROFL.
decoding Pakistan and the US-Pak 'strategic dialogue'
For quite some time now, analysts the world over have been completely befuddled by Pakistan. What exactly was going on there? On one hand you have all evidence to show the Pakistani State's sponsorship, training and support to jehadi terrorist groups of all shades sunni. Top leaders of the Afghan Taliban and even Al Qaeda have been in safe houses in large Pakistani cities - Peshawar, then Quetta and recently, Karachi. On the other hand, some of these very terrorists attacked the Pakistani State and Army with animal ferocity - suicide attacks on training academies, lone convoys, serving officers, even the Army headquarters itself. The brutality of these attacks removed any doubt if these were just stage-managed, especially gruesome was the attack on worshippers mosque frequented by serving and retired Army officers. This led currency to the shaky idea that Pakistan itself is a victim of terrorism as asserted by the foreign minister, in response to Indian calls to prosecute LeT leaders behind the 26/11 attacks. What exactly was the true picture?
Now with the Pakistani delegation in the US for their new 'strategic dialogue', things are a bit clearer. Basically there seem to be two powerful jehadi strands in Pakistan - one that is at least ostensibly in control of the Pakistani military-intelligence, which kowtows to the interest of the Pakistani nationalist elite. The LeT, which carefully avoids attacks within Pakistan, is of this type. Though they too share the overall jehadi vision, they are ready to wait it out and achieve it step-by-step, under the master guidance and choreography provided by the Pakistani Army.
There is another more virulent, transnational and more openly pan-Islamic jehadi strain, basically al-Qaeda redux, which does not care for the blinkered approach of the Pakistani state - so this jehadi network does not care about Pakistani state's placation of US and Chinese interests: they want total jehad and all-at-once, whether against US or China (Turkestan) or India. They wouldn't think twice about even attacking a sports team if they deem that sport un-Islamic or just show what they are capable of. So obviously, this network had no hesitation in attacking the Pakistani Army with utmost brutality, as they perceived it to be doing more harm than good by cooperating with the US. They didn't buy the Army rhetoric that this was all short-term*. They were fueled by the rage in the aftermath of the attack on the Red Mosque. Their strength was increasing ominously when a new Taliban was formed from Pashtun elements in Pakistan and even some Punjabi jehadi groups and most probably, even some elements of the Army and intelligence joined them.
However, the Army seems to have stemmed the tide by skilfully using some Punjabi jehadi groups loyal to its distorted vision to beat back the other Al-Qaeda-inspired elements. The LeT, Ilyas Kashmiri and thus 26/11 were important aspects of this plan. the Pakistani Army allowed LeT to execute 26/11 so that they could gain prestige and thus cut into the sponsorship of pan-Islamic groups. It also allowed them to woo back Kashmiri and his 313 Brigade, which were showing signs of alienation from the Pakistani army, and moving to embrace the Qaeda version - which would have been dangerous to the army. 26/11 was sort of like a crooked jehadi enticement. There were extra goodies like stalling action on their western border complaining of Indian provocation on the eastern. Meanwhile, they got the US to drone-out the Pakistani Taliban and did some cleaning themselves by their offensiveness in Swat and Waziristan more recently. They anyway always had the Afghan Taliban firmly in their bear hug, never tolerating any deviation from the script they write for them.
India remained clueless while all this jehadi manoeuvring was going on. And result is that, the Army has rode back firmly in charge of Pakistan - the deal is that they will reign in the pan-Islamic transnational jehadis, the 'bad Taliban', while being allowed to retain their attack dogs, the vicious anti-India terror groups and the 'good Taliban'. America has bought this argument - after all, they need to cut loose and run as soon as possible before 2012 and that too, with a declaration of victory. The war-weary US and NATO generals would rather leave with an orchestrated victory than fight a never-ending war - especially when their hands have been tied silly into not attacking the terror sanctuaries and supply-chain in Pakistan.
So that is the planned end to the greatest hoax in modern history, the phony 'war on terror'. 9 years after invading Afghanistan on the pretext of defeating the Taliban, a clueless coalition will depart on the incredible premise that they have at least defeated the 'bad Taliban'. Afghanistan will be left to be ruled by a ragtag bunch of mujahedin, warlords and the 'good Taliban'. the Pakistani Army, which will facilitate all this, most likely by handing over the top leadership of Al-Qaeda to the US, will be entitled, as a reward, to both 'strategic depth' provided by their 'good Taliban' proxies and terrorist groups like LeT and HuJI, which 'are anyway just India-centric'. the Taliban who became 'bad' by associating with al-Qaeda and other pan-Islamic groups, will be declared 'good' after 9 years of hopelessly fighting them just because they will ostensibly sever ties with the transnational jehadi networks. Any Taliban who resist will end up in Guantanamo, anyway; or end up dead in drone attacks.
so this is the tightrope that Kayani hopes to walk and this is what he is out to sell in the US. This is what the 'strategic dialogue' is all about. The only spoiler is that, the transnational jehadi networks and their sympathisers in the Army and ISI may not take all this lying down and may fight back, plunging Pakistan into a civil war. Besides, their own carefully trained attack dogs may turn rogue. But with persistent support from US, NATO nations and China, this choreographed vision may come true - a newly Talibanized Afghanistan, an emboldened Army firmly in control in Pakistan. India must prepare for this eventuality by re-initiating dialogue with Iran and Russia on one hand, and the Northern alliance and secular and progressive Pashtun leaders on the other.
*I mean, who would buy it any way other than the completely stupid groups or those that are biding their time, given that the generals were making a killing out of their yankee appeasement! Billions of dollars have been poured into the pockets of these generals.
Now with the Pakistani delegation in the US for their new 'strategic dialogue', things are a bit clearer. Basically there seem to be two powerful jehadi strands in Pakistan - one that is at least ostensibly in control of the Pakistani military-intelligence, which kowtows to the interest of the Pakistani nationalist elite. The LeT, which carefully avoids attacks within Pakistan, is of this type. Though they too share the overall jehadi vision, they are ready to wait it out and achieve it step-by-step, under the master guidance and choreography provided by the Pakistani Army.
There is another more virulent, transnational and more openly pan-Islamic jehadi strain, basically al-Qaeda redux, which does not care for the blinkered approach of the Pakistani state - so this jehadi network does not care about Pakistani state's placation of US and Chinese interests: they want total jehad and all-at-once, whether against US or China (Turkestan) or India. They wouldn't think twice about even attacking a sports team if they deem that sport un-Islamic or just show what they are capable of. So obviously, this network had no hesitation in attacking the Pakistani Army with utmost brutality, as they perceived it to be doing more harm than good by cooperating with the US. They didn't buy the Army rhetoric that this was all short-term*. They were fueled by the rage in the aftermath of the attack on the Red Mosque. Their strength was increasing ominously when a new Taliban was formed from Pashtun elements in Pakistan and even some Punjabi jehadi groups and most probably, even some elements of the Army and intelligence joined them.
However, the Army seems to have stemmed the tide by skilfully using some Punjabi jehadi groups loyal to its distorted vision to beat back the other Al-Qaeda-inspired elements. The LeT, Ilyas Kashmiri and thus 26/11 were important aspects of this plan. the Pakistani Army allowed LeT to execute 26/11 so that they could gain prestige and thus cut into the sponsorship of pan-Islamic groups. It also allowed them to woo back Kashmiri and his 313 Brigade, which were showing signs of alienation from the Pakistani army, and moving to embrace the Qaeda version - which would have been dangerous to the army. 26/11 was sort of like a crooked jehadi enticement. There were extra goodies like stalling action on their western border complaining of Indian provocation on the eastern. Meanwhile, they got the US to drone-out the Pakistani Taliban and did some cleaning themselves by their offensiveness in Swat and Waziristan more recently. They anyway always had the Afghan Taliban firmly in their bear hug, never tolerating any deviation from the script they write for them.
India remained clueless while all this jehadi manoeuvring was going on. And result is that, the Army has rode back firmly in charge of Pakistan - the deal is that they will reign in the pan-Islamic transnational jehadis, the 'bad Taliban', while being allowed to retain their attack dogs, the vicious anti-India terror groups and the 'good Taliban'. America has bought this argument - after all, they need to cut loose and run as soon as possible before 2012 and that too, with a declaration of victory. The war-weary US and NATO generals would rather leave with an orchestrated victory than fight a never-ending war - especially when their hands have been tied silly into not attacking the terror sanctuaries and supply-chain in Pakistan.
So that is the planned end to the greatest hoax in modern history, the phony 'war on terror'. 9 years after invading Afghanistan on the pretext of defeating the Taliban, a clueless coalition will depart on the incredible premise that they have at least defeated the 'bad Taliban'. Afghanistan will be left to be ruled by a ragtag bunch of mujahedin, warlords and the 'good Taliban'. the Pakistani Army, which will facilitate all this, most likely by handing over the top leadership of Al-Qaeda to the US, will be entitled, as a reward, to both 'strategic depth' provided by their 'good Taliban' proxies and terrorist groups like LeT and HuJI, which 'are anyway just India-centric'. the Taliban who became 'bad' by associating with al-Qaeda and other pan-Islamic groups, will be declared 'good' after 9 years of hopelessly fighting them just because they will ostensibly sever ties with the transnational jehadi networks. Any Taliban who resist will end up in Guantanamo, anyway; or end up dead in drone attacks.
so this is the tightrope that Kayani hopes to walk and this is what he is out to sell in the US. This is what the 'strategic dialogue' is all about. The only spoiler is that, the transnational jehadi networks and their sympathisers in the Army and ISI may not take all this lying down and may fight back, plunging Pakistan into a civil war. Besides, their own carefully trained attack dogs may turn rogue. But with persistent support from US, NATO nations and China, this choreographed vision may come true - a newly Talibanized Afghanistan, an emboldened Army firmly in control in Pakistan. India must prepare for this eventuality by re-initiating dialogue with Iran and Russia on one hand, and the Northern alliance and secular and progressive Pashtun leaders on the other.
*I mean, who would buy it any way other than the completely stupid groups or those that are biding their time, given that the generals were making a killing out of their yankee appeasement! Billions of dollars have been poured into the pockets of these generals.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
well let them leave soon!
recently Asia Time's M.K.Bhadrakumar has been writing some very insightful pieces. In this column he seems to confirm my hunch for some time now, ever since the Headley 'deal' drama started unfolding, that at some level the US knew of 26/11 attacks and allowed them to happen, just to placate Pakistan:
...The speculation gaining respectability in Delhi is that Washington knew in advance about the Mumbai attack and deliberately chose not to pass on details to Delhi.
Indeed, Washington knew of Headley's repeated missions to India from 2006 but did not share the information with the Indians. Headley, in fact, visited Mumbai once even after the city was attacked. ...
For once, I agree with his analysis, that all this linked to US eagerness to depart from Afghanistan as soon as possible:
..The US's obsession is to somehow end the fighting in Afghanistan before the US presidential election campaign commences in 2012. The extent to which the US is beholden to the Pakistani military today is apparent from the about-turn lately by even a self-styled "agnostic" like the AfPak special representative, Richard Holbrooke, about the Pakistani military leadership's commitment to the fight against terrorism. ...
But, unlike some Indians who want the Americans to stay and 'finish' the fight before leaving, I believe its actually good that they left as soon as possible. All they have managed to do in their last 8 years in Afghanistan, is bring back Taliban to a power of strength. I feel, actually, this was their plan throughout. All that fight against the Taliban etc was mere drama - why would they have tolerated the airlifting of almost entire top Taliban ranks to Pakistan in the beginning of the war and the cross-border sanctuaries for Taliban militia to regroup there later on otherwise? Why would they have created a distraction by unnecessarily invading Iraq otherwise? Sad as it seems to say, the US is run by military-industrial criminal mafia. The entire 'war on terror' was a drama, a charade enacted with the help of pliant states like Pakistan, just so that their war machine was kept oiled and the attention of the US public was diverted from the serious (economic and otherwise) problems back home.
So I say, forget all that naive optimism, let these useless guys leave the region as soon as they can. the US has not won a single war after the 2nd world war - it lost disastrously in Vietnam and now going to, in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is the biggest supporter of regimes with abysmal human rights record the world over and the biggest perpetrators of crimes across the world. How can someone in their right mind expect this inefficient bunch to 'finish the terrorists' in Afghanistan? In contrast, India's military-intelligence has proved far more efficient and resilient. We have fought off any number of deadly insurgencies and terrorist uprisings in India. Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Mizoram, Nagaland Assam..the list of provinces where the fires of separatism have been doused is endless. The Indian state has great persuasive power and it has incredible soft power. Close to 2 decades after kickstarting the insurgency in Kashmir through its proxies and waves after waves of jehadi terror later, Pakistan is nowhere close to a mass rebellion in Kashmir. And in Afghanistan itself, the anti-Taliban war in 2001 was won largely on the strength of the Northern Alliance footsoldiers - another example of resilient and shrewd Indian foreign policy initiative. Don't forget Bangladesh, Sri Lanka etc.
So, I say, let them leave. We'll then finish the job!
...The speculation gaining respectability in Delhi is that Washington knew in advance about the Mumbai attack and deliberately chose not to pass on details to Delhi.
Indeed, Washington knew of Headley's repeated missions to India from 2006 but did not share the information with the Indians. Headley, in fact, visited Mumbai once even after the city was attacked. ...
For once, I agree with his analysis, that all this linked to US eagerness to depart from Afghanistan as soon as possible:
..The US's obsession is to somehow end the fighting in Afghanistan before the US presidential election campaign commences in 2012. The extent to which the US is beholden to the Pakistani military today is apparent from the about-turn lately by even a self-styled "agnostic" like the AfPak special representative, Richard Holbrooke, about the Pakistani military leadership's commitment to the fight against terrorism. ...
But, unlike some Indians who want the Americans to stay and 'finish' the fight before leaving, I believe its actually good that they left as soon as possible. All they have managed to do in their last 8 years in Afghanistan, is bring back Taliban to a power of strength. I feel, actually, this was their plan throughout. All that fight against the Taliban etc was mere drama - why would they have tolerated the airlifting of almost entire top Taliban ranks to Pakistan in the beginning of the war and the cross-border sanctuaries for Taliban militia to regroup there later on otherwise? Why would they have created a distraction by unnecessarily invading Iraq otherwise? Sad as it seems to say, the US is run by military-industrial criminal mafia. The entire 'war on terror' was a drama, a charade enacted with the help of pliant states like Pakistan, just so that their war machine was kept oiled and the attention of the US public was diverted from the serious (economic and otherwise) problems back home.
So I say, forget all that naive optimism, let these useless guys leave the region as soon as they can. the US has not won a single war after the 2nd world war - it lost disastrously in Vietnam and now going to, in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is the biggest supporter of regimes with abysmal human rights record the world over and the biggest perpetrators of crimes across the world. How can someone in their right mind expect this inefficient bunch to 'finish the terrorists' in Afghanistan? In contrast, India's military-intelligence has proved far more efficient and resilient. We have fought off any number of deadly insurgencies and terrorist uprisings in India. Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Mizoram, Nagaland Assam..the list of provinces where the fires of separatism have been doused is endless. The Indian state has great persuasive power and it has incredible soft power. Close to 2 decades after kickstarting the insurgency in Kashmir through its proxies and waves after waves of jehadi terror later, Pakistan is nowhere close to a mass rebellion in Kashmir. And in Afghanistan itself, the anti-Taliban war in 2001 was won largely on the strength of the Northern Alliance footsoldiers - another example of resilient and shrewd Indian foreign policy initiative. Don't forget Bangladesh, Sri Lanka etc.
So, I say, let them leave. We'll then finish the job!
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Biddu!
I can so identify with Biddu's thoughts here: Looking back at the foot-tapping Aap Jaisa Koi
Felt transported to the time many summers ago when I first interacted with 2nd generation Indian immgirants in the UK:
...I got back into the routine of my life -- one eye on my music and the other on helping my wife bring up our two kids. Perhaps it was tradition and my cultural inheritance speaking to me through the deepest stratum of my subconscious, but I wanted to be a hands-on father. I was beginning to see the break-up and desecration of the family unit in the West and, more pertinently, in the UK.
Vast numbers of old people lived in isolation, detached from the umbilical chord of their children's touch and concern. It was a time of Thatcher's Britain and though she took us out of the economic quicksand we had sunk into, and felled the power of the unions like a dragon-slayer, she had also taught us to worship at the temple of materialism and that greed was god and no price was too high to pay for it. We were turning into an 'I, me, my' society. I was a part of that society and yet I wanted to be apart from it. Easier said than done, I'm afraid...
Felt transported to the time many summers ago when I first interacted with 2nd generation Indian immgirants in the UK:
...I got back into the routine of my life -- one eye on my music and the other on helping my wife bring up our two kids. Perhaps it was tradition and my cultural inheritance speaking to me through the deepest stratum of my subconscious, but I wanted to be a hands-on father. I was beginning to see the break-up and desecration of the family unit in the West and, more pertinently, in the UK.
Vast numbers of old people lived in isolation, detached from the umbilical chord of their children's touch and concern. It was a time of Thatcher's Britain and though she took us out of the economic quicksand we had sunk into, and felled the power of the unions like a dragon-slayer, she had also taught us to worship at the temple of materialism and that greed was god and no price was too high to pay for it. We were turning into an 'I, me, my' society. I was a part of that society and yet I wanted to be apart from it. Easier said than done, I'm afraid...
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
the Saudi connection
B Raman gives facts on that previous post:
Jehadi terrorism in India - the Saudi Connection
excerpts:
...Like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia has been following a dual policy on terrorism. It has taken ruthless action against Al Qaeda elements posing a threat to its internal security. At the same time, it has avoided taking action against Wahabi organizations which have been supporting terrorism in other countries. Many of the so-called charity organizations, which have been funding terrorist organizations in other countries including India and Bangladesh, are of Saudi origin. Despite international pressure on Saudi Arabia to act against such charity organizations and stop the flow of funds to global jihadi terrorism, the action taken by the Saudi authorities has been unsatisfactory
It would be futile to expect that Saudi Arabia could be of assistance to India in dealing with jihadi terrorism emanating from Pakistan or Bangladesh. There has been a long history of links between jihadi terrorist elements in India and Saudi Arabia ever since the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December,1992. In December 1993, coinciding with the first anniversary of the demolition of the masjid , there was a number of explosions in different railway trains in North India. The interrogation of one of the suspects arrested during the investigation revealed that the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) had organised them...
Jehadi terrorism in India - the Saudi Connection
excerpts:
...Like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia has been following a dual policy on terrorism. It has taken ruthless action against Al Qaeda elements posing a threat to its internal security. At the same time, it has avoided taking action against Wahabi organizations which have been supporting terrorism in other countries. Many of the so-called charity organizations, which have been funding terrorist organizations in other countries including India and Bangladesh, are of Saudi origin. Despite international pressure on Saudi Arabia to act against such charity organizations and stop the flow of funds to global jihadi terrorism, the action taken by the Saudi authorities has been unsatisfactory
It would be futile to expect that Saudi Arabia could be of assistance to India in dealing with jihadi terrorism emanating from Pakistan or Bangladesh. There has been a long history of links between jihadi terrorist elements in India and Saudi Arabia ever since the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December,1992. In December 1993, coinciding with the first anniversary of the demolition of the masjid , there was a number of explosions in different railway trains in North India. The interrogation of one of the suspects arrested during the investigation revealed that the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) had organised them...
Monday, March 01, 2010
bully, bully, your friend is pinching me
Either our leaders smoke some very strong stuff, or they are completely dumb and stupid, or they just make dumb and stupid statements for the consumption of our gullible public.
What on earth is Pradhan Mantri ji trying to achieve by things like this?
Persuade Pakistan to stop terrorism, PM urges Saudi Arabia
Isn't it common knowledge that the chief patron of the Pakistani state is Saudi? That Saudi material and other sponsorship of corrosive Wahhabi ideology is the chief culprit behind the ultra-radicalization of a whole generation of Muslims worldwide? That Saudi intelligence played a key role in the creation of the Taliban and they were the only country besides Pakistan to recognize the Islamic Emirate under Mullah Omar?
Funny thing is the Saudi regime has one of the worst records in the world, suppressing human rights, dissent, minorities and women. While our media went to town highlighting the atrocities committed by the Taliban 'Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice', they conveniently hide the fact that the Talib's inspiration was the Saudi Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
And India should offer them a cloak of respectability by endorsing their good offices? Of course cannot expect much from a government which had the head of such a state invited as guest of honour at our cherished R Day parade some time back. Its comical then that they had the South Korean Prez over this time around when they should have rather invited Kim Jong-ill, going by their record.
Or it could just be that the US has managed to charm our leaders to such an extent that they now behave as clowns of their circus, entertaining whoever the US wishes India to entertain and wherever. A visit to Turkey must be up next.
What on earth is Pradhan Mantri ji trying to achieve by things like this?
Persuade Pakistan to stop terrorism, PM urges Saudi Arabia
Isn't it common knowledge that the chief patron of the Pakistani state is Saudi? That Saudi material and other sponsorship of corrosive Wahhabi ideology is the chief culprit behind the ultra-radicalization of a whole generation of Muslims worldwide? That Saudi intelligence played a key role in the creation of the Taliban and they were the only country besides Pakistan to recognize the Islamic Emirate under Mullah Omar?
Funny thing is the Saudi regime has one of the worst records in the world, suppressing human rights, dissent, minorities and women. While our media went to town highlighting the atrocities committed by the Taliban 'Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice', they conveniently hide the fact that the Talib's inspiration was the Saudi Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
And India should offer them a cloak of respectability by endorsing their good offices? Of course cannot expect much from a government which had the head of such a state invited as guest of honour at our cherished R Day parade some time back. Its comical then that they had the South Korean Prez over this time around when they should have rather invited Kim Jong-ill, going by their record.
Or it could just be that the US has managed to charm our leaders to such an extent that they now behave as clowns of their circus, entertaining whoever the US wishes India to entertain and wherever. A visit to Turkey must be up next.
Kabul attack motives
after my previous post, I came across Sri Gaurav's post on the previous Pune attack.
If the motive was to disrupt the Indo-Pak talks as Gaurav has surmised, then this links it to the Kabul attack too as B Raman has suggested.Gaurav wondered whether the US had manouvered these talks backstage so that Pakistan was going to give some concession to India.
Asia Times Online's Syed Saleem Shehzad, usually with quite strong sources, suggests, this could be Pakistan handing over Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi to India! Now that would be something, if it happened.
If the motive was to disrupt the Indo-Pak talks as Gaurav has surmised, then this links it to the Kabul attack too as B Raman has suggested.Gaurav wondered whether the US had manouvered these talks backstage so that Pakistan was going to give some concession to India.
Asia Times Online's Syed Saleem Shehzad, usually with quite strong sources, suggests, this could be Pakistan handing over Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi to India! Now that would be something, if it happened.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Kabul Attack
The attack on hotels in Kabul targeting Indians is another in the series of desperate acts by jehadi networks in Pakistan. But I don't think they are doing this to 'scare' Indians away from Afghanistan, or simply to provoke India so it complicates matters for Pakistan, as Stratfor has apparently thought up:
Kabul attack might be to 'provoke' India
I think the aim is to somehow have India to get involved militarily in Afghanistan. That will give the aQ's more India-focussed arms just the trigger they need to initiate the 'ghazwa-e-Hind' terror mayhem in India which Ilyas Kashmiri talked about in his very strange interview to Saleem Shehzad of Asia Times Online:
Al-Qaeda's guerilla chief lays out strategy
aQ (and the jehadi network leading all the way into Pakistan Army, 'rogue' or not, its your call) perhaps believe that a spectacular series of attacks that would leave India humiliated would polarize Pakistanis in their favour and lead them to their long term goal of capturing power there. But they need a trigger - they are not able to justify all-India attacks solely on the basis of Kashmir.
India must tread carefully - we should not give them any such chance at a time when we are not at all confident we have plugged all our internal security loopholes and nor do we have much covert action capability:
Hit but stealthiliy
At best we have to increase physical security to the staffers of India's humanitarian effort in Afghanistan, wherever they stay, within the embassies or otherwise. And request the Afghan Govt to punish the culprits as much as possible.
Kabul attack might be to 'provoke' India
I think the aim is to somehow have India to get involved militarily in Afghanistan. That will give the aQ's more India-focussed arms just the trigger they need to initiate the 'ghazwa-e-Hind' terror mayhem in India which Ilyas Kashmiri talked about in his very strange interview to Saleem Shehzad of Asia Times Online:
Al-Qaeda's guerilla chief lays out strategy
aQ (and the jehadi network leading all the way into Pakistan Army, 'rogue' or not, its your call) perhaps believe that a spectacular series of attacks that would leave India humiliated would polarize Pakistanis in their favour and lead them to their long term goal of capturing power there. But they need a trigger - they are not able to justify all-India attacks solely on the basis of Kashmir.
India must tread carefully - we should not give them any such chance at a time when we are not at all confident we have plugged all our internal security loopholes and nor do we have much covert action capability:
Hit but stealthiliy
At best we have to increase physical security to the staffers of India's humanitarian effort in Afghanistan, wherever they stay, within the embassies or otherwise. And request the Afghan Govt to punish the culprits as much as possible.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Inspector Karamchand: Prologue
A new thriller series
Prologue
No. This is not the comeback series of Pankaj Kapoor after his long break from TV, though for sure he is contemplating one. This is also not the launch of his son Shahid Kapur into the high world of the telly. His career is doing too good for that, now that he is finally over his addiction to the social networking site, bebo.com.
This is the story of a patriotic jasoos from our much maligned IB, a rare babu who's trying desperately, to help our countrymen from yet another terrorist attack. Now, because he was so Deolesque in his patriotism, in typical filmi style, he was shifted out of a secret branch of IB that thought it was safe from the hands of netalog. Well netalog ke haath bahut lambe hote hain. That was something Karamchand learned the hard way, as he rued the day he had a heated discussion with a pulisman investigating the latest terrorist attack in Mumbai. Apparently, the Chief Minister, who was afraid hs bhaanje and saale would all be caught napping after gourging on samose if the attack was investigated well, had ordered his corrupt puliswaale to come up with some ingenious plan. So the commissioner of pulis secretly commissioned a wellknown fiction writer to author ten 1000 page dossiers on the involvement of 'elements' in Pakistan in the dastardly act and sent them off to the Home Ministry to buy time.
Anyhow, here he was, posted in a new IB cell that was serving the purposes of democracy well. They have hit upon a brilliant plan to nab the terrorists who keep commiting murder in India. They will wait until the next attack, so they can follow the trails. Meanwhile they keep him busy typing away hundreds of 'analysis' notes on what the son of politicians of opposition parties were upto, for the ruling party president to review in her weekly meetings. But our hero is also up to some plan. He secretly manged to slip his 3G compatible Nokia E71 into the lid of his box size 1995model nokia phone. Now every few hours a day, he secretly surfs the net looking for leads on the next possible attack. How good is the team he secretly put in place just for this eventuality? Can he prevent the next big attack without the compromised IB moles stopping him in his tracks?...
Inspector Karamchand will follow after a few days when I take a break from not working.
Prologue
No. This is not the comeback series of Pankaj Kapoor after his long break from TV, though for sure he is contemplating one. This is also not the launch of his son Shahid Kapur into the high world of the telly. His career is doing too good for that, now that he is finally over his addiction to the social networking site, bebo.com.
This is the story of a patriotic jasoos from our much maligned IB, a rare babu who's trying desperately, to help our countrymen from yet another terrorist attack. Now, because he was so Deolesque in his patriotism, in typical filmi style, he was shifted out of a secret branch of IB that thought it was safe from the hands of netalog. Well netalog ke haath bahut lambe hote hain. That was something Karamchand learned the hard way, as he rued the day he had a heated discussion with a pulisman investigating the latest terrorist attack in Mumbai. Apparently, the Chief Minister, who was afraid hs bhaanje and saale would all be caught napping after gourging on samose if the attack was investigated well, had ordered his corrupt puliswaale to come up with some ingenious plan. So the commissioner of pulis secretly commissioned a wellknown fiction writer to author ten 1000 page dossiers on the involvement of 'elements' in Pakistan in the dastardly act and sent them off to the Home Ministry to buy time.
Anyhow, here he was, posted in a new IB cell that was serving the purposes of democracy well. They have hit upon a brilliant plan to nab the terrorists who keep commiting murder in India. They will wait until the next attack, so they can follow the trails. Meanwhile they keep him busy typing away hundreds of 'analysis' notes on what the son of politicians of opposition parties were upto, for the ruling party president to review in her weekly meetings. But our hero is also up to some plan. He secretly manged to slip his 3G compatible Nokia E71 into the lid of his box size 1995model nokia phone. Now every few hours a day, he secretly surfs the net looking for leads on the next possible attack. How good is the team he secretly put in place just for this eventuality? Can he prevent the next big attack without the compromised IB moles stopping him in his tracks?...
Inspector Karamchand will follow after a few days when I take a break from not working.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
News Flash - 1
Hello and welcome to the randomly updated news flash section on current affairs
* Just when people were beginning to wonder where the PM will surface this time after his latest vanishing act, he appeared again, at yet another remote 'peace conference'. His words of wisdom were that the country is facing grave internal and external dangers. Apparently everybody appluaded. Sources also say that most important topics concerning the country came up for discussion in the Q and A session and our PM responded, as usual, with a dignified and ponderous smile.
* HM Sri Chdiambaram has hit upon a novel plan for peace with the naxalites. He will appear on TV at midnight on one random day this week when IB are sure everybody is asleep, and announce a mechanism for the formation of the new state of Naxalangana. The whole affair it seems, will be in the manner of a live press conference and the naxals can call in and raise their concerns. Last heard, the naxls were desperately trying reach someone in a friendly neighbouring country to check on the proposed map of the new state.
* Companies in India may soon be hiring graduates without interviews. Yep, that's the latest gem from Kapil Sibal, following closely on the heels of his master-acts abolishing board exams, clamping down on the arrogant IITs, and pioneering IMFD (Indian made foreign degree). We assure him every success with his efforts for the 'best performing minister' award instituted by the PM.
* Highly placed sources confirmed that Nitin Gadkari is on a lean diet these days. No, not because he wants to look fit like Rahul. This is because he has vowed to Lord Ram that from now on he will eat at every village including and adjoining those that Rahul visits.
* Varun Gandhi has again said that BJP is losing out because they are not focussing on cows, which are our national wealth.
* A spokesperson for the Chinese Government bemoaned that while they are only providing humanitarian assistance to Pakistan,Sri Lanka, Burma, Bangladesh and Nepal pointing out that these countries dont just surround India, they are desperately poor and need lots of guns to survive, India is playing a dangerous game by training Bhutan, China's most prosperous and important southern neighbour.
* Pakistan has said that India was daydreaming. Apparently the 10 Pakistanis trained by their Army to kill hundreds in India in late 2008, were just that. Our collective nightmare. The Pakistani Ambassador to Chile, who is also a famous qawwali expert, clapped his hands and sang a song, 'hum parindey hain do watan ke lekin hain hum ek qom ke, jindagi kya hai kya maut sab hai khuda ke haath me, faraq kya padta hai kaun jiye kaun mare jab hum hai ek qom ke..such dreams should not come in the way of normalization of ties between one and the same people. how much does it matter who lives,if we are one and the same people'.
* Barack Obama has met the Dalai Lama. But he believes he has delivered the right message to China by not meeting him in the Oval Office.
* Just when people were beginning to wonder where the PM will surface this time after his latest vanishing act, he appeared again, at yet another remote 'peace conference'. His words of wisdom were that the country is facing grave internal and external dangers. Apparently everybody appluaded. Sources also say that most important topics concerning the country came up for discussion in the Q and A session and our PM responded, as usual, with a dignified and ponderous smile.
* HM Sri Chdiambaram has hit upon a novel plan for peace with the naxalites. He will appear on TV at midnight on one random day this week when IB are sure everybody is asleep, and announce a mechanism for the formation of the new state of Naxalangana. The whole affair it seems, will be in the manner of a live press conference and the naxals can call in and raise their concerns. Last heard, the naxls were desperately trying reach someone in a friendly neighbouring country to check on the proposed map of the new state.
* Companies in India may soon be hiring graduates without interviews. Yep, that's the latest gem from Kapil Sibal, following closely on the heels of his master-acts abolishing board exams, clamping down on the arrogant IITs, and pioneering IMFD (Indian made foreign degree). We assure him every success with his efforts for the 'best performing minister' award instituted by the PM.
* Highly placed sources confirmed that Nitin Gadkari is on a lean diet these days. No, not because he wants to look fit like Rahul. This is because he has vowed to Lord Ram that from now on he will eat at every village including and adjoining those that Rahul visits.
* Varun Gandhi has again said that BJP is losing out because they are not focussing on cows, which are our national wealth.
* A spokesperson for the Chinese Government bemoaned that while they are only providing humanitarian assistance to Pakistan,Sri Lanka, Burma, Bangladesh and Nepal pointing out that these countries dont just surround India, they are desperately poor and need lots of guns to survive, India is playing a dangerous game by training Bhutan, China's most prosperous and important southern neighbour.
* Pakistan has said that India was daydreaming. Apparently the 10 Pakistanis trained by their Army to kill hundreds in India in late 2008, were just that. Our collective nightmare. The Pakistani Ambassador to Chile, who is also a famous qawwali expert, clapped his hands and sang a song, 'hum parindey hain do watan ke lekin hain hum ek qom ke, jindagi kya hai kya maut sab hai khuda ke haath me, faraq kya padta hai kaun jiye kaun mare jab hum hai ek qom ke..such dreams should not come in the way of normalization of ties between one and the same people. how much does it matter who lives,if we are one and the same people'.
* Barack Obama has met the Dalai Lama. But he believes he has delivered the right message to China by not meeting him in the Oval Office.
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