The infinite loop ....

Condemnation, Strong Condemnation. Condolences, Deep Condolences, Praising the resilience of Delhi citizens (this time Delhi!), Blaming Pakistan or ISI, Sending dossier to Pakistan, HM ensuring the nation that the perpetuators will be dealt with severely, PM assuring that such incidents will not take place in future (btw he has assured so on 15th July), Politics over a strong anti Terror law, Adjournment of the Parliament sessions (It was anyways happening ….now they got a new reason), Again a “Katti” with Pakistan,

Possibly setting up another agency to investigate such incidents (can somebody measure such agencies please…I bet they are more than the people employed by them ) , Debate whether it was an Intelligence failure -
And the saga continues ....
While the nation bleeds....

Read this one  ..posted a while back . Now Delhi Blasts and nothing has changed..

The larger picture

“Koi Insaan ya Desh Chota nahin hota”. .

Well I am not publicizing KBC here !. These lines inadvertently came to my mind the other day when I saw the front page of news paper carrying a photograph of Mr. Krishna shaking hands with Miss. Heena Rabbani Khar. While most news papers talked about the beaming new era of friendship between the two countries (apart from the style statement of the esteemed Foreign Minister of Pakistan), I had different thoughts in mind. The photo to me actually was a reflection of the age difference/freshness in mindset and approach of the two nations, to the changing world of international politics and foreign policies. This is one area where, no matter how much you disagree, Pakistan has been beating us in the game, while we are still trying to understand the rules of the game!. With all our political systems, strategists, think tanks etc in place, we have been out maneuvered by Pakistan (with all its political issues, allegations, international pressures etc) time and again.

Coming to the point, we are still struggling to get a cue about the Mumbai blasts (remember? There were blasts in Mumbai few days back?) . While the investigating agencies are doing their job, the question needs to be asked – What will be the end point of such investigation? We would identify the perpetuators- Well we have already done that for the Pune blasts ( if the police statements are to be believed), the Delhi blasts, and so on( I cant even recount the number of such cases since last 5 years).What next ? We MIGHT establish and highlight role of Pakistan. Highlight to whom? Besides, the role in 26/11 was as obvious as a new born learning to pee! What has been the outcome?

What do you mean -some may ask? We have sent them dossiers (Cost of raddi in Pakistan went down in those times due to excessive supply!) ! After all, we are a responsible nation and follow a rule of law! Yes, most definitely, the Kasabs and Gurus are most grateful to India for establishing the rule of law! (On a side note, just wondering where was the rule of law when Warren Anderson –of Bhopal fame was taken out of the country with due respect and protection!).

While we are still ‘investigating ‘these blasts, there are plans being finalized to meet the next ‘targets’!. This has been happening in the past and will continue in future. The problem lies in we not seeing things in the right frame. Our responses have always been to localized events at respective times, while failing to understand, gauge and fully draft a comprehensive response to the larger agenda ( which for many is as simple – Pakistan wants to do XYW with India !).

Let us try and understand these things in a larger context. Are these incidents (blasts etc) a war against India? Well emm yes and NO!. Wars by definition are supposed to have an objective. With my limited understanding, I fail to understand what objective is achieved by killing some innocent people or striking fear in minds of few more or than causing loss to business or a small dent to the national pride-which most Indians are used to by now. Obviously we are not going to give away Kashmir because of it !! Hell NOT! .

So what is it ? And what for ? To answer this,, let us understand the geo-political and historical scenario. For one, Islam as a religion constitutes almost 25 % of the world population. While wars in Europe (and as they spread to other continents) during historic times were more about territorial and materialistic ambitions, there was not much of a religious motive behind them. Of course, they did help in spread of Christianity across the globe.On the contrary, wars from middle east had as much to do with spread of Islam as for other reasons. Wars were an instrument of spreading Islam and as such extension of the state policy. Also , since its inception till almost the middle of nineteenth century, Islam as a society had a significant political presence .

Come today, we do have a significant presence of Islam globally and it has shaped the history and demography of many a nations. .However, the amount of political, economic clout that Islamic nations enjoy is significantly less-certainly less compared to the resources at hand. To say , we do have middle east with huge cash reserves. But that doesn’t buy them anything more than riches. There is an identity void that affects the intellectuals and the upper strata of the society.They yearn for more say ,but cannot do it.

The question might be asked here is – Why just Islam? This might be true about the Hindus, Buddhists etc .Also the Christians may be ruling significant portions of the world, they are disintegrated into as many sects as the castes in India!. The reason is , Islam ( or rather a hardliner faction of it globally) has always treated itself as a single entity. For them (and I am talking of the few with hardcore views), the world is still divided into 2 sections – Islam and non Islam. So, they have the money, they have the people, they also have managed the weapons (Pakistan!),but not the political space they are looking for. One reason is that the populace is spread across multiple nations, ethnicity and continents. The other reason is most of such nations are helpless in front of the western (read American) hegemony.

A significant number of intellectuals who believe in this monolithic structure of Islam also believe in the concept (or prophecy) of an eventual Islamic dominance of the world. However, the problems before them are manifold. The disintegrated nature of populace, the western hegemony, conflicts within the nations –to name a few. Besides the idea had (has) not found roots in majority of the Islamic populace. The solution (or the first part) lies in bringing the people together. But this is easier said than done! Well you cannot do so by mere preaching ,delivering sermons and asking people to sacrifice their peaceful life! .You need better means. What better way than to -

a. Publicize injustice against the religion by giving examples of various atrocities ( real or manufactured ) across the globe ( including India).

b. Selling the dream of Islamic unity and superiority and awakening the desire amongst people to be part of the same.

c. To demonstrate the viability of such a concept being successful by carrying attacks across different places in the world and creating heroes out of the perpetrators .

d. Create pockets of dissidence within individual nation states and use them for furthering the agenda.

d. Eventually, to capitalize on the social isolation and loss of identity of the Islamic populace in different nations ,due to such terror attacks , and to draw them towards the final objective.

e. Conceal the real motive by calling terror attacks as a revenge for some ‘XY’ incident in the past.

This cycle has been followed systematically for few decades now. In recent decade or so, it has started yielding results and that is the reason the proponents are more enthusiastic and upbeat about it. 9/11, 26/11 and various other such incidents across the globe are part of the same strategy and agenda. While a dominant number of Muslims may still be not part of the same, such incidents and the aftermath definitely make their situation worse. They are caught in crossfire and eventually have to jump this way or the other. Quite a few cross the fence and submit themselves to the idea. Obviously, the best way to expedite the process is to increase the frequency of ‘Terrorist Strikes”.

Who all are involved? Well this is a logical consortium consisting of business men, politicians, intellectuals, power brokers, elements (or entirety) of military, Religious leaders  from all over the globe and also some nation states. They exist in every nook and corner of the world with visible presence in some portions while largely unnoticed in most other parts. There is a subtle line of common understanding that runs between the visibly separated events across the world. A measurable number of nation-states are party to the game, though covertly.

Now, let come back to the Indian context and try to dissect the situation. Pakistan ( a significant number of entities within it ) are torch bearers of the philosophy and the eventual triumph. India being perceived as anti Islamic (although it has more Islamic population than Pakistan) is logical target. However, it doesn’t stop here!. The Pakistani state(as a whole) may or may not believe in the pan-Islamic philosophy and possibly may not be interested either. But it sees a good opportunity in causing dissidence in India and help settle political scores .So they are all game for any such plans and provide military ,logistical and all the required support to meet the ends. Simultaneously, the pan-Islamic state stands to gain out of political animosity between India and Pakistan due to the support infrastructure available. Hence the attempts to scuttle peace process now and then. As such, the differences between India and Pakistan (as nation-states) are largely political and would otherwise be settled in due course of time. However, the Islamic angle will make things difficult and ensure that the same does not happen. An ulterior motive is also to maximize the participation of Indian Muslims to the global agenda.

To summarize, what we have is a -

State – Logical consortium for today and a prophesized pan-Islamic state for tomorrow.

Policy – Integration of Islamic resources –human, financial, military and intellectual to achieve and eventual supremacy..

War – All actions ( terror strikes being just one instrument) resulting in creation of fundamentalists pockets across the globe who are physically separated, but logically united.

War is an extension of state policy.

Does it make sense now?

In the Indian context, Pakistan is fighting a small battle with India , in conjunction with the larger war. And incidents like Mumbai are actually WEAPONS in the battle (or war). They achieve no purpose in isolation, but help win wars when grouped together. The saddening part is that our state machinery is so engrossed in “investigating” the weapons or trying to prevent the use of them, that we do not have time even to think of the larger war and counter it.

The solution? Well everybody seems to have their own !.

Kids fight ...oops sorry Terrorism

This incident occurred when I was in eighth class. I used to commute to my school on bicycle. Nayana, who stayed couple of blocks away from our house, suffered a knee injury. We were family friends and her mother requested me to carry Nayana to and from school on my bicycle. I was more than glad to do so!. Nayana was in E division while I was in D. Sameer was Nayana’s classmate and was known to be close to ‘Parkhi’ , a political DON !. Well with my sense of understanding today, Parkhi probably was one of the ‘partially educated –unemployed ‘ whom the local politicians used for all the wrong reasons . Parakhi derived his powers based on his political connections and was a BIG person for the teens of our township. Connections to him for us in those times ( and age) were equivalent to connections with ‘D’ !. Sameer probably was in love with 8th standard syllabus and was keen on learning it thoroughly!. This was his third year , one of the few who achieved the feat .

So started my ‘cycle-pool’ for Nayana. Day one was good ending with me eagerly waiting for the next day. On day two, while returning from school, I found my cycle with a flat tyre at the parking. Since Nayana couldn’t walk that long, I arranged a lift for her and was returning home. I found Sameer and his friends (well he never had friends from the school…they were kids for him) waiting a few meters ahead. While crossing them, I bowed to Sameer in the anticipation that he would probably recognize me !. After all hie was ‘Parkhi’s man’!.To my surprise, I found them waiting for me !. Before I could understand, I was pushed and I fell down along with my bi-cycle. I was hit all over, slapped multiple times and abused with the most foul language. All this while I pleaded to know the reason.

The only thing I was told was ‘Don’t mess up with me !. Stay away from Nayana’!

I was badly bruised and had good amount of explanation to do at home, besides skipping school the next day because I was horribly scared.

In nutshell, the story was, Sameer was madly in love with Nayana and hence retained the moral responsibility of protecting from all the evil!!. My proximity with her was obviously not acceptable and I had to be punished for the same. All this while the girl ( as I realized later) cared a damn for him !. I was now really sacred of even being seen near Nayana, let go accompanying her to the school !. However, it was difficult to explain to parents. So I would take her on my bi-cycle and ask her to get down 200 meters ahead of school gate. However even this was noticed by the ‘spies’ and I was to pay the price , this time thrashing ,followed by some ‘Dhamki’ from one of Sameer’s ‘commanders ‘ .

I stopped going to school altogether for a few days. I had mixed feelings of anguish, fear, humiliation, helplessness and all the others in the family of thoughts. I was a ‘good boy’ in school and had a reputation to carry. However this news would by now have spread across and I was embarrassed to even face my friends. All, this apart from the physical pain I had to bear.

The cycle-pooling stopped but not my abuse. Probably I was established as an object of suspicion and verbally and at times physically abused by this group every now and then, within the school premises and outside. It now had become more of an habit than a reaction to events. Complaining was not going to help much and I was silently suffering taking into stride all the humiliations, not letting anyone, especially the parents know. This continued for about three to four months. I was keen to visit my relatives during summer vacation so as to avoid contact.

In the early days of my ninth standard schooling, I was visited by a cousin of mine from Mumbai. My cousin was born and brought up in Dadar and claimed to be an accomplice of underworld don ‘ Amar Naik’ . He also claimed to be close to some stalwarts of a political party in Mumbai. I was ecstatic on his arrival since he was somebody I could rely upon. I explained him the entire story which he listened patiently. He consoled me , gave me some mantra and philosophy and suggested me a way to deal with it and I acted accordingly.

Two days later, after doing some research, I bunked my classes to coincide with Sameer’s PT period. That was one of the few times when he was on his own. I joined their class in playing football and in the process (as a matter of fact in couple of minutes before anybody could realize), pushed Sameer really hard. I was a well build boy and the impact was visible. Sameer had suffered some bruises on his nose and knees. He soon recovered and rushed at me like a wild bull. I stood calmly at my position and slapped him as soon as he approached me. By now the entire team had gathered and the PT instructor, thinking it to be a football-fight sorted it out, while scolding me for bunking my periods.Later in the evening, I even bunked my last period and ensured a flat tyre for Sameer.

His friends usually met him just outside the school. I waited for Sameer after the school. My mere presence near the cycle stand was enough to get him mad and he ran at me. This time (and I feel sorry for him even today!), I hit him at the wrong place and continued hitting him till it took him to recover. He was in absolute state of shock and did not know how to react. I stood there while he was crying in pain and then left while giving a strong signal of not messing up with me again.

The next day, I was accompanied by my cousin to the school. As expected, the ‘gang’ was waiting for me at the school gate. As planned, my cousin stood a few meters away while I proceeded –a little scared of course. To my surprise, it was Parkhi along with Sameer. He caught hold of me, slapped me once. But this time, I was bold enough and shouted at him to hear me out. I explained him the whole story about being victimized because of entertaining a ‘family request’ and that I had no interest in the girl etc etc. I was let off and asked to mend my ways and not to ever touch Sameer again!. I agreed with a rider that Sameer would stay away from me as well. Of course, all this courage was attributed to my cousin, standing and watching from a few meters away!. I was amazed at the fact that the situation was handled fairly OK with no involvement from my cousin.

A few days later, my cousin went back to Mumbai but left a very important lesson for me . Sameer and his gang never ever troubled me. In fact, in tenth standard, Sameer befriended me with the intention to be-friend to Nayana! .And I continued with the new friendship while dilly –dallying the introduction under some pretext or other !. Sameer realized this but couldn’t do much about it !.

Here is what my cousin had told me the day before

“These kind of skirmish (his word was Rada) happen occasionally. We often tend to wait for the next opportunity to avenge for the earlier one .However that may not always happen. You don’t know when the next event happens and you probably have by then gotten over it. The opponent and circumstances may be different. Besides yesterday’s enemies may be today’s friends. So, what is important is that you come out victorious/ unscathed out of every battle. You need to respond to every adventure swiftly so as to proclaim your superiority. You may use sam,dam ,dand ,bhed to achieve it . At times you may also have to flee and hide. Once you start sensing danger, you need to have a plan and strategy to deal with it . Your opponents may be stronger than you . At times you may not even know them. But what is important is that you think ahead of them and that’s what keeps you alive! Your strength is your only weapon and no other weapon helps ! Reliance on others does not help too much .You friends would support you if you are strong. They will console you if you are weak.”.

These words, although were mostly applicable to his ‘line of business’, had a strong impression on me and helped me ‘take care ‘of couple of such incidents in my life. Eventually, I drifted away from this cousin of mine and his words until …..

13-July- 2011.

I was telling this story to a group of friends on 14th July when one of them argued.

“Don’t be silly. You cannot compare street fights or kid fights with terrorism (I don’t buy this word. But more about it later….). They are way different.

Well…Are they??