Pakistan has been passing through chaotic times for quite some time. It was forced to cede some power to the Taliban and promulgated Shariat law in SWAT region. And a few days later, innocent Sri Lankan cricket players barely escaped being massacred in Lahore. The Times of India front page article of 11^th March suggests that Taliban is knocking at the door of Peshawar.

It is very intriguing that Pakistan which was created for people of Islam to live in peace has had a tumultuous history of chaos and terror right from its inception. It is estimated that in a population of 160 million there are 40 million firearms and 4 million drug users.

On the other hand, India which is a melting pot of all religions under the sun, basks in peace and brotherhood, relatively speaking.

Why is Pakistan which was founded on the basis of one religion, as a refuge for Muslims, going through such bleeding and pain?

Jinnah wanted all religions to flourish in his country. However, a few months after his death, vested political interests implemented their own agenda. The Basic Principle of the Constitution (Objective Resolution 1949) adopted in 1952 stated that the Quran and Sunnah were to be the sources of all laws in Pakistan, that it would be an Islamic Republic and only a Muslim could be the Head of state.

The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979 was a god sent opportunity for President Zia and the US for different reasons. The US wanted to create a Vietnam for the Soviets in Afghanistan. Zia seized the opportunity to further the cause of Islam and fight against the communist infidels. With the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) as its active collaborator, the CIA equipped the Afghan dissidents known as Mujahideen with billions of dollars of cash, weapons and explosives.

Meanwhile, thousands of young Madrassa students, known as the Taliban (Students), were recruited from Afghan refugee camps, brainwashed in Pakistani madrassas, trained and equipped by the ISI and were sent to Kabul.

These students are also sent to Kashmir or other parts of India to spread the Jihad. Some of them are now turning against their own government as suicide bombers or assassins.

On the social front, the government in NWFP in 2002 adopted the agenda of the Talibans and banned co-education, movies and videos, put women inside Burqa, and doled out harsh Islamic justice to the poor.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani ruling establishment and the military have become myopic, failing to see the wanton destruction of the country from within. Instead, they try feverishly to catch up with India in their army, air force and navy strength.

The fast moving and frightening events in our neighboring country offer very powerful insights and lessons for all of us and our country.

The Pakistanis and the Americans are now discovering to their horror that the Frankenstein they created in Pakistan and Afghanistan is now coming to haunt them. May be, poetic justice is catching up.

Minorities in a nation contribute tremendously to the internal gelling, enrichment and understanding among citizens. M.J Akbar wrote in his Sunday “Siege Within” column in the Times of India,

“A minority is the yeast that enables the national flour to rise.”

Flourishing nations in different parts of the world resonate with this truth.

The events in Pakistan should serve as a huge warning to all us to be weary of those who seek votes or divide people along religion lines. They have demonstrated time and again that such elements wreck the unity and peace in the country and their extremism has spawned many a terrorist.

The vision of founding fathers and leaders makes enormous difference to the destinies of nations. Vision based on human potential, aspirations and endeavor, goes to create prosperous nations while those based on past fears and limitations pave the way for failed states. We in India are lucky that we had visionaries like Gandhi and Nehru who only saw harmony in myriad cultures, religions and languages co-existing together.

In another article which appeared in the Times of India on March 8, M.J Akbar writes,

Every Indian Muslim should offer a special, public prayer of thanks to the Almighty Allah for His extraordinary benevolence – for the mercy He had shown by preventing us from ending up in Pakistan in 1947.

May our national flour continue to rise and rise.

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Popularity: 17%

On Saturday, March 7, I watched General Musharraf’s speech and the question and answer session in the India Today Conclave beamed on Headlines Today Channel. He handled himself with a lot of class and panache. He is a great ambassador for his country. Whatever one may say about him, he is not a coward. He will not flinch and he won’t run away.

Though there were several holes in his arguments, he came across as blunt and straight forward. Yet, paradoxically, he did tell lies with a straight face when it came to protecting the image of his country. He laboured hard to drive home the following points.

1. He is a man of war (as an army man), but a man for peace as a human being and leader of his nation.

2. He did his best to bring about peace during his 11 years as the power center in his country. But peace can be only between equals treated with respect.

3. He had worked out a blue print for peace along with Vajpayee and Jaswant Singh during the Agra summit. This was scuttled by certain forces.

4. The Indians are hysterical about Pakistanis, Pakistani government, Pakistani army and ISI. The same level of hysteria is absent in Pakistan.

5. Just as RAW is very much active to undermine the growth of Pakistan, ISI is abuzz to clip the wing of India. Both RAW and ISI should be restrained.

6. Kashmir is the root cause of all the problems. He used the simile of a problem tree to describe the situation. Tackling terrorism, improving trade, dialogues etc., would be only like removing the leaves, branches, trunks etc., of the problem tree. The problem would linger till the cause named Kashmir problem is removed from its roots. When Kasparov, the world famous former Russian chess player suggested that the tree could be also destroyed by denying it water, the general did not have a convincing answer.

7. To find a solution, there has to be a lot of give and take. And, to give, leaders on both sides have to muster a lot of courage.

8. Terrorism was born to protect the deprived Muslims in India and particularly in Kashmir. When a turbaned, Muslim M.P pointed out that there were more Muslims in India than in Pakistan and they felt very much safe in India and at least 70 % of the Hindus would protect the Muslims even risking their lives, the Pakistani general was a bit shaken, but later added that he always believed in mouthing what his head and heart dictated. He seemed to insinuate the Muslim M.P was playing to the gallery.

To every question, General Musharraf had a ready answer. The burden of his message was, as long as “eye-for-an-eye” or “tit-for-tat” responses were the basis of the relationship between the two countries there would be no durable peace.

It appears solutions to the vexing problems staring at the two countries will not come easily. Pakistan and India have to share the faults for the state of things. As long as we are concerned only at the wrongs perpetrated by the other, the problems will linger. Each country needs to look inward.

We harbour prejudices against each other. These need to be removed by making attempts to understand the other through dialogue and ceaseless communication.

Courageous leaders will have to face the problems and catch the bull by the horns and subdue it. Otherwise, the problem will last a thousand years as some leaders from across the border indicated. If countries in Europe which were at one another’s throat for centuries can live in harmony, bonded by a common vision and currency, all is not yet lost in South East Asia.

For this to happen, populism has to give way for statesmanship, fear has to be vanquished by courageous steps and the lessons of history have to be learned and assimilated.

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Popularity: 14%

There was a furore in January when the Indian cricket team refused to tour Pakistan for a much awaited cricket series, citing security reasons. While the Indians thought it was absolutely rationale, the Pakistanis didn’t think so.

Their cricketing greats came out in strong opposition of the move saying that this was a black day for cricket. Their former captain turned politician, Imran Khan was the loudest of them all criticizing India and saying that sports was beyond politics and hatred and that India backing out was bad for the game.

He was joined by his erstwhile opening partner, Wasim Akram who too was surprisingly critical of India’s decision. Wasim’s reaction was a bit of a surprise for me as he always comes across as a logical person. The fact that he has logic is manifested in the fact that he is invited to comment on the game across the world. As they started off this India bashing, several other Pakistani players joined in.

I am a patriotic citizen and I completely understand how it feels when someone talks ill of your country. That said, one needs to apply logic to rationalize what is said before you react to criticism. The cricketing greats of our neighboring country didn’t and went out lashing with their loose tongue. In less than 60 days from their claim that their country was safe for cricketers has come back to slash mud on their faces.

A 26/11 style terrorist attack was unleashed on the Sri Lankan team that went to tour Pakistan as a replacement for India.  6 of them have been injured and are in hospital. The tour has been called off.

It’s a known secret that Pakistan is an epicenter of terror around the world. The fact that the Taliban has their government by their b***s and beat them into humble submission to their demand is evidence enough. What’s equally puzzling is the fact that the crickets who spoke so strongly against India’s decision have their residences in the heart of central London and don’t live themselves in their country that they speak so highly of!

While my heart goes out to the Sri Lankan players, I pray and hope that they recover soon. As for Pakistan cricket, this is their Black Day, a day that no cricket playing country will forget. As far as I can see it, the international cricket stadiums can now be converted into play grounds for kids as no team will ever step in to that country to play cricket ever! A decision on whether to convert them into play grounds or training fields will be taken by the Taliban I am sure!

While they say hind sight in 20-20, I am so thankful and glad that our cricketers chose not to go. Thank god for small mercies. Should this have happened to Indian cricketers who are larger than life here, there would have been another war! The result though, very different!

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Popularity: 17%

The admission of Pakistan that the 26/11 attack was carried out by Pakistan based elements is a significant turning point in the geopolitics of the Indian subcontinent. The Indian government can heave a sigh of relief as it can now tell the people that it has succeeded in nabbing the culprits. The Government of India should ensure that the real culprits are brought to justice.

From Pakistan’s perspective, this is a big loss of propaganda war against India. It is not clear if there is going to be a public backlash there. Pakistan is in a very tricky position. On the one hand, it has to show the public that the Pakistan army is defending the eastern border with India. On the other hand, several suicide attacks are taking place across the country.The Pakistan and NATO forces are also engaged in a fierce war against the Taliban in the NWF Province. In fact, it is reported that scores of civilians are migrating from the Swat region(a.k.a Pakistan’s Switzerland) because of the terror unleashed by Taliban. Taliban is getting stronger by the day and it is a worrisome trend for the world.Overall, the Pakistan civilian government is weak and has no full control over what is happening across the country.

India’s immediate task should be to strengthen the hands of the Pakistan civilian government. As a first step, India should wholeheartedly welcome Pakistan’s acceptance of blame and assure cooperation in the investigation to take it to the logical end. The next step should be to immediately stop the rhetoric of tough action. The objective of this rhetoric has been achieved and now i t is time to silently work behind the scenes. India should also continue its diplomatic efforts to get the terror infrastructure dismantled in Pakistan. The government should take all the parties on board and try to explain this strategy.

It is very important for leaders like Narendra Modi to show restraint and stop making vicious comments about the 26/11 attacks. This is critical because India should not be seen as aggravating Pakistan’s apparent humiliation. At this point, by showing more responsibility, India can gain the goodwill of the world community. This will also help Pakistan focus more attention on its western border and worry less about public opinion against India.

India should also take the initiative in restoring bilateral ties. As a positive gesture, Pakistan players should be invited to continue play in IPL and Pakistan artists allowed to perform in India. Other goodwill measures should be restored to reduce Indo-Pakistan tensions.

Cynics will argue that Pakistan is not going to mend it ways when it comes to promoting terror against India. After all, the very existence of Pakistan rests upon its hatred of India. While this argument is very valid, this is the time for India to support Pakistan and the international community in fighting the war against Taliban. India simply cannot afford to watch further weakening of the Pakistan civilian government and allow Pakistan fall into the hands of Taliban. At the moment, India should focus on addressing the weaknesses in the internal security apparatus and strengthen the intelligence gathering mechanisms.

As much as India hates the prospect of supporting Pakistan, India needs to support the current Pakistan government. If we don’t do it now, India will soon be fighting Taliban right across our border. A bad neighbor is better than a worse neighbor.

So India, please help Pakistan.

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Popularity: 12%

Finally, Pakistan showed pragmatism and accepted that the 26/11 attack is largely linked to its citizens. The outcome of India’s diplomatic offensive has striking similarities to the outcome of Kargil war in 1999.

Planning

Both the attacks were executed after careful and lengthy planning and were highly professional. 26/11 has a frighteningly expansive global footprint. If Pakistan is correct, people in Spain, Austria, Italy and USA were involved in the attacks.

Objective

The Kargil war was waged to undermine the Pakistan civilian government and also to destroy the improving Indo-Pakistan relations at that time. The 26/11 attack also seems to follow the same pattern. While the former succeeded in achieving both objectives, we will have to wait to see if 26/11 also achieves the objectives.

Responsibility

Whereas Kargil war was carried out by the Pakistan military, 26/11 was carried out by militant groups with some apparent connection to the Pakistan intelligence agencies. India has accused the ISI of masterminding the attacks. In both the cases, the civilian government was caught unawares.

Strategic miscalculation 

If the masterminds of Kargil went wrong in the assumption that they can occupy Kargil forever before India can counterattack, the 26/11 planners went wrong in their assumption that none of the terrorists were going to be captured alive. The attackers also left evidence behind which turned out to be very crucial.

The aftermath

India suffered significant casualties in both the attacks. Indians were angry and went through enormous anguish, but in both the cases, rallied around each other and showed their outstanding resilience.

US influence 

In both the cases, US played a huge role in normalizing the situation. President Clinton acted very tough against Pakistan and was able to force the Pakistan army to pull back from Kargil. In the case of 26/11, US sent the FBI to India and helped in collecting foolproof evidence that Pakistan could not brush aside. If Pakistan were to divert its army from the Pakistan-Afghan border to Indo-Pakistan border, the biggest problem will be for the US. So it was in US’s interest to ensure that it did not happen.

Strategic implications

If Kargil forced the international community for the first time to acknowledge that India is the victim of Pakistan sponsored terrorism, 26/11 went further. International community, especially US and UK, put enormous pressure on Pakistan to come out of its denial mode and confront the terrorists in its soil. The first global “live telecast” of terror attacks and the killing of the foreigners significantly increased the concerns of the international community.

There is no doubt that while it must have been very painful for Pakistan to admit India’s blame, this is a significant victory for the Indian government for keeping up the pressure on Pakistan with its diplomatic offensive. Kudos to them for resisting the call by the war-hawks to attack Pakistan. That would have been disastrous. The only concern is, our political leaders will start a war of wards to claim credit and squander away the advantages of India’s huge symbolic victory.

One question remains. Kargil ensured electoral victory for the ruling establishment. Will 26/11 have a similar effect? We’ll find out the answer in another 4 months.

And how should India respond now? Read the article “India, please help Pakistan!”

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Popularity: 13%

After having multiple heated arguments with a friend I really felt like putting this article down for thousands of readers who would actually help me decide what’s right and what’s wrong.

We all have been eagerly following the chain of events since the terrorist attack in Mumbai on 26th November 2008.The government is proud of itself today because out of 10 terrorist they have captured 1 terrorist alive! They think it’s an honor.

How many people think that  way?

A bunch of young boys barely in their teens gun down thousands of people in a metropolitan city and make our defense system dance to their tunes of terror for three days.

Can the capture of a lone terrorist alive be called an achievement or is it the biggest mistake of our government?

Now the response of the government would be 1 -2 months of creating anxiety in the minds of the people by interrogating the lone terrorist (Ajmal) and then probably hanging him. But I personally feel the government will achieve nothing by killing a young boy of barely 20 years. He probably wasn’t aware about the horrendous crime he was committing.

I know many people wouldn’t agree to what I would say but I think instead of killing the boy the government should rather rehabilitate him and make him realize that killing people is not the way to get one’s religion accepted in a society. It is just a fabrication of a religion by a few fanatic people.

This would rather set an example on thousands of youth who get strayed by certain organizations which lead them to believe fake facts. By killing Ajmal or by torturing him, do you think the other terrorist are going to get traumatized or stop committing attacks?

Most of the terrorist attacks in the world are carried with the motive of suicide. These people are fearless and emotionless. They are not scared of death since their motive is to die in the name of religion.

We have killed several terrorists in the past but has terrorism stopped?  If we really want to solve this menace, we probably should try a radical way of dealing with this global issue e.g. reverse psychology.

The young people who are trained for such attacks are kept isolated from the world and what they are shown is the world of hatred. They are rigorously trained they are prepared for death. Some of these youngsters are kidnapped or are just threatened or lured into these activities.

So who should be killed – these youngsters or the cruel people who are behind them?

I think right now the government should focus on getting the leaders and the people behind these attacks rather than torturing mere helpless puppets like Ajmal. By using the reverse psychology and rehabilitating the terrorist, they can help show thousands of youth who are lost in the make believe world of certain groups who work for their self motive rather than any other reason to see light at the end of a dark tunnel that they are in.

I know many people might condemn my thought process but I would really like people to spare a minute or two and ponder over this post and voice your opinion.

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Popularity: 21%

I had a couple of very interesting conversations over the weekend.

1. A cousin of mine who works for a Global MNC in the IT space was home. After all the courtesies that were exchanged, she was speaking to me about the changing work place and how the recession has slowed down things. The conversation started when I was asking her if her firm was recruiting. She said, “No”..We are going slow and there isn’t much happening… and after a little pause, she said, do you know how arrogant the HR guys have become? My eyes popped out in near disbelief. I said, ‘say that again!”, and she went “yes, the HR guys have become very arrogant these days. From running behind us and saying yes to everything we asked for, they now say, “if you don’t like it here, you may leave – and they say this for even trivial things!”

2. My brother-in-law is based in Plano, Texas. An IT Project Manager by profession, he manages a fairly large team. One of his team members came up to him asking for a 3 week leave to go home. According to their company policy, 2 weeks is the maximum that one gets if he/she had to go home, irrespective of level. The guy was looking for a deviation and was not happy when his Manager said that a policy needed to be followed. He whined, threatened to escalate and was murmuring away in the backdrop when the issue was escalated to his higher management. The senior relationship manager was apparently candid and said, if the guy can’t come back in two weeks, we don’t need him. He had large enough a bench strength to get a replacement overnight. The guy then promised to return in 10 days hearing what his higher ups had to say.

A few months ago, I could have been fast asleep and still said which way both these conversations would have potentially gone. So what’s changed? Oh well – it’s pretty much everything!!!

In the beginning of what a lot of experts predict is a 12-18 month recession, organizations are whipping up actions aimed at improving operating leverage at a pace that one can’t imagine. From projects coded with alphabets aimed at rationalizing the size of the workforce, to communicating openly that pay raises and bonuses are on hold / depleted as the case may be, to the discontinuation of quarterly incentives, to the slashing of fun budgets, it’s all happening – happening in real quick time too.

As someone who’s enjoyed the exotic spread of options available in the seven course buffet and expecting that this was a given every other day, the employee finds it hard to live with just bread and peanut butter alone.

Let’s get back to the two conversations again for a second. I think it’s unfair for some in a position of authority to exploit current market conditions. Businessmen and business logic talks about being rationale, for me, it’s always about being fair and doing the right thing. So if someone in the HR team was getting opportunistic to turn the heat on an employee, I think that’s unfair. With the kind of scale that some organizations have built in terms of size, policies and procedures lay down the rules of the road. I think they are essential and need to be respected and followed – it’s much like driving (yes, I know we never drive by the rules here in India – but let’s talk about that another day!). To get upset and whine when someone talks policy is again not done.

It is here that the much touted maturity element comes into play. The more mature folks understand that this is a passing cloud and lie low, letting this pass – the not so mature ones whine and complain – much like my cousin. (I’m not calling her immature because she said that the HR guys were arrogant!)

I hate economics but remember a couple of things from whatever I studied – Demand and supply determine worth or value or whatever you want to call it. When supply far outstrips demand, the law of diminishing return sets in (someone correct me if I am wrong! I am talking from memory that is over 11 years old).

In business, cycles exist and hence the challenge of demand and supply, the point of diminishing returns and whatever other crap that was overhead transmission from what I learnt or was supposed to will always exist. The ideal situation would be striving for right balance. A right balance will set up a level playing field. The trouble here is that this does not exist in business either. We are not in regulated economies and that isn’t coming any time soon either.

Overdoing something or under doing something always has its ups and downs. So what’s the right amount? I have no clue myself – it’s in a lot of ways a million dollar question that I am looking at answers for. That said, I hate it when people are opportunistic – I’m referring to the HR guy who was opportunistic in asking a pretty young girl to leave it if she didn’t like it, trying to use current market conditions. I also hate it when people can’t appreciate and learn to live by the rules. I think you don’t belong in this society if you can’t learn to live by rules. It’s the difference between being civilized and uncivilized.

Isn’t that every Indian’s crib with Pakistan not acting on our evidence?

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Popularity: 12%

Pakistan’s untiring denials to accept the truth reminds me this famous saying – when cat drinks milk stealthily, it shuts its eyes assuming that nobody is watching it. Its seems so evident that Pak is acting blindfolded and trying to find excuses to accept the truth in the dossier which was recently been produced by our home minister on Mumbai attacks. Even the British, now approve involvement of Pak militant groups. Until now we have come across short sight, long sight, far sight and hindsight, so what do you call this behaviour? – Ignore-any-evidence-by-India Sight

What could be the reasons making Pak do this?

Being called Terror State

If the culprits are handed over to India, then Pakistan might be having a fear of these culprits letting all secret terror acts disclosed to India. In turn this might call for more pressure from International community, especially USA, to ban all active in-situ outfits and pronounce Pakistan as a Terror State.

Sanctions And Political Coup

A declaration of terror state would have consequences like sanctions of all kinds from the international communities. As it is the economic condition is not in a good state in the country, and such sanctions could lead the nation into another political coup. Result could be another Musharraf kind of era.

ISI Activity going public

We may only have gathered some evidence around ISI links to terror activities all these days. But if culprits are handed over to India, Pak might be apprehensive of having ISI activities being made public. An insecure feeling of having its national intelligence’s activities made public.

Or Simply Self-Esteem

The relations between India and Pak have never been healthy, India has always been considered as archrival by Pak. By handing over the criminals to India, is it in a way succumbing to India and hurting its self-esteem?

But one thing that Pakistan seems to miss the point is – if it hands over the criminals to India, it keeps its honour and respect in the world community, in that helping the community to tackle terror.

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Popularity: 10%

India has compiled a dossier to nail Pakistan on the November 26th attack on Mumbai. Next week India’s home minister will present the complete dossier to the United States.  It is almost everywhere what the dossier consists of – almost every leading news channel is talking about the so-called dossier.

The key question is – Will Pakistan accept India’s claim and the so called fool proof evidence?

I will be surprised if they do.

Here’s how I anticipate Pakistan to react for every proof submitted:

Role of ISI

“Transcripts, confessions, recordings and circumstantial evidences prove nothing. We don’t have it in our record that the ISI was involved in this. Hence we will not believe that they played any role whatsoever.”

Confessions of Kasab

“Kasab who ? We don’t know any Kasab. His name is not there in our database. We have almost 60% covered in our database. If he is part of the remaining 40%, we cannot help it. India should have ensured the existence of Kasab in our database before they made those horrendous claims. Go ask India why they did what they did”

Satellite Phone Records

“Those satellites have been built so as to corroborate evidence in India’s favour.   Satellite phones are another form of creations by Indians. They should know that Pakistan also is capable of creating evidences which will implicate their ministers.  Let us do a joint venture and make satellites and then any conversation recorded by either party can be taken as evidence. Until then, it will be termed as unilateral. And that is not acceptable to us”

LeT & JuD

“Conversations between the attackers and the LeT & JuD leaders are things of the past. These organizations cease to exist as per the directive from United Nations. Where is the question of evidence from something that is non-existent?  Bring proof that LeT & JuD exist or even existed.  This will not be admissible in any court of law. Why don’t you check with your Indian lawyers before claiming such evidences?”

The Kuber Log Book

“That log book also proves nothing. Our spies have told us that the attackers  are of Indian origin and it is a big Conspiracy Theory on the part of India to malign Pakistan. As per them, the log book has been created by these agents so as to misdirect the investigators. They cannot be treated as evidences. Sorry !”

Tapped Conversations

“Tapped Conversations – Who gave you the authority to tap our conversations ? This is invasion of privacy.  We will sue you for defamation, invasion of privacy and such other counts. Assuming it is tapped, how does it prove that these conversations belong to these majors? Aren’t there too many mimicry artistes in India who can emulate Amitabh Bachhan’s voice? If they can do his, they will be able to produce anybody’s voice.  No point even in trying your luck.”

Army Training

“You claim that Army camps were used for training. What else will army camps be used for ? When we recruit people, we don’t check their background. We don’t have such process since we don’t have a national database. It is not our fault. Tell us, can you tell us confidently that there are no terrorists in Indian Army ? How about that Col Purohit and all his accomplices in the Malegaon Blast. You didn’t know they were terrorists, did you? So, how can you point fingers on our training ?”

…and India continues the fight, pays the price by losing innocent civilians and the world watches on as a silent spectator.

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In this age of cable TV and sensational journalism, the news channels in their bid to make the maximum out of a news item sometimes go overboard by using their so called “panel of experts” and end up creating a monster out of it.

Media should understand that because of its mass appeal it has a major role in portraying an organization or a country or an individual as a protagonist or an antagonist. If media were to bring news to the audience it should understand present the facts and analysis to them, rather than providing their interpretation of things.

After 26/11 incidents the media on both sides of the border (viz. India and Pakistan) has become extremely charged up trading charges against the politicians for bringing in a war like atmosphere. The media on both sides of the border, in an effort to play the role of a devil’s advocate, has become increasingly jingoistic rather than just providing plain facts through journalism.

Instead of providing any coverage on how the investigations were proceeding on the Mumbai attacks, and a host of other national issues, they have been busy blaming each other for having a belligerent attitude towards each other. Though the national leaders on both sides of the border want to avoid war at all costs, the sentiments expressed on media are different.

Looking at some of the incidents post the 26/11, it doesn’t seem that the media is helping the cause of bringing the perpetrators to justice, but pushing two nations to war. There have been many instances where the media has been very insensitive and careless in their reporting.

For instance:

One of the leading Pakistani newspapers had quoted this in one of their editorials:

India’s stance is part of ‘‘sinister designs against Pakistan to exact concessions on Kashmir and trade.” It warned India against war. ‘‘Indian leadership is under the wrong impression that Pakistan will take it lying down, as Pakistan has not downed any drone despite warnings. But India is not a superpower and certainly not a partner in war on terror. Nor Pakistan is Iraq or Afghanistan that any country can do the carpet-bombing.

A couple of days ago one of the Indian news channels was doing an estimate on the arsenal which Indian military have with them and how fast Indian forces can attack Pakistan.

On whose side is the media on? Will it help the ongoing investigations?

The whole incident reminds me of the 007 movie “Tomorrow Never Dies” where a media Mogul in a bid to get extensive coverage engineers world events to trigger a war between Britain and China. Though the unfortunate events in this case are not triggered by the media but the media is sure to trigger a war between India and Pakistan with their “Sensational Journalism”.

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Asif Ali Zardari, the President of Pakistan called the Terrorist as Non State Actors. Subsequently, even the Prime Minister Gilani also came up with this term. Manmohan Singh, Condoleezza Rice followed suit.

I had this confusion as to who were these Non State Actors – Terrorists living in one’s country with no known state OR people acting on behalf of illegal entities OR someone who did not belong to a particular state or boundary ?

Hence decided to look the term on Wikipedia.

As per Wikipedia,

Non-State Actors, in international relations, are actors on the international level which are not states. The admission of non-state actors into international relations theory is inherently a rebuke to the assumptions of realism and other “black box” theories of international relations, which argue that interactions between states are the main relationships of interest in studying international events

The various types of Non State Actors includes

• Non Governmental Organisation
• Multi National Corporations
• Terrorist Organisations
• Criminal Organisations
• Religious Groups etc

Coming to the point – Zardari said these terrorists were Non State Actors. What it means is that they have State Actors, Non State Non Actors, State Non Actors and the many combinations.

Manas Chakravarthy of Hindustan Times explained it well , I thought. Do give it a read !

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After the terrorist attacks on Mumbai, pressure is building up on Pakistan to take action against the terror camps operating from its land. Investigations carried out by Indian, US, British and Israeli officials proved that the attacks were planned by the Lashkar-e-Taiba   supported by ISI .

In spite of Pakistani denials (just for giving the impression that Pakistani Government doesn’t give in under pressure), United States, and other countries have applied a lot of pressure, and have urged Pak to take action failing which they will act.

Now what should be the course of action?  How should we respond?  Can we trust Pak when it says it will take action against any terror outfits operating from its land.

What should be done ?

Our politicians are highly gullible.  Even after it was proved that the terrorists are Pakistanis, what did they do? They spoke to Mr Zardari and asked the ISI chief to come to India.

For what?

If at all we want to call anyone we could have called the CIA, a few investigators from Britain and Israel who can give us credible evidence that this was masterminded by terrorists from Pakistan. They would have substantiated it as an act of war (they are very good at it and we all know that).  Mr Zardari promised to send ISI Chief to India to help investigation but took an about turn overnight.

Can we trust such a man?

Time has come for India to take strict action.  Resignation of Shivraj Patil or others is meaningless and a political stunt.  It’s the Government and Prime Minister’s actions that will speak on India’s position and strength in the International community.  Since we have proof that this was sponsored by Pakistan,  the Ambassadors of USA, UK and Israel should be summoned and presented with these.

India should make it clear that we take this as an act of war by Pakistan against India and we would deal with it in a similar way US or UK has dealt with.  As far as US, UK and Israel are concerned their citizens were specifically picked up by the terrorists and they should take it as an act of terrorism against them.  This would have forced them to declare Pakistan as a Terrorist State and deal with it accordingly.

“Give thousand chances to your enemy to become your friend, but don’t give a single chance to your friend to become your enemy”. This doesn’t hold well with Pakistan.

In 1974 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian terrorists during Munich Olympics.

What did Israel do?

It hunted down each and every one of them.  It showed the world that nobody can escape by attacking Israel.

Now look at what have we done – engage in a dialogue with our neighbor!  Discussions will not provide any solution with Pakistan. If it did, it would have provided long ago.  Pak has neither neighbors nor friends; they just use the situation and time to act.

They are one of the best friends of America and in another way they are the biggest threat as well. They are damn smart. Remember they have used Americans to act against America.

So with such a country how long will you keep discussing?  How many more blood baths will we have to face to learn?  Indian politicians and media have to change their mindset. Media is getting worse than the politicians.  Every news channel / paper seems to be backed up by one or the other political party.

In Pakistan democracy is nothing but a proxy of the military.  Military always holds the reins of that country and it is not possible to delink both.  It was born after a bloodbath, it is continuing the same way even now.  Army, Islamic Radical Groups,  ISI,  Elected Government,  Taliban – every group is a power centre. No one is responsible for anyone.

Everyone has their own beliefs, system, and agenda.  Terrorism is a business for them.  Look at the amount of aid they got from US for fighting against terrorism which was created by them.

We must step up pressure on Mr. Zardari until the following things are done by Pakistan;

1. Handover the terror suspects to India including Dawood Ibrahim,  Masood Azhar who was left free in exchange of Kandahar  passengers.

2. Stop financial and moral support to radical fundamentalists who propagate hatred against non Muslims.

3. Change the think tank of ISI

4. Stop training Islamic militants

5. Stop inducing venom into Muslims in India.

Pakistan knows for sure that in an open offensive against India they will be wiped off. Hence they continue this proxy war. They will never stop till we wipe out terror camps that are running in POK and in Afghan borders.  Time has come to say “Enough is Enough”.

Mr Prime Minister – Don’t just give statements.  Let’s get on with this war and finish off before this proxy war finishes us.  At least let our future generations live in a peaceful India.

Image Credit: Sameer5678in

Popularity: 21%

The last 10 days have been very testing for Indians. The events in Mumbai were very depressing and Indians world over reacted with anguish and vented their anger against a system that failed to prevent the outrageous acts in Mumbai. But the subsequent events have shown that despite all that is wrong in this country, there is still hope for us Indians.

Here is why.

Assembly election turnout:

Despite the resentment of voters towards politicians, people turned out in large numbers to cast their votes and make sure their voice is heard. The polling numbers were at record high and reached as high as 70% in Madhya Pradesh. Even in J&K, the turnout has been very high by historical standards.

This once again proved the faith of Indians in the democratic process. The vibrancy of our democracy seems to be getting better.

Election results:

The most impressive part of the elections is that the electorate gave a balanced verdict.  While pundits will discuss endlessly about which party won and which party lost(actual and psychological battles), the real winner is once again Indian democracy. Voters appear to be making more informed decisions and are not swayed by rhetoric. In 3 states (Delhi, MP and Chhattisgarh), the incumbent Chief Minister won.

All these 3 CMs promised good governance and development and delivered on their promise. 

These leaders were low profile, displayed a sense of humility and worked with discipline towards producing positive results. They are good examples of Level 5 leadership.

These CMs gained the trust of the electorate because they worked towards improving the life of these people. It is very satisfying to see that the electorate are becoming more assertive and are demanding accountability from the people they elect.

Kashmir

The people of Kashmir came out in large numbers to vote. While this cannot be construed as a wholehearted support for the Indian position on Kashmir, people there are expressing their choice and are resorting to more peaceful means to get their voice heard.

Mumbai terror aftermath

The objective of terrorists was to break the psyche of the nation and to plunge the nation into riots. But the Indian public showed extraordinary restraint in their reaction to the terror attacks. Despite the enormous anger against the security lapses, Indians did not resort to violence. They came out in thousands on the streets to express their sympathies and to show solidarity with the victims.  

Their anguish and fury were vented in a remarkably peaceful way but with great effect.

Politicians were forced to resign (Shivraj Patil, Vilasrao Deshmukh, RR Patil),  apologize for their insensitive remarks( V.S. Achuthananthan) and admit the lapses in the security apparatus (P. Chidambaram).

Muslims  came out in great numbers to denounce Pakistan and showed us why we are a great country despite our differences and mistakes. 

The business community exhibited resilience and the stock market held its own by shrugging off the negative sentiment associated with terror attacks. We must also be thankful to the security forces (despite all the criticisms heaped on them) for preventing the razing down of Taj Hotel. A total destruction of Taj would have been a symbolic victory to the terrorists but fortunately we can continue to cherish its heritage and beauty.

World Opinion

The whole world saw the 3 days of carnage live on TV and was appalled by what was happening.  Some of my American colleagues expressed their surprise on seeing how ill-equipped our police were in fighting(with their old guns) these well armed terrorists with AK47s. But, they also expressed their sympathy and solidarity in fighting terror. The world media did talk about the Kashmir issue. But they also supported India’s stand against Pakistan and urged world leaders to force Pakistan to act quickly in nabbing the terrorists. The pressure showed on Pakistan and they have apparently arrested the masterminds of the attacks.

Does it mean that all is well?  - Not at all.

The government institutions are drowned in corruption. The election process is still soaked in casteism, religion and linguistic jingoism. Tickets are still distributed based on caste and not competence.  However, the elections results have given a glimmer of hope and if each one of us plays his/her role as responsible citizens, we can slowly improve the system. At the end of the day, we get the leaders we deserve.  

So, instead of just talking and predicting doomsday scenarios like some  pundits  , if we vote for  good governance and competence, we can change our own future.

Signing off with lots of hope and optimism for the future of India.

Jai Hind.

India is Special !!!

Popularity: 17%

Where the mind is without fear and the head held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

                                                                                                by Rabindranath Tagore

Life will be a peaceful journey if we are able to face difficulties without fear, swallow the bitterness of tragedy, enjoy the happiness, and love that life showers on us.  Such lovely life is being crushed to death by the ruthless terrorism in a fraction of second right in front of our eyes.  In the journey of life death is appearing everywhere in today’s world. 

Parliament, temples, malls, shops, local trains, on streets, in star hotels, in air, on land or in water – everywhere terrorists are hunting down innocent people.

Recent attacks in Mumbai with are a direct war waged by terrorists on India.  Every time something like this happens I see a regular drama and it always has the below statements:

“We will destroy the very roots of terrorism and make our country a safe place again”

“I appreciate the people for the courage they have shown in this hour of crisis”

“We will not bow down before terrorism”

I think by now you would have guessed the people who make these statements.  These are our Netas.  When terrorist beasts are killing people mercilessly, what is the assurance being given these leaders,:

 “Incidents like these are happening all over the world and it is difficult to predict these incidents”

 “In a big city like Mumbai it is not possible to keep an eye on every person who comes in”

This is nothing but escapism and gross irresponsibility of the leaders.  They don’t even feel ashamed for making such statements. First time when terrorists killed people, I hated terrorists.

But then they repeatedly killed people, I started hating our politicians and law makers more than I hated terrorists for giving them a license to kill. 

10 to 12 terrorists who have entered Mumbai via sea  were able to hold the entire nation as hostage for 3 days. This clearly shows how incompetent our leaders, our policies, and our intelligence are. 

As if a sudden realization has dawned, Shivraj Patil resigned form his post. 

But it took a nation to loose 200 lives of civilians, 24 police officers, and soldiers to remind the Home minister of his “Moral Responsibility”.  After the UPA government came to power the number of attacks by terrorists have increased manifold and nothing was done politically to tackle this issue.  With all their concern for the terrorism they got POTA abolished. 

These leaders who can’t even step out without a dozen commandos around them say “people here are very courageous”.  They don’t have to certify our courage.  People of this nation are always more courageous than the leaders.  Though we know that our lives are not safe every time we step out, we still walk on the street without any fear.

Leaders make statements like “we will not be cowed down by terrorism’.  But it’s we the people who show this in action.  Within 3 days of the terror attack, ‘Leopold café’ is opened and people thronged it.  This is testimony to the courage of an Indian.

Mumbai resembled a war zone for 3 days.  Once it’s over people are back on the street not because of the assurances given by our politicians but because of the courage and patriotism shown by the Armed forces. 

Those brave commandoes who have sacrificed themselves to save us gave us the courage to come out and salute them.  Those of us who witnessed their dedication and sacrifice in flushing out the terrorists from Taj, Nariman house and Oberoi can’t forget them in our life time.

Even today we don’t have proper mechanism in place to tackle something like this.  We don’t have the weapons or technology or strategy.  How can you explain bullets piercing the bullet proof jackets of our cops? Our government is not able to stop the inflow of RDX into the country from Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

Our intelligence officers became spectators when the terrorists were equipping themselves with latest weapons.

After the parliament attack in 2001, though the government declared Terrorism as a national issue, nothing was done to beef up internal security.  Though, Prime Minister spoke about setting up of a ‘Federal Investigation Agency’ nothing has materialized.  Look at America, immediately after 9/11 attacks, they have put in place ‘Department of Homeland Security’.

At last Prime Minister woke up and setup a task force to come out with a strategy to counter terrorism in 100 days.  Actually, this should have happened long back.  None of the states in India has plan in place for terrorist attacks.  There is no proper co-ordination between our Police and intelligence.  Attack on Mumbai is an attack on the whole nation. 

Hope at least now our leaders will open their eyes and really take an action to fight terrorism.

Image Credit- Sameer Gupta

Popularity: 20%

The worst we all feared all these months has happened. If this is not the worst what is? The dome of Heritage Taj burning bled many a hearts. Sitting home watching the blood saga scenes at VT and the encounters at Trident, Nariman House and Taj every inch cried out of fear, anger and shame.

How did we let this happen?

Brave soldiers, commandos, innocent citizens all laid their lives to tell us we are at peril.

As terror struck lethally we saw the live drama of commandos and combats fighting the ruthless terrorists. No movie ever this gripping. More than 48 hours of this live action brought India and the world to a still. We didn’t see one politician worth his salt come out and do anything extraordinary as they are expected to. Same denounces and accusations on Pakistan.

Who cares if Pakistan hand was involved or some other nation? They are now offering ISI assistance in catching these terrorists. We let this happen time and again. We let massacred history repeat itself without a wince. Without any realization.

Why is our intelligence failing so many times? Within a span of one year terrorists have covered all of India’s major industrial, tourist and financial cities. Mumbai bearing the brunt mostly. Why have we let so many die?

A group called Deccan Mujahideen claims responsibility. Every time it seems there is a new group or a new outfit. We seem to be hitting only dead ends every time. Enough is enough now. Get India out of these terror crutches. We do not want to see an encounter like this. I cannot imagine something like this happening in any part of the country.

Is it too much for the leaders of the world’s largest democracy, with the biggest army, most sophisticated Navy to provide its citizens with the best of Intelligence, security that commands every inch’s security of our nation?

We want it.

Do what you have to just give it. Tell us what you want from us. Almost 200 people dead in less than 48 hours. Do you realise the magnitude of this massacre? Do you realise what it is doing to us as citizens and as a nation?

We want to live fear free.

We are asking for a basic right. Don’t deny us of that. Pull up your socks. Give army a little more power so they can eradicate this fear from our lives. Guard every coast for the next 10 years.

Think like the terrorist, where do you think he can enter from next time?

Allah tere naam

Eswar tere naam

Sabko sanmati de bhagwan!

Popularity: 12%