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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Every other day I read about the so called extreme right wing organizations issuing diktats against women wearing Noodle straps , pub culture or women drinking . I have 3 questions..

1) Is pub culture good or bad?
2) Why is there gender discrimination in drinking – is it ok for men to drink and not for women?
3) Can people take law into their own hands?

Partying is not a special right for any one. Everyone has right to party. You can’t chase people on roads and beat them to preserve culture.

India is the largest democracy in the world. We govern ourselves according to the will of a majority of people. If noodle straps or “pub culture” or women drinking is against our culture, there should be a civilized debate over it in a public forum. And if there are enough merits supporting the case that the pub culture is bad or that women drinking is bad or against our culture, it can be enacted into a law. This is the right way to approach cultural issue or any other issue. There is no place in our democracy for issuing diktats. Extremists and the so called “leaders” with an obviously misdirected and personal agenda are the Taliban of India and we should strongly reject their agenda and protest taking culture into their hands. They are not the upholders of our culture.

If drinking in a pub is OK for men, it should be OK for women too. A woman going to a pub for a drink should be able to handle herself without expecting protection from anyone. The ‘pub culture’ is a little hazy. If it means there shall be no restriction whatsoever on dress code and various other public behavior, it is wrong. There is a law against exhibitionism and indecent exposure – by both men and women. A person can’t violate this law claiming ‘fundamental freedom’. Freedom is not absolute. Anybody living in a civilized society is subject to norms of acceptable civilized behavior. If anybody has problems with it, let them have the law changed in a democratic way. Until then, obey the law of the land.

Governments have vote bank considerations and are not able to take action against any moral brigade. Why can’t these rulers see things from National interest angle? National interest must be supreme in the mind of every Indian.

Extremist leaders do not understand the meaning of freedom and culture and liberty. They are trying to propagate is orthodox culture. Culture is never static and changes with time. The culture we have today will not be there after 40 years and the culture that was there 60 years ago is not there today. In my grandfather’s days none of the men used to wear trousers and wore lungis or dhotis. I wonder why these culture preserving extremists wear trousers! How can you preserver something that is meant to change.

Extremist leaders have a serious lack of maturity. They do not realize how they get their salaries or how they earn their money. Today for any person money comes from ECONOMY and economy is a result of global commerce , to be successful in global commerce in a long term you need to have meaningful innovation , to have solid innovation you need to have free culture , free culture is the way. You restrict the culture you kill the progress.

There is a famous saying ‘A common man believes in religion , a wise man calls it false , a politician call is useful. Religion is opium for masses and these guys have had an over dose of it.’

I am sure after 3 to 4 generations when all these old-traditional people will die their natural deaths, we will see a new free India

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Popularity: 31%

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%

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.

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