Barak Obama’s wife thinks that he would make an extraordinary president. Maybe so, but then which wife would not think so about her husband, more so when the guy already has half a foot into the White House door. My only worry is that when calling her husband extraordinary, I hope she did not have extra ordinary in mind, meaning another in the long line of ordinary presidents that America has had since Nixon.
Closer to home, politicians are divided over the Kashmir issue. Again what is new, that has been the case since 1947. Some won’t tolerate even the thought of an autonomous Kashmir, forget an independent one, some won’t settle for anything less than an independent Kashmir, while a few others would only rest once Kashmir becomes a part of Pakistan. The irony is no one is bothered about what the average Kashmiri wants. Oops shouldn’t have said that for I could be tried for treason.
In the state of Orissa, the followers of two religions are at war, each trying to prove their God’s supremacy. But then what’s new again, we as a country have so many Gods that competition is bound to be intense. I guess if not for us our Gods would have been orphaned for we are the ones who protect them. But isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Who cares for there is only one God that people realize and that is money and with money comes power. And whoever has power is God, right? The rest is all just a matter of detail.
Staying with religion, I have never understood this idea of killing one’s way to heaven. That is the terrorist ideology and terrorists belong to no religion. But then don’t these terrorists need to thank the people whom they target for if not for the hapless victims, how would these killers reach heaven? And the most logical question in my mind is how can these killers hate a class of people so much when they are the ones who supposedly lead them to heaven? Or maybe these terrorists are doing the others a favor by killing them, for who knows the dead may be going to heaven while these terrorists are still roaming the earth in search of their elusive heavens.
Amid all this chaos the Olympics have come and gone and for a change India has three medals to show. Politicians are touting this as the sign of India Rising, business and media houses are busy milking the medals for their own benefit, the Indian Olympic Association is busy feeling offended and offending people with its myopic way of looking at things, and all this when none of the above-mentioned classes have contributed in the success of these sports persons. But again what’s new for we, as a nation, have always been good at hanging on to winners and milking their success for our own gains. And unfortunately for a nation of over a billion people, our success to failure ratio is heavily tilted towards failure, making success a commodity as precious as Gold, and where there is Gold, will diggers be far away?
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Want to Win the War on terror? Act
Has Modi won the war on terror? screamed the main headline on the IBNlive website. Won the war on terror? What on earth are we talking about here, I asked myself. For one, we have seen millions of such wars that have been claimed won by politicians and the police fail to pass the muster in courts of law. And more important: will catching a bunch of people with little thinking ability and who have aligned their loyalties to unknown, unseen masters for the promise of a place in heaven help us win the war on terror?
Are we fighting a war against a faceless, nameless enemy? Yes, we are. What are our chances of winning this war? None I say, as long as there exist a bunch of people who are led to believe by cunning masters that either people are with you or against you. And if people are against you, then they do not deserve to live.
I can pontificate as much as I want but little will come of it. Our leaders, political and religious, have unleashed a Frankenstein monster and now the world will have to wait patiently for this monster to die its natural death. And for that to happen, it will take time and lack of cooperation from people at large. As long as these killers continue to find support among common citizens who sympathize with their cause but do not have the guts to do what these guys are doing, even the best of governments with more than 100% intent and will to eliminate terror will fail.
As long as fundamentalism and the spirit of one-upmanship continue to prevail, rest assured that all of us will keep running the risk of being blown up by a bomb or taken out by a bullet. And no government, military, or police force will be able to protect us beyond a point. We have opened the Pandora’s Box by unleashing the power of collective religion on the people, and now it will be up to us to remove it from the public domain and take it back into our homes where religion should belong, if it has to belong in the first place.
So I would request the media, politicians, the government machinery and people at large to stop flying kites by asking stupid questions such as Has Modi won the war on terror? Sounds nice but both you and I know that it is one big lie, and lying ain’t going to prevent us from being killed by a coward.
What we need first is the acceptance by the common people at large that terror can achieve nothing, and hence, supporting it, tacit or otherwise, is going to achieve nothing other than lives lost. Once these cowards, misguided souls, whatever once chooses to call these killers, realize that they have no support and place to hide, they will be forced to come out in the open, and that’s when we will be able to eliminate terror for good.
Now it is for us to decide if we are ready to stick our neck out for the larger good of mankind, or are we happy sitting in our homes at the end of the day for having survived death by terror? The choice is ours, and blaming the government, police and other people for our miseries is going to get us no where. So friends we can either start by not supporting such ideologies or be resigned to the fact that our life is just a bomb or bullet away. The choice is ours to make and I hope we make a sensible one.
Are we fighting a war against a faceless, nameless enemy? Yes, we are. What are our chances of winning this war? None I say, as long as there exist a bunch of people who are led to believe by cunning masters that either people are with you or against you. And if people are against you, then they do not deserve to live.
I can pontificate as much as I want but little will come of it. Our leaders, political and religious, have unleashed a Frankenstein monster and now the world will have to wait patiently for this monster to die its natural death. And for that to happen, it will take time and lack of cooperation from people at large. As long as these killers continue to find support among common citizens who sympathize with their cause but do not have the guts to do what these guys are doing, even the best of governments with more than 100% intent and will to eliminate terror will fail.
As long as fundamentalism and the spirit of one-upmanship continue to prevail, rest assured that all of us will keep running the risk of being blown up by a bomb or taken out by a bullet. And no government, military, or police force will be able to protect us beyond a point. We have opened the Pandora’s Box by unleashing the power of collective religion on the people, and now it will be up to us to remove it from the public domain and take it back into our homes where religion should belong, if it has to belong in the first place.
So I would request the media, politicians, the government machinery and people at large to stop flying kites by asking stupid questions such as Has Modi won the war on terror? Sounds nice but both you and I know that it is one big lie, and lying ain’t going to prevent us from being killed by a coward.
What we need first is the acceptance by the common people at large that terror can achieve nothing, and hence, supporting it, tacit or otherwise, is going to achieve nothing other than lives lost. Once these cowards, misguided souls, whatever once chooses to call these killers, realize that they have no support and place to hide, they will be forced to come out in the open, and that’s when we will be able to eliminate terror for good.
Now it is for us to decide if we are ready to stick our neck out for the larger good of mankind, or are we happy sitting in our homes at the end of the day for having survived death by terror? The choice is ours, and blaming the government, police and other people for our miseries is going to get us no where. So friends we can either start by not supporting such ideologies or be resigned to the fact that our life is just a bomb or bullet away. The choice is ours to make and I hope we make a sensible one.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Fighting Crime The India Way
Anees Ibrahim held in Jeddah; breaking news on prime time television news. A couple of news anchors were at it hammer and tongs telling viewers that Anees Ibrahim is the brother of dreaded don and D Company head honcho Dawood Ibrahim. Thanks for blowing the lid off Anees Ibrahim’s identity, I told myself. It is another story that even four-year-olds in the country know all about the Ibrahims and their misdeeds.
Now channels are debating the possibility of the government trying to extradite the Bhai ka bhai (Don’s brother). Suddenly one of the reporters with an air of importance around him says, but India does not have an extradition treaty with Saudi Arabia. O yeah, I said to myself, if we had a treaty Anees would be in Tihar by now.
Trying to get back these Dons is something that I have always failed to understand. What do we achieve by getting them back? We got Dawood’s brother Iqbal Kaskar back from Dubai, and now he is free man contemplating joining politics. The cases against him fell through you see, how very convenient. Don’t we have enough number of criminals in politics that we need to import them too?
We keep on crying hoarse that Pakistan is sheltering the Ibrahims and other criminals. I say, good for them. If someone wants to keep and grow rotten apples, why should we object? Same was the case with Abu Salem; the Dutch court would have sentenced him for 20 years and we would have been better off. But no, we had to spend taxpayer money and get him back. Now in a year’s time, I won’t be surprised to see him sitting in the Lok Sabha. We sure believe in Democracy, I say.
Who knows may be 10 years down the line, we may be a country run by these very Bhais, we might be the biggest exporters of drugs, weapons, women, terror, and Bhais (read Dons) to the rest of the world. Our economy may be growing at about 20% GDP; nothing rakes in more money than terror and drugs, you see.
I know that you may find this post rather pessimistic. Please don’t, for when rape is inevitable, it is better to lie back and enjoy. And once it is done and over with, tell the rapist that he simply wasn’t good enough; just joking. If our leaders continue to be so inept and self-obsessed, and we as a nation so impotent in fighting crime, terror, corruption, and general bad behaviour, enjoying getting raped day after day, dear friends, will be our only option.
Now channels are debating the possibility of the government trying to extradite the Bhai ka bhai (Don’s brother). Suddenly one of the reporters with an air of importance around him says, but India does not have an extradition treaty with Saudi Arabia. O yeah, I said to myself, if we had a treaty Anees would be in Tihar by now.
Trying to get back these Dons is something that I have always failed to understand. What do we achieve by getting them back? We got Dawood’s brother Iqbal Kaskar back from Dubai, and now he is free man contemplating joining politics. The cases against him fell through you see, how very convenient. Don’t we have enough number of criminals in politics that we need to import them too?
We keep on crying hoarse that Pakistan is sheltering the Ibrahims and other criminals. I say, good for them. If someone wants to keep and grow rotten apples, why should we object? Same was the case with Abu Salem; the Dutch court would have sentenced him for 20 years and we would have been better off. But no, we had to spend taxpayer money and get him back. Now in a year’s time, I won’t be surprised to see him sitting in the Lok Sabha. We sure believe in Democracy, I say.
Who knows may be 10 years down the line, we may be a country run by these very Bhais, we might be the biggest exporters of drugs, weapons, women, terror, and Bhais (read Dons) to the rest of the world. Our economy may be growing at about 20% GDP; nothing rakes in more money than terror and drugs, you see.
I know that you may find this post rather pessimistic. Please don’t, for when rape is inevitable, it is better to lie back and enjoy. And once it is done and over with, tell the rapist that he simply wasn’t good enough; just joking. If our leaders continue to be so inept and self-obsessed, and we as a nation so impotent in fighting crime, terror, corruption, and general bad behaviour, enjoying getting raped day after day, dear friends, will be our only option.
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