Pakistan upto old tricks on Kashmir
by Pankaj Vohra on Wednesday, September 29, 2010
.... http://disq.us/nspdy
“The Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi seems to be determined that the India Pakistan relations do not improve.” This is a hilarious premise, if we are to accept this, it would effectively cast Mr. Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the mould of a lone ranger or a loose cannon, which he most definitely is not.
Needless to say a Minister for Foreign affairs enunciates, and propagates the foreign policy of the nation which is the end result of a process of discussions, and debates arrived at after receiving inputs from various quarters, is not necessarily a single individual’s handiwork or thinking.
Yes there is an overt display of machismo, bluster and loudness in the conduct of Mr. Shah Mehmood Qureshi, despite all these qualities he in his personal capacity would not be able to derail or enhance the relationship should the Government of Pakistan desire improvement of ties with India or vice versa. That would be giving him credit far beyond his capabilities. Improvement of relations with Pakistan, are not incumbent on who occupies the office of Foreign Minister in Pakistan.
It would be a fallacy to believe that Kashmir issue has not already been internationalized; it was so done when India took the matter to UN. The resolution if any is to be arrived at on a bilateral basis and not through the intervention or mediation by a third party. It would be far more prudent to look within, rather than look at Pakistan or the personality of the person that we would engage with from Pakistan.
We are guilty of oscillating from one extreme to the other. Either we are thumping are our chests ventilating fire and brimstone or it is all mushy mushy stuff. In all these years we have not developed a pragmatic Pakistan policy. While Pakistan has a very clear and defined policy which is conclusion of 1947 add to that the humiliation of 1971.
We have had our opportunities which were unfortunately frittered away, 1971 is a prime example. This can only be explained by our ambivalence, that is big brother approach, time will heal the wounds or sheer romanticism exemplified by Mr. I.K Gujral and others who held candle light vigils at the Wagha border. We have failed to factor in the realities of what drives Pakistan to base its relation with us. Being unaware would be excusable; ignoring those is the cardinal sin that we have committed.
Militancy unleashed in Kashmir in 1989 onwards was another manifestation of its desire to wrest Kashmir, this was successfully thwarted by our brave soldiers, here again it was treated in isolation and not included in the bigger picture. Events of November 26th 2008 is a paradigm shift, which begged a very robust reaction from India, we let ourselves down as always. Undoubtedly this was under tremendous pressure exerted by USA. The response of our government to events of 26/11 has established for all times to come that we are a meek and a weak nation. The utterance for domestic consumption may have been belligerent yet they lacked conviction and large portions of the civil society resigned itself to the fact that no retribution was on the cards.
The incumbent Prime Minister has not helped matters either by his formulations.
1. Boundaries cannot be redrawn……….But they been done in Europe what makes us so unique? That it cannot be implemented in our region.
2. Talks are the only way forward……….This is perhaps the most disingenuous statement, not talking is also an option and it should be exercised.
3. India cannot achieve superpower status or our growth is being hampered by an unstable relationship with Pakistan. This effectively makes us hostage to Pakistan and this is not a reality. India has made tremendous progress despite a hostile environment that envelopes our region.
The above three points actually feed the aggressive instinct of our neighbour who is acting more like the common street corner bully than a mature nation seeking to co-exist. We cannot be burdening ourselves unnecessarily with responsibility of improving relations with an intransigent Pakistan.
It is time to devise a definite policy for conducting our relations with Pakistan, we need to first address the issue of terrorism and the areas of Kashmir occupied by Pakistan. We cannot be legitimizing its role in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Should we fail to deal with this situation now, the consequences and the attendant costs at a later date may prove to be exorbitant.
We have failed to appreciate the urgent need to resolve the Kashmir issue internally, the longer we take to conclude this amongst ourselves greater are the chances of Pakistan meddling and provoking the locals leading to repeating the events of the past three months. Kashmir is an internal matter and Pakistan has no role what so ever. India needs to be assertive if not aggressive.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Common Wealth Shame of India 2010.
I must confess whatever faith I had in our government has evaporated completely. Until last afternoon I was a benign onlooker emitting an occasional scream in disbelief and horror as I watched on TV or read in many a newspaper the utter and total chaos that Common Wealth Games 2010 has come to signify. Poking fun at our collective selves or letting out steam on the twitter by way of inane and insignificant tweets.
I read the following articles in Times of India and Hindustan Times. This got me going and could not restrain myself from putting together this blog.
1. Much good from a bad Games : India : M J Akbar : TOI Blogs http://t.co/HvjPUpP via @timesofindia.
2. Old India has failed New India, again: Vir Sanghvi - Hindustan Times http://t.co/IC9S7he via @AddThis
The stark contrast of content and intent is thought provoking.
Mr. M.J. Akbar concludes his article “A friend pointed out that we have only now begun to notice what happened some time ago: the CIA has taken over India. The CIA provides the core inner ring which pumps blood into the heart of the current ruling class of our country. CIA is: Corrupt Incompetent Arrogant. There is only one reason China is ahead of India; because it is run by the CPC: Corrupt, Perverse but Competent.”
The journalistic competence and ability of this accomplished Journalist makes it a pleasure to read his thoughts and views on the ongoing fiasco called CWG.
Mr. Vir Sanghvi concludes his piece “In 1980, Indira Gandhi recognised that the Asian Games would be a fiasco unless the government got involved at the highest level. Rajiv Gandhi oversaw the preparations, deadlines were kept, the infrastructure survives till today and the Games served as an advertisement for India.But what this government has given us is a complete repudiation of Rajiv’s legacy. The preparations have been handed over to people like Suresh Kalmadi and when ministers have got involved, the task has been left to incompetent windbags. Nor has there been any attempt to find an alternative private sector model.”
This formulation makes your stomach churn in total disgust at the level of superficiality and sycophancy exuded by this individual. The focus is on what has been attempted to be projected by this author.
Mr.Sanghvi wants us to believe that India is in a perpetual state of conflict.
“These days we hear a lot about the clash of the two Indias — the India of the villages vs the India of the cities; deprived India vs shining India, etc. This conflict is undeniable but we are neglecting another clash between two other Indias which is subtler but no less significant. The unprecedented level of public anger over the screw-ups in the preparations of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) can be best understood if we see it as a clash between two Indias.”
He stops miday after alluding to M.S.Gill the Minister for Sports his age and background. Overlooking the fact that the responsibility goes right to the top; that is the Prime Minister who happens to be senior by a couple of years, and shares the background with Mr M.S.Gill.
All this while he conveniently overlooks the fact that there is a very heavy imprint of the presiding deity of Congress party in appointing the PM and the Sports Minister. The blame for the ongoing unparalleled accrual of indignity and shame is the net result of poor decision making and total inert state of government in India.
The much maligned old India that is being used as an alibi to gloss over our present predicament is an enduring gift from our first Prime Minister and it is his legacy which is being carried forward. We do hear and read on a daily basis the GDP growth and the ever north ward movement of sensex. These have been touted as the two great beacons of performance of our Government. Nothing could be further from truth than the above two symbols.
On one end of the spectrum are the exploits and achievements of entrepreneurial India, where many an achiever is in the age group as our Prime Minister or Minister for Sports. It is not the age that matters; it is the ability, dedication and conviction for the cause that is defining and makes India shine. One India is producing results on a daily basis which pose challenge to the largest and most ambitious economies and people on this planet. Where as those who are appropriating these successes as their own are in fact squandering away in most disdainful manner the hard earned monies, image and goodwill.
Let the author not exonerate Government, Congress party or its high command by singling out a few individuals, who for all practical purpose hold their current position with the unambiguous blessings of the powers that be of the Congress Party. We should not shy away from facts and candidly admit that governance in India is non existent under the present dispensation. Glaring examples are placed to refresh malfunctioning memory cells, and cure selective amnesia. 2G spectrum scam, rotting food grains 60,000mt, 37% Indians below poverty line, ever proliferating slums in our metros, naxal violence and of course last but not the least Kashmir.
Objective was to showcase India, we have achieved the converse. Let me conclude we the people of this country are indignant in extreme, with all the might at our disposal do repudiate this image. This could be the image of our government and congress party. this is not of us and our country.
I read the following articles in Times of India and Hindustan Times. This got me going and could not restrain myself from putting together this blog.
1. Much good from a bad Games : India : M J Akbar : TOI Blogs http://t.co/HvjPUpP via @timesofindia.
2. Old India has failed New India, again: Vir Sanghvi - Hindustan Times http://t.co/IC9S7he via @AddThis
The stark contrast of content and intent is thought provoking.
Mr. M.J. Akbar concludes his article “A friend pointed out that we have only now begun to notice what happened some time ago: the CIA has taken over India. The CIA provides the core inner ring which pumps blood into the heart of the current ruling class of our country. CIA is: Corrupt Incompetent Arrogant. There is only one reason China is ahead of India; because it is run by the CPC: Corrupt, Perverse but Competent.”
The journalistic competence and ability of this accomplished Journalist makes it a pleasure to read his thoughts and views on the ongoing fiasco called CWG.
Mr. Vir Sanghvi concludes his piece “In 1980, Indira Gandhi recognised that the Asian Games would be a fiasco unless the government got involved at the highest level. Rajiv Gandhi oversaw the preparations, deadlines were kept, the infrastructure survives till today and the Games served as an advertisement for India.But what this government has given us is a complete repudiation of Rajiv’s legacy. The preparations have been handed over to people like Suresh Kalmadi and when ministers have got involved, the task has been left to incompetent windbags. Nor has there been any attempt to find an alternative private sector model.”
This formulation makes your stomach churn in total disgust at the level of superficiality and sycophancy exuded by this individual. The focus is on what has been attempted to be projected by this author.
Mr.Sanghvi wants us to believe that India is in a perpetual state of conflict.
“These days we hear a lot about the clash of the two Indias — the India of the villages vs the India of the cities; deprived India vs shining India, etc. This conflict is undeniable but we are neglecting another clash between two other Indias which is subtler but no less significant. The unprecedented level of public anger over the screw-ups in the preparations of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) can be best understood if we see it as a clash between two Indias.”
He stops miday after alluding to M.S.Gill the Minister for Sports his age and background. Overlooking the fact that the responsibility goes right to the top; that is the Prime Minister who happens to be senior by a couple of years, and shares the background with Mr M.S.Gill.
All this while he conveniently overlooks the fact that there is a very heavy imprint of the presiding deity of Congress party in appointing the PM and the Sports Minister. The blame for the ongoing unparalleled accrual of indignity and shame is the net result of poor decision making and total inert state of government in India.
The much maligned old India that is being used as an alibi to gloss over our present predicament is an enduring gift from our first Prime Minister and it is his legacy which is being carried forward. We do hear and read on a daily basis the GDP growth and the ever north ward movement of sensex. These have been touted as the two great beacons of performance of our Government. Nothing could be further from truth than the above two symbols.
On one end of the spectrum are the exploits and achievements of entrepreneurial India, where many an achiever is in the age group as our Prime Minister or Minister for Sports. It is not the age that matters; it is the ability, dedication and conviction for the cause that is defining and makes India shine. One India is producing results on a daily basis which pose challenge to the largest and most ambitious economies and people on this planet. Where as those who are appropriating these successes as their own are in fact squandering away in most disdainful manner the hard earned monies, image and goodwill.
Let the author not exonerate Government, Congress party or its high command by singling out a few individuals, who for all practical purpose hold their current position with the unambiguous blessings of the powers that be of the Congress Party. We should not shy away from facts and candidly admit that governance in India is non existent under the present dispensation. Glaring examples are placed to refresh malfunctioning memory cells, and cure selective amnesia. 2G spectrum scam, rotting food grains 60,000mt, 37% Indians below poverty line, ever proliferating slums in our metros, naxal violence and of course last but not the least Kashmir.
Objective was to showcase India, we have achieved the converse. Let me conclude we the people of this country are indignant in extreme, with all the might at our disposal do repudiate this image. This could be the image of our government and congress party. this is not of us and our country.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Idiom "All is fair in love and war" reconstructed by media
“All is fair in love and war.” This is how we know the idiom! A new dimension has been added by the mainstream English media, expanded version reads as “All is fair in love, war and politics.”
"The starlight is not there for Modi " By Mr.Pankaj Vohra in Hindustan Times of 19th Sept 2010 is the motivating factor for this latest blog.
Undoubtedly, Congress, RJD, LJP and the friendly mainstream English media would want to present us a picture favorable to their formulations. Yet if Bihar has been reclaimed from the Jurassic park where it had been firmly placed by RJD-Congress combine the credit must be placed at the doorsteps of NDA government.
Chinks in the NDA are not visible, need for that is urgent, so why not employ fiction and manufacture a few if not a whole lot of them.
Election time debates will move away from Secular Vs Communal if and only if the media permits it. While nobody tires of stating that India has moved on yet the shackles of this paradigm are not being allowed to be shed.
In a democratic setup more than one aspirant for the top job does not amount to anarchy or dissensions within the party or a coalition. Yes it may seem so to all those who are followers of Congress party and its peculiar brand of democracy.
Pyramid is narrowest at the top and only a select few reach the pinnacle. It is a puerile argument that minority support for Bihar government is due to Mr. Nitish Kumar, he is not a one man army, BJP does have its ministers in that government and are holding portfolios of significance unless ofcourse in your opinion that is unimportant.
Bihar and Gujarat are the 2 best performing states of this country among many others, incidentally all of these have BJP or NDA Governments in place, benefits of the development are not being regulated in a manner that the effects are limited to any particular community; recent result of by elections in Gujarat is a testimony to that. Ayub Chauhan, 35, is one of the Muslim voters of Kathlal constituency in Central Gujarat who voted for the BJP. It's for the first time BJP won the Assembly constituency and Chauhan does not want to be left out of Gujarat's development story being scripted by Modi."We thought it's our Congress and kept voting for it. But the BJP is in Gujarat and everybody is benefiting. We thought why we should be left out," said Ayub Chauhan. This is as reported by CNNIBN Modi on a high after winning in Cong bastion
Why the media wishes to stay in its time warp of 2002 events? Mainstream English media is not the sole opinion maker in this country, vernacular press can be ignored at your own peril; besides word of mouth is far more effective, with a deeper reach and longer duration. Can it be denied that people of these 2 states are moving for employment from one to the other, will not NDA highlight its achievement with statistical data?
2014 is fair distance away, performance of all the aspirant over the next 3 years or so will determine who would get to the coveted office of the Prime Minister.
Somehow the irony of this article is the severe indictment of UPA. Deficiency in legitimacy of the incumbent UPA and Prime Minister is so stark that could not help noticing it “ As per the Westminster model, which we follow, the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj should be treated as the shadow prime minister.”
"The starlight is not there for Modi " By Mr.Pankaj Vohra in Hindustan Times of 19th Sept 2010 is the motivating factor for this latest blog.
Undoubtedly, Congress, RJD, LJP and the friendly mainstream English media would want to present us a picture favorable to their formulations. Yet if Bihar has been reclaimed from the Jurassic park where it had been firmly placed by RJD-Congress combine the credit must be placed at the doorsteps of NDA government.
Chinks in the NDA are not visible, need for that is urgent, so why not employ fiction and manufacture a few if not a whole lot of them.
Election time debates will move away from Secular Vs Communal if and only if the media permits it. While nobody tires of stating that India has moved on yet the shackles of this paradigm are not being allowed to be shed.
In a democratic setup more than one aspirant for the top job does not amount to anarchy or dissensions within the party or a coalition. Yes it may seem so to all those who are followers of Congress party and its peculiar brand of democracy.
Pyramid is narrowest at the top and only a select few reach the pinnacle. It is a puerile argument that minority support for Bihar government is due to Mr. Nitish Kumar, he is not a one man army, BJP does have its ministers in that government and are holding portfolios of significance unless ofcourse in your opinion that is unimportant.
Bihar and Gujarat are the 2 best performing states of this country among many others, incidentally all of these have BJP or NDA Governments in place, benefits of the development are not being regulated in a manner that the effects are limited to any particular community; recent result of by elections in Gujarat is a testimony to that. Ayub Chauhan, 35, is one of the Muslim voters of Kathlal constituency in Central Gujarat who voted for the BJP. It's for the first time BJP won the Assembly constituency and Chauhan does not want to be left out of Gujarat's development story being scripted by Modi."We thought it's our Congress and kept voting for it. But the BJP is in Gujarat and everybody is benefiting. We thought why we should be left out," said Ayub Chauhan. This is as reported by CNNIBN Modi on a high after winning in Cong bastion
Why the media wishes to stay in its time warp of 2002 events? Mainstream English media is not the sole opinion maker in this country, vernacular press can be ignored at your own peril; besides word of mouth is far more effective, with a deeper reach and longer duration. Can it be denied that people of these 2 states are moving for employment from one to the other, will not NDA highlight its achievement with statistical data?
2014 is fair distance away, performance of all the aspirant over the next 3 years or so will determine who would get to the coveted office of the Prime Minister.
Somehow the irony of this article is the severe indictment of UPA. Deficiency in legitimacy of the incumbent UPA and Prime Minister is so stark that could not help noticing it “ As per the Westminster model, which we follow, the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj should be treated as the shadow prime minister.”
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Congress friendly media propounds three new myths.
A couple of weeks back our Prime Minister met with a select group of editors, described by many as a rare occurrence. He is a man of few words; reticence is his strength so we are told. Post that meeting as expected there were some new facts uncovered, or should one say 3 important new discoveries made.
This is at best left in the realm of fiction that the media is creating, naturally with its power and reach, the media has enormous influence over the collective psyche of the people. This enormous influence ensures that the sentiment is always controlled -- mostly favorably, but if need be negatively -- by sections of the media. There can be nothing further from truth than the below supposition it is indeed ingenious, yet would be extremely hard to digest.
"He had a mandate to be prime minister for five years especially because he was projected as the PM candidate during the 2009 parliamentary poll" This is the second point that political analyst believe the PM was trying to deliver. There is a phrase "Basking in reflected Glory" now a new phrase has been added to our vocabulary and that is reflected mandate, by means of this one could legitimize holding any constitutional office in India, and it could possibly also become heredity using the same logic PM's wife hence why not the next PM.
There is a serious deficiency of legitimacy in this our incumbent PM’s case.
Third point, “by citing examples of Morarji and Sardar Patel, both deputy prime ministers, he pre-empted any possible move to appoint a deputy PM.” This has been very adequately dealt with by Mr. M.J.Akbar in his article “Memo to PM: Ego is unflattering” dated 12th sept 2010 in Times of India needless to repeat here.
This is the first point as per the political analysts. “One was that there was nothing wrong with his government and if there was any perception about things not being in control it was because of elements within the party”
The questions that we have are, what is right with this Government?
1.Food Price are they in check…No the PM has been unable to exert and display his prowess in the area of his core competence.
2. The PM for effect may issue a statement negating the directive from the Supreme Court of India; fact of the matter is food grains are rotting nearly 60,000mt. While this country has nearly 400million people who are starving and this grain could have easily helped their cause.
3.Corruption…Again the answer is in the negative..It has reached unprecedented levels under his very nose. 2G telecom scam, CWG, and Mining etc more may be uncovered as we go along.
4.Internal security…… negative.
5.External security….. negative
6. Foreign policy……..abject failure needless to recount all the past events.
What good is a brilliant master when all pupil fail? What good is policeman if crime continuously increases? What good is general under whose command the territorial integrity is lost?
It is perhaps time to stop flaunting personal honesty and unimpeachable integrity of our PM as the fulcrum of this government, when clearly all is not well with it.
Finally it is an established fact that he has been appointed and not elected to the post of PM. In our model of democracy Convention and written Laws have an equal weightage. The Prime Minister in our scheme of democracy is a directly elected representative of the people of this country. A Prime Minister from Rajya Sabha is legal as per statuette, however is in contravention of the convention that the Prime Minister should be from the largest party block in Lok Sabha.
This is at best left in the realm of fiction that the media is creating, naturally with its power and reach, the media has enormous influence over the collective psyche of the people. This enormous influence ensures that the sentiment is always controlled -- mostly favorably, but if need be negatively -- by sections of the media. There can be nothing further from truth than the below supposition it is indeed ingenious, yet would be extremely hard to digest.
"He had a mandate to be prime minister for five years especially because he was projected as the PM candidate during the 2009 parliamentary poll" This is the second point that political analyst believe the PM was trying to deliver. There is a phrase "Basking in reflected Glory" now a new phrase has been added to our vocabulary and that is reflected mandate, by means of this one could legitimize holding any constitutional office in India, and it could possibly also become heredity using the same logic PM's wife hence why not the next PM.
There is a serious deficiency of legitimacy in this our incumbent PM’s case.
Third point, “by citing examples of Morarji and Sardar Patel, both deputy prime ministers, he pre-empted any possible move to appoint a deputy PM.” This has been very adequately dealt with by Mr. M.J.Akbar in his article “Memo to PM: Ego is unflattering” dated 12th sept 2010 in Times of India needless to repeat here.
This is the first point as per the political analysts. “One was that there was nothing wrong with his government and if there was any perception about things not being in control it was because of elements within the party”
The questions that we have are, what is right with this Government?
1.Food Price are they in check…No the PM has been unable to exert and display his prowess in the area of his core competence.
2. The PM for effect may issue a statement negating the directive from the Supreme Court of India; fact of the matter is food grains are rotting nearly 60,000mt. While this country has nearly 400million people who are starving and this grain could have easily helped their cause.
3.Corruption…Again the answer is in the negative..It has reached unprecedented levels under his very nose. 2G telecom scam, CWG, and Mining etc more may be uncovered as we go along.
4.Internal security…… negative.
5.External security….. negative
6. Foreign policy……..abject failure needless to recount all the past events.
What good is a brilliant master when all pupil fail? What good is policeman if crime continuously increases? What good is general under whose command the territorial integrity is lost?
It is perhaps time to stop flaunting personal honesty and unimpeachable integrity of our PM as the fulcrum of this government, when clearly all is not well with it.
Finally it is an established fact that he has been appointed and not elected to the post of PM. In our model of democracy Convention and written Laws have an equal weightage. The Prime Minister in our scheme of democracy is a directly elected representative of the people of this country. A Prime Minister from Rajya Sabha is legal as per statuette, however is in contravention of the convention that the Prime Minister should be from the largest party block in Lok Sabha.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Do not sow the winds; whirlpools surely you shall reap.
This is in response to the article published in Hindustan time of 09th Aug 2010 "Let’s reap the faith" by Mr. Fareed Zakaria (is the Editor of Newsweek and the author of The Post-American World)
"Let's reap the faith", why not Mr.Fareed Zakaria? Before we delve any further in this proposition, it would be proper to examine the statement.
Reap = Profit
Faith = Trust
Faith = Religious belief or Religion.
"As you sow, so shall you reap" is the law of the nature, laws enacted by mankind are fallible, fortunately laws of the nature do not suffer such frailty.
What you set out to correct has paradoxically resulted in another individual taking the initial step towards rigidity, and that person unfortunately is you. “Five years ago, the ADL honoured me with its Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize. I was thrilled to get the award from an organisation that I had long admired. But I cannot in good conscience keep it anymore. I have returned both the handsome plaque and the $10,000 honorarium that came with it.”
Where does the radicalisation takes place? In the Mosques, Madrassas , Seminaries, in the bad lands of AF-Pak or is it on the streets of the free world?
Which community has this problem of radicalisation? Is it a phenomenon across all religions or is it in Islam?
Followers of which religion are indulging in acts of terror in the name of its religion? Is it all the religions of this world or is it Islam?
Aggrieved cannot be expected to reward the aggressor. Turmoil exists in the society which believes in Islam, we cannot correct this; all course corrections have to come from within and not without.
There is a moderate section of society in Islam. Granted; why is this section not vocal and is not exerting itself?
The moderate voices in Islam will have to engage their own, as they engage with humanity on a world wide scale. Any solution or efforts from outside would exacerbate the sense of victimhood that is often used as a justification for retaliatory violent actions from the followers of Islam.
This is an excerpt of a conversation which I had with an individual from Pakistan on a website about a couple of months back, both of us were disturbed with the venom and senseless verbal violence that many other were indulging in, this gentleman seemed a lot more reasonable in his comment so I engaged him in a conversation with the hope that I might benefit from his knowledge of Islam. This individual made very vehement statements about Vedas having predicted about the coming of Holy Prophet (PBH) and also that Bhagwat Gita mentions about the concept of Jihad. On repeatedly inquiring from this person as to which Veda has made the prediction he was initially evasive and stated that he does not remember in which Veda he had read this (Veda have been passed down from one generation to the other thru word of mouth) On my informing him that Veda did not mention anything as claimed by him or that Bhagavad Gita does not have any reference to Jihad, he turned around and asked me to listen to Dr. Zakir Naik’s lectures. This gentleman has accepted the word of another individual as gospel without applying his mind. His is the mindset that moderates would have to counter, there is complete and total acceptance of what is deemed suitable. There is a very strong case that the followers of Islam start to question what they hear from other individuals.
Another centre in the free world is not the panacea, closed societies in West Asia need to open up.
We in India who have our own brand of six sigma tested and certified secularism cannot be pontificating to the world. Every sovereign nation of the world will have to grapple with this issue and come up with an acceptable formulation most suited to the environment that exist there; There is no single size fit all solution to this issue.
The issue of mosque or a centre being built in close proximity of Ground Zero cannot be addressed on the basis of Legality and Constitutional rights of a section of the society. This would require a very liberal dose of mutual goodwill, give and take, which has already received a major setback by your own action as stated above.
Describing the reactions of those opposed to the centre as Islamophobia is over simplifying the problem and is an exercise in escapism. Push this through on the basis of legality or constitutional rights, is a sure recipe for unwanted happenings in future.
For the benefit of those who may not be fimiliar with Vedas and Bhagavad Gita.
The Four Vedas language used is Sanskrit.
1 Rigveda "the triple sacred science" of reciting hymns, were probably essentially complete by 1200 BC
2 Yajurveda performing sacrifices
3 Samaveda chanting
4 Atharvaveda is the fourth Veda. Its status has occasionally been ambiguous, probably due to its use in sorcery and healing.
Bhagavad Gita "Song of God" The teacher of the Bhagavad Gita is Lord Krishna. The content of the Gita is the conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra war.
"Let's reap the faith", why not Mr.Fareed Zakaria? Before we delve any further in this proposition, it would be proper to examine the statement.
Reap = Profit
Faith = Trust
Faith = Religious belief or Religion.
"As you sow, so shall you reap" is the law of the nature, laws enacted by mankind are fallible, fortunately laws of the nature do not suffer such frailty.
What you set out to correct has paradoxically resulted in another individual taking the initial step towards rigidity, and that person unfortunately is you. “Five years ago, the ADL honoured me with its Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize. I was thrilled to get the award from an organisation that I had long admired. But I cannot in good conscience keep it anymore. I have returned both the handsome plaque and the $10,000 honorarium that came with it.”
Where does the radicalisation takes place? In the Mosques, Madrassas , Seminaries, in the bad lands of AF-Pak or is it on the streets of the free world?
Which community has this problem of radicalisation? Is it a phenomenon across all religions or is it in Islam?
Followers of which religion are indulging in acts of terror in the name of its religion? Is it all the religions of this world or is it Islam?
Aggrieved cannot be expected to reward the aggressor. Turmoil exists in the society which believes in Islam, we cannot correct this; all course corrections have to come from within and not without.
There is a moderate section of society in Islam. Granted; why is this section not vocal and is not exerting itself?
The moderate voices in Islam will have to engage their own, as they engage with humanity on a world wide scale. Any solution or efforts from outside would exacerbate the sense of victimhood that is often used as a justification for retaliatory violent actions from the followers of Islam.
This is an excerpt of a conversation which I had with an individual from Pakistan on a website about a couple of months back, both of us were disturbed with the venom and senseless verbal violence that many other were indulging in, this gentleman seemed a lot more reasonable in his comment so I engaged him in a conversation with the hope that I might benefit from his knowledge of Islam. This individual made very vehement statements about Vedas having predicted about the coming of Holy Prophet (PBH) and also that Bhagwat Gita mentions about the concept of Jihad. On repeatedly inquiring from this person as to which Veda has made the prediction he was initially evasive and stated that he does not remember in which Veda he had read this (Veda have been passed down from one generation to the other thru word of mouth) On my informing him that Veda did not mention anything as claimed by him or that Bhagavad Gita does not have any reference to Jihad, he turned around and asked me to listen to Dr. Zakir Naik’s lectures. This gentleman has accepted the word of another individual as gospel without applying his mind. His is the mindset that moderates would have to counter, there is complete and total acceptance of what is deemed suitable. There is a very strong case that the followers of Islam start to question what they hear from other individuals.
Another centre in the free world is not the panacea, closed societies in West Asia need to open up.
We in India who have our own brand of six sigma tested and certified secularism cannot be pontificating to the world. Every sovereign nation of the world will have to grapple with this issue and come up with an acceptable formulation most suited to the environment that exist there; There is no single size fit all solution to this issue.
The issue of mosque or a centre being built in close proximity of Ground Zero cannot be addressed on the basis of Legality and Constitutional rights of a section of the society. This would require a very liberal dose of mutual goodwill, give and take, which has already received a major setback by your own action as stated above.
Describing the reactions of those opposed to the centre as Islamophobia is over simplifying the problem and is an exercise in escapism. Push this through on the basis of legality or constitutional rights, is a sure recipe for unwanted happenings in future.
For the benefit of those who may not be fimiliar with Vedas and Bhagavad Gita.
The Four Vedas language used is Sanskrit.
1 Rigveda "the triple sacred science" of reciting hymns, were probably essentially complete by 1200 BC
2 Yajurveda performing sacrifices
3 Samaveda chanting
4 Atharvaveda is the fourth Veda. Its status has occasionally been ambiguous, probably due to its use in sorcery and healing.
Bhagavad Gita "Song of God" The teacher of the Bhagavad Gita is Lord Krishna. The content of the Gita is the conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra war.
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