Santa's coming!

Santa, only one gift in my Christmas stockings – ‘Make me stronger and healthier, ’cos I am scared of ghosts in Gurgaon, there's the biggest ghost;-) It's too cold also, I am falling sick everyday’ :-(

Another Afzal Guru in the making?

I don’t know, I am only assuming considering the liberal country we live in. The reference is Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasav, the lone terrorist alive among the 10 involved in the recent Mumbai attacks who is now in police custody.

But Kasav is no less than a celebrity today – in last two weeks, we already know that the 21-year-old years for mutton and Big B films! He washes his own clothes (someday he may say he is inspired of Gandhiji) He also revealed his wish to live, and see his mother. In short he wants “forgiveness” which he assumed won’t be that difficult.

If we can happily watch Monica Bedi, ex wife of underworld don Abu Salem - a prime accused in ’93 blasts in Mumbai. If we can forgive Sanju baba for the same – and for choosing ‘Gandhigiri’ over ‘Gun’dhigiri – at least on screens. If we can overlook Dawood Ibrahim, who apparently is sitting pretty in Karachi – why won’t we forgive Kasav? After all, we have human rights organizations that are capable of questioning and defying the court of law on lack of evidence against Kasav – like we are doing with Afzal Guru or others involved in the Parliament attack. Our eminent human rights activists, social workers may demand govt to provide Kasav with mutton once daily, if not twice.... After all they have problems with army jawans getting 24 eggs in their breakfast.

Never the less, I see Kasav becoming a superhero in no time – so what if he had killed many innocents, so what he had killed at least a half-dozen fine police and security men, so what if we have lost around Rs 4000 cr during the attacks and much more as its reparations. So what if tourism revenue fell by at least 40% due to the attacks. So what if they have raped our country, and placed it on the chart of “one of the most insecure countries in the world…” This is incredible India, we let them rape, murder, ransack, loot our country and then we forgive them – because we’ve human rights to protect.

Or we let a 'toothless' US agent like Condoleezza Rice to speak on behalf of India -As she shouts, in vain "Pakistan must act fast, or US will." We believe her;-)

US's 9/11, India's 26/11: All a fake?

A Pak news channel airs the same!

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=OfYlaF5_q1Y&feature=related

This footage from a Pakistani news channel, 24 hours post Mumbai attacks – questioning India’s ability to counter terrorism, questioning Indian security forces and defending themselves, in vain.

They have also misquoted former Indian law minister, through video picked from a random source. The channel’s anchor says “the former minister has declined Pak’s involvement in the recent attacks”. But a careful transcription of his voiceover has a different interpretation: The terrorists are uniting the whole world against Islamist countries by carrying out such attacks – because they create hostility between Islamic and non-Islamic nations. Since the non-Islamic countries have the Nuke-power, such terror activities might work against them and force the non-Islamic nations to use Nuclear weapons against the Islamic nations.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Eij5o7XizIA

Footage from the same news channel, where a Pakistani defence analyst went on record to say that the Mumbai attacks were plan hatched by the "Hindu Zionists" and "Western Zionists". He further adds, Indians have failed to fool the world like the US did on 9/11 – to unite the world against Afghanistan.

A word to word transcription of the footage: 9 /11 jo Americans ne kiya tha usko bahut khoobsurat camouflage kiya tha. Unhone media mein perception management bahut acchha kiya . Indians ne wahi game repeat karne ki koshish ki, lekin akal to hai nahin . In ahmakon ne complete disaster kiya isko handle karne mein .

In the 2nd half the footage, a PML parliamentarian openly says India ke sath jung chal rahee hai separate level pai. Are ‘we’ fools to talk aman? She also questioned the dignity of Indian foreign policies? What ‘dignity’ is she talking about when the Pakistani President flirted with then US Vice-Prez nominee Sarah Palin, said now I know why the whole American is crazy about you, and who wanted to hug her too.

There’s civil society in India that believe that there is no concrete evidence of Mohammad Afzal’s involvement in the 13th December, 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament for which he has been sentenced to death It includes writers, IAS officers and eminent Indians and non Indians like: Arundhati Roy, Noam Chomsky, Harsh Mandar, Praful Bidwai, Ali Engineer and Ammu Abraham. Hence Don't hang Afzal Guru.

The Pakistani defence analyst supports Kashmiri separatists groups, says they are a lesser threat than all the other separatist movements that are going on in India. Here we have a Booker Prize winning author who wants India to let go off Kashmir: India needs azadi from Kashmir as much as Kashmir needs azadi from India. Is she out of her mind? As a student of History, I could never find an answer to the partition – but as an Indian, not even in the history, right now I feel we are weakening our nation.

My Q: Should Afzal Guru be hanged till death, only because he failed to kill even one politician on the day he attacked the Indian Parliament?

Does every average and now even prosperous Indian feel helpless?

Does every Indian accepted death as their birth right? Does every Indian known at least one person personally who is a blast victim – in Mumbai, Delhi, Assam, Hyderabad or somewhere…?

I am an average Indian… I think I am helpless, getting killed in a blasts is what I think before I step out, I’ve personally known some who are blasts victims and I live in an utopian world where I hope politics can be kept away from good governance.

Even as Amitabh Bachchan strongly condemns Sharmila Thackeray, wife of Marathi leader Raj Thackeray’s widely circulated SMS that read: All those who had lost their lives while saving this city are Marathis. MNS workers are busy donating blood, helping police for rescue operations and lifting bodies. Like a famous newsman wrote to Raj Thackeray in an open letter, there’s difference between fame and notoriety. There’s also a difference between loving your country, loving its people and playing nasty politics upon people’s misery – This is what the Thackerays are doing now.

Not just the Thackerays, even others are. Communist CM Achutanan’s frustrated comment on his inability to politicise Martyr Unnikrishnan’s Malayalee lineage was rather painful. The Kerala CM said: If it had not been (Major) Sandeep's house, not even a dog would have glanced that way. This is how our leaders treat our heroes, yet we continue to save our leaders lives with high category security extracted from our pockets.

Leaders like Amar Singh, who questioned the integrity of a police man who died in an encounter while nabbing terrorists responsible for Delhi serial blasts, gets Z-Plus category security cover. Z-plus security is provided by NSG `black cats' consisting of six personal security officers, two head constables, 12 constables, one escort and one pilot vehicle. Leaders like Ram Vilas Paswan who says we should be considerate towards Bangladeshi refugees, gets Z-Plus security cover too. In all the recent terror attacks in Delhi and Assam, Intelligence Agencies found Bangladeshi terror outfit Huji’s links. Huji mostly operate through the same Bangladeshi illegal immigrants in Assam. Can Paswan visit disturbed areas of Assam, or even the ‘undisturbed’ areas, just for an hour without his security cover?

But at the end of the day an average Indian accepts blasts as a small deal, because we have leaders like R R Patil, the just-out Deputy CM of Maharastra who said: small things like this do happen as his reaction to the recent Mumbai attacks.

They got us pants down…

When the Mumbai Police, ATS and the govt were busy politicising Malegaon blast case. When the Defence Minister forgot to buck up the coastal security goof-ups. And also when the terror attacks have stopped becoming a big-deal in India – until three days back.

Now, it’s a big deal, as shamelessly asked by the Congress Spokesperson – “where was the media fraternity when North-east and the J&K was burning?” Well, North-east and J&K have not stopped burning, and answer to the media bit is – it chases TRPs, even at the cost of morality. If media didn’t chase TRPs, it won’t have gone bonkers with Bigg Boss, at least the most recent event that I can remember - the TV show that turned a underworld don’s wife into a star. Media routinely entertained people with Monica and Abu Salem's forgotten love-affair. Abu Salem is the man who once set Mumbai on fire, Monica Bedi is his ex-wife, his partner in crime(s) and now seeking our forgiveness! The show that hooked millions of Indians, to celebrate and vote for a wife beater and druggist Rahul Mahajan. Here, we are setting example of creating heroes out of criminals... democracy prevails alongside hypocrisies.

The answer to Congress Spokesperson’s shameless comment leads to another comment – Our politicians have lost it all. Leaders like Raj Thackeray who wakes up at a sneeze of a North Indian, watched his Mumbai being saved by ‘Indian’ commandos. With due respect, both the commandos who laid down their lives for the defence of Mumbai were not Marathis.

But until three days back terror strikes were not a big deal, because it was affecting J&K, North-east, common people, common places, trains, busses and not places that can make India answerable to the global community. In less than 50 hours, multi-national teams have formed to investigate the terror attack, PM Manmohan directed the ISI chief from Pak to report at New Delhi, Prez-elect Obama assured a full-support to combat terrorism. Perhaps, India won't have seen anymore terror attack after December 13, 2003 had that been a successful one.

In the recent Mumbai attacks, NSG commandos took 12 hours to get down on action. When the Maharastra CM called our 'Home' Minister in Delhi who was by all means was sleeping at 'Home', we were late by 3 hours. The 200 NGS men reached Delhi airport only to realise that IL-76 (the aircraft) was not there. It was brought in from Chandigarh, refuelled, took off and touched down Mumbai. Finally? Not yet, commandos then had to wait for buses to bring them to places of attacks, unfortunately those were BEST buses - unlike politicians with luxury coaches and politicians who added more to the havoc. Was there any need of PM and Sonia to be in Mumbai after the attacks? The security taken by them could have saved a few more lives.

The combined Indian forces did a thankless job in the end, they were taken back by the same BEST buses, again unlike politicians, rescued guests in the hotels and of course all that was after 70 hrs of intense gunbattle, sleepless nights, fighting well-trained, Pak-sponsored Islamist terrorist...

The Change

Someone said it’s a ‘Bible’ that ‘every adult should read before they die.’ I have read it… much before death was in my mind! And reading it again, to celebrate Obama’s victory from a country, where talking against “Quota” can brand one a “Racist”. I’m reading “To kill a Mockingbird”.

That’s a charisma, that’s Obama who outsmarted a former First Lady first and then a Vietnam War prisoner… even more when he stole the once reliably red state – a state with 19% whites and less than 1% African American, also a state famously known for two major battles of American civil war – battles of Bull Run. Virginia voted Democratic assuring the Black man in the White House!

On his victory speech, he says ‘Tonight is the answer for those who still question the power of our democracy.’ He did it, despite the middle name that trembles many of us - Barack Hussein Obama.

We, the stalwart of democracy, trying to understand the 44th President-elect who just scripted a history - a history of real democracy. In our democracy, when Field Marshall Manekshaw died, not just Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air staffs but also the President, Prime Minister, Vice President and the Defence Minister have failed to make their physical presence. The man, who recently scripted history, also remains only American public figure of note to have condoled the death of the Field Marshal in early July this year.

When this man is all set to enter the power house at 1,600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington DC… his wife is concerned about their daughters’ next school, quite unlike our democracy where education is becoming more expensive for the masses and a cakewalk for leaders’ kith and kin. Like Nehrus-turned-Gandhis enjoyed India’s prestigious St. Stephen’s college without fulfilling even the minimum criteria to enter there.

Prime-Minister hopeful Mayawati won’t miss the opportunity to play her card – to draw an example between the African American Obama victory and need of a Dalit PM in India. I still remember a much heated face-off between a Dalit leader and an ‘upper caste’ well-known journalist in Ramjas College in 2003, where the journalist polietly asked, why do Dalit leaders ‘galvanise’ Dalits against Hinduism… where Hinduism has nothing to do with being ‘untouchables’.

The man who brought ‘change’ to America, the first black man to rule the White House didn’t play a race card. Not against the Evangelist McCain, not by carrying a Hanuman idol as his lucky mascot – but just by asking “if our children should live to see the next century, what change will they see?” Perhaps, the only thing Dalit Devi Mayawati or others would forget to play in their next race is ‘the change’ – of seeking for popular sympathy on pretext of being ‘less privilege’. ‘The change’ that I read in an OPED quoting the comedian DL Hughley “To all the kids here, you need not grow up only to be a rapper or a basketball player. After today, you can also grow to be the most powerful man in the world.”

While the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mum from Kansas with the middle name Hussein takes charge of world’s most powerful country; the 62-year-old democracy, India sees its countrymen killing each other… for being North Indians, Dravidians or Aryans!

80 kg RDX, 250+ deaths and homegrown terror connections are not enough...

To grab space in any of the national dailies in India. “If this was somewhere else… this would have been quite a news,” says a commercial media worker like me. Yes, last Thursday’s serial blasts in Assam – one of those north-eastern states of India, which fails to stand in the fray of news in less than a week.

The fight against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants is on for the last 30 years in Assam. Now, it’s no more a fight. Politicians, researchers, NGOs have learnt to ‘cash-in’ around it, common people find paisa vasool human labour in them and Bihari leader Ram Vilas Paswan has a say in how Assam govt should behave with Bangladeshi immigrats – ‘must be handled with compassion,’ opines the Bihari leader and obeys the Assamese administration.

The cumulative figure of Bangladeshi arrivals since 1972—most who come never go back—is a whopping 12 lakh. An unofficial figure reports at least 24,000 Bangladeshis have been infiltrating to Assam every year. When Bihar was massively flooded this summer, we heard of International water sharing policies with neighbouring states. In the last 30 years, such policies remained research topics for Assam as well as north-east.

The ‘revolutionary political organisation’ ULFA that seeks to establish a sovereign Assam allegedly helped Bangadeshi militants to kill their ‘loved’ fellow assamese. For, they have already found their safety in their new homes in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Thailand or in Switzerland... they can see their 'dream country and its countrymen' being burnt in the hands of their counterparts. Our leaders can peacefully sleep not only because
Bihari leaders do the 'thinking' for them but also because we're taxed enough for their safety.

That's why don't wonder why it becomes a mass-nameless-death when we die, why no one cares when we die, why media don't find it sexy to cover our death stories. It's simple, we are a lost identity... our govt listens to Bihari leaders and our self-claimed ‘savious’ turn hostile; join hands with our killers.