Presumption of guilt

The Americans had their JFK moment. The world as we know it today has its 9/11 moment. If you ask people around—even the so-called millennials—where they were when those two buildings crumbled, they'd tell you about the earliest instance they saw/heard the news. It's the singlemost effective event in recent history for a reason. The dust might have settled and the debris must have given way to a taller structure but the ramifications of that attack still resonate in world politics. To me, nevertheless, that event is more of a blur. I used to read The Asian Age (TAA) back then, mainly because it was priced at one rupee. I used to get three rupees on a daily basis: one for going to school, another for coming back and one for emergency. I used to spend the emergency allowance on buying myself a newspaper. I absolutely loved TAA. It was edited by MJ Akbar and featured splendid columns from not only an Indian perspective but also international (they had a syndicated collaboration with the New York Times). And my earliest memory of following an event per se was the execution of Timothy McVeigh. I read TOI in passing at my tutor's place but nobody else, i'm quite sure, covered the aftermath of Oklahoma bombing as acutely as TAA did. I can recollect reading an entire broadsheet about McVeigh's upbringing, his difficult times during the Gulf War, his ideological shift to extremism, also how he cared for kindle (a group of kittens) as a little boy only to grow up and be responsible for the death of 168 people. I remember reading that his last meal consisted of icecream, his favourite thing in the world. I read all of these exactly three months before 9/11. He was executed on June 11, 2011. When the news of 9/11 reached me, i immediately presumed someone like McVeigh must have attempted such a horrific action. The building in Oklahoma wasn't very tall, so i felt maybe the attackers were aiming higher this time.

Defending a dead noose

Dear oversensitive lesser mortals, this piece I'm about to write is basically an attempt at beginning a sentence with Kasab, pausing with mercy before ending it with killing. So please don't hold your moralistic breath and choke on it. Thanks in advance.

Last week, we got rid of Kasab. For good or bad, we're not sure yet. In all probability, we'll never be. Long live politics but more about it later. However, given the hype the whole secret hanging in Pune created, it seems like a major chunk of our populace is rather glad that the 25-year-old Punjabi (no, he didn't speak Urdu just in case you're one of those ignorant morons who think all Pakistanis are Urdu-speakers) is no more. According to them—and the obedient media in tow—his killing (yes, capital punishment is an euphemism for murder) provides an emotional closure to the grieving families of those who lost their lives on that fateful night of 26/11.
     First of all, it doesn't. People who lose their loved ones remain so till the end of the time. Nothing can possibly repair that damage. Nothing. As far as Kasab is concerned, the idiot visited our city with the sole intention of dying. He was on a suicide mission in case you've forgotten. Come to think of it, we were winning (if at all there was a contest) by keeping him alive. The diplomats who were fighting our case (terrorism is the word) at international forums would be better-equipped to explain the sheer delight of having a failed suicider locked in a high-security prison. But then, the public acts in a certain way. Let's call it the cowardly attitude. On witnessing a car accident, they go surround the car driver instead of helping the victim first. Something similar happened with Mumbai attacks. Nobody bothered to check on the 164 victims—forget the 308 wounded souls. We always look for the easy way out. We want action and it doesn't matter whether it fruition to a reasonable outcome. And in this particular scenario, what better effigy to burn than a warm-blooded young Pakistani? No wonder we gave into prejudice. For beginners, we merrily believed everything our newspapers spoonfed us about him. Not that it matters whether every little detail reeked of veracity or not but NOBODY questioned ANYTHING about him. There was way too little that ever came out of that little room he was interned in to start with. On the outside, it was cute how the otherwise cynical analysts readily convinced themselves that the government was diligently spending every single rupee of the alleged 29+ crore slotted to keep Kasab breathing. Just like we conveniently accepted that the deranged crook was being fed biryani on a daily basis. Yes, we may have taken our Atithi Devo Bhava crap way too seriously with him but then, he was also the only living proof of a Paki terrorist on Indian soil (Afzal Guru is one of us considering the possibility that Kashmiris are one of us). In any case, our scammed politicos have pushed numerical digits to such an extent that a few crore doesn't sound like a raw deal. Nonetheless, during the time he was in our jail, not a single Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack took place in India. In the meantime, only a few over-smart local Muslims and over-stupid Hindus were involved in some recorded stray events, proving a point in how much we suck at terrorism!
     Going back to politicians, don't you think it's not a mere coincidence that they hanged the fall guy just a few days before the start of a turbulent winter Parliament session? For humour's sake, couldn't they have waited for five more days to coincide the hanging with the fourth anniversary of the dreaded day? Ahem. Just to be clear, I'm against death penalty. In my mind, eliminating one life in exchange of several lives doesn't add up well. We need to separate ourselves from our villain. Besides, for a nation of 1.22 billion, we've executed only two people in the last 15 years. Isn't that a shame? We are not even good at LEGALLY bumping off people. C'mon, don't tell me we don't have criminals who have committed deeds heinous enough to *deserve* death. Having mentioned that, i don't have a clue what we should have done with Kasab if he
were alive today. Maybe we should have given him the worst imaginable punishment... by sending him back to Pakistan! All things said and done, he was a misguided youth and the place where he comes from, there are dreamless kids raring to bask in his much-awaited martyrdom. Nothing can stop them from crossing an imaginary line, be it on water or on land. Anyway, I'm glad that Kasab was reportedly hanged. Since we've already lost Yashji to dengue, we couldn't have afforded to lose Kasab to mosquitoes. Image ka sawaal hai, boss. And as for the hanging part, it was just another day for Kasab.

When China dialed 911

Technically, it’s still 9/11 today in New York. And that’s what matters. For the unaffected lot, it could be ‘World Conspiracy Theory Day’– a day that shocked humankind at the very onset of the 21^st century. It was also a morning that redefined the word Terrorism and its extramarital affair with another word called Islam. Humanity, poor as it already is, paid a huge price. After all, hundreds of people perished within seconds leading to minutes leading to hours leading to days leading to months leading to years leading to a decade.

All in all, it was a terrible thing to have happened. And more importantly, it was a terribler thing to do. As a consequence, millions suffered and died (and are still doing) in Afghanistan, Iraq and other parts of the world where Western imperialism holds a sway. You see the problem with United States (unlike India) is it values her citizen’s life highly. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with it. Every nation should do the same. But not at the expense of others’ lives.

No other nation on the map today has disrupted and meddled in other countries’ affairs the way USA had. It’s an open secret. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that America’s foreign policies work mysteriously. For America. Perhaps with great power comes great responsibility to take care of your own. And no one but your own!

Now, my intention ain’t to decide who is right or wrong and whether the whole 9/11 tragedy was justified. First of all, it CAN’T be justified and secondly, who am I to decide? Thirdly, people shouldn’t be killed when they are at work in their offices. And we are talking of a casualty figure amounting to 3,000 lives within half a day.

Anyway, thousands of conspiracy theories have been circulating on internet since the day those two humongous buildings gave birth to Ground Zero. Some people are still not convinced of the terrorist attacks’ genuineness. They feel it was a deliberate attempt by US to enter Middle-East politics via Tora Bora and to ultimately gain a foothold in the neighboring regions. Muslims across the world pointed their fingers towards Zionist agents in Washington D.C.

Patriotism is a funny thing. American authorities lied through their teeth about WMD’s presence in Iraq and gave Saddam Hussain a free dental checkup while they were at it! Sophistry is a part and parcel of globalisation and the bloodshed it entails.

Amid such opaque circumstances and Pentagon classified documents that maybe shall see daylight 30 years hence, I thought why not add a new dimension to these theories and contribute to their long-lasting legacy in human entertainment?

Here’s my inference on what really must have happened: CHINA WAS BEHIND THE 9/11 ATTACKS!

The reason why I say so is, if you wonder who profited the most from the two pyrrhic wars Bush, Rumsfeld & Co. dragged United States into and the resulting financial crisis, the answer is plain and simple. China. The last decade proved to be a tilt in China’s favor in terms of economy and an unceremonious decline for her immediate rivals, Japan and USA . Also, better keep in mind that China is capable of such stunts. Moreover, since it’s China we’re discussing here, the question of morality doesn’t even arise. This is the very country that daringly sells arms to African outcast Sudan and Asian pariah Myanmar. And we better not talk about its clandestine contribution to Pakistan’s nuclear prowess. China does what it has to do to do others.

Coming back to the Sept ’11 attacks, the question that rings a bell in everyone’s mind is – how did those idiotically bearded terrorists manage to pull off such a brilliant Hollywood teaser with so much precision? The answer is simple. They didn’t. Some Kung Fu expert Chinese who grew up watched Con Air did. And they all died in the process leaving no trace of their identities. Who knows? Even Osama might have learned his withdrawal and tough-terrain-survival-tricks in Shaolin before ISI took pity and offered him an appartment at Abbottabad.

8 years down the line, United States slipped into recession while Beijing exhibited the most magnificent Olympics of all time. Collective embarrassment of banking sector followed by double-dip followed by quantitative easing followed by record unemployment followed America's bleeding trail like never before. On the brighter side, China continues to plays with the idea of pegging renminbi and boasts of an ever-increasing stake in U.S. foreign reserve. You get the picture.

Enough of lashing China for faring better than India at the moment in its race to superpowerdom! I guess I should stop here. This nonsense is getting stupider than I planned it to be. Whatever. This is exactly how a conspiracy theory ought to sound like.

Peace y’all.

Microscope on Terrorism

The word “terrorism” invokes fear and panic. It doesn’t stop there. Fear and panic is just the start-push button. What follows these two is what terrorism is all about. Terrorism has been a part of human society since time immemorial. It must have originated in the caves of Stone Age where bellicose, unruly chest-thumping men ruled the roost. Terrorism didn’t die as we progressed from one age to another. It just started adapting itself to the scenarios available be it any part of the world, as far as humans are concerned.

Animal kingdom is bereft of terrorism. I say so on the basis of the unwritten laws of nature that animals adhere to. Terrorism neither applies to a Cheetah nor a Springbok. They are just playing the game of survival and if lucky, get some food in the meantime. The dying Springbok has no contempt for its killer but it will try to run away as far as its breaths allow. Hatred has no place in animal kingdom.

We, the so-called intelligent creatures, have ingrained terrorism through the annals of human fallacies. Destructive and manipulative human activities like war, genocides, espionage, covert practices that affect a large number of people at a single time, has threads of terrorism embedded in it. The only difference is how we perceive this terrorism. Terrorism is not about flying a plane into steel towers or planting a human bomb in crowded marketplace. It could be generalized into finer perspective. For a school going child who is weak in mathematics, the idea of terrorism starts with his report card and ends with his parent’s reaction to it. Similarly, a stowaway youth can experience terrorism if he’s confronted with the ticket examiner. We don’t call them terrorism. We name it disciple or thereof, the lack of it. But to a human mind, any exaggerated fear or anxiety could be terrorism in its nascent form.

Then there is general terrorism. We all read news and learn about how this world functions. Though it may sound normal but we can’t escape the reach of terrorism at our own personal level, thanks to bhais/goons/mafias who *command* respect or simply the corrupt policeman who is no better than the former! These characters are evolution of unchecked abuse of power. Until and unless the hoi polloi join force against these dastardly terrorizing agents, the idea of eliminating terrorism would be just a jolly mirage. This was terrorism at the local level. Now, everyone can say aye to the fact that these are the real terrorizing elements in our society not the once-in-a-while news-maker terrorists who get open visa across the border or sea.

The most popular type of terrorism is nothing but a magnified version of above-mentioned kind. This variety of terrorism is played with full volume. The reason for its unabashed display of belligerence is due to the kind of money involved. These terrorists feel that their lives are worse at the cost of someone else’s prosperity. Poverty and unemployment are the deadly combination for these recruits. So, for them, the motivation has to come from something that is unison in its approach as poverty varies from person to person. The answer lies in undivided faith. Religion is the bogeyman for them with distorted poetic verses from religious book that help model their consequential behavior. It’s like a hopeless case of betrayal and impatient maneuver of a gullible person’s will.

So the solution to this terrorizing menace lies in understanding and making others acknowledge their ignorance. Education is the key. People can’t help themselves any better by taking up arms like the Naxalites and the Maoists are getting used to. Violent tendencies will make it worse. The idea of terrorism can be defeated solely on the basis of proper insemination and literacy. There will be lots of ‘Doubting Thomases’ who may argue that some of the biggest terrorist names have an engineering degree to their credit like Osama Bin Laden who coincidentally, is a civil engineer. These skeptics believe that education has nothing to do with terrorism and indoctrination takes the final brownie. But engineers-terrorist are deviants who had money to waste but the huge following they enjoy is of the illiterate, miserable and innocent masses. The focus must be shifted to those voiceless crowds who may go on to fill the employment form at a terrorist organization!

Now here’s where the media comes into play but sadly, in most cases, they execute a damaging role. They can do a lot better than they are doing right now since it’s the duty of the media vanguards to report the cause and consequences of terrorist displays. They focus just on the consequences. Causes are hardly addressed lest it create a sympathetic view towards the perpetrators. But how can we ever go to the nexus of the menace if we don’t address them.

Media can start their redemption by taking a step or two in this direction. The truth is that common public doesn’t trust anything and media is no different but when the foolproof mixture of fear and panic is consociated and continuously shown on TV and newspapers and broadcast on radio, at that moment, media wins over public’s trust. Now this trust is a matter of time. It has nothing to do with morality or righteousness. Media is the eternal fourth estate that has to preside over grievances and relay it to the concerned parties in power. But that’s not exactly what’s happening, as of late. Media has taken the relaying a too far. It has started designating its stamp of approvals on news that makes views and then sells it.

Being a common stupid person is easy but living his/her life is difficult so its time the common person stop acting stupid and lethargic and start working on his duties, rest will follow. Terrorism is a hot selling idea and it has to be seen in the same way we see any other menace like racism or fascism. There are hundreds of reasons why it shouldn’t be frame worked into something that it is not. Fear should not be encouraged and transparency is needed. After all, the Stone Age men invented terrorism and it’s our legacy that has to be discontinued for our future generations.

Pictures credit: Reuters

Give hope a chance

“We are giving too much importance to Pakistan. It is just a small piece of land. India can’t be compared with Pakistan.”

Recently, Rahul Gandhi commented on Indian Media’s obsession with Pakistan. His quotes were direct and concise, just like his political demeanor. The statement was a breather to a lot of us who are tired of this ongoing enmity, a sort of a political test match that is punctuated by constant terror attacks, verbal ripostes and border altercations. Of course, Media is not to be blamed entirely here. Its just doing its job and blowing something out of reach is one of its jobs too. It can’t depend on transparency alone. There are a lot of paper page to be filled and it has to be done somehow, either by postulating events or predicting future or consequences and so on.

Trust is the key factor between us two nations and sadly, it is also the biggest commodity not found in our EXIM. We cannot rescind our bitter history with this country that happens to be our neighbor. So what we can at least try to do is emulate a model of level-headedness, something that is not being done since long time. The urgent need of the time is peace. Insurgency and infiltration are some issues that are paramount to our defense and can’t be curtailed in any sense but on a more broader scheme, its time to start a new chapter.

Pakistan is not a failed state. It’s a failing state. And if at all, by devil’s luck, it fails; India will have to face repercussions too. India does not choose its neighbors, as Shashi Tharoor noted. Like any good neighbor, we need to take care of our fence but at the very same, make sure things are all well on the other side of the fence. There might be some measures of “clandestine vindication” in some Indians whenever news flashes on our TV displaying bomb blasts or other attacks emanating on Pakistani soil and killing innocent civilians or seemingly brave Pakistani Army personnel. But that pleasure is not only voyeuristic but also vain at best.

Every country has a face. If it has a face, then most certainly, it must have expressions. Now, if one single expression is shown again and again then it becomes difficult to recognize that face by another expression. That maxim applies on Pakistan. We are bestowed by our history of conflict, this cruel expression that is hell bent on disrupting our peace and functioning. Sadly though, I must say, we are missing some others expressions that should be highlighted. These expressions are willingness on the other side of the border to cooperate and coexist in peace and progression. There are students out there like us who want to have a better future just like we do.

If our politicians could bargain a bit better than they are currently doing, then I’m pretty sure that peace can be bartered. Blood and wails don’t ensure anything except vengeance. We had enough of mistrust. Enough of political manipulations. Enough of emotional mishandlings and connivance on part of our leaders and fanatical rebels. Issues like Kashmir will always be there but my best guess is that its time to leave it for future generations to decide what they want for themselves. Let the future Kashmiris decide their ultimate fate. I say so because the people who are representing the Valley are victims of recent history. Their self-interest undeniably supersedes people’s welfare.

Just imagine how prosperous India would be if it didn’t have to worry about constant threat from West in the form of state-sponsored terrorists blowing themselves up in major cities across the Indian mainland. An assured India can focus more on education budget than defense budget that is eating off schools, dreams and opportunities for millions of Indians. Similarly, Pakistan too will benefit a lot if it manages to assure India of its cooperation. Military-ruled Pakistan doesn’t represent Pakistanis. It represents the miniscule men in Olive Green who are having the best of life out there. India can help Pakistan revive its democratic roots. After all, it was supposed to be democratic but somehow staggered down the line of coup.

The question is not about who is right or who is wrong. We’ve traveled a long distance from that burning question. Right now, its time to pause and think and start working towards a healthy future ahead. A future when the sky space over India will have PIA flying with no worry and Air India will land in Karachi. A time when fishermen who stray won’t be hassled and made pawns in diplomatic warfare. A time when Cricket will be back in fashion between these two cricketing giants and both the flags will fly side by side with decent hooliganism that football can only wish for. A time when Pakistanis won’t have to watch pirated Bollywood movies and Pakistani singers won’t be reviled for getting jobs in movies. A time when Dubai won’t be the meeting point or the marketplace between us!

I wish for the best type of border, an invisible border. Until that happens, I’ll be a dreamer and I guess I must be politically incorrect. But I believe being pessimist doesn’t guarantee me peace either. We are passing away and time’s running so why not save some hope for generations to come and stop at once this madness.