Crap

Indians, when overcome by irrational and momentous hate against Pakistan, tend to lash-out and warn about how India is militarily (and otherwise) superior to Pakistan and could nuke it out of existence, and that Pakistan should not dare trouble India, if it knows what’s best for itself.

There are so many things wrong with that statement ..I won’t care to elaborate, purely out of lack of time\intent. Primarily, Pakistan as a nation may prove to be a thorn for India, but it’s peoples do not deserve the hate that is so-often showered upon them. So let’s not threaten the entire peoples of the country. It makes us (Indians) look like gloated muscular buffoons who want to pointlessly (and selfishly) throw our weight around on people much too nice to warrant such show of force (in short, it makes us look like a certain Mayawati).

Here goes –

10 years have passed since the Kargil War came to an end.

Being a citizen of India, and having been subjected to Indian propaganda for all of my years, i ought to classify today as the decade-anniversary of India’s victory in Kargil. Forgive me for not doing so, for, this blog-post is not about winning and losing. Rather, it’s about a virtue that often lies forgotten – generously evaluating how we’re living.

As as all these years passed, we continually witnessed Pakistan deteriorate – in action, and also, in being. The recent turmoil in the country has been visible to everyone. Additionally, when Bombay was attacked on November 26, 2008 (better known as 26\11 to most), several Indians – me too, for an impetuous moment – could be heard making calls for war. After all, there could be no time better than this to finish Pakistan off, no? Pakistan was weak and dis-co-ordinated. The army, the ISI, the government, the peoples, the militia, and every other piece of soceital machinery seemed out-of-place. Pakistan itself was convinced that it was going to come under fire (figuratively, and more). India (i suspect) did carry-out contingency plans for the same too. It would be foolish to think the opposite. I remember writing this down, during the days following the ordeal:

Nothing [sic] can justify War. The imminent loss of lives, the economic impact, the crumbling of international decorum; all weigh down upon a state while it contemplates violent aggression against an enemy state. Let’s focus down to the current context; India-Pakistan. [December 23, 2008]

And so i sat down to chart out (my-own) reasons for whether we(\India) should attack Pakistan or not. I’m basically just converting the points i listed down (back then) into sentences, for the sake of making it worth reading through.

Read the rest of this entry »

I came across this post a few days ago, titled, “Indians Burning the Holy Quran”.

Hate against Muslims in India is spreading like wildfire.

…Indian Government’s support…hate crimes against minorities…no control on Hindu Extremists…

…In this photograph [as shown on that post] you can see clearly how Hind Extremists openly  practice their hate campaign…

A sikh spectator…part of this or is he standing there trying to be closer to the Hindu mob for his own bleak survival…

It’s not really much, but the author made an attempt to stir up some specific emotions. I did leave a comment for him, however, Pique just forwarded me an email that might help me provide a better reply.

Here’s a pic (from among many) from the email. I have a feeling that many people would have received this email; it seemed to have been forwarded several times in a matter of hours, before it landed up with me.

kashmir: Seperatists burning the Indian Tri-Colour

Now,

I needn’t really say a lot, no…When extremists within India can openly burn the Indian National Flag itself…what is it that can NOT happen? Assaults on Bar-Girls? Naah, that happens. “Breaking” News coverage for snakes that enter homes? That happens too. Awards ceremonies where a Ashutosh Gowarikar fights with Sajid Khan? That too.

And as Pique’s mail went on to elaborate, this event was going-on while a particular news channel was reporting how a cat was stranded on the parapet of a building, and finally jumped off the spot to save herself, seeing how people wouldn’t be able to help her [apparently, the fire-engine was unable to reach there in time, because the number of news-vans that had already turned up there had blocked all entry-routes, for miles]

I will never support someone burning the Quran, or the Indian Tri-colour. No one will [except, ofcourse, the people in the pictures on either blog: 1, 2 ]. I know not how such acts can go so blatantly unpunished – I may have cared to blur the face of the Seperatist leader who was burning the flag, but, surely, the police would have seen better images than the one here?

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In other things, the touring Sri Lankan cricket team was shot at in Lahore yesterday (March 3). Besides saluting the slain personnel and hoping for the safety of the injured (personnel/players),  and, besides feeling sorry for the general Pakistani public (for, this is a battle that they have no part in, yet, no matter what the outcome, they shall always be on the losing side), there is nothing to say.

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Woho! Super-charged updates:

[1] Someone in Pakistan swiftly blames India for the attack on the touring cricketers.

[2] The protests in Kashmir [flag burning, et al.] might have their own causes rooted in a much larger episode, of dissent against army activities in the region. Not read much along this, but this link is what gave me this tid-bit. //Even so, the point i try to convey via this post remains unaltered.

[3] The previous link (like many others in the page) direct to a blog, which i’m liking less every moment. Really don’t want people to subscribe to its views.

Am i the only one losing sleep over the Pakistan issue? I mean, Pakistan’s our neighbour. And to think that we are so powerless… We have the fire-power, but can’t bomb Pakistan off the map. It’ll only throw it further into the grip of anarchy. We can motivate international propoganda, but it’ll be of no use. We can try securing our borders, but that’s futile too. What, i wonder, can anyone do?

150 km from Islamabad. And the Swat Valley has completely fallen to the Taliban. Girls can’t attend schools. Policemen get killed for serving their nation. People aren’t free to speak or do what they’d like. And as if to crown all-that, ‘unknown’ people murdered a news Reporter, barely a few days after a ceasefire was announced. I may stand waaay off the humanity and compassion scales of measure, but the murder of a journalist is not a palatable event – for me even.

When journalists begin to get killed – that’s when you realise that, for civil freedoms in the country, the death knell has been sounded. It’s obvious that Pakistan can’t do much to prevent what’s surely going to follow. [I'll be getting ahead of myself if i were to speculate what will happen.] I wonder, what can the world do?

And then, the same country that can’t ensure such freedoms, goes ahead and asks India to hand-over Kasab. Apparently, they say, India should have no trouble handing over Kasab to Pakistan, since he’s a Pakistani citizen, and would be tried by pakistani Law.

This, from a country, who first refused to admit that these terrorists were it’s citizens, put a blockade on Kasab’s hometown, refused to co-operate, did stupid things like put the conspirators on house arrest (when, infact, it was protecting the conspirators from the outside world by performing such an act), and even pretended that India did all this to frame Pakistan.

Yeah right, sires, we have no other job in life, than go around throwing muck on your face. Get a life, there’s too much muck there already. And we still haven’t forgotten about Dawood Ibrahim. Don’t come and ask us to hand over Kasab.

In closing – I really don’t hate Pakistan. Least so it’s citizens. I’ve interacted with a few, and found that they were much the same. And frankly, the problem of terrorism that they face in their country – well, India faces much the same – only, they’re called XYZ Sena (xyz=multiple options – all will be correct) and VHP and all-that. I really do hope that the civilians don’t have to bear for the errors committed by forces that are beyond civil control. I do.

I’m an atheist. But, for once, i won’t mind Praying. To God, even. If that’s what it takes to help solve this. Unfortunately, it’ll take a lot more. A LOT…