HOLY WAR???????????????

Yesterday 5 bomb blasts rocked our capital city; my first reaction was, “Not again”. After going through the details I realized this is the same place one of my relative boards his bus everyday. I tried to call them but as expected the system was jammed. Finally I got through; all my relatives and friends were fine except one. Her mother picked up the call and I could sense that tone of fear of death in her voice. As I myself had experienced this fear, I knew consoling words would not work there; this fear is to be faced silently. I hanged up and called up later to find everything was fine! I thanked God that everybody I knew was fine, though 25 people had died and more than 100 injured. The pictures of explosion in news channels were disturbing my mind. I left it and went to internet to relax my mind. I can’t keep thinking of such things again and again, I have to become tolerant to all this, as I know deep inside these things are not going to stop in near future at least! But news was everywhere. As I was chatting with my friends the topic was the same. But suddenly I was shocked by the impulsive reaction of my one friend – “ Saale Haramzado ne itne aadmi mar diye , all these Muslims should be killed.” I know we Indians are best at impulsive reactions and then doing nothing about it, but I was surprised why all Muslims should be killed for this reason. Soon we started having an argument and I found many among us held Muslims and all Pakistani people responsible for these explosions. Earlier also some of the people around me justified the Gujarat riots on the ground that it taught all Muslims a lesson. I argued but failed to convince them of the barbarity of those riots. Then I realized these terrorists have now become successful in their mission- they have divided our country on communal grounds, they have sown the seeds of hatred and ill feeling among the public of India. And this will feed their system now as it will ensure a new wave of terrorists killing many more poor innocents. This will be capitalized by our power hungry politicians who will continue with the British policy of divide and rule putting the country at stake! Was Bhagat Singh right when he said such Independence without equality and peace will just replace white English with black ones?

Why we common Indians are so impulsive in our reactions? Why we have become a herd of sheep led by cunning leaders who just work for themselves. How we have lost the power of rational and logical thinking? How we common educated Indians just look what is shown to us, incapable of seeing beyond the obvious? How we just hear the beating drums without listening to the words of wisdom? Why we blame full community for an act which is not even justified by even their religion? Why we never think – who is the mastermind behind these explosions? What are his motives? Who are the looser and who are the gainers? Who cares and who exploits these bomb explosions? Why we get irritated and close our ears when anybody asks us these questions, while we are very comfortable in shouting – “Kill all those Bastards”!!

First the easiest questions- who suffers due to these explosions? Yes the common man who walks on the streets, who travels in the locals, who lives his everyday life on these roads as common man of India. No VIP dies in these explosions, no politician is hurt and no bureaucrat suffers. What is peculiar is this bomb explosion doesn’t differentiate between Hindu and Muslim; it kills them both as they both are the common citizens of India. At the same time, it doesn’t touch the elite of India which is again both Hindu and Muslim.

The next question is who gains? While the simpler answer is obviously these terrorists who have achieved their mission but there are many indirect beneficiaries also who are not so obvious. Terrorists gain not only in killing people but a bigger purpose- they are able to sow the seeds of hatred and revenge. The repeated bomb explosions are able to put one community against another- thirsty for each others bloods. As we look them with suspicion a whole community of millions of people is alienated in their own country. They find themselves at odd in their own country treated differently, looked suspiciously. While we can allow a rapist drunkard Hindu to be our tenant or our employee we will never trust a noble Muslim. And this brings a new wave of frustrated youngsters, living at odds in their own country. And this stops the upbringing of patriotic APJ Abdul Kalam and produces new activists for SIMI and Indian Mujahideen destabilizing our country.
At the same time there are some more factions which reap the benefits of communal violence. It is the Hindu fascist forces- VHP and Bajrang Dal. As these bomb explosions create the feeling of fear and insecurity, it is immediately exploited by these organizations. While they do nothing for development of poor, they spread hatred and violence in the name of national pride. They do nothing for development and eradication of poverty but use this opportunity to increase their stronghold and gain power. And thus finally fill their pockets with money which should be use for development.
There are one more strata of society which gains from such activities- the capitalist of India. This section is busy in dividing our country in two parts- India and Bharat. While India is becoming a superpower with our many industrialists joining the Forbes list, Bharat is reeling under poverty and indifference. As common Indian remains busy in thinking about riots, explosions and hatred produced by it, the rich India is signing various deals with government. The deals which will displace millions from their lands and livelihood, in the name of development. But we are preoccupied with bomb explosions. Thanks to our media, we are very interested in what happened in Aarushi case but no one cares for over a million farmers who committed suicide in Vidharba!

Now the next question is who are the losers? These are the people who want India to live happily in peace and harmony. As these explosions benefit Hindu and Muslim extremists it negates the work of human rights activists and intellectuals. It takes out the hope of few Indians who are fighting against various odds to make India and Bharat one. Who want a country not only rich in industries but in human capital also. As parties demand for POTA, these human rights fighting for justice against state crimes and injustice loose their ground. In the frenzy of communal madness, a free and happy India is lost!


Next is our first and most complex question – who is these terrorists? This is the most difficult question because terrorists are not born in one day. Such heinous crimes cannot be carried out by ordinary citizen. It is over a long period of time, with many psychological factors contributing, that a terrorist is born. It is long back in the pages of history that the seeds for the birth of a terrorist are sown.


THE HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS HATRED


Long time back, Napoleon said, “Religion is a tool in the hands of powerful to make fool out of poor.” In the starting of the civilization, as man was weak and ignorant, God was his only companion who could give him strength to fight against all odds. But as man became powerful he became more power thirsty. To achieve this power he required man. And to control those men he required some cause to motivate his man to fight and give their lives. And there started the religious battles of the world. As religion is with us since our birth it is very dear and pious to us. And this feeling was exploited by power hungry man to motivate his armies to give their lives. While all religion in the world preaches peace and tolerance, maximum number of atrocities had been done in the name of religion. While all regions were born to remove the ill effects of older stagnant religions, they themselves were hijacked to wage war and destruction. It was the nexus of power, religion and wealth which became the source of human exploitation and misery. Newer the religion more wars it had to fight to make its place. Thus as Christianity was born, the churches executed many pagans. As they reached the “new land’, millions of native Indians were executed in the name of God. With cross in their hand they distributed blankets infected with small pox virus which eliminated entire community from the land. While the real aim was power and Gold, religion was used as a tool to kill human beings.
[http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/amherst/lord_jeff.html]

Islam is one of the nascent religions born in the age of turmoil and when people were suffering due to their own religions. While it came as a symbol of hope to millions, it had to fight since it birth only for survival. Many wars were fought between Muslims and Christians, but the real motive was to gain power and dominance. In the name of God, millions lost their lives in the holy land of Jerusalem!

While many religions perished from Persia and Arab after the birth of Islam, India was different. If a tree is rigid it cannot withstand a heavy storm, but if it flexible it will bend and survive. Same was the condition with Hinduism which survived many threats from other religions due to its tolerance and peacefulness. It improved itself, molded it and co existed with other religions- be it Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Jainism or even Islam. While the kings kept fighting for money and power, the wars in India never became a religious war. Though many people converted to Islam but Muslim rulers were never able to eliminate Hinduism as it was peaceful and tolerant. The amalgamation of these two religions gave birth to Sufism and Bhakti movement which spread the feelings of brotherhood, peace and one God. While rulers kept fighting they were countered by the mutual feelings of peace and humanity.


However things changed with the spread of British Imperialism. These power and money thirsty people again exploited the religion to gain dominance. After the revolt of 1857 when Hindu and Muslim rulers fought together against the British, they developed the policy of divide and rule. While Hindus and Muslims started fighting each other, British gained more dominance and exploited our country more and more. The seeds of communal disharmony sown by them, by first wooing Hindus and then Muslims, soon developed into a tree of hatred and intolerance with British rule unchallenged. Anybody who tried to disrupt their policy was immediately removed from the scene. People like Bhagat Singh, who favoured communal harmony and real freedom from the British system rather than just their rule, were executed at the tender age of 23. They were falsely labeled as terrorists, acting on impulses, with their believes and ideals removed from the pages of Indian history forever. As II World War, weakened British economically and militarily they knew that they had to leave India some day. They fanned the feelings of communal hatred and divided India forever. They created the state of Israel in Arab heartland and divided our country in the name of religion, so that they could interfere in our policies even after leaving our country physically! The man, due to whom millions lost their land and life in partition, was made viceroy of Independent India. The same day we lost the tryst with our destiny as seeds of communal hatred were sown forever. Even today, India and Pakistan, keep fighting and blaming each other, while our western masters merrily exploit our natural and human resources.

But the things just didn’t stop there, after all the religion is the best tool in the hands of greedy. Second World War changed the face of world forever, while the Imperialist powers lost their economic and military power, various countries started the struggle for their independence. This was also followed by their experiments towards socialism and democracy, and the threat to American capitalism. And to counter this threat US used the tools of brutal dictatorship and religious fanaticism. The so called hotbed of Islamic terrorism today – Pakistan, Afghanistan, middle east and even Iran are the products of CIA adventurism. While it countered the elements of socialism in Korea and Vietnam by military might, in Latin America and Indonesia by dictatorships, it found the religious fanaticism as the easiest tool in Muslim dominated countries against atheist Marxists!


Let’s take the case of Iran – the “Axis of Evil” as described by George W. Bush- the threat to entire world! It was CIA which conspired against first democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran-Mohammed Mosaddeq, just because he nationalized Iranian oil fields for Iran.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax]

With a drive to kill the communists in Iran, the Shah of Iran carried out large atrocities which finally led to the Islamic revolution led by radical clerics. But still most of the people in Iran are still moderates who had nothing to do with fundamentalism. The national Geographic of July, 2008 reconfirms it that most of the people of Iran wish to have a democratic non radical Prime Minister, a dream destroyed by US many years ago!

Now come to the hotbed of Islamic terrorism. From the starting of cold war US found its ally in Pakistan and supported dictators like Zia-ul-Haq who took Pakistan many years back through their radical views. It was only through US support that Zia –ul-Haq gripped his power and spread Islamic views
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zia-ul-Haq]

But it was the Afghanistan which produced the most fundamental Islamic organizations like Taliban and Al-Qaeda. And who is responsible for their military training, weapons and monetary support? Our dear CIA, which gave billion of dollars and weapons as support to Islamic organizations to teach Soviet Union a lesson! Operation cyclone, as it is called in CIA books, produced the largest number of Islamic terrorists in the world history. But while it spent billions in making terrorists out of common people, it spent peanuts on their resettlement. Once the Soviet intervention was over, US also withdrew its logistic support never realizing what will these religious warriors, who know only to fight in the name of religion, would be up to? And they carried on with their religious war, this time against their own master!
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_Afghanistan]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_U.S._regime_change_actions#Afghanistan_1978-1980s]


The next major event was the - Sep 11, 2001, the attack on WTC and Pentagon. The immediate reaction was of fear, anger and then hatred against whole of Afghanistan and in general Muslim community. This was soon followed by the war in Iraq. In all, at the end of cold war, US just got another excuse to attack any nation, in the pretext of “War on Terrorism”. While there are some doubts about who attacked at WTC, there are more or less certainty that attack on Pentagon was fake. But instead of finding the cause and solution America media went into frenzy, depicting clips of Osama Bin Laden and “Muslim Warriors.” Though it may not have a direct effect but it definitely has a psychological effect- and I felt it on me. Since that time whenever I see a Muslim with long beard I have a feeling of suspicion and maintain some distance from him. This is the effect of media coverage on our sub conscious mind. Though US itself is responsible for deaths of millions in the world , its media depicted as if some Islamic fanatics are a threat to entire humanity and mankind, and must be stopped even though it involves the lives of thousands in “ collateral damage”. And what a paradox these man had been raised by US only!
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_conspiracy_theories]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_Truth_Movement]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Pearl_Harbor]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_CIA_assistance_to_Osama_bin_Laden]



INDIAN CONTEXT

Now you must be wondering what all this boring history had to do with the bomb explosions in India. No event happens alone in itself, it is caused by a chain of events and it results in a chain of events. Americas “war on terror “alienated the Muslims through out the world. They were looked down with suspicion and root cause of world miseries. By this they felt more vulnerable and alienated, developing an undercurrent frustration and hatred against society and system. And this frustration is capitalized by religious fundamentalists resulting in more terror attacks and more counter attacks. Soon it became a never ending chain reaction fueled by hatred and vengeance!

This war by and against Islam provided an opportunity not only to American war masters who can attack any country now, but also to Hindu fundamentalists in India. After start of liberalization in 1990s, as more and more people are getting displaced by so called development projects they need some hope to live. And there is nothing better than a vague religious hope which tells them one day everything will become fine, just have faith in God. This opportunity is immediately capitalized by Hindu fascist forces for their political power. No wonder BJP became so powerful after 1990s. At the same time as more and more people lost their livelihood in rural India and forests, they were engulfed by RSS who are spreading their wings all across India. But what they lacked was a hatred and jealous filled vigor in middle class Indian youth.

The bomb blasts in major Indian cities provided them with a golden opportunity and they intensified their hatred campaign against Muslims. What will these achieve? Definitely political gains for these Fascists forces but it will have one major influence on Indian culture and its history. This will cause the alienation of already sidelined Muslims even more. The atmosphere of distrust and hatred increases the frustration of Muslim youth which will be capitalized by their fundamentalists as well as Hindu fundamentalist organizations. And as two communities will be placed against each other, it will be the common man who will loose his life, property and peace. Because it is finally the common man who dies in the bomb blasts, who is harassed by police and suffers in his everyday life! While my friends curse common Muslim living next to them, obviously there are no words against Aziz Premji, Shahrukh Khan or any rich Muslim! Why? This is because poverty and not religion is the actual curse.

So what is the solution? Should we blindly accept these attacks against common man? Or should we use strong anti –terrorist’s laws like POTA? I believe these will give short term results as these are treatments of symptoms while disease thrives in full swing. What we need is the removal of root cause – development and eradication of poverty, removal of hatred and suspicion against all Muslims. More so we need a strong Intelligence system which can catch actual masterminds behind these attacks and stop harassment of common man. This harassment causes destructive results. Any petty criminal, once he spends some time in notorious Indian Jails, comes out as a full grown criminal. While a strong intelligence is necessary to stop these attacks and stop the cause and not the event. Till the time we address the root problems these attacks will continue and common man will suffer from both sides! Yesterday again there were two blasts in Delhi, and this time I didn’t call anyone as even I am getting used to all this now!