Discovering India

While Mr. Rahul Gandhi shares his name with Gautam Buddha's son, here ends all the similarities. For some, being born in the most illustrious family of this country, he is a lucky man. In actual, his life, never his own - belonging to nation, is full of challenges, the biggest of-course is of setting an example. Aware of this fact, he starts Discovring India. Discovering India, whose grounds has been made fertile by his family's sweat & blood.

Just a couple of days before, when his arrival in my tiny state of Chhattisgarh is all set, I am sleepless, for I know that there is a little chance that he will ever see what he must. The tribal region that he is going to visit will be flooded with banners & posters of his own & the real India that he is discovering will be hidden behind them. Yet his itinerary still unknown shows his own desire to unveil the real faces of people who comprise India. He is aware of this fact.

The tribal region that he will visit is one of the most beautiful places in India, yet the survival of natives there is no less than a miracle. For more than two thousand years they have lived in an environment of untouchability, being deprived of even necessary human requirements. They are shudras according to laws of Manu. & today when India glides high into twenty first century they find themselves struck between naxalites & salwa judum (govt. sponsored anti-naxalite campaign). Either side is determined to spill their blood in revenge. For two thousand years they were not allowed into society & now they are not allowed in civilized world.
While Rahul ji will move through them, there will be hope in their eyes. Hope that they always had from his family. Yet with mouth they will not speak but will speak through their eyes. A conversation between them & a man who comes from a family whose members have paid the price with their life for this country. I am hopeful as they are, for I know that all our kismet are linked with him.

In particularly moving passages of Nehru ji's will in which he asks for his ashes to be thrown away from the sky so that his soul remains in the soil of this nation, I found his love for not only this nation but for whole humanity. Years & years after, while his great grandson discovers India, I, for an unknowable reason find satisfaction.
His legacy is safe.

p s :-
Following the anonymous commenter, while hunting for the noesis of relative terminology of shudras, I found that tribals are basically not shudras. But I must make clear that hindu mythology is absolutely silent about the classification of tribals, though they have been very abstractly put in the second varna - kshatriya, they are treated no less then a shudra.
On the whole, I correct myself with thanks to the anonymous commenter.

The Manchurian Candidates Of Dantewada

The morning of 26th April brought with itself a shocking news scribbled on an esteemed daily news paper regarding naxalite activities in Dantewada district. The news said that Yelam (a maoist leader active in Abhujhmad) has announced a new program in which the pregnant women have to deliver their child in temporary camps under constant observation of medical specialists of Woman Revolutionary Organization so that these children can be made devoted fully for the maoist ideology.

This about to take place brainwash reminded me of Richard Condon's thriller novel "The Manchurian Candidate" in which the lead character is brainwashed to become an unwilling assassin of communist party. Thanks to Mr. Condon, this unfortunate event never takes place & the world is being saved. But how the Manchurian candidates of Dantewada will be stopped ?

Though, it's not at all a new thing that Yelam has programmed for it is being done from centuries to brainwash the child into some ideology as soon as they start breathing. The communist ideology albeit it's claim of being the one where religion is considered to be opium of masses & has always covered itself under the atheist cloak but still no less it's methodology is different from it's counterpart. Demented Friedrich Nietzsche has the right answer of this perplexity, for he moans that one should be aware of fighting the devil, there is every chance of becoming the devil itself in the end. Fairly enough, in this case, one has all right to decide which one is devil. I enjoy liberty of being in the middle where both are devil for me.

The disturbing news roots in the future when we will be surrounded by the brainwashed Maoists, their eyes soared by the ideology that has been fed into them when they weren't capable enough to oppose it. The only way for them is to accept it all meekly paving the path of their becoming fidayeens .

A very good friend of mine once wrote in his poem

All is well,
All is hell.

It Was A Nightmare Being Saddam

I am sitting on a long table with at least 10-12 people on my both sides. All of them are dressed up neatly. But the outfit that I am wearing is somewhat faded as if I have been forced to wear it from many days. I am in black outfit. The table that I am sharing with others is on a platform & is facing a huge crowd in hall. It’s quite high rush & some of them are even standing since there is no more place to sit. Below the platform, on my both sides are sitting two gentlemen, neatly dressed, looking like university professors & I feel that both of them are trying to avoid looking at me. Why ? I don’t know.

The man on the middle of the table stands up. The crowd’s murmur converts into silence. He is adjusting the microphone. He starts clearing his throat in lieu of saying something. Now after a brief pause he is saying something, looking at the audience. “Ladies & Gentlemen, Its my honour to preside over the debate which is going to start shortly on the question of Mr. Saddam Hussein’s death sentence. The Gentlemen sitting at the both ends of platform will debate over the mentioned matter, one of them will be for the topic & other obviously will be against it. Without taking any more of your precious time I announce the commence of this debate over the question of Mr. Hussein’s death sentence.” He looks at me while sitting down. Is he smiling? What’s this? Why is everyone looking at me? Oh god! What’s this going on? Am I Saddam Hussein? Yes I am.

I wipe my forehead’s sweat while the man on the right end stood up & walks towards the podium. He starts adjusting the microphone & now before speaking he is giving me a very nasty glance. With his glance filled with hatred, I can easily make out that he is going to support the death sentence of mine.

He is speaking now. “Ladies & Gentlemen, a warm welcome to you all. I will jump directly to the point without making any more waste of our precious time”. He points his finger at me & resumes again. “The man that we can all see sitting in the middle of table is Saddam Hussein. Mr Hussein over the decades became the example of violation of human rights. He never ever himself cared about the human life & now he sits between us keeping a little faith in his heart, which I must say that it’s of devil, that we all we pardon him for all the crimes against humanity which he committed & will take his words that they all were done for the sake of our nation. Let me give you a short list of his ruthless acts:-

1. Reprisal Against Dujail

On July 8, 1982, Saddam Hussein was visiting the town of Dujail (50 miles north of Baghdad) when a group of Dawa militants shot at his motorcade. In reprisal for this assassination attempt, the entire town was punished. More than 140 fighting-age men were apprehended and never heard from again. Approximately 1,500 other townspeople, including children, were rounded up and taken to prison, where many were tortured.

2. Anfal Campaign

Officially from February 23 to September 6, 1988 (but often thought to extend from March 1987 to May 1989), Saddam Hussein's regime carried out the Anfal (Arabic for "spoils") campaign against the large Kurdish population in northern Iraq. The purpose of the campaign was ostensibly to reassert Iraqi control over the area; however, the real goal was to permanently eliminate the Kurdish problem. The campaign consisted of eight stages of assault, where up to 200,000 Iraqi troops attacked the area, rounded up civilians, and razed villages. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled the area, yet it is estimated that up to 182,000 were killed during the Anfal campaign. Many people consider the Anfal campaign an attempt at genocide.

3. Chemical Weapons Against Kurds

As early as April 1987, the Iraqis used chemical weapons to remove Kurds from their villages in northern Iraq during the Anfal campaign. It is estimated that chemical weapons were used on approximately 40 Kurdish villages, with the largest of these attacks occurring on March 16, 1988 against the Kurdish town of Halabja. Approximately 5,000 women, men, and children died within days of the attacks. Long-term effects included permanent blindness, cancer, and birth defects. An estimated 10,000 lived, but live daily with the disfigurement and sicknesses from the chemical weapons.

4. Invasion of Kuwait

On August 2, 1990, Iraqi troops invaded the country of Kuwait. The invasion was induced by oil and a large war debt that Iraq owed Kuwait. The six-week, Persian Gulf War pushed Iraqi troops out of Kuwait in 1991. As the Iraqi troops retreated, they were ordered to light oil wells on fire. Over 700 oil wells were lit, burning over one billion barrels of oil and releasing dangerous pollutants into the air. Oil pipelines were also opened, releasing 10 million barrels of oil into the Gulf and tainting many water sources. The fires and the oil spill created a huge environmental disaster.

5. Shiite Uprising & the Marsh Arabs

At the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991, southern Shiites and northern Kurds rebelled against Hussein's regime. In retaliation, Iraq brutally suppressed the uprising, killing thousands of Shiites in southern Iraq. As supposed punishment for supporting the Shiite rebellion in 1991, Saddam Hussein's regime killed thousands of Marsh Arabs, bulldozed their villages, and systematically ruined their way of life.

He again looks at me, his eyes filled with hatred after reading out all this from a piece of paper. I avoided his looks & looked towards the crowd & found nearly all of them with same emotion in their eyes too.

He continues, “Therefore, ladies & gentlemen, I advocate the death sentence following Mr. Hussein’s policy of an eye for any eye, a tooth for a tooth.

I will conclude hereby myself.

As soon as he sat down the man on the other side stood up & took the empty podium.

His voice is very frail. He will defend me.

“Ladies & gentlemen, my friend here presented you some of the facts & figures which showed Mr. Hussein’s inhumanity. I agree of him being inhuman & subside by the fact that he did all these atrocities but instead of sentencing him to death I would like to see him in Jail for the rest of his life. His death will make him a martyr & that’s what we should stop history to term him. We have already seen that since his arrest his supporters protested in a very violent way. I must thank my American friends here that at least they captured him though everyone in the worlds thought that they are after Mr. Laaden. But someone was needed for the sacrifice of the holy ritual in the war against terror. So, Mr Hussein is going to pay not only for himself but also for what Mr. Laaden did to world trade centre. By the way someone was telling me that the architect should be held for making such a weak structure. Anyway the building is down now & Mr Hussein is equally responslible for that. But still I am against sentencing him to death. The greatest war lord of the twenty-first century Mr George Bush is a dedicated son. He avenged his father. Mr Hussein’s greatest crime was that he never showed any respect to George Bush Sr. & hence it became the duty of the junior to avenge. This he did along with his best friend Mr Tony Blair. But it will create havoc if we hang Mr Hussein. The muslim community will take this verdict against them. The propaganda which will follow after the sentence will divide the rest of world into two poles. Therefore, I request the presiding gentleman to grant Mr Hussein pardon from the death sentence & let him rot for the rest of his life in Jail.

Suddenly, I found myself saying, “Iraq is nothing without me. For all your gentlemen’s kind informatiom I have been hanged yesterday. I tongue is already hanging”.

I woke up. What the fuck? I was dreaming & that too me being Saddam Hussein. What the nightmare it was to put myself in Saddam’s shoes. A very good friend of mine (who is more than a friend to me) once said that ten out of ten people are going to die in the end, then why be serious. Absolutely correct.

Aftermath: - Saddam Husein was hanged on the

dawn of 3oth Dec.The sentence was followed by bloody
demonstrations in which nearly 70 people were killed in
four different car bomb explosions in Baghdad & Najaf.

Happy New Year By the Way.
The figures of 5  top crimes commited by saddam comes from http://history1900s.about.com/od/saddamhussein/a/husseincrimes.htm

Bhopalpatnam : Preparation Of Another Errabor

The dust of Errabor is now settled in our memories. The bloody dawn of 17th july is long back forgotten. The blood stains are invisible from that unfortunate ground now. But still, the question still stands within all of us. What is being done to prevent another genocidal act like Errabor ?

The answer came in the most shocking way, when a group of nearly 20 elected people from Bhopalpatnam ( Dantewada) reached Raipur on 7th November in search of refuge & letting their voice reach the unaware ears of the capital. The truth that came out of them, which was quite impossible without courageous Jogi's help who stood alone yet with many against SJ, was enough to send shivers who were in the mindset of neglecting the happenings that are taking place in the southern most corners of this infant state. The talked freely about their abduction by the SPOs (special protection officers, locally they are better known as the guards of Salwa Judum) while they were on their to meet the C.O. in Dantewada regarding their pending Janpad work. They were then taken to SJ base camp where the humiliation & attrocities continued. All this was done just becuase of a simple reason that these elected representatives did'nt wanted SJ in their Bhopalpatnam block. The mention of the third degree torture on them by SJ was enough to remind me of some scenes from the film Schindeler's list. They were then released the next day with a clear warning of not telling all this to anyone or .....

This answer, I think, is enough.

We learn only this much from past that we dont learn anything from past. The continuance of SJ is making a clear path for another Errabor. Even if naxalites dont kill, SJ surely will. The natives are left there with only two choices : either be a naxalite or a SJ. But ironically SJ is licensed to kill if you are a naxalite ( that is understood ) or even if you are'nt a naxalite but not also SJ. Its quite understood that why these elected repesentatives from Bhopalpatnam took atleast 12 days to reach Raipur, not more than a day long journey. Nietzsche's princple " what does not kills me, make me stronger", seems to be applied on these representatives, who reached Raipur in hope of justice.

Are we all waiting for another Errabor?

Are we prepared to see a genocide, this time by SJ?

Are we making sure that ace human right, that is, Right To Exist, does exist in accordance with SJ?

Terrorism !!!

Just a few days back a very big & eye-catching news flashed everywhere round the globe.
A Fidayeen couple along with a baby were caught in Heathrow (London) when they were about to board the plane. After this, nearly 19 people were caught on this account & then a frightening information came out ; they were planning to explode nearly 10 planes on air ; another example of terrorism.

These terrorists were Islamic & now-a-days esp. after 9/11 extremist Islam & terrorism are going side by side.But, giving a glance to the world history or the current events, it is not so.
I R A is not Islamic.
LTTE is a hindu extremist organization.
Maoist in Nepal were not concerned to any religion.
My point is simply to point out those who are using the shoulders of Islam in order to carry out their fanaticism don’t belong to any religion.

Where the rest of world stands in the emergence of terrorism ?
Especially, the developed countries. Are they equally responsible in this violent act ?
What would one call the time-phase which is historically called as ‘cold-war.’ ?
If terrorism simply means an act of terrifying some one then I don’t think so that people were’nt terrified when both USA & Russia(FORMER USSR) were aiming at each other with missiles loaded with nukes.
If the time-phase of Cuba Missile Crisis is looked closely then I don’t imagine that people around the world were living merrily at that time.

Development of nuclear bombs led the rich nations to divert their attention from the conventional war-fare methods. Although, these nuclear bombs are worth millions but still they are not useful. This world cannot afford any more Hiroshima-Nagasaki.
It simply means that now nuclear bombs are meant only for threatening.
But since with the development of nukes these nations had also to carry burdens of the conventional war-fares methods, it started on a world scale sale of these old war-fare methods.
Now, the interesting part is this that all the countries are fighting the terrorists with the same guns that were previously made by these countries only & the terrorists are also using the same factory’s product.

Friedrich Nietzsche once said, ‘Insanity in individual is rare ; But in groups, parties & nations it is a rule .’

Errabor Massacre : Ugly Face Of Salwa Judum

Yesterday will always be remembered as a black day in the history ofthis infant state. Last night the salwa judum relief camp was attackedby hundreds of armed naxalites killing almost 40 campers. Thedisturbing part is this that naxalites were literally dancing on theblood of those innocent tribals and there was'nt any security aroundto stop them.For me, Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh is equally responsible for thismassacre. Without arranging any solid security for the campers thisattack was made easier and expected. The whole security of them is theresponsibility of the state govt and being the head of the govt DrSingh should immediately resign on the moral grounds.Salwa Judum which is translated as the path to peace has fallen apartwith this ruthless act. There is no relief in the relief camps itself.Errabore massacre has exposed the flaws in so called self-initiatedmovement of Salwa Judum.Solid measure has to be taken now to stop all this. If necessary,salwa judum should also be called off as this movement is now runningat the expense of innocent lives.

SALWA JUDUM : NEO NAXALISM

'Naxalism' The movement which started from a small village of Naxalbari in Darjeeling in West Bengal in mid 60's has now spread its roots widely(nearly half of India). Naxalis call their movement as a social revolution. Government on the other hand place them besides terrorists. Is it a revolution or is it a terrorism? No, it is reaction. A reaction movement started by suppressed peoples but now has taken a form of terrorism. From thousands of years majority of Indians were constantly suppressed by the so called upper caste peoples. The reaction to that suppression has taken the form of naxalism. But it is the worst form of reaction. It does not have ideologies. And the movement without ideology is already dead. It seems that the whole focus of naxalis have shifted towards violence only. Naxalism has become a kind of social disease now. Our state of Chattisgarh is suffering from this disease. And the BJP led govt. in the state has the most absurd kind of remedy in their bag. 'SALWA JUDUM'. This so called salwa judum took lives of many poor and innocent tribals in the name of war against naxalism. Former chief minister of the state Mr. Ajit Jogi was a visionary man. He tried to solve the problem from its roots by initiating many social and economic reform programmes in naxal affected districts. Unfortunately he is not in office anymore. And those who are in office now a days are in the state of complete dilemma regarding naxal problem.