Reflections On Mumbai Fiasco : The Logic Of Ostrich

November 28^th 2008 5:15 PM

I am agitated today to be called as human. Mumbai is under most ferocious attack, bullets & grenades flying like saucers in all directions, people running for protection & after all this horrific drama we still call ourselves the gem of nature, the most intelligent mammal. The ethical principle - live & let live – is long forgotten & has been taken place by violence & atrocities where blood is considered no better than water. The events from November 26^th till present has made one thing sure that further blood-shed in inevitable, whilst revenge will be the mantra & bullet for bullet will be the only source of satisfaction. But shall not ‘eye for an eye’ will make the whole world blind. It may seem a cowardly writing especially in such time when rages are on fire & the demand for counter-reply can be heard everywhere. I don’t care even if this is taken cowardly & fearful in such a world where being courageous simply means being violent. I mourn for the death of innocents wherever it shall be & I condemn such violence whomever it shall be.

At the time, when I am writing this blog-entry, the terror has come to end. The militants have been gunned down by security forces; over one hundred fifty innocent civilians killed & with them died their dreams, their possibilities & most of all their hearts. They were sacrificed for religious & political ideologies.

I have been asking few since all this drama started that what the final solution of terrorism is. I am not surprised when all the replies I got ended in a big nothing. There isn’t any solution for the simple reason that the problem of terror has never been looked in its perfect & absolute form. This is a political world that we live in & all this dancing on the bloody floor is a part of package. While this is the high time for print & electronic media, blogs & other different sources of communications to investigate, condemn & post-mortem the events. In all this melodramatic thought process the ‘cause & effect’ will be lost, it has always been.

November 29th 8:45 PM

The logic of Ostrich

The ostrich maintains a simple logic – when enemy on sight, bury the head in ground – the enemy that’s not visible is no enemy at all. We often follow the Ostrich’s logic when any event of this sort occurs. Humanity is been so much classified, compartmentalized & divided that on the names of humans only identities appear. Groups & sects have replaced the absolute identical structures & any replacement of this kind has made one thing sure – the clashes between groups.

While answering to my disturbing questions ‘P’ answered that these terrorists have been so badly brainwashed that they just follow commands be it related to violence or anything. But again, aren’t we all brainwashed since centuries. We identify ourselves as Hindus, Muslims or Indians, Pakistanis, Americans & out of this identification we unconsciously make sure that the other group or sect is the enemy & as the age old rule states – everything is fair in love & war – we love the group that we belong to & physically, mentally or spiritually jump into war with another. Killings are licensed & validated for the love of a group or sect.

As the education is made easily available in this & previous century, a new breed of idealism has germinated which claims all humans to be equal & all groups, sects & religion preaching the same thing – peace within humans. They condemn such violent attacks & claim that no religion ever teaches violence. This is brainwashing & sleeping at its height. No one looks or doesn’t want to look at the other side of coin. When all religions are equal then what is the need of so many.

To be continued...

(The above blog-entry isn't meant to cross the limits of anyone's personal identity or freedom. However, I maintain that although bitter & sour, I have tried to bring into light the factual status of recent events rather then reflecting the common notion of condemnation that has been catered to us since ages. Either swallow it or spit it out the taste of truth will remain same. The house that we all live in is on fire & whether we stay in it or get out of it will depend on individual choice. Therefore, the entry investigates rather then imposing any idea. )

The Nano Effect & The Rice Defect

The year 2008 enters with strong buzz in its first month with Tata's world's cheapest car 'Nano', which unwillingly created a race for its viewers during the Delhi Car Expo, resulting in lathi charge by police. The dream car with a price tag of Rs 1 lakh seems to have fulfilled the Indian dream (much similar to that American dream) to have owned a car by each middle class family. Thus, India enters into new era, the era of Nano.
Also, the tiny of state of Chattisgarh comes into light of sight with the Govt's politically ambitious announcement of offering rice to its poor people at the cost of Rs 3 per kg. The inauguration was done in style, attended by many VIPs, & road blocks. Thanks to the Govt for two reasons - to bringing into attention to Delhites of this tiny state & moreover for the remembrance of its poor people albeit after four years. The state assembly election standing at the corner of this year explains all the ethics behind this. Whats never been mentioned in this program was the question 'why not four years earlier'. Retrospectively glanced, the much debated anti naxal 'Salwa Judum' movement was also initiated in the same style by the same Govt. some three years back. The consequence was the amount of innocent deaths in three years surpassing the figures of last twenty years.
Putting into Putin's bifurcation of weak & strong Govt, it seems an obvious inquiry that is this Govt really able to handle such programs which eventually leads the people of state into more chaos.
Corrupted to its roots, the state public distribution system will be responsible for the distribution of Rs 3 per kg rice to its rightful but I suppose this is not going to happen even if we have lived in the age of Ramayana. The ration shops are the center of black marketing, sparing not even the kerosene oil (although they undergo some chemical process of changing the oil color from blue to white) & the sugar which yields much profit in the open market. Within the hands of these ration shops, the rice is gold at the price of Rs 3 per kg, paving way for black marketeers to earn profit in millions while the people for whom rice is meant will have to wait in just another queue. Their disappointment will be added in tonnes.

The gap between Rs 1 lakh & Rs 3 is mathematically great but it isn't when comes to common human desires. Nano means dream come true while Rice at Rs 3 per kg means hunger quenched. Driven by these meager desires, the humanity have been promised of platonic life from ages, unfortunately every such promise has lead (not only French) it to guillotine.
& on the subject of dignity I must add that if & only if the rice 'to be sold' is available only for this year whence the new Govt takes charge next year, one must think before-hand instead of voting for any Govt who acts only in its final year.

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

Kota Bye-Election: The battle between David & Goliath

The battle for Kota began with filing of Renu auntie’s nomination as an official congress candidate on 17th November in Bilaspur. This day was followed by hopeless & agonizing night of 16th when the situation was very unclear about the confirmation of auntie’s name as an official candidate.

As the news started pouring in from Delhi that night we were bound to be put under the impression that auntie’s name has been turned down. The reason been given was strange : since Kota traditionally was leaded by Brahmins so Congress's top think tanks thought it would send a wrong message to the voters of Uttar Pradesh (Election of U.P. are due next year). This news made the night of 16th very blur for all of us. Amit bhaiya's (Amit Jogi) reaction was obvious; he was feeling very uneasy about all this. I for the whole time (until I returned home at 3 A.M.) was furious about the stupid excuse for turning down auntie’s name. He nearly whispered, “It happens".

The next morning brought all the lost smiles with Amit bhaiya's call. How can I ever forget his words on phone ? He was nearly shouting, "You are still sleeping. Mummy's ticket has been confirmed. Start quickly for Bilaspur. I am already on way". These words changed the world for me. I fetched up the rest of the gang & rushed for Bilaspur. The two hour journey was filled with laughter & planning for the coming days. We all (Bunty bhaiya, Anuj Sharma & Sameer bhaiya) knew that the fight is going to very tough. The battle field Kota will be surrounded by BJP led govt's cannons. The fight was clear : Ajit Jogi vs State govt of Chattisgarh. On reaching Bilaspur we met Amit bhaiya in Congress Bhavan where he, along with aunty, was surrounded by huge crowd, showered with flowers & slogans. Akhil bhaiya welcomed us all at his place (his home, I must mention, is as charming as him). We all returned to Raipur that evening.

On 20th I again left for Bilaspur in the morning with all luggages which were enough to last me for two weeks. At Akhil bhaiya's place I met Amit bhaiya. He instructed me while walking to & fro in the room. I was to be stationed at Ratanpur, 20 kms from Bilaspur. Ratanpur, where the holy temple of Mahamaya devi is situated, from last few elections created a huge fall down for Congress. Last time BJP leaded by nearly 550 votes from Ratanpur. The message was clear: Win Ratanpur & Kota can be won easily. The responsibility on my shoulders was huge. It was quite obvious that Amit bhaiya wanted to place someone very trusted to that place. He chose me. I looked in his eyes. They were saying "Don’t let me down". I left him for my battle ground: Ratanpur. I was to meet Gudda Tiwari who was looking after our election campaign. The short journey of 20 kms was occupied by various thoughts. I started getting home-sick. But I had no time for it. The only thing that I wanted to think about was 4th December (polling day). My short journey came to an end as I reached Ratanpur & met Gudda Tiwari. He instantly started briefing me about the campaign in accordance to which he also took me to a near-by village Navagaon where the place for election campaign office was to be decided. The locals there were welcoming & I got the first impression of the voters i.e. friendly. It was getting dark so we left again for Ratanpur as soon as we told them all the important things. Gudda bhai kept on briefing me about the whole while we were on the way back. I told him, "Anyhow, we have to win Ratanpur."

The one thing that was disturbing me was the fact that youth of Ratanpur wasn't working for us. The youth in anyplace are alike & are far more energetic than any other. Next day I got the solution of it. Out of nowhere a young man Krishnakant Sharma appeared. This pundit-cum-journalist-cum-NSUI worker came to meet me while I was sipping tea sitting with Damodar (an old congress worker). He started telling about the problems of young guns in Ratanpur which led them to being inactive in the election campaign. He also introduced me to Sital Jaiswal, NSUI head for Ratanpur & Vimal Soni. The talk began. For most of the time I was on a listening bench. This trick I always use. Let the people talk so that whatever inside them can be released easily. I figured this from the memoirs of last viceroy of India in which he used to listen all the time & let the Indian leaders talk. The only thing that I could make out was that they also wanted preference. This is one of the most common known disease in humans: preference. I assured them that my presence will make sure of it. After an hour long chat I was able to make them agree (although I was only a listener). In evening I accompanied Shiv Deheriya Ji ( MLA) to inaugurate election campaign office In near-by village Ranigaon. It was only the 2nd office. More were to come.

Night time I kept for briefing Amit bhaiya. He instructed me to open election campaign office in every ward ( Ratanpur had 15 wards). I assured him that this will be done in next two days.

I am reminded of a Spanish proverb which says “Always surround your self with friends instead of fence”. The previous day’s talks brought fruitful result. Sital was ready with his friends to jump into the campaign. He initiated this with an idea of a motorcycle rally. Out of my surprise he gathered nearly 20 bikers, all of them shouting slogans & waving congress flags. He even invited me to be a part of it & so I rode with him triplets (three riders on a single bike). We roamed all across the streets of Ratanpur. It made me glad when the Sital’s entire friend came to meet, shaking my hand vigorously. This, definitely, was a start of new friendship.

The day went on with the openings of campaign offices; Things began to get hot in Ratanpur. It was for the first time that we were punching back our opponents & that too with force. We kept the evening time for opening of election campaign offices. That day, as per my promise made to Amit bhaiya, 5 offices were inaugurated by Shiv Deheriya Ji. I tried to keep myself behind the scene to make sure that local people & our workers can be in lime-light. That evening Pradeep Choubey Ji also joined us in Ratanpur. Pradeep uncle is a marvelous orator indeed. He spoke with such a force that even I maintained pin-drop silence.

On 19th with the opening of first election campaign office my father Shri Rajendra Tiwari Ji mesmerized the crowd with his oration. Apart from being my hero he is one of the best orator of hindi I have ever seen. In fact, I place him next to Osho. I love the way he plays with the words.

I saw huge gathering in our Head-Office as soon as I reached there the next morning. Shiv Deheriya ji along with Balram Thakur Ji (MLA) was busy instructing party workers.

I requested him to start our door to door campaign which he cordially accepted. We began it with the near by market Badi Bazaar. The direct conversation with the voters is the base of democracy. In India it is most important. One has to be skilled in the art of face reading while doing so. The door to door campaign lasted for nearly two hours. It was to be continued but the news came that Renu auntie is going to arrive shortly.

I saw Renu auntie after a long time. I still remember her face, filled with motherly charm, her voice filled with politeness. Sometime she reminded me of my own mother. But today her face was filled courage & determination. She was sun burnt. Her voice was very blur. The constant exertion clearly overtook her. When she saw me touching her feet she said, ‘Arey ! Beta tu bhi aa gaya ?’ (You also came?). I just nodded my head in affirmation. I wanted to tell her that it’s going to be week now since I am here. She left for election campaign.

The day ended with the openings of election campaign offices.
By the end of day, total of 16 such offices were inaugurated.

With the opening up of numerous campaign offices the election machinery was working at its fullest. Ratanpur, I must mention, is famous for the holy temple of Mahamaya Devi. Apart from this it is surrounded by many other temples. Karl Jaspers’s term Axial Age is still to come here where everything is subjected to be questioned instead of believing. I went to Shri Tiwari Ji’s home during my door to door campaign. He is an old man & a staunch RSS man. He, firstly, got surprised to me. It was beyond his expectation that I am going to visit him. The first words he told me were, “But I am going to vote for BJP”. I tried to relieve him by saying that I have’nt come here for vote but I have come for your blessing. I introduced my self. He replied grimly that he knows me & he has also heard that Amit Jogi has sent me to Ratanpur. I smiled on this.

I was trying hard to cover all the 15 wards by foot so that atleast I can reach to the majority of voters. Following my target I went to Anuragi Ji’s village (Former MP). I met there her daughter Tanya Anuragi Ji. I requested her on behalf on Amit Bhaiya to start campaign. She very modestly told me that she is going to start it next day.

With the instruction from the control room I stationed myself at a single ward. I chose ward no. 3 for this. Last time congress was defeated heavily from this ward. Ankit Bagbahra joined me too & we set off for door to door to campaign.

Although I was stationed at a particular ward but I took the liberty of campaigning door to door to door in every ward.

By the end of 3rd December I almost covered 13 wards.

The day of polling arrived. Bunty bhaiya along with Dr. Saibel Farishta, Deep Mishra & Ankit Bagbahara joined me in Ratanpur. We went to every polling booth.

I had returned to Raipur on the evening of 4th but again came back to join Amit bhaiya on the evening of 6th. We talked for half an hour & then I took his leave. The night was literally sleep-less. Next day the result was to come.

As soon as I switched on the TV to hear the news about the vote counting I got thrilled with excitement as I saw that we are leading by 2000 votes in the first round of counting. I ran to the room of Vijay Nijhavan Ji who was wiping himself with a towel. I told him the news & we all literally started dancing.

After an hour he came to my room to tell me the inside information.

We were leading by nearly 17000 votes by the end of 7th round of counting.

We all rushed to Amit bhaiya.

We won the Kota battle by 23470 votes. It was land-slide victory.

Ratanpur was won over by 3400 votes & ward no. 3 by 470 votes.

This was made possible by Ajit Uncle’s popularity & people’s love for him, Renu auntie’s simplicity & motherly charm, Amit bhaiya’s intelligence & management & last but not the least the hard work of each & every congressmen who fought against the ruthless system for all the time.

All’s well that ends well.

I have returned from Ratanpur but I know that the people & the place will always remain in my heart.