Why I am ashamed to be Indian
I received this article by email from a dear Reader who wishes to remain anonymous. I have made some minor modifications, such as adding the explanatory remarks on the "Fourth World War" at the bottom.Why I am ashamed to be Indian
By Anonymous
There are many reasons; I'll write just one.
Under International Law, the Geneva Conventions, and the founding principles of the United Nations Organization, a Sovereign country has the RIGHT and OBLIGATION to protect people inside its borders; no other country can threaten them without approaching the government of the latter country and opening up extradition proceedings.
A threat from a country to the people inside the borders of another is an Act of War.
When Salman Rushdie wrote "The Satanic Verses", Iran's Ayatollah Khomenei passed a fatwa against him, calling for his death.
This was an Act of War by Iran against India, under International Law.
India not only ignored this grave provocation and insufferable insult to her by Iran in the interntional community, but also actually invited it, by being the first country in the world to ban Rushdie's book, and by kicking Rushdie out, and refusing to permit him to enter India, or any Indian Mission anywhere on this planet. This inspite of Rushdie having been born in India, and owning property in India.
Rushdie had to appeal to the British Government to protect him. They are still protecting him. Even as less fortunate people like Theo van Gogh have been gunned down, Hithoshi Igarashi -- the Japanese college Professor of Comparative Literature who translated Rushdie's book into Japanese -- has been gunned down; and Taslima Nasreen, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Rushdie live under the perpetual shadow of death.
When Taslima Nasreen, a Bangladeshi Muslim woman, wrote "Lajja" ("Shame") highlighting the religious persecution of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh: the kidnapping, torture, rape, and forcible coversion of Hindu girls to Islam, the constant low-level rioting and killings of Hindu men ignored by Bangladeshi police and judicial authorities, the forcible eviction of Hindu families and occupation of their property by Bangladeshi Muslim fanatics, her life was threatened by her own Bangladeshi Government.
She appealed to India to grant her political asylum and save her life. India refused to help in any way, and instead banned her book.
The Bangladeshi Government confiscated her passport, and issued a warrant for her arrest.
She feared that she would be killed in jail without even getting a trial, and went into hiding.
After 2 months of suspense, the Civilized world breathed a sigh of relief after learning that she had safely escaped Bangladesh and reached the West.
India claims to be a secular country. It claims to uphold modern values like liberty, free speeh, rational and reasonable discussion free of religious dogma and extremism.
But it has no backbone. It does not have the guts to stand up for its principles and values. And this was just one instance of this lack of backbone.
That is just one reason I am ashamed to be Indian.
There are several more instances to be found almost every day in the way India behaves on the international arena. When Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers, Israel bombed Lebanon for sheltering Hezbollah, and has now gone to full-scale ground war against Labanon to free its captured soldiers. When Indian soldiers are burnt alive by Bangladeshi Rifles men, India does not even make a diplomatic protest, leave alone teach Bangladesh a lesson to show it how to behave in the modern civilized world. When Pakistan captures and tortures Indian soldiers and returns mangled dead-bodies with pulled-out eyes, broken bones and pulled-out finger-nails, India chooses to keep quiet. Indian soldiers risk their lives everyday to keep India safe, but Indian politicians can't risk losing a few votes from rising prices that will be the result of going to war with Pakistan.
When India's Parliament is attacked, India makes a huge show of going to war, keeps troops on the border, and then pulls back meekly. No guts to go to war.
When hundreds of innocent people are killed and maimed in bomb blasts in Mumbai, Srinagar, Ayodhya, Akshardham, Nagpur, Ghatkopar -- all over India -- India pretends to take a big step by breaking off Foreign Secretary level talks with Pakistan.
What a joke. As if Pakistan's life depends upon being able to hold Foreign Secretary level talks with India.
When Israelis go to war to free their captured soldiers, India's leaders openly give the world the distinct impression that nobody in India cares about the lives of other Indians. India's behaviour is openly telling the world: "Come and kill us ! We will not punish you. We are so peace-loving and tolerant that we don't care if you kill us one by one. Slap us on one cheek and we will show the other. We will keep doing this while you take our territory: first Pakistan and Bangladesh, then Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, then evict the Hindus from Jammu and Kashmir, and keep doing this. Come and kill us ! We are toothless and spineless eunuchs who don't want to fight. We are ready to be wiped out, one by one, one city at a time."
The Fourth World War (see * below) has started, between the forces of secular univeral humanist modernity inspired by people like Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasreen, Ayyan Hirsi Ali, Theo van Gogh and the people of the United States on one side, and the forces of religious fundamentalist medievalism, led by people like Osama bin Laden, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and groups like Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, etc on the other.
India is acting exactly like France did during the Second World War. France thought it could save itself by appeasing the Nazis. It paid a far higher price than did UK or USA, who did follow the appeasement policy initially but abandoned it in time.
India today is hoping to escape having to pay a price in this Fourth World War by appeasing the Al Qaeda, and will not only lose all claims to self-respect, but also pay a much higher material price than the United States will pay.
You can see concrete material evidence of India appeasing Al Qaeda in the way India's "secular" leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav are defending the extremist organization SIMI immediately after the Mumbai blasts hoping to emerge as champions of the Indian Muslim community, even when the vast majority of Indian Muslims themselves don't support SIMI, as evidenced by a multitude of facts, for instance that SIMI's own parents, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind which created SIMI, has distanced itself from it.
SIMI does not believe in India at all. SIMI has several times called for the restoration of the Global Islamic Caliphate for the unity of Ummah (global Muslim community as a whole) by rejecting the concept of Indian nationalism, democracy and secularism. On all India-Pakistan issues it supports the Pakistani side. SIMI members don't consider themselves Indian at all. Their current manifesto calls for the establishment of an Islamic State in place of secular India, and the establishment of Islamic Shariah Law in India -- just like the Law there was in force in Afghanistan under Taliban, in Somalia today, or in India under the Islamic fundamentalist extremist and anti-Hindu fanatic Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
To live with honour, liberty, self-respect, and dignity one has to pay a price: one has to fight for one's ideals and beliefs.
If one tries to cheat by avoiding paying the price, one earns punishment by paying more and getting less. The market is efficient; cheaters always get caught and punished.
India is trying to cheat just like France cheated during World War II. That makes me ashamed.
And India will pay the price, just like France did during World War II. That makes me sad.
* Clarification regarding the "Fourth World War":
Did you think there had been only two World Wars so far ? It is true that there were two World Wars fought with tanks and airplanes and large armies of soldiers massed by countries on both sides.
But do all wars have to involve airplanes and tanks and large armies ? What is the definition of war ? A war is defined as simply a hostile interaction between two sides for superiority.
The Third World War was the Cold War. Wars are not always fought with tanks and airplanes. The Cold War, or World War III, was an economic war of attrition. The Soviet Union lost when its economy collapsed.
The Fourth World War, which is currently being called the "Global War on Terror" is not being fought between countries at all, but between countries one one side, and non-State players -- terrorists -- on the other.
This is an example of what intelligence anlysts call "netwar".
"Netwar" is a war in which your enemy is a shadowy entity of diffuse disparate groups connected and collaborating through modern communications technology like cellphone voice-calls and SMS messages, email, internet, instant messages, and using advanced technologies like encryption and steganography, and carrying out terrorist attacks on civilian or military installations.
Most intelligence analysts believe that "netwar" is going to be the most common type of war in the Twenty-First Century.
Times are changing.
The image of war involving only warplanes and aircraft-carriers is outdated.
Welcome to the Twenty-First Century.
Edit: The phrase "wearing bangles and saris" was removed from the article because it is offensive to Indian women.
posted by Harsh Vardhan @ 3:12 pm
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7 Comments:
So that is your solution? Attack Pakistan? Do you seriously think that the US would tolerate that for one second.
Have you also noticed that the Israel has not attacked Syria. Do you think those missiles that Syria an launcn with a few seconds notice have anything to do with that decision?
Thank you for your comment.
But surely there is a lot of space in the middle between attacking Pakistan and the present state of "wearing bangles and saris like eunuchs" as the anonymous author of the article I posted commented ?
How about lifting the bans on Salman Rushdie's and Taslima Nasreen's books ?
How about lifting the bans on the websites like "Hindu Human Rights" that Sonia Gandhi claimed (totally falsely) were spreading hatred against Islam ?
Are you too afraid of USA to do even that ?
What the USA will allow or not is not the criteria India should use.
USA intimidates India only because it knows India is timid.
If India does attack Pakistan, what do you think USA will do ? Attack India ?
Those who are timid get no help from anyone.
Those who bravely move to protect their own interests not only face less criticism, but also get support.
USA has no interest in attacking India, or even put sanctions on India. US MNC's won't allow that.
India should ignore its morbid fear of what the US will think, and take steps that protect its own interests.
The decision to attack Pakistan or not should be taken in that framework of reasoning. Not based on fear of US disapproval.
I was surprised by teh comment of tallindian about US. hey its our country buddy, and WE have the right to act. and yet we have to act tough. may be u have never been in the midst of a crisis or riot. Then we can all realize much better the neccessity of being tough. remember one thing, he who accepts the supremacy of an outsider without questions can never really protect his homeland, himself, his property, his dignity, his culture and even his mere existance. grow up. grow bold.
Perahps the Indian Army has more intelligence than that of the US or even Israel.
Watching the debacle unfold in Lebanon where the IDR that destroyed the armies of Egypt, Jorday, and Syria in 7 days is now unable to even secure a village. And the IDF now apparently requires a massive resupply effort from the USA.
As other have said, terrorism is a tactic not an ememy. India seems to be wisely heeding the lessons of the IPKF.
This, of course, does not mean India should remain passive and merely whine at the UN and G8 about Pakistan.
Alas, I don't know the answer.
before we attack Pakisthan, we need to do something about craps like this.
Shahi Imam ''absolves'' LeT, blames RSS for Mumbai blasts
New Delhi | July 18, 2006 12:44:10 AM IST
Using a rostrum overlooking the majestic Red Fort, the Shahi Imam of Delhi's grand old Jama Masjid today hit out at the principal political rivals of the United Democratic Front (UDF) he has floated ahead of Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh while challenging the charge that Islam breeds terrorists.
''I can say with authority that it is not any Muslim but the Shiv Sena, the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad who are responsible for the serial blasts in Mumbai,'' Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari told a gathering inside the historic mosque.
He cited the recent Sena backlash against the defilement of a statue of the late wife of the party chief as evidence that the Saffron forces were desperate to politically revive themselves in Maharashtra.
The Imam was of the opinion that Muslim men were being blamed for ''every'' terrorist outrage as part of a deep rooted conspiracy.
Community members were being harassed by law enforcing agencies in Mumbai in the wake of the serial blasts even though they had ''no role in the anti-Islamic outrages'', he said, slamming the Congress Governments in Maharashtra and at the Centre.
''Why is it that security forces blame the Lashkar-e-Toiba within ten minutes of a blast. If they already know who did it, why don't they go ahead and arrest the culprits well before the crime is done,'' he asked.
He said he was willing to visit Pakistan and ''talk'' to the LeT commanders if he was given proof of its involvement in terrorist incidents in India. ''If they are responsible then we will talk to them, tell them that they do more harm to the cause of Islam and to Muslims in India through their actions''.
Imam Bukhari said he was worried that while real culprits went scot free and trigerred more blasts, ordinary Muslims were becoming terror suspects in the eyes of the people and the police. ''Every bearded man becomes a suspect'', he said.
Charging the security forces with perpetrating excesses on Muslims, he said terrorism could not be wiped out in such a manner.
''If you want to end terrorism, then you would also have to end State terrorism''.
''The Government should handle the issue of terrorism tactfully.
We want equality before the law'', he said, alleging that the ''yardstick'' was different when it concerned violence perpetrated by Maoists and insurgent groups in the North-East.
He hit out at the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, saying these ''so-called secular parties'' were to blame for all the ills afflicting Muslims today.
''When Muslims get targeted under these so called secular parties, it is time we teach them a lesson. It is time Shias, Sunnis, Ansaris, Saifis, Barelvis, Qureshis and all else stand up as one -- as Muslims -- and snatch back our collective rights and dignity,'' the Imam said, asking the community to stand up to the political challenge.
''We were rulers here for 800 years. Inshaallah, we shall return to power here once again'', he said to loud approval by the nearly 200 assembled men.
Before attacking Pakisthan, we need do something about such craps like this one.
Shahi Imam ''absolves'' LeT, blames RSS for Mumbai blasts
New Delhi | July 18, 2006 12:44:10 AM IST
Using a rostrum overlooking the majestic Red Fort, the Shahi Imam of Delhi's grand old Jama Masjid today hit out at the principal political rivals of the United Democratic Front (UDF) he has floated ahead of Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh while challenging the charge that Islam breeds terrorists.
''I can say with authority that it is not any Muslim but the Shiv Sena, the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad who are responsible for the serial blasts in Mumbai,'' Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari told a gathering inside the historic mosque.
He cited the recent Sena backlash against the defilement of a statue of the late wife of the party chief as evidence that the Saffron forces were desperate to politically revive themselves in Maharashtra.
The Imam was of the opinion that Muslim men were being blamed for ''every'' terrorist outrage as part of a deep rooted conspiracy.
Community members were being harassed by law enforcing agencies in Mumbai in the wake of the serial blasts even though they had ''no role in the anti-Islamic outrages'', he said, slamming the Congress Governments in Maharashtra and at the Centre.
''Why is it that security forces blame the Lashkar-e-Toiba within ten minutes of a blast. If they already know who did it, why don't they go ahead and arrest the culprits well before the crime is done,'' he asked.
He said he was willing to visit Pakistan and ''talk'' to the LeT commanders if he was given proof of its involvement in terrorist incidents in India. ''If they are responsible then we will talk to them, tell them that they do more harm to the cause of Islam and to Muslims in India through their actions''.
Imam Bukhari said he was worried that while real culprits went scot free and trigerred more blasts, ordinary Muslims were becoming terror suspects in the eyes of the people and the police. ''Every bearded man becomes a suspect'', he said.
Charging the security forces with perpetrating excesses on Muslims, he said terrorism could not be wiped out in such a manner.
''If you want to end terrorism, then you would also have to end State terrorism''.
''The Government should handle the issue of terrorism tactfully.
We want equality before the law'', he said, alleging that the ''yardstick'' was different when it concerned violence perpetrated by Maoists and insurgent groups in the North-East.
He hit out at the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, saying these ''so-called secular parties'' were to blame for all the ills afflicting Muslims today.
''When Muslims get targeted under these so called secular parties, it is time we teach them a lesson. It is time Shias, Sunnis, Ansaris, Saifis, Barelvis, Qureshis and all else stand up as one -- as Muslims -- and snatch back our collective rights and dignity,'' the Imam said, asking the community to stand up to the political challenge.
''We were rulers here for 800 years. Inshaallah, we shall return to power here once again'', he said to loud approval by the nearly 200 assembled men.
Indian Capitalist,
I agree with what you said.
Though I am ashamed of Indian Dhimmitude, I do not intend to stay ashamed forever.
I do intend to do everything I can to make sure our children have no reason to be ashamed of their country.
Radical Islamists and anti-Hindu Leftists are close to getting what it due to them for their centuries and decades of crime.
To start with, all we have to do is to keep getting ourselves heard above the Socialist and Communist propaganda, and create awareness of what is going on.
We are not going away. We are not Dhimmis. We will stay and fight.
And we will win.
Sooner or later, the time will come when the Radical Islamists and Leftists will wish they had never been born.
Harsh
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