Cyril Almeida

Cyril Almeida is a Pakistani journalist of Goan ancestry. He is presently Assistant Editor of the 'Dawn ' Pakistani newspaper.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Almeida.
...

He had written an article mentioning differences between the civil authorities and security agencies in Pakistan. He wrote that in a national security council meeting the civil authorities said that whenever they wanted a curb on terrorists in Pakistan, the security agencies would protect them.
This article resulted in an ' Exit Control ' order against Almeida, which prevented him from leaving the country ( though the order was revoked after 3 days ), and the consequence was that Almeida has suddenly become a national and international hero.
But everybody in Pakistan and elsewhere know that the civil and military authorities have had differences in Pakistan, though ultimately the army has prevailed. So what is so great about Almeida's disclosure ?
People like Almeida will never speak the truth that Partition of India in 1947 on communal lines on the basis of the bogus two nation theory was a historical swindle and fraud by the British, whose whole aim was to ensure that India does not emerge as a modern industrial giant, and thus become a powerful rivalry to British industry. ( see my article ' The Truth about Pakistan ' online )
People like Almeida will never say that Pakistan is a fake, artificial entity, created as an Islamic state, when the reality is that the Indian subcontinent has so much diversity that only secularism can work here. Once you set up an Islamic state there is bound to be persecution of Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Ahmedis, Shias, Ismailis, Sikhs, etc as it happens regularly, and fights between Deobandis, Barelvis, etc
People like Almeida will never say that to talk of good relations between India and Pakistan is living in a fools paradise ( like that other set of jokers ' Aman ki Asha ' ), because the very purpose of creating Pakistan was to ensure hostilities or tensions between India and Pakistan so that the foreign arms manufacturers can beautifully continue their sale of arms to us ( India is the biggest purchaser of foreign arms in the world ), thus reaping super profits, money which could and should have been spent on the welfare of our own peoples.
People like Almeida will never say that Indians and Pakistanis are really one nation, sharing the same culture, and have been one since Mughal times, but temporarily separated by the wicked designs of Westerners, and that we must reunite under a modern minded secular government, and that there can never be peace unless we reunite.
People like Almeida are very careful not to say all this, because they may then be deprived of their comfortable lives, and indeed become a target of the Pakistani security agencies and religious extremists in Pakistan.
And yet Almeida has been made into a national and international hero.
Hari Om

Sent to me from Kashmir by Liaqat Jafri, who has permitted me to share it
मोदी जी! कश्मीर की पूरी नस्ल बीमार हो चुकी है, इसे प्यार से एड्रेस कीजिए
(प्रधानमंत्री मोदी के नाम एक कश्मीरी का खुला खत)
सेवा में
श्री नरेंद्र भाई मोदी जी
माननीय प्रधानमंत्री, भारत
मोदी जी! कश्मीर की पूरी नस्ल बीमार हो चुकी है, इसे प्यार से एड्रेस कीजिए
(प्रधानमंत्री मोदी के नाम एक कश्मीरी का खुला खत)
सेवा में
श्री नरेंद्र भाई मोदी जी
मोदी जी आदाब! काफी रोज तक सोच-विचार करने के बाद आप को एक खुला खत लिखने बैठा हूं. हो तो ये भी सकता था कि इसको निजी तौर पर लिखकर पीएम ऑफिस को पोस्ट कर देता. लेकिन आजकल आप मीडिया के जरिये ही संवाद कर रहे हैं तो यही तरीका सही लगा. नीयत ये भी है कि इंडिया की जनता भी वह बातें जाने जो मीडिया अक्सर उनको बताता नहीं.
आपको दिवाली की शुभकामनाएं देते हुए इस बात की उम्मीद करता हूं कि आप मेरे इस खत का नोटिस जरूर लेंगे.
मोदी जी, आज करीब चार महीने हो गए, कश्मीर बंद है. सड़क, चौराहे, खेल के मैदान, स्कूल, झीलें, पहाड़, बाग, रेलवे ट्रैक और एयरपोर्ट सब वीरान पड़े हैं सिवाय अस्पतालों के. अगर कहीं भीड़ है तो उन चौकों पर, जहां पुलिस, सीआरपीएफ, सेना और आम कश्मीरी लड़के आमने-सामने हैं. पत्थर, पैलेट, खून, चेहरों के नकाब, मातम, कब्रें, जनाजे यहां पर प्रोटेस्ट के सबसे मजबूत प्रतीक बन चुके हैं. कश्मीर अफेयर्स देखने वाले आपके करीबी राजदार और एजेंसियों वाले आप को रोजाना रिपोर्ट देते ही होंगे. उन रिपोर्ट्स में यही लिखा रहता होगा कि आज कितने मिलिटेंट मारे गए, कितनी पुलिस चौकियां जलीं, कितने कश्मीरी लड़के मरे, कितने अंधे या जख्मी हुए. आप एक नजर फाइल पर डालकर उसे आगे बढ़ा देते होंगे. शायद दुखी होते होंगे (या नहीं भी) और फिर दुबारा किसी काम में जुट जाते होंगे.
मोदी जी, ये सिर्फ आंकड़े हैं जो हर नए साल के प्रोटेस्ट में घटते-बढ़ते रहते हैं. कभी बीस दिन कर्फ्यू, कभी तीन महीने, कभी 100 जवान मरते हैं कभी 120. ये आंकड़े हर नये मौसम में बस बदलते रहते हैं. डेलिगेशन आते हैं, कमीशन बैठते हैं, ट्रैक-टू डिप्लोमेसी के ठेकेदार गुश्ताबे और वाजवान डकार के वापस दिल्ली उड़ जाते हैं. नेशनल और इंटरनेशनल मीडिया की ओवी वैन्स भी दिल्ली लौट जाती हैं. कश्मीर वहीं रह जाता है अपनी टीसों, चोटों और जख्मों के साथ. मीडिया वह सब बता देता है जो उन्हें पीएमओ की पीआर एजेंसी ने फीड किया होता है. इसी ढर्रे पर कुछ साल-महीने गुजरते हैं. हालात फिर वैसे के वैसे. जब तक कोई नई चिंगारी भड़क के शोला नहीं बन जाती.
मोदी जी, आपको मालूम है इस बार जो लड़के सड़कों पर हाथ में पत्थर संभाले उतरे हैं, उनकी औसत उम्र क्या है? पंद्रह से बीस साल. यानी यह वो लड़का है जिसने कश्मीर स्ट्रगल का वह रूप देखा ही नहीं जिससे उसके मां-बाप, बड़े-बुज़ुर्ग गुजर चुके हैं. इसने बस सुना भर है कि उसके डैडी, अंकल या भाई एनकाउंटर में मारे गए थे या उनको किसी रात आर्मी उठा ले गई थी और वो कभी वापस नहीं लौटे. या फिर इंडिया के साथ जिहाद करते हुए शहीद हो गए थे.
मोदी जी, हर बात अजीत डोवाल नहीं बताते, बुहत कुछ इलाके के एसएचओ और मस्जिद के इमाम से भी जाना जा सकता है. हाथों में पत्थर उठाए, कैमरे से अपने नकाब पहने चेहरे को बचाता हुआ वह लड़का जिसे इंडिया से नफरत है, उसे गिलानी और पाकिस्तान से भी शिकायतें हैं. वह अच्छे से जानता है कि इन तीनों ताकतों ने मिलकर उसका और उसके परिवार का वक्त जाया किया है. ये तो माओं के पाले-पोसे, जीन्स पहनने वाले स्मार्ट लड़के हैं जिनके रोल-मॉडल सलमान खान, परवेज रसूल, आईएस टॉपर शाह फैसल और शाहरुख खान हैं. ये लोग अरिजीत, राहत फतेहअली और हनी सिंह के गाने सुनकर जवान हुए हैं.
मोदी जी, आज इन लड़कों का रोल मॉडल बुरहान वानी इसलिए है क्योंकि ये जाने-अनजाने एक ऐसे मसीहा की तलाश में हैं जो इनके भविष्य को सुरक्षित करने में इनकी मदद करे. सो अबकी इन्हें इक्कीस साल के एक इंजीनियर लड़के में वह हीरो मिल गया जिसके हाथ में एप्पल की जगह चमचमाती एके-47 थी. जिसके मुजाहिद भाई को कुछ साल पहले इंडियन आर्मी ने मारा था, जो बेखौफ होकर अपने वीडियो यू-ट्यूब पर अपलोड करता था, जिसको धोखे से मारा गया. इन्हीं में दूसरा तबका वो है जो पढ़ नहीं पाया. बेरोजगार रह गया. सूमो, ऑटो, शिकारा चलाता है. सन्डे मार्केट में डल के किनारे सैलानियों को फेरन बेचता है.
ये वह तबका है, जो गिलानी के कैलेंडर को भी नहीं मानता. यासीन मालिक, शब्बीर शाह और उमर फारूक को (उनकी मर्जी से ही) नजरबंद रहने पे मजबूर करता है. ना किसी की सुनता है ना किसी की मानता है. इसका ना कोई लीडर है, ना इसका कोई चेहरा है. इसकी दुनिया उतनी है जितनी एंड्रॉयड मोबाइल की स्क्रीन में समाती है.
मोदी जी, इस कश्मीर के ताजा प्रोटेस्ट में शामिल हुए इन नौसेखिए जवानों के साथ कभी बात कीजिए तो ये सवालों के अजीब-ओ-गरीब आधे-अधूरे जवाब देते हैं.
मुझे इंडिया के साथ नहीं रहना.
पाकिस्तान चोर है.
पाकिस्तान जिंदाबाद.
गिलानी ने हमारा सौदा किया है.
गिलानी जिंदाबाद.
बुरहान वानी का खून जाया नहीं जाएगा.
महबूबा, उमर, आजाद ये सब दिल्ली के पिट्ठू हैं.
मोदी मुसलमानों का दुश्मन है. इसे सबक सिखाना जरूरी है.
हम छीनके लेंगे आजादी.
बस अब बहुत हो गया...अबकी बार आर या पार.
मोदी जी, इन दंगाई लड़कों का ना कोई चेहरा है, ना लीडर, ना कोई आॅफिस ना कोई स्टेज. इनमें गुस्सा है, घुटन है, प्रोटेस्ट है, जनून है. अपनों के खिलाफ, गैरों के खिलाफ, इंडिया के खिलाफ, पाकिस्तान के खिलाफ, हुर्रियत के खिलाफ. ये आइडेंटिटी क्राइसिस की मारी हुई वो नस्ल है जो कुछ महीने जेहनी तौर पर इंडिया के साथ ग्रो करती है. आईएस टॉपर शाह फैसल और क्रिकेटर परवेज रसूल को रोल मॉडल मान लेती है. दूसरे महीने पाकिस्तान से उम्मीद वाबस्ता कर लेती है. एक दिन खुदमुख्तारी का ख्वाब देखकर आजादी के गीत गाती है. दूसरे दिन बुरहान वानी की तरह बंदूक उठाकर बॉर्डर पार जाने को आमादा है. इसको कुछ नहीं सूझता. ये इंडिया में सलमान, शाहरुख, जावेद अख्तर, आमिर खान को मिल रही मोहब्बत से खुश भी होती है और ये भी चाहती है कि विराट कोहली को शोएब अख्तर बार-बार क्लीन बोल्ड करे. इनके मन में सचिन और अमिताभ के लिए इज्जत भी है, लेकिन इसे नुसरत और राहत की कव्वाली भी सुननी है. नए यूथ का ये रिप्रजेंटेटिव इंडियन है पर इंडियन नहीं, पाकिस्तानी है पर पाकिस्तानी नहीं, कश्मीरी है पर कश्मीरी नहीं.
ये पाकिस्तान जिंदाबाद का नारा तो लगा सकता है, लेकिन भारत माता की जय जैसी कोई चीज इसके जेहन में नहीं है. इन सबके पास रिलायंस के जिओ का फोर-जी सिम भी है, और स्कूल की बिल्डिंग के लिए सड़क किनारे से उठाया नुकीला पत्थर भी. जिनके हाथ में पत्थर नहीं है उनके दिल में पत्थर है. आर्मी की भर्ती की दौड़ में पीछे रहने वाला, आर्मी की गाड़ी पर पत्थर फेंकने वालों में सबसे आगे है.
ये लड़के आर्मी की चौकी को घेरकर उसपर पेट्रोल बम भी फेंकते हैं, लेकिन कहीं आर्मी की गाड़ी पलट जाए तो उसमें फंसे जवानों को निकालने के लिए भी पिल पड़ते हैं. ब्लड बैंक के लिए खून भी देते हैं, और सैलाब में फंसे बिहारी को भी निकालते हैं. अमरनाथ यात्री को तब तक अपने घर में रोके रखते हैं जब तक चौक में पुलिस पर हो रहा पथराव थम ना जाए. मुहल्ले में अकेले पड़े कश्मीरी परिवार के बूढ़े का शव अपने कांधे पर श्मशान तक भी ले जाते हैं और पंडित लड़के की शादी में डांस भी करते हैं.
हर शहर-गली-मुहल्ले में देश का जवान ऐसा ही होता है, कश्मीर का भी ऐसा ही है. ये आज के मोदी के भारत में शायद नहीं रहना चाहता है. लेकिन इंडिया के करीब रहना चाहता है.
ये वो मासूम ठगा हुआ जज्बाती तबका है जिसको कुछ सूझ नहीं रहा कि आखिर उसका भविष्य क्या है? ये सबको गाली देता है. शेख अब्दुल्ला को भी. गिलानी को भी. मुफ्ती को भी. मोदी को भी. पाकिस्तान के साथ जाते हुए खौफ खाता है. आज वाले इंडिया के साथ रिलेट नहीं कर पा रहा. आजादी और अंदरूनी खुद-मुख्तारी की रूप-रेखा से कतई नावाकिफ है. इसे कुछ भी समझ नहीं आ रहा. आज जबकि सारी दुनिया 2030/2040 के प्लान बना रही है, इसको यही इल्म नहीं है कि 2021 में कश्मीर की जमीनी सूरते-हाल क्या होगी?
वो इसी इंडिया में होगा?...Shit
वो पाकिस्तान में होगा...Ohh
वो आजाद होगा... hahaha
ये एक बड़ी उलझी हुई जहनी कैफियत है. पूरी नस्ल बीमार हो चुकी है. ये टिक-टिक करता हुआ एटम बम है जिसके तीन चार दावेदार निकल आये हैं. पाकिस्तान था ही, अब चाइना भी है. इसको वक्त रहते डीफ्यूज कीजिए. अबकी इसके हौंसले पस्त नहीं हैं. ये लोग इंडिया से नफरत करते-करते बुहत दूर निकल आये हैं. ये सब एटॉमिक प्लांट हैं. इनकी सुनिए. इनको एड्रेस कीजिए. इज्जत और सम्मान दीजिए. ये लाड़-प्यार को तरस चुके बच्चे की तरह हैं. आप शायद जंग से जमीन का टुकड़ा जीत लेंगे पर इनके दिल नहीं जीत सकते. याद रखिए, जिसके पास खोने को कुछ नहीं होता वो दुनिया का सबसे घातक हथियार है.
मोदी जी, आप सोचते होंगे कि मैं ये खत आप ही को क्यों लिख रहा हूं. नवाज, गिलानी या महबूबा मुफ्ती को क्यों नहीं. इसलिए कि सारे इंडिया की तरह कश्मीर की नई नस्ल भी ये बात अच्छे से जानती है कि मोदी के होते कुछ भी मुमकिन है. इनको इस बात का अहसास है कि सालों बाद एक ऐसा शख्स सामने आया है जो मुश्किल फैसले लेने की हिम्मत दिखा रहा है. एक ऐसा शख्स जो बगैर हो-हल्ला किए जंगी नफरत के माहौल में भी चाय पीने के बहाने नवाज शरीफ के घर में लैंड कर जाता है.
मोदी जी, आप सैलाब के बाद लगातार महीने के महीने कश्मीर आये. आपने अपने तीज-त्यौहार यहां मनाए, सैलाब के वक्त अपनी सारी आर्मी वैली में झोंक दी. ये सब कुछ इतिहास के पन्नों में मौजूद है. इतिहास में सब महफूज रहता है. अच्छा भी, बुरा भी. आपके साथ गोधरा भी चलेगा, लाहौर भी.
लेकिन मोदी जी, इस सबके बावजूद हैरत है कि आज जब करीब चार महीने से कश्मीर बंद पड़ा है, आपने एक बार भी इन लोगों को विजिट करने की नहीं सोची. क्या आप तभी आएंगे जब आपको वोट चाहिए होंगे? फिर आपमें और फारूक अब्दुल्ला में क्या फर्क रहा?
आप का मुहब्बत भरा 140 अक्षर का एक खूबसूरत ट्वीट, सारा माहौल बदल कर रख सकता था. लेकिन आपकी उंगलियां थर-थर कांप जाती हैं.
अगर आप हमेशा यूपी बिहार बंगाल पंजाब के चुनाव देखते रहेंगे तो ऐतिहासिक काम नहीं कर पाएंगे. आपने अकेले दम पर चुनाव जीता, लेकिन अब सबका सब नागपुर कर रहा है. आपकी एक स्पीच ने बलवावादी साधू संतों योगियों को सीन से बाहर कर दिया. गोरक्षा, घर-वापसी, लव-जिहाद सब ठिकाने लग गया आपकी एक लताड़ से. लेकिन कश्मीर पर आप खामोश क्यों हैं?
जब कौमों में आक्रोश होता है, अपनों में नाराज़गी होती है, उसे मोटे बजट और रोजगार से दूर नहीं किया जाता. प्यार और मोहब्बत का नेक नीयती भरा हाथ बढ़ाना होता है. कश्मीरी बड़ा गैरती है. वो हर रोज हजार बारह सौ की रसोई पकाता है. साल भर मार्केट बंद रखने का साहस करता है. अपने फल अपनी फसलों को साल के साल जाया जाने देता है लेकिन लेकिन अपने काज का सौदा नहीं करता.
मोदी जी, आप जानते हैं बुरहान की मौत और इन सौ से ज्यादा मरने वाले लड़कों की मौत के बाद क्या हुआ?
इंडिया के साथ खड़े होने वाले मुस्लिम्स का एक बुहत बड़ा गैर-कश्मीरी तबका कश्मीरी के साथ चला गया. पूरे पीर पंजाल के डिस्ट्रिक्ट, चिनाब वल्ली के मुस्लिम डिस्ट्रिक्ट, जम्मू और लद्दाख के मुस्लिम बहुल डिस्ट्रिक्ट ब्लाक और तहसीलें आज कश्मीर की टोन में बात करती हैं. आखिर इंडिया का ये नुकसान क्यों हुआ? किन्होंने करवाया? जमीनी सूरत यह है कि अबकी बार, इंडिया ने वो नेशनलिस्ट मुस्लिम फोर्सेस (गुज्जर/पहाड़ी/डोगरी/कश्मीरी) भी गंवा दीं जो अभी दो साल पहले तक इंडिया के साथ हुआ करती थीं. यही वो लोग थे जिन्होंने आपकी लहर के वक्त बीजेपी को 25 सीटें जितवा के कश्मीर की हुक्मरानी का ताज दिया था. वही कारगिल, जो पाकिस्तान के साथ युद्ध के वक्त इंडियन आर्मी के साथ खड़ा था, आज कश्मीरी नौजवानों की मौत पर प्रोटेस्ट रैलियां मना रहा है. मोदी जी, आपने तेजी के साथ ग्राउंड खोया है. इंडिया के लिए ये सब अलार्मिंग है.
मोदी जी, आखिरी बात. आप सोचिए तो सही कि बीजेपी और आरएसएस से नफरत करने वाला मुसलमान आखिर अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी जी से नफरत क्यों नहीं कर पाया? कुछ तो था अटल में ऐसा जो आप में नहीं है. क्या है वो? आप अच्छे से जानते हैं. उसकी दोबारा खोज कीजिए. अपने लिए, अपने महान देश भारत के लिए. आप हिस्ट्री के बहुत खूबसूरत मोड़ पर आ खड़े हुए हैं.
आप कश्मीर को सच्चे मन से एड्रेस कीजिए. आम कश्मीरी के पास इंडिया अभी भी एक सुरक्षित विकल्प है. लेकिन वो ये वाला इंडिया नहीं है. जहां मुसलमान बात करते हुए भी खौफ खाने लगा है. जहां मुस्लिम को कदम कदम पर एक हिंदू से प्रमाणपत्र लेना पड़े.
भारत एक देश मात्र नहीं है. जमीन का टुकड़ा नहीं है. एक हजारों साल में फैली प्यार मुहब्बत की सभ्यता है. इसके ऐतिहासिक डिस्कोर्स को आपके हिस्से में आये ये छह-आठ वर्ष नहीं बदल सकते.
मोदी जी, मौत का यह नंगा नाच बंद करवाइए. आप कर सकते हैं. आप दंगों के जानकार हैं. आप नफरत की इस मानसिकता को समझते हैं. लगाम कसिए इन सब पर. अगर इस वक्त चूक गए तो आपका इंडिया सालों के लिए पटरी से उतर जाएगा.
जनाब, मन की बात में घंटों बोलने का क्या फ़ायदा, जब उन्ही मुद्दों पे बात ना की जाए जो आम-अवाम को राहत पहंचा सकें. गुजरे सैलाबी दिनों में कश्मीर के दर्जनों लड़कों ने सेंकड़ों लोगों को डूबने से बचाया. कुछ लड़के बह कर मर भी गए. क्या आपने कभी उन को नेशनल मीडिया में जगह दी? किसी राष्ट्रीय वीरता सम्मान से नवाजा? आप क्यों ऐसे मौके गंवा देते हैं? कैसे आम कश्मीरी आपसे रिलेट करेगा और क्यों करेगा? इंसानियत, कश्मीरियत, जम्हूरियत जैसे तमाम स्लोगन बेमानी हैं. विकास और विश्वास चुनावी नारे हैं. जुमलेबाजी तज दीजिए. आपके पास समय कम है. प्लीज हौसला कीजिए. पाकिस्तान के हाथ लगे इस सबसे बड़े पत्ते को नकारा कर सकते हैं आप. कश्मीरी को मान-सम्मान-प्यार से एड्रेस कीजिए. मुस्लिम की खोयी शिनाख्त को वापस लौटाने में अपना योगदान दीजिए. इंडिया का बाईस करोड़ मुस्लिम आपका आभारी होगा.
एक बार फिर खुशियों और रोशनियों का त्यौहार दिवाली मुबारक!
आपका आभारी
एक आम कश्मीरी
डॉ. लियाकत जाफरी
उर्दू शायर एवं सांस्कृतिक कार्यकर्ता, पुंछ, जम्मू

My Apology to IITians

Students and alumni of the Indian Institutes of Technology, and particularly of IIT Bombay and IIT Kanpur.

I wish to apologize for the harsh words I used to you in my speeches at IITs Bombay and Kanpur.

https://www.facebook.com/justicekatju/posts/1095109953862883

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKghoxznQf4

I called you all utterly selfish and unpatriotic, who have no genuine love for India, and only want cushy jobs in Western countries where you will settle down, and to hell with the country.

It is true that many of you indeed are like that, but I am sure there are also many of you who are genuinely patriotic and wish to serve the country.

Why did I say such harsh and unkind words for you ? It was because I was carried away by emotions at the disgust I had at seeing the prevailing state of affairs in India, and the unpatriotic attitude of a large section of the Indian intelligensia, but now I realize I was only partly, not entirely, correct.  There are indeed many patriots among you.

Emotions are indeed necessary, as the great French thinker Rousseau pointed out, for otherwise how will one have patriotism, which inspires and motivates one to make great sacrifices for the country, even at the cost of one's own comforts, or even one's life. It was patriotism which inspired the great leaders of the American, French, Russian and Chinese Revolutions.

But emotions must not be uncontrolled, they must be controlled by reason. And it is here that I committed my mistake, as I was carried away by uncontrolled emotion, and therefore did not see things in the proper perspective. I should have realized that many of you leave India after getting your degrees in IIT because in India there are no avenues for acquiring further knowledge and developing your technical skills, which are only available in Western countries.

So I must do self criticism, and openly confess my mistake and apologize to you for using such severe and unkind words towards you.

As I had said in my speeches, India is heading for a revolution, because the present Constitutional, political and social order in India has exhausted itself, and no further progress is possible within it, while at the same time poverty is massive, unemployment is rising, the Indian economy is stagnant, and indeed in a recession, with declining manufacture and exports, almost total lack of healthcare, nutritious food and good education for the masses ( IITs are exceptions ), etc

The Indian revolution is therefore inevitable, and is coming, but it will cause massive devastation, as I ponted out, with dreadful loss of lives and property, and total dislocation of the economy, and may take 10-15 years before it is successful.

After the revolution your country will need you, because by that time India will be in a terrible state, its economy in ruins, because our enemies, both foreign and internal will do everything to prevent any fundamental changes in India and its economy, and will unleash all their strength against us.

So when India emerges successful after our revolution a period of great reconstruction will have to commence, and here is where we will need you and your technical skills. You should then come back to your Motherland, and help in this reconstruction.

No doubt we will be able to pay you salaries which will be a pittance compared to what you will be getting in Western countries, because we are a poor country, and will become still poorer and weaker after the tremendous effort we will have to make to accomplish our revolution, but your reward will be that you will be serving your country and your people.

Till the revolution is successful you must keep acquiring scientific and technical knowledge and experience abroad or within the country, which will be put to use when that time comes

Invitation from Aga Khan University, Pakistan

A Pakistani girl, Jasmine Afridi from Karachi made a comment on my last fb post, to which I sent a reply. Here they are :

Jasmine Afridi : Frankly speaking and i am sure you would be aware of it that we don't have that much openness in Pakistan but at forums like Aga Khan University you can say almost anything.

Markandey Katju:

Very well. At Agha Khan University, if invited, I will say

1. Pakistan is a fake, artificial entity ( I refuse to call it a country ), created by the British through their agents, the rascals Gandhi and Jinnah, on the basis of the bogus two nation theory, and is bound to be reunited with India one day under a secular govt We are really one country.

2. All religions, including Hinduism, Islam and Christianity are false and superstitions, and the truth lies in science, which is not something final and complete as religious books such as Quran claim to be, but is constantly developing.

3. Most politicians in India and Pakistan, and all religious extremists, whether Hindu or Muslim, must be summarily and publicly executed like mad dogs.

4. Feudal reactionary laws, such as sharia, must be immediately abolished and replaced by a uniform civil code for all religions.

5. Burqa and hijab must be immediately abolished. This is a feudal practice denigrating women, and must be crushed with an iron hand. The argument that it should be left to the woman's choice whether to wear it or not is a specious argument. No woman should be given a choice in this

6. It is barbaric how Ahmedis have been treated in Pakistan. If they say Muhammed was not the last Prophet, are hey cutting off anyone's necks, or chopping off anyone's limbs ? Similarly it is barbaric how Shias, Hindus, Christian and Sikhs have been treated in Pakistan.

If in your great Aga Khan University one can say almiost anything, then I should be permitted to say all this, which I have been saying repeatedly in my public speeches, newspaper articles, facebook posts and blogs Otherwise come off your high horse and your high sounding self proclaimed liberalism and confess I cannot say all this in Pakistan, in which case I will not come

Bal Thackeray

Of all the crooked politicians of India, Bal Thackeray was perhaps the most brazed in his hooliganism and shamelessness.

When he died in November 2012, eminent people, including the President of India, Prime Minister, Sonia Gandhi, etc fell over each other in paying tribute to this rascal.

But I wrote an article entitled ' Why I can't pay tribute to Bal Thackeray ', which was published in the ' Hindu ' on 19.11.2012.

The same is reproduced below :

Bhedad gana vinauyanti bhinnah supajapah paraih

Tasmat samghatayogesu prayateran ganah sada

(Republics have been destroyed because of internal divisions among the people;

Hence a republic should always strive to achieve unity and good relations among the people)

-Mahabharat, Shanti Parva, chapter 108, shloka 14

Tesam anyonyabhinnanam svauaktim anutisthatam

Nigrahah panditaih karyah ksipram eva pradhanatah

(Therefore the wise authorities should crush the separatist forces trying to assert their strength)

Mahabharat, Shanti Parva, 108:26

Political leaders, film stars, cricketers, etc. are all falling over one another to pay tribute to the late Bal Thackeray. Amidst this plethora of accolades and plaudits pouring in from the high and mighty, I humbly wish to register my vote of dissent.

I know of the maxim De mortuis nil nisi bonum (of the dead speak only good), but I regret I cannot, since I regard the interest of my country above observance of civil proprieties.

What is Bal Thackeray’s legacy?

It is the anti-national ‘sons of the soil’ (bhumiputra) theory.

Article 1(1) of the Indian Constitution states: “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”

Thus, India is not a confederation but a union.

Article 19 (1) (e) states: “All citizens shall have the right — to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India.”

Thus, it is a fundamental right of a Gujarati, south Indian, Bihari, U.P.ite, or person from any other part of India to migrate to Maharashtra and settle down there, just as it is of Maharashtrians to settle down in any part of India (though there are some restrictions in J&K, and some North-East States, due to historical reasons).

The bhumiputra theory states that Maharashtra essentially belongs to Marathi people, while Gujaratis, south Indians, north Indians, etc. are outsiders. This is in the teeth of Articles 1(1) and 19(1)(e) of the Constitution. India is one nation, and hence non-Maharashtrians cannot be treated as outsiders in Maharashtra.

The Shiv Sena created by Thackeray attacked south Indians in the 1960s and 70s, and vandalised their restaurants and homes. In 2008, Biharis and U.P.ites living in Mumbai (the bhaiyyas who eke out a livelihood as milk and newspaper vendors, taxi drivers etc.) were described as infiltrators and attacked, their taxis smashed, and several beaten up. Muslims were also vilified

This, of course, created a vote bank for Thackeray based on hatred (as had Hitler, of whom Thackeray was an admirer), and how does it matter if the country breaks up and is Balkanised?

Apart from the objection to the ‘sons of the soil’ theory for being anti-national and unconstitutional, there is an even more basic objection, which may rebound on Thackeray’s own people.

India is broadly a country of immigrants (like North America) and 92-93 per cent of the people living in India today are not the original inhabitants but descendants of immigrants who came mainly from the north-west seeking a comfortable life in the sub-continent (see the article ‘What is India?’ on my blog justicekatju.blogspot.in and the video on the website kgfindia.com ).

The original inhabitants (the real bhumiputra) of India are the pre-Dravidian tribals, known as Adivasis (the Bhils, Gonds, Santhals, Todas, etc.) who are only 7-8 per cent of our population today.

Hence if the bhumiputra theory is seriously implemented, 92-93 per cent of Maharashtrians (including, perhaps, the Thackeray family) may have to be regarded as outsiders and treated accordingly. The only real bhumiputra in Maharashtra are the Bhils and other tribals, who are only 7-8 per cent of the population of Maharashtra.

Several separatist and fissiparous forces are at work in India today (including the bhumiputra theory). All patriotic people must combat these forces.

Why must we remain united? We must remain united because only a massive modern industry can generate the huge wealth we require for the welfare of our people — agriculture alone cannot do this — and modern industry requires a huge market. Only a united India can provide the huge market for the modern industry we must create to abolish poverty, unemployment and other social evils, and to provide for the huge health care and modern education systems we must set up if we wish to come to the front ranks of the most advanced countries.

Hence I regret I cannot pay any tribute to Mr. Bal Thackeray

The Present Scenario in South Asia

To understand what is going on in South Asia we must keep firmly in mind Lenin's definition of politics : " Politics is concentrated economics ".

Once that is kept firmly in mind the truth becomes clear

I would first like to speak about the Partition of India in 1947.

What is the superficial explanation of this historical event which caused so much misery to lacs of people ? It is that Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations, and therefore must live apart. Hindus worship idols and many gods, whereas Islam forbids idol worship, and permits worship of Allah only. So Partition was inevitable.

But what is the truth ? The truth is that the two nation theory, which was the basis of Partition, was bogus. For centuries Hindus and Muslims lived together in India peacefully. Hindus used to participate in Eid and Muharram, and Muslims in Holi and Diwali. Muslim rulers like the Mughals, Nawabs of Avadh and Murshidabad, Tipu Sultan, etc were secular ( there is no doubt a controversy about Aurangzeb, on which see my blog on justicekatju.blogspot.in ) and would organize and often participate in Holi, dussehra and other Hindu festivals.

What was then the cause of Partition ?

The cause was simply this : the Western powers did not want ( and still do not want ) India to emerge as a modern powerful highly industrialized country, which would make the Indian economy a strong rival to Western economies.

It must be remembered that the cost of labour is a big chunk of the total cost of production. If the cost of labour is less, the cost of production will be less, and if the cost of production is less one can sell his goods at a cheaper price, thus underselling his business rival. Thus the business rival will not be able to face the competition.

Indian labour is far cheaper than Western labour, and so we are in an advantageous position vis-à-vis the Westerners. Realizing this, they craftily planned and implemented the Partition of India, so that we keep fighting each other, and do not emerge as a powerful industrial giant ( for which we have all the potential now, with our huge pool of engineers, scientists, technicians, etc. and immense natural resources ). Also, tensions and fights between India and Pakistan boosts the sales of Western arms manufacturers ( India is the biggest importer of foreign arms in the world, spending billions of dollars on them, which money could have been spent on the welfare of our people ).

So Partition in 1947 had nothing to do with alleged Hindu-Muslim animosity. it had economic reasons mentioned above, which we must understand.

Now coming to present developments in India and its neighbourhood, many people ( particularly many of our politicians and our TRP driven media ) cast all the blame for all troubles in the region on Pakistan, the so called 'epicentre' of terrorism. But that is a superficial understanding, so let us understand the truth.

The truth is that China has emerged as a modern industrial giant, with a huge industry, and about 3.2 trillion dollars foreign exchange reserve which is a lot of hot money hungrily seeking avenues for investment, markets and raw materials ( like imperialist powers ).

Its main rival is India, not only because India is also a huge country with a population almost equal to that of China, but even more because Indian labour is even cheaper than Chinese labour. So if India emerges as a big industrial power, China may not be able to face the competition from Indian industry, as with our cheaper labour we can undersell the Chinese.

This is the real reason why China is backing Pakistan and the Kashmiri militants, its whole game being to weaken India, and not allow it to become a modern industrial giant.

So all this painting of Pakistan as the devil is a lot of nonsense. Pakistan is a small fry. The real 'devil' behind the scene is China, which has invested a huge amount of money in Balochistan and other parts of Pakistan, is building the Pak-China Economic corridor, and is covertly sending sophisticated weapons, etc to the Kashmiri militants. So please realize we are not facing a small fry like Pakistan, but a super industrial power, China

The masses only learn after bitter experience

A few intellectuals may know historical truths and social developments by their study and genuine understanding, but the masses learn only through bitter experience, or, to put it in crude terms, after receiving the danda.

Thus it was that the Indian masses learnt after being befooled and being kicked around for almost 70 years that the 'Independence' of 1947 was no independence and that real independence is independence from po...verty, hunger, unemployment, lack of healthcare and good education, that a real freedom struggle from foreign rule can only be an armed struggle as pointed out by our real freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Surya Sen ( Masterda ), Bismil, Ashfaqulla, Rajguru, Khudiram Bose, Rajguru, etc and not the fake 'freedom struggle' led by that hypocrite Gandhi, and that the 'democracy' we got after 1947 was phoney, and was only vote bank politics craftily manipulated by our crooked politicians who took advantage of the low intellectual understanding of the masses and tremendous casteism and communalism still prevailing in society to win elections.

It is only now that the Indian masses through their bitter experience are gradually learning the truth, and are realizing that the solutions to their massive problems lie outside the system, and not within it, that is by a revolution.

To achieve this revolution, the Indian masses will have to learn more, and go through rivers of blood and make tremendous sacrifices, but that is unfortunately how history operates. The vested interests in the present order will not give up their hold, and will not allow allow great changes in the country, but will seek to retain the status quo, by putting up fierce resistance.

But our goal must be clear, and we must be ready for attaining this objective whatever the cost in blood. We have to establish a social and political order in which our people enjoy a high standard of living and decent lives, with employment, healthcare, good education, nutritious food, etc for all, and with no social discrimination against women, dalits, minorities, etc. For this struggle the people will have to use all their creativity, and devise the forms of struggle, as were devised by the people in the great French, Russian and Chinese Revolutions, led by modern minded, brave and self sacrificing leaders. Only then will they get real independence. And they will do it.

Arduous as is the path of the Indian people, their future is bright

Bhindranwale

I had put up a fb post stating that Bhindranwale was a feudal bigoted village idiot.

I received many messages and emails abusing me for this, which of course I ignored. But I also received polite messages asking me to clarify my view, and they are entitled to that, which I am doing here.

I have basically three points to make in this connection :

1. Bhindranwale was a religious figure. As I have earler repeatedly said, religion had a certain utility in earlier times, but today it is totally outdated. All religions are superstitions, and the truth lies in science, which of course is not something final I( like the Quran, Vedas, Bible, Guru Granth Saheb, etc ) but is constantly developing with new scientific inventions and discoveries. To abolish poverty, unemployment, and other social evils, and make India a highly developed and industrialized country in which our people enjoy a high standard of living and have decent lives, we have to give up religion and go over to science.

So I have no respect for religious leaders like Bhindranwale, Adityanath, Sadhvi Prachi, Sakshi Maharaj, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and most of the Maulanas, as they are all feudal minded reactionaries who will only drag India back into the Middle Ages, instead of taking it forward into modern times.

2. From what I have heard, the Congress Party under Indira Gandhi built up Bhindranwale to counteroppose the Akalis, though later on he turned on the Congress, just as Osama bin Laden, who had earlier been supported by the Americans to fight the Russian army in Afghanistan, later on turned on the Americans.

3. Many people still praise Bhindranwale because most people in India are still backward and feudal minded, and are religious. So they call him a 'sant'. But he had no scientific ideas, and had no modern education. He had only feudal religious ideas, while to progress we have to destroy feudal thinking and practices. Only then can India progress and prosper

Our crooked politicians will use our soldiers as cannon fodder

The recent attacks on our security forces in Kulgam, Handwara, Pampore, Shopian, etc. is corroborating what I had said in some of my earlier posts, e.g. ' The War Drums are sounding ' , ' A full blown guerilla war is developing in Kashmir ', etc

What we are witnessing in Kashmir is a guerilla war in its infancy, which is bound to grow and grow, ultimately creating a Vietnam type situation.

As I have said in an earlier post, I have many relatives who have been in the army ( one had even fought in the British army against Rommel in North Africa in the Second World War ), and I have discussed warfare at length with them. I have also studied the works of Sherman, Mao-tse-tung, Che Guevara, Genera Giap, Marshal Zhukov, etc.

A guerilla war to succeed must have popular support. Unfortunately due to the stupidity of successive Indian governments, almost the entire Kashmiri population ( I am referring to the people living in the Kashmir valley, not Jammu or Ladakh ) has been alienated from India and have become hostile to us..Of course only a small percentage of this population are militants, but even the non militants are overwhelmingly hostile to us, and are sympathizers of the militants, to whom they provide intelligence, sanctuary, food, etc..Sophisticated arms and supplies are coming to the militants on a large scale from China via Pakistan.

The guerillas have the advantage of surprise. They decide when to strike, where to strike, etc. Their traditional tactics is ' hit and run ', and ' attack the soft, avoid the hard '.

All local elements suspected by them to be traitors to their cause will be eliminated, as was done by the Vietcong.The J&K police consisting of largely local Kashmiris, has been already effectively neutralized by instilling fear of reprisals against their family members. That leaves the non Kashmiri Indian army and para military forces as the effective opponents of the militants.

The militants will use classic guerilla tactics to fight them, e,g. avoiding attacking heavily fortified army encampments, and attacking when our forces are on the move, as it happened in Shopian, where the sympathizers must have secretly informed the Kashmiri militants about the movement of the convoy of our para military column..

There will be pinpricks here and there but cumulatively these will have a deadly effect, just as being bitten by one bee may not cause much harm, but being bitten by a swarm can be mortal.

Guerilla war is psychological war too. Our security forces will constantly be kept on the tenterhooks. A soldier has to sleep and rest, but the guerillas will not allow him that, by attacking often at night, or at unexpected hours, as it happened in the American War of Independence ( 1775-1781 ), during Napoleon's retreat from Moscow in !812, in the Chinese Revolutionary war, and in Vietnam.

In retaliation our soldiers are bound to commit atrocities on civilians, but this will only turn more civilians into militants, as these civilians will be filled with hatred and seek revenge for the death of their near and dear ones. This will increase the ranks of the militants. And of course there will be no shortage of arms for them, as these will be supplied by China and Pakistan.

As I had written in an earlier post, an army can fight another army, it cannot fight the armed masses. A tiger can attack a prey, it cannot attack a swarm of mosquitoes.

In a conventional war, one usually knows where the enemy is. In a guerilla war, the enemy is everywhere, he is nowhere. It is often a war in the shadows, and a war of attrition. Our army will even find it difficult to distinguish the guerilla from the civilian, for the former is often wearing no uniform, as the American soldiers learnt in Vietnam. Consequently, anyone even remotely suspected of being a militant will be shot by our soldiers. These may be innocent civilians, but their deaths will increase the hatred against our security forces, and convert civilians into overt or covert militants, seeking revenge. This cycle will be repeated over and over again, increasing the number of militants fighting our forces.

And in the meanwhile our crooked politicians will carry on with their dirty game of trying to get political mileage for the coming elections by ' surgical strikes ', etc ( which to my mind was nothing but a pinprick ), and treating our brave soldiers as cannon fodder for their political advantage.

Much has been said about the ' surgical strike ' by our army, as if it was a Stalingrad Victory. But leaving aside all the jingoism what did it achieve ? Our soldiers went in 3 km. beyond the LOC, smashed some militant camps and killed some terrorists, and came back ( we need not go into the question whether those killed were in fact terrorists or not ). But in this we caught the Pakistani army unprepared and off guard ( just as the Uri attackers caught our soldiers offguard ).

But now the element of surprise is spent, and the Pakistani army will be on guard against any further such incursion, and will meet it, if at all attempted, with stiff opposition. Also, the militant camps near the LOC would by now have been shifted to places far from the LOC. If our army tries another ' surgical strike ' it may only end up not with clapping and cheering by a hysterical public instigated by a TRP driven media, but with a bloody nose..

.,

Aristotle 's theory and Indian Media

There was a theory of the Greek philosopher Aristotle that every man looks like some animal, and has the qualities of that animal.

Can you please tell me which animals do these people look like, and the qualities of that animal which they have ( apart from the capacity to say ' bhow bhow ') ? If possible, also send me cartoons about them :

1. Arnab Goswamy of Times Now

2 Sudhir Choudhary of Zee news

3. Rajat Sharma of India Today

4. Rahul Shivshanker of Newsx

5. Rajdeep Sardesai of India Today

6. Barkha Dutt of NDTV

7. Nidhi Razdan, of NDTV

8. Deepak Chaurasia of Indianews

Predicting the U.P. election result

In the coming U.P. elections my prediction is that the BSP will get a clear majority. My reasons are as follows ;
Elections in U.P. as in Bihar, are ordinarily on the basis of caste and religion. The exception to this is when there is a wave, e.g. the Modi wave in the Lok Sabha elections of May, 2014. But this wave is now spent.

Mayawati has a solid 20% SC vote bank, and this is unshakeable.

SP has about 17%, viz. Yadavs ( about 9% of the population ) and some other OBCs. OBC s are no doubt about 30% of the U.P. population, but they are not one caste, nor all with S.P. For instance, Kurmis, the second largest OBC group ( about 7% ), are traditionally hostile to Yadavs.

BJP has the upper caste Hindu vote, but upper castes i.e. brahmins, rajputs, banias, etc are altogether only about 18% of the U.P. population. One cannot win an election by getting only 18% votes, one needs at least 30% ( it is not necessary to get 50% as others

 are divided ).

This is the basic dilemma for BJP. How can they win with only 18% votes ? The only way out for them is to arouse communal feelings and instigate communal riots, e.g. in Muzaffarnagar. That way a section of OBCc and SCs may gravitate towards them, as it happened in the Ram Janmabhumi agitation.

But the Ram Mandir card has been played out, and is no longer effective. Anti Pakistan hysteria is now being tried, hand in glove with the TRP driven media, but I doubt this hysteria will last long.
That leaves the 18% Muslim population of the state. Which way will Muslims vote this time ? That will be the decisive factor.
In the last Assembly elections they voted for SP, but I doubt they will do so this time. Events in Dadri, Muzaffarnagar, Ballabhgarh, etc, the worsening law and order situation, and the corruption of many SP leaders have totally disillusioned the Muslims regarding SP.

The psychology of Muslims is to do ' tactical ' voting, i.e. voting for the strongest party which can defeat BJP. For Muslims the enemy is BJP. Now that Muslims are disillusioned with SP, that leaves only BSP as the alternative choice, and so it logically follows that this time they will vote massively for BSP.. Muslim votes will not be divided this time. ''Ghar wapasi ', hate speeches by Adityanath, Sadhvi Prachi, Sakshi Maharaj, Togadia, etc, events in Dari, Muzaffarnagar, Ballabhgarh, and the activities of ' gau rakshaks ' have ensured that.

As regards Congress, it has no vote bank, and can only ride piggy back on Mayawati's shoulders, as it rode piggy back in Bihar on the shoulders of the Mahagathbandhan.

The result of this analysis is that BSP will get 20% SC votes+18% Muslim votes, i.e. 38%, a clearly winning combination

One and only solution to the Kashmir problem.

Indian people, Indian govt. and Indian armed forces, Pakistanis, Kashmiris,

Let me tell you the one and only solution to the Kashmir problem. You must know it, otherwise you are heading for disaster. For too long have you been befooled.

Listen to me patiently and coolly, and only thereafter express your opinion. You can certainly disagree with me, but in that case you must give me reasons, not abuse.

1. On what basis was the Partition of India done in 1947 ? On the basis of the two nation theory, that Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations.

2. If we accept the two nation theory, then logically Kashmir, whose population is 95% Muslim, should have gone to Pakistan

3. So unless we say that the two nation theory itself was bogus, ( which indeed it was ) and that the historical swindle by the British of dividing India on the basis of religion must be undone, and India and Pakistan ( and Bangladesh ) must be reunited under a secular Government, as I have been saying for years, Indians have no right to say that Kashmir is an integral part of India and must remain with India.

To say that a long time has passed since 1947 is irrelevant. Germany was reunited in 1990 after its partition in 1945. China has still not recognized Taiwan

4. In other words, the solution, and the only solution, to the Kashmir problem, is reunification of India and Pakistan ( and Bangladesh ) under a secular, modern minded government.

For long have I been saying this, a solitary voice crying in the wilderness, but for saying this truth I was branded as a madman, a crank, a dreamer, a utopian, and even things worse.

5. Those who say that Pakistan is the 'epicentre' of terrorism, and therefore we should not unite with 'terrorists', are talking rubbish. I know many Pakistanis, and find them fine people. I have repeatedly said that 99% Pakistanis ( like 99% Indians ) are good people, though there are 1% rascals on both sides. In fact Indians and Pakistanis are really one people, artificially ( but temporarily ) divided by the British for Western vested interests.

When I meet Pakistanis I feel no different from them. We speak to each other in Hindustani, we look like each other, we share the same culture, etc. In fact we are one. We were befooled by the British into thinking that Hindus and Muslims are enemies of each other, but how much longer must we remain befooled ? How much longer must blood flow between us ?

But that does not detract from the fact that Pakistan is a fake, artificial entity ( I refuse to call it a country ), created by the wicked British on the basis of the bogus two nation theory ( see my article ' The Truth about Pakistan ' online and on my blog justicekatju.blogspot.in. It was published in the Pakistani newspaper 'The Nation' a few years back )

6. So all of you think coolly about what I have said above. Dont quickly accept or reject it. Take your time, and deliberate on it, and dicuss it with others.

Once you accept my ideas on principle, the details about how to practically work them out can be examined later.

Indians ( and Pakistanis and Kashmiris, whom I regard also as Indians ), wake up, you are on the brink of a precipice. One more step of foolishness, and down you go deep into a calamity

Guerilla war in Kashmir

It is a maxim of guerilla war : " Attack the soft, avoid the hard ".
It appears that this maxim is being applied more and more in Kashmir
http://www.ndtv.com/…/from-ground-zero-kashmir-why-are-poli…
The Kashmir police is soft compared to the army. This is (1) because it is lightly armed compared to the army and para military forces, and (2) the Kashmiri policemen are themselves Kashmiris ( unlike army or para military men ), but are often looked upon as traitors by many K...ashmiris. They have their families in Kashmir, and are vulnerable.
No doubt the Uri attack was on armymen, but there the armymen were caught sleeping, and taken by surprise, like the Hessians on the night of 25/26 December, 1776 by the soldiers of George Washington who crossed the Delaware, or like the Pandavas by Ashwatthama's attack at night at the end of the Mahabharata war. But now the element of surprise is spent, and in future armymen will be on their guard. So the Kashmiri militants will not choose heavily guarded army establishments for attack in the near future, but aim at soft targets. Already such attacks have begun, e.g. in Shopian.
http://www.dnaindia.com/…/report-breaking-terrorists-open-f…
The tactics used will be ' hit and run ', the classical guerilla technique.
I am sorry for the Kashmiri policemen, but they are in for an unenviable time
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Hear Walter Cronkite

The Indian Govt. the Indian armed forces, and the Indian people, should all listen to these words in the historical address of Walter Cronkite, the famous anchorman of the American CBS Evening News on 27th Frbruary 1968, as it reflects on the situation in Kashmir today :

" To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations.

But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn4w-ud-TyE

Walter Cronkite was an American journalist who covered World War 2, the Nuremburg Trials, the Vietnam War, Watergate, etc. He was so fair and objective in his reporting that he became known as ' the most trusted man in America '. And when he gave this address after visiting Vietnam in mid February 1968, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson is reported to have said " If I have lost Cronkite, I have lost the war.".

Soon afterwards Johnson announced suspension of the bombing of North Vietnam, and his intension not to seek another term as President.

How an astrologer saved me from BJP's 'Loh Purush'

I firmly believe that astrology is unscientific, superstition and humbug. But I must admit it saved me once. And that too because my wife believes in it.

 I have been lucky to have had a good wife, with whom I have been married for 45 years. She has taken care of me ( when it should have been the other way around ), and I do believe I would have perished long ago had it not been for her.

 But she is a complete contrast to me in many ways. I am a firm atheist, she is deeply religious, I regard astrology as humbug, whereas she firmly believes in it. 

 But despite that, I am not such a fool as to quarrel with a person who has been taking care of me. So when she tells me to go with her to Hanuman ( or Rama or Krishna ) temple I do so. When she tells me to fold hands before Hanumanji, I do so. When she tells me to touch his feet, I do so. What do I lose by doing so ?

 When I was a judge of Allahabad High Court, there was a retired govt. officer living in Allahabad who was also an astrologer. My wife had great faith in him, and one of my jobs, as a good husband, was to accompany her to the astrologer's residence, which I did many times. 

 It is that astrologer ( who is now dead ) who told me of the events mentioned below.

 Atal Behari Vajpayee, who was then Prime Minister, would also regularly consult this astrologer whom my wife consulted.

 Once something happened which so infuriated the then ' Loh Purush ' of BJP that he went after my blood, and was hell bent in getting me transferred to Sikkim, which would have effectively finished my career ( in theory our judiciary is independent, but in practice the govt.has a lot of influence in its functioning ).

 Luckily for me it was Vajpayee, and not the Loh Purush, who was the Prime Minister, and Vajpayee consulted the astrologer about me. The astrologer spoke highly of me to Vajpayee, and this saved me.

 Now let me tell you about what infuriated the Loh Purush against me.

 It so happened that as an Allahabad High Court Judge I had repeatedly given judgments in favour of Muslims ( and this at a time when the BJP was in power in both the Centre and U.P. ). 

Not that I am an 'appeaser' of Muslims. I am not in politics, so I do not seek Muslim votes. I have no desire to please Muslims. In fact I have often given them the danda ( over stupid, outdated customs like triple talaq and burqa and the outdated feudal sharia law ), just as I have often given Hindus the danda ( over caste system, cow protection, etc ).

 But what I cannot stand is injustice or oppression to anyone, whether Hindu or Muslim  or anyone.

 I regard all religions as superstitions. Yet I am a strong supporter of freedom of religion. I believe that religion will die out gradually and be replaced by science, but that will take several generations. In the meantime one has to be patient. Any attempt to forcibly stamp out religion will be counter productive, as it will make people more bigoted.

 For orthodox Muslims, Friday prayer ( Jumme ki namaz ) is important, and such namaz is usually offered in a mosque. But the state authorities of U.P. were not allowing Muslims to build mosques, even over their own land. There was no requirement in law to get permission for this from the District Magistrate, but the police insisted on getting such permission, and whenever any Muslim applied to the D.M. for permission, the application was promptly rejected. Consequently, on Fridays Muslims in Allahabad and elsewhere in U.P. were often seen offering namaz on the open streets.

 This appeared to me as injustice to Muslims. I had seen Hanuman temples springing up overnight everywhere, often illegally and on public land, but Muslims were not being allowed to build mosques even legally on their own land.

So when a case came before me I held that the right of Muslims to build mosques on their own land is part of the freedom to practice religion guaranteed as a fundamental right by Article 25 of the Constitution. There was no legal requirement to take permission from the D.M. for this. Anyone interfering with this right will be severely punished.

 In another case,  Muslims were not being allowed by the police to take out the Muharram procession ( which is a practice more common to Shias ). I held that the Muslims have a fundamental right under Article 25 of the Constitution to take out the Muharram procession, though it could be regulated by the authorities so that there was no public inconvenience.

 I gave several more such judgments in favour of Muslims, saying that this was a secular country, and everybody has a right to follow his religion. 

 Such judgments gave great relief to Muslims of U.P., but they created great anger among the bigoted Hindus, and evidently they conveyed their indignation and displeasure to the Loh Purush, who regarded himself as another Sardar Patel ( though in fact Sardar Patel was a Raja Bhoj, while the Loh Purush, who has now been cut down to size, was only a Gangu teli ). 

The Loh Purush would definitely have done me great harm, but for my wife's astrologer.

 Hari Om

The era of blood and iron is fast approahing in India
After the events in Kashmir it has become evident that the era of votes and speeches which we had witnessed in India since Independence is fast receding ( though it is not yet entirely over ), and is being rapidly replaced by the era of blood and iron ( blud und eisen ) as the great German Chancellor Bismarck called it in his speech to the Prussian Landtag in 1862

The Tet Offensive is bound to come

One thing is certain in Kashmir : despite all the jingoism and chest thumping of our TRP driven media, with its Don Quixote, Lord Haw Haw, and Dr. Goebbels who keep announcing our great victory by the 'surgical strike' and the 'isolation' of Pakistan, and fatuous statements of the BJP spokesmen on TV, as well as the bombastic calls by many ' to stand united ', the truth is that the Tet Offensive is bound to come for our army in Kashmir, as it came for the Americans in Vietnam in January 1968.

At present our security forces are only getting guerilla pinpricks, as in the Kulgam and Handwara attacks, after the Uri attack. But the clouds will build up, and one day there will be a cloudburst.

Let there be no doubt : almost all Kashmiris living in the valley have turned deadly hostile to India due to the stupidity of our political leaders. And the militants among them are getting sophisticated arms from China via Pakistan. while the non militants are giving the militants sanctuary, food and intelligence, as the Viet Cong got from the people in South Vietnam.

The American General Westmoreland kept saying for a long time that America was winning the war in Vietnam, that he could see ' light at the end of the tunnel', etc. etc. But all this stopped after Tet.

Telengana

Telengana was till 2014, when it became a separate state, a part of Andhra Pradesh, the other two parts being Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema. The common feature in all these parts is the Telugu language.

Till 1948 Telengana was the main part of the dominions of the Nizam of Hyderabad, whereas Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema were under direct British rule, being part of Madras province.

Telengana became part of India in 1948, and part of the new state of Andhra Pradesh after the States Reorganization Act of 1956.

Telengana remained very backward under the feudal rule of the Nizams, and was significantly more backward than Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema. In protest against this feudal rule, the armed Telengana agitation led by the CPI started in 1946, using guerrilla warfare. Many people perished in this struggle.

When General Elections to the Lok Sabha were announced in 1952, many Telengana struggle leaders had arrest warrants against them, and were underground. They contested the elections while remaining underground, and due to their popularity won by huge majorities.

When these elected leaders came secretly to Delhi the problem before them was how to enter Parliament. There were still arrest warrants against them. So they decided to scale the wall of Parliament at midnight, and secretly enter, which they did.

When the police found this, they were about to arrest them, but then they received strict instructions from the Prime Minister Pt. Nehru not to do so. Next morning Nehru invited them to his residence, patted their backs, gave them choice snacks to eat, and said he admired them as they were bravely fighting against feudal oppression. He told them that the cases against them were all being withdrawn, and they could move about freely. They were given official accommodations, official cars, secretaries, servants, etc like other M.P.s,

In this way they were won over, and the armed rebellion collapsed, just as it happened in Nepal, where the leaders of the armed struggle like Prachanda and Bhattarai have been won over by providing them similar facilities and a comfortable life.

As I had mentioned earlier, Telengana was more backward than the other two parts of Andhra Pradesh viz. Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema, because it was under the Nizam's feudal rule. The medium of instruction in Telengana was Urdu, whereas that of the other two parts was English. The result was that when Telengana was combined with Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema, the Telengana boys, who did not know English ( whereas the boys from the other two parts of the state did ) could not qualify in the civil services examinations, as knowledge of English was compulsory. All the jobs in the civil services therefore went to the boys of Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema.. Consequently another agitation was started by the people of Telengana against this injustice, and this resulted in a Constitutional Amendment introducing Article 371D in the Constitution and promulgation of the ' mulki rules ', which provided for reservation of govt. jobs for people in a region within the state.

No doubt Telengana was more backward than the rest of Andhra Pradesh due to the Nizam's feudal rule, but when N.T. Rama Rao, who was himself from Coastal Andhra, became the Chief Minister in 1983 ( he remained C.M. till 1995 ) he sought to remove this disparity. He established schools and hospitals in Telengana, set up Mandals there, provided electricity to the region, etc. Consequently the disparity with the other two regions was considerably reduced.

In my opinion, therefore, there was no justification for grant of separate statehood to Telengana. Creation of a separate state costs a huge amount of money, which a poor country like ours can ill afford, and also a lot of dislocation and other problems. In fact when I went to Hyderabad in 2013 I said so in a television interview, which was widely telecast. The result was that a huge crowd of pro-Telengana demonstrators gathered in front of the Lake View Guest House where I was staying, and shouted slogans against me. Unfortunately, I had not brought my danda with me from Delhi, otherwise I would have dealt with them in an appropriate manner.

The agitation for separate statehood was led by that fraud KCR, who, adopting the tactics of another fraud, Gandhi, went on indefinite hunger strike

The next year, 2014, the Congress Govt. thinking that it would get them some seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections ( it did not ), announced creation of Telengana state, a move which has created immense problems, and has benefited no one except a few crooked politicians and businessmen

Hari Om

The War Drums are clearly sounding
The war drums can clearly be heard in our sub continent.
The 'surgical' strike by the Indian army 3 kms. inside POK is said to have killed 50 terrorists and hit 7 of their camps and has been widely acclaimed in India as a great victory, with a lot of clapping and cheering.
But it is doubtful whether the 'surgery' destroyed all the cancer cells. In fact it is likely to cause more metastasis.
The Pakistan army and security forces were clearly taken by surprise by this attack, just like the Hessians were on 25/26 December 1776 when George Washington's soldiers crossed the Delaware and attacked them, catching them unexpectedly.
But now the element of surprise is over.The Pakistanis and the terrorists will henceforth be on their guard, and our army cannot again catch them with their pants down.. The camps near the LOC must have been shifted by now far from the LOC, and locating and attacking them 30,40 or 50 kms. away from the LOC is quite a different cup of tea. To attack them again will meet with stiff resistance by the Pakistanis, and may even result in all out war.
But some events, once begun, have their own logic. There will definitely be more strikes by the Kashmiri militants on our security forces, the attack at Kulgam being an example, and some of our soldiers will be killed in them. There will then be pressure on our Govt. and army to retaliate, and the coming elections in U.P., Punjab, etc will add to the motivation.
But how will that retaliation take place ?
To my mind, it can take place in one of two ways ( or both of them simultaneously ).
1. Our army may attack some terrorist camps in POK or Pakistan.The problem, however, here is that this has now to be done deep across the LOC, and not merely 3 or 4 kms. from it ( since the camps near the LOC would have been shifted by now ), and will meet strong opposition from the Pakistani forces. And it must be remembered that Pakistan is not alone, it has the backing of China, a super power, which has made huge investments in Balochistan, and will therefore not allow Pakistan to go under. It is very likely that China has supplied sophisticated weapons to the Kashmiri militants, and will supply more.
2. Attacks will be made by our army and para military forces on the Kashmiri militants within Kashmir ( like the ' search and destroy ' missions of the American army in Vietnam ). But here the problem will be, as it was for the Americans in Vietnam, of identifying the militants. Usually they will not be in any uniform, and since they have the sympathy of the people, can merge with them any time. The result will be that anyone even remotely suspected to be a terrorist, even though really innocent, will be targeted by our army. This is bound to cause huge civilian casualties, causing more hatred of our forces, and more resistance, as it happened in Vietnam. The guerrilla war will grow and grow, arms being supplied by China, via Pakistan.
An army can fight another army, it cannot fight the masses. A tiger can attack a huge prey, it cannot attack a swarm of mosquitoes. In a conventional war one usually knows where the enemy is located. In a guerrilla war, the enemy is everywhere, he is nowhere. A guerrilla fights by hit and run tactics. He chooses the place, time and duration of the attack, and prepares thoroughly before making it. He equally thoroughly prepares the manner of retreat after the attack. If he has popular support, which the Kashmiri militant undoubtedly has ( however much some people may deny it ), he has far better intelligence ( as the Vietcong had ) and is given sanctuary, food and other supplies by the people.
It is time to face realities. The war drums are sounding

The dreadful times to come
Indians,
I do not wish to alarm or terrify you but only to tell you the truth.
The times which are coming in our sub continent will be so horrible that I, who am now 70 years of age, and have seen much in life, shudder to think about it.
I am reminded of Mark Antony;s speech in Act 3, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's ' Julius Caesar ' while he was before the corpse of the murdered Caesar :

" Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy.
Blood and destruction shall be so in use,
And dreadful objects so familiar,
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quartered with the hands of war,
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds,
And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice
Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war,
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial. "

This was said of Italy in the past, but now it can be said of the coming times in India. There will be so much bloodshed and destruction ( my guess is that about 10% of the present population of India will perish ) that when mothers see their slaughtered children's bodies they will only smile, and men, unable to stand the agony, will plead to be buried quickly.
It will be a situation 1000 times worse than that at the end of the Mahabharata war when the wailing Kaurava widows and mothers cursed Krishna for not preventing it ( see on Youtube ' Gandhari's curse ' ).
Why do I say all this ? Let me explain
Our national aim must be to create a new India, which is highly prosperous, highly industrialized, and with its people enjoying a high standard of living.
But there are two powerful forces acting against this, one domestic, and the other international.
1. Domestic forces
India is presently passing through a transitional period in its history, from feudal agricultural society to modern Industrial society. At present we are neither totally feudal nor totally industrial, but somewhere in between. While we have achieved a certain partial level of industrialization, we still have a lot of remnants of feudalism in our society in the form of casteism, communalism,superstitions, etc.and have still to emerge as a highly industrialized country, as in North America and Europe.
A transitional period by its very nature is a very painful and agonizing period in history, full of turbulence, turmoil and bloodshed. If we read the history of Europe from the 17th to 19th Centuries, when Europe was passing through its transition from feudalism to a modern industrial society, we find that this was a terrible period in Europe, full of turbulence, wars, revolutions, chaos, social churning, and intellectual ferment, with all kinds of theories of Voltaire, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Thomas Paine, etc, It was only after going through this fire that modern society emerged in Europe.
India is presently going through this fire. We are going through a very painful and agonizing period in our history which I think will last for around another 20 years.
For after all what is a transition in history ? It is a period when society is being turned topsy turvy, and is in a state of total confusion. The old feudal society is being torn apart and totally uprooted, and is being replaced by a new, modern society. Old values are being challenged and gradually destroyed, and supplanted by new values. As Shakespeare said in Macbeth " Fair is foul, and foul is fair ". In other words, what was regarded good earlier, e.g. the caste system, is now regarded bad ( at least by the enlightened sections of our society ), and what was regarded bad earlier, e.g. equality, education to women, etc is regarded good. The whole of society is thrown into chaos and confusion. Defenders of the old order are being challenged by modern minded proponents of the new.
At present in India there are still a lot of remnants of feudalism in the form of casteism, communalism, and superstitious thinking. Vote bank politics proves this. A mighty struggle will have to be waged by all patriotic Indians, who will have to make great sacrifices, to combat feudal ideas and destroy the feudal remnants in our society, and replace them with modern, scientific practices and ideas.
Can all this happen without a great deal of turmoil ? No, it cannot. There will be fierce resistance by the champions of the old, feudal order, who dislike changes. One may wish that the transition is without any pain or turbulence, but unfortunately that is not how history functions. So the next 20 years or so in India is likely to witness a lot of turbulence, turmoil and bloodshed before the new, modern prosperous society is created.
2. International forces
The developed countries do not wish India to emerge as a powerful industrial giant ( for which it has all the potential, with its large force of outstanding engineers, scientists and technicians, and immense natural resources ), because if it does, it will become a powerful rival to their own industries. Presently,the developed countries are reeling under an economic recession since several years, and if India becomes an industrial giant, that will add to their woes. So they will do their utmost to prevent it.
Presently India is the biggest purchaser of foreign weapons, spending billion of dollars on them, money which could be used for the welfare of our own people. But if it becomes highly industrialized, it will manufacture its own arms. What, then will happen to the super profits which the foreign arms manufacturers are making presently ?
So the developed countries will do every devilish thing to prevent this. They will instigate caste and communal hatred and violence, acting through their local agents, their running dogs ( as the Chinese would say ), and even try to bomb our country into the stone age, as the Americans tried in Vietnam, and the Russians in Afghanistan.
It is only a genuine revolution ( not the fake Gandhi type ) which can save our country. But historical experience has shown that about 10% of the people are killed in a revolution. For instance, at the end of the Chinese Revolution in 1949, the Chinese authorities made a rough calculation of the number of people killed in the Revolution ( which lasted from about 1924 to 1949 ), and found that about 10% of the Chinese people ( 500 million at that time ) had been killed in it. The Vietnamese people suffered 3 or 4 million deaths, out of the total population of about 40 million at that time ) in their revolution.
A genuine revolution witnesses a civil war, and a civil war is a terrible thing. All rules of combat, e.g. of the Geneva Conventions, are cast aside in such a war. It is a dirty, grisly war, often a war in the shadows, in which even innocent civilians, including women and children are not spared, Events, such as the terrible things which happened during the Spanish Civil War, in the Shanghai and Nanking massacres in China, and in Mylai in Vietnam, are common occurrences in such a war.
People will get so accustomed to seeing horrible deeds in such a war that, as Shakespeare said, mothers will only smile on seeing the dead bodies of their slaughtered children, and men in agony will plead for a quick burial.
What forms such a civil war will take cannot be foretold with any degree of accuracy, but events in Kashmir, which are still developing, give an indication
I am sorry to paint such a scary picture, but unfortunately that is how history functions, and it is time someone told you the truth.


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