When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was spending “sleepless nights” thinking of what the families of the Bangalore terror suspects were going through, the BJP pounced on the words of sympathy.
With a flash of amnesia that repeatedly afflicts his party, L.K. Advani thundered that the PM should have sympathised instead with the relatives of the victims of the terror unleashed in Bombay.
And this although Singh had, in fact, duly condemned the outrage at the time it occurred and visited the families who lost their kith and kin.
Rather than fulminating at the prime minister, writes Ashok Mitra in today’s Telegraph, the BJP top brass would do better to sit back and review the sequence of events over the past decade-and-a-half.
“They might as well do some introspection on the organic relationship between terror and counter-terror, a relationship so symbiotic that beyond a point it is impossible to decide whether what is often dubbed as counter-terror was not, really and truly, the original act of terror, and what passes as terror is merely a response to a grievous historical wrong.
“Was not the demolition of the Babri mosque the provocation for the January 1993 explosions in Bombay? And was not the holocaust let loose in Gujarat responsible for the growth of a certain consciousness in some minds, culminating in the July incident in Bombay last year? In between, of course, was the ghastly business at the Godhra rail station, the culpability for which is yet to be determined.
“Indira Gandhi’s misdoings in Kashmir in 1984 similarly gave birth to a chain of consequences which have contributed to the seemingly irretrievable spoliation of the environment in the valley. Unless there is a great catharsis, and parties that claim to be the nation’s largest organize some house cleaning, reposing confidence in the concept of India as an integrated nation would be increasingly difficult.”
Read the full article: Aspects of civilisation
This is a classic example of cheap doubletalk.
>>”Was not the demolition of the Babri mosque the provocation for the January 1993 explosions in Bombay? And was not the holocaust let loose in Gujarat responsible for the growth of a certain consciousness in some minds…..”
How can you so easily ignore the provocation , even if I assume it was a holocaust, when u in the same sentence say that 1993 blasts were reprisals for Babri?
Thooo… nauseating. Im pretty much sure that it is people like Mitra, more than the jihadis, (we shud call him a Shatru, one more quilsing) will in the days ahead, be responible for jeopardising the lives of ordinary people.
There has been an attack on Amarnath Yatris a couple of days ago and there is no hue and cry has been raised, because the victims are Hindus. Im sure Mitra will come up with another balderdash classic of his stating that hindus were provoking muslims by going on a yatra to Amarnath.
So there were communal riots involving Muslims prior to 1992 ?? Stuipd secular people !
Providing any kind of justification for terrorism is being arrogant at best and irresponsible at worst.
If you are going to play the justification game then the Gujarat riots are completely ad 100% justified since they were a direct result of the Godhra train accident. Similar justifications can be given to the mosque destruction too.
Churumuri, I thought your blog was brave enough to stand up to all the minority ass kissing that is happening all over India in the name of secularism.
What happened? After you recent exposure with CNN IBN have the Pseudo Psec pussies got to you too?
Ashok Mitra is not merely talking through his hat, but his rhetoric is the kind of demagoguery that this country can do without. Sample this:
“Was not the demolition of the Babri mosque the provocation for the January 1993 explosions in Bombay?”
Why is it so self-evident to this specimen that the destruction of a disputed mosque should necessarily lead to the bombing to death of 300 people? After all, a lot more people cope with far greater indignities without taking it out on innocent others. Kashmiri Hindus exiled from the valley, for example. Mitra obviously doesn’t expect them to kill innocent Muslims to extract vengeance. But he does think it is in the natural scheme of things that “wronged” Muslims should want to kill innocent non-Muslims. Are Muslims prone to violence in this guy’s reckoning? Are they easily motivated to inflict atrocities on innocent people? Does he think they are poorer in judgement, compassion and ethics compared to non-Muslims?
Guess who’s stereotyping Muslims?
extend the rhetoric?
civilization didn’t start in past decade-and-a-half.
Rather than fulminating at the fulminators, writes I in today’s blog, the intelligencia’s top brass would do better to sit back and review the sequence of events over the past millennium-and-a-half.
oh! wait they have paid attention to the last millennium and half, only they are revising them now – the regime changes, the invasions, the occupations …
we are a sad society which cannot accommodate historical truths!! We whine over it and may be go up to make stories that Taj Mahal is a Shiva temple, but whole heartedly vote for it to be among the newest world wonders!
You cant gobble everything together. ‘Is counter-terror the original act of terror?’ – yes it is.
SO basically what you are saying is that as long as there is a justification, terrorism is ok that terrorists can kill innocent people by the hundreds.
Shame on you.
No wonder that terrorism is spreading so fast in our country.
By the same argument, the Sikhs should hound every single congress worked and butcher him. Congress party works slaughtered thousands after Indira Gandhi was killed. But they didnt.
Shame on Nehru santana and his congress! They destroyed beautiful nation India over 50 years. Why Manamohan singh was able to sleep peacefully during Bombay blasts? IISc attack ? All for muslim votes !!!.
Congress party will never improve.
If we had Sardar Patel as PM definitely Indian would have been like Japan today.USD $1 = 1 INR for sure!
Nehru just enjoyed Lady MtBaton and started corruption in the country and jobless congress workers continued his ethics and country in this state now.Pity!
TS and NH
Great posts!
“The crucial question will keep nagging. Do not instances of so-called global terror, for which al Qaida is being held to blame, have a direct causal relationship with imperial aggrandizement? Is not the genocide the Americans are perpetrating for years on end in west Asia responsible for a unique kind of Arab resurgence unswervingly loyal to the edict of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?”
“GENOCIDE”??? Does the author even know the meaning of GENOCIDE? It does not mean a “lot of deaths” or “many people killed”. The Holocaust was “genocide”, the Rwanda killings were “genocide”, the ethnic cleansing in the erstwhile Yugoslavia was “genocide”. One may also say that the Gujarat killings were “genocide”. By the same token, the religious killings of Sikhs and Hindus in Kashmir reeks of “genocide”. The common thread here is that people are killed because of a particular identity, not simply because they are killed.
Would not the wars against Israel, started by Arab states, seeking to destroy ALL of Israel be genocidal? Isn’t Mahmoud Ahmedenijad calling for genocide when he asks for Israel to be wiped off the map? Or do Jews have no right to exist?
Once again, this article is a fine example of the stark ignorance and muddled, half-baked thinking that seems to be the gold standard for success in Indian journalism. The author repeatedly confuses “Arab” and Muslim issues as though the two terms are interchangeable, ignoring that a majority of Muslims are not Arabs.
This article is replete with intellectual laziness that is sought to be covered by using a few large words without fully understanding the implications of using such words.
Freedom of the Press ki jai!
The author repeatedly confuses “Arab” and Muslim issues as though the two terms are interchangeable, ignoring that a majority of Muslims are not Arabs.
not to get confused alok, i suggest obfuscate. the distinctions are well understood and employed when it helps. For examples in dealing with the problematic Ghazni issue. In other instances, it helps to use the broad green strokes.
Ashok Mitra is one of those rare unreformed, unapologitic Communist. What he talks is mostly nonsence. But he has his conviction.
He resigned in a snap when he didn;t agree with Jyoti Basu. he was his finance minister.
Ashok Mitra is full rhetoric. Imagine these sorts of people used to formulate India’s economic politices till late 1980s, prior to liberalization.
What he wrote are all bull-shit. Historically false.
SIMI was founded in 1975, even before BJP was formed.
RSS was formed AFTER Gandhi supported Mullah’s Khilafat Movement which started huge huge riots all over India.
Savarkar wrote “Hindutva” also after Khilafat disaster.
AMU founder Syed Ahmed, demanded that MUSLIMS ARE SEPARATE NATION WAY BACK IN 1870s WHEN HE WROTE A LETTER TO THE THEN VICEROY OF INDIA.
Mumbai saw some 15-20 attacks in 1980s, even before Babri, by an educated Muslim Doctor. This proves Islamic terrorism has nothing to do with BJP or Ayodhya or Babri.
Ashok Mitra shed tears for 700 odd Muslims of Gujarat (as per Govt of India data provided by Govt at Lok Sabha) and term it as mass-slaughter.
Very good, we can;t compalin.
But why Mitra is not talking about 300 odd Hindus died during same Guj 2002? Who killed them?
10,000,000 Plus Hindus driven out from bangladesh, which is just 50 miles east of calcutta. Guj is 1500 miles from Calcutta.
How come Mitra never talk about wholesome purse of Hindus/Buddhists from Bangladesh, but goes over board on Guj?
Fact of the matter is, Indian Commies are most Hindu hater, most Muslim pampering, most communal.
BUT END OF THE RESULT IS, COMMUNISTS ARE SLAUGHTERED BY ISLAMISTS AT END OF THE DAY.
MITRA HIMSELF IS FROM BANGLADESH, WHICH HE WAS FORCED TO FLEE.
Ashok Mitras are Marxists of old world.
They are raised with an ideology where Marxists think Islamists are their ally in fighting West.
But they never realise why all Central Asian republics became ISLAMIC STATE after fall of USSR.
Communists had a strong presence in many parts of present day Bangladesh prior to 1947. But today, after the onslaught of Islamists, Communists have been decimated from there.
Bangladesh do not even have 1 Member of Parliament in Bangladesh.
Ditto in Pakistan.
The then CPIM HELPED WITE 1946 ELECTION MANIFESTO OF MUSLIM LEAGUE, THINKING COMMUNISTS WILL BE POWERFUL AFTER FORMATION OF PAKISTAN. They also supported Pakistan.
But, after Pak was created, Commies were diven out from there. Even the 1946 manifesto was banned.
Still commies continue their anti-Hindu activities.
BC,
Good ones..For some time now, Ive been looking for the answers as to why the Indian leftists reveled in dhimmitude. Your “They are raised with an ideology where Marxists think Islamists are their ally in fighting West.” seems to provide an answer to it.
Is this the case with marxists everywhere that they oppose the majority culture and or is only the case with India?Im confused. I started reading the history of western philosophy to understand all of these phenomena. I falied to understand Hegel, Drona for the ekalavya in marx .I have also read a lot of (mersmerising!) existential thought in nietschze, sartre, jaspers etc who are traditionally ‘left’ but I never come quite close to undertanding the philosophical underpinnings(if any) for the strange demeanour of Indian leftists in being apologists for jihadis.Or is it just plain vote bank politics? My belief was that being ‘left’ was being ‘rebel’ to traditional prejudices and customary views and therefore more ‘scientific’.
Asoke Mitra is an outstanding example of marxist mediocrity and mendacity. He is a bottom feeder and has very expensive tastes (if he flies its always at least business class, and AC 1st by train). The guy swills the finest scotch but still talks nonsense. Unfortunately the Indian media has sustained a gasbag and cretin like him like it does with the many other morons. Has anyone ever bothered to call Jyoti Basu (VS Naipaul’s mimic Marx) for his collaboration witht he Brits dring the Quit India movement? why do we give these crooks any quarter? Asoke Mitra, if you or your flunkies read this, listen. Genocide is those 12 million wiped out by Stalin, the 60 million murdered by Mao and the 3-4 million who persished in the many peoples’ revolutions of the 20th century. Che Guevara the maniacal mas murderer, Castro the scalawag, these are the shameful characters of the 20th century. And let’s not forget Hitler’s assistant the Mufti of Jeruslem, Yasser Arafat’s uncle who raised levies for Hitler during the 2nd WW. Instead of throwing up your hands in despair, the next time you get on TV or run your blog, make known evey atrocity of the Commies and expose scoundrels like Asoke Mitra for the crooks they are. In a land that has produced Gandhi, Patel, Tagore, JP and 1000s of other great people who wanted to do good unto the public, we shd have nothing to do with commie crooks.
KH,
In India “Left” means left out of common sense…