JUNE GAUR writes: “Can our commandos fight the multi-caste, multi sub-caste terrors spouted by our politicians?” is a question that’s been raised on churumuri.
Yes, they can. With the support of ordinary Indians like you and me. Because it’s our fight too.
Most of us have been labelled and locked into these narrow compartments by ignorance and fear. It’s a trap that we need to get out of.
Observe the vigour with which the possibility of war is already being discussed by morning walkers and people of some leisure. Much of the talk is mere rhetoric; ether shoring up air. Granted that we need to express ourselves, to pour out our feelings, and sometimes it comes out this way.
But how can we channelise this anger and hurt into constructive action?
It’s not really in your hands or mine, is it, to snuff out terrorists or even to mete out retribution for anti-national activities. But the war on terror really begins with me. I have a duty to first educate my family and practice what I preach. Then try to be a catalyst for change in the microcosm of the rich tapestry of India that is the neighbourhood I live in.
Discrimination is forbidden by the Constitution but it continues to manifest itself in subtle ways. If each of us works sincerely in our own small circles, in our homes, neighbourhoods, schools and offices, to root out ignorance and fear of our fellow-Indians, it could be the first small step towards defeating the enemy within.
All of us can’t be commandos but we can aim for excellence in whatever walk of life we are placed. To do our jobs honestly, and to the best of our ability, whether we are teachers or doctors, mechanics or masons.
Public demonstrations of solidarity, such as street marches and candlelight processions, will only be meaningful if we resolve to carry the same spirit of unity forward into our private and professional lives.
As for posturing by politicians, we have been shown how to deal with that by the parents of Major Sandeep Unnikrikrishnan who sent two politicians from Kerala packing and the wife of; Hemant Karkare who did likewise with another from Gujarat.
churumuri 
June, your platitudinous post cannot be argued against. It is also politically correct. How about being a little more specific about the specific actions that need to be taken and specific acknowledgements that need to be made?
I) Reform in the entire law and order system: The police in India have been thoroughly emasculated by their political masters, are corrupt, inept, ill-trained, ill-equipped, ill-paid and over-worked. Political interference has ensured that they remain beholden to the political class. The first line of defence (incl gathering of human intelligence) and the last mile delivery of justice takes place in the villages, talukas, towns and cities where the police reign supreme. The archaic and colonial Police Act of 1861 is still in vogue. Politicians are loath to reform the police administration inspite of the recommendation of the Supreme Court which backs the National Police Commission recommendations (1977-1981) because the police are used to manage political agendas. Ordinary people are afraid of the police and have no respect or regard for them. The upper classes treat them almost with contempt knowing that a little greasing of palms will take them a long way from being punished.
II) The justice system including the local magistrates and courts need reform. Reforms in the archaic administrative and legal processes are critical to ensure impartial, speedy and hassle-free dispensation of justice.
III) Lack of infrastructure including technology, equipment, scientific labs and methods of collecting evidence. This needs fixing!
IV) Of course, Muslims in India are plagued by inequalities, lack of opportunities and are frustrated. But then so are many more Hindus who are poor, disadvantaged and discriminated against and frustrated! Are they all turning into terrorists? One has to dig a little deeper.
V) One MUST recognize and acknowledge that Islamic/Jihadi terrorism as a global threat. Not something peculiar to India. It takes inspiration from a radical interpretation of the Muslim scriptures to recruit, train and motivate, nurses a violent theology and practices its beliefs in a mindless, cold and ruthless manner. Its ambitions are to create a pan-Islamic movement not unlike the demand for the return of the Caliphate (which saw the Khilafat movement arise in India) after WW1. There are groups in India which subscribe to this radical worldview. They need to be crushed with the full power of the state.
VI) The Muslim leadership in India needs to introspect and take action to change entrenched ghettoized mindsets. Moderate Muslim public figures like MJ Akbar, Asghar Engineer, Mushir-ul-Hasan, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar etc need to take the lead alongside the spiritual leaders to take on the radicals. Arundhati Roy and Teesta Setelvad are conspicous by their absence? Blaming the system for all the ills plaguing the community reinforces the ghettoized mind. Shah Bano case (which led to the re-opening of the Ayodhya temple madness) & the Salman Rushdie fatwa are some examples where the educated moderate leadership of the community has not shown any dynamism. There has to be change from within the community and this should include “ijtihad” (interpretation of the Koran and Sunnah) since in Sunni law 10th century interpretation reigns supreme ever since the “gates to ijtihad” were closed in Sunni fiqh! This will be hugely controversial and confrontational but is a necessary step to reform the theological interpretations. Modern education in the madrassahs and secular training can only be provided if there’s reform from within the system. It cannot be imposed from the outside especially by the state. Without this, there will be no space created for leaders of stature to lead the community in the 21st century to emerge. This will lead to further deprivation and marginalization as the rest of the country moves on. Politicians will continue to carve out the Muslim vote bank. The vicious cycle will continue.
VII) Countries like the US had propped up regimes in Pakistan for their own strategic goals. They have turned a blind eye to the threat that Pakistan poses to the region and the world. Even AQ Khan was found to be selling nuclear weapons technology, even when Pakistani terrorists (or those based in Pakistan) were involved in attacks on the Western world, even when Saudi dollars were setting up radical madrassahs in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In parallel, consider their support for Israel which too is surrounded by hostile neighbours! Foreign policy initiatives carry no meaning if it is accompanied by a begging bowl. India needs to be economically strong & strategically important to get the attention of the Western powers to deal with the problems around it. Without adequate statecraft, India has to blunder along with its neighbours. The good news is that the West has finally begun to see the India’s point in broader terms.
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They did good by shooing away these stupid opportunists.
Is it true that Mr. Unnikrishnan was saddened by an arrogant retort by Kerala CM refusing attend his martyred son’s funeral(allegedly when someone invited him) and apparently he did that because commies don’t have the custom of attending religous funeral rites. Crazy!
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NAWN:
Not really, I think it was the other way round. The CM tried to get his sound bytes by turning up at Mr. Unnikrishnan’s house, in full glare of the media. He got very pissed off, mainly with the CMs entourage, and also with the media. You should see the way he shouted – “PODA PATTI!! PODA”
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Not a single BJP leader abused Karkare after his death.
While many Congress leaders, psuedos like Jamia VC, Javed Akhtar did question Inspector MC Sharma after his death.
Its also true, Mumbai ATS under him and a section of media dragged indian military intelligence into Samjhuta Blasts. Now Pakistan is milking that. Its a massive damage to our security doctrine which Modi rightly spoke as: what Pakistan could not do in last 25 years, Congress did in last 25 days.
90% of Karkare’s time was spent behind “Hindu terror” in last one month, while Jehadi terrorists were giving finishing touches to their invasion of mumbai.
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What nonsense! How can I fight terrorism, when the government itself does not know whom to fight? As long as the terrorists were coming from across the border, there was an identity to them, they could be shot at. But, when the terrorists are home grown, when there are fifth columnists who lend support and shelter to imported terrorists, whom do I fight?
How is a citizen expected to fight terrorism and terrorist? With white flag? Meet bullets and bombs with lathis? How does one recognise a dangerous object? Has the government bothered to educate the citizens? To begin with, the Government itself has not learnt its lessons, formulated clear cut policy for tackling terrorism. How can it educate the citizens? In fact, the central government, which has in its control almost thirty lakhs men in uniform (armed forces, and para military forces) is absolutely clueless about how to use such huge force in the combat against terrorism.
One recalls that when the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars took place, civilians were taught civil defence measures. Demonstrations and programs were conducted to educate public, even at schools. Our worthy central government does not have any concrete steps to commence its own anti-terrorism campaign. How can it involve the citizens in its campaign?
To begin with, the people and the Central Government must recognise that terrorism is a war situation. It is not a case of law and order problem, or a crime of passion. Ordinary laws will not be suffiicent to arrest, investigate and punish the terrorists. At present, in the absence of special laws, the terrorists have to be tried under ordinary cirminal laws, where the burden of proof is on the prosecution, and the accused is presumed innocent. Evidence relied on must satisfy the technical rules of best evidence under the Indian Evidence Act. No wonder that we hardly hear of conviction of terorist. But, our Central Government chopped its own legs by repealing TADA and POTA, which provided for casting the burden of proof on the accused. USA and UK have such laws, though they have been exposed to terrorism far less than Indians. When we don’t even have proper law in place to combat terrorism, we cannot create deterrant against terrorism. Without even a deterrant law in place, how can we even combat terrorism?
The talk about you and I and “indians” generally fighting terorrism is hog wash. This kind of woolly, wishy-washy and amorphous talk does not yield any result, except publicity. Eventually, all talk about our safety in our own country must be translated into concrete steps (a) to be taken by the government, (b) to be taken by the citizens.
For a citizen talk about fighting terrorism, is like dashing himself against a stone wall. Instead, it is better to demand action by the central government, and prevail upon the government to come out with a clear cut security policy and policy to combat terrorism. Without a policy frame work, no concrete steps can be taken.
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Supposedly that happened before the funeral and his angry reaction(shown on TV) was to CM’s security people evacuating the family members out of the house and checking inside the house to ensure that it was safe for the Grand Leader to enter! How insensitive!
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Not A Witty Nick,
Correction: “…CM’s security people with sniffer dogs..”
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Shit…
WTF is up with politicians anyway? Who asked achutanandan to go to Major Unnikrishnan’s house ???
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Its like this:
Mr Unnikrishnan, a highly educated man, like any other highly educated pseudo-secs used to believe that BJP and rising Hindutva are the reason for the current problem in India. Its because the Muslims are not given proper privilege and are ill-treated by BJP, they are resorting to terrorism.The solution for this lies with the Congress and the Left parties. So he used to support them always.
As such, at the time when he lost his own son and when these people who he believed a lot, did not even turn up for lip sympathy, his feeling towards these pseudos burst. No Congress or Left leader condemed this attack strongly, they did it ambigously just to show to the media. To add to this, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, a BJP leader visited and consoled him. This made him realise that the solution to the current existing problems in India does not lie with these so-called (pseudo)seculars; but instead to take serious action, which a party (or parties) with strong patriotic feelings only can do.
Karkare family has already got a lot of money from Congress and Left parties to coin a new term “Hindu Terrorism”. Now they are asked by them not to accept the money. Or it might also be the case that Karkare family might have though accepting it might be problematic in future as Amarsingh has done to Sharma’s family in Delhi.
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