[Reader-list] Life in a parallel universe - By Irfan Husain in DAWN

[Kshmendra Kaul]

Dear Javed
 
Regarding the question at the end of your post;Yes you are wrong and you are a troublemaker.
 
In my eyes, your formulations and propagations make you suspect of devious intentions meant to instigate Indian Muslims. You are their enemy and not their friend. That is evidenced by your postings on this List.
 
You are one of those people I was refering to when I wrote "some on this List itself have suggested / propagated  bizarre conspiracy theories about the Mumbai Terror Attacks."
 
The divides that you seek to create become obvious in these words of yours "the deep bias Indian society has been nurturing against Muslims at the most ordinary levels." You cannot be quite such a dimwit to not know that "Indian Society" includes "Indian Muslims".
 
Your recent convoluted proposal has been "If Pakistan bans JuD, we should demand banning of saffron outfits" 
 
What kind of a Zero-Sum game did you propose? Conversely your suggestion reads "If Pakistan DOES NOT ban JUD, we SHOULD NOT demand banning of saffron outfits"
 
What does our banning or not banning in India of any 'outfit' have to do with what Pakistan does or does not do?
 
Kshmendra
 

--- On Sun, 12/14/08, Javed <javedmasoo at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Javed <javedmasoo at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Life in a parallel universe - By Irfan Husain in DAWN
To: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com
Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Date: Sunday, December 14, 2008, 5:50 PM

Dear Kshmendra
This is not the first time that Muslims are "realizing" that Muslim
terrorists exist. And this is not the first time that they are
"jolted" and are denouncing the acts of terror. I wonder if you have
heard about hundreds of peace marches and denouncements done by
madarsa students and scholars for last few years.

As for the pleasant postscript of no demonizing of Muslims post-Mumbai
attacks, what is your criteria? On what basis do you say that. Just
because we have arrested one Pakistani boy, the attention has now
shifted to Pakistan. If that guy had also died, then everyone would be
shouting home-grown, home-grown, home grown terrorists. The media
doesn't reflect the deep bias Indian society has been nurturing
against Muslims at the most ordinary levels. Go out there and tell
someone you have a Muslim name and see how they react. How do they
look at you so differently if you wearing a beard and a skull cap. Am
I wrong?

Javed

On Sun, Dec 14, 2008 at 4:31 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
wrote:
> Irfan Husain talks about 'so many Pakistanis' who are 'simply
not willing to face the truth.". That could be said about so many Indians
also of whom some on this List itself have suggested / propagated  bizarre
conspiracy theories about the Mumbai Terror Attacks.
>
> Worse still are those Indians who fleetingly acknowledge the
'truth' but bury it in a web of words out which they extract deductions
that suggest "Oh! This was bound to happen. Such terror attacks are logical
outcomes of our own policies. We ourselves are majorly to blame for the attacks
on us"
>
> One pleasantly astounding postscript of the Mumbai Terror Attacks has been
that it has seen no communal demonizing of the Muslims of India.
>
> But it is being directly or indirectly communalised by the above referred
to Indians who in their intellectually devious jugglery of words and extricated
cross-connections seem intent on breaking the solidarity shown this far by
Indians of all hues.
>
> The Muslims of India and indeed many of Pakistan have been jolted by the
Mumbai Terror Attacks and motivated into taking up issues head-on against the
convoluted interpretations of Islam that justify such terror attacks. They need
support in such introspection and efforts. They do not need facile argumentation
that finds excuses for or justifications for such terror attacks. That will do
harm to the Muslims and will do no good
>
> Kshmendra
>
>
> EXTRACTS:
>
> - ... there are thousands out there who have developed elaborate
conspiracy theories to explain who was behind the recent terrorist atrocity in
Mumbai.
>
> - It would seem that millions do not accept the evidence available, and
are seeking to fit in the attacks with their world view in which nothing is as
it seems; ....... In this parallel universe of smoke and shadows, reality shifts
according to your point of view, and there is no such thing as objective truth.
>
> - .....  many Pakistanis are in denial about the extent of the terror
networks active on our soil, and the threat they pose to our country.
>
> - ..... it is a matter for concern that so many Pakistanis are simply not
willing to face the truth.
>
> - ..... what are our leaders doing to crush the monsters we have created
ourselves? Surely it is not enough to elicit sympathy for our victim status
without doing something to change it.
>
> - .... the conflict over Kashmir is used to legitimise the actions of
groups like the Lashkar-i-Taiba.
>
> - The ongoing crackdown against a handful of known terrorist leaders and
groups will, I fear, result in little except to divert foreign pressure. We have
seen that in the past, the same suspects were picked up for brief stints in jail
or house arrest, and released as soon as the crisis was over.
>
> - .... since Zia's destructive decade in the 1980s, a climate of
religious extremism has come to dominate the national agenda. In this
environment, a generation of Pakistanis has grown up thinking it is perfectly
acceptable to persecute religious minorities, marginalise women and kill in the
name of Islam.
>
>
>
>
> "Life in a parallel universe" - By Irfan Husain
> DAWN
> 13th Dec 2008
>
> IF you do a Google search with 'CIA + RAW + Mossad + Mumbai
attacks' as your parameters, you will get about 51,200 results.
>
>
> So clearly, there are thousands out there who have developed elaborate
conspiracy theories to explain who was behind the recent terrorist atrocity in
Mumbai. Some of these theories have even appeared in the letters column of this
newspaper. Sadly, Hamid Gul, the ex-head of the ISI, is one of the chief
proponents of such hare-brained theories. The fact that he rose to become a
three-star general makes one wonder about the promotion policies prevalent in
our army.
>
>
> It would seem that millions do not accept the evidence available, and are
seeking to fit in the attacks with their world view in which nothing is as it
seems; where we are all manipulated by forces that pull the strings from behind
the scenes; and where we are ultimately helpless to change anything. In this
parallel universe of smoke and shadows, reality shifts according to your point
of view, and there is no such thing as objective truth.
>
>
> Over the last week, my inbox has been flooded with at least 300 emails
regarding the last two columns I wrote about the Mumbai attacks. I have been
attacked for being naïve, as well as a traitor. But I have been supported by
other readers for calling a spade a spade. So clearly, there has been a very
strong reaction to the gruesome events across the border.
>
>
> I had suggested that many Pakistanis are in denial about the extent of the
terror networks active on our soil, and the threat they pose to our country. And
while we have become accustomed to the growing mayhem they cause within our
borders, other countries are not going to put up with their activities when
their citizens are slaughtered by them. Despite the conclusive evidence that the
recent attacks were launched from Pakistan by Pakistanis, many angry readers
have asked me for proof. Others have accused me of betraying my country.
Luckily, most of these diatribes have been poorly worded and argued, thus
absolving me of the duty to respond.
>
>
> Nevertheless, it is a matter for concern that so many Pakistanis are
simply not willing to face the truth. For unless they do, they will not demand
the change of policy and direction that gave birth to these terror groups in the
first place.
>
>
> However, it is important to remember that Pakistanis are not the only ones
given to spinning elaborate conspiracy theories to explain the most
straightforward events. For example, millions are convinced to this day that the
9/11 attacks were caused by the CIA and/or Mossad. I even came across a guy who
said the Japanese were behind the attacks to avenge the atomic bombing of
Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Millions believe that Princess Di was killed by the
British secret service at the behest of the royal family because she was going
to marry a Muslim.
>
>
> Most of these fantasies are harmless parlour games that occupy people with
lots of time on their hands. But when a country emerges as a focal point for the
global jihad, and people across the world are killed as a result of this terror
campaign, clearly responsible leaders are duty bound to take action. And if the
leadership of the country concerned is unable or unwilling to act, what is the
rest of the world supposed to do?
>
>
> In our case, the establishment responds to international opinion and
pressure by pleading that Pakistan is the biggest victim of terrorism, as
President Zardari has said in a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times. This
is certainly true, but what are our leaders doing to crush the monsters we have
created ourselves? Surely it is not enough to elicit sympathy for our victim
status without doing something to change it.
>
>
> Since it is not easy to close our eyes to the reality of terrorism in
Pakistan, given the grisly toll it exacts almost daily, many Pakistanis find all
kinds of reasons to explain and justify it. These range from Palestine to Iraq
to Afghanistan, and are seen by both right and left as a legitimate response to
western attacks on Muslim lands. Closer to home, the conflict over Kashmir is
used to legitimise the actions of groups like the Lashkar-i-Taiba.
>
>
> What many Pakistanis forget is that these terror groups are more lethal
for us than they are for other countries. How, for example, would the LeT have
furthered the cause of Kashmir by vicious attacks on soft targets in Mumbai? The
fact is that in purely tactical terms, the killing of innocent civilians does
not gain any cause any support.
>
>
> The ongoing crackdown against a handful of known terrorist leaders and
groups will, I fear, result in little except to divert foreign pressure. We have
seen that in the past, the same suspects were picked up for brief stints in jail
or house arrest, and released as soon as the crisis was over.
>
>
> One problem that we do not examine closely enough is the fact that since
Zia's destructive decade in the 1980s, a climate of religious extremism has
come to dominate the national agenda. In this environment, a generation of
Pakistanis has grown up thinking it is perfectly acceptable to persecute
religious minorities, marginalise women and kill in the name of Islam.
>
>
> It is this acceptance of an extremist mindset that has created limitless
space for terror groups to thrive in. Add to this outlook the disputed border
with Kashmir and the porous (and also disputed) frontier with Afghanistan, and
you get a scenario for sanctioned mayhem. The final ingredient in this lethal
cocktail is a tottering economy that is simply not capable of generating gainful
employment for millions of young Pakistanis.
>
>
> But the rest of world is not interested in these problems. It wants
Pakistan to crack down on terror groups now, and put them out of commission.
However, given the lack of a national consensus and the political resolve needed
to combat this menace, it is difficult to see the PPP-led government taking
strong action, especially if the army is not solidly onside.
>
>
> And here's the rub: for over two decades, the military and our
intelligence agencies have been using many of these militants to fight their
proxy wars. Many retired officers have developed personal and ideological links
with the groups they handled while in uniform. To expect all this to change
overnight is to demand too much of the fledgling democratic government.
>
>
> irfan.husain at gmail.com
> http://www.dawn.com/weekly/mazdak/20081213.htm
>
>
>
>
>
>
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