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

[Javed]

Dear Kshmendra
Yes I am a dimwit (if that helps your ego), but I am not a
troublemaker. I didn't suggest any conspiracy theory about Mumbai. If
I have to repeat it again and again that "I am against terrorism and I
cry for Mumbai victims as much as anyone" then I think anyone who
doesn't read my mail properly must be equally dimwit.

J

On Sun, Dec 14, 2008 at 7:23 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _________________________________________
>> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
>> Critiques & Collaborations
>> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> subscribe in the subject header.
>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>
>