[Reader-list] Liquid jihad

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear all

It would certainly be most unfortunate that a canard of lies would be spread
(as has been the practice of hawkish elements across nations, be it Narendra
Modi, George Bush or Osama Bin Laden) in order to generate passions,
breast-beating and calls for aggression and discarding of reconciliation to
sort out issues. And such a phenomena certainly calls for action on the
streets but in a non-violent manner. And the monster which America created
to destroy the Soviet Union has now turned to destroy its' creator and all
those who it thinks are the obstacles in the establishment of an Islamic
caliphate, be it Israel, India or Europe (though it would be wrong to say
that there are no genuine grievances among those who do become
'terrorists').

At this time, it requires further action by the civil society in Pakistan to
actually ensure that such elements don't gain more strength, and are
comprehensively defeated. The only hope of the entire world lies in this
society actually combating the dangerous voices of treachery and violence
(comprising of the dominant section of the Pakistan army, the ISI, leaders
who side with the army, and the jihadis, who are often described as
autonomous actors but can't survive without the support of the army and ISI,
as well as the clergy preaching violence against innocents). They have to be
attacked systematically on all fronts, be it ideologically or their capacity
to create havoc and wreck our lives. All this has to be tackled. And whether
we like it or not, at some point of time, force may be required to defend
oneself, though it can't be of the form which Bush unleashed on Iraq or
Afghanistan.

It is certainly time this lesson is given to Pakistan and nations start
moving in UN towards it with this objective in mind, instead of giving
massive funds which are not monitored and are only diverted towards the
purposes of the Army as the end-result.

Rakesh