AWAMI BHARAT

The Syrian Crisis, geopolitical ramifications & consequences for India.

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Fri, 1 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0530

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The Syrian Crisis, geopolitical ramifications & consequences for India.

Feroze Mithiborwala

Even as our car approached Damascus enroute from Beirut, we could see black plumes of smoke emerging from the outskirts of the city. The sound of bombardments continued all through the course of the day & night, with little respite. Way back in 2006, when Israel had waged the war on Lebanon, we had to travel from Damascus to Beirut, the twin cities of resistance.

Since the very onset, we were aware that the geopolitical war for Syria will have tremendous ramifications for the very power structure of the world & especially for West Asia, the Middle East & North Africa. Thus there was a strategic imperative for a deeper understanding & a constructive politically informed intervention on the part of the Indian people’s movements.

The Indian delegation comprising Jatin Desai (freelance journalist), Nirja Bhatnagar (Gender & Human Rights), Mubasshiruddin Khurram (Siyasat, Urdu daily) & this author, was there as the first team (February 9-16th) of a series of Indian journalists & political activists, on an invitation from the Syrian Ministry of Information & in coordination with Syrian civil-society.

As is the case with international issues, we are largely dependent on Western news sources, both in the print & the electronic media. Even whilst India is a growing political & economic power, our political leadership, social movements, as well as the media lacks an informed & independent perspective on issues of strategic geopolitical significance. The daily reporting on Syria in our media has been entirely through the prism of Reuters, AFP, BBC, CNN, Al Jazeerah & Al Arabiya. All of these news sources are part of the very Western imperial alliance & their vassal states in the region.

This has led to a vastly distorted perspective in our analysis of the Syrian crisis, which is undergoing a war that has been unleashed upon its very unity & sovereignty. Barring a few journalists from the Left who have both reported & analysed the situation, independent of the Western paradigm, there has been no concerted or serious attempt to debate & discuss this issue in our media, fixated as we are with Islamabad, London & New York, as that comprises our worldview & little beyond.

This war against Syria is being led by an alliance comprising the US-UK-France-Turkey (Nato) & Israel, in alliance with the despotic Gulf Monarchs of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE & Bahrain.

On the other side stands the alliance of Russia-China-Venezuela & Iran, as well as the BRICS nations. Here it needs to be emphasised that India, as part of the alliance, has adopted a position that calls for an adherence to the UN charter, political solution to the Syrian crisis & has opposed foreign intervention & resorting to fomenting terrorism as a strategic option, as well as the imposition of the war on Syria by the nations that are funding, arming & fuelling an insurgency.

The Nato-GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) agenda is definitely not for ‘democracy’. But it certainly is once again a glaring instance of ‘regime change’ in the garb of ‘humanitarian intervention’. The Western led alliance has mobilized militants, mercenaries & terrorists from across 29 nations to infiltrate & destroy Syria, partition & balkanize along religious, sectarian & ethnic lines.

These mercenaries are part of the global network led by the extremists Wahabis, Salafists & Takfiris, who are extremely intolerant in their beliefs & consider all other Muslim sects as kafirs, leave alone the adherents of all other faiths, where the less said the better.

Even the al-Nusra (a Taliban-Al Qaeda-like affiliate) is deeply involved in this insurgency. Thus whilst the US, UK & France claim to be fighting these very forces in Afghanistan, Pakistan & Mali, they have willfully & systematically organized, promoted, funded, armed & mobilized them in Libya & in Syria. The cold-blooded hypocrisy has never been more evident, but has rarely been written about in the Indian media, despite the obvious. (Syria: A Jihadi Paradise, By Pepe Escobar http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33591.htm).

It is undoubtedly evident, that Syria requires major democratic reform in all spheres of its socio-religio-cultural, economic & political structures. This has been the message of the ‘Arab Spring’, where the Arab & Muslim masses are taking to the streets demanding their rightful democratic freedoms & aspirations. Thus Syria, which was hitherto ruled by the Baath Party, will have to undergo genuine reform, to ensure a free & vibrant democracy, where the people have the right to protest, freedom of expression, the right to dissent & a free & robust media. There is also a need to recognize the fact that Syria lacks a genuine multi-party system & as well as a reform of electoral laws.

Thus the moot point here to be considered is that, was the Syrian government & the ruling elite, which comprises all the sections, entirely opposed & disconnected from the aspirations on the ground, or where they willing to respond to a process of democratic reform & actively engage the opposition parties & civil society?

In our estimation, the Syrian Government, as well as dominant sections of the national opposition are committed to a political process of dialogue to resolve the national crisis.

Thus we need to analyse the varied complexities of the situation due to which Syria has been subjected to this war.

The Nato-GCC powers had drawn up plans well in advance, for another “Libyan solution”, or even worse - ‘Somalization’!

Syria has been subjected to this geopolitical war for the following reasons:

After the Arab Spring broke out in Tunisia & then onto Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, (which the media entirely neglects) amongst others, peaceful protests also broke in Daraa, a town in the south of Syria. We met protesters who had participated & raised the slogans for democratic reform & the empowerment of the people. As is the case with entrenched one-party ruled states, the initial protests were also met with a degree of state violence, a fact which the government has acknowledged. But at the higher levels of the Syrian leadership, they also began to respond to the demands of the people.

But soon an armed insurgency began to spread across Syria & mercenaries began to pour in from the neighbouring countries, namely Turkey, Jordan (Governments are openly complicit), as well as Lebanon & Iraq, where there are militias funded by the Saudi-Qatari’s. The peaceful democratic protesters were marginalized, even as armed rebels, insurgents, mercenaries & terrorists, with a very regressive & sectarian Islamic agenda began to spread all across the country.

The political opposition & civil society protesters we spoke to, soon began to realize that a larger geopolitical war was being waged by the Imperial-Zionist powers & the Gulf vassal monarchies & surely their agenda was not democracy. Can any serious observer state that Saudi Arabia & Qatar are democracies, or even aspire to be so in the near future? Are the Nato powers here to to create liberal secular democracies, or wage war, change regimes & control the natural resources of nations? The answers have always been clear.

Syria was targeted, as this country has been a bulwark of the resistance & forms a physical arch that includes Iran, Syria, the Turkish people, Lebanon & Palestine. With all their faults, the Syrian leadership did not compromise with the US-Israel, as did Egypt & the other Arab powers after the Camp David Treaty (1978) & the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty (1979). Then with the defeat of Saddam’s Iraq (1991), Syria was the only Arab country with a political system, military & a courageous civil-society that could stand up to Israel.

Syria & the leading Arab & Muslim nations have been targeted for regime change both in thePNAC (Project for the New American Century, a Neo-Conservative Document, 1997)

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-neocons-project-for-the-new-american-century-american-world-leadership-syria-next-to-pay-the-price, as well the Zionist document authored by Benjamin Netanyahu & other Neo-Conservatives, also needs to be referred. (A Clean Break, A Strategy for Securing the Realm, 1996)

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article1438.htm). (A Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties, by Oded Yinon, 1982) http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/articles/article0005345.html

The victory of the Lebanese & Palestinian national resistance in their historic victories in 2006 & 2008-09, 2012, was due to the fact that Syria stood by like a rock, whilst other Arab states stood & watched. Israel stood defeated & the myth of Israel’s military invincibility lay shattered forever.

Syria also lies in the pathway of the Oil & Gas Pipelines, with plans to pass from Saudi-Qatar-Syria-Turkey to Europe. Also the Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline challenges the hegemony of the Saudi-Qatar-US-Israeli plans to control the routes & the flow of the natural resource.http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/middle-east-business/226296-iraq-greenlights-gas-pipeline-agreement-with-iran-syria.html

The recent discoveries of major Oil & Gas deposits in the Mediterranean & Aegean Seas have lead to competing claims between Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Cyprus, Greece & Israel. Thus both the Corporate West & the Gulf Petro-Sheikhs require pliant regimes in Syria, as they now have in Libya. (F. William Engdahl, New Mediterranean oil and gas bonanzahttp://rt.com/news/reserves-offshore-middle-east-engdahl-855/ )

Also the Syrian Arab Nationalist & liberal secular plural identity, are an anathema to all those forces in the region, who cannot see beyond the narrow confines of religion & sect. It’s simply amazing to witness the rich multi-cultural ethos of this ancient Mediterranean civilization going back to more than 10,000 years, with Damascus being the oldest city in the world, with a continuous human urban settlement.

We would speak with a group of 10 Syrians & at the end would remain completely flummoxed as we could never ascertain as to which identity they belonged to. This is also the reason as to why the Syrian nation, even after 23 months of a massive international war, has been able to stand united. If not, Syria too would have fallen & crumbled like Afghanistan & Iraq, as the societies within were deeply divided along ethno-sectarian fault-lines.

There is also a plan that envisages the vivisection & Bantustanization of Syria along Sunni, Christian, Alawite, Shia & Kurdish lines.

If this nefarious design were to be achieved, then Turkey with its Ottoman pretensions & Israel with its nightmare of Greater Eretz Israel, would once again carve up the Arab lands, as the colonial representatives of the West. Here the minorities & especially the Christian, Alawite, Shia & Druze communities have been targeted as kafirs & heathens & there are horrendous fatwas being brazenly issued.

The majority of the Muslim Sunnis who are liberal as well as the other Muslim & Christian minorities in Syria are truly frightened at the prospect of a Wahabi-Salafist takeover. Many Christians we spoke to, proud of their Syrian-Arab identity will pack their bags & leave the day the ‘Syrian Arab Republic’ is transformed into a ‘Syrian Islamic Republic’. They will be reduced to second-class citizens, as is the case with all theocracies, as well as Atheocracies - though God forbid.

The common basis of their existence is the Syrian civilization & not on Islam they say & rightly so. The Christians do respect Islam, as part of their common Arab heritage. This is a position that all minorities across the world have professed. The imposition of Islamic states, will lead to more tensions in Egypt, as well as in Nigeria. We have already witnessed the partitions of Ethiopia & Eritrea, followed by Sudan & South Sudan-Darfur.

The Imperial-Zionist strategy is to balkanize Asia & Africa along religio-sectarian & ethnic lines. Thus the creation of Islamic states, will exacerbate this very crisis. To again state the obvious – the common identity of the Egyptian people is not only Islamic, but it is the Egyptian civilization & Arabism as well. We also need to recognize the fact that socio-religious groups & ideologies too have a legitimate right to create political parties, as is evident in many western & other secular liberal democracies across the world. This issue too is at the very core of the ongoing struggle in Syria.

Fortunately enough in India, the visionary leadership led by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru & Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, understood this fact only too well & there were many in Syria who both admired & lauded India’s secular heritage & thus the mutual respect for all religions, cultures & languages.

It must be stated here, that the one of the most remarkable meetings that we had was withGrand Mufti Ahmed Badreddin Hassoun, who represents the Muslim Sunni sect & thus the majority of the population. Mufti Hassoun’s 21 year old son was murdered & he too has been threatened with death. Mufti Hassoun’s first words itself captivated us. He spoke of the ‘sanctity of God & the sanctity of Human life & beyond this nothing was more precious or sacred’. Mufti Hassoun is a true representative of a liberal peaceful Islam & this was the overwhelming sentiment amongst the Muslims that we met. Mufti Hassoun was thankful of the role that India has played, in addition to that of Russia, & China.

The Islam of the Mediterranean civilization will not be overcome by the Islam practiced in the obscurantist Gulf Sheikhdoms or the caves of Tora Bora. Thus Syria must defend its secular liberal ethos & culture.

The religio-sectarian battle being waged against the Syrian Government is based on the innuendo that the President Bashal Al Assad is from the Alawite minority (who are Kafirs, according to the extremists & fanatics who lay claim to Islam) & thus he should go. And go he surely will, if & whenever the majority vote against him.

And coming from India, where our PM comes from the minority Sikh community comprising 2% of the population, it did sound very obnoxious.

There is also valid anger amongst a section of the people about the four decade long rule of the Assad family, but this coming from those backed by the ruling families of the Gulf monarchies sounds very hollow indeed. They are also the same forces that sent in an army to quell the democratic uprising of the majority of the Bahraini population.

Our insistence is that the democratic change in inevitable, only it needs to follow a political process, not a destructive sectarian civil-war backed by international powers.

The solution is a national reconciliation, dialogue & negotiation, leading to a new constitution & elections, which must be monitored by the international community, the true one, I must add. In our discussions with many during our stay in Damascus, the popular mass support for the Government has actually increased after the war has been unleashed on their nation. The President remains popular to the extent of 60% & beyond. This entire debate can only be settled by an election & that will lay all speculation to rest. This is precisely as to why a political process & elections are being opposed by the Nato-GCC combine.

It was the first Arab League Committee, led by General Dhabi (Sudan) that referred to a national dialogue & a political process as the only way to resolve this crisis. He was immediately sacked by the Saudi-Qataris. Then later Kofi Anna’s initiative was similarly sabotaged by the US. Now Lakhdar Brahimi is attempting to play the role of the interlocutor with the backing of the UN. But until the major powers do not arrive at an agreement, the crisis will not be resolved.

We met many sections of Syrian society including the PM Dr. Wael Halaqi & the Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Feysal Mekdad, the Minister for Information, Mr. Omran Zoubi & the Minister for Electricity & Power, Mr. Imad Khamis.

Amongst the opposition, we met Mr. Omar Ossy, Kurdish MP, as well as the Chairman of the National Committee for Dialogue & Reconciliation, Mr. Sattam Dandal (a prominent Sunni Tribal Leader), Mr. Fahed Barod, Ali Turkmani & Nabil Fayyad. Amongst the Christians that we met included Mr. Salim al Nassan George, Mother Agnes-Mariam of the Cross, Hassan Arnoq & Heratch Barsikhian (an Armenian Christian).

Amongst them all, we grew very close to Mr. Youssef Alshahab, who is a proud Syrian Christian, a prominent TV personality, but a refugee in his own city as he was unable to return to his flat in a Damascus suburb itself. He was living in a hotel, where many other media channels had also moved for protection from the daily threats of the insurgents & many journalists have been murdered & kidnapped.

The journalists whom we met were also truly remarkable, even as the women were willing to stay on till late at night so that the media war against their nation be countered as effectively as possible. Here we do have to mention Ms. Nawaem Salman (whom we preferred to refer as Salman behen), who was the representative of Syrian TV & had organized our visit with a lot of deep thought & truly sincere & dedicated effort.

We also had a wonderful meeting with a group of Syrian youth who were fighting for the unity & sovereignty of their land by waging a struggle by serving in the refugee camps, by collecting donations & by countering the lies of the global media through a sustained campaign over the social media. Here we need to mention Yazan, Reina, Waseem, Maisa, Ghalia, Feras, Bernard amongst all the rest of the wonderful group that we interacted with. Yazan could not meet us again before we departed, since he was kidnapped by the mercenaries, but since then has been released & is now coordinating with many across the world to get the truth out.

They were all of the similar opinion that the sectarian war could lead to a similar deteriorating crisis in Lebanon, Iraq & with ramifications across many other Arab & Muslim nations. They were all very clear on the steps & the process of the national political initiative & the need for the war to come to an immediate halt. This is only possible, once there is an agreement between the US & Russia, after which the Nato-GCC-Turkey-Israel are pressurized to back-off.

Then the Syrian people are left alone in peace to decide their own future. The process entails a dialogue with all opposition forces, as well as civil-society, the formation of a transition government, negotiations for a new constitution which would be put up for a peoples’ referendum & then a free & fair election, leading to the formation of a new democratic government.

Actually the Syrian government has undertaken a process of reform & a new constitution was passed in a referendum in 2012, where 56% of the people voted. Here the ‘clause 8’ that referred to the Baath party as the sole leader of the revolution was removed, thus paving the way for a multi-party system. This constitution is again up for discussion & a negotiated agreement. Not a word in our media was there?

Earlier in May 2012, general elections had been held & a government constituted, but again, not a word ever appeared in the media. This was very much in contrast to the elections in Yemen, where there was only one candidate for the election & we had headlines stating that Yemen is now a democracy. Such is the manipulation & deceit of the global corporate media, with their legions of embedded journalists.

Thus even whilst the daily killings continue with reprisals & counters from either side, with unconfirmed estimates quoting up to 60,000 dead & a vast number of refugees.

The rebels & mercenaries continue to destroy Syrian infrastructure (with plans to be rebuilt by contracts given to the US companies such as Bechtel & Halliburton, if I may add). From Electric transmission lines, to hospitals, schools, colleges & health centres, bakeries, to factories that have been ripped apart & sold across the border in Turkey, where even entire neighbourhoods have been looted & so have cows & sheep.

The entire Syrian welfare state, which has served the people well, is being systematically destroyed, readied for a neo-liberal takeover. Syria is self-sufficient in both food grains & energy. Remarkably it has ‘zero debt’, despite the subsidies in all the key sectors.

Even Syrian missile sites defending all Arab lands against Israeli aggression are being targeted by the mercenaries. Thus Syrian friends also discussed the infiltration of Israelis (Sephardic-Mizrahi of Semitic origin, as the Ashkenazi majority is non-Semitic), who could blend into the insurgency & attack Syrian strategic-military targets.

Was a political process for a national dialogue possible right at the onset?

Could not the Arab League as well as the OIC, resolved the crisis through a sustained political process? Could not the NAM been involved? The Syrian crisis also exposes the divisions with the Islamic nations, as it is their very failure that has led to this crisis. It is these very Islamic nations that let the US play the role of arbiter in their internal regional issues. An Arab League in deep shameful slumber over Palestine, has gone into a Rambo-like testosterone drive on Syria.

Yes they should have, but then most of the petro-Arab states are vassals & also follow a narrow regressive religio-sectarian agenda.

Also the role of the global corporate media needs to be discussed & exposed. Once again, it was the media, led by the CNN, BBC, Al Jazeerah & Al Arabiya amongst others, that fired the first salvos, even before the mercenaries were mobilized from across the world. Their agenda of the corporate media is to pave the way for foreign intervention by distorting the news, through sheer lies & deception. They were manufacturing consent for a Nato-GCC intervention, but were prevented this time (unlike in Libya) by Russia & China, as well as the BRICS. Here it is important to state that Al Jazeerah has lost all credibility amongst vast sections of the Arab masses & counter channels are now taking root in the Arab nations.

The Syrian crisis is also deepening the political differences between the Islamists led by the Ikhwaanul Muslemeen (Muslim Brotherhood) & the Salafists on the one hand & the secular-left liberal opposition on the other. This is evident in Egypt, Tunisia & even in Turkey.

After sustaining the onslaught for nearly two years, certain powers have understood that now there is no military solution or possibility of regime change, nor can Syrian society be divided along religio-sectarian lines. Thus many Syrians themselves are now taking the initiative & calling for national reconciliation & democratic reform.

Thus now from Mr. Araby of the Arab League, Muhammad Khatib of the Syrian National Congress (SNC backed by the Nato-GCC), as well as other sane voices across the Arab world are calling for a negotiated solution.

Therefore Syria is now very important to the fate of the world itself. It’s about a liberal secular democratic Syria that respects all faiths, that treats all its citizens as equal & not merely as protected dhimmis, veritable second class citizens. It’s about ensuring that the plural culture of Syria triumphs over the regressive forces unleashed against an ancient & advanced civilization.

It’s about ensuring that Churches are not destroyed as was the recent despicable fatwa from the Sheik Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, the so-called Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia (Not a word in the Western media outlets, so as to protect the image of ‘moderate’ Saudi Arabia).

It’s about a democracy that ensures an equal stake to all sections of society & in due course, the majority sections will assume power through the ballot itself. But this does not mean that only a Muslim must lead Syria. The Syrian Christians must have the same right. Currently a Christian is debarred from the top post, even in an avowedly secular socialist Syria. This was shocking & is just unacceptable & the Constitution must delete ‘clause 3’ which was inserted in 1951, as a compromise between the secularists & the Islamists. The majority of the Muslims that we spoke to said that this clause was unjust & must be removed. The Christians certainly find it extremely discriminatory & rightly so. Due to Islamist pressure, Muslims & Christians cannot currently inter-marry & the Christian has to convert to Islam, whilst the Muslim cannot. Apart from religious law, there is a need for the option of civil law as well. Many of the youth also find this law truly absurd & are planning to reform many such discriminatory laws.

Also, for the first time in decades, the Kurdish language has been recognized amongst the national languages & this is indeed a victory for the Kurdish people.

The overwhelming Palestinian population too enjoys a great degree of opportunity for their socio-economic advancement & respect the support that Syria has always given them, especially during their worst years, when most of the Arab regimes had abandoned their cause.

It’s thus about defending the arch of the resistance, stretching from Iran, the Turkish people, Syria, Lebanon & Palestine, even as it spreads to liberate more nations & people.

The victory of Syria will restore Russia to its rightful place as a world leader on par with the US. Thus the political, economic & military assertion of Russia-China, in alliance with Brazil, India, Iran, Venezuela & South Africa, will lead to a new political restructuring of international relations, with the economic & strategic balance increasingly moving away from the West.

The people of Syria are undergoing great devastation & death, in a war that has been imposed on a hapless population, who still cannot believe that their nation is being subjected to this tragedy. Yet the Syrian nation possesses the inherent strength, wisdom & courage to withstand the onslaught & emerge far stronger from the ever before. If left to themselves, they will resolve the national crisis in due course of time. The new Syria that will emerge will be very different, far more democratic & a people that after a long & arduous struggle will not only have succeeded in defending their nation, but will have won more rights to ensure the genuine empowerment of the people & committed to the values of social justice & to a plural multi-ethno-religious ethos.

The Syrian nation resistance will also have contributed to the further retreat & downfall of the Imperial-Zionist project for global hegemony.

On the very last day, we visited the magnificent & exquisite Omayyad Mosque, whose grandeur is breathtaking. Men & Women both pray together, even as Shia’s have been provided with two rooms, which also houses the ‘Ras-ul-Hussain’ & the shrine dedicated to the martyrdom of Imam Hussain. The Mosque also houses the Shrine of St. John the Baptist. Nearby lay the mausoleum of Saladin the great.

Our attempts to pay our respects at the Shrine of Syeda Zeinab were not facilitated due to security considerations.

We then walked down the cobbled lanes of the Christian quarters of Bab Touma & paid our respects at the Church of Ananias (more than 2000 years old), dedicated to the memory of St. Paul himself.

This was all astounding to witness & provides great hope for the future of the world.

I silently prayed at each of these spiritual centres, for God to protect this ancient nation & to restore peace.

One evening, in a short taxi ride, even as the bombings continued, we discussed the future of Syria with the taxi-driver, who smilingly stated – “Don’t worry, we are a 10,000 year old civilization, we have seen worse & will overcome this crisis”.

He did not need any words of assurance, as he knew within his heart, he knew.

"You Strike & We will Strike back". The message of ‘21/2 Hyderabad serial terror attack’:

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:33:00 +0530

"You Strike & We will Strike back".

The message of ‘21/2 Hyderabad serial terror attack’:

By Feroze Mithiborwala

The strategic & political target of the terror attack, is the historic 2-day Strike of the Working classes, where more than 12 crore or 120 million workers both from the organized & unorganized sectors participated & brought India to a halt. This working class strike surmounted all calculations due to the scale at which the enraged working classes participated. This strike has shaken up the corporate-political elite & that is why they have struck back with a serial terror attack, where now more than 15 citizens have died & 50 grievously injured. The terror attack was orchestrated in Dilsukh Nagar, where there is a busy market & many cinema halls.

If the working class unrest takes the proportions which we witness in many nations across the world such as Greece & Spain, the ruling elite will witness a massive crisis, due to the growing burdens of price-rise, decreasing wages, increasing scams, spiraling inflation, the growing insecurity of the peasantry, workers & laboring classes, as well as the ever-widening rich-poor divide.

The sheer scale of the two-day strike has taken the entire country by surprise, as the Left-Working class forces were supposed to have lost ground against the neo-liberal corporate juggernaut. Even cities & towns in the Northern belts, where the working class movements have been historically weak, have witnessed massive marches & even militant struggles. Towns such as Noida & Gurgaon that adjoin New Delhi, have witnessed the most militant & popular mobilization. The nervous & cold-blooded ruling corporate elite had to hit back & they have promptly, without wasting a moment, as they can see trouble brewing in the distance.

All it requires is for the black-ops teams to place the bombs in various parts of the city & quietly walk away & then sit back & watch the mayhem & terror on the TV screens, even whilst TV anchors call upon the very same ‘leaders’, who know exactly what is going on, who address us calling for unity & calm, whilst chuckling to themselves within & mocking at a frightened & gullible population.

The other reasons for the terror attack also need to be analysed. The false-flag terror cell, again the handiwork of the Deep-State & the Black-ops cells that function within every Government & security apparatus.

Then are the other factors that needed to be swept below the carpet of blood. There was a dire need to change the contours of the debate away from the BJP-RSS terror network & the statement that was made by the Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. This terror attack will lessen the heat on the RSS-BJP brigade. Also it was in the background of the Shinde remark on RSS terror, that the Government went ahead & murdered Afzal Guru. This card was aimed at the General Elections of 2014, where the Congress is aiming at the conservative Hindu vote, whilst knowing that the liberal secular Hindu vote is safely in the bag, whilst the Minorities have nowhere to go, with Modi's dark shadow loomimng large. Yes, it was not a hanging, it was sheer murder & more & more voices across the country were being raised. Thus now this terror attack in Hyderabad will deal with all these issues.

And Hyderabad has been marked out as the target for the fact that since the last few months, it is this city that has emerged as the most communally sensitive due to the Charminar-Temple dispute & the infamous Akbaruddin Owaisi statement. Thus it will be easy to portray the handiwork of ‘Sleeper Cells’ of disgruntled Muslim youth, who will begin to be picked up from the lanes of this city. Most of the unfortunate victims will be police informers & petty criminals who will be entrapped into owning up for this terror attack. Also the National Investigation Agency has stated that the Mecca Masjid terror attack was the handiwork of RSS related terror cells such as the Abhinav Bharat & the Sanatan Sanstha, even whilst the falsely accussed Mulsim youth have been found to be innocent & thus too Hyderabad has been targeted.

On our part, we have to continue to persevere with analysing & exposing the politics of terror, which has now become a perverse gory art-form in the hands of the ruling elite. The politics of communal riots & terror are part of state-craft & a strategy used to control & manipulate entire populations. The agenda is to create a perpetual state of fear & a climate of chaos & confusion, thus ensuring that the exploitation & oppression carry on with the least resistance of the masses, who will remain divided along communal fault-lines. But the people will see through these devious designs, though there is a lot of work to be done, a path strewn with struggle.

Vishwaroopam: Reinforcing Global Communal Stereotypes, Namaz, Bombs & justification for the US Empire By Feroze Mithiborwala

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Mon, 4 Feb 2013 12:40:00 +0530

Vishwaroopam: Reinforcing Global Communal Stereotypes, Namaz, Bombs & justification for the US Empire.

By Feroze Mithiborwala

February 4, 2013

I was a little benumbed whilst watching this technically advanced, but socio-politically regressive movie. Kamal Hassan has lied to all of us when he had stated that this movie is his tribute to Indian Muslims & will make them proud.

This movie had me even more worried than earlier!

The message propagated all through the course of this slick production is basically – “One Good Muslim, All the rest - Bad Muslims”.

The hero, Taufik is an Indian Muslim who saves the world, whilst the rest of the Muslims portrayed in the movie, are all committed to destruction & mayhem, all in the name of their religion.

This is the state of the world – Vishwaroopam.

Yet, let me categorically state that I do not support any cuts, or further censorship of the mobs, but will certainly strive to counter this movie & all like it – intellectually & on the ideological plane, where the true battle lies

This movie also justifies the US wars & occupation of Afghanistan in ways that even Hollywood would have felt ashamed of portraying. All this for the NRI audience I would tend to venture. My first opposition to the movie stemmed from the fact that the posters prominently posited the infamous ‘stars & stripes’ in the background & I knew that trouble was brewing. Mind you, the Indian Tri-colour is far less prominent & even missing for the most . . . so much for NRI nationalism, or for that matter that of the RNI’s, the Resident Non-Indians, the chatterati where these communal stereotypes hold sway.

And coming back to the movie, I have never ever seen so many scenes of Namaz in any single film & there is certainly a sickeningly strong overdose of Islamic imagery & the overwhelming majority of it linked to negativity & violence. The movie is one big screenplay of Namaz & Bombs, Namaz & Terror, Namaz & Violence. I wonder as to how Kamal Hassan, who is also the scriptwriter, thought that this would help the cause of Indian Muslims, knowing full well what the community has been through for the past two decades & more. The way the entire community has been‘terrorized by the terror’ & this has led to their further demonization & isolation.

More so, the script is deeply flawed, lacks intelligence & an honest research. One would have tended to expect a little more from Bollywood after certain good movies dealing with this genre, such as ‘Dhoka’ (Mahesh Bhatt), ‘New York’ (Kabeer Khan), ‘Qurbaan’ (Saif Ali Khan), ‘My Name is Khan’ (Karan Johar & Shahrukh Khan), ‘Agent Vinod’ (Saif Ali Khan) & last but not the least ‘Tere Bin Laden’ (Abhishek Sharma), certainly the best political satire in a generation. It also had a far more genuine Bin Laden look-alike than the ones that appear in the CIA produced videos.

All of the above movies were good honest efforts & there is a common thread as well as a degree of intelligent sensitivity that has gone into researching these scripts & directing these movies, none of which faced any public opprobrium or ire, even though they were far more complex than this ignominious, outrageous ill-conceived prejudiced charade called Vishwaroopam.

Yet, I want no cuts here . . . . . . .

The two lines attributed to Rahul Bose, whom many of us consider to be our own, are the most dangerous & misleading of all the dialogues in the movie.

Rahul Bose, who plays Umar (alluding to Mullah Umar, the leader of the Taliban, I would presume), is facing an assault on his village. The Taliban have captured a few American soldiers & are on the move. The US army, attack the village where they have been led by a trace, with the help of Kamal Hassan, who plays Taufik, a RAW agent. Taufik has infiltrated the ranks of the Taliban to rise to be the ipso facto No. 2.

Wonder what the RAW itself has to comment here.

With the US helicopter gunships blazing away as they did in Vietnam & Iraq, as they do in Somalia, Yemen & Libya - & hope to in Syria - the Taliban are on the run.

Here Rahul Umar Bose makes a statement to assure his fellow Talibani’s – “Don’t worry, the Americans do not kill women & children”.

All I could think of in that Shakespearian moment was - “Et Tu Rahul!!”

To what extent can an artist such as Rahul Bose sell himself, his very moral intellect, is a question that he & many others need to seriously ponder upon.

This dialogue would be considered ridiculous & even blasphemous by the Americans themselves, who always refer to the deaths of civilians as ‘collateral damage’, but Kamal Hassan in his willful pandering has gone even beyond the worst in Hollywood.

Thus the movie further portrays the US soldier manning the gunship, feeling sorry for killing innocents, whilst the Afghans are all portrayed as dehumanized killing machines. I do not think our immediate neighbours are going to appreciate this movie very much. But who cares, our movies are a reflection of our skewed foreign policy as it does appear. And the Afghans are not exactly a market yet.

The second statement by Rahul Umar Bose is even more dangerous for Indian Muslims & for all the secular activists who have stood by the community as it was demonised, isolated & entrapped into the false-flag terror attacks that we have witnessed since the post-9/11 world. This was the phase of ‘controlled chaos’ & ‘unending perpetual state of wars’ - to use Neoconservative terms.

Here whilst talking to Kamal Taufik Hassan, Rahul Umar Bose smilingly & nonchalantly mentions that “We were also involved in the terror attacks of Malegaon, Bombay & other Indian cities”. In the Tamil & Telegu versions, Coimbatore & Madurai are mentioned.

‘Good God!!’, I exclaimed to myself, even dropping my popcorn – this movie is basically stating that the Taliban & Al Qaeda are active in India & thus certain sections of the Indian Muslim population are certainly enmeshed with the global terror network. This will prove to be catastrophic in the subconscious perceptions that tend to get ingrained deep into our reality.

This, Mr. Kamal Hassan, is going to be disastrous for Indian Muslims & we can all assure you that.

But where is the research may we ask? Have you not heard of ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, who even served in the RAW? Are you not aware that since 2007 the role of the Abhinav Bharat & Sanatan Sanstha in terror attacks across the country is being probed? Particularly in Malegaon, Nanded, Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid, Ajmer, Goa & another 10 more as per the statements of the Home Ministry. Actually there are more than 16 recorded cases, but we will leave that for later. All of which are further linked to the right-wing Manuwadi Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)?

Are you really unaware of these facts? Are you planning to leave the country, or had you already left India & were living in New York & are thus so ill-informed whilst writing the script, which lacks even an iota of honesty & responsibility?

And this is thus a question that we as secular activists must ask ourselves. Many Hollywood movies with a geopolitical strategic agenda are produced in tandem with the Pentagon, so as to further the Imperial agenda of global hegemony & the advancement of the Military-Security-Industrial-Corporate-Media Complex.

The Zionist dominated Hollywood target & portray Palestinians & Arabs in particular & Muslims in general as terrorists & fanatics & thus these societies need to be invaded & civilized - & their resources taken over for good measure.

This movie by Kamal Hassan in my estimation also certainly falls in that category of disinformation & propaganda to serve the cause of the Empire & to justify the wars, occupation & the genocide of the Afghan nation, as well as the people of Pakistan. Thus not even a fleeting reference to the drone attacks & the killings of innocents, of women & children – thus & as to how it continues to create & foster more & more militants & terrorists.

Then comes the part where there is a meeting between the leadership of the Taliban led by Rahul Umar & Al Qaeda-Osama Bin Laden. Here again I would request all those who have been taken in by the recent supposed assassination of OBL at the staged operation at Abbotabad, to read the excellent & well researched book by David Ray Griffin - ‘Osama Bin Laden Dead or Alive?’ (http://www.globalresearch.ca/osama-bin-laden-dead-or-alive/15601). According to many honest experts, OBL has been dead since December 15, 2001.

It is also time, actually high time, for the Indian peace movement to address the issues of the 9/11 false-flag terror attack, which has been central, seminal & defining moment of the 21^stcentury, changing the very trajectory of international politics & leading to an era of wars, occupation & genocide. (http://www.ae911truth.org/).

Recently more than 12,500 police stations across America received petitions by peace activists stating that the attack on WTC 1, 2 & 7 were an inside job & demanding that the investigation be reopened. This movement is being spearheaded by more than 1700 architects & engineers & they have the support of many prominent intellectuals, scholars, and human-rights activists, whistle-blowers from within the CIA-FBI, as well as vast sections of American society & the numbers are growing. (http://www.ae911truth.org/downloads/documents/AE911Truth_Police_Letter.pdf)

The reason as to why we will have to grapple with these issues is that, I personally know of Muslim youth who have been quizzed about their positions on 9/11, Bin Laden & Al Qaeda. The youth have been perplexed & horrified & left wondering as to what a job application in the engineering, IT & telecom sectors have to do with their knowledge or lack off, on these issues. With Muslim children who have tried to step out of their ghettoes & seek admission in a multi-cultural milieu, being denied & told to go back where they came from. Of Muslims being denied housing in secular neighbourhoods. All these discriminative practices have also increased in the last decade – thanks to the dominant paradigm of terror.

Now, let us get back to the movie.

Soon after the carnage at Rahul Umar’s village, we are transported into America. Here Kamal Taufik Hassan is working incognito singing & dancing to songs written by Javed Akhtar (Lyricist), as any good Muslim should be. Then a terror network begins to unravel & here we have Rahul Umar now planning to explode a Dirty-Bomb made of waste radioactive material, which the good Muslim does foil, but after saying his Namaz! Whilst in the room inside wherein lies the Dirty-Bomb, is a bad Muslim, an African-American of Nigerian descent, busy offering Namaz before he is to blow the city to kingdom come.

Herein lies another serious problem with this film & that is the tarnishing of African-American Muslims as part of the global terror network. In most Hollywood movies, they are sensitive enough to portray the African American as the FBI boss, under whom the White officers serve. But here the RAW agent is working with only Whites, presumably Anglo-Saxon agents, whilst the African-American Muslim, is in tandem with the Taliban. Another case of out-sourcing I guess.

Yet again, Kamal Hassan fails in his research. The terror attacks portrayed in the film have never occurred. Also the FBI has been entrapping Muslim youth from various ethnic backgrounds & this too is a documented fact. Since there are no serious terror threats to America, the FBI actually manufactures them, as there is no other way to justify Homeland Security & it’s vast gargantuan powers & budget. FBI agents, informers, or ex-convicts working in tandem with the FBI are sent into Muslim communities with an attempt to create terrorists. During the course of the year, a couple of youth, mainly with a criminal background do get entrapped due to intensive indoctrination about the crimes of the American Empire against their people. These youth are then further induced & provided training to carry out a terror attack. Targets are indentified, funds, bombs & ammunition provided & the day that they do carry out the attack, they are apprehended red-handed. The bombs turn out to be fake & so do the guns & that is how stupid this supposed terrorists are.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/terrorist-plots-helped-along-by-the-fbi.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

This information is now available in the mainstream corporate media & should have been studied by Kamal Taufik Hassan, before trying to give the FBI a positive image in India.

This movie thus is basically a propaganda tool for the FBI, as well as the US Empire. And now apart from Hollywood, they even have some of the best known names from Bollywood to do their bidding. I wonder as to how much of the financial backing of this movie came from sources such as these & this question must be asked in all seriousness.

The plot foiled, America saved, sorry, the world saved – Rahul Umar & his Taliban cohorts decide to flee to – India for God’s sake!! Thus we end with the inevitability of Vishwaroopam II-India!

Actually Kamal Taufik Hassan, might even consider shifting the next locale to Qatar, where the ‘Good Taliban’ now have a functioning office. Here they will all have ample security as the US has a vast network of naval & airforce bases. (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2003-03/20/content_789607.htm).

So Rahul Umar Bose, the FBI-CIA & Kamal Taufik Hassan can actually sort out all their problems there itself, without dragging India into the picture.

But therein lies the threat, the clear & present danger to all of us. You can imagine the next movie where Mullah Umar is in Mumbai, or Delhi, maybe in Chennai (threatening Jajayalaitha for the way she dealt with Kamal Hassan), or in Malegaon, or in Srinagar, or Hyderabad, or in the Samjhauta Express, or in Ajmer. Thus taking the blame for all the terror attacks, that now are alleged to be the handiwork of the right-wing Abhinav Bharat & Sanatan Sanstha, as per the National Investigation Agency (NIA) & certain Anti-Terror Squads (ATS).

And then, is Osama Bin Laden & his dreaded Al-Qaeda far behind in reaching India?

The fear that it will instill amongst the ordinary masses of India & the further fear & isolation towards which will be driven the Muslim community is apparent to many.

The terror of the politics of terror . . . . . . .

Also a little sincere & not-so-secret advice to film producers, directors, financiers & aspiring writers. In case you are sure that your film (or a book) is going to bomb at the box-office, be sure to include a few scenes that you may think may be offensive to the emotions of the Muslim community. Then arrange a screening prior to the release, even though your film has been cleared by the censor board - & rest assured that a few Muslims will fall prey to your trap & voila – you have your much needed controversy.

My sincere advice to the Muslim community is the following. Islam is to great a religion for one book or a movie to harm our faith. Let us overcome our insecurities & notice that the tide is turning in our favour. The protests against the film have harmed the image of the Muslim community, even more than Vishawaroopam was planned to. We need to learn to ignore certain barbs hurled at us & do not need to fall for the traps laid for us every time.

We have every right to protest & this is our constitutional & democratic right. Our strategy should have been to evoke support & call for a debate on the movie, whilst pointing out its flaws & distortions. Demanding the cuts after the censor board had cleared the movie, has harmed our image & further portrayed the community as extremist & undemocratic.

The problem with Vishwaroopam, is that it has projected only a miniscule part of the reality of the Afghan quagmire over a period of more than three decades. But one cannot deny that today the Taliban & their ilk, do represent a form of a vitiated, extremist & a violent form of Islam. From the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha’s, to the attacks on schools & clinics, to the enforced imposition of a regressive barbaric code on women, to the public flogging & stoning, to the sectarian hatred & killings, to the destruction of Sufi Mazar’s & the genocide of the Shia’s – all this is being waged in the name of Islam. This cannot be denied by any honest God-loving/fearing Muslim.

This form of extremism is indeed alien & against the very letter, grain & spirit of Islam. Let us all stand up in unison & condemn this debasement & defilement of Islam. This we really do not venture into often enough – do we honestly?

In the course of the last 2-3 years, the truth about the terror attacks is being revealed & this is due to the sustained struggle of Muslim organizations, in tandem with our secular allies, despite all the odds, with the entire media & dominant sections of the Government-intelligence-security apparatus ranged against us – but yet we have overcome all these odds. Now is the time to reach out to all the communities that make up this great & dynamic nation & expose the true facts of the terror networks that are now being revealed. (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/joining-the-dots/1068448/)

If India is not to go the way of Pakistan, with its assorted Lashkar-Frankensteins, then we have to put a stop to those religious extremist forces that threaten to destroy the unity & social fabric of our nation. Now after the statement by the Union Home Minister, the tide has clearly changed in our favour & thus let’s not undermine our struggle by isolating ourselves any further by taking to the streets in the manner that we have & I was personally both angry & ashamed at the public spectacle. There is a certain degree of double-standards, intolerance & hypocrisy within the Muslim community as well.

Also I would want to appeal here to all those who rightly advised the Muslim community on the values of freedom of expression, democracy & modernity. Kindly stand up, script & produce a movie based on the charge-sheet filed by Hemant Karkare, in a movie that can be titled‘Bharatroopam’. I would love to see as to how many takers there would be from Bollywood, especially all the ones shouting ‘cultural terrorism’.

In terms of soft-targets, the Muslim community is far more of a soft-target, than many film makers & writers.

Yet, I will not ask for a cut, even though both my mind & my heart have suffered a few deep searing cuts.

This is because I have immense faith in the great legacy of this country. I have great faith in the teachings of Krativeer Jotiba Phule, Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Azad, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar & Shaheed Bhagat Singh. I have great faith in the people of India, in our secular democracy.

Public Meeting: On the occasion of the 63rd Anniversary: Sanvidhan Gaurav Divas - National Constitution Day

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 20:22:00 +0530

BHARAT BACHAO ANDOLAN

Public Meeting

On the occasion of the 63rd Anniversary:
Sanvidhan Gaurav Divas - National Constitution Day

Exposing the 26/11 Mumbai Terror attacks

Speakers:
Kishore Jagtap, Feroze Mithiborwala, Meraj Siddiqui, Aslam Ghazi,
Shyam Sonar, Jyoti Badekar & Farid Khan

Venue: Marathi Patrakar Sangh, CST, Mumbai.
Date 26/11/2012 - Time: 5.00pm to 7.00pm

Organizers
Sidharth Ugade, Yawar Ali Qazi, Aarti Badekar & Farouk Mapkar

Conspiracy to Kill Rajiv Gandhi: From CBI Files, author K. Ragothaman.

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Mon, 5 Nov 2012 13:05:00 +0530

BHARAT BACHAO ANDOLAN

(Movement to Save India)

"For a national struggle against imperialism, Manuwad & Zionism"

PRESS CONFERENCE:

Conspiracy to Kill Rajiv Gandhi: From CBI Files, author K. Ragothaman.

Venue: Marathi Patrakar Sangh, Tuesday 6th Nov, 5.00-6.00pm.

Once again, MK Narayanan, the ex-Intelligence Bureau (IB), ex-Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), ex-National Security Advisor (NSA), present Governor of West Bengal - Stands Exposed!! He is unable to answer the question of the missing video tape that is the crucial evidence in this entire case.We will discuss the issues that are raised by Mr K Ragothaman (ex-CBI) in path-breaking book,

MK Narayanan's ties with Israel-Mossad & his involvement in the Rs 450 Cr ($90 Million) NTRO-Scam, as uncovered by the CAG, where substandard Israeli surveillance equipment was purchased by the RAW.

MK Narayan's role in the false-flag terror attacks that have been plaguing India will also be discussed, as will the role of the RAW & IB, now under the grip of the Manuwadi casteist-supremacists forces.

In SolidarityKishore Jagtap, Feroze Mithiborwala & SS Yadav
Jai Bharat!! Phule-Gandhi-Ambedkar ki Jai!!

Anti-Islam Documentary Memorandum to the Home Minister, R R Patil.

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:23:00 +0530

Anti-Islam Documentary Memorandum to the Home Minister, R R Patil.
BHARAT BACHAO ANDOLAN

To,
The Chief Minister, Mr Prithviraj Chauhan
Mumbai
Maharashtra

& The Deputy Chief Minister, Mr R R Patil

Subject: We demand a ban & action against the perpetrators of the anti-Islamic documentary.

Respected Sir,

Namaste!

As you are aware, a wave of indignation & protests is spreading across the world in protests against the anti-Islamic documentary that has insulted the memory of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.). As of yet, despite the announcements by both the Government of India & Google as well as Youtube, the inflammatory documentary is still available on the internet.
Google India must immediately take the links of the internet is our demand.

This documentary is not an isolated incident, but is part of the war unleashed by the western Imperial powers, namely, the USA, Israel & West European nations against Muslims & Islam. In the last 2 anniversaries of the reprehensible 9/11 terror attacks (undoubtedly a neoconservative plot executed by the CIA & Mossad), Terry Jones has been responsible for burning the Quran. Thus the provocation carries on. This documentary too is the work of the American CIA & the Israeli Mossad to once again denigrate, insult, demonise Islam & Muslims.

We thus also demand that both the US & the Israeli embassies & consulates in India, dens of espionage & terror activities are immediately closed down to safeguard the interests of our nation. The American & Israeli imperial role continues to harm our national interests & seeks to direct our foreign policy & thus curb our sovereignty.

We are also extremely upset by the fact that our basic democratic rights & freedom to protests are being curbed, Now even Hall & Indoor meetings are being disallowed & police permission required for the same. This is entirely wrong will not be tolerated as it goes against our Constitution itself. It is due to the festival of Ganapati, that we have finally called of our public protest, but will do so again later. But we demand that Muslim organizations be allowed to lodge their protests in indoor hall meetings till such time. We are committed to India's secular, democratic & plural cultural ethos & thus Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs & the people of all faiths & none have all condemned this onslaught on Islam & the emotions of the Muslim community.

On the matter of this obscene documentary (if one can even call it that), the following points need to be kept in mind.
i) This documentary is the handiwork of Zionists extremists fanatics based in the US, Israel & Europe.
ii) This documentary has been prepared by the CIA & Mossad.
iii) As this documentary failed to receive the attention that these demagogic fanatics & hoped for, they linked it up with the attack on the US embassy in Benghazi-Libya & the murder of the US ambassador & diplomats.
iv) Both these incidents are entirely unrelated. Do once again note the following facts. The US had received intelligence reports about the impending attack which they now deny. The attack by Libyan militants, formally America's allies in the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, was to avenge the killing of a senior militant, who earlier was on the CIA payroll. This attack on the US embassy could also be directed by Mossad agents active in Libya, as per the assessment of Thierry Meyssan, an expert on the Mossad-CIA false flag terror operations. Thus the attack on the US embassy was then linked to the documentary & this is how it finally made global headlines & its since then we have had mass protests across the world.
v) Thus the protests have not led to the deaths of any Americans or Europeans, whilst many protesters themselves have lost their lives. Thus it is a lie to say that Muslim protesters are killing westerners as they protests against the documentary.
vi) These mass protests are now no longer limited to the inflammatory documentary, but are part of a popular movement against the dictators & monarchs & more so against the continued US-Israel-Nato domination & hegemony of these nations & people's.
vii) Thus these protests must be analysed as the larger anti-imperialist/Zionist uprising that has erupted ever since the Tahrir Revolution.
vii) This uprising is thus a call for national freedom, a call for liberation & sovereignty, independence, self-respect & dignity & will finally lead to the independence of the entire region & the world & thus signal & mark the end of US & Western domination of the world.
viii) This is also an uprising against neo-liberalism capitalism & the growing poor-rich divide, unbridled materialism & consumerism. Its thus a popular call for genuine people's democracy (not the sham corporate democracy on display) & for a people's socialism, that will create a truly egalitarian society.
The world is changing & the Indian elite have failed to analyse or understand the historic changes that are sweeping the world. Historically India has been at the forefront of the battle for freedom & equality, but sadly, the Indian elite are satisfied in playing second fiddle to their American overlords.
The time to break the shackles of Imperialist hegemony are 'nigh!
The call for human freedom are growing more & more louder!
The world is all set to change within the course of this decade - for the better!
And thus we appeal to the Indian leadership to understand & fathom these changes before its too late for them.
Thus in the best traditions of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Maulana Azad & Bhagat Singh, we call upon the Government of India to break all ties with Imperial America & Israel, till they do not stop waging war, occupying nations & dismantle all their military bases & infrastructure of terror across the world.
Jai Hind!! Jai Bharat!!
Feroze Mithiborwala, Kishore Jagtap, Com. Sanjat Singhvi, Badruzaman Alhaj, Yawar Ali Qazi, Farid Khan, Jyoti Badekar, Arif Kapadia, Pooja Badekar, Shyam Sonar, Jagdish Nagarkar & Zafar Muhammad.
9820897517 & 9324514101

PROTEST MARCH TO THE AMERICAN CENTRE, AGAINST THE EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE & DEROGATORY ANTI-ISLAMIC DOCUMENTARY.

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 12:16:00 +0530

B H A R A T B A C H A O A N D O L A N
(Movement to save India)

PROTEST MARCH TO THE AMERICAN CENTRE, AGAINST THE EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE & DEROGATORY ANTI-ISLAMIC DOCUMENTARY.

Venue: Churchgate Station (East), Footpath, Mumbai.

Date: 18th September 2012, from 5.00pm onwards.

Feroze Mithiborwala, Kishore Jagtap, Aslam Ghazi, Meraj Siddiqui, Mulniwasi Mala, Shyam Sonar, Maqbool bhai, Jagdish Nagarkar, Jyoti Badekar & Arif Kapadia, Yawar Ali Qazi, Maqbool Alam, Farid Khan, Farouk Mapkar, Pooja Badekar & Harshavardhan Vartak.

People of the World UNITE!!
Down with Imperialism!!
Down with the US-Israel-Nato Empire!!

Blasphemy as a Tactic

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 11:57:00 +0530

By Thierry Meyssan

September 15, 2012 "Information Clearing House" - - The circulation on the Internet of the trailer for a film, The Innocence of Muslims, sparked demonstrations across the world and resulted in the killing in Benghazi of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya and members of his entourage.

At first glance, these events can be located in the long line leading from Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses to the burnings of the Koran by Pastor Terry Jones. Nevertheless, this new attack differs from other incidents in that the film was not directed at a Western audience but instead was uniquely conceived as an instrument of provocation directed at Muslims.

In political terms, the affair can be analyzed from two angles: from the tactical perspective as an anti-U.S. manipulation; or from a strategic one, as an anti-Muslim psychological attack.

The film was produced by a Zionist group composed of Jews of double Israeli-American nationality and by an Egyptian Copt. It was completed several months ago but was released at a calculated moment to provoke riots targeting the United States. Israeli agents were deployed in several large cities with a mission to channel the rage of the crowd against American or Coptic targets (though not Israeli ones). Not suprisingly, their maximum effect was attained in Benghazi, the capital of Libya’s Cyrenaica region.

The population of Benghazi is known to harbor particularly reactionary and racist groups. It is useful to recall that at the time the cartoons of Mohammed appeared in September, 2005, Salafists attacked the Danish Consulate. In keeping with the Vienna Convention on diplomacy, the Libyan government of Muammar al-Gaddafi deployed troops to protect the diplomatic service then under attack. The repression of the riot resulted in numerous deaths. Subsequently, the West, seeking to overthrow the Libyan regime, financed Salafist publications which accused Gaddafi of protecting the Danish Consulate because he had allegedly been behind the cartoon operation.

On February 15, 2011, Salafists organized in Benghazi a demonstration commemorating the massacre during which shooting erupted, an incident that marked the beginning of the Benghazi insurrection that opened the way to the NATO intervention. The Libyan police arrested three members of the Italian Special Forces who confessed to having fired from the rooftops on both demonstrators and the police to sew chaos and confusion. Held prisoner throughout the war that followed, they were released when NATO seized the capital and smuggled them out of the country to Malta in a small fishing boat on which I was also a passenger.

This time, the manipulation of the Benghazi crowd by Israeli agents had as its goal the assassination of the U.S. Ambassador, an act of war not seen since the Israeli bombardment of the USS Liberty by the Israeli Air Force and Navy in 1967. This constitutes the first assassination of an ambassador in the line of duty since 1979. The act is all the more grevious considering that in a country where the current central government is a purely legal fiction, the U.S. Ambassador was not merely a diplomat but was functioning as Governor, as the de facto head of state.

It should be emphasized that in the past few weeks, the highest-ranking U.S. military officers have entered into open conflict with the Israeli government. They have issued declarations signifying their intention to halt the cycle of wars begun after September 11 (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria) and which, in light of the informal agreements of 2001, will expand further (Sudan, Somalia and Iran). The first warning shot occurred in Afghanistan, in August 2012, when two missiles were fired at the parked plane of General Martin Dempsey, head of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. This second warning turned out to be even more brutal.

If, on the other hand, we examine this affair from the viewpoint of social psychology, the release of the film and its aftermath appear to be a frontal attack on the beliefs of Muslims. In this regard, it is similar in nature to the Pussy Riot episode trampling on the freedom of religious practice inside the Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow and the mulitple performances of conceptual pornography the group engaged in afterwards. These are operations geared to violate societies that resist the project of global domination.

In democratic and multicultural societies, the sacred is seen as belonging to and being expressed within the private sphere. But a new collective space of the sacred has been in the process of elaboration. Western European states have passed "historical memory" laws which have transformed a historical event—the Nazi destruction of European Jews—into a religious occurrence: the "Shoa" in Jewish terminology, or the "Holocaust" as expressed in Christian evangelical parlance. Nazi crimes are thereby elevated to the level of a unique event at the expense of the victims of other massacres, including other victims of the Nazis. Questioning the dogma, i.e. this religious interpretation of historical facts, subjects one to criminal penalties, just as blasphemy was punished in the past. Similarly, in 2001, the U.S., the European Union member states and a number of their allies imposed by decree that entire national populations must observe a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the September 11 attacks. This ruling was underpinned by an ideological interpretation of the causes of the massacre. In both cases, having been killed because one was Jewish or because one was American confers a particular status on these victims before whom the rest of humanity must genuflect.

During the Olympic Games in London, both the Israeli and the American delegations attempted to enlarge their sacred space still further by imposing a minute of silence during the opening ceremony of the most-watched televised event in the world, this time on behalf of the hostages seized during the Munich Games of 1972. In the end, the proposal was rejected, with the Olympic Committee holding instead a separate ceremony. This is just a further indication of the effort to create a collective liturgy legitimating the global empire.

The Innocence of Muslims serves both as a device to bring Washington back into line at a moment when it may be stepping back from the Zionist agenda and as a means of pursuing it further by attacking the faith of still others who resist it.

Translated from French by Michele Stoddard

source: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32444.htm

SITE and Rita Katz: we make news! Literally.

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 11:53:00 +0530

By Gordon Duff and Brian Jobert:

Who says Al Qaeda takes credit for a bombing? Rita Katz. Who gets us bin Laden tapes? Rita Katz. Who gets us prettymuch all information telling us Muslims are bad? Rita Katz? Rita Katz is the Director of Site Intelligence, primary source for intelligence used by news services, Homeland Security, the FBI and CIA. What is her qualification? She served in the Israeli Defense Force. She has a college degree and most investigative journalists believe the Mossad "helps" her with her information. We find no evidence of any qualification whatsoever of any kind. A bartender has more intelligence gathering experience.

Nobody verifies her claims. SITE says Al Qaeda did it, it hits the papers. SITE says Israel didn’t do it, that hits the papers too. What does SITE really do? They check the internet for "information," almost invariably information that Israel wants reported and it is sold as news, seen on American TV, reported in our papers and passed around the internet almost as though it were actually true. Amazing.

Do we know if the information reported comes from a teenager in Seattle or a terror cell in Jakarta? No, of course not, we don’t have a clue. Can you imagine buying information on Islamic terrorism from an Israeli whose father was executed as a spy by Arabs?

It is quite likely that everything you think you know about terror attacks such as the one in Detroit or whether Osama bin Laden is alive or dead comes from Rita Katz. Does she make it all up? We don’t know, nobody knows, nobody checks, they simply buy it, print it, say it comes from Site Intelligence and simply forget to tell us that this is, not only a highly biased organization but also an extremely amateur one also.

Is any of this her fault, Ritas? No. She is herself, selling her work. The blame is not Site Intelligence, it is the people who pass on the information under misleading circumstances.

Imagine if a paper carried a story like this:

Reports that Al Qaeda was responsible for bombing the mosque and train station were given to us by an Israeli woman who says she found it on the internet.

This is fair. Everyone should be able to earn a living and information that comes from Israel could be without bias but the chances aren’t very good. In fact, any news organization, and most use this service, that fails to indicate that the sources they use are "rumored" to be a foreign intelligence service with a long history of lying beyond human measure, is not to be taken seriously.

Can we prove that SITE Intelligence is the Mossad? No. Would a reasonable person assume it is? Yes.

Would a reasonable person believe anything from this source involving Islam or the Middle East? No, they would not.

SITE’s primary claim to fame other than bin Laden videos with odd technical faults is their close relationship with Blackwater. Blackwater has found site useful. Blackwater no longer exists as they had to change their name because of utter lack of credibility.

What can be learned by examining where our news comes from? Perhaps we could start being realistic and begin seeing much of our own news and the childish propaganda it really is.

Propaganda does two things:

1. It makes up phony reasons to justify acts of barbaric cruelty or insane greed.

2. It blames people for things they didn’t do because the people doing the blaming really did it themselves. We call these things "false flag/USS Liberty" incidents.

Next time you see dancing Palestinians and someone tells you they are celebrating a terror attack, it is more likely they are attending a birthday party. This is what we have learned, perhaps this is what we had best remember.

From an AFP article on Site Intelligence:

Rita Katz and S.I.T.E. are set to release yet another "aL-Qaeda" tape

Despite a massive manhunt by the world’s intelligence agencies, BL seems to evade their combined efforts, staying on the run. But he still has time to drop into his recording studio and cook up a fresh tape for the likes of Rita Katz and her outfit called S.I.T.E. SITE is staffed by TWO people, Katz and a Josh Devon.

WASHINGTON (AFP) The head of the Al-Qaeda network Osama bin Laden is expected to release a taped message on Iraq, a group monitoring extremist online forums said Thursday. The 56-minute tape by the hunted militant is addressed to Iraq and an extremist organization based there, the Islamic State of Iraq, said the US-based SITE monitoring institute, citing announcements on "jihadist forums."

It said the release was "impending" but did not say whether the message was an audio or video tape. Despite a massive manhunt and a 25-million-dollar bounty on his head, he has evaded capture and has regularly taunted the United States and its allies through warnings issued on video and audio cassettes.

Yes, despite a massive manhunt by the world’s intelligence agencies, BL seems to evade their combined efforts, staying on the run. But he still has time to drop into his recording studio and cook up a fresh tape for the likes of Rita Katz and her outfit called S.I.T.E. SITE is staffed by TWO people, Katz and a Josh Devon.

Yet these two individuals manage to do what the ENTIRE combined assets of the world’s Western intelligence can’t:

Be the first to obtain fresh video and audio tapes from aL-Qaeda with Bin Laden making threats and issuing various other comments. If BL appears a bit "stiff" in the latest release, that’s because he is real stiff, as in dead.

How is it that a Jewish owned group like S.I.T.E. can outperform the world’s best and brightest in the intelligence field and be the first to know that a group like al-Qaeda is getting ready to release another tape?

How is it possible that Rita Katz and S.I.T.E. can work this magic? Maybe looking at Katz’s background will help:

Rita Katz is Director and co-founder of the SITE Institue. Born in Iraq, her father was tried and executed as an Israeli spy, whereupon her family moved to Israel [the move has been described as both an escape and an emmigration in different sources]. She received a degree from the Middle Eastern Studies program at Tel AvivUniversity, and is fluent in Hebrew and Arabic. She emigrated to the US in 1997.

Katz was called as a witness in the trial, but the government didn’t claim she was a terrorism expert. During the trial it was discovered that Katz herself had worked in violation of her visa agreement when she first arrived in America in 1997.

She also admitted to receiving more than $130,000 for her work as an FBI consultant on the case.

Source : http://open.salon.com/blog/gordon_wagner/2010/05/02/site_and_ritz_katz_we_make_news_literally

PUBLIC MEETING: PROTEST AGAINST THE EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE & DEROGATORY ANTI-ISLAMIC DOCUMENTARY.

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 12:08:00 +0530

BHARAT BACHAO ANDOLAN
(Movement to save India)

(Towards an international struggle against Imperialism, Zionism & Brahmanism)

PUBLIC MEETING: PROTEST AGAINST THE EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE & DEROGATORY ANTI-ISLAMIC DOCUMENTARY.
This is clearly part of the larger US-Israel Zionist strategy to denigrate the Prophet Muhammad & Islam & thus offend the deepest religious sensibilities of the Muslim community.

It is also with the larger strategic agenda to create Muslim-Christian divisions & lead to the ghettoisation & subsequent partitions of entire nations along the deepening fault-lines.

This will be followed by protests in the coming days at the American Centre at Churchgate, Bombay & we also appeal for nationwide protests in the coming days.

Speakers:

Feroze Mithiborwala, Kishore Jagtap, Aslam Ghazi, Meraj Siddiqui, Mulniwasi Mala, Shyam Sonar, Maqbool bhai, Jagdish Nagarkar, Jyoti Badekar & Arif Kapadia, Pooja Badekar & Harshavardhan Vartak,

Marathi Patrakar Sangh, opposite CST, near Azada Maidan.

Date: 15th September 2012, from 4.00pm to 5.00pm

People of the World UNITE!!
Down with Imperialism!!
Down with the US-Israel-Nato Empire!!

URGENT: PUBLIC MEETING, SATURDAY SEP, 15, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 11:58:00 +0530

BHARAT BACHAO ANDOLAN

PUBLIC MEETING TO PROTEST AGAINST THE EXTREMELY DEROGATORY DOCUMENTARY AGAINST PROPHET MUHAMMAD AND ISLAM BY US - ISRAEL RACIST.

TIME AND DATE: 4PM, SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

PLACE: MUMBAI MARATHI PATRKAR SANGH, OPPOSITE, AZAD MAIDAN POLICE STATION, MUMBAI CST.

ALL PEACE LOVING CITIZENS ARE INVITED

FEROZE MITHIBORWALA, KISHORE JAGTAP, JYOTI BADEKAR, ARIF KAPADIA, YAVARALI KAZI, FAROOKH MAPKAR, TITO,IRFAN,WINNIE, INAYAT, AND OTHERS.

PUBLIC MEETING & PRESS CONFERENCE: Terror targeting of the Muslim community!!

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Tue, 4 Sep 2012 16:12:00 +0530

BHARAT BACHAO ANDOLAN

PUBLIC MEETING & PRESS CONFERENCE.

WE condemn the targeting of the Muslim community in this bogus war on terror.Where have all these so-called terror cells emerged from in Bangalore, Hyderabad & Nanded. Is it to divert attention from Naroda Patiya judgement & the Coal-Gate & all the other myriad scams?

Marathi Patrakar Sangh, opp CST, Mumbai. Thursday, 6th August, 4.30-5.30pm.

Speakers: Kishore Jagtap (Founder, Marathi Bharti), Feroze Mithiborwala (Founder-Pr
esidernt, BHarat Bachao Andolan), Aslam Ghazi (Secretary, Jamat i Islami, Maharashtra), Meraj Siddiqui (Convenor, Muslim Intellectual Forum), Jyoti Badekar (President, Marathi Bharti), Pooja Badekar (President, Vidyarthi Bharti), Mulniwasi Mala & Jagdish Nagarkar (Joint President, Phule-Ambedkar Vichar Manch).

Is the current spate of arrests to divert attention from the Naroda Patiya judgement & the Coal-Gate & all the other myriad scams where both the Congress & BJP are mainly involved??

Is it part of the larger sinister plan to demonise the entire Muslim community & engineer nation-wide pogroms & riots as we head for the general elections of 2014??

Time & again it has been proved that the Brahmanical Intelligence Bureau (IB) & the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) are both involved in the cover-up & also in instigating Manuwadi terror & the subsequent framing of Muslim youth with concocted & planted evidence & fabricated eye-witnesses.

We must fearlessly raise our voices & expose the communal & Zionist-Brahmanical agenda, as something massive is brewing & the consequences for all of us ordinary Indians will be disastrous.

In Solidarity with the Indian masses.
Jai Hind!! Jai Bharat!!

Analysing the historic 16th Non-Aligned Movement Conference

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Tue, 4 Sep 2012 16:10:00 +0530

BHARAT BACHAO ANDOLAN

PUBLIC MEETING & PRESS CONFERENCE.
Tere N.A.M. !!

Analysing the historic 16th Non-Aligned Movement Conference 2012, held in Tehran.

Marathi Patrakar Sangh, opp CST, Mumbai. Thursday, 6th August, 5.30-6.30pm.

Speakers: Kishore Jagtap (Founder, Marathi Bharti), Feroze Mithiborwala (Founder-Pr
esidernt, BHarat Bachao Andolan), Aslam Ghazi (Secretary, Jamat i Islami, Maharashtra), Meraj Siddiqui (Convenor, Muslim Intellectual Forum), Jyoti Badekar (President, Marathi Bharti), Siddharth Ugade (Phule-Ambedakar Vichar Manch) & Mulniwasi Mala (President, Indian Social Front)

The Indian & Global corporate media has either downplayed the NAM conference or has targeted & vilified it. On the other hand, the NAM has now emerged as the main anti-imperialist bloc where 120 countries are today members of this formation, with great potential for the near future. We must indeed be proud, that as it was India that was amongst the 5 key nations that laid the foundations for NAM, for this anti-imperialist bloc. Also it was India & PM Manmohan Singh who was the most important & respected guest in Tehran, yet the media refused to acknowledge this changing political reality & the recalibration of our foreign policy.
But our corporate media journalists who for the most are ignoramuses, or worse, directly on the payroll of the American-Israelis have truly stand exposed - once again - in their utter shameful dishonesty.

Thus as part of our ongoing struggle, we have decided to organise a public discussion on this truly historic meeting, which will prove to be a milestone in the global struggle against imperialism, Zionism & capitalism & for a world that is free of hegemonic US & Western domination & built on the values of freedom., democracy, socialist justice & free of religious fanaticism & wars.

In Solidarity with the People of the World!!

In solidarity with the NAM nations!!

Raj ki aag or Aag ka raj?

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Sun, 2 Sep 2012 14:04:00 +0530

By Javed Anand

Bombay was renamed Mumbai in 1995. It was among the first things the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition sarkar did on coming to power in Maharashtra.

You might think the news has yet to reach ’em posh people who still refer to their quarter of the metropolis as 'South Bombay'. In fact, it’s SoBo now!

Bombay, remember, is the New York of the East: SoHo, SoBo. Folks at SoHo might be deeply embarrassed at this likening. But for SoBo, appearance is what matters, darling.

Why not SoMu? Don’t even go there! South here is not about geography, stupid. Dude, it’s all about attitude. The Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena can have their Mumbai so long as they let SoBo residents keep up their pretences.

Could SoBo symbolise a cosmopolitan resistance to the chauvinism of the Senas? Banish the thought, the SoBoietis love their Thackerays. (Perhaps Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, too.) Call it the mutual attraction of the bold and the beautiful.

At five-star get-togethers during the 1990s, SoBo’s beautiful people never squirmed when Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray routinely referred to Indian Muslims as “green snakes”. What to do: Muslims need to be taught a lesson.

Mr Thackeray, incidentally, was the main accused in the Srikrishna Commission’s report on the anti-Muslim pogrom of 1992-93. Commission reports: who cares? (One of the honourable exceptions among the glitterati and the celebrati was Dev Anand who walked out of a meeting of Bollywood biggies at which Thackeray senior tried to spread the communal virus in the Hindi film industry.)

That was then. Now we have a new kid on the block. And isn’t he cute: Raj Thackeray! We are told that on August 21 the new 'saviour' took 'a mature and restrained approach', reinvented himself, performed 'a political masterstroke', 'acquired a halo overnight'. How does a fire-breathing, violence-espousing, rabble-rouser turn into an instant 'rockstar'? Well, you better believe it for SoBo Mouthpiece (Shobhaa De’s August 25 column, Raj ki aag: The new face of Thackeray) says so.

SoBos can do all the fawning and swooning they like. But the fact remains that shorn of all the rapturous adjectives and hyperboles, the picture that Raj Thackeray painted of himself and his MNS on August 21 was far from pretty. Except for the gullible, it was true-to-type, ominous and worse. In less than 24 hours, his sainiks were to bare their fangs again. But let me not run ahead of the story. Let what Raj Thackeray did and said that day speak for itself first.

The rally was ostensibly to demand punitive action against the then police commissioner Arup Patnaik’s allegedly abject failure to enforce rule of law during the August 11 rally at Azad Maidan organised by some Muslim organisations. Though police had only given permission for a meeting at Azad Maidan, in characteristic style, Raj Thackeray insisted on a five-km rally from Marine Drive to Azad Maidan in brazen defiance of the police order, thus creating a traffic chaos for several hours.

In short, break the law to protest the (earlier) breakdown of law. The “savior of Mumbai” presumably must be permitted a few indulgences.

At the Azad Maidan, Raj Thackeray hammered home three points.

First, he claimed it was Bangladeshi Muslims who resorted to violence on August 11. In a thought-provoking article he wrote in 2006, former editor and Shiv Sena-backed Rajya Sabha MP, had rightly observed that 'pro-Pakistani Muslims' and 'Bangladeshi Muslims' are but euphemisms while you target Indian Muslims as a whole. Why the euphemisms? To escape possible prosecution under the anti-hate speech provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

Second, Raj Thackeray took great care, reminding the police rank and file that they were Marathi manoos above all else and only incidentally upholders of the Indian Constitution and the rule of law. Nothing new here. This was exactly the tactic employed by Thackeray senior during the late ’80s and the early ’90s: stoking the parochial instincts of the cops, communalising them right under the nose of a benign state. The outcome of his noxious brainwash was the shameful partisan conduct of the Mumbai police during the 1992-93 carnage.

That the young Thackeray’s message immediately hit home was evident when a constable in uniform, Pramod Tawde, marched up to the dias, presented a flower to the new messiah and proceeded to address the media in gross violation of all rules.

Talk to top police officers and you’ll know how alarmed they are at this ominous turn of events. Yeh andar ki baat hai, police hamare saath hai (To tell you a secret, the police are with us)” was an oft-repeated chant of the murderous mobs in Gujarat in 2002. SoBoietis seemingly don’t lose much sleep over such mundane concerns.

Thirdly, at a tangent to his agenda for the day, Raj Thackeray ridiculed the dalits’ recent demand that instead of gifting it to the builder’s lobby, the Maharashtra government should reserve the defunct Indu Mills’ plot for a memorial to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Within hours, outraged dalits from several parts of Maharashtra were burning effigies of Raj Thackeray.

Twenty-four hours later, a bunch of MNS toughies led by their corporator Sandeep Deshpande mercilessly pummelled a small group of dalit men and women who protested against the 'insult to Babasaheb' near Raj Thackeray’s residence. Among the women victims of the MNS ire were Puja Badekar and Vijayta Bhonakar.

“They misbehaved with us in the same fashion that some Muslims misbehaved (sexual assault) with police women constables at Azad Maidan on August 11,” they told this writer. Despite a heavy bandobust the cops took their time in restraining the attackers. When the victim dalits tried lodging a criminal complaint at the Shivaji Park police station, they were threatened with a 'rioting' charge and driven away.

All this, of course, is not news for the media, much less for our beautiful people. SoBo thinks a film on the new saviour with the title Raj ki aag might be a great idea. I think Aag ka raj may be more appropriate.

The writer is co-editor of Communalism Combat and general secretary, Muslims for Secular Democracy

Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/dc-comment/raj-ki-aag-or-aag-ka-raj-905

Muslims and the Indian state since 1947

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:24:00 +0530

Anwer Hussain

I could not resist the desire to write on this subject after the violence at Azad maidan on August 11, 2012, in Mumbai, and the competitive politics this event led to among rightist and identity seeking political parties in Maharashtra.

Now is the most appropriate time to analyse why certain sections of Muslims indulged in violence. What motivated them and why they directed their anger against state institutions and media?

First and foremost, I condemn the violence in the most strongest terms. Now comes the question, as to why it happened. On the surface it appears that certain sections of Muslims are unhappy with state institutions in the way they handled Bodo-Muslim clashes in Assam. Thousands of Muslim homes were burned by Bodo militants in order to drive them away. Many innocent people died in the clashes and government of Assam was lax in taking action against culprits.

In Burma, too, there was a massacre of Muslims and the government of India stood silent.

The Indian media on its part was not impartial in its coverage of both issues. So some people in Mumbai organised a protest rally to register their unhappiness and anger against the government of India and the Indian media. Unfortunately a group of miscreants entered the ground at the last moment and started attacking the media and the police.

Whatever may be the reasons or claims of people who participated in the rally, or even if it was a lie told to me, I am concerned with a different aspect altogether.

Do Muslims in India have a right to protest or not? Can’t they show their anger and disagreement if they think that the government is not behaving as it should be, or if an Indian state fails in its duty to protect Indian citizens? Because of delay in actions, thousands of homes were destroyed and many innocent lives lost in the aftermath of the clashes in Assam.

Our constitution gives every Indian citizen, cutting across ethnic, religious, caste or any denominational lines, the right to protest. So what is wrong with Muslims getting organised to voice their displeasure! Actually the problem is not about the constitutional right of Muslims as many Muslims feel betrayed by Indian state and democracy. The real question is why it happens with Indian Muslims post 1947? The problem is deep rooted. We can understand it through one example, that of Ram Janambhoomi and Babri Masjid controversy. In this issue the identity and political weight of Indian Muslims was at stake. The movement for Babri Masjid according to my understanding was not about the mosque, the Muslim leadership rather used itto test their political bargaining power in independent India. And this is the reason why after putting so much at stake, post the Masjid demolition Muslims continue to be in political wilderness. They simply do not know how to act politically? Their response towards the Indian state and politics is very immature and shows lack of understanding of Indian politics and the functioning of Indian democracy.

Muslims in India do not know how to relate themselves with Indian democracy, state and various ethnic and religious communities living in India. This is the reason right from 1947 they have been systematically and politically exploited by different political parties, at different times and places. Muslims are politically a confused lot today. And so, whenever they want to register their protest or try to use their democratic rights in India, they often end up making a mess of it. Azad Maidan rally is no exception!

Now comes the question why it happens only with Muslims. Many other communities in India have managed their affairs well. Dalits, for example, under the leadership of Baba Saheb Ambedkar managed themselves very well. Even in contemporary India, many dalit leaders are doing a fine job. But as far as Muslims are concerned, there are no worthwhile leaders who have organised Muslims on constructive issues.

For Muslim politicans, the important issues were related to the identity of Muslims in India, like the status of Urdu, freedom of religion, and non-interference in their relgious matters by either political party or the Indian state. It is important to note that after 1947, Muslims did not come out of their partition mentality. This includes a larger section of Muslims who actually did not participate in the partition movement. The fault lies with both secular political parties in India and Muslims. Till now I have not heard any Muslim political party, or groups, who talk of nation as a whole, or fights for the rights of different communities living in India cutting across religious lines.

Muslims in India, even after so many decades act as a persecuted minority. This is very wrong! Part of the blame lies with some Hindu brothers and sisters who have not been able to accept them as an equal citizen of India. Somewhere, at the subconscious level, they cannot see Muslims as true nationalists. This fact has been highlighted in several Hindi movies through characterisation of Muslims as police inspectors, etc.

Muslims on their part have failed to reassure the Hindus, that, if they participate in politics and make their own political outfit, it will never lead to partition of any part of our motherland. They need to come out of their siege mentality and fight for the rights of every citizen of India, only then people will have faith in their political organisations. Post independence, no Muslim political organisation stood for the rights of dalits, tribals, OBC or poorer sections of Indian society. Muslims have supported others time and again in their demands, but, have not taken any initiative in defending their rights. They always act as if their religion, culture and language are under perpetual threat from the Indian state and other communities living in India. I, personally, have failed to understand this psyche. There are so many Muslim countries in the the world, but still the fear lives here.

Muslims should rather reach out to other communities in India towards building a common platform for advancing different agendas of the nation, which are important for all of us be it environment, economy, polity, corruption, rights of the pooorer sections of the society, etc. I think the day Muslims start doing this, their isolation in Indian politics and society will end automatically.

The common question my Hindu friends ask me, is why Muslims are fighting for the rights of Burmese Muslims and not fight for the violation of the rights of Hindu and Christain minorities living in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt and different other Muslim countries around the world! A valid question indeed. I have never seen any Muslim organisations or individual who fought for the rights of minorities living in the different Muslim countries. We seem to have forgotten our cherished tradition from the early period of Islam, when no harm was done to minorities living under the Muslim dominion. Christians, Jews, Manichaeans, Zoroastrians and others used to be the most protected lot. It was Christians during Abbassid (755-1258 A.D.) period who were responsible for translating all the great works of Greeks into Arabic under the aegis of Bait-ul-Hikma founded in 762 A.D. We do not have any evidence of communal riots between Hindus and Muslims before 1857. Rulers during the Sultanat period (1206-1526 A.D.), and after, used to take loans from Hindu bankers in India.

The problem today is that Muslims themselves are not aware of their rich history and traditions. The Prophet of Islam made a famous agreement with Jews and others for peaceful living on reaching Medina. In fact, he never broke any of his contract under any circumstance, unless, others did it. How many of us know about the Medina agreement and principles it lays down for peaceful coexistence with other religious communities.

So the only way Muslims can break the cycle of isolation, siege mentality and political exploitation by so called secular parties who want us to remain ghettoised, is by deepening good relations with other communities living in India.

(Anwer Hussain is a writer and member of ‘The Center for Study of Society and Secularism’ in Mumbai)

source: http://muslimstoday.in/2012/08/26/muslims-and-indian-state-since-1947/

Urdu Media On Mumbai Police Comm. Patnaik’s Transfer

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 09:40:00 +0530

By A. Hameed Yousuf, The Milli Gazette

Published Online: Aug 27, 2012

The transfer of Arup Patnaik, Mumbai Police Commissioner, is seen with suspicion by the Urdu media. Though Maharashtra Home Minister Mr. R R Patil has maintained that Patnaik, for his good work, was promoted to the post of Managing Director of Maharashtra State Security Corporation, the media believes otherwise. The view of the media is that he has been punished for not being hard on Muslim youth who turned violent during the Azad Maidan demonstration on August 11.“Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik Transferred: Promotion or Punishment?” reads the news headline of daily Sahafat.

Similarly, a news analysis published in daily Urdu Times also concludes that Patnaik’s transfer was a punishment for him as he did not deal with the violent mob with firm hand. In the analysis titled “Patnaik’s transfer: victory of communalism and defeat of secularism” Shakeel Rasheed writes, “This is not ‘promotion’, but punishment. Yes, Arun Patnaik is not the Mumbai police commissioner anymore. The Congress-NCP alliance says that Patnaik’s transfer was routine and that it has nothing to do with the Azad Maidan violence. In fact, it is ‘punishment’ and not promotion. Punishment, because Patnaik stopped his forces to rain bullets on Muslims protesting against atrocities on Muslims in Assam and Myanmar, why only two people were killed, why the death tally not touched 200 or 250, why Patnaik ensured peace of Mumbai is not shattered and why he prevented the 1992-93 like situation.”

In the editorial Arun Patnaik Deserved Reward! the paper adds, “Despite vandalism from some Muslim youth Patnaik did not allow his police to use force relentlessly. Instead, upto the last moment he asked them to have patience. He saved not only Mumbai but also whole the state from riots. His good handling of the situation foiled the expectations of Hindutva outfits. So these outfit alleged him of being soft on the vandalizing mob. They also demanded his resignation. ”

The protest rally called by Raza Academy in collaboration with some other Muslim organizations had suddenly turned violent. The mob went on rampage setting ablaze media OB vans, damaging public buses and attacking policemen. The vandalism left around 50 policemen injured. There were all efforts to incite the police including snatching their revolvers and molesting female policemen. The police could have resorted to heavy firing in retaliation, but it was Arup Patnaik who himself took the command and instructed the police to exercise restraint. The Urdu media which often complains of police bias against Muslims had praised the wise handling of the crowd.

Later the media reported a top police official confessing that had there not been extreme restraint on the part of the police, there would have been a ‘holocaust’.

From security expert B Raman to super cop Julio Ribeiro, everyone praised Patnaik’s handling of the explosive situation. “When Patnaik reached the spot after the mobs had gone on rampage, his first reflex was to ensure that his force did not add to the heat of the riots by losing its cool and over-reacting. If Patnaik had not kept its force under control, there might have been many more fatalities resulting in a serious aggravation of the situation. In literally forcing the policemen to keep their cool and not to overact, Patnaik had acted according to his professional instincts, the training that he had received as a young officer and his long years of experience in dealing with such situations. Let us give him the credit for the way he exercised his leadership during those critical moments when the riots could have spread to many parts of Mumbai,” wrote Raman.

This, however, was not what the some communal elements like. The families of the deceased youth did not complain except that why the police fired above the waste. The pro-Hindutva parties including BJP, Shiv Sena and MNS, however, criticized Patnaik because he did not curb the mob forcefully and according to them allowed it to go on widespread vandalism. In a show of strength MNS chief Raj Thackeray defying police took out a huge rally protesting the riots.

The rally brought Raj Thackeray once again in the limelight. Giving a new twist to the Azad Maidan riots is a report in Sahafat daily “The Possible Hand of Raj Thackeray Group In Azad Maidan Violence” whichasks whether Muslim volunteers of MNS had staged the riots. The purpose: to provide Raj Thackeray with a chance for growing his stature. In the rally, Thackeray among many things demanded resignation of R R Patil and suspension of Arup Patnaik. Within less than two days, Patnaik was transferred.

The media and saffron parties of Maharashtra also criticized Patil for government’s failure in Pune Blast, Azad Maidan riots and MNS rally. Patil, however, transferred the police commissioner to cool the temper of critics.

Arup Patnaik has the reputation of being one of the most honest officers in the Mumbai police force. He would support the raids on bars and pubs, running beyond permissible time limits, by the Social Service Branch headed by assistant commissioner of police Vasant Dhoble. This action of the police though was supported many citizen groups, the liquor lobbies were not happy at all with it.

The immediate cause, however, for Patnaik’s removal was his failure to suppress the Azad Maidan rioters. “Is it the guilt of Patnaik that the police led by him showed restraint? Is he guilty of controlling the situation and not letting a violent accident turn into full fledge riot?” asks dailyInquilab in an editorial “The Guilt of Patnaik?”

The paper also quoted a local Muslim leader Maulana Mustaqeem Ahsan Azmi as having said, “The way Patnaik played on his life to control the citizens and the police, is laudable. Otherwise instead of two, two hundred would have been killed. Surprisingly, some people protested against him and he was removed. This shows weakness of the government.”

By giving in to the pressure from the opposition to remove Patnaik without substantial reason the government has sent a wrong message; the Urdu Media believes. This is like discouraging a duteous officer like him.

http://www.milligazette.com/news/4104-urdu-news-media-on-mumbai-police-comm-patnaiks-transfer

Muslims condemn campaign against North-Eastern people; demand sources of sms’s be probed: The Milli Gazette

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 00:08:00 +0530

Muslims condemn campaign against North-Eastern people; demand sources of sms’s be probed

The Milli Gazette

New Delhi, Saturday, 18 August 2012: We, representatives of leading Muslim organizations in the country, unreservedly condemn the criminal and mischievous campaign against people of North Eastern origin in certain parts of the country like Karnataka and Maharashtra for which modern media like bulk email, text and video messaging is being used.

We also appeal to our respected Imams and Khateebs to avail the occasion of the Eid prayers and make an appeal to the Muslim masses in their sermons to maintain calm, peace and brotherhood. We also appeal to the Muslim masses to beware of the communal forces’ designs and remain vigilant to maintain peace and amity in their respective localities.

We also appeal to the Muslim community in the country and especially in the affected areas to cooperate and assure their brothers and sisters from North Eastern states that they are safe and secure and should not panic and leave their studies, jobs or businesses. Muslims should also offer the distressed persons to come and live in their houses and institutions until the situation becomes normal.

We request the concerned authorities in all affected areas to meticulously probe the source(s) of these sms’s and punish the guilty without mercy. We have reason to believe that this criminal campaign is orchestrated by the same people who are hell-bent to turn the present ethnic cleansing campaign in the Bodo Territorial Council areas into a foreigners and intruders’ issue, which it is not. We are reminded by a similar campaign in Assam in May 2005 which had affected lakhs of people. Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi had at the time squarely blamed the BJP saying that the BJP and RSS are trying to foment communal tension in Assam. We hope the authorities will not develop cold feet in probing the origins of the present campaign and punishing them.

Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat
Muhammad Jaafar, Vice President, Jamaat-e Islami Hind
Mujtaba Farooq, Convenor, Coordination Committee Indian Muslims on Assam
Abdul Khaliq, General Secretary, Lok Janshakti Party
Ml. Asghar Imam Mehdi, General Secretary, Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees
Ml. Abdul Hameed Nomani, Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind
Navaid Hamid, General Secretary, Movement for Empowerment of Muslim Indians
Dr Taslim Rahmani, President, Muslim Political Council
Dr Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, Member, Working Committee, Muslim Personal Law Board

URGENT-ATTENTION: PLAN TO ENGINEER MUSLIM VS DALIT-BUDDHIST RIOTS!!

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0530

Bharat Bachao Andolan
(Movement to Save India)

URGENT-ATTENTION: PLAN TO ENGINEER MUSLIM VS DALIT-BUDDHIST RIOTS!!
WARNING TO ALL!! BE VIGILANT, DONT FALL INTO HATE CAMPAIGNS OR FALSEHOODS!!

There is a planned & concerted attempt by certain right-wing & state forces to create Muslim vs Dali-Buddhist riots. We appeal to the entire Dalit-Buddhist & Muslim community, as well all patriotic Indians. An anti-Buddhist sentiment is being fostered amongst the Indian Muslim community due to misinformation & sheer ignorance on Myanmar.

Yesterday there was an attempt by Muslim youth in Lucknow to target Buddha statues. Also on facebook & sms - there are a lot of hate-messages being circulated. 2 Buddhist Viharas in Bombay have been stoned. The Dalit media & activists have kept all this under wraps & are not reporting it for now, so as to contain the rising tensions & anger.

We thus appeal to the leaders & activists of both the Muslim & Dalit-0Buddhist communities to immediately come together, stand on 1 platform & expose this entire plan to engineer Muslim vs Dalit riots, which will then transform themselves into Muslim vs Hindu riots, and eventually it will be Muslims vs everybody else as we well know from decades of experience.

Immediately after Eid, we are holding meetings & press conferences both in Bombay & in Lucknow to awaken the people about this design. Then we are launching a series of public meetings across Bombay especially in the Dalit & Muslim areas, so as to strengthen the existing unity of the Muslim & Dalit masses as well as that of the OBC & the working classes. We will also be meeting the CM both of Maharashtra & UP, with a meeting with the Police Commissioner to seek the cooperation of the state machinery to protect the people of all communities.

The agenda is very clear as the ruling elite in the Congress & BJP require riots to polarise the electorate along Hindu & Muslim lines as we head for the general elections of 2014. With the economy floundering, the mega scams of unprecedented amounts of money, rising prices & a general anger & seething discontent seething amongst the masses, the ruling elite will resort to their timeless strategy of fomenting nationwide riots, as we head for the general elections of 2014.

The ongoing month long pogroms in Assam, more than 40 riots in Uttar Pradesh, the mob violence in Bombay, Kanpur & Lucknow & the fear & hate-campaign against the students of the North-East & the Dalit Buddhists. With the attendant fall-out of the isolation of the Muslim community is a recipe for a massive disaster & planned pogroms on a scale that will surpass the Gujarat genocide, as since then the right-wing Manuwadi militias are far better equipped, well trained & organized. If the Muslim community & their allies in the larger Indian secular society, especially the Dalits & OBC's are not taken into confidence, if the Muslim leadership & youth don't start behaving in a politically mature manner, we are in for real spell of anti-Muslim riots that will not be contained as they will spread like wild fire across the entire nation. And a nation that has already been prepared to believe the worst due to the dominant paradigm on the politics of terror that pervades our media & our security establishment.

So lets wake up & start the process of countering the nefarious design by reaching out to all the communities, by creating awareness & by mobilising & organizing at the bastis across our cities, towns & villages. Since the dark days of 1992-93 & the Gujarat genocide, we have learnt our lessons with much pain & blood. Now there is far more communication at the grass-roots where leaders & activists can counter hate & rumour mongering, but there is a limit, a limit if the state itself has deicded to plan & foment the riots. A pall of fear looms large & hate campaigns are visible over the internet & the media, thus the odds against us are truly enormous.

But we have faith - faith in the people of India, faith in the basic secular ethos of India & an undying optimism & hope.

Thus lets awaken before its too late.

Feroze Mithiborwala & Kishore Jagtap
(National Convenors)

INDIA - Happy Independence Day!

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 18:46:00 +0530

By Mike Ghouse for www.newageislam.com

August 15, 2012

My Dear fellow Indians,

An Indian is an Indian is an Indian, period.

We are Indians and nothing but Indian.

We are Adivasis, Atheists, Bahais, Bos, Buddhists, Christians, Dalits, Hindus, Jains, Jewish, Muslim, Sikhs, Tribals, Zoroastrians and every possible grouping. We are Brown, Black, White, Yellow and green with envy and phir bhi dil hai Hindustani (our heart is Indian).

Our Motherland is represented by every race, nationality, ethnicity, language, culture and religion. We see God as one, none and many; and in every form; male, female, genderless and non-existent, being and non-being, nameless and with innumerable names.

We are proud of our heritage - a multi-faith, multi-cultural, multi-regional and multi-linguistic society, where we have come to accept and respect every which way people have lived their lives. For over 5000 years, India has been a beacon of pluralism - it has embraced Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Baha’i and Zoroastrianism to include in the array of the indigenous religions; Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

We may want to consciously start thinking and acting as one people, one people within a nation and a community and one people globally. It’s like home when we are conflict free. I do hope each one of us purges any bias towards the other, there is joy in being free from ill-will. Try to be free from it this day forward… free from anything that prevents you from being a part of the whole.

Our combined philosophies believe in one world ; Hinduism describes the world as Vasudaiva Kutumbukum, the whole world is one family, the idea of Ek Onkar(one) in Sikhism, you are all created from the same couple as Quraan puts it and Jesus embraced every one regardless of who any one is... similar philosophies are grounded in all our religions.

A few don't follow their own heritage and resort to theivary, loot, murder, terrorism, rioting, rapes, infanticide and other evils that destroy the fabric of the society, but a majority of every group goes about their own way, living their life with struggles and ease and don't even bother others. We should build upon the 99% of population and not on the less than 1% that does not follow any principles.

On this day, and every day from here forward, make a pledge to yourselves to talk about in terms of we Indians - and not Malyalee, Gujarati, Bengali.... or Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isaee. Don't expect others to jump and say the same, give them the time and if you are consistent for at least a year, you will see others emulating you.

India led the way to the freedom movement, since 1947 every country has been liberated from colonialism. Indian democracy is a shining example to the world, where the people have peacefully transferred the powers. Indians are inherently secular and economically capitalistic. They believe in "live-and-let-live" life style, which is the essence of capitalism.

Through the years we have expressed the highest degree of maturity on handling extreme situations; the more divergent opinions we hear, the larger our heart grows, the bigger our embrace would be and we can cushion more differences. Let’s continue to honor the concept that there is always another side to the story, as finding the truth is our own responsibility. I am proud of my heritage and am proud to be an Indian-American.

INDIAN PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

With the belief that every Indian wants justice to every human being; rich or poor, connected or not, and demands fair treatment of every one of the 1.1 Billion Indians, we must come to grips with the social and community life to create an exemplary India, that will become a model nation in the world.

We have to give room to the extremists in every section of our communities be it Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Zoroastrian or other, hoping they would recognize the God given space to each one of us and eventually see the benefits of co-existence.

I propose that the parliament of India introduce a bill for every political, cultural and religious organization in India to register with the Home Ministry, state their purpose, list their assets for public scrutiny, list the membership roster to be updated annually. Include a modified version of the 7 items into Indian Penal Code, and make it in to the law to punish the violators of the law.

Patriotism should be defined in terms of what you do to uplift the hopes of people, in terms of education to all, jobs to as many as we can in each successive year, home for every human, and a better life style to every Indian.

Every public office holder from the Peon to the President of India, and every one in between must take this pledge and live by it. Violation should disqualify him or her from holding the public office. Let it be monitored publicly.

1. I pledge allegiance to India, the nation that stands for liberty and justice for all.

2. I pledge that I honor and treat every Indian with "full" dignity.

3. I pledge that all individuals would be treated on par.

4. I pledge that I will treat all religions with equal respect, equal access and equal treatment.

5. I pledge that I will oppose any act that treats any Indian less than myself.

6. I Pledge that I will work for a India, where every individual can live with security and aspire for prosperity.

7. I pledge that I will protect, preserve and value every inch of India and every human soul in India

This would be the first step towards ensuring a Just, peaceful and prosperous India, that can sustain its progress and peace.

Jai Hind

Mike Ghouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. The blog www.TheGhousediary.comis updated daily.

URL: http://newageislam.com/current-affairs/by-mike-ghouse/india---happy-independence-day!/d/8283

DAY OF JERUSALEM / YAU-ME-QUDS

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 18:17:00 +0530

PUBLIC MEETING

BHARAT BACHAO ANDOLAN

On the occasion of Yau-me-Quds / Day of Jerusalem, that is celebrated the world over on the last Friday of Ramzan, you are cordially invited to attend the programme, which will also be followed by Iftaar. An award wining documentary, “Jerusalem – The East Side Story” will also be screened along with an exhibition as well.

The youth from our city that have been part of both the historic “Asia to Gaza Convoy” & the “Global March to Jerusalem”, will also be felicitated in a small ceremony.

We must stand in solidarity with the Palestinian nation & join the global struggle to save Jerusalem, which symbolises the universal spiritual heritage of all of humanity.

Venue: Islam Gymkhana, near Marine Lines Station, Mumbai.

Date: Friday 17^th of August 2012 / Time: 3.30pm to 7.00pm

Chief Guest: Mr. Muhammad Bagar Bagei (Consul General of Iran)

Guests of Honour: Brigadier Sudhir Sawant, Advocate Yusuf Muchala, & Mr. SS Yadav

Keynote Address: Feroze Mithiborwala

Speakers: Com. Prakash Reddy, Aslam Ghazi, Maulana Zaheer Abbas Rizvi, Com. Sanjay Singhvi, Maulana Hakim Mehmood Dariyabadi, Kishore Jagtap, Sarfaraz Arzu, Maulana Hafiz Atahar Ali, Pradeep Dhoble, Maulana Sher Muhammad Jafri, Meraj Siddiqui, Ghulam Peshimam, Alhaj Badruzamman & Farid Khan

RSVP: Yawar Ali Qazi (9679314886), Janab Faruqi (9819059319), & Aarti Badekar(9322108219)

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad: The Man Who Knew The Future Of Pakistan Before Its Creation

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 18:15:00 +0530

by Shorish Kashmiri, Matbooat Chattan, Lahore

Congress president Maulana Abul Kalam Azad gave the following interview to journalist Shorish Kashmiri for a Lahore based Urdu magazine, Chattan, in April 1946. It was a time when the Cabinet Mission was holding its proceedings in Delhi and Simla. Azad made some startling predictions during the course of the interview, saying that religious conflict would tear apart Pakistan and its eastern half would carve out its own future. He even said that Pakistan’s incompetent rulers might pave the way for military rule.

According to Shorish Kashmiri, Azad had earmarked the early hours of the morning for him and the interview was conducted over a period of two weeks. This interview has not been published in any book so far — neither in the Azad centenary volumes nor in any other book comprising his writing or speeches — except for Kashmiri’s own book Abul Kalam Azad, which was printed only once by Matbooat Chattan Lahore, a now-defunct publishing house. Former Union Cabinet Minister Arif Mohammed Khan discovered the book after searching for many years and translated the interview for COVERT

Q: The Hindu Muslim dispute has become so acute that it has foreclosed any possibility of reconciliation. Don’t you think that in this situation the birth of Pakistan has become inevitable?

A: If Pakistan were the solution of Hindu Muslim problem, then I would have extended my support to it. A section of Hindu opinion is now turning in its favour. By conceding NWFP, Sind, Balochistan and half of Punjab on one side and half of Bengal on the other, they think they will get the rest of India — a huge country that would be free from any claims of communal nature. If we use the Muslim League terminology, this new India will be a Hindu state both practically and temperamentally.

This will not happen as a result of any conscious decision, but will be a logical consequence of its social realities. How can you expect a society that consists 90% of Hindus, who have lived with their ethos and values since prehistoric times, to grow differently? The factors that laid the foundation of Islam in Indian society and created a powerful following have become victim of the politics of partition. The communal hatred it has generated has completely extinguished all possibilities of spreading and preaching Islam. This communal politics has hurt the religion beyond measure. Muslims have turned away from the Quran. If they had taken their lessons from the Quran and the life of the Holy Prophet and had not forged communal politics in the name of religion then Islam’s growth would not have halted. By the time of the decline of the Mughal rule, the Muslims in India were a little over 22.5 million, that is about 65% of the present numbers.

Since then the numbers kept increasing. If the Muslim politicians had not used the offensive language that embittered communal relations, and the other section acting as agents of British interests had not worked to widen the Hindu-Muslim breach, the number of Muslims in India would have grown higher. The political disputes we created in the name of religion have projected Islam as an instrument of political power and not what it is — a value system meant for the transformation of human soul. Under British influence, we turned Islam into a confined system, and following in the footsteps of other communities like Jews, Parsis and Hindus we transformed ourselves into a hereditary community.

The Indian Muslims have frozen Islam and its message and divided themselves into many sects. Some sects were clearly born at the instance of colonial power. Consequently, these sects became devoid of all movement and dynamism and lost faith in Islamic values. The hallmark of Muslim existence was striving and now the very term is strange to them. Surely they are Muslims, but they follow their own whims and desires. In fact now they easily submit to political power, not to Islamic values. They prefer the religion of politics not the religion of the Quran. Pakistan is a political standpoint.

Regardless of the fact whether it is the right solution to the problems of Indian Muslims, it is being demanded in the name of Islam. The question is when and where Islam provided for division of territories to settle populations on the basis of belief and unbelief. Does this find any sanction in the Quran or the traditions of the Holy Prophet? Who among the scholars of Islam has divided the dominion of God on this basis? If we accept this division in principle, how shall we reconcile it with Islam as a universal system?

How shall we explain the ever growing Muslim presence in non-Muslim lands including India? Do they realise that if Islam had approved this principle then it would not have permitted its followers to go to the non-Muslim lands and many ancestors of the supporters of Pakistan would not have had even entered the fold of Islam?

Division of territories on the basis of religion is a contraption devised by Muslim League. They can pursue it as their political agenda, but it finds no sanction in Islam or Quran. What is the cherished goal of a devout Muslim? Spreading the light of Islam or dividing territories along religious lines to pursue political ambitions? The demand for Pakistan has not benefited Muslims in any manner. How Pakistan can benefit Islam is a moot question and will largely depend on the kind of leadership it gets.

The impact of western thought and philosophy has made the crisis more serious. The way the leadership of Muslim League is conducting itself will ensure that Islam will become a rare commodity in Pakistan and Muslims in India. This is a surmise and God alone knows what is in the womb of future. Pakistan, when it comes into existence, will face conflicts of religious nature.

As far as I can see, the people who will hold the reins of power will cause serious damage to Islam. Their behaviour may result in the total alienation of the Pakistani youth who may become a part of non-religious movements. Today, in Muslim minority states the Muslim youth are more attached to religion than in Muslim majority states. You will see that despite the increased role of Ulema, the religion will lose its sheen in Pakistan.

Q: But many Ulema are with Quaid-e-Azam [M.A. Jinnah].

A: Many Ulema were with Akbare Azam too; they invented a new religion for him. Do not discuss individuals. Our history is replete with the doings of the Ulema who have brought humiliation and disgrace to Islam in every age and period.

The upholders of truth are exceptions. How many of the Ulema find an honourable mention in the Muslim history of the last 1,300 years? There was one Imam Hanbal, one Ibn Taimiyya. In India we remember no Ulema except Shah Waliullah and his family. The courage of Alf Sani is beyond doubt, but those who filled the royal office with complaints against him and got him imprisoned were also Ulema. Where are they now? Does anybody show any respect to them?

Q: Maulana, what is wrong if Pakistan becomes a reality? After all, “Islam” is being used to pursue and protect the unity of the community.

A: You are using the name of Islam for a cause that is not right by Islamic standards. Muslim history bears testimony to many such enormities. In the battle of Jamal [fought between Imam Ali and Hadrat Aisha, widow of the Holy Prophet] Qurans were displayed on lances. Was that right? In Karbala the family members of the Holy Prophet were martyred by those Muslims who claimed companionship of the Prophet. Was that right? Hajjaj was a Muslim general and he subjected the holy mosque at Makka to brutal attack. Was that right? No sacred words can justify or sanctify a false motive.

If Pakistan was right for Muslims then I would have supported it. But I see clearly the dangers inherent in the demand. I do not expect people to follow me, but it is not possible for me to go against the call of my conscience. People generally submit either to coercion or to the lessons of their experience. Muslims will not hear anything against Pakistan unless they experience it. Today they can call white black, but they will not give up Pakistan. The only way it can be stopped now is either for the government not to concede it or for Mr Jinnah himself — if he agrees to some new proposal.

Now as I gather from the attitude of my own colleagues in the working committee, the division of India appears to be certain. But I must warn that the evil consequences of partition will not affect India alone, Pakistan will be equally haunted by them. The partition will be based on the religion of the population and not based on any natural barrier like mountain, desert or river. A line will be drawn; it is difficult to say how durable it would be.

We must remember that an entity conceived in hatred will last only as long as that hatred lasts. This hatred will overwhelm the relations between India and Pakistan. In this situation it will not be possible for India and Pakistan to become friends and live amicably unless some catastrophic event takes place. The politics of partition itself will act as a barrier between the two countries. It will not be possible for Pakistan to accommodate all the Muslims of India, a task beyond her territorial capability. On the other hand, it will not be possible for the Hindus to stay especially in West Pakistan. They will be thrown out or leave on their own. This will have its repercussions in India and the Indian Muslims will have three options before them:

1. They become victims of loot and brutalities and migrate to Pakistan; but how many Muslims can find shelter there?

2. They become subject to murder and other excesses. A substantial number of Muslims will pass through this ordeal until the bitter memories of partition are forgotten and the generation that had lived through it completes its natural term.

3. A good number of Muslims, haunted by poverty, political wilderness and regional depredation decide to renounce Islam.

The prominent Muslims who are supporters of Muslim League will leave for Pakistan. The wealthy Muslims will take over the industry and business and monopolise the economy of Pakistan. But more than 30 million Muslims will be left behind in India. What promise Pakistan holds for them? The situation that will arise after the expulsion of Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan will be still more dangerous for them. Pakistan itself will be afflicted by many serious problems. The greatest danger will come from international powers who will seek to control the new country, and with the passage of time this control will become tight. India will have no problem with this outside interference as it will sense danger and hostility from Pakistan.

The other important point that has escaped Mr Jinnah’s attention is Bengal. He does not know that Bengal disdains outside leadership and rejects it sooner or later. During World War II, Mr Fazlul Haq revolted against Jinnah and was thrown out of the Muslim League. Mr H.S. Suhrawardy does not hold Jinnah in high esteem. Why only Muslim League, look at the history of Congress. The revolt of Subhas Chandra Bose is known to all. Gandhiji was not happy with the presidentship of Bose and turned the tide against him by going on a fast unto death at Rajkot. Subhas Bose rose against Gandhiji and disassociated himself from the Congress. The environment of Bengal is such that it disfavours leadership from outside and rises in revolt when it senses danger to its rights and interests.

The confidence of East Pakistan will not erode as long as Jinnah and Liaquat Ali are alive. But after them any small incident will create resentment and disaffection. I feel that it will not be possible for East Pakistan to stay with West Pakistan for any considerable period of time. There is nothing common between the two regions except that they call themselves Muslims. But the fact of being Muslim has never created durable political unity anywhere in the world. The Arab world is before us; they subscribe to a common religion, a common civilisation and culture and speak a common language.

In fact they acknowledge even territorial unity. But there is no political unity among them. Their systems of government are different and they are often engaged in mutual recrimination and hostility. On the other hand, the language, customs and way of life of East Pakistan are totally different from West Pakistan. The moment the creative warmth of Pakistan cools down, the contradictions will emerge and will acquire assertive overtones. These will be fuelled by the clash of interests of international powers and consequently both wings will separate.

After the separation of East Pakistan, whenever it happens, West Pakistan will become the battleground of regional contradictions and disputes. The assertion of sub-national identities of Punjab, Sind, Frontier and Balochistan will open the doors for outside interference. It will not be long before the international powers use the diverse elements of Pakistani political leadership to break the country on the lines of Balkan and Arab states. Maybe at that stage we will ask ourselves, what have we gained and what have we lost.

The real issue is economic development and progress, it certainly is not religion. Muslim business leaders have doubts about their own ability and competitive spirit. They are so used to official patronage and favours that they fear new freedom and liberty. They advocate the two-nation theory to conceal their fears and want to have a Muslim state where they have the monopoly to control the economy without any competition from competent rivals. It will be interesting to watch how long they can keep this deception alive.

I feel that right from its inception, Pakistan will face some very serious problems:

1. The incompetent political leadership will pave the way for military dictatorship as it has happened in many Muslim countries.

2. The heavy burden of foreign debt.

3. Absence of friendly relationship with neighbours and the possibility of armed conflict.

4. Internal unrest and regional conflicts.

5. The loot of national wealth by the neo-rich and industrialists of Pakistan.

6. The apprehension of class war as a result of exploitation by the neo-rich.

7. The dissatisfaction and alienation of the youth from religion and the collapse of the theory of Pakistan.

8. The conspiracies of the international powers to control Pakistan.

In this situation, the stability of Pakistan will be under strain and the Muslim countries will be in no position to provide any worthwhile help. The assistance from other sources will not come without strings and it will force both ideological and territorial compromises.

Q: But the question is how Muslims can keep their community identity intact and how they can inculcate the attributes of the citizens of a Muslim state.

A: Hollow words cannot falsify the basic realities nor slanted questions can make the answers deficient. It amounts to distortion of the discourse. What is meant by community identity? If this community identity has remained intact during the British slavery, how will it come under threat in a free India in whose affairs Muslims will be equal participants? What attributes of the Muslim state you wish to cultivate?

The real issue is the freedom of faith and worship and who can put a cap on that freedom. Will independence reduce the 90 million Muslims into such a helpless state that they will feel constrained in enjoying their religious freedom? If the British, who as a world power could not snatch this liberty, what magic or power do the Hindus have to deny this freedom of religion? These questions have been raised by those, who, under the influence of western culture, have renounced their own heritage and are now raising dust through political gimmickry.

Muslim history is an important part of Indian history. Do you think the Muslim kings were serving the cause of Islam? They had a nominal relationship with Islam; they were not Islamic preachers. Muslims of India owe their gratitude to Sufis, and many of these divines were treated by the kings very cruelly.

Most of the kings created a large band of Ulema who were an obstacle in the path of the propagation of Islamic ethos and values. Islam, in its pristine form, had a tremendous appeal and in the first century won the hearts and minds of a large number of people living in and around Hejaz. But the Islam that came to India was different, the carriers were non-Arabs and the real spirit was missing. Still, the imprint of the Muslim period is writ large on the culture, music, art, architecture and languages of India. What do the cultural centres of India, like Delhi and Lucknow, represent? The underlying Muslim spirit is all too obvious.

If the Muslims still feel under threat and believe that they will be reduced to slavery in free India then I can only pray for their faith and hearts. If a man becomes disenchanted with life he can be helped to revival, but if someone is timid and lacks courage, then it is not possible to help him become brave and gutsy. The Muslims as a community have become cowards. They have no fear of God, instead they fear men. This explains why they are so obsessed with threats to their existence — a figment of their imagination.

After British takeover, the government committed all possible excesses against the Muslims. But Muslims did not cease to exist. On the contrary, they registered a growth that was more than average. The Muslim cultural ethos and values have their own charm. Then India has large Muslim neighbours on three sides. Why on earth the majority in this country will be interested to wipe out the Muslims? How will it promote their self interests? Is it so easy to finish 90 million people? In fact, Muslim culture has such attraction that I shall not be surprised if it comes to have the largest following in free India.

The world needs both, a durable peace and a philosophy of life. If the Hindus can run after Marx and undertake scholarly studies of the philosophy and wisdom of the West, they do not disdain Islam and will be happy to benefit from its principles. In fact they are more familiar with Islam and acknowledge that Islam does not mean parochialism of a hereditary community or a despotic system of governance.

Islam is a universal call to establish peace on the basis of human equality. They know that Islam is the proclamation of a Messenger who calls to the worship of God and not his own worship. Islam means freedom from all social and economic discriminations and reorganisation of society on three basic principles of God-consciousness, righteous action and knowledge.

In fact, it is we Muslims and our extremist behaviour that has created an aversion among non-Muslims for Islam. If we had not allowed our selfish ambitions to soil the purity of Islam then many seekers of truth would have found comfort in the bosom of Islam. Pakistan has nothing to do with Islam; it is a political demand that is projected by Muslim League as the national goal of Indian Muslims. I feel it is not the solution to the problems Muslims are facing. In fact it is bound to create more problems.

The Holy Prophet has said, “God has made the whole earth a mosque for me.” Now do not ask me to support the idea of the partition of a mosque. If the nine-crore Muslims were thinly scattered all over India, and demand was made to reorganise the states in a manner to ensure their majority in one or two regions, that was understandable. Again such a demand would not have been right from an Islamic viewpoint, but justifiable on administrative grounds.

But the situation, as it exists, is drastically different. All the border states of India have Muslim majorities sharing borders with Muslim countries.

Tell me, who can eliminate these populations? By demanding Pakistan we are turning our eyes away from the history of the last 1,000 years and, if I may use the League terminology, throwing more than 30 million Muslims into the lap of “Hindu Raj”. The Hindu Muslim problem that has created political tension between Congress and League will become a source of dispute between the two states and with the aid of international powers this may erupt into full scale war anytime in future.

The question is often raised that if the idea of Pakistan is so fraught with dangers for the Muslims, why is it being opposed by the Hindus? I feel that the opposition to the demand is coming from two quarters. One is represented by those who genuinely feel concerned about imperial machinations and strongly believe that a free, united India will be in a better position to defend itself.

On the other hand, there is a section who opposes Pakistan with the motive to provoke Muslims to become more determined in their demand and thus get rid of them. Muslims have every right to demand constitutional safeguards, but partition of India cannot promote their interests. The demand is the politically incorrect solution of a communal problem.

In future India will be faced with class problems, not communal disputes; the conflict will be between capital and labour. The communist and socialist movements are growing and it is not possible to ignore them. These movements will increasingly fight for the protection of the interest of the underclass.

The Muslim capitalists and the feudal classes are apprehensive of this impending threat. Now they have given this whole issue a communal colour and have turned the economic issue into a religious dispute. But Muslims alone are not responsible for it. This strategy was first adopted by the British government and then endorsed by the political minds of Aligarh. Later, Hindu short-sightedness made matters worse and now freedom has become contingent on the partition of India.

Jinnah himself was an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity. In one Congress session Sarojini Naidu had commended him with this title. He was a disciple of Dadabhai Naoroji. He had refused to join the 1906 deputation of Muslims that initiated communal politics in India. In 1919 he stood firmly as a nationalist and opposed Muslim demands before the Joint Select Committee.

On 3 October 1925, in a letter to the Times of India he rubbished the suggestion that Congress is a Hindu outfit. In the All Parties Conferences of 1925 and 1928, he strongly favoured a joint electorate. While speaking at the National Assembly in 1925, he said, “I am a nationalist first and a nationalist last” and exhorted his colleagues, be they Hindus or Muslims, “not to raise communal issues in the House and help make the Assembly a national institution in the truest sense of the term”.

In 1928, Jinnah supported the Congress call to boycott Simon Commission. Till 1937, he did not favour the demand to partition India. In his message to various student bodies he stressed the need to work for Hindu Muslim unity. But he felt aggrieved when the Congress formed governments in seven states and ignored the Muslim League. In 1940 he decided to pursue the partition demand to check Muslim political decline.

In short, the demand for Pakistan is his response to his own political experiences. Mr Jinnah has every right to his opinion about me, but I have no doubts about his intelligence. As a politician he has worked overtime to fortify Muslim communalism and the demand for Pakistan. Now it has become a matter of prestige for him and he will not give it up at any cost.

Q: It is clear that Muslims are not going to turn away from their demand for Pakistan. Why have they become so impervious to all reason and logic of arguments?

A: It is difficult, rather impossible, to fight against the misplaced enthusiasm of a mob, but to suppress one’s conscience is worse than death. Today the Muslims are not walking, they are flowing. The problem is that Muslims have not learnt to walk steady; they either run or flow with the tide. When a group of people lose confidence and self-respect, they are surrounded by imaginary doubts and dangers and fail to make a distinction between the right and the wrong.

The true meaning of life is realised not through numerical strength but through firm faith and righteous action. British politics has sown many seeds of fear and distrust in the mental field of Muslims. Now they are in a frightful state, bemoaning the departure of the British and demanding partition before the foreign masters leave. Do they believe that partition will avert all the dangers to their lives and bodies? If these dangers are real then they will still haunt their borders and any armed conflict will result in much greater loss of lives and possessions.

Q: But Hindus and Muslims are two different nations with different and disparate inclinations. How can the unity between the two be achieved?

A: This is an obsolete debate. I have seen the correspondence between Allama Iqbal and Maulana Husain Ahmad Madni on the subject. In the Quran the term qaum has been used not only for the community of believers but has also been used for distinct human groupings generally. What do we wish to achieve by raising this debate about the etymological scope of terms like millat [community], qaum [nation] and ummat [group]? In religious terms India is home to many people — the Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs etc.

The differences between Hindu religion and Islam are vast in scope. But these differences cannot be allowed to become an obstacle in the path of India gaining her freedom nor do the two distinct and different systems of faith negate the idea of unity of India. The issue is of our national independence and how we can secure it. Freedom is a blessing and is the right of every human being. It cannot be divided on the basis of religion.

Muslims must realise that they are bearers of a universal message. They are not a racial or regional grouping in whose territory others cannot enter. Strictly speaking, Muslims in India are not one community; they are divided among many well-entrenched sects. You can unite them by arousing their anti-Hindu sentiment but you cannot unite them in the name of Islam. To them Islam means undiluted loyalty to their own sect.

Apart from Wahhabi, Sunni and Shia there are innumerable groups who owe allegiance to different saints and divines. Small issues like raising hands during the prayer and saying Amen loudly have created disputes that defy solution. The Ulema have used the instrument of takfeer [fatwas declaring someone as infidel] liberally. Earlier, they used to take Islam to the disbelievers; now they take away Islam from the believers. Islamic history is full of instances of how good and pious Muslims were branded kafirs. Prophets alone had the capability to cope with these mindboggling situations. Even they had to pass through times of afflictions and trials. The fact is that when reason and intelligence are abandoned and attitudes become fossilised then the job of the reformer becomes very difficult.

But today the situation is worse than ever. Muslims have become firm in their communalism; they prefer politics to religion and follow their worldly ambitions as commands of religion. History bears testimony to the fact that in every age we ridiculed those who pursued the good with consistency, snuffed out the brilliant examples of sacrifice and tore the flags of selfless service. Who are we, the ordinary mortals; even high ranking Prophets were not spared by these custodians of traditions and customs.

Q: You closed down your journal Al-Hilal a long time back. Was it due to your disappointment with the Muslims who were wallowing in intellectual desolation, or did you feel like proclaiming azan [call to prayer] in a barren desert?

A: I abandoned Al-Hilal not because I had lost faith in its truth. This journal created great awareness among a large section of Muslims. They renewed their faith in Islam, in human freedom and in consistent pursuit of righteous goals. In fact my own life was greatly enriched by this experience and I felt like those who had the privilege of learning under the companionship of the Messenger of God.

My own voice entranced me and under its impact I burnt out like a phoenix. Al-Hilal had served its purpose and a new age was dawning. Based on my experiences, I made a reappraisal of the situation and decided to devote all my time and energy for the attainment of our national freedom. I was firm in my belief that freedom of Asia and Africa largely depends on India’s freedom and Hindu Muslim unity is key to India’s freedom.

Even before the First World War, I had realised that India was destined to attain freedom, and no power on earth would be able to deny it. I was also clear in my mind about the role of Muslims. I ardently wished that Muslims would learn to walk together with their countrymen and not give an opportunity to history to say that when Indians were fighting for their independence, Muslims were looking on as spectators. Let nobody say that instead of fighting the waves they were standing on the banks and showing mirth on the drowning of boats carrying the freedom fighters [¼].

Courtesy: Covert Magazine

URL of this Page: http://newageislam.com/books-and-documents/maulana-abul-kalam-azad--the-man-who-knew-the-future-of-pakistan-before-its-creation/d/2139

Salute to our Nation, India.......

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 11:49:00 +0530

Jai Hind ! Jai Bharat

Decision To Attack Iran is Almost Final : Israel TV

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 20:36:00 +0530

PM believes Iran’s regime is aiming to ‘destroy the Jewish people,’ does not think Obama will resort to force. Nuclear drive ‘further ahead’ than previously thought. In a year, Israeli action could have only ‘negligible effect’

By Times of Israel staff

August 11, 2012 "Times of Israel" -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have “almost finally” decided on an Israeli strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities this fall, and a final decision will be taken “soon,” Israel’s main TV news broadcast reported on Friday evening.

Channel 2 News, the country’s leading news program, devoted much of its Friday night broadcast to the issue, detailing the pros and cons that, it said, have taken Netanyahu and Barak to the brink of approving an Israeli military attack despite opposition from the Obama administration and from many Israeli security chiefs.

Critically, the station’s diplomatic correspondent Udi Segal said, Israel does not believe that the US will take military action as Iran closes in on the bomb.

The US, the TV report said, has not provided Israel with details of an attack plan. President Obama has not promised to attack Iran if all else fails. Conditions cited by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for an American attack do not calm Israeli concerns. And Obama has a record of seeking UN and Arab League approval before action. All these factors, in Jerusalem’s mind, underline the growing conviction of Netanyahu and Barak that Israel will have to tackle Iran alone, the TV report said.

Israel’s leaders have also noted that president George W. Bush vowed repeatedly that North Korea would not be allowed to attain a nuclear weapons capability — a vow that proved empty.

Obama does not want to intervene militarily before the presidential elections in November, and it is doubtful that he would act afterwards, runs the Israeli assessment, the TV report said. Obama may believe that the US can live with a nuclear Iran, but Israel cannot, the report quoted those in “Netanyahu’s circle” as saying.

As for presidential challenger Mitt Romney, he takes a more forceful position, but would probably not have the domestic support necessary to act in the first year of his presidency, if elected, and after that it would be too late.

The US can live with Iran as a “breakout state” — on the edge of attaining a bomb, the report said the prime minister’s circle believes. But “for Israel, a breakout state is a nuclear state.”

Netanyahu, for his part, “is convinced that thwarting Iran amounts to thwarting a plan to destroy the Jewish people,” Channel 2′s Segal said. The prime minister considers Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to be acting rationally in order to achieve “fanatical” goals.

Segal said that, when considering the imperative to attack, Netanyahu and Barak reason that “we may have reached the moment of truth” after which it would be too late to stop Iran, and that “the price of an attack is far lower than the price of inaction.” It will be “a matter of a few months” before it is too late, Segal said — before, that is, Iran would be immune from damage by an Israeli strike.

The TV report cited intelligence information suggesting that Iran “is much further ahead” than previously thought in its uranium enrichment and in other aspects of its nuclear weapons program.

Segal said Israel’s capacity to impact the Iranian program was dwindling, and the “window of opportunity” was closing. “Four years ago,” he said, an Israeli strike could have set back the Iranian program “by two to four years.” A year from now, an Israeli strike “would have a negligible impact.”

Netanyahu was reported to have said in private conversations that “if no one attacks, Iran will get the bomb” — underlining that he does not believe sanctions will thwart Tehran.

The extensive TV report detailed what it said was the Israeli leadership duo’s thinking on the military, diplomatic and economic consequences of an Israeli strike, and the consequences of Iran getting the bomb.

Militarily, an Israeli strike would prompt missile attacks on Israel, attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah from the south and the north, and upheaval on the Arab street, in the leadership’s assessment. The assessment is that Syria’s President Bashar Assad would not get involved, since this would finish him off, the report said. But if Iran got the bomb, the missile threat would be escalated, Hamas and Hezbollah further empowered, and there would be a danger of any crisis escalating into a nuclear crisis.

Diplomatically, an Israeli strike would prompt a confrontation with the US, global protests, international isolation for Israel, delegitimization, and a situation in which Israel was seen as the aggressor. But if Iran got the bomb, Israel would be defeated and humiliated diplomatically, and would become a liability to the US, the TV report said Israel’s two key leaders believe.

Economically, an Israeli strike would deepen the economic slowdown and lead to a suspension of foreign investment. An Iranian bomb would end foreign investment in Israel, however, and prompt an exodus of Israel’s best brains.

Netanyahu and Barak were said to believe that an Israeli military strike, though opposed by Washington, would not shatter ties with the US. Survey figures that have impacted their thinking suggest significant US support for an American and for an Israeli strike on Iran, the TV report said.

Israel would not be planning to draw the US into a war with Iran by striking at Iran’s nuclear facilities, the report said. And Israel does not believer an attack would prompt regional war.

The TV report made much of a recent speech by Netanyahu, at the scene of Sunday’s terror attack thwarted by Israel at the Gaza-Egypt-Israel border. Visiting the area on Monday, Netanyahu said Israel “must and can” only rely on itself to safeguard its security.

“It becomes clear time after time that when it comes to the safety of Israeli citizens, Israel must and can rely only on itself. No one can fulfill this role except the IDF and different Israel security forces of Israel, and we will continue to conduct ourselves in this way,” Netanyahu said.

source: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32149.htm

PUBLIC MEETING/PRESS CONFERENCE TO CONDEMN THE MOB VIOLENCE AT AZAD MAIDAN......

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 19:18:00 +0530

PUBLIC MEETING/PRESS CONFERENCE TO CONDEMN THE MOB VIOLENCE AT AZAD MAIDAN IN MUMBAI. WHO GAINS FROM THIS POLITICAL AGENDA TO CREATE COMMUNAL TENSIONS BY ATTACKING THE POLICE & THE MEDIA?? DO CONGREGATE AT MARATHI PATRAKAR, CST, MONDAY 13TH AUG FROM 2.30-4.30pm. SECULAR ACTIVISTS FROM ACROSS THE SPECTRUM WILL BE ATTENDING. OUR CITY IS NOW SLOWLY HEADING TOWARDS A MAJOR CONFLAGRATION & WE MUST UNITE TO SAVE IT. SUNIL KHOBRAGADE, FEROZE M, KISHORE J, ASLAM G, MANOJ S, BADRUZAMAN A, BHANTE ATTADARSHI, KISHORE G, FARID BATATAWALA, ARIF K, POOJA B.

Condemnation of Attack on Media in Mumbai

noreply@blogger.com (AWAMI BHARAT) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 12:55:00 +0530

We strongly and unequivocally condemn the attack on media in Mumbai by a section of people gathered at the Azad maidan to protest the violence in Assam and Burma. Using violence in a protest against violence is an insult to the suffering victims in whose support the protest was purportedly organised.

There are many non violent and democratic ways to communicate and protest any grievances, including against the media. This mindless and shameful action by a few misguided individuals discredits protest and becomes a disservice to a cause.

We offer our solidarity with media; sympathy with all those injured and wish for their quick recovery. We urge the government to take immediate and exemplary action against the guilty. We also appeal to all citizens not to get swayed by this isolated and dastardly incidence and allow the situation to become a cause of conflict. Any communalisation of the situation will be harmful for everyone and totally against the interests of the nation.

Lalita Ramdas- Ali Bagh

Mazher Hussain – Hyderabad

Admiral L. Ramdas- Ali Bagh

Mahesh Bhatt- Mumbai

Ram Punyani- Mumbai

Kamla Bhasin- Delhi

Sandeep Panday- Lucknow

Jatin Desai- Mumbai

AWAMI BHARAT

The Syrian Crisis, geopolitical ramifications & consequences for India.

"You Strike & We will Strike back". The message of ‘21/2 Hyderabad serial terror attack’:

Vishwaroopam: Reinforcing Global Communal Stereotypes, Namaz, Bombs & justification for the US Empire By Feroze Mithiborwala

Public Meeting: On the occasion of the 63rd Anniversary: Sanvidhan Gaurav Divas - National Constitution Day

Conspiracy to Kill Rajiv Gandhi: From CBI Files, author K. Ragothaman.

Anti-Islam Documentary Memorandum to the Home Minister, R R Patil.

PROTEST MARCH TO THE AMERICAN CENTRE, AGAINST THE EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE & DEROGATORY ANTI-ISLAMIC DOCUMENTARY.

Blasphemy as a Tactic

SITE and Rita Katz: we make news! Literally.

PUBLIC MEETING: PROTEST AGAINST THE EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE & DEROGATORY ANTI-ISLAMIC DOCUMENTARY.

URGENT: PUBLIC MEETING, SATURDAY SEP, 15, 2012

PUBLIC MEETING & PRESS CONFERENCE: Terror targeting of the Muslim community!!

Analysing the historic 16th Non-Aligned Movement Conference

Raj ki aag or Aag ka raj?

Muslims and the Indian state since 1947

Anwer Hussain

Urdu Media On Mumbai Police Comm. Patnaik’s Transfer

By A. Hameed Yousuf, The Milli Gazette

Published Online: Aug 27, 2012

Muslims condemn campaign against North-Eastern people; demand sources of sms’s be probed: The Milli Gazette

URGENT-ATTENTION: PLAN TO ENGINEER MUSLIM VS DALIT-BUDDHIST RIOTS!!

Bharat Bachao Andolan(Movement to Save India)

But we have faith - faith in the people of India, faith in the basic secular ethos of India & an undying optimism & hope.

Thus lets awaken before its too late.

Feroze Mithiborwala & Kishore Jagtap(National Convenors)

INDIA - Happy Independence Day!

DAY OF JERUSALEM / YAU-ME-QUDS

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad: The Man Who Knew The Future Of Pakistan Before Its Creation

Salute to our Nation, India.......

Decision To Attack Iran is Almost Final : Israel TV

PUBLIC MEETING/PRESS CONFERENCE TO CONDEMN THE MOB VIOLENCE AT AZAD MAIDAN......

Condemnation of Attack on Media in Mumbai

Bharat Bachao Andolan
(Movement to Save India)

Feroze Mithiborwala & Kishore Jagtap
(National Convenors)