The only good Taliban is dead Taliban

Who chopped off the heads of Sikhs in the North-West province of Pakistan because they refused to convert to Islam? Is it the ‘good Taliban’—with whom US President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other world leaders want to do business?
I wonder how Obama, always soft on jihadis, would even describe the outrage. Under him, the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review and the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review have practically banned the use of words ‘Muslim’ or ‘Islam.’ Obamaspeak is likely to call the murderers as ‘violent extremist,’ and not jihadis, lest it hurts the sentiments of the people who follow ‘the religion of peace.’
The Taliban unleash a reign of terror, murder at will, terrorize religious minorities, subjugate women, suppress any dissenting voice, and want to herd the entire world to medieval barbarity. And what does the international community, led by the US—supposedly the champion of liberty, pluralism and democracy—do? Well, it timidly accepts Taliban ruthlessness. It even intends to buy peace, offering hundreds of millions of dollars to them, as it did at the recently held London conference to ensure their comeback.
And what does India do? Typically, it issues strong statements. “We condemn this barbaric act of Taliban who have taken into custody three of the Indian nationals. The message that I have received which needs to be updated is that one has been done away with and other two are kept under captivation,” External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said.
Minister of State for External Affairs Parneet Kaur offered running commentary: “Last time, Sikhs were threatened to pay Jazia and Pakistan had said it is its internal matter, I appeal to Pakistan to take strict action.” Appeal to Pakistan? Did we get it right? New Delhi would appeal to those who unleashed the Taliban on the world in the first place? Could the tragedy become more farcical?
The politicians of India should get real. They should comprehend the vileness of Taliban. They should also beware of the duplicity of Islamabad.
Our leaders have failed miserably in convincing the world capitals that Pakistan’s support to the West’s war on terror is phony. Even now it is not late. India should highlight the fact that the evil Pakistan has spawned is a menace to all, and that the only good Taliban are dead Taliban.

Shameless politicians sympathize with murderers

With India facing grievous terror threat from the Maoists (or Naxalites) and jihadis, one would have expected the powers to be getting their act together to fight the mortal enemies of the nation. But, alas, that was not to be! Our political masters are not serious about the war on terror.
Consider the case of Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee. Her ties with Maoists are no secret; in fact, she benefited because of her relations with the Naxalites in the last general elections. Her relations with the ultras adversely affected last year’s operations against them at Lalgarh.
Now, she has reportedly forced the Union Cabinet to drop from the Presidential address to the joint session of Parliament a condemnation of the murderous Naxal strike on the EFR camp at Silda in the West Midnapore district in West Bengal on February 15. Monday, which left 24 jawans dead and many injured. At the insistence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Cabinet nevertheless agreed to include a general condemnation of Maoist attacks all over the country in recent months.
“What is the proof that the attack was carried out by Maoists? If at all, it appears to be the handiwork of CPM. I would urge the Prime Minister to first order an inquiry into the incident,” Mamata reportedly told her Cabinet colleagues.
In our times, the merchants of falsehood find refuge in the what-is-the-proof line of argumentation. This comes handy when one is promoting any vile cause, be it Naxalism or jihad. What is the proof that the young Muslim men killed at Batla House in Delhi in September 2008 were terrorists, cry jihadis, their sympathizers, pro-jihadi human rights groups, and pink punks. It was a fake encounter and there should be an inquiry into it, they thunder.
It is pointed out that the Batla House shootout could not have been fake because Delhi Police lost an ace officer, Inspector M.C. Sharma in it. What kind of fake encounter was it in which a cop loses his life? But the peddlers of lies persist with their demand for in inquiry.
The National Human Rights Commission probed into the matter, and reports to the Delhi High Court that the shootout was genuine. But the human rights mafia still was not satisfied. The Supreme Court looked into the matter, and it also gave a clean chit to Delhi Police.
The screaming by human rights mafia could have been ignored had it not been supported by, among others, many politicians, the most important of them being Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh. He was sympathetic to the cause upheld by the human rights mafia. He even visited Azamgarh, the UP district which has shot into notoriety because of being the hub of so many Islamic terrorists.
It is not that only the ruling coalition is lackadaisical in its attitude towards Maoists and jihadis, the Bharatiya Janata Party is little better. The saffron leaders spew fiery rhetoric when talking about terrorists, but they are willing to match practice with precept. In Jharkhand, they are in power, but have no problems with Chief Minister Shibu Soren’s soft approach towards Naxalites.
The Maoists and jihadis murder our citizens, shoot down our security personnel, bomb our cities, and want to establish a reign of terror. And our netas sympathize with them! The question to be asked in India is not whether we would win the war against terror, but whether our politicians are even willing to fight that war all earnestness.

Jairam Ramesh bows to green terror

The merchants of mendacity have scored a big victory by forcing Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh to place an indefinite “moratorium” on the introduction of a genetically-modified brinjal. His colleague in the Council of Ministers, Kapil Sibal, was candid enough to say that Ramesh “bowed to populism.”
This was yet another case of green terrorists abusing science to promote their Luddite and socialist agendas. Years after Centre for Science and Environment chief Sunita Narain carried out her deceitful tirade against cola companies, and weeks after IPCC boss R.K. Pachauri was exposed for running his shop by peddling voodoo science, we have a situation in which India science has faced a setback. The country’s top apex technical committee, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has been ignored because a bunch of econuts clamored against an innovation in the farm sector.
To be fair to Ramesh, he did not have much of a choice. Protest against Bt brinjal was quite widespread. The RSS—never comfortable with science and modernity and too willing to accept Left shibboleths—spoke against Bt brinjal. The ban on the innovation in the BJP-ruled Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh was a logical culmination. At the same time, green loonies who run myriad non-governmental organizations (NGOs) already were screaming.
Ramesh claimed that “sentiment was negative” at the public hearings in seven cities. Sentiment? Is science run by sentiments? And, by the way, whose sentiments?
Dr. M Mahadevappa, a two-time former vice-chancellor of the University of Agriculture Sciences, Dharwad, who attended the public hearing in Bangalore, was quoted in The Indian Express, “I was out-shouted by the NGO lobbies the moment I began speaking. I could not express my views. Public hearings of the sort that were arranged are not the right place where scientific issues can be discussed in an objective manner.”
The UAS, Dharwad, and the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore, actively collaborated in developing Bt Brinjal.
“I have been working with several Krishi Vigyan Kendras in Karnataka for several years and I have found no opposition from farmers against Bt brinjal. Even at the Bangalore meeting, I was opposed by the NGOs and not by the farmers,” Dr. Mahadevappa said.
Dr. B.C. Viraktamath, project director at the Directorate of Rice Research in Hyderabad, was not even allowed to enter the building where the hearing was going on. “The way the consultations were held, it was very clear that the entire exercise was random with a disproportionate representation of protestors,” he said.
Another scientist, Dr. M. Sujatha, of the Directorate of Oilseeds Research at Hyderabad, said, “This is not the right kind of approach to solicit views on such a complex issue. The minister could have held separate meetings with scientists, farmers and NGOs to get a more balanced and clear picture.”
Chengal Reddy, a farmers’ leader, questioned the representativeness of protestors. “Who is this ‘general public’? The general public had even opposed computers when they were first launched.”
Actually, it is the mafia of NGOs, sundry pink punks, and green terrorists who make so much noise that they are often assumed to be the representatives of people. The truth, however, is that these busybodies are just promoting their vile, retrograde agenda in the name of championing the cause of public.

Manipulating media: Rahul’s spin doctors do good job

Hero worship in India has always been a big problem. Now, it is becoming much bigger, thanks to the people’s reluctance to ask questions. Idolatry is so rampant that they even start worshipping those who have little to do heroism. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent deification is a case in point.
Consider the facts. His party is in power in New Delhi and Bombay. Yet, for over two years, in Bombay and other parts of Maharashtra, a rabidly parochial outfit, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), has been physically assaulting north Indians and inciting violence against them. Its older cousin, the Shiv Sena, has been doing that for a longer period. But these goons go scot-free. MNS legislators even had the temerity to manhandle a fellow MLA on the floor of the House. But neither the leaders who instigate violence nor the activists of the two parties are brought to book.
In fact, the Congress sought to, and did, benefit from the terror tactics of MNS chief Raj Thackeray. All these years, Rahul Gandhi did nothing to stop the hooliganism of Sena and MNS. A few days ago, suddenly, he—or perhaps his media managers and spin doctors—woke up to the chauvinism of the Thackerays. Of, it is so bad! How these thugs can say that Bombay is only for the people of the state? Mumbai is for all, thundered Rahul in the presence of the press. An obsequies media gave him a loud applause for uttering a truism. And the applause keeps growing by the hour.
Rahul goes to Bombay—and the media portrays this as heroic as Lord Ram’s invasion of Ravan’s Lanka. He is glorified for going to Bombay, for riding the local train, for uttering inanities, for everything he does. But few, if any, slam him for what he does not do—that is, not goading his own party and government to take action against the felony of the Thackerays.
The newspaper headlines scream: ‘In Mumbai, Rahul takes local line, derails Sena gameplan,’ ‘Rahul takes the Dadar Fast to make his Mumbai point,’ ‘Congress resolves to take on Shiv Sena.’ We are made to believe that a redeemer is at work, a deliverer would come to the rescue of the hapless victims of the evil Bal Thackeray and Raj Thackeray. But we are not told that the evil is a creation of Rahul’s party. It is like Bhinderanwale redux: the Congress created the monster, and then reaped political windfall by vanquishing him.
All this is very clever. It is indeed the sterling success of Congress media managers that the almost all newspapers and channels have become Rahul’s hagiographers. But there is no statesmanship involved in manipulating media and molding public mood. Nor is there any heroism in fooling people.

Triumph of evil: Pakistan calls shots in Afghanistan

International relations are often bereft of morality, but in these politically correct times they are also without commonsense and reason. Nothing else explains the newfound assertiveness of Pakistan in matters as disparate as cricket and Afghanistan.
The Pakistanis have forced the Indian Premier League (IPL) to shun its unspoken no-Pak-player stand. In fact, they have made it appear as if the Pak cricketers have boycotted IPL! Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt has revoked the no-objection certificates granted to it players earlier. Butt said, “No Pakistan player will play in IPL this year. The insulting manner in which Pakistan players have been treated will not be tolerated.” Earlier, he had the temerity to seek “an apology from IPL.”
More dangerous and revolting is Islamabad’s audacity in matters related to Afghanistan. Worse, the audacity has paid rich dividends. The recent one-day international conference on Afghanistan on January 28 was testimony of Pakistan’s success in international politics. World powers were goaded to accept the oxymoronic concept of ‘good Taliban’ and buy peace with the barbarous thugs. For this purpose, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown—hosting the conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon—announced the setting up of a $500-million “trust fund.” A report in The Times Of India (January 29) said, “As a goodwill gesture, the conference was preceded by a lifting of United Nations sanctions on five leaders of the obscurantist Taliban regime, which was ousted by armed forces led by the United States after the 9/11 attack on New York by the Afghanistan-based Al Qaida. Among the beneficiaries is a former foreign minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil.” It may be recalled that Muttawakil was a chum of the hijackers of IC-814. He is said to have helped them unload their baggage from the aircraft in Kandahar; he also negotiated on their behalf. He is among the once off the UN sanctions list to “facilitate” the reconciliation.
Needless to say, Pakistan is the chief supporter and beneficiary of the treacherous concept of good Taliban. In an interview to a British daily, its Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, “Pakistan is perhaps better placed than any other country in the world to support Afghan reintegration and reconciliation.” Of course, “Afghan reintegration and reconciliation” will resuscitate the cronies of Mullah Omar, the uncrowned Caliph of Afghanistan before the George Bush-led US ousted them from Kabul.
According to the TOI report, External Affairs Minister S.M. “Krishna was allocated a seat in the second of three rows of attendees at the conference which in itself reflected India's peripheral role in Afghan affairs in the eyes of the international community. This, despite India being the biggest regional aid-giver to Afghanistan, with a commitment of $1.3 million. Earlier in the week, Turkey, an ally of Pakistan, did not even bother to invite India to a confabulation on Afghanistan.”
Pakistan—which is the cause of much of misery of Afghans (and of others)—is calling the shots. Even literally. It has reported told the Americans that it would not tolerate India’s bigger role in Pashtun areas like Kandahar and Jalalabad and in the rest of the country. Islamabad likes to say that only Afghanistan’s “contiguous neighbors” can be allowed to participate in any “regional” mechanism. Pakistani newspapers have reported that the Pakistan army and the ISI have decided that only they would decide on the Afghan matters.
Notice the irony and the tragedy. The good work India has done in reconstruction in the war-torn nation is globally acknowledged. A recent study commissioned by three major Western—a British, an American and a German—broadcasters found that 71 per cent of the Afghan population favored a big role by India. Yet, India has little role to play today in Afghanistan.
The facts hint at a Sadean comedy in which evil triumphs and good is vanquished. The wide world knows Pakistan’s nefarious role in creating, nurturing, and arming the Taliban, aiding and abetting terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, and supporting al-Qaeda. Among others, President A.A. Zardari and his predecessor, Gen Pervez Musharraf, have admitted to government assistance to jihadis. Yet, it gets rewarded for felony and duplicity.
I wonder what happened to the multi-pronged war on terror that the US has wage for over eight years. Why couldn’t the world’s mightiest nation, which has the support of almost all other countries in this endeavor, check the flow of money and arms to the jihadis? Is it some conspiracy of cosmic proportions, funded by petrodollars? And is that funding even more powerful than the military prowess and political clout of the world’s wealthiest nation? Such stuff seems straight from a Robert Ludlum novel, but this could be true. After all, truth is often stranger than fiction.