India, Pak aur woh

On the situation in Pakistan and its implications for India, Gautam Sen writes...

On the situation in Pakistan and its implications for India, Gautam Sen writes ,8220;The multitude of radical Islamist factions thronging much of contemporary Pakistan remembered BB8217;s Benazir Bhutto8217;s previous shenanigans only too well though she had befriended them, sponsoring Taliban rule and jihad against India when in power. True to form, few in India now seem willing to recall her promise to continue her father8217;s thousand-year jihad against Hindu India. Her clan8217;s brazen greed is also recalled with stern Islamic distaste, dramatically compounded by her threat to allow the US freedom to intervene militarily against Al Qaeda inside Pakistan itself. The various Islamist factions embedded within the military establishment, including the ISI, could not have been well pleased with her either for engaging in such treasonous chatter8230;

8220;The future of Pakistan remains bleak, but the drama that is yet to unfold within harbours serious problems for India and possibly the West, including the US. There is a significant possibility that small groups of Islamic terrorists will plot to inflict serious harm on the West and its citizens, for real and imagined grievances. Some of the likely acts of terror could turn out to be catastrophic because the technology exists to undertake them. The Pakistani military is loath to allow such actions against its erstwhile Western allies, a possibility for which it evidently had made insufficient allowance8230; But the principle components of the Pakistani military establishment will wish to use the institutionalised societal Islamic ferment within against India.8221; In part, he says, such an outcome will be a necessity because Islamic terrorism may otherwise turn inwards against domestic privilege or definitively seek out Western targets.

Orissa8217;s story

Organiser has a version of the reported events of violence in Orissa. 8220;The aftermath of the attack on Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati is quite shocking. In the trouble-torn area of Kandhamal, the Hindus are worst affected as they are being victimised by the evangelist Christian hooligans. Their houses are burnt down, cattle are snatched away, women are outraged, followed by destruction of a good number of Hindu temples in different areas, even in the presence of the police8230;

8220;The attack on the revered Swamiji opens the Pandora8217;s box of missionary activities in Kandhamal district. On the eve of Christmas day, the Christians made a decorative tent for the worship of Jesus Christ. It was forcefully built over a Hindu puja mandap, over which Hindus used to worship Goddess Durga. This misdeed of the missionaries was strongly protested by the local Hindus8230;8221;

It goes on to suggest that the demand for reservations to the converted Pana Christians is the root cause of all problems.

Modi8217;s secret

M V. Kamath, biographer of Narendra Modi, writes on the resurgence of Hindutva. 8220;It needs to be said again and again that Hinduism is the most secular of all religions in the world. Think of leaders like Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo or Dayananda Saraswati. Were they communalists? This is not a question of 8216;soft8217; Hindutva. It is a question of facing reality.8221;

The word 8216;secularism8217; must forever be banned from the Congress vocabulary, he says. 8220;It has long ceased to have any meaning. Today it is only an irritant. In all these years, secularists have made every effort to suppress Hindu longings. The Gujarat Chief Minister has unlocked the gates of Hindu aspirations. That and that alone explains his success at the recent elections8230; The Congress party will do well to remember it. Yes, the Chief Minister of Gujarat is ruthless. But consider this: Thanks to his firmness there is little corruption in Gujarat. There will never again be another Godhra. There will be no more minority bullying. Investment will pour in steadily indicating a growing faith in the Gujarat Chief Minister. Al Qaeda may still seek to kill the leader but it should know that in due course it will get its comeuppance. That is not communalism or fascism. That is good government.8221;