Cry, the Beloved Country

Harsh:

...your words reflect your pain and anguish...and depending on perspetive...you are brave or foolhardy...

...enough has been said and enough will be said for a long time on the godhra/gujrat incidents...

...the litmus test for india will be the next two years...if steps are taken to bring before law the perpetrators of BOTH the incidents...there are witnesses, video clips and transcripts...the only thing missing in modi`s gujrat and vajpayees delhi is resolve...

...if `normal` politics gets the upper hand than it will not bode well for secularism...

regards,

temporal

Societies are Not changed by Blackmail by fasting and my prayers... why else would India still have its Gujurats after allegedly God himself descended in form of Gandhi?

Societies are changed by Unity and discipline.

These riots are a national shame. It is time that an impartial inquiry be conducted and justice be meted out swiftly. Every ring-leader, every riot instigator should be tracked down and made to answer to the law and rot in hell. India was one of the early supporters of the UN Convention on Genocide in 1948. India was led by a different generation and by different leaders then. Today, it is the mob that rules. It is time that that the UN Convention be invoked against those who are in positions of responsibility and in power (and those who hide behind the fig leaf of national sovereignty should know that there is more than one way of losing it). The Gujarat Government`s complicity in these riots is beyond a doubt. Puny men with a shallow character should not be allowed to oppress and to systematically kill their own people. Failure to remove them and to speak out is tantamount to complicity. Today, these boorish, rude men and women in saffron bandannas wielding crude mythological weapons with petty scores to settle are defining India. They are obsessed with building a `temple` and in bringing in frigging Ram Rajya - (whatever the hell that means). They should be stopped cold in their tracks. A failure to stop their hate-filled propaganda will doom India.

``Aap kehte the ke rone se na badlenge naseeb
Varna kya baat thi, kis baat ne rone na diya``

(Begum Akhtar sang in another connection)

Act Vajpayee, act.

1. Dismiss Modi
2. Ban the VHP
3. Set up special riot courts for each riot-affected taluk/municipality and begin trials immediately
4. Take actions against all government officials derelict in duty and promote those who succeeded in keeping the peace
5. Start a national fund for the riot-affected so individuals, groups and institutions can send in contributions
6. Rebuild houses, mosques and temples and provide compensation for loss of business and proerty
7. Speak to the nation about how there will be zero-tolerance for using violence for political ends in any part of the country whether Ranvir Sena in Bihar, CPM cadres in Kerala or Samajwadi party goons in UP or Shiv Sena in Maharashtra or BJP or Congress I in Gujarat

``India was led by a different generation and by different leaders then.``

Great as they might have been, they presided over the shameful ethnic cleansing and communal carnage in East Punjab....

Sadna,

You hypocrite! You never a lose a chance to put down Pakistan, but when India does something terrible to ruin her reputation, you appear sanctimonious and `preachy` and self-righteous. Your lies wont wash. Shed the veneer that you try to project of tolerance and pluralism. Sadna, you have railed about the Caliphate next door, how important is that compared to the genocide in Gujarat? Look, your house is burning, and you are more interested in what goes in telling us in Pakistan to fix things? You devilish Hindian.

ylh #2 ``Societies are changed by Unity and discipline. ``

I swear you write such things deliberately..like Madani writes his broken English deliberately...

Harsh Mander,

You are to be saluted for writing about the terrible deeds in Gujerat in an honest manner rather than ignoring or rationalizing them. There are some chowk posters from India (like Shammi) who have similarly expressed their anguish at these evil deeds. There are indeed animals who walk alongside us in human form, of the kind who committed these evil deeds in Gujerat. And there are others who condone such actions even though they would probably never commit them themselves. And the state machinery certainly failed as well. This has nothing to do with religion (even as everything was done in the name of religion), but with the general backwardness of our societies in south asia.

It is therefore all the more important for those among us, in India and in Pakistan, to recognize this common evil that faces us, and to join hands with one another.

The most important boundries today in the world are between good and evil, between the forces of civilized behavior and animal-like behavior; not between different countries.

I am sick and tired of these crocodile hindu tears. Don`t you see how the whole thing was so elaborately planned? Today, the Muslims in Gujrat are made to stand at the same level where they were at, at the time of partition. The educated ones have been eliminated, the effuluent ones have lost their properties to the planned arson, the entrepeneurs have lost their businesses, the healthy ones are made cripple, the outspoken ones have their tongues pulled out of their throats; the dead ones have been reduced to ashes, and live ones are close to being dead. Its one month after the incident and the Muslims are still being eliminated by target killings; their businesses, which luckily survived are being put to death by being boycotted.

The future is clear and obvious-those (hindus)who were given the task of pulling the trigger have done their jobs, with a bruttal efficacy, if I might add. The job of the second tier of Hindus still needs to be done. This second tier consists of hindus who are bureaucrats who will make sure that no Muslim gets a position of any importance in bureaucracy; the educators who will make sure that no Muslim gets the education again, as they (Muslims)did last time; the police will make sure to chop the tongues of those who make noise, using the axe of POTA; politicians will make sure to keep painting a rosey picture; the educated hindu will make sure to spin the truth; the intelligent ones will make sure to cover the silent blood under the pages of constitution; the newsmen will make sure to bark so loud the words ``we are the biggest democracy in the world``, ``we are the biggest democracy in the world``, so that the no one will be able to listens to the cries and moans of Muslims.

Is there any justice for Muslim in the world today? No one wants to listen to their cries of pain. Those who have proclaimed themselves the gods in the pantheon of democracy and secularism have lost their humanity. The morality is not answerable to their conscience, it all depends whether someone is looking or not. So what is a Muslim to do? to tie bombs around his waist and pull the chord crying ``I am in pain``; shouldn`t he attack the pantheon of democarcy, the parliament, wishing that someone had wiped his tears.

This article has got extensive coverage in the Indian media, and a good thing it is. But the people who have suffered cannot say they will not be able to sing `Saare Jahaan se accha` again, they cannot dare to say they are ashamed of being Indians. No secularist is going to pat them on the back. Because the Indian Muslim uttering these very same words of anguish will be expected to first go through the acid test of patriotism. Has any Muslim, even among the liberals, come out and said that he/she feels like hanging their heads in shame? No. Don`t ask me why. Ask yourselves, and then Harsh Mander will make more sense.

Harsh Mander:

Constant compromises on justice seem to make too many people apologetic. When massacres take place, there should be no room for `acceptable explanations`.

This piece is full of positive motivation.

Uzbekistan accuses Pakistan of harboring Uzbek members of al-Qaida

Thu Apr 4, 9:06 AM ET

By TIMOFEI ZHUKOV, Associated Press Writer

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan - Uzbek President Islam Karimov on Thursday accused Pakistan of harboring ethnic Uzbek members of the al-Qaida terrorist network who fled Afghanistan (news - web sites) after fighting with U.S. troops last month.



``The Pakistani authorities have done nothing to detain bandits from Uzbekistan who were trained in Afghanistan and took part in the al-Qaida terrorist network,`` Karimov told reporters.

He specifically referred to Tahir Yuldash, the political leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, who has long been wanted in Uzbekistan.

Karimov said that Yuldash had fled Afghanistan`s Paktia province after U.S. troops launched the Operation Anaconda offensive against al-Qaida fugitives.

``Now he only can be in Pakistan,`` Karimov said. ``Uzbekistan has an extradition agreement with Pakistan, but we haven`t seen its practical implementation.``

Karimov`s government blamed the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan for a series of 1999 bombings in Tashkent, part of its campaign to establish an Islamic caliphate across Central Asia.

Uzbekistan was the first of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia to provide military facilities to the United States for the war in Afghanistan, and more than 1,000 U.S. troops have been deployed at the Khanabad air base.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) has welcomed the U.S. military deployment, despite grumbling from members of Russia`s political and military elite, many of whom see it as a threat to Russia`s security interests.

Karimov said Thursday that the U.S. deployment has remained within the earlier agreed number of 1,500.

``We have no complaints against the United States,`` Karimov said. ``The agreement is being observed fully, and the Uzbek side is notified in advance about what planes will land in Khanabad.``

He said the air base had also been used by military forces from other nations that are part of the U.S.-led coalition against terror, including Denmark and the Netherlands.

Karimov dodged a reporter`s question about whether Khanabad could be used by the U.S. military in case of attack on Iraq and denied any increase in military activity at the base.

``The troops` number isn`t expanding, the infrastructure isn`t growing,`` he said.

Karimov praised the United States for ``accomplishing what seemed impossible`` and crushing the al-Qaida and Taliban, which threatened Uzbekistan. In contrast, the Commonwealth of Independent States, a grouping of ex-Soviet republics dominated by Russia, hasn`t gone beyond repeated pledges to improve regional security, Karimov said.

re: Urstruly

``...Don`t you see how the whole thing was so elaborately planned?...``

Yes, it was, and these riots have removed the mask of self-righteousness and have put a blot on our conscience. This is no different from the way the Nazi thugs hunted the Jews in Germany. There is no other way left but to ensure that unbiased justice is meted out. Unlike the riots, where the victims were chosen for the faith they professed, justice should be blind to the faith of the suspects. These riots show how far we have still to go. The Gujarat govt. is clamoring and straining at the leash for a re-election to `cash-in`. It is a small wonder that they are being restrained. The criminals will be brought to justice.

urstru1y #7
Thanks for the invaluable clue. Kindly continue your campaign on your own time.

Re: Farzana

``..Has any Muslim, even among the liberals, come out and said that he/she feels like hanging their heads in shame?...``

Why should they (ie. Muslims) hang their head in shame? If you are implying that they should for the Godhra train burning, then I know of several Muslims who have criticized that incident. Your post was confusing.

The PM is beginning to find his voice:

In a much-awaited change of stance, Prime Minister Vajpayee on Thursday expressed his strongest ever displeasure over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi`s handling of the communal violence after the Godhra incident.

``...Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday night said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi should follow the ethics of governance while handling the situation in the state...``These are very meaningful words... a ruler should not make any distinction between his subjects on the basis of caste, creed and religion,`` he said. At this point, the chief minister said in a hushed tone: ``Sir, I am doing the same.``

http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/apr/04train9.htm