Tsunami

(from newsinsight.net)

C O M M E N T A R Y

Keeping the pride

Manmohan Singh has stunned the West by refusing aid.

31 December 2004: The focus is on the United States for stingy contribution to tsunami victims, but another aid war is in the making, between India and several countries in Europe, but mainly, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, after prime-minister Manmohan Singh refused assistance from them. Diplomats have been seeking reasons from the government, calling one another in ire, and even helplessly buttonholed journalists to check what is going on. But through all this, the PM has remained firm not to take aid, and with good reason.

India has had bad experience of taking foreign aid in the past, but it became almost grotesque during both the Gujarat earthquake and the Orissa super cyclone. In Orissa, European aid agencies instead of primarily focusing on giving relief meandered into criticising the state’s poor infrastructure, and wrote bitingly about the lack of development in the fifty years since Independence.

The lack of development is not exactly a state secret, but the government did not permit the aid agencies in to present a drain inspector’s report. And a cost-benefit analysis showed it was just not worth inviting foreign aid. In the Gujarat earthquake, the Japanese were busily testing the water standards in affected areas and pronouncing it undrinkable, instead of concentrating on the primary task at hand, providing relief.

These two experiences, say officials, put off the government. It was terrible to be faced with natural disasters, but it was worse to be attacked thereafter, bringing down even the good work done, in exchange for aid, which in any case turned put inadequate. There was a third experience, a little different from the first two, but revealing the colonial/ imperial mindset of Europe.

In the Gujarat riots, some Dutch monuments were vandalised. There was no particular anger against the Dutch, but Indians are generally careless about heritage, and in any case, in the mad violence of the riots, protecting colonial monuments is the last thing on any government’s mind. In this case, Narendra Modi could not even secure the life of Gujaratis.

Anyhow, the Dutch wrote in protest to Modi, who replied to the effect that the government had more pressing responsibilities. In Europe, the Netherlands and Belgium, small powerless countries among mighty neighbours, have for one or another reason always sided against India. Several European countries wrote their findings on the Gujarat riots, and the British report was particularly scathing against Modi.

The British report got leaked first in Europe and then in the Indian media. The NDA government was furious, but the British said they had no hand in the leak. Indian agencies then traced the leak to the Dutch, rather to a Dutch public-affairs officer, who was returning Modi the favour of not protecting Dutch colonial history.

Subsequently, on the basis of the British report, the European Union decided to suspend aid to India, and stung, the then PM, A.B.Vajpayee, ordered to refuse assistance from eighteen countries, most of them in Europe, but also including Australia, New Zealand and Japan. These donations were small, the PM said, and India did not need them any longer. The diplomatic community could not stomach this stinging rebuff.

Soon after the UPA came to power, the government did reverse this decision, but the PM has returned to the old position. Manmohan Singh has always reflected strong national pride, as when he took determined steps as finance minister to buy back the gold pledged by the Chandrasekhar government in 1991, or when, on his own, he rebuffed Natwar Singh’s criticism of India’s weaponisation programme in South Korea, saying in Parliament that India was a nuclear weapons’ power and would remain one.

But besides national pride, there are also logistical and security considerations behind his decision to say no. Officials say that the bother commences after fast-tracking visas for aid workers, because they have to be secured, they have to be provided living environments like back home, which comes at huge cost in disaster-struck areas, and the government has to place at their disposal huge logistical facilities, that hamper other, more profitable local assistance. After all this follows the routine of savaging India’s image in the Western media.

But there is also a pressing security consideration. The tsunamis have hit India’s strategic assets in the Andamans, partly Orissa, and the government wants to contain any negativity following the flooding of the Kalpakkam nuclear complex. “The British are particularly notorious about carrying out espionage activities in such times of vulnerability, setting up devices, moles and sleeper teams, and fresh demands could be made to sign CTBT, NPT, etc, based on eyewitness accounts from Kalpakkam, for example,” explained an official. “You can never tell.” A new spat has broken out over India mulling over giving overflight rights over the Andamans for France, Britain and the Netherlands to evacuate their tourists. Diplomats say India is standing on false pride by refusing even emergency aid, but at the same time, these countries refuse to make cash contributions to the prime minister’s relief fund. They want to come with material relief and personnel, and India has had more than enough of them. The second spin diplomats put is that India is keen to portray an image of self-sufficiency to strengthen its claim for veto power in the UN Security Council. No one in the government carries that mindset, and certainly not the PM, who has acted alone and taken a bold step to refuse aid. In the midst of this huge spiraling tragedy, India is ironically gaining in image as no longer a Third-World country.

echosqueek, I mean boom-boom #100 Your post to hamidm makes no sense at all. You seek to crush Westernism (if not the West itself!), but are cant pull together a legible sentence. I think you have some ways to go

As for reciting the ayatul-kursee - do you think Islam is some kind of a voodoo religion, you idiot??!! Where you say read the magic verses, say ``chhoo mantar``, and whatever you wish comes true!! It is exactly these superstitions that you flatter yourself into thinking is ``practicing Islam`` that violates everything Islam stands for and in fact is the same paganism that Islam was introduced to eliminate in arabia. But dont get me started on religion...

dost mittar #99 But India does stop at wagah, dost mittarjee.

Just kidding above - I know what you mean, and fully share with you, the natural links between Indians and Pakistanis. Even as they try to outdo one other in everything. Which would be a cute form of sibling rivalry if it wasnt for the tragic turn into bloodshed that such rivalry has degenerated into in the past (but hopefully, we will have better days ahead).

And dont worry - we Pakistanis like to think of India as being our renegade province. (just maintaining the spirit of sibling rivalry here). :-)

sac #97 So we agree on the broader picture. As for this chink in the armor, as I mentioned that the best things money cannot buy. Installing undersea sensors to provide early warnings for tsunamis seems to be quite managable technically and economically. Introducing national disaster warning systems (like NOAA in the US) is also manageable, particularly with the increasing prosperity of countries in the region. But what money cannot buy is emergency preparedness by the communities concerned.

In any case, just to keep things in perspective, I think even now (with $500 million pledged to date by the international community, with an entire US aircraft career fleet expected to reach the region in a few days, with regional armed forces from India, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and even Pakistan even though we were lucky to not get hit) involved, and given the vast resources that India and Indonesia themselves possess) money seems to be becoming less and less of an issue.

AbdoolAmreeka: 96

The whole purpose here is to crash & crush the Westernism which HAD crept into superior civilisations because of Secularistic/ Atheistic evangelicim by your gora deadbeat Dads.

Through Chillaas & Ayatul-kursees throughout the world Westernism & Colonialism Is being exorcised. It is affecting you as well. You will get better.

You ARE getting better. George Carlin act is --pooof!

You WILL revert!

echoboom#86:

Yes, I do love India but my love for that land does not stop at Wagah.

I also admire Mahatir, but as far as I know he did not impose nizam-e-mustafa in Malaysia. So, should you not condemn him as a Munafiq, too?

urstruly #87 Instead of concerning yourself with the psychology of interlocuters whose viewpoints you disagree with, I think you would do better to focus on the substance of what those interlocuters have actaully written. :-)

No one needs to apologize to anyone about the US role in the tsunami. As you yourself note, the US is by no means the only country economically capable of lending a hand - China, EU, Japan, and even two of the major affected countries (India and Indonesia) have vast armies as well as economic resources. And to its credit, the Indian government (as harimau correctly points out) has already chosen to become part of the solution by helping other nations and not part of the problem (by seeking help fro others). Early indications are that the Indonesian government is not moving as fast as it perhaps could in aceh (where western reporters managed to get to places by road where there was no sign of Indonesian army troops - and this despite the [presence of large numbers of Indonesian troops fighting the civil war in aceh!!). Even the Pakistan government has reacted quite well - a C130 loaded with relief goods was in Sri Lanka within 48 hours of the tsunami. And Pakistani Navy ships and helicopters are even now operating in the maldives, saving lives for once.

I have always found hyper-religious but highly educated muslim gentlemen like Malik , Echoboom and Urstruly extremely creepy and even scary in a mild way. The below account of the 1971 genocide of 3 million of their then fellow citizens perpetrated by their own Army should shed some insight into the mentality of devout muslims like the trio mentioned.

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Mindset of Pakistanis favouring 1971 Genocide

By Abul Kasem

This re-count starts when I was in Thailand in 1973 to do my post graduate studies in Engineering. The Institution was AIT and being an international institution for post graduate study there were students from many parts of the world, though the majority were from the Asian countries. There was sizable number of Bangladeshi as well as Pakistani and Indian students. Bangladesh was just liberated and most of us still had the fresh memories of the holocaust and never expected the Pakistanis to be friendly with us. But to our surprise, we found that most Pakistanis were quite nice a bunch of friendly helpful people. They were extremely curious about what had happened in Bangladesh during that turbulent nine-month period.

Many a time we used to have lengthy chat sessions with them. These Pakistanis were extremely religious. And they used to preach on us on all aspects of the last revelations of God, that is Islam. They used to think that our knowledge of Islam was incomplete, erroneous and filled with Hindu practices. They used to preach on us like a priest gives sermons on the followers. Their devotion to Islam was so strong that they forced the canteen manager to open counter for Muslim students so that they (the Muslims) can eat the food sanctioned by Islam. Naturally, many Bangalees who are religious minded were greatly impressed by their words and practices. But a sinner like me was very skeptical about their words and actions right from the very beginning.

Then came the topic of creation of Bangladesh. Naturally, they sided with the Pak army although they expressed sorrow for the lives lost. When they heard that 3 million people were massacred and that the action of Pak army cannot be dismissed simply as an act of restoration of peace and order they simply laughed. The reason was that they did not believe what had happened to our people in occupied Bangladesh. When we asked them how many Bangalees were killed, they quoted a figure of 3,000 or to that order. They also insisted that those killed were mostly Hindus so we should not bother too much about the massacre. That was to say that the killing of Hindus was all right. We pointed out that the figure of 3 million was not invented by the Government of Bangladesh but the figure was from reliable foreign sources such as AFP, Reuters, Time magazine, etc. We also told them that a Pakistani journalist by the name of Anthony Mascarenhas has written a book titled ‘The Rape of Bangladesh’ where he had quoted a similar figure. The Pakistanis simply dismissed those facts and said that the foreign journalists were bribed by India to write these figures. When we asked them how did they get the figure of 3,000, they said that that figure was released by the military authorities. And how about the 200, 000 rape cases? They were adamant that not a single woman was raped. Such is the power of Pak oligarchy and Pak military to condition peoples’ mind.

Now, the interesting point was that whenever the atrocities of the Pak army were mentioned to them, they were all adamant that we (the Bangalees) are to blame for that. Why? Simply because we were not good Muslims. How? If we were good Muslims, we should not have voted for the Awami League. They told us that the right parties to vote were Pakistan Muslim League or Jamat-i-Islami. It was no secret to guess that most Pakistanis considered us (Bangalees) as non Muslims as almost all of us voted for Awami League. Therefore they opined that the genocide was not really a genocide! It was getting rid of the non-Muslims. After all, they (the non-Muslims) were not really human beings.

Everyone knows that Thailand and especially Bangkok has plenty of seedy joints to have fun and frolic with young women. I shall admit that I went to one of those joints along with a couple of friends of mine. Being a sinner I did not have serious problem with those things. However, one day we got the shock of our lives when we found these Pakistani Islamists sitting comfortably and blithely at the massage parlour and ogling at the scantily dressed amorous Thai sex kittens. Then they saw us. To our surprise, they expressed no shame or they even did not try to hide their faces. They openly welcomed us and shook hands with us as per Islamic style. We were simply stunned and lost for any word. The Pakistanis even told us which girls were good and sexually attractive, etc. etc. They were not ashamed or afraid to admit that they visited those joints quite frequently. Most of them had their favourite girls with whom they had plenty of erotic fun. Those things were unbelievable to me and I thought that I must have been in Mars or another planet or that God has changed his mind on sins and virtues.

After a few weeks, an opportunity came for me to ask one of these Islamists as to what would happen to them since they have committed the sin of zina. They were very surprised at me for this impertinence. He told me that they have committed no sin. What? No sin! My brain must have failed to work! I simply could not hold my breath any longer to listen to what they had to say. He told me that Thais were not Muslims; so having fun with their girls were all right. In fact, he told me that that had been the practice in Islam for centuries. Whenever the Muslims defeated the non-Muslims, they could do whatever they (the Muslims) wanted with the non-Muslims. The Muslims can use the non-Muslim women as sex slaves and please themselves as they wished. A Muslim even had the right to kill the women if he wished. In simple language the non-Muslims were not really human beings. They (the non-Muslims) were inferior even to cattle and animals. Moreover, the Pakistani told me that the Prophet had allowed to have sex if a man is living overseas. I could not believe of what I was hearing! He then quoted me from his memory many verses from Koran and Hadith to support his views. Then I reminded my Pakistani friend that there was quite a small minority of Muslims in Thailand. So, if by accident he had sex with one of the Thai Muslim prostitutes what will befall him. He answered glibly, “No problem.” When I return to Pakistan I shall have a Milad Mehfil and ask for forgiveness. Finally, the Hajj is there for him to receive the forgiveness. But he said that that might not be necessary because he was very sure that none of the girls he had sex with were Muslims.

If a Pakistani reads this re-count he/she may be greatly offended, no doubt about it. Many Pakistanis will defend that the view by one person does not mean any thing. No apology will be sought. Any Pakistani can form whatever opinion he thinks is suitable. It is up to him/her. Let us look at the wider implications of what my Pakistani Islamists had said. Was it an individual’s wrong interpretations of the holy books of Islam? Was it the mindset of a mentally sick person? Do not be fooled by these thoughts. For when we look back, we see that that was the mindset of Pakistani army recruits who unleashed a reign of terror leading into massacring millions of Bangalees. Pakistanis may differ on many matters but when the question of Islamic superiority comes, they are unanimous. This was the work of the Oligarchy, the army and the clerics of Pakistan. These groups have rigidly programmed the vast majority of Pakistanis with the thought that they (the Pakistanis) have the absolute superiority in Islamic matters. And this thinking got a further boost with the detonation of Islamic bomb in 1998. We Bangalees have no problem with their superior thinking. The only trouble is that these dangerous thoughts have cost 3 million dear lives of Bangalees.

So, to put everything in a simple language, the Pakistani army did not kill any human being in Bangladesh. They only cleared the field from pest; just like a farmer spreads insecticide to free his crops from devastation. So, is the case of the Pak army. They simply eliminated the non-Muslims and the not so good Muslims to protect the good Muslims those who would follow them. The question of remorse or guilt feeling does not arise at all. You see, the Pak army did not rape any women. They simply enjoyed the flesh of non-Muslims. Even if there were some excessive force being applied, there is no need to feel guilty about that. The ubiquitous Milad is there; the Hajj is there too to remove even the slightest trace of culpability. A serial killer is a psychologically sick person. He gets pleasure in seeing the suffering of a dying person in his hands. But deep down, the serial killer knows that what he is doing is wrong. He is surely aware of the eventual punishment if he is caught. That is why, most serial killers readily admit their crime and on many occasions regret of their actions when he recovers from his sickness. How about the perpetrators of a genocide? They are perfectly normal. Most of them are really very nice, polite, and soft spoken (like the Islamic Circle of North America’s leader Ashrafuzzaman Khan). But there is one trait that separates them from the rest of us and that is, the uncompromising faith in the supremacy of what they belief and their inability to accept the existence of others if they do not follow them. Any means is justified to advance their belief even if that means the annihilation of an entire race. That is why no Pakistani has ever condemned the genocide of the Bangalees. That is why they will do that again if an opportunity lends itself. Since no crime has been committed, the question of trial of the perpetrators of genocide does not arise at all. Isn’t it so?

This is the mindset of the planners and executioners of Bangladesh genocide.

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The above context should be kept in mind whenever these gentlemen - Urstruly , Malik and Echoboom , shed copious self-righteous sanctimonious tears over the `attrocities perpetrated by US , Israel , India etc. on poor innocent muslims world over` .

Mind you , Malik`s response to the massacre of `low caste` black colored African muslims by the `blue blooded` Arabic muslims at Dafur , Sudan was that `One needs to study the issue more deeply. It is all a western conspiracy. Dont listen to the western media`....

As the last waters of the tsunami recede, uncovering the deaths of tens of thousands, the time is for questions about reasons for the unpreparedness for the tragedy.

Have the wise American scientists who knew the disaster was coming but `didnt know how to dial a phone number`, and pass on the information, been given some sane advice?

How much of the relief money promised by western governments will actually materialise?

In the olden times, God took all the credits and blames, for an act of nature. In this day and age, can even an unprecedented act of nature cannot match the numbers killed by one violent, religious fanatic called Bush - that too in a single country!

Is more money being spent on Iraq every day by America, than that promised for the tsunami victims?

In the good old days, there was a moral to every tragedy. Is there a moral to this one?

urstruly & echo,

........ i don`t know how you guys can link the tsunami tragedy with the war of liberation in iraq, but i guess in your hate filled sick minds there is no room for reason ..........let`s not pollute this board with nonsense, i am sure there will be other opportunities......... besides, i know you have a busy evening coming up: disrupting pagan new year parties, throwing rocks, beating up girls, overturning cars and stealing lawn furniture ..............

re tahmed32 #88:

I have no beef with your painting of the larger picture. I merely wanted to point out a chink in the American armor. Only by acknowledging and criticizing it can we hope to move the discussion forward. The American government will be forced to spend more money in aid as the common American just like a common man anywhere else in the world will show that he cares and the powers that be will be forced to listen to public opinion.
We can put aside the debates related to how that public opinion is manipulated and moulded to suit ones purposes.

later
-sac

hamidm#92 writes ``...... i hope you are putting your money where your big mouths are ...... ``

hamidm sahib, Urstruly and Echoboom sahib did not launch this tsunami nor did they lobby Allah to create it. So they should not be asked to shoulder the financial liability of this tragedy.

You on the other hand actively propagated the American invasion of Iraq. Consequently you should put your own mouth where your money is. Your country needs your money and could definitely use your children`s service in the armed forces. But you are not touching that war even with a 39 1/2 foot pole.

You had gloated at the onset of the massacre in Iraq that you were going to book a room in Al Rashid hotel in Baghdad and would spend next winter there. Well, almost 2 winters have passed and you are no where near Baghdad.

I wonder why you are so hesitant in joining the iraqis dancing non-stop in the streets of Baghdad for the freedoms that the likes of you have blessed them with. I can`t say what the exact reason might be for your absence from Baghdad, but I would venture to say the fear of sodomization via a rocket launcher might be the big deterrent.

Anyways, happy new year !

Abdool-Amreekaa:91

(Anybody`s suicide could be a bit risky for you & your fellow bufoons. Do do not wish True Believers something that may eventually end in you getting The Acquired Syndrome--as a punishment from Allah. I`ve seen it happen to secular/atheist types)

Oh merlot-mutt: good yelp!

Until you repent & atone by cursing U.S this jingle will keep on ringing in your ears & haunt you.

``Happy Happy is me now, I`m an Abdool-Amreeka
See my tail is all-a-wagging & lifted for his plaayyaa*
I lick his boots & then shine it with my own slurpy tongue
It`s the muslim & his mullah who puts bhung in my rUng``

P.S: I notice the George Carlin ``humour`` missing. Ready to revert?

Urstruly: Assalaam-alakum yaa braather-in-Islam. yaa muhibbee yaa akhee!

sac #84 you have ignored the points I made and are simply repeating what your earlier point, which I have accepted as valid, but only a very narrow aspect of the broader picture. How can you move forward in a discussion if you ignore what the other person is saying?

hamidm #82 I am not sure what point you are addressing here but it certainly an example of the ``dangars`` (as in mawaeshi) in our society.

urstruly and echo.

...... i hope you are putting your money where your big mouths are ...... better yet, why don`t you donate all your worldly assets to unicef or the red cross before you strap on your suicide belts ........ you guys are sick !