A Moses on his Harley Davidson

Harish:

Now, I have to travel that route by road. The last time I took a konkan railway trip to go from Mumbai-Goa-Trivandrum. And how could you bypass Udipi?

You have said a lot about Bhatkal and Dawood. The sad part is that even a neutral account written by someone like you has enough fodder to feed anti-muslim prejudice. I have recently read at chowk some educated Indian Muslims` admiration for Dawood Ibrahim as they think that his Bombay bombings in 1993 are the only reasons that there have been no communal riots in Mumbai since then. If so, it is quite a troublesome thing, especially if this feeling is not shared by the city`s Hindus.

Look forward to reading about Bhatkal`s Arab connection in your next piece.

Re: # 6
BeeJay

I agree.Not every act of terrorism can be blamed on Pakistan or any other country.Same token, when it is alleged that pakistan is responsible for a particular act of terrorism then all indians, muslims included , should express outrage.Silence is as good as approval.India is doing and will do just fine regardless.The proof of the pudding is in the eating.We have best all new and emerging economies of Asia and the world to emerge the third largest in the continent, the tenth largest in the world based on ACTUAL GDP figures.We have actually grown in territory since independance and original borders are intact.What indians need is not a pan-indian identity.They need a strong regional identity mixed with a strong national consciousness.Once one`s roots are strong the branches will survive intact.

I never purport to talk for indian muslims or their positions vis-a-vis India.I voice my assumptions.If i am incorrect let an indian muslim point them out to me and i`ll be happy to consider.What irks me is the paks refusal to accept partition , the fact that almost 180 million indians are muslims and thriving or struggling just as anyone else in India, that India has grown in stature economically and politically despite attempts by them to maim and de-stabilize, and indians though diverse, are united enough to withstand serious threats and shocks to their system.Let us drink to that.

Harish:

Here are my comments on D. Ibrahim.

HN, you say that “The riots changed a lot of things. The deadliest of changes wrought was Dawood Ibrahim, who became a born again Muslim don.” I respectfully disagree. The term “born again” is exclusively used for people who become devoutly religious – not the likes of Ibrahim who always was, is, and will forever remain a despicable crook to his core!

In my view, the dichotomy (between being a Muslim versus being an Indian) was always part of this person’s identity, like it is for every Indian citizen of the Muslim faith. It had just never been personally tested before. Every kind of faith (not just the religious kind) must stand the test of time and shocks and turbulences that come over time. If that shock is withstood well, it makes the faith stronger. In case of this person, who was (notwithstanding the fact that he was on the “wrong” side of the law (as if there are too many on the “right” side!)) as Indian as they come – literally a son of the soil – the Bombay riots simply exposed the weakness of his “Indian” side! The conversion was almost instantaneous and the collusion with ISI was well-premeditated and a highly opportunistic move! He went about it methodically and ruthlessly. He set a terrible precedent – even though he did it for his own personal gains – that it is possible to go through this whole exercise of “secular experiment” that India represents and come out a cropper – handing down such powerful ammunition to the VHP-types that they couldn’t have ever dreamt of!

An important point to remember is that when somebody like D. Ibrahim does the type of atrocities and anti-national crimes that he did, the general Indian population, especially of the Hindus at large, does not forget it, simply files it away for later recall, it always stays in the back of its mind! Sooner or later, in one form or another, it comes out (sometimes upon the flimsiest of excuses) and takes a toll on the lives of innocent Muslims. D. Ibrahim, the criminal, is no benefactor of Muslims in India – and if one were to sit down and do some stats – he has probably cost MORE net Muslim lives (than Hindu lives) overall because of the things that he did – the simple reality is one atrocity causes another – all of it while his own rear is safely (for now, anyway) parked in foreign lands.

Individuals like him represent a scourge and need to be exposed for what they are, instead of being made apologies on behalf of, based on their religious labels. This man hurt the country that gave birth to him and nurtured him, he hurt everybody that came into contact with him, and cares for none but his own skin! But the worst damage he did was to provide substance to that stereotypical image of a suspect minority – for which many paid dearly and who knows how many more are yet to be forced to pay?!

India, the country, will survive well enough and go on just fine, with or without the challenges of having to deal with the likes of Ibrahim (and in the scheme of things, this individual represents a small, very small, incremental challenge) but his damages to the psyche and well-being of the Indian Muslim community are substantial, long-term, and perhaps very difficult to recover from!

Unlike our friend Cayenne here (who is cynical on most issues except this one) I don’t believe that all Muslim terrorism in India is solely caused by Pakistan – that would be like hiding one’s head in sand. High profile terrorism requires a core of supporters, usually a very small core of supporters – certainly not support from the mainstream. In my personal view, most Indian Muslims are just as patriotic as the Hindus (sometimes even more so) but in order to watch out for the interest of the whole nation as well as the community (which after all is a vital part of that nation – just look at the cultural heritage, for example) every one must be extra watchful and not allow such core elements to survive – what to say of flourish! Being passive is the worst possible approach!

The closest corollary that comes to my mind from U.S. is that of Irish Americans. When they started coming to U.S. in relatively large numbers (initially forced to do so due to the potato famine of 1845–1851, which took the life of about a million Irishmen) they were viewed very suspiciously because of the form of racism which prevailed at the time – which looked down upon those Europeans which were non-English-origin. These folks not only survived that suspicion and discrimination, they proved themselves through courage, valor, and hard work in so many ways that they are now considered prime examples – indeed they embody the concept of the American patriots. Ideally, a minority should not have to work any harder than the majority to prove themselves at anything. But the reality is (and anyone who has immigrated to foreign lands and has been a part of one set of minorities or another can vouch for it) – the minority is always forced to work harder, for everything, and sometimes for every little thing, and unfortunately sometimes for even the most basic things, perhaps even life itself! Accordingly, the people who are best qualified to watch out for the interest of Indian Muslims are not the likes of D. Ibrahim, but those who are left in India – holding HIS bag – and being forced to pay for HIS sins! And the approach is to think and feel like the Indian that they are, and through words and deeds, make sure there is no ambiguity in anybody’s mind regarding what they are – especially and most importantly, in their own!

That’s what my janitorial wisdom tells me; you and others are entitled to spin your own yarns!

Took me to my car trip through coastal karnataka. Words cant describe the beauty of that road in kundapur. It`s heavenly. We were lucky to be there on a cloudy day. We shouldered and spent like 2 hrs there smoking weed. Check out this link. Cayenne can put better pics of this stretch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundapur

Another heavenly sight on the same route is Gokarna. You skipped it?

Harish:

This seems to be one of the better-written pieces (more objectively done so). I am still formulating my thoughts on your discussion of D. Ibrahim (warning: strong feelings ahead!) and will return to pen them a bit later. A couple of minor notes appear below:

[There are still a couple of simple women who wear with pride authentic Oriya sarees bought from humble Kundapur in Karnataka. And not all of them are in Rohan’s family. ]
Or to put it another way, there are two “crafty” men who did not do their part and then lied about it – and we all know what bike they were riding!

[thick coconut palms and occasional beetlenut palms, looking like demure, more delicate female companions of the sturdy coconut palms.]
Why this stereotyping by sex – this outdated assumption that a female must be “delicate”!

#2 by temporal

Dear Tempo bhai:

I seem to have (unintentionally), put the fear of God in you, presumably with the use of some of my “janitor-like” language on HN’s board. You can relax, HN does not blame YOU! Besides, poet that you are, you can not stop people from using or even “using” words of yours! (In fact, I have even been known to “arrest” other writers’ words (using square handcuffs) and bring them to their designated courts of justice to face their fate!) Besides, I take FULL responsibility for what I say here – none of this wishy-washy stuff that some in this crowd specialize in. Therefore, go easy on yourself! I love you, too!

Sincerely,
BeeJay.

=== Interact Removed ===

harish:

By the time we finished our breakfast of idlis and fine filter coffee, we might even be able to buy some token sarees for our women back home.

i chuckled and said to myself crafty devil...all the thousands of words written and you have not mentioned her name once!...and not even here...you mcp...of course am too much of a gentleman to name ash or madh or tab;)

rgds

t

ps: caveat for bj: my italics are single use italics: be warned!...you cannot beg, borrow or steal the italics to lob them at harish later;)

Dawood a konkan???.Like myself??.Lord have mercy.