Monday, December 29, 2008

Pakistan's Deceitful Ways....

Pakistan has turned the tables on India. By upping the war ante, they have quiet deceitfully, managed to seize the advantage from India. The rest of the world, is now more concerned about a possible nuclear holocaust than the heinousness of the Mumbai attacks. America has toned down its criticism and it seems matters will die a silent death. And to add insult to injury, Pakistan is stagemanaging a few blasts in its own territory and accusing India of conspiring against it.

Pakistan's beaviour is along expected lines. Does the loud mouthed film director have an answer to all this?. India must re-draw its strategy on combating terrorism from the other side of the border. It must stop relying on others to persuade the rogue nation to see reason. Pakistan's tall claim that it has been as much a victim of terrorism as India is, is nothing but outright sham. It needs to realize that one who rides a tiger cannot dismount. So all measures to reform its society, from within, will be answered by violence.It is just a question of the chicken coming home to roost. So when you pay for your own ills, how can you be a victim?. On the contrary, India, which has got nothing to reform from within, is a victim in the true sense of the term.

If Pakistan believes in reading between the lines, it must take note of the huge turn out of voters in Kashmir. It shows, these very people, whom they have been trying hard to poison since decades, have reposed implicit faith in the way Indian democracy functions.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Had We Been Like Them.............

In my blog, posted on December 10th, I had expressed the opinion that when it comes to India, terrorists do not think twice before striking. They treat us as sitting ducks. It was nice to hear similar views from the leader of the opposition while debating in parliament. He told " terrorists believe that they can get away with it".

As for the new anti terror law, i dont have much to say, except that, the proof of the pudding is in eating. Only time can tell about its effectiveness.

The minister for minority affairs has stirred the hornets nest, with his comments on the killings of senior ATS officials in the recent mumbai attacks. He believes it is the handi work of some other elements, who wanted to secure themselves, by eleminating these high rankig officials. It obviously is a reference to those who are opposing the investigation of a Sadhvi, said to be involved in the Malegaon blasts. Though it is too early to say anything about it, I believe, the minister shouldn't have jumped the gun, particular at this hour when Pakistan is facing tremendous international pressure. His irresponsible comments may provide fodder to Pakistan to distort matters further.

However, early this week this minister came out with an interesting suggestion. He wants the new terror law to treat terrorism at par with communal riots. This, indeed, is a well thought out suggestion. I support the idea wholeheartedly because the scale of violence involved in communal riots can be no less severe than an terrorist attack. While terrorists target indiscriminately, rioters target a particular group indiscriminately. That such a provision wouldn't allow a terrorist to take refuge under the common pretext - being targetted for belonging to a particular religion - again, makes the suggestion extremely pertinent to the cause of an effective terror law.

Before taking the final bow, President Bush, had to face the music.He was clever enough to play down the incident by saying "it is the sign of a free society". I found this statement as amusing as the incident. Great presence of mind, indeed!

But what struck me the most is the amazing sense of humor that these Americans have. They took it in the right spirit, insult not withstanding, and came out with online games targeting Bush. All the chat shows had many interesting as well as amusing suggestions to make. Well this throws light on their free society as well !

Had we been like them..............we would have enjoyed lives better..:)

Sunday, December 14, 2008

True colors...out too soon :)

As I said in my last post, i would like to keep my fingers crossed....I thought I have been quite sagacious. After the rare unanimity shown in the house.....politicians failed to turn up to pay respects to those brave soldiers who laid down their lives to defend these very politicians. It was the 5th anniversary of the parliament attack. Out of 750 MP's only 12 turned up.....just beginning to show their true colors....

Last night i saw a high profile Pakistani leader defending his country's fight against terror. He wanted India to hand over proof to them so that they could carry out their...(skewed).... investigations. Pat came the reply from an Indian politician...." They seek the help of Scotland yard police to investigate the assassination of their former prime minister. This amply proves they have no faith in their own investigation. How do they expect us to have faith in theirs". A former army chief of India expounded the theory of "death by a thousand cuts' to bring the rogue nation to book. The panelists mistook his suggestions for a full fledged war causing the high profile leader to panic and prematurely ring the alarm bells.He talked at length about Pakistan's nuclear capability and so on.

However I was disappointed by what an Indian film director had to say. He absolved the government of Pakistan of all blame and exhorted the government of both sides to get their act together to fight the terrorists. How could he be so naive so as to overlook the Pakistan governments tacit support to militants all these years. Doesn't he know, despite providing irrefutable evidence against 20 hardcore militants, seeking refuge there, Pakistan prefers to sit tight on it. And that too for 20 long years. Cant he see for himself how Pakistani leaders fumble with their statements on jihadis operating in India - they say something today only to disown it the very next day. Pakistan can never be trusted for its words nor relied upon for action.

Asking them to co-operate is like seeking the help of the burglar to investigate a burglary in your house.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Rare Unanimity

The rare unanimity, shown by political parties - otherwise perpetually at logger heads - in condeming terrorist attacks has been hailed by all the newspapers in the country. It indeed is laudable. And for once when discordant notes play an agreable tune in unison, it really is music to the ears.

It would have been better, if they had chalked out a strategy to combat terrorism, together. Donating a days salary for the victims of the attack or each political party taking up the responsibility of an orphan, would have sent the right signal to the masses.

As of now, i would like to keep my fingers crossed.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Good Governance

When anti establishment vote is the accepeted trend coming back to power for consecutive terms is no mean achievement. It means the government has indeed delivered on its last promise.....something which rarely happens in our country. The popular mandate is just a vindication of the governments achievements. Governments of other states must sit up and take note of this.

Given the will, a government can always realize the goals it has set for itself. All it needs is concerted efforts in the right direction. And if the current results are a trend to go by, then one can conclude, good governance hardly goes unrewarded.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Politician Bashing

I find it quite difficult to come to terms with the restrained attitude of our politicians. Ever since terrorism reared its ugly head, way back in the early eighties, our leaders have just restricted themselves to condemning these "dastardly acts". The platitudes they offer, is what they had said in the past and, surely, will be saying in future. Do they not get tired of oft spoken statements. Are they not aware that such meaningless assertions simply cut no ice. Come next terrorist attack and we know what the condoled message would be.

Is it too much to expect them to talk in a stern voice.....something which can be interpreted as a threat. They need to realize, by talking softly they send the impression that you can take India for granted. No wonder, terrorists treat India as a sitting duck.

Let them take a leaf out of their Chinese or American counterparts. They issue threats and carry it out when required. So disruptive elements think twice before playing havoc. Do terrorists think twice, when it comes to India?

Therefore, the groundswell of resentment against politicians is highly justified.