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Do we prefer terrorism to be associated only with cross-border actions as it gives us the comfort of identifying an enemy ?
Is an Islamist (as some of them have been branded) the only face of terror or could it be someone we support too ?
What exactly is even the definition of terrorism ?
Amit Varma makes you think about the above questions and a few more in a piece that chronicles the recent incidents by powers of Sri Rama Sena, Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena :
On the other hand, let’s look at the definition of terrorism according to Merriam-Webster: “The systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.”
Is this not “the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion”? And in all these cases, some of the accused might get arrested, but are released in no time and are back in business. As I’d once written, mobs in India have the license to do as they please if they do it under the banner of politics or religion. If you and I go and vandalize a hotel lobby or beat up women in a lounge bar, you can bet we’ll be thrown into jail, and rightfully so. But if we do it under the pretext of defending our culture or our religion, then anything goes. The rule of law, in such situations, is a joke.
Thinking is mandatory, commenting is not.
Continuing on the series of attacks on the rights of other people, a hitherto unknown Sri Rama Sena acted as a moral brigade (and I must say got right into the skin of the character. Take that Aamir.) and attacked hapless victims at a pub in Mangalore.
Speaking with CNN-IBN from Maharashtra, Muthalik defended his organisation and said it was not a big issue and that the media was blowing it out of proportion.
“It’s a small incident and we were only working against obscenity in public. You are not talking about the issue, which is obscenity and inappropriate behaviour,” he said.
Muthalik – who was also the Karnataka Chief of the Shiv Sena but parted ways with them over the Belgaum border issue – also said Ram Sena was a non-profit organisation and its objective was to “serve the society and prevent bad begaviour”. (sic)
I am sure there are going to be quite a few takers for the “working against obscenity in public” reason. But like I mentioned in a previous post here, this was private property and trespassing might just be one of the lesser crimes they committed.
The National Commission for Women has been very vocal against this incident and so has anyone who is tired of the self-proclaimed moral brigades.
But the issue here again is a fundamental right. The right to freedom. It is ironical that the one right we fought hardest to attain is the one we are blatantly deprived of.
P.S. : In case you want to say anything about the issue, I would appreciate if the crux is spoken about in your comment. And the crux cannot be how they were dressed. Firstly, because they were on private property and they were not in any way invading any right of any other individual.
This is exactly what I have been proposing all along. Adopting democratic tactics to protest against injustice.
The MNS leaders and workers finally got their long deserving punishment; watching Deshdrohi, that too at a sub-standard cinema hall in Andheri : Link
I am sure they will think twice before attacking a north Indian in the future !
Rajdeep Sardesai writes in an open letter to Raj Thackeray pretty much what it is on everybody’s mind. Hope we get an answer :
When you started your party a few years ago, it had been pitched as a party committed to a “modern” Maharashtra. If that vision still stands, why don’t you take it forward in real terms? Why don’t you, for example, set up vocational courses and technical institutes for young Maharashtrians to make them competitive in the job market? Why not, for that matter, start English-speaking classes for Maharashtrian students to equip them for the demands of the new economy? If cultural identity is such a concern, why not launch a statewide campaign to promote Marathi art, theatre and cinema by financially supporting such ventures? If Mumbai’s collapsing infrastructure worries you, then target the politician-builder nexus first. And isn’t it also time we realized that Mumbai is not Maharashtra, that the long suffering Vidarbha and Marathwada farmer needs urgent attention? Why not use your political and financial muscle to start projects in rural Maharashtra instead of focusing your energies on Mumbai’s bright lights alone? An employment generation scheme in a Jalna or a Gadchiroli may not make the front pages, but it will have far greater value for securing Maharashtra’s future.
Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra!
Methinks the answer is obvious : Because .. it is tougher.
Neither.
I am hoping everyone would have heard about Rahul Raj (and no, he is not Shahrukh Khan’s alter ego).
A youth from Bihar comes in to Mumbai at dawn, holds a bus at ransom in the morning and by noon is history, leaving behing a tale of politics and continued hatred, the end of which is nowhere in sight.
Sadly, almost no one has reacted as a responsible citizen.
The police are yet to disclose details of the incident, which could well be a deciding factor in the argument. Either way, if a passenger’s life was threatened, I would go with the Mumbai police here. They were not netting a butterfly here. This was an armed person they were dealing with.
Maharashtra Home Minister R.R.Patil made the famous ‘bullet for a bullet’ quote. And this, when he was in Sangli with hardly any details about the incident. Wonder why he did not apply his same logic all this time while the MNS was happily rampaging the streets of Mumbai.
Politicians from Bihar, weirdly united and most of whom are hailing Rahul Raj as a martyr, with even lesser details about the incident. Lalu Prasad Yadav calls it a murder and not an encounter, just because the police were not injured.
Mr Shivraj Patil, the Home Minister of India. It would be fair to say that a cute little kitten might scare me more than his words.
Lastly some people of Mumbai, who incidentally, also happen to be citizens of India. Very possibly as an indirect consequence to the recent incidents, a youth from UP was lynched in a train in Mumbai.
Whatever your opnion might be, I think across the board we can atleast agree that the recent incidents have brought out the worst in everyone.
And that terrorists are not born, we make them.
A few lines from yesterday’s post read :
But a smart move to be in the news, considering the media is a sucker for anything related to Raj; including what he ate for dinner last night – chappati, vegetables, fruits and a cup of tea. I am rather disappointed that TOI did not report whether his digestive system processed the food well.
Today Swapnil P writes in about this article : Link
Thackeray chose to remain constipated all day rather than use the Indian loo.
and the joke’s on me now ! Never underestimate the media, especially Mumbai Mirror.
P.S. : I am sure there are still farmers committing suicide, Dalits being massacared and Christians being killed somewhere. What more, they don’t even have access to a loo !
Amidst all the violence, politics and nonsense that generally clutters the life of an average Indian, this is a moment we all need to be proud of. The launch of Chandrayaan-1, which by definition proves that there are more to follow !
Firstly, about the name; I have heard many variations (which includes one friend referring to it as Chandranarayan) but the right pronunciation is चंद्रयान-1 (Courtesy : Wikipedia).
So we are back to the good old times. Back to kids saying they wanted to become an astronaut; technically weird, since this was an unmanned mission (or maybe being a pilot didn’t seem too attractive courtesy Jet Airways).
Among its other minor achievements are a mention by Barack Obama, a discussion in the Ubuntu Forums (where people are learning about India) and of course, a mention in the Stanford Daily here (information by Raghu).
Chandrayaan-1 had a textbook launch (which lead to one wise person at RDB wonder if there was a textbook inside) but there are serious concerns that it might run into some trouble in space very soon :
Image via email from Tushar B.
But to be honest, I am doubly excited about our forthcoming manned mission to the moon, with the hope that we get to vote whom to pack off.
Yes and to follow the rich tradition of our mostly otherwise media, you can send in your wishes to the ISRO team who made all the Indians proud, by writing in the comments section below !! Let’s write to them and boost their morale !
P.S. : You can also send in your good wishes/messages in case your neighbour’s dog gave birth to a litter, your manager was caught cheating on his wife, India’s victory over Australia in the 2001 Kolkata test and any random occasion. Just like our news channels, I will make sure the concerned party reads it, even if it is a dog.
While a lot of bouquets and brickbats have been thrown at Raj Thackeray recently, this is something which stumped even me :
Raj’s act dangerous for Hindutva: Puri seer.
I did not get head or tail of his reasoning. But a smart move to be in the news, considering the media is a sucker for anything related to Raj; including what he ate for dinner last night – chappati, vegetables, fruits and a cup of tea. I am rather disappointed that TOI did not report whether his digestive system processed the food well.
