Saturday, December 29, 2007

Benazir Bhutto, Victim of Home Grown Terror!


Yesterday, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in the city of Rawalpindi in Pakistan. It is very sad news. Very sad and very unfortunate! Pakistan is seeing the effects of fomenting and fostering terror against its neighbors. It has come back to hit them in their own belly.

Pakistan is good example of what goes wrong when a nation identifies itself on the theme of ‘hatred’.

From the beginning, Pakistan has identified itself on ‘anti-India’ stand which incorporates ‘anti’ as its core element. For many years, this element of ‘anti-India’ was handled at the state level, involving the secret services, the army and the administration. It had not involved the general population. But after 1971, when Pakistan lost the war decisively against India, and after Pokhran of 1974, Pakistan had to drop its carefully manufactured illusion that it could take on India in a conventional war. Using a previous half-successful experiment of 1965, the new warfare for future was designed to use incursion tactics (which resulted in Kargil, once again a failure). Meanwhile, another experiment was underway. USA had used Pakistan as a platform to fund mujahideen to kick out Soviet Union. That also led to Pakistan creating an apparatus of Islamization in the background to have an influence in Afghanistan even after the Soviets left. That led to Taliban in power.

This experiment of using religious fervor and extremism, which again had some precedents in the past, was also fueled to use against India. Religious extremists were fawned upon as heroes who would win back Kashmir from India. Many experiments were created to ‘bleed India’. Pakistan saw an opportunity to do a ‘Bangladesh’ against India when Indian Punjab flared up. That experiment failed too. Then came another opportunity in Kashmir when Indian government messed up its long standing equation of keeping peace in the valley. That unconventional war of attrition and bleeding worked well. For a long time, it looked like it was succeeding. The dual advantage was clear- Islamic radicals can torment and control both Afghanistan issue and Indian issue.

This led to a massive operationalization of madrasas which will create these radical elements. These are the soldiers who would be created on one theme only – hatred. Their hatred will be so much that they will not stop till they kill or die. Their hatred was focused on achieving two goals- the control in Afghanistan, and getting back Kashmir from India.

For a while, it looked like their strategy worked. There was an all round celebration; and congratulations were abound. India was bleeding and the situation in Kashmir was getting ‘internationalized’. Afghanistan was duly ‘under control’ through a puppet regime.

Post 9/11, USA toppled Taliban in Afghanistan and roped in Pakistan as a friend and mate to check the problem of ‘terror’. Now, Pakistan couldn’t do what it was doing anymore in Afghanistan with heavy US presence there. On the Indian side too, it was not working out anymore. Massive Indian Army in the valley kept a check on the infiltration. Also, after Kargil debacle, Pakistan could not think of another covert war with India. It had to ensure the trickling of infiltrators was kept to a minimum.

What do you do with all the pent up hatred?

It imploded.

Pakistan is now reeling itself under consequences of their failed experiments. There are thousands of religious extremists who are trained to kill or die. And they will do that no matter what, if not against India or in Afghanistan, then in Pakistan. Benazir seems to one of the victims.

Lessons for India:

The glee and the celebration amongst Indian Hindus that its Hindutva forces are winning is momentary. It’s ephemeral. Soon, the same guns will be targeted back at us, all of us, including the very Hindus who are celebrating now, and soon these pent up forces, built on hatred, will seek an outlet. That usually involves killing and dying. Unfortunately!

Related Posts: Benazir II, Lessons from Pakistan

16 comments:

  1. Lesson for Sujai - Islamic terrorism is real and bad!

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  2. Lesson for Anonymous - All terrorism (Hindu and Islamic) is real and bad!

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  3. Sujai Ji: All terrorism (Hindu, Muslim, Casteists / Reservationists or Blog insinuationists) in all its forms should be condemned EQUALLY.

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  4. There is nothing called Hindu terrorism. If there is one, it would have come up when Lacs of Hindus were sent out of Kashmir. How many news items we see about Kashmiri hindus. How many statements were released by politicans to support Kashmiri cause. Small riots by fringe hindu groups are exaggerated if rioter is Hindu. (What is happening in Orissa). Terrorism by other religious people is justified by our Pseudo secular parties.

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  5. Sujai Ji: All terrorism (Hindu, Muslim, Casteists / Reservationists or Blog insinuationists) in all its forms should be condemned EQUALLY.

    So, supporting reservations is terrorism too? Blog insinuationists (whatever that means) are terrorists too?

    Do you see why I consider many Indians ‘idiotic’?

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  6. There is nothing called Hindu terrorism.

    Yup, I know that. Modi keeps repeating that in his speeches.

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  7. Supporting reservation without understanding real data, (Tamilnadu is able to grab 30% OBC national quota because it declared all except brahmins as backwards. So your telengana OBC people will never get seat), Without criticising creamy layer grabbing benefits from real needy person, Without analysing real data like OBC share in educational institutions is in proportion to the population is not "terrorism" but it is "selective amnesia".

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  8. Abhi:
    I am glad it is 'selective amnesia' and not 'terrorism'. In this article I am discussing terrorism and not selective amnesia - hence it is out of scope for this discussion ;-)

    Thanks.

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  9. You seem to have a custom-made lens on your eyes. Anything happens anywhere in the universe you do not forget to see a lesson for "hindus" through your lens. One makkhi kills some macchhar and you would not forget to mention a lesson for how hindus could learn from the incident.

    Do you see why I consider many Indians ‘idiotic’?

    Yes, we completely understand that now.

    All terrorism as you yourself say is founded on hatred. The basis for a lot of your articles here is hatred (or your so called "concern") for hindus and right-wing (whatever that is). That is what based on your own theories of evolution eventually leads to terrorism. Do you see some parallel here?

    out of scope for this discussion

    Could you please broaden your scope? You are just too narrow and your lens just lets very limited light to flow through.

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  10. supporting reservations is terrorism too?

    Once you listen to Mayavati and the likes talk about the "hate" for higher castes, you will know what it means. You will see a parallel with hitler I guess.

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  11. Sujai Ji: All terrorism (Hindu, Muslim, Casteists / Reservationists or Blog insinuationists) in all its forms should be condemned EQUALLY.
    Touché, and right on!! :)
    -chirkut

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  12. Sujai

    I doubt whether the assasination of Bhutto had anything to do with terrorism against India. All the reasons being speculated for the death of Bhutto have nothing to do with Kashmir. They seem to do with some internal power struggles within Pakistan. Unless you're saying that the mindset created for Islamic terrorism is being directed now against political opponents. Is that the point of this post?


    ~ Vinod

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  13. Vinod:

    I doubt whether the assasination of Bhutto had anything to do with terrorism against India.

    You have to understand where this terrorism originated. Why even the moderates of Pakistan tolerated and fostered religious extremism in that country.

    All the reasons being speculated for the death of Bhutto have nothing to do with Kashmir.

    I never said they were.

    Once again, the reasons for fostering the religious extremism with an intention to meddle with foreign nations have now evolved into something else.

    Unless you're saying that the mindset created for Islamic terrorism is being directed now against political opponents. Is that the point of this post?

    Yes, you could say that.

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  14. If my knowledge of hindu mythology is right then there were 20something avataar's of vishnu, most of them Rama and krishna led armies. Krishna was main instigator of a war between brothers which lead to death of 5.2 million soldiers in 18 days. Similarly Rama, Parsurama all were warriors, now what u say bout that. Shankracharya killed budhists and drove them out of the country, what is your opinion on that. I am not supporting violence but there is always other side to the coin.And how come you forget Chanakya's Sham Daam Dand Ved. By reading your views over here i can see the terrorist hidden inside you. How you defend the torching of churches in Orisaa, 1984 riots, Bombay Riots, GUjrat rights, meerut rights.......who is behind them. Yeah,they were hindus. But i wont go to the extent of saying that hinduism is the reason behind that.
    Same Way Don't relate everything to Islam. If people do wrong things, it is not fault of Islam. Anybody who knows Islam won't say a word against it, but it's not everyone's good fortune to know about Islam.

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  15. "You have to understand where this terrorism originated. Why even the moderates of Pakistan tolerated and fostered religious extremism in that country"

    A short elucidation would be appreciated.

    ~ Vinod

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  16. Well Sujai, let these idiots refute your cautious statements on hindutva..
    Soon within less than 10 years they will be at the brunt of this Ugly Terror just like how pakistanis are at their own Ugly creation.

    I know a lot and a lot of Pakistanis, personal friends, who just a few years ago were supporters of Extremist groups, Taliban and so on.. Now they realised their folly, and are irked, fed up, and tired of this. They detest them in most condemnable words.

    there is a saying of buddha,
    "Retributions of all your actions are paid in this life itself!"

    ReplyDelete

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