Rooting For The Enemy - Part-2

First, here’s something to ponder: “Vir Sanghvi refers to the Congress as "we". He is not being disingenuous. Perhaps he should admit his preferences openly. It wouldn't be misconstrued”. And another one: “Barkha Dutt too has her political leanings. I have often jokingly taunted her as the "voice of the Hurriyat”. These are a few lines buried in history that should be recalled often and quite frequently. Why? Because it explains a lot of journalistic pursuits that are claimed under “independent and honest” as many do. Those lines aren’t mine. They come from a man who should know. That is Swapan Dasgupta writing about these characters from Radiagate. If one could go back to Kargil, Kandahar, Gujarat and the two subsequent general elections (and many others) it would explain a lot about the reporting of Barkha and Sanghvi. By now everyone knows they are practically Congress mouthpieces except they won’t be honest enough to admit it openly. It is not wrong to have political affiliations, after all journalists too are voters. But when it starts influencing your programmes and shows it should carry a disclaimer stating: “NDTV as a policy supports Congress”. 

So Kargil happened under the BJP/NDA govt, stands to reason why Rahul Gandhi feels his party obliged the nation by supporting the then govt on Kargil. Barkha Dutt wasn’t the only one to report about beheadings of Pak soldiers in Kargil. Someone else has written on it before her. So the so-called Kargil-heroine wasn’t the only reporting from Kargil. Shammy Baweja who was working with IndiaToday narrates the same incident in her book about Kargil. But before we get to Shammy let’s read the Nancy Drew, Enid Blyton type description by BD again:

“I had to look three times to make sure I was seeing right. Balanced on one knee, in a tiny alley behind the army’s administrative offices, I was peering through a hole in a corrugated tin sheet. At first glance, all I could see were some leaves. I looked harder and amidst all the green, there was a hint of black—it looked like a moustache. “Look again,” said the army colonel, in a tone that betrayed suppressed excitement. This time, I finally saw. It was a head, the disembodied face of a slain soldier nailed onto a tree. “The boys got it as a gift for the brigade,” said the colonel, softly, but proudly”.

She was on one knee in a tiny alley and peeping through a hole. That does sound very dramatic doesn’t it? Here’s what I call it: Absolute balderdash. If there indeed was a head pinned to a tree it doesn’t seem like a big secret that BD discovered all of a sudden. It seems like journos were being given a guided tour if you go by what Shammy Baweja (SB) writes (again from Kafila):

“We have their dead. And a head. The experiences of 18 Garhwal also show another side of the war. The frustration that has built up among our jawans and the thirst for revenge. Having captured Point 4700, not without significant casualties, their jawans went berserk. One of them took out his knife and slit the head of a Pakistani soldier in one stroke. The head was sent to the Brigade Headquarters at Drass and pinned to a tree trunk…. Maj Gen Puri came down from Mughalpura to see it. Other officers dropped in to Brigade Headquarters to take a look. So did some of the journalists who have been routinely visiting the Brigade Headquarters. It was there, pinned on the tree, for anyone who could bear to look at it. In fact, the reporters were shown the head with the warning they they won’t be able to sleep for the next three nights….”

SB’s story was published in 2000 and Barkha’s article in 2001. So even after SB published the story why was Barkha being so theatrical about it when many journos were allowed to see the head. I have only one explanation: Too much of “Alice in Wonderland”. Now, SB interestingly says the soldier slit the head of a soldier in one stroke. Amazing! From what I read, SB’s story doesn’t appear to be ‘first-hand’ but narrated by some soldiers. But she confirms she has seen it herself and was shown the head by army officers. If you read the excerpt from her book it doesn’t say she saw it as confidently as her tweet does. Maybe she would like to recheck whether she herself saw it or others saw it. And it’s even possible to believe BD picked up her story from SB’s version published earlier rather than her secretive ‘peeping-Tom’ account in 2001.

So when General V.P. Malik rejected Admiral Ramdas’ claim about beheadings why didn’t Barkha confirm the story instead of interrupting and distracting the discussion to arts and sports? I am fine with keeping discussions on a show focused on the chosen topic but surely such a serious issue can’t be brushed aside. So who do we trust Admiral Ramdas or Gen VP Malik? Who do Barkha and NDTV trust? For that we have to go back to a presser by Admiral Sureesh Mehta who again repeated the charge of a female reporter causing damage in Kargil. The reference was obviously to BD. Here are responses to that charge made by Admiral Mehta.

NDTV responds to a charge by Admiral Sureesh Mehta repeated during his presser after 26/11: In this context, there has also been an allegation that NDTV coverage during the Kargil conflict involved asking a Colonel to trigger a Bofors gun for the camera. NDTV wants to emphatically state that the allegation is a falsehood and no such incident ever occurred. It would be extraordinary to even presume that a senior army officer would commit such an act in a conflict situation at the behest of the media! There is an official acknowledgment of this motivated falsehood from those who supervised the 1999 conflict. NDTV has formally complained about and asked for an immediate retraction of comments that we believe amount to defamation.

BD‘s response to Admiral Mehta’s Kargil allegation was: “I would urge Admiral Mehta to read General V.P Malik's book on Kargil for further clarity. General Malik was the Army Chief during the operations and puts to rest any such controversy in his book. In a formal letter, NDTV has also asked for an immediate retraction from the Navy and officially complained that the comments amount to defamation”.

To my knowledge, there is no defamation case filed and no retraction by Admiral Mehta has been published so far. In which case we should rely on his story, right? NDTV says there is official acknowledgement from those who supervised the 1999 conflict and BD asks to refer to General VP Malik’s book. So when NDTV relies on the account of Gen Malik why shouldn’t we? If General Malik, who was the Army chief then, rejects the beheadings, we should take his word for it rather than Barkha’s or NDTV’s. In any case, BD was a rookie then and the people concerned in the Army and govt (BJP) should be questioned on why this rookie was allowed into a conflict zone in the first place.

Certain journalists, candle-light diners and arty-farty types from Bollywood seem hell-bent on muddying the waters in our relationship with a troubled and blood-thirsty enemy. This is not like boycotting French fries. The “useful idiots” in India who long for Pakistani artists or cricketers are no different from fringe elements or extremists who constantly create hurdles in dealing with an enemy. All this people-to-people nonsense can wait till Pakistan stabilises itself to a decent level of peace within. For that matter, even India isn’t at peace within. We have extremists in Kashmir, Maoists elsewhere so why spend so much time in building a bridge with a country that has sworn a thousand year jihad on us? Remember the post about Roman Agent? Seems there are many such agents in India who wish to keep Indians in constant conflict and division.

As for the beheading and the head on the tree during Kargil, the answer is neither difficult nor impossible. The only person, other than BD, to have mentioned it is SB. A third journalist, Sankarshan Thakur, has reported butchery and ill-treatment of Pak captives but doesn’t mention any head pinned to a tree. The answers are not hard to get. SB clearly mentions a Major General Puri who saw it. All that the govt, if it is honest, is question Maj Gen Puri and established the truth. A lot happens during a war and the truth about wars never really comes out. The recent beheadings of Indian soldiers hasn’t happened during war time. If a Pakistan soldier was beheaded or butchered that country would have screamed all the way to the UN. There is no such record or report of them complaining. Only those amongst us who root for the enemy can hand them stories to defend their butchery. Unless there is confirmation from a reliable Army source, like Maj Gen Puri himself, both Shammy’s and Barkha’s stories have to be dismissed as unreliable. They have written it and the onus is on them to prove their story is factual.

Rooting For The Enemy - Part-1

On the morning of September 12, 2001 the prominent French newspaper Le Monde headlined “We are all Americans”. This was to show solidarity, share the grief and anger over the 9/11 attacks on the US. Two years later when George Bush decided to attack Iraq, the French strongly opposed the US and weren’t part of the coalition that launched a war on Iraq. Protesting the French, two Republican Representatives ordered “French fries” in the canteens at Capitol Hill be renamed as “Freedom fries” (see pic of the menu). Soon the term “Freedom fries” became pop culture and a symbol of boycott of French products. That was jingoism at its best. By 2006 the stupidity was reversed and Americans were back to “French fries”. But the US and France have a long history of friendship. The French fought on the side of Americans for their independence from the British. It was the French who gave America the ‘Statue of Liberty’, which stands as a symbol of freedom. The statue holds a tablet in one hand with the date of American independence, July 4, 1776, inscribed on it. Friends often have minor tiffs but good friendships aren’t broken. Friends don’t go to war or attack each other.

When bimbos from Bollywood lament cancellation of shows of Pakistanis over the latest beheadings they reflect poor understanding of friendships. Blunt Truth: We DO NOT have a history of friendship with Pakistan. Period! NDTV reports Javed Akhtar (who else?) and Prasoon Joshi lamenting the situation about arts suffering. They don’t understand India, they don’t understand Pakistan and most of all they don’t understand friendship. India and Pakistan share a history but have never shared friendship and I dare say, they never will. Pakistan was created on the concept and in the belief that Muslims can’t live a just life with Hindus. Many of their leaders have vowed a 1000-year Jihad on India. So, for many “useful idiots” who keep thinking arts and sports should be kept out of the equation one can only imagine these idiots can’t see what ordinary Indians can see. Unfortunately, these useful idiots also happen to be prominent public celebrities. Seriously, what kind of morons worry about arts and sports when their soldiers are being beheaded? Only some in Bollywood and some in our MSM!

When your team plays you scream yourself hoarse supporting them, cheering them even against friendly opponents. A certain level of jingoism is not bad when it comes to backing your troops confronting an opponent who has sworn to treat your country as a ‘permanent’ enemy. In such a case anyone who professes deep yearning for Pakistani artists, their cuisine and all kinds of nonsense is bound to be seen as an oddball with suspicion. Why do we need Pakistani artists or anything from that country at all? We are much richer in every aspect of culture, creativity and productivity whereas Pakistan has been on a downward spiral to nowhere since it was born. Those who keep ranting about arts, sporting ties, trade ties, people to people hugs and kisses are almost a fifth column for the enemy. In the previous post I mentioned Shahrukh Khan flying the flag upside down. It’s no coincidence. This pic from a BBC report of 2009 (Thanks to @Ecophilo) showing a Muslim rally to protest torture of terror suspects tells a story. Sure, by all means protest, scream as hard as you want but why fly the national flag upside down? France may not have supported the US in the Iraq war but can you imagine France ever supporting a war against the Americans? If another country were to wage war against India which side do you think Pakistan will be on? Sorry! No prizes for guessing right.

Considering we may have many enemies within the country to first deal with, Pakistan should hardly be a priority for us. I repeat what I have said many times before; we need not seek war with Pakistan but at the same time we need not foolishly seek peace and friendship with them. They best belong in a cold storage till they make genuine efforts to stop terrorism, punish terrorists and set their house in order first. If Javed Akhtar and Prasoon Joshi miss Pakistani artists so much they are welcome to go to Pakistan and make their films. These “useful idiots” only help to derail our army and our national pride. We first need to deal with the ones who fly our flags upside down and wage war against India from within. Bollywood bimbos aren’t the only ones who selfishly make strange statements. Our MSM can beat them at that game any day.

Here’s a tweet from Barkha Dutt. (Who else would this come from, eh?) To a rhetorical tweet by Shammy Baweja (Harinder), a journalist with the IndiaToday group, she responds, expectedly, with a nonsensical estimate about communal riots before war. A very insightful and observant Tweeter (@BhaskarChat) drew an “experience” from this tweet of hers. He mentioned that when India stacked up its army on the border after the December 2001 attack on Parliament it resulted in some “anti-India” elements igniting the incident at Godhra in February 2002. This resulted in the burning of a train and 59 passengers and then led to a backlash leading to communal riots. Is that what Barkha predicts? And what is all this hate about? Most of it is being fuelled by idiotic statements and actions by the media. What kind of people hold “Candle Light” debates immediately after news of the recent beheadings? Yeah, you got that right: only people from MSM and Bollywood. Who’s moderating the debate? A minister from the UPA govt which is struggling to handle the situation! And the lady has also handed ammunition to the Pakis to deny/defend the beheadings. It’s from a story that now needs a thorough investigation. I would even demand a military inquiry or an SIT.

One of Barkha’s favourite characters is Alice. Yep, that’s Alice from “Alice in wonderland” the famous fairy tale and one of great literary imagination. She often draws analogies to current situations and affairs from Alice. Barkha’s writings too are sprinkled with an abundance of literary flair and imagination. On January 17, Zafar Hilaly, a former Pak diplomat, held up a newspaper on Headlines Today and quoted an article by Barkha Dutt where she had mentioned Indian Army had beheaded a Pak soldier during the Kargil war. Now, this Hilaly has been on many TV channels for a week over the Pak beheading incident but it’s only on January 17 he claimed Indians too had beheaded Pak soldiers in the past. Where did he get his hint and inspiration from? Let me just reproduce this edited excerpt from Kafila (This is about BD’s program “Indo-Pak Tipping Point” on January 15 on NDTV)

Around 21:15 into the programme, Admiral Ramdas says, “Beheading of Troops has been going on from both sides has been for some time, I mean there is evidence of this…”

Barkha Dutt, eager to change the subject, nervously interjects and says ‘I want you to comment, Sir, on Sporting and Cultural ties, because that is what has been hit today…’.  

Gen. V.P. Malik says (around 24:40) “…And I don’t agree with Admiral (Ram) Das that both sides have been doing this, I would like to see anybody give me one instance where this kind of inhuman act has been done by the Indian army… I know that with great respect, we not only buried their bodies with great respect… we returned any body that they asked for.”

Barkha Dutt knows what Admiral Ramdas was talking about… she has written about it (the decapitation of Pakistani soldiers by the Indian army during the Kargil conflict in the summer of 1999) herself in Himal magazine (June, 2001).

I had to look three times to make sure I was seeing right. Balanced on one knee, in a tiny alley behind the army’s administrative offices, I was peering through a hole in a corrugated tin sheet. At first glance, all I could see were some leaves. I looked harder and amidst all the green, there was a hint of black—it looked like a moustache. “Look again,” said the army colonel, in a tone that betrayed suppressed excitement. This time, I finally saw. It was a head, the disembodied face of a slain soldier nailed onto a tree. “The boys got it as a gift for the brigade,” said the colonel, softly, but proudly.

So that is an instance where ‘this kind of inhuman act’ did happen. So why did she not say so to Gen. Malik. She is not ‘anybody’, she was there, and this is an issue that is being discussed on a show that she is anchoring. How long can it be before she gets called out for the gross irresponsibility of her reticence on this very crucial matter. Was she lying in 2001, or, is she concealing the truth now?

So when Admiral Ramdas brought up the issue what did Barkha try to do? She tried to distract him with the same Sports and Bollywood stuff that Javed Akhtar and Prasoon Joshi wail about. As if that’s the biggest concern staring at us right now. So, did Barkha write a first-hand account of what she really saw? Is she telling the truth? Should we trust Admiral Ramdas or General Malik? More importantly, who do Barkha and NDTV trust? We’ll seek some answers in part-2.

Await Part-2.

Candle Light Sinners

How the leaders and public figures of a nation respond to a tragedy reveals a lot about their character. Two coffins returned from LOC with the mutilated bodies of Lance Naik Hemraj and Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh. The head of one of them is still missing. I am not aware of any leader, minister visiting these families and sharing their sorrow with the nation. I am not aware of any leader or minister from the GOI attending their funerals. John F Kennedy once said: "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them”. If our late PM L.B. Shastri were alive he would wonder happened to his famous slogan of “Jai Jawan…”.

The tears of the families of the 2 Jawans killed on January 8 had not yet dried and some of our public figures were already into “debate” mode. A bunch of journalists and other candle light specialists got together to debate ‘Aman Ki Asha’ in Delhi on January 10. A Union Minister, Shashi Tharoor, was playing the moderator. Participants included: from Pakistan: Najam Sethi, Salman Raja, Wajahat Khan, Javed Jabbar and from India: Mani Shankar Aiyar, Salman Haldar, Shoma Choudhury and Kabir Bedi. Some govt guys, some filmy ones, some editorialists. Probably the most theatrical bunch in a tragedy! And what were they debating? Civil society for peace! One of the common refrains from the discussions: “Moderates will wipe out the Hafeez Saeeds”. If you look at the audience you can see the elites of society in all that jangles. Oh Yeah, these are the ones who are most likely to wipe out the Hafeezes of the world. I remember the movie “Gandhi” where in a powerful speech he says a bunch of lawyers in Delhi do not represent the people of India. If MKG were at this stupid debate he would have said the same thing about these people all over again. The debate was not only stupid it was also badly timed and reflected a serious lack of sensitivity on the part of the participants, audience and, of course, the hosts. Who else but TOI?

With what face do these Pakis come here to debate? Who are the morons who invite them? These are people from a country which sentenced the doctor who led to the killing of Osama Bin Laden to 33 years in prison. He was convicted of high treason. In any other civilised nation this doc would have been rewarded. These “useful idiots” from Pakistan (and India too) can’t deal with the stupidity of their own govt and want to lecture in Delhi. These worthies who are going to wipe out the Hafeezs were probably not even aware (owing to their ‘moderate’ engagement) that on the same day as the two Jawans were killed on the LOC there were 10 CRPF Jawans killed in Latehar (Jharkhand) in an encounter with Naxals. Surprising, isn’t it? The CRPF men were killed on January 8 but for our media that would be ‘Breaking news’ only on January 10. One Jawan’s dead body was stuffed with a bomb.

The PM, Manmohan Singh who didn’t have anything to say about all this had said back in February 2010 that “Naxalism is the biggest internal threat”. One wonders what he has done about the threat. He should be even more alarmed that the Pakistan camps were rejoicing the deaths of our Jawans so it’s clear the Pak army that was involved. Hafeez Saeed was also around the LOC and it appears he had offered a reward of 5 lakhs for the head of our soldier. These two tweets from Padmaja Joshi of Headlines Today say a lot. The PM and his cabinet need not worry I suppose. The so called “moderates” from India and Pakistan will wipe out Hafeez Saeed (the LeT mastermind behind 26/11), ably led by his minister, Shashi Tharoor. If all that wasn’t enough, The Hindu ran a story on the LOC incident implying it all started with an old woman, a Grandmother, who crossed over to POK. Even the headline of the story seems to turn the spotlight away from the brutal killings into one of providing “sound reason” for the deaths.

“Runaway grandmother sparked savage skirmish on LoC”. Skirmish? Was that all? The killing of two of our soldiers on our side of the LOC, their bodies mutilated, one Jawan’s head missing and all that was just a “skirmish”? Where did Praveen Swami, a supposed defence expert, get his intelligence from? Oh! He says “…highly placed military and government sources have told The Hindu”. Really? Which military and which govt? He doesn’t say and I refuse to presume Indian or Pakistan. Maybe Swami would like to clarify which country’s sources he was referring to. Swami’s article comes out and our journalistic-bimbo wastes no time in jumping and rubbishing all the “patriots” on TV. I guess you know who and which channel she’s referring to. Runaway Granny! Nice title! Let’s examine what key points his article makes and what the Indian Army responses were. (Indian Army response here)

Swami mentions the 70-year old granny, Reshma Bi, left Charonda village and crossed over the LOC to live with her sons in POK. This was on September 11 and the article implies in 2012. Inside of a week after Reshma’s flight, Indian troops began constructing observations bunkers around Charonda, seeking to monitor the movement of villagers. The construction work — barred by the terms of the LOC ceasefire of 2003 provoked protests from Paki troops.  Indian commanders, the military source said, conceded that the construction was in violation of the ceasefire. However, they refused to stop work, arguing that the posts faced out towards the village, posing no threat to Pakistan. Early in October, the official said, tensions began to escalate. Pakistan even made announcements over a public address system, demanding that Indian troops end the construction work. Exchanges followed and then Indian soldiers raided a Paki post on January 6 which led to the brutal killing of our soldiers on January 8. That’s it.

The army rejects the story (and I quote some statements). Swami’s story is not exactly short on facts but his timelines and linkages appear inaccurate. The Indian army stated that Reshma Bi crossed over on September 26, 2011 a full 16 months before Swami reported she did. On the raid on a Pak post, Colonel Dahiya rejected Swami's contention that there had been LOC transgressions by the Indian Army in the Uri Sector on January 6, 2013. He further stated that the article mentions announcements made by Pak Army over a public address system at Uri demanding a halt to any construction work. This also was factually incorrect, he said. The article also wrongly identifies Major General G.S. Rawat as the GOC of 19 Infantry Division. The current GOC is Major General Khandare. He said that Pakistan carried out cease fire violations on night of January 5 and 6, and the Indian Army carried out controlled retaliation from its own side on January 6. So in effect,the Army rubbished Swami’s report.

It’s a question of which one to trust; The Hindu or the Indian Army. Given the dubious articles that frequently appear in The Hindu and even otherwise I would go with our Army. Praveen Swami, though, is not a dubious writer. So where did he get all his “intelligence” from? Hmm! It would appear someone already knew this article was going to appear in a newspaper on January 10. Guess who? It’s none other than Wajahat Khan the Paki journalist who had appeared on Barkha Dutt’s programme “The BS here”. Yeah, a load of BS indeed! The programme over, late night (or wee hours of January 10) Wajahat Khan tweets to someone to watch out for a “narrative changer tomorrow” (ie January 10). He tweets and The Hindu delivers! Voila! This is the “intelligence” circuit of Swami as it appears. And Wajahat calls it the “narrative changer”. Whenever anyone uses the term “narrative” I immediately see a warning sign of concoctions being brewed. It’s a term that highly “intelligent” people use, like the ones at the AmanKiAsha debate in Delhi.

Do you need any more proof how stupid Indian media is? No, don’t go by my word. For some reason the AKA crap wasn’t telecast by TimeNow the channel of TOI group who came up with the AKA farce. The debate was telecast by Headlines Today and I wonder why. Maybe Arnab Goswami has decided AKA is nonsense too. It is Rahul Kanwal, who heads Headlines Today, who wonders what the Tamasha is between the TOI and its news channel. The families of dead soldiers are hopefully unaware of all the Tamasha going on. Our freedom is never free. Someone pays a price for it, usually a soldier standing guard on a fence. The shameless ‘Macaulay Putras and Putris’ who don’t tire of their AKAs and cocktail debates breathe because someone pays the price for their freedom to do so. They usually finish the debates, give sermons on TV, write crap in newspapers and go have candle-light dinners. I may have to call them the candle light sinners.