Our Terrorists Better Than Yours

There has been terrorism in almost all parts of India. It must be a rare state that hasn’t suffered a terrorist attack since independence. I suppose Sikkim could be one of them. By now it has become a regular facet of life in India. Since 26/11 our media has been a little more careful and sensitive in reporting terror attacks but this is not because they are any wiser. If earlier there was a race for histrionics and breathless reporting, we now have a race to claim the most “mature” reporting. Who knows, we might now even have a category of awards for “Best reporting of a terror attack” given these attacks are inevitable. It’s not just what happens on TV but also off it that produces a lot of unwanted and mindless spin over a tragedy.

As the attacks at Dilsukh Nagar in Hyderabad unfolded on February 21 there was information being shared all over including Twitter. People were reporting blood banks, trying to find info about their family or friends with others helping to relay the message. Naturally, there was also the usual chatter about Islamic terror and Hindu terror. We will get to that part but when everyone else was concerned about life and death Sagarika Ghose’s friend calls her up to tell her the area was known for its meat shops and meat retailers. Damn! How are we gonna eat beef in that area now? People from Hyderabad rejected her piece of info claiming the area was a huge market that had all kinds of things including theatres, temples and malls and bazaars. Of all the things meat shops seem to assume significance for Sagarika and she relays it. She then says “no pre-conceived notions, just facts”. I hope she runs a FTN show on how to bring the meat shops back. But I doubt anyone is in doubt what she wanted to really convey through her “meat shop” tweet. (Tweeple from Hyderabad claim the nearest meat shop is at least over a km away).

Let’s now turn to “maturity”. Oh there you are! TM Veeraraghav of CNN-IBN and his claim that his channel was the most informative, non-speculative and mature in reporting the Hyderabad attack. How does he know? He was probably watching other channels and didn’t watch his own. The downright stupidity in the manner Rajdeep Sardesai conducted himself in covering the attack is alarming. He was banging away with theories of polarisation and immediate dangers and so on. He even called in Asaduddin Owaisi to comment on the situation. Owaisi is the guy with cases against him and someone who threatened a “third wave of Muslim radicalisation” from the parliament. There was worse. What does it say of Rajdeep when even Owaisi told him “you are more of a politician than me”? I haven’t known TMV to be bombastic or indulge in moronery like his boss so we can let this off as a one-time gaffe. I suppose Arnab and Times Now put a lot of pressure on these guys. But Arnab had his own theories and started with the US handling of terror. And NDTV? I really don’t know what they did since I didn’t watch. I just hope they didn’t coin a new term “moderate terrorists” like they used for Yasin Malik calling him “moderate separatist”.

But for a while let’s put our media folks aside. We can’t blame all our media crooks for terrorist attacks, can we? This is a better time to look at our politicians. The Hyderabad attack came a day after Sushilkumar Shinde expressed regret for his shameless speech about “Hindu terror”. Zero tolerance, war on terror and all that crap is what people are being fooled with and a majority of people happily also buy the argument that “terrorists have no religion”.  The very idea of saffron or Hindu terror was created by the Congress to distract from the real challenge and the real enemy of the current spate of terrorism that India is facing; Islamic terror. As long as the politicians fake the real cause or live in denial India will never be able to combat terror and terrorists. And that is that! Simple! And for those who still live in the hogwash that we are at “war on terror” I will have to recall Allen West’s speech I had reproduced in a previous post. Here’s how the American General who has seen battle summed it up:

“...I’m sick and tired of people saying “war on terror”. There is no such thing as war on terror. In World War Two, how smart would it have been, if the United States of America said they were at war with the Blitzkrieg. Or if they were at war with the Kamikaze.......  A nation does not go to war against a tactic. A nation goes to war against an ideology, and that’s what we’ve been talking about here today....” His speech in February 2010 can be viewed on Youtube.

If one wishes to wage war the enemy must be clearly identified. Who is India’s enemy? If a majority of these terrorist attacks are emanating from Pakistan what exactly is our govt doing? They are exchanging French kisses with them and our media is busy describing the dresses and hand bags of Hina Rabani Khar. No matter what the compulsions of vote banks and agents of Ghulam Nabi Fai and other terror sympathisers you simply cannot have a diplomatic relationship with a nation that frequently attacks you and hope to win peace. This is the real problem. Islamic terror does not imply Indian Muslims are naturally terrorists. But unless the govt accepts that there is Islamic terror and the route through Kashmir, where it started, is the belief that Kashmir belongs to Pakistan because of Muslim majority they will live in denial. Instead, the Congress govt trumps up some charges against a few Hindus and then drums up the chant of “Hindu terror” to please their votebanks. And it’s even starting to sound funny.

In the last few posts I explained how “malnutrition in Gujarat” is used as a stick to beat any economic progress or development in the state and Narendra Modi. Name any progress or achievement of Modi or Gujarat the haters will say “What about malnutrition”? That’s how Sadhvi Pragya has become. You name Mumbai 1993 they’ll say “What about the Sadhvi”? You name 1989, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and you will consistently get a question: “What about Sadhvi Pragya”? So, even now when someone mentions the Hyderabad attack being Islamic terror, the “Sadhvi Pragya” question pops up immediately. Of course, it doesn’t matter that the Sadhvi is not charge sheeted yet and is languishing in jail. This is further compounded by Opposition leaders like Sushma Swaraj also chanting “terrorists have no religion”. She has political compulsions, I don’t. I’m sorry, but they do. Most of these Islamic terror attacks are carried out in the name of Allah-Hu-Akbar, the attackers swear on the Quran and their motivators also promise them martyrdom and virgins in heaven. Remember, being at war with Islamic terrorists is not the same as being at war with Islam. No nation can be at war with a religion. It’s simply not possible. But if the terrorist’s Faith results in their action there can also be no denying that religion motivates them.

We need not go back into history of a thousand years. Even in the last two centuries religion has been the source of terrorism. Whether it’s the holocaust, whether it’s Northern Ireland or whether it’s Palestine, religion has been at the core of terrorism. The terrorism in Kashmir displaced lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits. The day our govt accepted that and did nothing about it they welcomed terrorism to our doorsteps. They created the window and kept the broken windows unfixed for permanent entry of terrorists. The so-called fight for liberation of Kashmir is no battle for strategic real estate alone. It is without doubt a battle born out of religion where the Muslim separatists and terrorists base their philosophy on the Muslim majority theory of the region. Why are we then being fooled with this “terrorists have no religion” nonsense? What exactly do these terrorists want? Unlike the Naxals, who are also terrorists, these terrorists are motivated by nothing but religion. If there is one count on which we can agree “terrorists have no religion” it has to be the application of law. Punish the terrorists regardless of whether they are Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians or even atheists. Aha! That’s where the problem lies. Our politicians even want punishments to be applied selectively. MLAs are now passing resolutions for mercy to terrorists.

Here’s something else that might shock a few. 26/11 is not the biggest terror attack in India in terms of lives lost. This is what the media and politicians have peddled to the people. The 1993 Mumbai blasts cost us 257 lives. Seven bombs in 2006 in Mumbai train bombings killed more than 26/11 (172). The Bush Doctrine at the very least laid out one honest truth. It stated that it is not possible to protect every street and corner of a country from terror strikes; the only solution is to take the offensive to the terrorists. No matter how much people and media scream it is impossible to protect every street and corner of India, especially with our huge population of one billion plus. Here’s another shocker: even before 26/11 happened, National Security Adviser MK Narayanan pointed out that were 800 terror cells in India with external support (read TOI report). That was in August 2008. The NIA, CBI, CIA, MIA, POS and all should have been busting these 800 cells and should have finished by now. Instead, they caught hold of some Sadhvi Pragya and still haven’t managed to prosecute her. That says a lot for zero tolerance. Has anyone ever asked in the parliament what happened to these 800 terrorist cells? Has the media asked? And then Rajdeep will say… Oh that information was already in the public domain and the other channel is wrongly claiming “expose”. Take that Rajdeep and ask that question.

The only way to fight terrorists is to take the battle to them, to take the offensive to them. And what does our govt do? They play dossier-dossier! They indulge in cultural exchanges. They want to show our enemies how sweet we are. Our news channels call terrorists who sleep with terrorists in Pakistan “moderate separatists”. Our Bollywood folks are short of talent in India and have to rely on enemy talent. Our commie folks have undying love for them. And our media? They’re the biggest laugh. They can’t live without enemy panellists or appearing as panellists on their show. Our ministers, like Shashi Tharoor, moderate cross-border debates on how civilians can end terrorism. That’s how you fight terrorists, eh?

Instead of acting and taking the battle to terrorists our politicians are busy researching the colour of terror. Most Congress morons shirk the responsibility with the fake argument of “saffron terror” and our Opposition too sings their song of “terrorists have no religion”. I guess all terrorists must be happy atheists. And our media has now shown progress. Some are busy informing us if there were meat shops in the place of attack. Some tell us our coverage was more mature. I’m positive that at the next attack our media will be hosting some debate: Is our terrorist better than yours? SMS reply to…