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…
