Book Review – The myth of Hindu Terror

What's common between Shivraj Patil, Digvijay Singh, P. Chidambaram, AR Anthulay, etc.? If you think the common factor is that they are all from Congress, better think again. Alright. I'll add one more name - Ramachandra Guha, the self-proclaimed scholar, Nehru-Dynasty sycophant, and hagiographer. Still didn't get? Let me reveal - they all in some capacity are the procreators and purveyors of the myth of non-existent "Hindu Terror" or "Saffron Terror". The whole echo chambers of the carefully cultivated ecosystem of Congress reverberated with the sound of Saffron for some years and they still do.

The book runs in two levels - one that covers the broader aspect of setting the tone for the narrative of Hindu terror and the other of the author, RVS Mani and his first-hand experience dealing with the dispensation at that point in time. It's the story of sitting government taking sides, abandoning neutrality, twisting facts and painting the majority religion as evil without a shred of evidence, or worse - manufacturing or fixing evidence to suit its agenda and narrative of the day. The "secular narrative" that was run by the government, the author concurs - had the potential of destroying the social fabric to shreds.

The author touches upon the concept of 'other governing elites' propounded by Italian sociologist Vilfredo Pareto on the theme of the dominant coalition; the dominant coalition consisted of political elites, retired public servants, members of the judiciary, non-governing elites from corporate, media and social activists and NGO's. These entities collectively form public opinion. This public opinion will be used as a ruse for public policy. This is relevant to Indian context because one can remember the power the unconstitutional group NAC exerted on the UPA government. This group consisted of all the elites that Pareto mentions and exerted inordinate influence on the government and many times acted as a proxy cabinet. The framing of the narrative by the government is validated in many cases such as Ishrat Jahan story, J & K narrative, Binayak Sen story, and the story of arms loot in Maharashtra.

The seeding of Hindu terror

It was in the year 2006 that the first seed of saffron terror was sown. The author was an undersecretary in MHA and this one time, all the officers of the Internal Security division were in Pakistan. Since all the seniors were unavailable, the author was called for by the Home Minister, Shivraj Patil. He was accompanied by two others - Digvijay Singh, ex-CM of Madhya Pradesh and Hemanth Karkare, Police officer who later got killed in 26/11 attacks. Shivraj Patil was uninterested and unconcerned in the conversation but the other two were 'seeking information' about the recent terror attacks. From the intermittent conversation between the other two, it was clear that they were not happy with the information 'a particular religious group was involved in most of the terror attacks'. This was the information from the investigating agencies. But the two were clearly not happy with the intelligence input the at Muslims were aiding terrorist. They wanted to take control and change the narrative - there were repeated references to Nanded, Bajrang Dal etc. 

The investigations in some of the cases like Malegaon bomb blast, Samjauta express blast etc. by the local agencies were taken over by the NIA and were given Hindu twist. The author gives cases after cases of how facts were twisted and engineered to paint them saffron. An agency like ATS which was headed by Hemant Karkare which was not successful in solving 2006 Mumbai blast even after 5-6 months was given the responsibility of solving Malegaon blasts. Till then, Ahl-e-Hadith was the responsible party for the blasts. But once ATS took over, the entire narrative changed (Recent Acquittal of Sadhvi Pragya reaffirms the position that ATS and its chief at that point in time were dishonest, to say the least)

26/11 blasts

By any yardsticks you can think of, 26/11 incident of Mumbai was a monumental mismanagement on all levels - the politicians, security, media, bureaucrats, etc - that a group of 10 terrorists was able to keep the world's largest democracy as hostage for a few days and kill people willfully, speak volumes on the lapses we had. 

The author gives the background of the attacks - saying there were definite intel inputs saying that there were chances of a terrorist attack through our porous coastline. In his detailed assessment of the incident and the chain of incidents - starting from Home Secretary-level talks in Pakistan where the entire security weights were present on the same day as the attack, the episode of Chitkala Zutshi (additional home secretary who escaped the attack unscathed even though present in Taj hotel and was privy to information of the attack before the attack), strong possibility of local help to terrorists - he strongly says there is a mole or moles at an institutional level from the government who helped the terrorists, siding with the enemy. This is a disturbing assessment and a testimony as to what kind of people governed us during the said period. 

Furthering the narrative 

The inefficient and disinterested Home Minister Shivraj Patil was replaced by another inefficient minister (who was a big failure as Power Minister was promoted for inefficiency) Sushil Kumar Shinde. After a while, P. Chidambaram (PC) was made the home minister. He assumed the role with all pomp and always assumed monopoly over wisdom. For eg, he handpicked the DG for NIA - this he did by throwing all the well-laid procedures in the air. He used NIA to propagate the narrative of Hindu terror repeatedly. 

PC misused his office when made sure parts of David Headley's testimony was excised where he clearly stated that Ishrat Jahan and other companions of hers were terrorists, fidayeen whose sole job was to assassinate Narendra Modi. In his speech at CM conference, in Darul-al-Islam, he repeated the narrative of Saffron terror.

The intelligence reports reported that the flow of funds to terrorists, the growth of madrasas in India-Bangladesh and India-Nepal border by organizations like Jamat and HuJI. Major funding was from Saudi and Kuwait. These reports were never paid heed to. Efficient police officers like Rajinder Kumar who identified and neutralized many sleeper cells were harassed. From Ishrat Jahan case to POTA repeal ordinance UPA was interested in bailing out the terrorists. 

Conclusion

The author was harassed and was constantly pestered by the government even when he moved out of MHA - he took a stand saying the Delhi police were innocent in the Batla encounter (a fatwa was issued against him). He was almost kidnapped, traded - but somehow escaped -  for Ajmal Kasab (the only terrorist of 26/11 to be captured alive)

It was a dangerous coterie which ruled India from 2004-14. It was the time India witnessed the highest number of terror attacks - Mumbai attacks, Samjauta blasts, Malegaon blasts, IISc blasts, Batla house encounter, Delhi, Modasa, Rampur blasts, 26/11 attacks, Ishrat Jahan case etc. and many more. It was a weak government at the center - Manmohan Singh as PM - controlled by the proxy NAC calling shots, Shinde as Home Minister, indecisive defense minister AK Anthony. At another level, it was the most sinister government after independence which had its own divisive agenda which pushed the country into the deep abyss. The author has done a great job in uncovering some of the secrets from his 'insider' knowledge and access and thus systematically demolishing the narrative that was carefully built over a decade.

The curious case of Arun Shourie

"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." This is a quote of Harvey Dent in the popular DC comics superhero movie Batman. It describes the questionable nature of heroism through time, the fall from grace of a celebrity or a well-known public figure. I never thought there will come a time when a person like Arun Shourie would fit the description. 

Arun Shourie is a very well known name in Indian intellectual circles for a long time. He has donned various hats - as an economist, a journalist, a public intellectual. In my assessment, he's an intellectual giant in his own right. There are many people like me who have hero-worshipped him for his intellectual clarity and prowess, elephantine memory, assiduousness, depth of thinking and above all the fortitude to take on any opposition single-handedly. 

The so-called "right-wing" in India is hijacked or seems to be hijacked by the RSS types of intellectuals (with all due respect to selfless social work it does). These RSS types don't have ideological clarity or moral courage to carry on their mission. Worse, they don't even know what their mission is. At the drop of the hat, they dabble and babble on fancy ideas like Akhand Bharat, or Hindu Rastra, but they don't have a roadmap or conviction to carry on.

The indefatigable Abhas Chatterjee described RSS thus - It is like a lifeless monster of enormous proportions rather than a throbbing little bee with a sting. By its sheer size, it is huge. But when it comes to achieving its stated goals, RSS scores low. When it 's about developing the intellectual ecosystem, the so-called representative of the Right-wing does next to nothing. Contrast this with the left and how it has captured the Indian intellectual climate. The left has had a grip over intelligentsia much before Indian independence from the British. This has continued after independence to this very day.

The left ideology and its derision for native culture have continued to this day through various branches of its ecosystem - academics, institutions, media and the likes. The leftist ideology has infiltrated everywhere, its torchbearers are ubiquitous under different cloaks which suit different scenarios and situations. There is a huge gulf created thus, where leftists are everywhere and no one to respond or call out their lies. This is where individuals like Arun Shourie stand out. It's individuals like this who have contributed to the almost non-existent right-wing discourse in this country and challenged the leftist hegemony wherever they could. Sita Ram Goel, Ram Swarup, Koenraad Elst are some of the prominent names on top of my head. Arun Shourie belongs to the same league (He's done some outstanding work as a journalist, a minister and an economist which is beyond the scope of this write-up).

My first book of Arun Shourie was Eminent Historians (I've read more than 4 of his books since) - He had dismantled lies brick by brick in an unabashed way. It is a treat to read any of his work where polemics is laced with scholarly brilliance and filled with a large number of citations and anecdotes. Enough of the Shourie I loved. Let's come to his recent statements and press conferences.

Ever since the run-up to the general elections started in 2013, Shourie passively supported Modi and shown his inclination to join the government in whatever capacity he could. But it seems Modi had other plans. After his stupendous win of 2014, Shourie was not offered any positions befitting his stature. Although in many people's opinion, Modi govt. could have utilized a person like Shourie, I personally think Shourie could have been an asset for a ministry like HRD or finance, but that's the way it was. It looks Shourie had nurtured ambitions and Modi's actions might have embittered Shourie.

This bitterness has warranted some of his recent statements - the government is managing headlines, its economic policies are directionless, falsehood is the hallmark of this government etc. Also, he was repeating the bunkum of the opposition which couldn't hold any water like minorities are unsafe in India in the current political dispensation etc. 

Naturally, these positions have endeared him to the "secular" media and politicians (He has already met dangerous and treacherous politicians like Kejriwal and Mamta) He has given interviews to NDTV more than a couple of times. The "seculars" will use him as canon to take a shot at Modi, nothing more than that.

In his most recent statement, he calls opposition to come together & quotes Lenin "to give history a helping hand" to defeat Modi government. O tempora o mores! A lifelong critic of communists and their modus operandi quoting, of all the people Lenin! Per se, there is no harm in objective criticism. But criticism which is engendered by grouse and pettiness is harmful and it is also unbecoming of a towering intellectual like Shourie.

Book Review - How India's Intellectuals Spread Lies

The introduction of the book says:

This book takes a rare, hard look at India's leading public intellectuals whose greatness is taken for granted but whose sophistry is overlooked. Ravi Shanker Kapoor exposes them as cowardly thinkers incapable of challenging conventional wisdom.

Importantly, it's not the personal follies and foibles of these worthies that the author finds troubling but their unquestioning acceptance of failed Leftist theories, and slavish adherence to politically 'correct' ideas. Smug in their acceptance by an adoring Left-liberal media they are blind to empirical evidence which flies in the face of their positions, oblivious both to opportunities thrown up by changed times and to the clear and present dangers of the status quo, whether it be the scourge of socialism or the malevolence of Islamic terror. Thus the spreading of lies, a betrayal of both their own vacation and of the Indian people

The author uses his pen as a butcher wields his knife. In Kapoor's abattoir, no cow is holy enough to be spared - and no reputation hallowed enough to be revered. Combining journalistic experience with solid scholarship, Kapoor relishes in taking on some of the biggest icons in India's public discourse. His is an original voice.

True to its introduction, the book takes a rare hard look at the leading intellectuals of India in a never before manner and breaks the shallow theories they preach and exposes the sophistry they indulge in.

Public discourse in India is increasingly dominated by the people who are leftists or the people who are left-leaning. This book takes a hard look at the people who muddy already muddied discourse of India – how they insinuate and reduce the public discourse to the level of sloganeering and clichés.

Synopsis:

When the communist utopia was in the making in the erstwhile USSR, many human rights atrocities were a daily happening. Many intellectuals and journalists visited the USSR, but they failed to report things as they were due to their allegiance to an ideology. Lenin coined a term for such people – “Useful idiots”. These are the people who blindly and unquestioningly accept leftist lies. The author, Ravishanker Kapoor likens them to the Sheep in George Orwell’s Animal Farm and also to Gandhari of Mahabharata – who is not born blind but chooses to be blind. India has its own set of useful idiots. In his own words the author has exposed the intellectuals as the sheep in the animal farm, as descendants of Gandhari.

The liberals – that’s what most left leaning intellectuals call themselves as, have perverted the values for which liberalism truly stands for. For instance, liberals traditionally sought to limit the scope of the state action and to prefer non-governmental initiatives wherever possible. But the contemporary liberals would ask for just the opposite – favor an increased scope of state action in areas such as education, health care and social welfare.

In a country where sloganeering is confused with etiquette and platitude with wisdom, it’s hardly surprising shouting passes off as the cry of long-suffering, silent majority – If you ever happen to counter the leftist lies you will be shouted down, as the tyranny of decibels rule the roost. You will be abused - in fact abuse is used as the argument, and the name calling – the anti-poor, a Hindu fundamentalist, a lackey of MNCs. These are the time-tested techniques of the left. One more reason for the left’s success in having a great influence in public discourse is that, it has hijacked the pro-poor agenda. The reading habits of Indians and the intellectual bankruptcy of the so-called Indian right aggravates the matter. So, the leftists are free to spread their canards.

Then, the author takes the intellectuals to task – Arundhati Roy,Jawaharlal Nehru, Khushwant Singh, Kuldip Nayar, Mani Shankar Aiyar, P Chidambaram. And puchures their claims, some by empirical proofs and some by effective counter-arguments.

After this, the author explains how the intellectuals spread red propaganda – in most of the cases the liberals act as the B-team of commies. They have an inordinate influence in organizations like NCERT and likes and spread their propaganda and lies through the government prescribed text books and influence the kids at a very early age. The media – is full of liberals and commies - is used as a machinery to spread their canards. Some are born blind, some get afflicted with blindness, and some blindfold themselves. Communists belong to the first category ; liberals and intellectuals belong to the other two categories.

In the concluding chapters, the author explains how communists use guilt as the weapon of mass deception. The leftists saw the society as machinery which can be designed according to some dogmas – dialectical materialism, scientific socialism et al. - rather than as an organism. Communists and left wing intellectuals are the generals of mendacity. Human civilization is the target ; they are softening the target by using the technique of guilt-mongering. The bombardment of lies and white lies continues unabated. More often than not, liberals end up as accomplices of the Left in this war against civilization. They become useful for the commies. That is why Lenin called them “Useful idiots”.

In the final chapter, the author proposes a way out – A theory of Indian conservatism. First he clears off the myths surrounding conservatism. The three strands of conservatism are – open society, free economy and limited government. The origins of conservatism and the three strands are explained at some length. The author says there is a need to develop conservatism as an ideology in India and argues Indian conservatism is inherent and unspoken. In fact, Indian conservatism – based on individual liberty and focusing on open society, free market, and limited government – be in tune with will not only be in tune with the traditions, conventions, and intellectual history of the country but also allow them to grow in a healthy manner. And the final warning – The nation is doomed unless a sizable part of its Illuminati embrace conservatism wholeheartedly.

Conclusion – All in all, I found this book as one of the best reads in the recent times. This book should be read to understand the muddied waters of political discourse. The writing style of the author – holding no cows holy, calling spade a spade – endears him to the readers. This book sets the tone for the much needed alternative discourse in India.

Vote Congress - Get back to Socialist Dystopia of the 70s

Talk to anyone who grew up in the 70s. Chances are more that they talk about the dismal economic conditions they were living in than they talk about the affluent or at least middle class lifestyle. That was the condition in which most of the Indians languished till the economic reforms gave them some kind of respite and hope.

Agreed, India of the 70s was just over two decades since was free from the colonial clutches. But many countries which were erstwhile colonial colonies, once got freedom in the 40s and 50s were marching ahead in the economic growth while majority of the Indians were paralyzed by penury. If you go to the main causes of it, it’s not hard to find the reason – the flirtation with socialism to usher in the dreams of a utopia.

I had said in one of my earlier posts – most of the problems that are plaguing the contemporary India can be traced back to congress. In the same way, many of the mindless economic policies that caused unnecessary delay of economic progress of India can be traced back to one man – Jawaharlal Nehru and of course, his progenies.

Those were the times when the world was swayed by the spells of socialism. Nehru, who was a Fabian socialist was immensely influenced by the success of the then USSR, wanted to replicate the same in India. So, all these centralized planning, the five-year plan, control of the state on key industries are the results of the socialist principles. But, thank heavens he did not choose the way of Lenin, Stalin or Mao.

If you by any chance remember studying the kind of economy India is, you might remember studying it as a mixed economy – that is the one which has both the traits of socialism and capitalism. But before the reforms of the 90s, India can be rightly called as a quasi-socialist economy. There is a well known joke in the Former Eastern Bloc – Capitalism makes social mistakes, socialism makes capital mistakes.

The legacy of Nehru continued unabated – first through his daughter and then through the dynasty. In my assessment of the man I can ascribe naiveté for him but not malignancy. The same can’t be said about his daughter Indira. She was dictatorial, having little respect for the democratic principles. For these kinds of leaders naturally socialism becomes dearest. So, during her reign, socialistic policies went unchecked. To understand how diabolical the policies were of the Indira’s rule, just sample this –  India’s personal income tax had eleven tax brackets with highest marginal income tax rate of 97.5 per cent! Now, with that level of taxation, who would want to be an entrepreneur? It was just discouraging for anyone who wanted to be an entrepreneur.

That’s just the repetition of the same old story of Robin Hood we knew about: Rob from the rich and give it to the poor. But usually the latter never happened. No country can ever be in the path of progress without entrepreneurial spirit. But with the existing principles, the spirit of entrepreneurship was nipped in the bud.

Now cut to present day, current UPA government – we hear the same sloganeering, the same social engineering, the same high decibel projects (NREGA, and other such loathsome likes) – in short, all vestiges of the bygone dark socialistic era. They have brought down India from a level in which it was hailed as the next economic power to a crippling economy where food inflation runs close to 13%.

It was a rude shocker for the BJP and NDA when the Congress and its allies got the mandate to form the government in 2004. It was too much to give it a second chance in 2009. It continued doing what it did in the first term – to bring India down by several notches. Now we stand at the doorstep of a much needed change. If we make a mistake of re-electing the UPA again, the mistake would be too costly to correct. So, the mistake would be at our own peril and might create the socialist dystopia yet again. 

You deserve what you get, you get what you deserve - that's Democracy

The west has given the world many ideologies – Capitalism, socialism, liberalism, fascism to name a few. Some of them proved to be malevolent for mankind but a few proved otherwise. The most profound idea that it ever gave was the idea of democracy - the idea that people could rule themselves through an elected representative. The fact that the democracy originated more than 2500 years ago, just indicates the level of sophistication the Greek thought and civilization had achieved. This is not to say democracy is the best level of governance, it is in fact not. But nevertheless, it is arguably the best form of governance among all available, conceivable options.

 

Cutting through all the lengthy explanations, what is the core of democracy? Abraham Lincoln simplified it for us “It’s a form of government – by the people, for the people and of the people”. To simplify further, it’s apt to say that it empowers people. In other forms of government, power rests with a very few people or a clique but in democracy it’s with everyone. Now, we know with power comes responsibility. We’ll come to that part a bit later. 

 

Now consider the situation in India. There is hardly anyone who doesn’t complaint about the politicians of India. Begin a political discussion anywhere; all you get to hear is unending lamenting on the contemporary political scenario and the mess the politicians have made out of India, which was once a great land. Some go to an extent of calling it a kakistocracy. But, is it really so? Let us see. I am not going to quote Cleisthenes or Karl Popper or someone of that sort to make a point. But instead, watch this video. 

 

 

This is the video from one of the world’s greatest stand-up comedians of all time: George Carlin. Now, if you did not watch the video, let me give you the transcript:

Now, there's one thing you might have noticed I don't complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don't fall out of the sky. They don't pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It's what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain't going to do any good; you're just going to end up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it's not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here... like, the public. Yeah, the public sucks. There's a nice campaign slogan for somebody: 'The Public Sucks. F*ck Hope.  

Just substitute ‘India’ in the place of ‘America’, it perfectly fits in. I’ll add a few more adjectives to what Carlin has said: If you have docile, passive, corrupt, insensitive population all you get is exactly similar kind of politicians. So, I find it unfair to blame only politicians for all the mess that India is. People share equal blame, if not more.

 

The primary problem seems that the idea of democracy hasn’t seeped completely into the minds of the people and there were no momentous efforts from the concerned leadership after getting freedom. So, many people are still the same old feudalistic mindset and democracy has become a make-believe idea. Democracy won’t work like that. It works only through people’s active, responsible participation which severely lacks in India. Coming to responsibility, as I mentioned early with power comes responsibility. If there are inept leaders, perhaps the responsibility is not handled properly by the populace.

 

If you have corrupt, inept leaders, perhaps the large chunk of population comprises that kind of people. To give an analogy: all these politicians are like samples taken from the large data pool of entire population. They do represent the population at large. In democracy, we get what we deserve. Nothing is undeserved. So, all the politicians you loathe, hold them in contempt are perhaps deserved after all.

My being pro-BJP is incidental ; whereas my being anti-Congress is permanent

If there was one impending doom that could be called as the greatest to befall on Independent India, that could be called as ‘congress’. That was one baggage we could have done without. Instead of disbanding it for good as per the aspirations of the Mahatma, it was left to stay. The lust for power knows neither principles nor ethics. It triumphs everything else.

But, why such animosity against such a ‘great’ national party which did so many ‘sacrifices’ for the nation you may ask. Well, the issue under discussion merits at least the scope of a full book. The ills inflicted on the nation, the aspirations of the people cut short, the number of hopes betrayed, and it will be too long to even mention all the sins committed by congress.

The best test would be to list all the problems distressing the Indian populace and the problems plaguing all the political parties across the nation. I can take a bet that a phenomenal number of them can be traced back to congress, its ideology (does it have one?) and its misrule. From falling over backwards for minorities to dynastic politics to dividing on communal and caste lines – everything – has its roots in the congress party.

To start with, when Congress got the mandate to rule the country after independence they inherited a great number of traits from the erstwhile rulers, the British. They continued to despise the people and their aspirations, they continued to see how they can hold onto the seat willy-nilly, and the worst them of all: they continued to Divide and rule. In fact, congress has mastered this strategy of dividing the country into smaller and smaller pieces in the name of language, religion, castes and whatnot!

If the country is divided into umpteen number of pieces, if one faction is at war with the other, if regionalism has triumphed over nationalism (and a large number of people have sympathies for regionalism than nationalism) think that there is a grand wicked hand of congress at work. In fact, congress not only represents a party but it stands for a culture – a culture that now has been imbibed by many other small parties. It’s a culture of settling scores of political rivals, corruption of gargantuan magnitude, legacy of betrayal, sycophancy (most important), keeping the people in perpetual poverty and ignorance, needless reverence of one particular family (dynastic politics, in other words), rendering of constitutional institutions into the state of powerlessness, killing free speech – in short, killing democracy inch by inch.

Although the hegemony of congress over the nation has dented over a period of time, it takes some more time for its abject decimation. India and congress are like two mutually exclusive events – For India to progress, congress has to go with all of its manifestations or should congress stay, India can never be on the path of progress – that’s a given. To be more straightforward, I consider congress to be akin with a cancerous tumor which has to be removed should the person needs to survive. Here, the person is India.

On the contrast, with all its problems and squabbles - BJP in the national level -- is something you can still entrust your hopes on. Although the original ideology of placing nation above the party and self has definitely deteriorated over time, it has still not died completely. Still, there are leaders who can selflessly dedicate themselves for the task of nation building. Besides, should I have to choose other party than the BJP or the congress there is not a single party which can throw a real challenge to congress other than the BJP at a pan-Indian level. So, it’s also the deprivation of choices that makes me vote for the BJP. With its many obvious flaws, if you consider BJP to be evil, it is much lesser evil compared to congress and all of its manifestations – any day! That’s why, my being pro-BJP is just incidental but my being anti-Congress is something permanent.

Book Review - Breaking India

Before starting anything, sample this : 2 authors, 5 years of research, 476 pages of data and analysis, bibliography of 61 pages, references to innumerable websites, books,and articles. Even this doesn't say how serious and important is this work -> Breaking India - Western Interventions in Dravidian and Dalit Faultlines. Authored by Rajiv Malhotra and Aravindan Neelakandan this work talks about various kinds of threats that are systematically unleashed by various coordinated forces on India and its religion. Before reading anything further, go to this official website to know more. 

The map shown is what the authors warn about in the book.

Introduction: 

There are global forces which don't like the idea of integrated India and constantly try to balkanize India so that balkanized India serves to fulfill their ultimate ends. Rajiv Malhotra calls these forces centrifugal forces. There are some interests which want to see India as one united country and these Malhotra calls as centripetal forces. Needless to say, centrifugal force that India is subjected to is far more stronger than the centripetal force which tries to unite India.

What are the centrifugal forces that want India to be divided and sub-divided? Though there are innumerable forces, institutions, individuals, all invariably fall into these three category -

1) Islamic radicalism linked with Pakistan
2) Maoists and Marxist radicals supported by China via intermediaries such as Nepal
3) Dravidian and Dalit identity separatism being fostered by the west in the name of human rights.

As the authors say in the introduction, this book focuses on the third issue -
the role of U.S. and European churches, academics, think-tanks, foundations, government and human rights groups in fostering separation of the identities of Dravidian and Dalit communities from the rest of India.

Synopsis:

The range of topics, institutions, individuals that are covered are huge that just for convenience, I have divided the issues raised by this book into these sub-headings (no way it's comprehensive)

1) Creation of identities, faultlines 

India is a diverse nation comprising of various cultures, languages, identities. But despite so many variations, there is something that creates pan-Indian identity. But the centrifugal forces (several churches, NGOs, individuals) are desperately trying to sever this pan-Indian identity and create several limited identities in its place.

2) Creation of race theories, their large implications in forming identities

Race theories were the products of colonial constructs of 18th century and are outdated. Still, to this day they are regurgitated to divide and sub-divide India. The creation of Aryan theory is well known and we know how the British used it to justify their dominion. The church and the colonialists have used Biblical myth of Ham to justify both racism and colonialism.

The authors warn of the outcome of creation and manipulations of race identities (master race, slave race having strong parallels with Aryan and Dravidian race theories) citing the examples of Sri Lanka and Rwanda. These two countries witnessed the worst civil wars of history killing thousands of people. 

3) Dravidian and Dalit faultlines

There are consistent efforts to portray Dravidian identity as an unique identity and different from pan-Indian identity. Same goes with the Dalit identity. Every effort is made to keep them apart from mainstream Hinduism and pan-Indian identity. Once the identities are separated from the pan-Indian identity, it can be used to map it to Christianity. So, many high profile churches are involved in this because it ultimately helps in proselytizing.

4) Dravidian Christianity, digesting Hinduism 

Attempts have been made to portray history of Christianity in India as an ancient one starting from the myth of St.Thomas. Just to give you a glimpse of some crackpot theories, sample these:

1.    India is a Dravidian Christian nation.
2.    Veda Vyasa is a Christian missionary.
3.    Shakti is the holy ghost in the christian trinity.
4.    Famed 6 Darshanas, Purva mimansa et al.have christian origin.
5.    Hinduism and Sanskrit were formed in 2nd century A.D.     

Did you say "Are you freaking kidding me?" but yes,these are the kinds of spurious theories which are passing of as scholarship. Basic contention is this: Anything good in Hinduism should be of Christian origin. First they tell Hinduism and Christianity are similar. Then they say Christianity as the pristine,the only truth and there is no salvation without Christ. All these so-called academic exercises are done only to aid conversion.

5) India and Hindu bashing industry of the west

India and Hindu bashing industry of the west is highly lucrative. There are many institutions which are dedicated to do this job. Of course they do it in the name of 'human rights', 'empowerment', 'protection of minorities' etc. There is a huge nexus of this India-bashing industry which uses every possible incident in India in the international circle to portray India and Hinduism in a bad light. These are high paying roles which promises reputation, money, foreign trips etc.

6) Church interests and U.S. direct involvement  

Church has severe interests in India and for its evangelical plans, it has mapped India to be inside the 10/40 window. India falls under the region where church has planned aggressive evangelism. The other major regions which fall under this region are China, Arab countries where proselytizing is outlawed or heavily restricted. So, India becomes the natural target.

To fulfill the mission of 'reaching out to the unreached masses' which is an euphemism for conversion, the church can go to any extent. For instance the Church and Maoists have come together in North-East India to break away from India.

The right-wing politics and lobbying is very strong in the U.S such that they eventually influence the policies of the U.S which can have many far reaching effects on India.

7)  Pan-Islam, China and the west

These are three civilizations which are working for the world's domination. They fight amongst themselves owing to difference in ideology. But when it comes to India, they all come together because they have a common enemy: India and its culture. All these forces have made India an ideological battleground. Truth be told, they have nothing to lose but everything to gain. The increase of Jihadi network in Kerala, the Naxalism in some states, Maoism in the north-east India and the huge infrastructure and networks these forces have created bear testimony to the fact that they are getting more stronger by the day.  


The Ultimatum :

This book should be studied by all who want to see India as one united country. The book is not trying to churn out some conspiracy theories but instead relies on hard,well-documented facts. So, the importance of the book can't be overstated. This book is important in many levels like: strategic,security, policy making etc.

Once you finish the book, you might get a feeling that India is a piece of meat lying on the ground waiting to be devoured by the vultures flying in the sky. The vultures which represent the centrifugal forces are far more equipped, organized, networked than the centripetal forces. The message and gentle warning that the book gives,if simplified could be:'be vigilant,organize,strategize or perish'

The three world conquerors, their doctrines

As Koenraad Elst & a few others clearly observed, there are three world conquerors that have ambitions which will be satisfied only when the world becomes theirs. The three world conquerors are Communism, Christianity and Islam. Though their ideologies and modus operandi may differ, they travel towards the same goal: total world conquest; and they will not rest until their stated goal is reached. Although one can discount the effect of communism over the world compared to the other two owing to the collapse of Soviet Union and failed states which had embraced communist ideology, it still has not died totally. Certain offshoots of communism still persist strongly especially in India. Their history and effects are too elaborate to be discussed in a book let alone a blogpost. I try to touch them at least superficially.

Communism

Though the idea of communism can’t be traced back to one particular era or one particular individual, communism found concrete shape from the theories of Marx and Engels. Though the words socialism and communism are used interchangeably, there is a difference between socialism and communism. Socialism is just a transitional phase on the road to communism. The aim of communism is to create a class-less society which is based on common ownership. Communism theory says every society has to pass through five stages of development: class-less primitive society, feudalism, capitalism, socialism and communism.[1]

No nation, no master, no class: This is the stated goal of communists. There will be no classes at the culmination of communism. The power is equally distributed among the masses; so there is no master. The entire world would have embraced the idea. So, there are no divisions among the nations. Communists defined peace as the lack of opposition; thus peace could only be attained once everyone had surrendered and fallen under the control of the World-Wide Communist State. Everyone will consume according to their needs not for their greed. This is the ideal propounded by Marx.[2] Sounds pretty good! But, it’s utopian, and hence impractical.

The main aim of the communists is to seize power of the state. They never sway away from their stated goal. They plan meticulously and execute the plans with mathematical certainty. The utopian world that’s envisaged by communism has beckoned many intellectuals to embrace the ideology. So, even today most of the people who are branded as intellectuals have a tilt towards leftist ideology. Especially in India, most of the intellectual sphere is ruled by communists.

If people voluntarily take up the idea of communism, it may create a beautiful world. If it is enforced, it is nothing short of tyranny. So, naturally the states which are under the rule of communism are totalitarian. Even today, most of the human rights violations all over the world are reported from either communist countries or Islamic countries.

As far as India is concerned, communists have hijacked the intellectual, public discourse. They hold key positions so that they can twist and turn the institutions of national importance according to their whims and fancies. All the terrorist organizations like Maoists, Naxals or ULFA are all inspired from the grand idea of communism. With the fall of Soviet Union, communism has got a death blow. But still, it hasn’t perished.

Islam

The youngest of the Semitic religions, Islam was founded in 7th century in Arabia. Like Judaism and Christianity, it is also a revealed religion. In all the revealed religions, it is mandatory to believe in god as well as in his prophet to be able to get any rewards. Prophet Muhammad claimed that he was the prophet chosen by the god Allah for the benefit of the entire humanity and he received the messages of Allah through Angel Gabriel. He put himself in the line of Abraham, Jesus, Moses and the likes. But Muhammad abrogated all the previous prophets including Jesus and claimed he was the last prophet send by god for the benefit of humanity. A close study of life of Muhammad shows us how he intelligently maneuvered ignorant Arabs and built an empire of Islam.

Islam is more of a set of beliefs and political ideology masquerading as religion than a religion in the real sense. A close look at Quran and Hadith reveals the true nature of Islam. The intention is to conquer the whole world. It is similar to communism in its intention but it is with god-attached. For all the heinous acts that Muslims commit all over the world in the name of Islam there is sanction from the god. So, moral dilemmas seldom arise in them. Islam divides the whole world into Dar-al-harb(Land of war) and Dar-al-salaam (Land of peace).[3] Dar-al-harb is the place where Islam is not the official religion. So, war should never stop in those places until and unless it is completely converted to Islam. Then alone it becomes land of peace, Dar-al-salaam. And it is the duty of every Muslim to take part in this ‘holy’ mission in some way or the other. The concept of Jihad is central to the Islamic doctrine and is considered to be the most sacred.

Islam, the imperialism: The imperial nature of Islam is such that all the converts have to change their lives to fit into the Islamic mould. It places the idea of Arab, Arabic culture (Islamic culture) and Arabic language as superior to all the rest and expects all the followers to emulate.[3] It is so much of an exclusivist ideology that it intends to completely obliterate the rest. So, when the countries were conquered and converted by Islamists, their ancient culture and history are stamped out of their lives. So, they never merely conquered a country but destroyed its history and civilizations. For instance: Iran and Egypt had great civilizations going back thousands of years, but they have been totally wiped out. This is what’s happened to Afghanistan in recent times and also what the Jihadists are trying to do to Kashmir.[4]

Indian context: India being the biggest land of polytheists became their targets in as early as 10th century. It is sanctioned in Quran to destroy the places of worship of other religions and to build mosques in their places. It was faithfully implemented in India as well. Millions of people were killed, converted and temples were destroyed. Of course, our ‘eminent’ historians invent economic reasons for this plundering of temples. Although economic reasons were a part of it, the biggest reason was religious one. Nalanda, Vaishali, Sarnath, Vikramashila, Takshashila, and many more centers of learning which attracted students from all over the world were mercilessly destroyed by the Islamic bigots. But amidst all these we have to acknowledge among all the nations and civilizations that Islamists have attacked, India alone remains unconquered till date. So, they consider India as an unfinished chapter in their global Jihad expeditions.

A commentator writing by the pen name KaffirPagan wrote about the entire history of conquest of Islam in India so succinctly and beautifully in the website Jihadwatch.com of Robert Spenser.

"It has been coming at us for 1400 years in Islamic tides that have ebbed and flowed. And our boundaries are still receding.
Christian Byzantium- Syria, Jordan, Turkey have been lost to the enemy camp. Also, North Africa has been lost by Christendom.
Similarly Hindus have lost Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia and Malaysia. Buddhists lost all of Central Asia (The Central Asian republics- the Stans). Persian Zoroastrians lost their entire possession- Iran.
At least we still have India and Europe proper. But do we? The Muslims in both places continue to multiply disproportionately and encroach more ground.India had a beautiful civilization before the newly converted Turkish, Persian hoards goaded on by their Arab masters with promises of booty and women of Hindustan completely wrecked India. They raped India again, again and again for centuries.
According to the words of Islamic court chroniclers that often accompanied the Muslim warlords-- "Hindu civilization was wrecked, ground to dust, the inhabitants of Hindoostan became like atoms scattered..." This theme of wanton and cruel pillage reoccurs again and again and again from 800 AD till 1700 AD. It is a telling story of how civilization can be overwhelmed by barbarians hovering on its borders.
The Muslim barbarians appropriated not only India's riches, but also its accumulated knowledge for themselves.And no, the modern number system, the decimal, the concept of zero, arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, chess, astronomy, medicine, speculative philosophy, metaphysics were not "invented" by Arabs. They were stolen from India and claimed for the Ummah. Ditto- Greek and Roman philosophies.
But at least the Europeans were aware of their own heritage and reclaimed it back. Why? Because Europe was not fully conquered, only partially ravaged till Anatolia, Iberia and the Balkans. The rest of Europe was relatively free from the scourge of Islam.But India? Not so fortunate. The entire land which was India (which consists of present day Pakistan, Afghanistan) was enslaved by the Mohammedans and that too for 800 years! The land that gave birth to the most "progressive, creative and imaginative civilization known to man," according to the words of a Western scholar, was not only physically, but also mentally yoked to Islamic slavery for 8 millenniums. No wonder that Indians are neither aware of the achievements of their ancestors, nor are proud of their heritage.
It is the same India that had the biggest universities of the world of its time like Nalanda (Bihar, India) and Taxila (present day Rawalpindi-Pakistan) where students from all over the world: China, Greece, Persia traveled to learn sciences, speculative metaphysics, philosophy, economics, mathematics. Some have said that noted Greeks like Archimedes himself came to India to study geometry. India was also been China's teacher for centuries, and in the words of a Chinese general-- "India has conquered China for a millennium without sending a single soldier over the Himalayas." This empire of ideas, of learning, of knowledge was reduced to the pitiful state of today because of a long and dark intervening period of Islamic plunder.
But the Hindus never gave in, nor gave up. They retreated into the forests and into the inaccessible Himalayan Mountains with whatever memories of their civilization they could salvage. The Hindu population in the middle ages decreased by 80 million! Many were slaughtered, many died of hunger and disease when transported over the Hindu Kush mountains (literally means "killer of Hindus") to be sold as slaves in the bazaars of Central Asia and Baghdad, many died of famine when the entire socio-economic structure of the land was shattered.
But I am mighty glad that despite all the unimaginable sufferings the collective will of our ancestors didn't sink and they did not join the enemy ranks. I am mighty glad the unassailable sword of Islam the overpowered the Persians, Byzantines, North Africans and Central Asia Turks was blunted in India.
Otherwise, today I too would be the nemesis of civilization, I too would be calling for the triumph of Islam, I too would be the enemy like the converted Albanians, Persians, Syrians and Turks."

If someone daydreams about the end of Islamic terrorism, they have to remember that Islam is fundamentally unchangeable. In the words of Geert Wilders, a controversial politician from Netherlands (controversial because of his open criticism of Islam) "There might be moderate Muslims, but there is no moderate Islam. Islam will never change, because it is built on two rocks that are forever, two fundamental beliefs that will never change, and will never alter. First, there is the Quran, Allah's personal word, uncreated, forever, with orders that need to be fulfilled regardless of place or time. And second, there is al-insal al-kamil, the perfect man, Muhammad the role model, whose deeds are to be imitated by all Muslims. And since Muhammad was a warlord and a conqueror we know what to expect. Islam means submission, so there cannot be any mistake about its goal. That's a given. It's a fact"!

Christianity

Compared to the previous two, Christians operate in a softer but a very organized manner. Christians have prophet in the form of Jesus and they believe him to be the chosen one of god among all men & was sent to earth to elevate humanity. The principal founders of Christianity include Peter, James, Matthew and John who were all the disciples of Jesus. As with any other Semitic religion, Christianity is an exclusive path.

Christians sincerely believe Jesus to be the son of god and salvation can be attained only by following him. The ones that don’t follow him are doomed. So, to ‘save’ the souls from the doom, they do religious conversions. They do it zealously and they think it as a pious work. Perhaps the proverbial ‘missionary zeal’ originated from the Christian missionaries.

Theologically, Christianity had a tendency towards intolerance, but had to adopt the policy of "live and let live" because in its formative period, it was but one of the numerous sects in the pluralist Roman Empire.[5] But much unlike Islam, it seldom directly plunders civilizations but attacks very core of civilizations and over a period of time it uproots them. Christianity has contribution in destroying Inca, Mayan civilizations. The unassailable Roman Empire could not stand the incoming wave of Christianity. Though there were many reasons for the downfall of Roman Empire, Christianity was a main factor.[6] Many indigenous African cultures were destroyed when a large part of Africa was converted to Christianity. There is an African proverb which captures the pulse of that point “"When the white man first came to this land, we had the land and they had the bible. They taught us to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them again, we had the bible and the white man had the land."”

India, a natural target: when the European invaders like Portuguese, Dutch, and British came to India, they all came with missionaries to ‘save’ millions of souls. India was the largest pagan-land and naturally attracted all the missionaries who were interested in saving souls and planting crosses everywhere they could.

Even to this day, India remains the best destination, an attractive location for ‘soul-harvesting’. The reason being a large part of non-Christian population resides in the lands of India, China and all the Islamic republics. In all the Islamic countries and communist China, the missionary activities and hence the religious conversions are completely banned. So, thus India became a natural destination and target for the soul harvesters. And they have successfully harvested many souls in North-Eastern parts of India, tribal areas, Southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

They are doing a few things covertly, a few things unabashedly. The Joshua Project,a mega-plan they have made for soul-harvesting is really telling of their evangelical activities. They have made a detailed plan for soul-harvesting across the world. They have segregated people by their religion, language, ethnicity and various other parameters.They have separate plans for each segment of people. The whole exercise looks like a huge project of some multi-national company.The project is global, well-networked, well-funded. Needless to say, the main targets in India would be tribals and backward castes.This is just a tip of the iceberg.

In November 1999, the then Pope John Paul II visited India and he did not hide any intentions when he made the statement “Just as in the first millennium the Cross was planted on the soil of Europe, and in the second on that of the Americas and Africa, we can pray that in the Third Christian Millennium a great harvest of faith will be reaped in this vast and vital continent” He was referring to Asia. With china out of equation, the only largest remaining country is India.

Conclusion: Even if the rest of the groups except these three get obliterated from the face of the earth, these three conquerors would still fight among themselves for supremacy. (For instance, Muslims are persecuted in communist china; communists were persecuted in Iran; historical crusades between Muslims and Christians.) As far as India is considered, all three are very much present in India. Though each one is the nemesis of the other, the common animosity towards Hinduism brings them all together. All are fervently pursuing their respective missions, and have damaged the civilization significantly but I still believe India’s soul is intact.

References

1) Marx and Engels, The German ideology

2) Karl Marx, The communist manifesto

3) Anwar Shaikh, Islam-The Arab imperialism

4) Navaratna Rajaram, An article by name Tortured souls create twisted history

5) Koenraad Elst, Negationism in India

6) Edward Gibbon, The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire

My Books Review: April '12

1) The intelligent investor: This is a classic book on value-investing written by Benjamin Graham who is called as the father of value-investing as well as the dean of security analysis. There are many approaches to investing but the investment based on the inherent value of the business was pioneered and perfected by Ben Graham. The approach of Graham has stood the test of time over decades surviving the worst bear markets of stock market history. The book was first published in the 40s and subsequently edited by Graham till his death in the 70s. This particular edition which I’ve read has commentaries by financial journalist Jason Zweig. 

The book in its outset explains a very important but often neglected point of investment: the difference between investment and speculation. Then starts building methodically the approach, discipline required for value investor. The approach is explained through various historical data, companies. 

It explains meticulously all the factors that are involved in investment process. Graham does analysis with microscopic details. Graham’s theory was well known in investment circles all over the world but was made popular by his most famous student Warren buffet. 

The book has its positives in its meticulous and comprehensive approach to value investing but at times gets boring when it goes into the details of US stock market history. An Indian version of the book explaining the concepts of Graham with Indian stock market history can be useful for Indian investors.

The concepts that are explained in the book require some basic knowledge in finance and investing. A layman who is new to the world of investment will find it difficult to stomach the concepts presented. This is a single, most reliable work on value investing that can’t be missed by the people from world of finance in general and investment in particular.


2) The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order: This is an important work of Samuel Huntington which attempted to explain geo-politics in the post-cold war world. Ideology formed the central role in international relations in the cold-war era. But after the collapse of Soviet Union and ending of cold war, the place of ideology will be supplanted by culture and civilizations. Thus the book predicts there will be clash of civilization & Global politics will be multi-polar and multi-civilizational. 

The author defines what civilization is and recognizes five major civilizations in the present world: Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Islamic, and Western. The west rose to prominence in the 16th century and the author categorically says it’s not due to any superiority of its civilization. In his own words “The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence”. But there can be no denying the fact that the west is the cradle of majority of political ideologies of the world like: liberalism, socialism, anarchism, corporatism, Marxism, communism, social democracy, conservatism, nationalism, fascism, and Christian democracy. The common denominator of all these are they are the product of western civilization. 

For a universal civilization to emerge there should be a universal language and universal religion. That possibility looks unlikely. It predicts that by the about the third decade of the 21st century, Islam will be the dominant religion of the world displacing western Christianity. The reason being, Christianity spreads primarily by conversion, Islam by conversion and reproduction. It also predicts that by the middle of 21st century, the western grip on the world economy will be over. The main civilizations that are positioned to challenge the west are Confucian and Islamic.

All the civilizations should necessarily have core state which can lead all other nations of that civilization. “Islam, Latin America, and Africa lack core states. Islamist fundamentalism rejects the nation state in favor of the unity of Islam just as Marxism rejected it in favor of the unity of the international proletariat.” The future fault lines are likely to arise from interaction of “Western arrogance, Islamic intolerance, and Sinic assertiveness.”

The role of religion in the fault line war is emphasized by using the Islamic example (Afghan-Soviet war of the ‘79). The role of religion is downplayed by myopic seculars, and those who want to be politically correct. “In the end, the Soviets were defeated by three factors they could not effectively equal or counter: American technology, Saudi money, and Muslim demographics and zeal”

Then comes one of the most discussed and debated part of the book: The incidence of Islam’s bloody borders. “While at the macro or global level of world politics the primary clash of civilizations is between the West and the rest, at the micro or local level it is between Islam and the others.” It quotes many examples in this context: The situation in Bosnia, Kosovo, Cyprus (Muslim Turks and Orthodox Greeks), Chechnya, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Middle East, Sudan & a few others.

Then, the possible causes of Muslim conflict propensity are analyzed. A few of them are:

1) Islam has from the start been a religion of the sword and that it glorifies military virtues.
2) Islam originated among “warring Bedouin nomadic tribes” and this violent origin is stamped in the foundation of Islam.
3) Muhammad himself is remembered as a hard fighter and a skillful military commander. (No one would say this about Christ or Buddha.)
4) The doctrines of Islam, it is argued, dictate war against unbelievers.

5) The Koran and other statements of Muslim beliefs contain few prohibitions on violence, and a concept of nonviolence is absent from Muslim doctrine and practice.
6) Even more than Christianity, Islam is an absolutist faith. It merges religion and politics and draws a sharp line between those in the Dar al-Islam and those in the Dar al-harb. As a result, Confucians, Buddhists, Hindus, Western Christians, and Orthodox Christians have less difficulty adapting to and living with each other than any one of them has in adapting to and living with Muslims.
7) From its origin in Arabia, the spread of Islam across northern Africa and much of the Middle East and later to central Asia, the Subcontinent, and the Balkans brought Muslims into direct contact with many different peoples, who were conquered and converted, and the legacy of this process remains.

On an ending note, the book predicts the war based on civilization between different civilizations, most likely involving Muslims on one side and non-Muslims on the other. The book envisages a hypothetical global civilizational war between China & the US, and between India & Pakistan. The US, Europe, Russia and India would engage in a global struggle against China, Japan and most of Islam. The global power would shift from the west to the east and then towards south. The great beneficiary would be India.

The cycle of civilization is explained beautifully in this paragraph: “When civilizations first emerge, their people are usually vigorous, dynamic, brutal, mobile, and expansionist. They are relatively uncivilized. As the civilization evolves it becomes more settled and develops the techniques and skills that make it more Civilized. As the competition among its constituent elements tapers off and a universal state emerges, the civilization reaches its highest level of Civilization, its “golden age,” with a flowering of morality, art, literature, philosophy, technology, and martial, economic, and political competence. As it goes into decay as a civilization, its level of Civilization also declines until it disappears under the onslaught of a different surging civilization with a lower level of Civilization.”

To avoid major inter-civilizational wars, the core states of each civilizations should stop meddling in conflicts with other civilizations, the author advocates. Also, an international order based on civilizations is the surest safeguard against world war.

This book advocates a model based on civilizations for the interactions in global politics. But the truth is that as many experts say, global politics is too complicated to be captured by any single model.

My Books Review: January '12

Perhaps one of the most notorious autobiographies ever to be penned down Mein Kamph is an account of Adolf Hitler’s life spanning from his birth to his ascendance to power. It gives a detailed account of the historical views, the prevalent political conditions that existed during the time of First World War and the period after viewed in the lens of Hitler. The original book is in German. It is translated to English by James Murphy.

The book starts by paying homage to twelve martyrs who laid their lives for the National socialistic party. Then it tells the story of Hitler’s birth in Austria, his parents, his love for painting, the relationship between Germany and Austria. Hitler’s intense love for Germany is very evident right from the beginning. A voracious reader he was, he read many books which helped him to form opinions about the political realities of his day and the problem that his nation faced. He forms opinion that there are two evils that are vexing Germany: Marxism and Jews. He has analyzed Marxists very well in some parts but he links Marxists with Jews.

Then he explains about ‘propaganda’, how it should be carried out. There can not be any better person to explain these other than Hitler. As a die-hard racist, he concludes the highest aim of human existence is conservation of race, the Aryan-blood is the purest and the rest of the races are subordinates to the Aryans. He analyses the causes for the defeat of Germany in the WWI, understand the mass psychology of people, devices methods to appeal to them, Then he actively involves himself in politics, builds National Socialistic Party which has a new Weltanschauung (A comprehensive view of the world and human life) amidst various hardships, develops oratory skills, charismatic appeals and ascends to the party leadership position.

In this autobiographical note, Hitler has mentioned everything that he wants to do once he comes to power: the kind of allies that Germany needs to have, the kind of society he intends to build, the emphasis on racism, the need for ethnic cleansing (though the word is not spelled out), everything horrible he has done finds mention or at least have clue in this autobiography.

Nazism, Communism and Islam – The ideological parallels

All political ideologies aim to create a perfect society. The claims of the people who propound those ideologies are very lofty and promising so that people are lured to embrace them. But after some time, they turn totalitarian and they exert control through iron hand. They then turn tyrannical and instead of being boon to the masses, they become worst nightmares. Millions of people are massacred around the world because of the ideologies. Some ideologies (like Nazism, fascism) have existed in limited geographical areas at limited time but a few ideologies (like communism, Islam) have spread across the globe. 

The commonality in all the political ideologies is that they are totalitarian. In a totalitarian system, democracy won’t have any voice. The basic thing that every human being yearns, freedom will be completely taken away from the people and they are subjugated for the ‘greater’ cause. Some may wonder how a religion like Islam could be classified alongside some totalitarian ideologies like Nazism or communism. But a close study of it reveals the political motivation, ambition the religion has got and also some startling similarities it has with Nazism and communism. 

Communism and Islam:

1) In communism, the state is superior. In case of Islam it replaces the state with its god Allah and the laws of the state with Quran, Sharia’h and hadith.

2) In communism one is expected to surrender to the dictates of the state. In Islam, one should unconditionally surrender to the will of Allah and defined laws that are attributed to Allah.

3) Communists are convinced that their doctrine is superior and would inevitably spread throughout the world. Muslims are convinced that their religion is the greatest and it is to be spread throughout the world until every person has surrendered to Allah. In fact, Islam divides the world into two parts: the World of Islam (Dar al-Islam) and the World of War (Dar al-Harb). The parts of the world which is Dar al-Harb, wars should continue until it is converted into Dar al-Islam. Then alone peace prevails.

4) For both ideologies, ends justify the means. Communist countries misrepresent and break the treaties whenever it served their purposes especially with non-communist countries. In Islam, same is followed and called Taqiyya. Taqiyya closely translates into lying. It gives license to Muslims to break treaties (the peace treaty between non-Muslim nations is called hudna) with non-Muslim nations when it served their purpose.

5) In communist countries, the party leaders are considered unerring and their say is final. They have the power to change the rule and execute any person if they perceive him as a threat to the state. In Islam, the Imams are considered infallible and have the power to give judgments interpreting their holy books.

Nazism and Islam:

1) Severe hatred for Jews: Both ideologies abhorred Jews. Hitler said Jews are to be hated because they are Jews. Quran turns Jews into apes and swine.

2) Brainwashing at a very young age: Nazis had young scouts, trained them, brainwashed them. It happens in Islam especially in the Middle Eastern countries where small children are turned militants and they are fed and brainwashed to become suicide bombers. Though this doesn’t happen in all Muslim countries, it exists in a large scale. Any ideology requires constant indoctrination for its survival.

3) Hitler believed his party would win war and rule over the world for thousand years, Muslims believe to this day that world belongs to Allah and his apostles and they have to continue to fight the infidels until the promised land becomes theirs.

4) Nazis did hero worship (Hitler) and believed he was appointed by fate , Muslims do hero worship (Muhammad) and believe he was appointed by Allah

5) Islam or the invaders who followed Islam religiously classified the human into three categories
                I. The Muslims, for whom Allah has promised the whole world
               II. Christians and Jews who could live under Muslim rule but only as third-class citizens
              III. Thirdly, the real pagans who have to be eliminated completely from the world.
    Nazism classified people into
                   I. The Herrenvolk : The people whose race is superior to all
                  II. Slavic Untermenschen: These are inferior people in Hitler’s planned future world order.

6) Nazism divides the world solely on the basis of the race. Islam divides the world on the basis of religion.

Apart from all these striking similarities, there are many qualities that all these ideologies share, like: They are totalitarian, intolerant, xenophobic, aggressive, and self-righteous. There will be no scope for free thinking or freedom of speech. Totalitarian ideologies that are based on religion are more dangerous because they can sustain for a very long period and they achieve a very strong psychological grip over its followers. 

Followers of a totalitarian doctrine with no god attached to it may have some doubt at some point of time but the followers of totalitarian religious doctrines don't face that problem because that void of doubt is readily filled by the 'will of god' or rather the doubt never raises in them. That's why we can see almost all Islamic terrorists are supremely confident about their doctrine and they don't have a shred of remorse in their violence. Totalitarian ideology without religion or god attached to it will die once their leaders are defeated. But those which are based on religion will continue even after the death of the founders and continue to grip the followers through their holy books. 

All ideologies are equally dangerous. Anyone wishing to live in a free world where there is a democratic process and where freedom of speech is celebrated can never support any of the totalitarian doctrines to usurp their societies.

Sources:
"Islam: Arab Imperialism" by Anwar Sheik
"Negationism in India" by Koenraad Elst

Awards never give the complete picture

Fame is a perfume of heroic deeds, said Socrates. The way of acknowledging the special deeds of men has been through awards. Surely it is a way of recognition and also as a way of encouraging the talent to achieve something bigger. But, whether the awards are serving their purpose, whether the deserved ones are getting them and whether the awards are deserved by the recipients is always debatable. There have been some serious errors in selection & some serious omissions. For instance, some literary awards are in the stranglehold of some ideologists who stand for particular ideology that any literary work however genuine and genius it may be, if found contrary to the ideology will score some big negatives for the consideration for the award. Many great literary works of many languages have gone to oblivion owing to this factor. It’s not the story of any particular level of award. It happens in all levels: local, national or international. 

The most prestigious award of India ‘Bharat Ratna’ is sometimes given to inept people (like VV Giri, the former president whose only qualification was that he was the president of India once) or given purely out of political reasons (Like when it was given to MGR of Tamil Nadu posthumously). MGR, except being a superstar in the Tamil cine world had no achievements which could entitle him for the prestigious award. For some reasons, Congress wanted the help of the party of MGR. The easiest way congress found to lure the party (AIADMK) was to offer MGR a Bharat Ratna posthumously. What a wicked way! 

Padma Bhushan

Journalist pimps like Burkha Dutt have got the Padma awards, not to forget her cousin brother (not literally of course!!) Rajdeep Sardesai. We all know what kind of a lobby they make and which party they do the lobby for and knowing that we shouldn’t wonder about the awards given to them. I lost my respect for Padma awards when I came to know Teesta Setelvad had got one of those. Teesta Setelvad is a person who has made fame and a living out of Gujarat riots of 2002. Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was set up by the supreme court reported that Teesta Setelvad had cooked up cases and conjured false witnesses in testifying for the Gujarat riots. This was proved beyond doubts. She has been instrumental in demonizing Narendra Modi. When this kind of a person can get the award, anyone can get any award. 

Jnanapeeth

The literary world of India is in the strong hold of some people who have subscribed to some ideologies (mostly leftist). Their number is so huge that the panel which recommends and selects the literary awards most of it will be with leftist ideology. Any works however brilliant they may be, if found conflicting to their ideology, will never get the deserved award. Else how can one explain a literary giant of kannada S L Bhairappa is yet to get Jnanapeth award? Some leftist writers like U R Ananthamurthy or Girish Karnad got the award decades ago. This is not to belittle their literary capabilities. But the way will be paved easy for the one who is a leftist and termed ‘progressive’. 

We might wonder the credibility of the booker prize after seeing downright nonsensical people like Arundati Roy getting awards. There is an allegation that almost all the Indian authors who have bagged the booker prizes till now (with the exception of Kiran Desai perhaps) have portrayed India and Indian life poorly. Because I have neither read Arundati Roy’s ‘God of small things’ nor Arvind Adiga’s ‘white tiger’, I can’t vouch for this.

Oscar is blind :

Oscar eluded many people who deserved it and has many times gone to completely wrong set of people. One of the greatest directors of all time Alfred Hitchcock, some of the finest actors like Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole never got Oscar. So goes the saying: Oscar is blind. 

Oscar

I wondered how a cheap movie like slumdog millionaire got the Oscar! What artistic values had the film got! I could not find any of them. I felt the director was like a rag picker who picks and looks out for crap and as we know whatever one is in pursuit of, he is sure to find it. So the director found all the craps in India and using that he made a film which got an Oscar. The so-called first world still wants to see India as the country of snake charmers. So, the movie made an ideal menu for the first-world appetite for poor portrayal of India and thus got an Oscar. People would have dismissed the movie as garbage and would have forgotten it but some people tried to immortalize it by giving an Oscar.

So, in the midst of all these issues I am forced to think that awards are not the ideal way to judge a person’s worth and perhaps a person’s capability or worth can never be judged!!