BHAMY V. SHENOY writes from Houston, Texas: The terror attack on Bombay last week is one of those unfortunate, historic events which will have far-reaching impact on India.
As we mourn the deaths of more than 200 citizens from India and from around the world, and several officers and the bravery of Indian commandos, we should reflect upon what we as a nation and also as a world community can do to end such carnage in the future.
11/26 will go down in Indian History as 9/11 for the United States. 11/26 is nothing but the continuation of the Third World War by Jihadis. This may be one of the reasons why the US media has given unprecedented exposure to this catastrophe.
A well-known Bombay-based website has been getting thousands of comments from Indians from different parts of India since the crisis. While everyone has expressed their shock and anger at this senseless carnage, many have suggested what India should do.
Almost everybody is very critical of the current political leadership. Some blame them for the present crisis just like a recent editorial by Wall Street Journal. Some have suggested that it is the intelligentsia, by not taking part in elections, that has indirectly been supporting the election of corrupt elements in the society and it is their incompetence which has resulted in this attack.
Surprisingly none has commented that the Bombay attack is a continuation of the world war waged by Jihadis.
It is high time that the world starts viewing this kind of terrorism unleashed by Jihadis as the world war. This Third World War commenced with 9/11 against the United States and has spread to Bali, Indonesia, then to Spain, and then to UK.
In between Jihadis have been fighting these terror wars in India, Russian Chechnya and Chinese Xinjiang and continuously in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. While the whole world condemns such attacks as crimes against humanity, there has been no concerted action to isolate these Jihadi elements. In fact, in some countries, there is public support to these Jihadis as a result.
Unfortunately, unlike the first two world wars where we knew who started them, in this case we do not know the identity of the main actors who are funding these attacks but for notorious men like Osama bin Laden.
The only thing we know about them is that they do not belong to any country, they do not have any ideology or religion. We also know that they form a tiny minuscule part of the world and very difficult to identify. But we know that if we as a world community decide to isolate them, it should be possible to eliminate them.
It is high time every religious group joins hands and isolates this tiny minuscule terrorist Jihadi group. We should stop rationalizing their actions by pointing out some ridiculous excuses.
After 9/11 some “progressives” tried to justify their action by putting the blame on the US for their Israel policy. But when the carnage followed in Bali, the excuse given was less convincing. It was even less in the case of the London subway bombs or the train blast in Spain.
It is a no-brainer that Islam should take the lead in this World War III supported by other religious heads.
UN should call an urgent meeting and give a call to isolate these Jihadi elements. UN should consider adapting a set of policies to condemn those countries that knowingly harbour the known terrorists.
We may even need a special world court to decide those world terrorists. A terrorist in one country could well be a hero in another country. But a world court should be able to rule on such controversial cases.
For example in the case of the Bombay attack, some have started to question the role played by Dawood Ibrahim, a known terrorist in India, but a guest in Pakistan. If only he had been punished as a world terrorist, many past attacks in India could have been avoided.
The world community should work on promoting constructive policies which bring people together than divisive policies by pointing to some wrong acts of some political leaders in the past. Whether what George W. Bush did in Iraq was right or not, whether Narendra Modi did in Godhra was right or wrong should not matter in fighting this third world war.
Irrespective of these acts, these Jihadi elements would have carried on with their heinous acts. Let us keep aside the vote bank politics. Let us keep aside our religious superiorities. Let us forget our national identities to fight this third world war. This is one way to disprove the theory based on “Clash of civilizations”.
Tags: 9/11, Al Qaeda, Bali, Bombay Blasts, Churumuri, Clash of Civilisations, Dawood Ibrahim, George W. Bush, Jihadis, Madrid, Narendra Modi, Osama bin Laden, Sans Serif
2 December 2008 at 6:21 pm
whether Narendra Modi did in Godhra was right or wrong should not matter in fighting this third world war.
Welcome mate, ii is just the thing so many wants to hear in India. SHE-annoy, how is the weather in Houston? Pretty cold.
2 December 2008 at 8:08 pm
My dear sir,
All sane non Muslims knew this was coming but thanks to buddhijeevis like yourself, got branded as hindutvavadis when they tried to point it out.
Earlier the victim was the common man, so wretched p-secs didnt care about what drivel they published. Now that the jihadis are targeting the elites, you guys have suddenly woken up to the reality of Islamic terror.
Shame on you.
2 December 2008 at 8:27 pm
Minus the high pitched breast beating of Shri Shenoy, nothing else is new.
I agree with chenchu.
A lot of these liberals will change color pretty soon.
2 December 2008 at 8:42 pm
Truth about Islam
2 December 2008 at 8:51 pm
From an email I got today from a Pakistani friend:
“How can one imagine that people who share common history, cultures, values, and even TV programs every evening in every household are not friends? I am optimistic about the time when people on both sides instead of watching parade at Wagah border will sing songs of love and harmony.”
2 December 2008 at 9:00 pm
Good Old Bhamy seems to have gone thro’ a metamorphosis after his current stint in US of A ! May be his old pal Ramesh Shah has done his bit !
2 December 2008 at 9:01 pm
Forget terrorism in India for now. How many states have guts to go and disconnect electricity for non-payment from ghettos, particularly if its minority populated? Except Gujarat under Modi, nobody can do that.
When Supreme Court of India threw out IMDT twice, what an elected Govt did? NOTHING.
Take the example from Karnataka- when RDX landed in Coastal Karnataka in 1992, later used for Mumbai 1993. When Police caught some people, powerful politicians hushed up the issue.
http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=103150
A judicial Commission (The Jagannath Shetty Commission) looked into this issue- but nobody knows what happened with its report.
I blame media equally for not exposing these dangerous things done by politicians for votebank.
Assam, parts of West bengal, Bihar, UP are now sitting duck- God forbid, we will see massive death/destruction sooner that expected as Jehadis have made big big penetration WITH ACTIVE POLITICAL BACKING of psuedo parties with large amount of arms/ammunitions.
2 December 2008 at 9:31 pm
Palahalli,
I think this process of introspection by the liberals can be hastened if a couple of ELM offices/studios are targeted and decimated. And some of the usual ELM suspects marked for sudden elimination(Karana Thapar ishtyle).
2 December 2008 at 9:49 pm
SHENOY manu, tuka khad assa, bod na maraya.
2 December 2008 at 9:54 pm
I am sick and tired of reading about jihadis not having any ideology or religion. They indeed have a religion – Islam; they have an ideology, which is the jihadi verses in Koran. They have the role model of the sunnah of the prophet. Entire ummah is the Axis. Everyone, except the leftist media, intelectuals and opportunist politicians knew the identity of terrorists. This is no big discovery.
Inspite of quarter century’s experience in suffering terrorism, we still do not have clear strategy or tactic for facing and getting the better of terrorism. We continue to be the victims, thanks to vote bank politics, and corrupt parliamentary democracy. Our leaders do not even want to identify who is the enemy within. None wants to investigate the terrorist trail, for the sole reason that the trail leads to Muslim mohallas.
The day all the Hindus begin to take their electoral responsibility seriously and give importance to voting rather than watching Sachin Tendulkar or shilpa shetty on the TV, we will have better quality of leaders. All these manipulator-leaders, who some how manage to bag 12 to 15% votes won’t stand a chance of coming to power.
3 December 2008 at 12:12 am
If you have finished taking care of Bush’s horses in his Texas ranch, look out India has already become part of the coalition of willing in the war. Man India has been inducted into the gang with the Bang. Have you heard the bang Shenoy, well you haven’t otherwise we would not be subjected to your annoying article.
Indian Navy was initiated in the 1000 ship concept of Bush, by giving a chance to blast the “Mother-Ship” of Somalian pirates. Yes it may sound like criminal gang like thing, giving the recruit the opportunity of doing his first job, let me assure you it is not the “same thing”.
If you are wondering what the Pirate “mother-ship” was like, our admiral assures you that it looked and acted like “mother-ship”. No this press release was not written by Americans nor our navy was watching “Independence day” movie.
Shenoy you should have seen the appreciation Indian navy received for its bravery, be damned if you say that navy did not protect our coast. The opportunity to Blast a pirate “mother-ship” was sooo much better than keeping a watch on our own coast. Indian Navy is tasked with gaurding the shipping lines of the western nation in the redsea from these pirates and it is SO much appreciated in western press unlike the ridicule back home.
Why should Indian Navy guard our coast, when the govt only listens to its chamchas IAS and IPS in pay. No wonder all the public is going after the politicians. Till the pay parity is not restored, we will struck terror in the hearts of Somali pirates.
These western nation talk about morals, when the time comes for blasting the pirates into the deep sea. Indian Navy is not afraid to do the dirty work as we have not fished in the somalian Economic zone to drive the fishermen to starve. Whenver we see the black skeleton somalis on a ship we just blast be it “Mother-ship” or “sister-ship”.
You know what Shenoy, when we were adulated by western world the bast@rds Thai-landis says it was their fishing boat. Shenoy don’t listen to the Bush, if he says anything related to his Horses it may come back….u do know. Bangkok asked explanation for sinking their fishing ship, tell me what to say, we were told by bush it was “mother -ship” of pirates. Now back home Govt wants explanation from navy, we had prior intelligence but we understand that they will kill only aam-junta , but b@stards here also crossed us and targeted Taj and Oberio.
Shenoy you know and I know, not to touch those people, now they are saying “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH” .
Did they said “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH” when MNS targeted Biharis?
Did they said “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH” when 2000 Muslims were burnt alive in gujrat?
Did they said “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH” when naxals ambushed police personnel?
Did they said “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH” when Bodos struck terror in Guwhati?
Did they said “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH” when sangh terrorists were planting bombs near Mosques?
Did they said “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH” when Delhi bomb blast went off?
3 December 2008 at 2:07 am
>>It is a no-brainer that Islam should take the lead in this World War III supported by other religious heads.>>
Bhamy must be smoking something really very strong to write this kind of inanity. Islam IS the problem Bhamy, and you expect its religious leaders to take the lead in the fight.
3 December 2008 at 4:49 am
Shenoy Sir, instead of an article with a lot of hyperbole and very little substance, churmuri readers would be well served of you could give us insights about what is happening in the oil markets and its future.
3 December 2008 at 5:08 am
terrorism is suddenly waging a world war only after the US(1 bloody country mind you) was attacked??? Well, what do u think we INDIANS have been shouting about for nearly thirty yrs now?
or do u intend to say something is worthy of world recognition only if USA is part of it?
what were all the indians before 9/11??? target practice? training school for destroying 2 and a half buildings in the USA???
stop praising American involvement as if AMERICA IS THE ENTIRE WORLD; it is not! we have been handling terror(effectively/ineffectively is a matter of perspective here) and we will continue to deal with terror, WITH or WITHOUT american involvement!
3 December 2008 at 7:51 am
terror unleashed frequently by is to jeopardize country economy, some find it difficult to digest, if a city is improving in life styles , it is required to strengthen and safeguard the city and the people by bringing modernization of weaponry for manning by the police. we still hold .303 guns against AK47 used by terrorists , unless drastic action is taken immediately we will not be safe.
3 December 2008 at 9:22 am
Mr. Shenoy joins the rest of India in commending the bravery of our commandos. A headline on the front page of today’s Times of India informs us that “60% of NSG are guarding politicians”. I am reminded of the story told to my family some years ago by one of these crack commandos on duty at Rashtrapati Bhavan then. One of his important assignments? To see to the repair of the footwear of the wife of the President of India (a former politician)!
There are many more such stories which we know to be true but which never come out.
3 December 2008 at 9:41 am
shenoy sir,
in setting up the problem as you as have done you have made it un-solvable and are setting up for a stalemate. Let me put it this way, whoever is making the decisions, cannot react to whatever is happening, as if it is world war iii. Anybody who does so, and takes up it upon himself to solve the entire jihadi, islamist problem is basically setting up for inaction and stasis. The problem exists, but it is beyond anybody, including the great mahdi himself, or even George Bush (peace be upon him, given all the self righteousness borne upon him) to solve the problem in one shot. The rest of the world has moved far ahead in civilizational terms for any instantaneous solutions. If somebody even attempts to solve the problem in its completeness, it is repugnant for a good chunk of civilization. And the islamists know and fully exploit this fact.
That is why Modi is abhorrent but Kashmiri politicians and leaders are not. Everybody has a political issue, for kashmiris it is kashmiriyat, for Modi it is Hindutva. Both have responded similarly, infact, the Kashmiri leaders more savagely than Modi. Yet Modi is held to higher moral standards because there is a tacit understanding that Islamists are barbaric, un-evolved, uncivilized and anachronist in their views. Hence, barbarism is expected from islamists. Some say it explicitly, others shroud the exact same sentiment in sophistry of post modernism and other random theories.
Islamists themselves understand this very well and exploit it to the fullest to shame the civilized peoples with their own civility. All this without a trace of hypocrisy ofcourse. Many a islamists will pine for Palestinians but have no sympathies for kashmiri pandits, or even the Sudanese at Darfur, forget the tribal barbarism in the gulf peninsula.
Islamists reverberate to communal causes and seculars confuse themselves that this is a cry for humanist causes.
What, IMHO, can really help is the proverbial death by thousand cuts. Only these cuts have to be secular. Respond with complete and appropriate response to one issue at time, with sound appreciation of the fact that all deaths by thousand cuts start with a small first cut.
The first cut is that people understand that cuts need to be administered – not as a matter of cynicism but as a matter of SECULAR righteousness, and morality. For many a political and intellectual class in India, that itself is not clear. For the longest time, they have pussy footed on this and tried to subvert this fundamental issue – Irrespective of political grievances there is no place in civilized societies for violence. For example, one and a half decades and a couple of tens of thousand deaths after babri masjid happened, we are still citing the same issue and accepting that as a legitimate excuse for all sorts of barbarism. If that is so, then how should the hindus, who have lost the entire country, north of Cauvery to Islamic vandalism feel, and how long should their wounds take to heal?
The fundamental battle is to hold secularists to the principles of secularism. If there were a track record of the secular governments holding the types of people who did godhra, to secular morals and ambedkarvadi laws, then there would be no Modi. Modi is just the symptom. The real disease is lack of genuine secularism in India.
If at the end of all this, if we can evolve as a civilized society, which unequivocally states that violence has no place, irrespective of the religion of the perpetuators and their politics, and establish real and true secularism, that it self would be a very big first step.
3 December 2008 at 10:03 am
How much ever blasts or attacks organized by jehadis happen, will not make things at Godhra or Malegao right.. Wrong is always wrong.
3 December 2008 at 10:05 am
to put it simply, we are not ready to solve the advanced problem you are posing. meanwhile, we have many a self proclaimed padres who refuse us direct communion with truth.
we dont know how to find the square of a number and you are expecting us to understand the pythogoras-apasthamba-baudhyana theorem.
3 December 2008 at 12:13 pm
We have to appreciate following view. We will be exhibiting that, we are with Indian Muslims, provided, they love peace.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/dont-bury-mumbai-terrorists-in-india-muslim-groups/79607-3.html
3 December 2008 at 12:50 pm
Listen to this, by the Pakistani media, it’s funny:
According to them, “since the terrorists had alcohol with them, they could not have been Islamic fundamentalists”. And it seems “they had some orange wristband which ‘decisively’ proves that they were Hindu”.
Never mind the terrorist’s confession, the trail of links (GPS, Satellite phone, mobile intercepts, etc. etc.), confirmation by foreign agencies, etc. The Pakistani media is really redefining ’self-denial’.
Talk about Ostrich syndrome!! Read some Pakistani news sites when you are in the mood for a laugh.
3 December 2008 at 1:10 pm
>> The only thing we know about them is that they do not belong to any country, they do not have any ideology or religion.
Its so sick to listen to this clichéd politically correct statement again and again!! Of course they have an ideology and religion.
3 December 2008 at 2:10 pm
Vinay,
Pakis are just sympathy sing with them, as they will miss out on the heaven. Have little consideration.
After providing all the evidence in the form of GPS, setallite phone, photo credit cards and what not, you still complain about their denial? Common man be little courteous to pakis. Let them say all they want.
We know US & israelis only look at the evidence which we provide them, conveniently left by the terrorists .
Don’t get workedup by their denials.
Don’t worry, have curry meantime.
3 December 2008 at 2:14 pm
Vinay it turns out you and your paki sources seems to be wrong.
Terrorists who battled Indian commandos for 60-hours last week relied on cocaine and other stimulants to stay awake for the duration of the fight.
Officials said drug paraphernalia, including syringes, was recovered from the scene of the attacks,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/3540964/Mumbai-attacks-Terrorists-took-cocaine-to-stay-awake-during-assault.html
3 December 2008 at 6:01 pm
Cool Dude sounds like the good guy-bad guy pair used in police investigation. While the bad guy threatens, the good guy seeks same result by persuation. Cool dude seems to be the softer side of the Jihadis Conditional love for muslims, provided they love peace? Is there any basis even for such tentative assumption? People who do not learn from history and experience will be condemned to repeate it.
3 December 2008 at 6:25 pm
TaNNane Huduga!
No one says malegaon or godhra are wrong. But what is your point?? We should not go after the islamic terrorists (pardon me secularists of India..for I am using the words islamic and terrorism together) cause malegaon or godhra happened ?
“This is to show they will never get any support from Indian Muslims even in the slightest possible terms” (from the link you provided)
And do you seriously believe this nonsense? Can you tell me how multiple attacks are possible without some local involvement ?
“The terrorists cannot belong to any religion,”
Seriously??? All the emails that the terrorists send quote verses from koran and justify the attacks.. and you still say they have “no religion”? This is insulting even to the terrorists who are after all trying to prove a point to Indian Govt that they are killing people as a religious duty!
Terrorism has a religion and islam is it’s prophet
3 December 2008 at 8:34 pm
A section of foreign media is trying its best to rationalize this latest jehadi terror by raising victimhood of Muslims in South Asia. One of them actually wrote, it started when Mughals lost power to British, then to (largely Hindu) Congress :)- So, to protect India from Islamic terror, we need to bring back the Muslim rule.
Vinay>>According to them, “since the terrorists had alcohol with them, they could not have been Islamic fundamentalists”. And it seems “they had some orange wristband which ‘decisively’ proves that they were Hindu”.
This is NOT funny as you might think. Paki media and a section of Indian too are doing this, thus supporting Jehadis backhanded. Always blaming others for their jehadi terrorism. Irresponsible Indian media and Mumbai ATS furthered that during their withch hunt of “Hindu terror”.
There is a concept called “Taqiyya”- in Islam. U can find out more abt that in Wiki. Its an Islamic deception to confuse people.
That’s the reason, cycles were found with words written as “Bhagwan” which were used in first Malegaon blast in 2006. That’s the reason Mumbai 711 bomber used a Hindu Name to rent a house. Even to her girlfriend, he had a Hindu name.
Here is an article Swapan Dasgupta wrote on this: How Pakistan is fooling the world.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080111/jsp/opinion/story_8761575.jsp
3 December 2008 at 9:31 pm
Venky:
wtf do you mean by “you and your paki sources”? You are the Paki here, and your bloody ’sources’ have plastered all over their web sites that this was a ‘conspiracy’ aimed at destabilizing their (your) shitty country.
SOB, how the hell is their Cocaine and Syringes related to my comments in any way? You and your terrorist pals can shove cocaine up for all I care.
You have not answered a single logical question which I have been asking you from the past several posts, and you keep materializing in every new article to piss all over the place!
Instead of posting disconnected and confused crap, answer my questions, let me see where you stand first.
3 December 2008 at 11:03 pm
Vinay
Don’t give a shit about what venky-monkey is writing… he is obviously baiting all of us. I am not surprised if he turns out a commie!!!
4 December 2008 at 12:38 am
Bhamy Shenoy sounds pretty barmy. It is not third world war. 9/11 was caused by having no-security at all for homeflights in the USA, no scanning ,no questions asked by any one, prior to 9/11. Add to this, ignoring a number of prior warnings by NSA and FBI, rivalry between FBI and CIA which resulted in not sharing the intelliegence about pilot training by Middle East characters etc.. etc.. Coincidentally, Papers in Europe write about the US intelligence communicating to Indian govt, the probability of attacks on Bombay by terrorists coming by sea which Indian govt seems to have ignored.
This is Islam at its ugliest. These terrorists were armed to their teeth and have brought in artillery appropriate for a modern Brigade size army. Hoe did they hide it? Why were they not noticed. There is local muslim complicity here. Except sharing intelligence, each country should look after itself.
You have such confidence in a talkshop called the UN. Isamists become extremists so quickly. In the case of 7/7 London, one of the suicide bombers was a nursery school teacher only a few months before he exploded the bombs in the subway. Your talk reminds of VKK menon full of hot air.
4 December 2008 at 1:46 am
From London-based Irfan Husain’s latest column, titled “Facing the truth,” in Pakistani newspaper “Dawn”:
“Over the last few years, I have travelled to several countries across four continents. Everywhere I go, I am asked why Pakistan is now the focal point of Islamic extremism and terrorism, and why successive governments have allowed this cancer to fester and grow. As a Pakistani, it is obviously embarrassing to be put on the spot, but I can see why people everywhere are concerned. In virtually every Islamic terrorist plot, whether it is successful or not, there is a Pakistani angle. Often, foreign terrorists have trained at camps in the tribal areas; others have been brainwashed in madressahs; and many more have been radicalised by the poisonous teachings of so-called religious leaders.
“Madeline Albright, the ex-US secretary of state, has called Pakistan ‘an international migraine’, saying it was a cause for global concern as it had nuclear weapons, terrorism, religious extremists, corruption, extreme poverty, and was located in a very important part of the world. While none of this makes pleasant reading for a Pakistani, Ms Albright’s summation is hard to refute. Often, the truth is painful, but most Pakistanis refuse to see it. Instead of confronting reality, we are in a permanent state of denial. This ostrich-like posture has made things even worse….
“The world is naturally concerned about the danger posed by these terror groups to other countries. However, the biggest threat they pose is to Pakistan itself. Until Pakistanis grasp this brutal reality and muster up the resolve necessary to crush them, these killers will tear the country apart.”
4 December 2008 at 3:24 am
well the pakistan media says they were hindu zionist…to prove it they were pakistanis or for that matter muslim or not… we know how to check them guys ???…
4 December 2008 at 7:19 am
henoy,I thought intellectuals by definition should be more aware and knowledgeable than us laypeople commenters.But our indian intellectuals seem to waking up if at all even after the alarm clock has been ringing all thru history.
May be you should ask abid husain to certify your article as a secular one
and maybe you as the secular hindu can certify shahbano and article 370 and Afzal stalemate as a secular act.
4 December 2008 at 9:14 am
Any comments on this ?? http://www.hotklix.com/?ref=content/152704&in_showcase
I think this is worth being put as a post on Churumuri!
4 December 2008 at 12:12 pm
Dear ALL,
The above post by ‘Vinay’ is not me (I am the person who has posted an abusive post directed at Venky)..
Just clarifying.
Thanks,
Vinay
5 December 2008 at 3:18 pm
Hey ALL,
A theory that I see is that rural/tribal India and urban India are still very different and alienated, so they have very different issues. Also, rural India has less access to news and are less caste-indifferent, so they still vote for things like cast lines and events in Mumbai are not related to them. Also, the concept of a Hindu (indigenous Indian religions inc Sikh, Jain, Buddhist) vote-bank is not yet there. They are now used to floods, famine and difficulties which they accept as their misfortune. So they vote on cast to at least salvage pride, good speeches and the occasional election time shower of sarees and dhotis. There should be a separation of rural and urban vote so that powers and funding for strictly urban issues belong to urban bodies.
Its my first time on Churumuri, and glad to see there are so many more right thinking people in India now. I have recently returned from the US after seven years, and the political situation is much worse now, but looks like we might be heading towards better times.
Right now, I dont think the Gandhian way is working because the opponent is not the educated and morally self-righteous British, accountable to their democratic people. Even if it will, it will take a lot of lives along the way. Machiavellian is the way to go. I say forget Godhra, and any harm it may have caused. Most likely, it is below average the harm caused by major politicians. Gujarat is now the example state for the rest of India. An arid desert converted into a rapidly developing state. Despite his positioning, did not hesitate to demolish temples as part of illegal construction demolition drive. I vote Narendra Modi for PM.
5 December 2008 at 9:27 pm
Today I came across an article written by an Indonesian “Let Us Bury Islamic Terrorism Forever”. He made me to think of the fallacy of my argument (some of the bloggers have also pointed this out alreday) that these Jihadis do not have religion or any ideology. I was wrong in putting it like that to make my argument accaetable to isolate Jihadists. He differentiates between good muslims and bad muslims and argues how these bad muslims are misled by the wrong interpretation of Koran.
Let’s bury Islamic terrorism forever
Bramantyo Prijosusilo, Ngawi, East Java
The BBC recently reported Indian Muslims have refused to bury the corpses of the Mumbai terrorists in their cemeteries because the terrorists’ actions proved they were not Muslims.
In Indonesia, the exact reverse occurred when last month the unrepentant Bali bombers were executed. In West Java, a newly emerged hard-line organization managed to secure one hectare of land as a cemetery for those who die in jihad as a religious gift (wakaf), but luckily their attempt to get the three celebrity mujahideen as their first morbid tenants was foiled.
In Banten, crowds replete with Z-list celebrities chanted holy prayers as they received and buried the body of Imam Samudra. A kindergarten teacher took her class to visit the terrorist’s mother, who led them to raise their tiny fists and shout the takbir, “God is Great,” for the press. Crowds also gathered in Tenggulun, the village where Amrozi and Ali Gufron came from and ended in, to honor the terrorists as martyrs of Islam.
Pro-terror media such as the glossy Jihadmagz and its online version, arrahmah.com, had for some time endeavored to prepare the atmosphere to bury the bombers as martyrs. The most unambiguous pro-jihad media here specializes in publishing pro-terror propaganda.
Alongside advertisements for cheap international jihad videos, they publish interviews with Osama bin Laden and other top al-Qaeda operators. These pro-terror publications make it their business to glorify violent jihad and condemn countries which put their faith in democracy, such as this country, as worshipers of taghut, the evil usurper of God who leads its followers to the depths of Hell.
So while India, which has the second largest Muslim population in the world, has publicly taken a stance against Islamic terrorism in the wake of the Mumbai atrocities, pro-terror propaganda is freely disseminated in Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. In this country we are free to organize hatred against the state and the constitution.
However, it was not only the hardcore mujahideen here who welcomed the bombers as martyrs. Our mainstream media was no less instrumental in creating the image of the bombers as good Muslims who had been wronged by the state.
After the executions, the convicted criminal Rizieq Shihab, who poses as a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and scholar of Islam, was given space to opine that the bombers died as martyrs. Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, the elderly Muslim cleric from Solo, also received time to air his propaganda. The kindergarten children in Banten wanted to visit Imam Samudra’s mother and shout the takbir there because they had seen his face so often on television.
It seems the world’s Muslims who are not indifferent to the issue of Islamic terrorism are split into two camps; those who support the terrorists at least ideologically, and those who refuse to recognize terrorists as Muslims.
Although these two groups do not always approve of the violence, they tend to stand as apologists for the terrorists. If circumstances changed they would not hesitate to employ violence as a means to express their beliefs. We have witnessed this proximity to violence in the hounding of the Ahmadiyah minority, the destruction of nightclubs and the attacks on and forceful closing of churches.
For these groups, true Islam requires the public stoning of rape victims and the beheading of apostates. The ideological support for terrorists is unacceptably high here.
Ironically, those who do not accept that these terrorists are Muslims actually share a trait with the terrorists, namely, the willingness to judge people as not being Muslim even though they call themselves Muslims.
The Prophet described the Muslim community as a human body which feels discomfort everywhere when it feels pain in one part. The global Muslim community is currently shivering with fever because of Islamic terror. These terrorists are Muslims, too. They do bad things, so they are bad Muslims, but that doesn’t make them non-Muslims.
Denying we have a section of our community that is rotting with hatred will not help cure our malady. If the global Muslim community is serious about burying terror, it must acknowledge terrorists are Muslims who need God’s love and forgiveness just as we all do. Only then can we hope to construct creative dialogue, the only rational way to meaningful peace.
Hard-line Muslims believe the only correct way to live as a Muslim is to follow the Koran literally, but this attitude essentially degrades the Holy Book, making it as rigid as a book of traffic regulations to be studied to sit a driving test.
The obligation to follow the Prophet strictly is expressed by copying outward expressions of 7th-century Arab culture instead of meditating on the way the Prophet thought and acted in the circumstances he found himself in as he strived for peace among humankind. The hard-line interpretation makes a mockery of his example.
The debate between these fundamentalists and other religious Muslims is a battle to place the spiritual over the material, the essence over the form. Because Islam is a blessing from God for the whole universe, the spirit will prevail.
Reliving 7th-century Arabia does not cultivate the spirit of Islam. Rather, the psychological, social, cultural and political tensions which emerge when it is attempted blinds the soul to the peace believers are urged to enter in to. Spiritual Muslims must embark on a personal jihad, and embrace literalist Muslims, to save humanity from their blindered arrogance and blinding materialism.
This can only be done by embracing the spirit of the Prophet inside while outwardly expressing the humanism and ecological awareness of the 21st century. This is the paradigm which will bury Islamic terrorism forever.
5 December 2008 at 11:50 pm
Thank you Bhamy.
But this Indonesian has battles to fight and a war to win. “I”, a non-Muslim, have nothing to do with his battles and war aim.
Right now as before, I am a victim of the Muslim. Right now, I do not care to differentiate between the “good” and the “bad”, because clearly, “I” do not know who is a “good” and who is a “bad” Muslim.
I must wait for “his” war to end, in order to find out.
Until then, my duty as a non-Muslim, is to protect my own and myself from Muslims, period.
5 December 2008 at 11:53 pm
Bhamy,
Please do not be mislead by this al_taqqiya of the muslims. If you read the article you posted again very carefully, the duplicity of the author hits right in the face. Mohammed did what he did because of the rabid beliefs he had about himself/his followers and those who did not recognise him and his idealogy in the Arabia in the 7th century. All his peace overtures with his adversaries were ploys to mislead them, since he was militarily and numerically weak against them. This peace treaties held good till such time he had enough numerical strenght to attack and vanquish them.
No body in his right mind should be following a 7th century beduoin pedophile barbarian.
Let us not waste our time doing this hair splitting between good muslim and bad muslim.
As far as I am concerned a good muslim is a dead muslim.
6 December 2008 at 7:50 am
ha ha secular intellectual shenoy whose idea of secularism is to get a certificate from abid husain is stirring slowly and realized his intellect was in the wrong place despite its superiority to us inferior politically incorrect but factually correct commenters.Shenoy speaks about the prophet but wasnt the prophet a violent man as per the facts recorde by history.Poor shenoy he has to be politically correct even after the stirring and he ignore sfacts about the prophet’s violence and his attitude to women whcih make up half the muslim minority poulation.Shenoy’s lberalism like others never address that because Abid husain doesnt want it that way and shenoys secular cerificate will not stand scrutiny.Well shenoy is waiting for 26/11 II
befoer his touted intellect makes some more progress in the direction of truth and fact.
6 December 2008 at 7:38 pm
shenoy sir, thank you for that article.
palahalli, if ‘his’ battle has consequences for you then shouldn’t you be alert to that battle? shouldn’t you be invested enough to know who the combatants in that battle are? and if the winning of one side is more favourable to you, then shouldn’t you do what is your capacity to ensure that outcome?
the sense i got from your post was that you want to hunker down and play defence. what happens if the jihadis win that battle? then you are left facing a monster who has emerged after defeating all moderating forces within his camp.
and we all know that the civilized man is far too invested in his own civilzed ways to really take on a savage. i think if there is really a clash of civilizations, then the US of A will be the last man standing for the western world because they have managed to nurture just about the right levels of fundamentalism. the price they pay for this is ofcourse that they spend a lot of time and energy in tempering that fundamentalist streak without making it impotent.
let me put it this way. ugra narasimha has a chakra in one hand and a shanka in other. it is very interesting that the narasimha had a head of an animal and a body of a man. not the otheway round like the european icons. when things turned a corner, narasimha sat on a hostlu (threshold or dehaleej/dehali) and ripped open the demon of the time, who could not be killed from within or from without. more importantly, it then took a whole lot of effort by the devas to cool narasimha down. they took pains to ensure that narasimha didnot lord over either hiranyakashyapu’s world or indra’s world. indra’s world was restored to indra and hiranyakashyapu’s world to prahalada. narasimha is not a perpetual state. just an avatar. narasimha had to be created especially for the occasion, and then, immediately forced to cool down. now devas can easily buy this argument. but for citizens of hiranyakashyapa to buy this, you need the prahaladas and the shanka. one without the other is useless.
it is beyond anybody from outside and inside to enforce reform within islam. but if reform within islam is the desired outcome, then those from outside should encourage all those within islam who oppose islamic fundamentalism and yet have the sense of balance to avoid irrational and fundamentalist positions of the likes of ‘kannadiga’.
as far as i am concerned, i pray that the devas world over within and outside islam to awaken a narasimha to vanquish the jihadi hiranyakashyapa, who cannot be vanquised from within islam or outside it. as far i see, which is really not far enough, the only possible form narasimha can take in these times is an uber secular intelligencia that is willing to stand unwaveringly for its own principles. only such a narasimha can be cooled after the task.
the only question is are the seculars willing to avatarize a narasimha fit enough to vanquish the jihadi hiranykashyapu and yet pacifiable enough to restore the respective kingdoms to their rightful inheritors.
7 December 2008 at 1:28 am
TS – I’ll take it from here; “it is beyond anybody from outside and inside to enforce reform within Islam.” – Then who can?
“My” “hunkering down” is not that at all. “My” interest is to preserve and protect those “lands” of “my” civilization that have yet remained unmolested by Islam.
“I” do not care, nay, must not care about Islam’s internal squabbles. It is the Muslim’s to sort out. To put it in another manner, a Jihadi “win” in this fight within Islam would not bother “me” if the Jihadi were not a threat to “me” and “my” civilization.
“I” must never believe in the Moderate-Extremist diversionary tactic. The ends are the same, only tactics ie, means, differ. Even this Indonesian moderate speaks of retaining the “spirit” of the Prophet. It is this “spirit” that created Islam and the rest in it’s wake.
Moreover, it is very true that any Moderate’s fight with a “family” Extremist is weakened by support from without. “My” support will “kill” the “moderate” Muslim. You will notice this truism all over. If they remain within Islam, they remain as lepers. If a moderate Muslim seeks “my” support, then that moderate must forsake Islam. That is also what happens in the real world.
You seem to have a lot of trust in the Secular animal. I will not hide behind the less than honorable “pseudo” abuse. I dislike it. I believe the Secular animal is dangerous as-is, to “my” civilization. In fact, this animal is a Trojan Horse par excellence.
Leaving aside a treacherous history wherein the Secular animal took “my” support to lead “me” down the garden path, it innately and by it’s liberal instinct, is incapable of influencing any change in Islam.
The logic is simple enough. For the Secular animal to succeed in it’s first endevour of being looked upon as truly Secular, it must “kill” “my” assertive spirit. However, the moment it does this, the vacuum is filled by the spirit of Islam and with that of “my” dejected surrender.
This is bound to happen for another reason. That is, the Secular animal does not possess a spirit of it’s own. It is possessed of a diktat. It is true that Man must believe in something. The Secular animal dictates him to not believe in anything but it’s diktat which is pathetically shredable. And such diktats are powerless against Man’s innate spirit to believe.
The Muslim, pro and con, believes in the spirit of Islam. The Hindu believes in the spirit of Hindutva or Hinduism. What can the Secular animal believe in? Nothing but the diktat of the State. Even Secular Stalin had to cry “Mother” Russia, when faced with Hitler’s spirit.
I suspect you know all this already ;)
7 December 2008 at 6:37 pm
Palahalli:
One small snag in your statement “Jihadi “win” in this fight within Islam would not bother “me” if the Jihadi were not a threat to “me” and “my” civilization.”
Unfortunately, if the Jihadis win in, say, Pakistan, rest assured they will bomb several Indian cities and reduce them to rubble. Fear of our counter strikes and subsequent damage will most likely not deter them from doing so. If they acquire the technology or some dedicated human resources, they will do the same to Europe, US, etc.
I am not saying that we should, as a nation, sit in fear of Jehadi victory and take all shit lying down. All I am trying is to point out that a win for the Jehadi would very likely mean heavy destruction for us, and several others.
And Palahalli, the ’secular animal’ need not necessarily be equated with Stalin or Mao. That’s violent communism.
7 December 2008 at 8:38 pm
Friends,
here is another insightful article about international Jihadi Terrorism. The author recommends to the President-elect Obama that his government should collaborate with India to fight this Jihadi Terrorism.
India Is a Key Ally in the War on Terror
Obama has a chance to build on sound Bush diplomacy.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122852309320484387.html
By DOUGLAS J. FEITH
At a Pentagon meeting in 2002, a Muslim official from an Asian country observed that there were nearly as many Muslim citizens of India as of Pakistan, yet it was virtually unheard of that an Indian Muslim would join al Qaeda, while many Pakistanis had done so. Why? Because India is free and democratic, he asserted.
His point was not that democracy is a cure-all, but that the problem of terrorism cannot be solved by military or law-enforcement means alone. In other words, it is also crucial to confront the challenge at the level of ideas: to counter extremist teachings, and to promote democratic reforms with the aim of undermining the appeal of extremist Islamism.
The 9/11 attack intensified the Bush administration’s interest in India. President Bush had come into office intent on transforming the U.S.-India relationship into a strategic partnership — one that would acknowledge India’s emergence as one of the world’s most populous democratic countries, with an information-age economy, formidable military capabilities, and the ambition to increase its role in world affairs.
U.S.-Indian strategic cooperation received a boost early on when Jaswant Singh, then serving simultaneously as India’s foreign and defense minister, visited Mr. Bush in the Oval Office in April 2001. Mr. Singh highlighted the countries’ shared concerns about Asian security, particularly Indian-U.S. joint interests in missile defense.
The latter was a bold point on a controversial Bush administration initiative. Administration officials appreciated that Mr. Singh was signaling India’s eagerness to establish common ground with the United States, even at the risk of protests from Russia, India’s close friend during the Cold War.
The Pentagon played a leading role in building on the Bush-Singh dialogue. The U.S.-India Defense Policy Group (DPG), which I co-chaired with my Indian counterpart, forged extensive military-to-military links and opened channels for defense trade. The DPG became a forum for wide-ranging strategic talks beyond bilateral and regional issues.
I opened my first DPG meeting, in December 2001, with the observation that for too long Americans had viewed India chiefly as a problem country — a nuclear proliferation problem and one half of the India-Pakistan problem. I said that the Bush administration saw India differently, as an opportunity, a rising power with which we could cooperate to shape the strategic environment of Asia to promote security, peace and prosperity.
The 9/11 attack had made it easier for Americans to appreciate India’s struggle against terrorism. People readily discount someone else’s security concerns when they don’t share them. But after 9/11, many Americans inside and outside the government saw India and the United States as partners in the war against Islamist extremists.
The more we learned about jihadist ideology — that of al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and others — the less likely it appeared that India could free itself of terrorist attacks simply through territorial compromise with Pakistan over Kashmir. Jihadist leaders declare that the aim of their holy war is not to alter specific policies of their enemies, but rather to establish a universal Muslim state. Fighting and killing to implement this apocalyptic vision, they have a long list of grievances and hatreds, including against the rulers of most Muslim countries, who they deem apostates.
But the jihadists particularly despise democracy. They believe law-making and self-government by human beings is blasphemous, an affront to the sovereignty of God, who is the only proper source of legislation.
The Bush administration has bolstered U.S. homeland security and disrupted terrorist networks around the world through direct action against individual terrorists, the overthrow of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein regimes, pressure on terrorist finances, law enforcement, and intelligence cooperation with numerous foreign partners. But there is no denying that the administration has fallen down on the job of countering ideological support for terrorism. The president’s frequent talk of promoting democracy in the Muslim world is far short of a systematic, comprehensive effort to wage a battle of ideas against al Qaeda and the jihadist movement generally.
This is an area where President-elect Obama can make an important new contribution to national security. He can ask the State Department and intelligence community for formal strategies to counter radical Islamist ideology overtly and covertly and hold them to account for results.
The strategies could (1) identify, region by region, the key Muslim voices — individuals and institutions — for and against jihadist violence, (2) analyze their respective support networks and vulnerabilities, (3) develop U.S. and multilateral courses of action to amplify anti-terrorist voices and to undermine the extremists, and (4) establish measures of success and track progress. A key to success would be the quality of U.S. linkages with friendly foreign countries, like India, that share our interests and have relevant knowledge and capabilities.
The carnage in Mumbai will prove a setback for jihadist extremists if it motivates the Obama team to intensify strategic cooperation with India, and helps initiate a proper strategy to defeat our terrorist enemies ideologically.
Mr. Feith was undersecretary of defense for policy from July 2001 to August 2005. He is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of “War and Decision” (HarperCollins, 2008).
7 December 2008 at 10:15 pm
Bhamy avare,
“Jihadist leaders declare that the aim of their holy war is not to alter specific policies of their enemies, but rather to establish a universal Muslim state”
Idanna nimma secular friends ge million times heLi. The reason for killing innocent people is not poverty or illiteracy bullshit.
8 December 2008 at 12:06 am
Thanks Vinay.
About the Jihadi – In my post, I have qualified that statement as follows -
“To put it in another manner, a Jihadi “win” in this fight within Islam would not bother “me” if the Jihadi were not a threat to “me” and “my” civilization.” The operative being, “if the Jihadi were NOT a threat to “me”".
About Communism and Secularism – Communism is communism. There is no particularly “violent” and “non-violent” variety of Communism. Similarly, Secularism is Secularism. It has it’s own nature and laws that propel it. It is my conviction that these are based on diktats of the State that professes it’s ideology. It’s not in the nature of it’s citizens. It is wholly artificial and is completely incapable of inspiring any kind of love toward it.