Obama is grinning from ear to ear! He is the toast of not only the town but the whole of the American nation! After all he has wiped out the most dreaded terrorist in the world! What Bush could not do in two terms, Obama has done it in one only! Hence, he sure is a happy guy. Americans are celebrating this with a frenzy that outweighs the thanksgiving also! Such is the power of the machinery called Propaganda. I am reminded of Bhindranwala. One can see that Osama was to America what Bhindranwala was to Indira Gandhi.
It is not the killing which is significant. It is the manner in which it was done. Brazen, cold blooded, sodden in arrogance and one which sends a chill down the spine of lesser nations! It shows that the Americans have scant respect for International protocols. It is another aspect of the Jungle Raj. Might is right as one muscles ones way least bothered of the possible repercussions. Today, a nation stands undermined and humiliated.
We re not debating what Osama was. We do not debate why he was never on the CIA’s web list of wanted terrorists for 9/11 and yet Obama has related him with this and has garnered sympathies so as to shoot up his rapidly declining public rating! Just one of the many contradictions involving this “shoot out at Abbotabad”.
I write with a sense of trepidation and consternation. A feeling of fear of things to come. The modus operandi used in elimination of Osama is a sign of the times. Here is a group of elite commandoes flying into another nation, making a mockery of sovereignty, shooting the target dead at point blank range. The body is picked and taken from one nation to another and finally dumped into the sea. All this is coming from one of the most civilized nations. From the nation that teaches others about the freedom of expression and freedom of democracy and freedom of values. If one has to be taught a lesson, then it should be done, no doubt. But within the rules of decency and civilized society. Any one who is a scourge on society needs to pay for his misdeeds. Catch the man and bring him to justice. Put him before law. Try him for his crimes. Like what was done to Slobodan Milosevic. Taking law into your own hands is not the best example set by the most progressive nation on earth. What would the US do if India does the same to get Dawood ? The term sovereignty would loose all meaning. The world has watched in disbelief. Violence has been preferred and chances of truth coming out in the open have been buried forever….deep down where none can reach. It will always be felt that the accused should have been given a chance to prove his innocence. India stands out in the way it treated a sadistic killer Ajmal Kasab and gave him all the chances to prove that he in innocent. Obama needs lessons from India.
Wanted Dead or….dead! Yes, this seems to be the motto of the forces chasing Osama. It appears that they could have possibly apprehended the unarmed old man. But they decided otherwise. Why? Deadly silence from those who matter. Since the time they went out to “smoke em out” policy, they have bunged thousands of tones of bombs on just about any place they thought he was hiding in. This hurt not only the poor society where the bombs were dropped but also the economies of nations! Who benefited?
Now I come to the whole drama that has been enacted. Pakistan and the US are hand in glove in this rather filmy sordid episode. However, none can admit this openly for obvious reasons. Hollywood and Lollywood combined!! As per the news reports, Osama has been staying in the house for almost five years, oblivious to the nosey parkers of all so called “smart intelligence agencies! US is blaming Pakistan for its intelligence failure. And we are to believe that the CIA- the mother of all intelligence agencies across the world- and which is all over Pakistan, does not know this on it’s own!! Have a heart , Obama, yes, people are gullible and innocent and the civil society is very forgiving. But to swallow this one has to be more naïve than the silly dodo! And what to say about the frequently changing versions of the whole act! Once we hear that Osama was unarmed and trying to hide behind the skirt of his wife! Then we hear that he was killed in gunfire exchange and then we hear that he was killed by one other than the Americans! What do believe?? But one thing is for sure, I cannot imagine Osama, a man first fighting the Russians and now the Americans for nearly three decades, will run away from death! Going by the earlier reports in the media, he was fighting for a religious cause and such people would be looking forward to embracing death! Mission accomplished, is what he would say and not hide behind a skirt to save a life that he always wanted to loose!
And the last video that we saw on the TV adds more mystery and makes things murkier. We are shown a video of Osama using the remote control of a TV. If one notices, this is in the right hand. Now, go back to the scene so frequently shown on the TV-Osama firing a machine gun. Notice the hand? He appears to be a left hander! And why would a leftie use the remote in his right hand? Unless that hand has been left behind in the Tora Bora! And yes, why did Osama get himself filmed from such weird angles and then leave the cassettes for the Americans to conveniently discover?? Elementary , dear Watson!
No civil society permits killing of innocents. Whosoever is guilty of doing so should be punished severely. No mercy. But there should be one law for the same crime. When asked to relate 9/11 with 26/11, the Americans have looked the other way!! They were deaf to the shrieks of the people who lost their dear ones in the Mumbai Massacre!
The buzz is that Obama thought that if Bush could resurrect the ghost of Osama and win his otherwise almost lost elections, then a dead Osama should surely get him a second term! And the deal is “buy one, get one free! Free is the exit from the labyrinths, quagmire of the monstrous Afghanistan!
My fear is that this John Wayne type of action might be counter productive. Swooping into another nation under the cover of darkness and technology, smashing the guy to smithereens, collecting the body and flying off to dump it into the sea may just about make the killed a martyr. And this would spell disaster. Not only for the Americans but for the world.
We can only pray that such juvenile bravado by the gun slinging Obama does not create more Osamas.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Baba Culture-pulling India back?
India chained
The recent event that lingers in my mind and just refuses to fade away is the smiling , fuzzy haired Sai Baba. He was indeed quite a character who courted controversy although the presence of Sonia Gandhi and Man Mohan Singh at his funeral does give a glimpse of what kind of political clout he wielded when alive.
It is always difficult for anyone to accept humans as Gods. Kind of weird that the guy next door could possibly proclaim to be a God, albeit supposedly in an Avtar! It is certainly possible to accept one as a holy fellow who connects better with his creator and displays more human values than an average person. And then comes the final clincher. A picture of the thronging devotees praying for the Sai Baba! Asking for health! Asking for his Life! A plethora of questions flashed upon my mind: are they praying for their God….their God NEEDS the prayers of the devotees? To whom are these devotees of Sai Baba praying??? Are we to suppose that there is a bigger God who can cure the smaller god? Gods can get sick? Gods need the prayers of humans?
Let’s take a quick flash into the past. We must remember that as a child, Sai Baba was described as "unusually intelligent". And what is more relevant is that the young Baba was exceptionally talented in drama, music, dance and writing, and was an avid composer of poems and plays. He was said to be capable of materialising objects such as food and sweets out of thin air, but alas! He could not escape death by using his own vibhuti! The power of the vighuti vanished when he needed it most! By the way, the glass casket in which the body of the Baba was on display, was air conditioned ! An over zealous devotee felt that reincarnation occurs better under more pleasant conditions!
Sachin Tendulkar was seen crying sitting besides the body of Baba. Was he crying at what would be Baba’s fate in the herafter or was it because he realized that humans die, Gods do not. I am still guessing……And the news that is going around is that the Baba will reincarnate in about a decade. Whatever be the truth of the matter, at least this gives us hope that the world will not finish as predicted by the calculating priest, Harold Camping, a preacher from Oakland, California or the other doomsday theory of the world coming to an end in 2012!
That brings me to the other bigger issue. The issue of Rs 45,000 crores. What crores? As I understand, the value of Baba’s Trusts could be touching a whopping 45,000 crores! And will this issue be ever investigated? What taxes have been paid by the Baba or the trust? What has been the source of this humoungous income? I know that many charitable pursuits have been initiated by the Baba. Why not? If peanuts can fetch you Gold, then why not! Simple logic.
And then I thought of the other living soul who has been in the news. Anna Hazare. And I wondered to myself , can this living Gandhian ensure that the Jan Lok Pal bill will be passed and implemented? If he can, then I am sure that the late Baba can be brought under it’s ambit. After all, movement against corruption does not begin by seeing the colour of the dress that one wears or by the volume of ones hair? Or does it?
Before I digress into more worldly matters, let me continue with the Godman who was, as I understand, an avatar of the Shirdee kay Sai Baba. Quite a contrast, I must confess. The original Sai baba was a “fakir” when he passed away, probably not possessing even Rs 400 at the time of his death! Well, it is all a matter of modern economics. Demand and Supply. Probably the “kalyug” can be seen when economics determines rebirth! The idea of an Avatar , as I understand, was to improve the society and rid it of it’s evils. Now it seems that Avatars rids the society of their money!
And now let me come to the worldly matters. India is huge nation sitting on the brink of glory and greatness. What stops us from achieving greatness are such avatars. India as a nation is like South Africa in cricket. Chokers.
India’s step into the world of greatness is choked due to it’s gullible ,highly emotional and immature masses. They are pulling us back. Anna Hazare can continue his fasts till as long as he likes. India will be like a cat catching it’s own tail. Corruption, as it appears, will never be weeded out because corruption cares about colour of the dress and the volume of the hair that dons the head that weaves a magic spell on those who matter. Masses as well as classes fall prey.
The recent event that lingers in my mind and just refuses to fade away is the smiling , fuzzy haired Sai Baba. He was indeed quite a character who courted controversy although the presence of Sonia Gandhi and Man Mohan Singh at his funeral does give a glimpse of what kind of political clout he wielded when alive.
It is always difficult for anyone to accept humans as Gods. Kind of weird that the guy next door could possibly proclaim to be a God, albeit supposedly in an Avtar! It is certainly possible to accept one as a holy fellow who connects better with his creator and displays more human values than an average person. And then comes the final clincher. A picture of the thronging devotees praying for the Sai Baba! Asking for health! Asking for his Life! A plethora of questions flashed upon my mind: are they praying for their God….their God NEEDS the prayers of the devotees? To whom are these devotees of Sai Baba praying??? Are we to suppose that there is a bigger God who can cure the smaller god? Gods can get sick? Gods need the prayers of humans?
Let’s take a quick flash into the past. We must remember that as a child, Sai Baba was described as "unusually intelligent". And what is more relevant is that the young Baba was exceptionally talented in drama, music, dance and writing, and was an avid composer of poems and plays. He was said to be capable of materialising objects such as food and sweets out of thin air, but alas! He could not escape death by using his own vibhuti! The power of the vighuti vanished when he needed it most! By the way, the glass casket in which the body of the Baba was on display, was air conditioned ! An over zealous devotee felt that reincarnation occurs better under more pleasant conditions!
Sachin Tendulkar was seen crying sitting besides the body of Baba. Was he crying at what would be Baba’s fate in the herafter or was it because he realized that humans die, Gods do not. I am still guessing……And the news that is going around is that the Baba will reincarnate in about a decade. Whatever be the truth of the matter, at least this gives us hope that the world will not finish as predicted by the calculating priest, Harold Camping, a preacher from Oakland, California or the other doomsday theory of the world coming to an end in 2012!
That brings me to the other bigger issue. The issue of Rs 45,000 crores. What crores? As I understand, the value of Baba’s Trusts could be touching a whopping 45,000 crores! And will this issue be ever investigated? What taxes have been paid by the Baba or the trust? What has been the source of this humoungous income? I know that many charitable pursuits have been initiated by the Baba. Why not? If peanuts can fetch you Gold, then why not! Simple logic.
And then I thought of the other living soul who has been in the news. Anna Hazare. And I wondered to myself , can this living Gandhian ensure that the Jan Lok Pal bill will be passed and implemented? If he can, then I am sure that the late Baba can be brought under it’s ambit. After all, movement against corruption does not begin by seeing the colour of the dress that one wears or by the volume of ones hair? Or does it?
Before I digress into more worldly matters, let me continue with the Godman who was, as I understand, an avatar of the Shirdee kay Sai Baba. Quite a contrast, I must confess. The original Sai baba was a “fakir” when he passed away, probably not possessing even Rs 400 at the time of his death! Well, it is all a matter of modern economics. Demand and Supply. Probably the “kalyug” can be seen when economics determines rebirth! The idea of an Avatar , as I understand, was to improve the society and rid it of it’s evils. Now it seems that Avatars rids the society of their money!
And now let me come to the worldly matters. India is huge nation sitting on the brink of glory and greatness. What stops us from achieving greatness are such avatars. India as a nation is like South Africa in cricket. Chokers.
India’s step into the world of greatness is choked due to it’s gullible ,highly emotional and immature masses. They are pulling us back. Anna Hazare can continue his fasts till as long as he likes. India will be like a cat catching it’s own tail. Corruption, as it appears, will never be weeded out because corruption cares about colour of the dress and the volume of the hair that dons the head that weaves a magic spell on those who matter. Masses as well as classes fall prey.
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