Thank You Mujahideens




Dear Deccan Mujahideens,

I would like to use this occasion to thank you for the services you have rendered to our government and the Indian state. You have conducted what is termed as the ‘most organised’, ‘most lethal’ and ‘highly determined’ terror attack ever on the Indian soil. Some of these adjectives were employed by our own Home Minister so commendations from such high places must be quite heart warming. You can pat your Kalashnikov wielding shoulders for having achieved such a feat of terror. Using the term ‘terror’ may upset you and you may prefer to use ‘Jihad’ instead. However, I have learned that the term Jihad could be interpreted as the effort taken up by a believer in his spiritual journey, so for your own sake, I would not want to taint such a beautiful term and instead, just call you terrorists.

By far this could be the most successful and lethal terror attack on the Indian soil. As trained terrorists, you would know that the success of an attack is not just measured in terms of the number of casualties but also in terms of the extent of its publicity. It is a pity that in the past, the valiant attacks by your group or your sister groups were not given due recognition in the international media. You have used crude or RDX bombs and a few dozen people died abruptly. The media and cameras arrived only to film the aftermath and they weren’t attractive enough. The Home Minister nonchalantly gave the statistical update of how many blasts took place, the number of injured, and went back to change his suit. The media worldwide simply inserted ‘There was a low intensity bomb blast in Banaras in Northern India that killed 23 people’ in between stock market and weather update. Even in India, the depth of the coverage depended on whether India had won any cricket match that day or whether Shahrukh Khan had had a release.

So you not only had to depend on your own skills but on external factors as well. I presume you had to change your strategy completely and the result shows very affirmatively. You seemed to have done a remarkable job at those brainstorming sessions in your camp. Today, BBC, CNN, and various other international news channels all over the world are covering this event round the clock. You will not believe that even a Brazilian news Website had featured Mumbai attacks ahead of the football score update. The heads of all the developed nations have personally spoken to the Prime Minister of India and have released press statements condemning the attacks and offering assistance.

So let me thank your for the impressive show. I am thanking you because though this is by far one of the ghastliest shows, it may well turn out to be your last in India. I believe India has finally understood the seriousness of Islamic terror. The political parties across have started speaking in one language absent of their usual bickering and blame game. The pseudo-secularists have stayed away from their usual ‘Terror has no religion’ cliché. The international media, having paid long overdue attention to India’s suffering, have also started asking why the fastest growing economy in the world is repeatedly being targeted and most especially who is behind. Tomorrow, when suspects are arrested, our human rights advocates will think twice before speaking for them. When our parliament assembles again, the members will talk in singular goal and purpose. Our police, politicians, army and our people will see the most admiring unity.

India had withstood attacks much worse than this in the past. I’m referring to two thousand years of history. Despite having had a dent in its rich heritage, culture, wealth and liberal worldview, India has retained all of these attributes and worked relentlessly to build on them. On his reaction to these attacks, a member of parliament Ravi Shankar Prasad commented that ‘India’s inner ability to rise’ is tremendous.

India will rise again, this time with much renewed vigour. Thank you once again for being the crucial catalysts, and good bye. Inshallah, we will not meet again.

The Hindu Rate of Wrath



The title for this piece is borrowed from Fracois Gautier’s passionate article in the Outlook magazine. His article is a response to the latest sensation in India about the ‘Hindu’ bomb blast in Malegaon allegedly carried out by Sadhvi Pragya Takur.

One of the most prominent pseudo-secular media houses in India CNN IBN smacked its lips when this issue was reported as they had a chance to proclaim that ‘Terror has no religion’ the phrase usually used in the meaning ‘Don’t blame Muslims for Islamic terrorism.’

In the article mentioned in this piece, Gautier scoffs at calling Malegaon blasts as Hindu Terrorism. He lists some of the atrocities committed in India for the past 1000 years and evocates Hindu’s nature of tolerance. The article’s most exciting closure goes like this:

There are about a billion Hindus, one in every six persons on this planet. They form one of the most successful, law-abiding and integrated communities in the world today. Can you call them terrorists?

Though Hindus, especially the Right Wing Hindus would be quite exhilarated by these words, a pause is required here. Gautier would do well to read Edward Said’s Orientalism and another of his book, Covering Islam. These two books are Said’s elaborate attempt to list out various Western atrocities on Muslim soil and in turn justify Muslim’s anger towards West, (which also indirectly hints that terror acts are their outlet for the historic anger.) Deeply researched and brilliantly written, Orientalism almost convinces you about Islam’s wrath. Only ‘almost’ because you ask several, several questions which are left untouched by Said. Gautier makes the same error in judgement of using history to either justify or overlook the present.

Gautier says Hindu’s response is only reactionary, a retaliation of centuries of oppression and organised atrocities of the invaders. V S Naipaul was the first to put forth this idea and not many followed it up and now it emanates from Gautier. Ironically, the Hindu Fundamentalism – created to retaliate Islamic Fundamentalism – now almost mirrors it’s foe in operation and attitude. The only thing that was pending in this process was resorting to organised terror and an amateurish start has been made now.

If Hindus are going to be drowned by Gautier’s passionate energy that smacks of mild Hindu atavism, then it would be a great mistake.

Because what is happening today in India is the natural reaction expected of a civilised society. The media screams foul and political parties rock the parliament about the Hindu brand of terror. The ordinary citizen is enormously concerned to see his Hindu brethren adopting the Al Queda attitude. This is the right response of a society for one amateurish action by their people. This should be encouraged and shown as the model for the rest of the societies where terror acts galore and the society remains mute, or justify either emotionally or worse intellectually like Edward Said.

Though the Sardesai/Congress sponsored phrase ‘Terror has no religion’ is much maligned and clichéd, does have a little validity. Only a little.

India responding angrily towards the terror activity speaks warmly about her compassion and guilt. BJP’s embarrassment sends comforting signals to the society that the second largest political party in India is not ideologically blinkered. India’s response to Pragya Singh’s case has a clear, confident message: Despite the atavistic clamour of Bajrang Dal and SIMI, fascistic force of Raj Thackaray, and destructive demeanour or Sonia and Laloo, Indian society remains sane and sensitive. For more than two thousand years, India has not tolerated violence. Nor will it ever in the future.

Image sourced from: Outlook India Website