The Mayhem in Mumbai

Trooper101st @ 11/27/2008 8:48:31 AM

Again, I am sorry that what has been explained with such clarity before, is stil not grasped by purportedly intelligent (at least literate!) people sitting in their cozy homes and blogging about the state of our spaceship Earth. Yes, some groups, including some purported 'geopolitical grand strategy' advisers on both Muslim and ???secularist??? sides (M. J. Akbar had reminded his readers of Lloyd George???s attempts to persuade the House of Saud to establish a ???Southern Caliphate??? in opposition to the Ottoman ???Northern Caliphate??? in his bid to finish off the Ottoman Empire) have long harboured the pipe dream of a Caliphate, but, at the beginning of the Third Millenium, only small fringe groups on any side whatsoever can really believe that empires of the traditional types can exist. As Ken Ichi Ohmae has amply documented for those who care to think rationally about world dynamics, this is the age of the emergence of ???region states??? from the fast-fading system of ???nation-states??? and ???state-nations??? that replaced the ???feudal state??? system after the Treaty of Westphalia in . There is not a ???clash of civilizations??? ongoing (in fact, the most ardent militant for a ???dialogue of civilizations???, within a very formal structure established by the UN, is the former ??? and, hopefully, future ??? President of Iran, Muhammad Khatami), but conflicts of interest for control over resources, for influence, for primacy in collective decision-making power on such ???global public good??? issues as international trade and financial arrangements, nuclear arms control, the noble struggle to control the spread of pandemics and afflictions such as food toxicity, the fight against global warming, the colonization of space, etc. In these conflicts, it is not inevitable that competition always be the best course through which to settle disputes; in many cases, undiluted cooperation suffices; in most cases, ???coopetition??? ??? cooperation in specific areas with externalities, competition in areas with minimal or clearly-delineated externalities or without externalities ??? works best. People of good will in the ???dialogue of civilizations??? forum and elsewhere are doing their utmost to bring this saner world order about. Instead of spreading misunderstanding and rancour, let us lend them a hand, for our own common good.

And, lest any body mistake me for an apologist for the ways of terror, by all means let us eliminate the unrepentant terrorists, but let us not make fools of ourselves by generalising accusations of terrorism to vast groups of people.

pravin.pai @ 11/27/2008 6:21:08 AM

What Pravin Pai describes as the teachings of Islam is in fact, the teachings of all religiojns: Christianity goes further and requires one to 'turn the other cheek', an impossible way of life, no doubt, at least not on a sustainable basis.

Pravin has obviously not read any of the literature on morality and evolutionary biology. Morality inevitably has a binarism that is best captured in the concepts and analytical methods of Game Theory, which evolutionary biology also draws on.

In fact, Islam teaches: "When the Friday prayers are over, spread about the earth and partake of the bounty of thy Lord and send praises to Him for His beneficence".

Throw all muslims out of India they spread evil and produce fast like rabites.

When Mr Zakaria deduces that Muslims take to terrorism in India because majority of them are not benefeciaries of the Indian economic boom, it shows he has not gone through the profile of terrorists arrested till now. Almost all of those arrested come from good educated backgrounds and infact one of them is an IT professional earning over Rupees One lakh a month. This clearly shows his analysis of this is wrong. Infact the true reason for educated muslim youth (worldwide) to take to these acts is because of their inner frustration or rather, internally they are being torn apart on one hand by the modern western values predominant in society and on the other the values ingrained in their religion. To explain, Islam preaches brotherhood - helping others before yourself, it preaches against accumulating wealth earned through improper means and not earned by your own hard work, so much so that it even prohibits its beleivers from taking interest from banks. It is against promiscuity of all kinds and preaches simple living and using one's wealth for the benefit of others. But in the outside world the value systems that these youth have to face are exactly contrary to what Quran preaches and hence the frustration. The suicide Manila bomber, about 4-5 years ago, indulged himself in all acts prohibited by his religion, just before he undertook his mission. This shows how the muslim youth of today is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, as they say.

These terror attacks show the complete failure of the Indian Home Minstry officials, who are corrupted and display crocodile tears.
Who will be ready to show sympathy & who will mourn for the kith & kin of those police officers who were killed in this terror attack.
Are US & UK listening to these attacks?
Terrorism shuold be rooted out from all over the world.So the first act is that clean up those terror-nursery which are growing in the interiors of Pakistan. & Afghanistan..
When these politicians will get a wake up call?

I do agree with Mr Zakaria about the large muslim population that hasnt benefitted from the Indian economic boom making them prime fodder for terrorists and Mafia groups, however I do have to state that Islam as a religion in India hasnt done anything to encourage its constituents to educate themselves to be able to partake in the techno savvy Indian economic boom. The average successful middleclass muslim is usually pretty happy and proud of being Indian

The terrorist may not have anything against westerners at all. Having them as hostages would bring on more pressure on the Indian government to let them make a safe exit.
Bring on the specialised military outfits to take out the terrosists with minimum damage to innocents. On no condition should they be left alive to create another havoc. This is war on Mumbai and response should be merciless.

This is an unfortunate incident in which innocent lives have been lost . Most people , including Muslims share the grief of the Indians and perpetrators will find no sympathy in Pakistan and Muslim world. I cannot , hover, resist the temptation of saying that the timing of this incident is very intriguing . The Pakistanis were very mildly optimistic about some progress on Kashmir , After the US President elect and French Presidents statements , and this incident would be much against Pakistani and Kashmiri interest , whosoever did this was no friend of Pakistan and Kashmir. The parallel to Abu Nidal also needs to be explored

This is an unfortunate incident in which innocent lives have been lost . Most people , including Muslims share the grief of the Indians and perpetrators will find no sympathy in Pakistan and Muslim world. I cannot , hover, resist the temptation of saying that the timing of this incident is very intriguing . The Pakistanis were very mildly optimistic about some progress on Kashmir , After the US President elect and French Presidents statements , and this incident would be much against Pakistani and Kashmiri interest , whosoever did this was no friend of Pakistan and Kashmir. The parallel to Abu Nidal also needs to be explored

This war in India is between minority extremists ( both Hindu and Muslims) turning in to terrorists and the secular democratic majority. The power of democracy will win, India has the power to overcome thses situations

Zakaria is a PAksitani in an American jacket and he hates India. His view points have no credence in this part of the world. Please change him.

The truth is that both Islamic and Hindu terrorists are fighting against the secular parties in India.

Terrorism in India is now a joint work of both Hindu & Muslim extremists. Skeptical? Then(1) why Pakistan has no problem with confirmed anti-Muslim BJP ruling border states of Rajasthan & Gujarat?(2)Why USA is correctly denying visas to BJP Hindu extremist leaders to visit India. Remember BJP wants win the election against the ruling Congress. Both Islamic and Hindu terrorists are in cahoots now against secular rule.

I think Americans, Brits and Jewish folks were a target of this attack. The very fact that an ultra-orthodox rabbi and his family are still held hostage in another location hints at a broader message that is being sent. It's all connected, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, US, split along religious fault lines.
I hope better sense prevails after this mayhem and a diplomatic solution emerges.

Sam
http://www.noiZemag.com/ - The Gay Voice of America

I think Americans, Brits and Jewish folks were a target of this attack. The very fact that an ultra-orthodox rabbi and his family are still held hostage in another location hints at a broader message that is being sent. It's all connected, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, US, split along religious fault lines.
I hope better sense prevails after this mayhem and a diplomatic solution emerges.

Sam
http://www.noiZemag.com/ - The Gay Voice of America

While Mr Zakaria does say the truth that the majority of Muslims have not been part of the big Indian boom, he does not get into the whys of it. I understand that this is not the right forum for him to speak about it but then he cant give a statement like that and then move on to a different topic. And like he said, disgruntled youths are being picked up all over the world. Are Muslims being prosecuted everywhere?
Another dimension to this is that even a rational person does categorize people. The unfortunate thing is that Islam as a religion has been hijacked by a small group, who try to breed discontent and get fresh recruits - this has led to more Islamic terrorists than any other group of terrorists who claim religious affiliations. That in turn has led to this Islam and terror association that people have started to think of - which will again fuel the feeling of persecution. And again, this is a world wide phenomenon.

While Mr Zakaria does say the truth that the majority of Muslims have not been part of the big Indian boom, he does not get into the whys of it. I understand that this is not the right forum for him to speak about it but then he cant give a statement like that and then move on to a different topic. And like he said, disgruntled youths are being picked up all over the world. Are Muslims being prosecuted everywhere?
Another dimension to this is that even a rational person does categorize people. The unfortunate thing is that Islam as a religion has been hijacked by a small group, who try to breed discontent and get fresh recruits - this has led to more Islamic terrorists than any other group of terrorists who claim religious affiliations. That in turn has led to this Islam and terror association that people have started to think of - which will again fuel the feeling of persecution. And again, this is a world wide phenomenon.