All through Thanksgiving at the Chopra house, we have been discussing vigorously the ongoing situation in Mumbai.
All intelligence so far points to the fact that the perpetrators of these attacks belong to Islamic militant sects. How shocking. Keep in mind that no specific organization (save for some fringe group that no one seems to have heard of) has claimed responsibility as yet. Nor have they made any demands. That suggests that the terrorists’ intention were really to maximize attention, gain the notice of the world, and visibly strike at the heart of India’s most populous city. In that case, mission accomplished.
And of course, there is the brewing suspicion that India’s neighbor Pakistan is involved in some way, if nothing else than serving as a launching ground and base of operations for the attackers. The sophistication and complexity of the well coordinated attack – akin to the 9/11 attacks – suggest that whomever was behind these brazen assaults had tremendous resources and infrastructure to plan it over a significant amount of time. It’s not just money that is required to do something this large, but considerable intelligence gathering skills, tactical strategic planning, and organizational layering so that word of an assault doesn’t leak out beforehand by mistake and tip off the target. For those that know, all of the above points to Pakistan’s intelligence organizations the ISI who for decades has been deeply integrated into various Islamic organizations that lurk in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and have been rumored to get financial and moral support from wealthy Islamic nations in the Gulf, notably Saudi Arabia. The rumor that they are now going to be involved in the investigation of these attacks is both ironic and obliquely irreverent. Are we seriously supposed to trust that the ISI has India’s interests at heart?
Alas the real debate that’s been raging in our household is whether "fanaticism" is the real source of this sort of terrorist menace or "Islamic fanaticism?" Surely there are MANY terror organizations around the world not associated with Islam – the FARC, LTTE, IRA, ETA, not to mention the brutal regimes that operate all over the African continent. But for every non-Muslim based terror organization (which by the way are mostly secular), I can find you ten Islamic ones that pose a great global menace. It’s far too politically incorrect to single out Islamic fanaticism from the rest, but in truth there clearly is a vastly disproportionate amount of rage brewing within Islam than within other major faiths. And certainly as it relates to the amount of resources the world has to devote to deal with these problem places, there is NO comparison. Is it racist to say so or just a statement of fact?
Frankly, the more we talk about "religious fanaticism" as opposed to "Islamic fundamentalism", the more time we waste in my opinion and the more this all becomes a debate in theory rather than one with practical and useful applications.
That does not mean that we condemn the entire faith (nor the 1.65 billion that subscribe to it) which would be unreasonable and impractical, but that we – and more importantly Muslims themselves – ask the hard questions as to why the Islamic faith has distinguished itself so.
Increasingly nations like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran find themselves out of the "mainstream" of the world, their economies marginalized and increasingly irrelevant to the world. Other Islamic nations like Saudi and Gulf states seem only to be of relevance to the rest of the world because of their oil richness. But increasingly the rest of the planet is realizing oil a limited resource and our addiction to it clearly has enormous security consequences.
So both from the outside of Islam and the inside as well, now is the time to do a deep examination of where we are headed. The vociferous Imams and Islamic clerics that recruit young boys to be the agents of all this terror preach from Mosques from North London to Tehran to Peshawar to Quetta about the increasing divergence of interests between the orthodox Islamic world and everyone else.
Sadly, it appears they may not be so far off.
I bow to you Sir. My respect for you have increase infinite times for giving correct picture without any fear.
With love and respect
Rajesh
"I honor the Spirit in you which is also in me." – Deepak Chopra
Gotham,
I believe we've missed the whole boat on our 911 response. Why didn't we embargo Saudi oil? Didn't Saudi Arabia attack us? We know that Saudi's finance the madras schools that nurture the seed on anti-western hatred and exploit young children into terrorist ticking bombs. Why don't we stop the schools and build a new creative 'east-west-peace school' in its place? Isn't that how we end this war?
Cooke Fisher
http://www.cookefisheryogagym.com
Cooke it could be a typo and I make many myself but just in case as it might cause people who are not familiar enough with the issue reading this to get the wrong idea it's Madrasa and not Madras! Madras is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and was recently renamed Chennai while the Madrasa according to the Free Dictionary by Farflex (online) is defined as follows:
1.A building or group of buildings used for teaching Islamic theology and religious law, typically including a mosque.
2.Muslim schools in Bangladesh and Pakistan; "the Pakistan government decided to close down madrasas that provided military training for their students"; "many madrasas in Bangladesh are supported with money from Saudi Arabia"
On another note I have a personal story that I think will be useful to share in understanding how some muslims think …a very different viewpoint to mine….I considering myself a libertarian (something I gave thought to only when I filled it out on my facebook profile and realised it would be my choice) And I cant share the whole thing here as my comment will just be too long so I will blog it when I get some time I think later tonight.
But it is amazing how different people's viewpoints can be! I will start off what got me to thinking at least and continue it as a blog later tonight and will title the blog – Can a Muslim Be a Libertarian?
It is not entirely bout the Mumbai Terror Attacks but that started off the talk…also it was also the first time I was meeting the boy properly through work and my first clear realization that he was muslim and how much so…although according to him you are either a muslim or not! And so like a preview to the chat I will complete in the blog are things like this: he strongly does NOT consider Shah Rukh Khan say to be a muslim! So I told him well Lord…I wont even bother to broach the point of Salman Khan being one then cause well…I had blogged on my Universal Collective Prayer blog bout how according to other press reports he celebrates the Ganesh Ustav…well I didnt even tell the boy that one! I just left it off at his reaction to the name of Salman Khan even!
And he said a muslim is not orthodox cause:
one-it is a Christian word and
two- Islam is not liberal
so you are either a muslim or not and there are no freedoms in not following all the things or not. But seriously this boy was pretty open to chatting with me and in his mid 20s and a fellow Trinidadian of Indian ancestry (cause it had no Pakistan when we as in our ancestors came!) and university educated and working in a very secular and world culture embracing industry of Oil and Gas…he only just started granted! But he was nice and all and it was a very learning experience that I hope to share with Intent later tonight…and may blog it on my own blog too but not sure if I want to showcase it all over in case the boy reads it and doesnt appreciate me publicizing our personal chat although I plan to not make it possible for anyone to know who he is but of course he would know and he did enjoy chatting with me with so much he had me write the address of all my blogs for him! So dont want to offend a potential reader! So will see…but he didnt say anything offensive just his beliefs and he cant be identified so…still I'd normally not write something like that for all to read though…but i think it is important at this time…so will give it some thought and perhaps write it up tonight…anyone interested can look out for it…I think I will have to figure out how to get the gist across without personalizing else my new friend reads it and feel his life is flashing before him on his computer screen!
Also interesting is last night in trying to understand the Muslim mind I found on YouTube's Al Jazzera channel a Q&A session with Riz Khan…I didnt even realise he had gone to Al Jazeera as I dont keep up with TV much and I only knew bout the Mumbai attacks when my mum told me cause my sis in law had called from the US to tell her! So it is why I tuned it! So I googled bout Riz Khan to understand why he went to Al Jazeera and it was interesting that he gave his reasoning being his ability to understand the other side or explore that side of the fence and how it happened when watching something bout a skin head in the UK….dont know if that is the true scoop of course but is what I could find on the web…also even before the attacks I've been trying to learn more bout Islam for my Universal Collective Prayer blog as it is a religion I find difficult to grasp at times coming from a Hindu background and so I had added Queen Rania's channel cause I had heard about it cause it had been talked about at the You Tube Live concert that I watched…anyway will blog that blog tonight if anyone is interested in hearing that experience or chat I had…
Would also fulfill a need, especially for those suffering loss of loved ones after this event, if all known members of the Islamic faith come forward fully renouncing the atrocity of murder in the name of Allah. It is not akin to the work of Mohammad in prayer, in the same way that some Crusaders of long ago were utterly reckless, not upholding the words of Christ in their deeds. It does not matter what creed of love, faith or sacred thread of ritual is abused by fanaticism. Such killing is fanatic dogma in nihilism, enacted against the sacredness of life, which ought not to be confused with faith. The abuse also of young minds to carry out such insane abasement against life can never be supported by any creed of love.
Aloha Gotham,
Very insightful article. I feel the solution is simple, but under the current circumstances difficult. If we truly want to rid the world of this hatred it is time to reach out to the Islam world with good works. In Iraq there was a window of opportunity where if the U.S had come in and helped the people rebuild their infrastructure, things may have turned out differently.
But that is still the key. Israel must give up some of it's war gained territory. Western nations and business must reach out to Palestine and help develop business opportunities there. The same should happen in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan as well. When a man is providing a living for his family, and feels good about himself, he is far less inclined to join a terrorist group or even allow them into his neighborhood.
It is time to become truly global, and work to involve everyone one, down to the poorest of the poor. Jesus said Love Thy Enemy. As hard as that can be, I really can not see any other solution.
Peace
Michael
Hi everybody in case my comments on this blog were read or are read in the future I didnt bother to write the blog "Can a Muslim Be a Libertarian?" cause I didnt think it would add value.
Instead I've added a new intent and made it my primary one for now:
"To Walk in the Shoes of Others Who are Very Different from Me."
I really would like to better understand:
-the islamic mind (cause it is one of the religions that I know little bout or according to their believers I understand wrongly and didnt hit me how important a religion it is to understand till deepak chopra said it is 25% of the world's population!)
-the terrorist mind (cause I know not all terrorist are muslim)
-the islamic terrorist mind (but many terrorist are muslim)
The closest I've come to understanding it is from these books and my own perception of things on the earth otherwise:
-Among the Believers- V.S. Naipaul (fellow Trinidadian by birth and for first 18yrs of life at least)
-Shalimar's Clown- Salman Rushdie (of fatwah on head fame!)
Gotham,
I was on intent blog a bit of recent and I saw on your profile you have interviewed some of Osama Bin Laden's foot men etc…It would be marvelous if one day you shared with us more about that experience if you would be obliged to…
I would like to extend my sincere sympathies and condolences to the bereaved Families and prayers and thoughts to all affected by this attack
This is totally unfair; innocent Lives being cruelly snatched by perpetrators of such condemnable actions
“When” will the perpetrators of such condemnable actions ever understand that by committing such actions, they are literally committing the very most sinful of actions!
It only leaves one more confused, perplexed and wondering in amazement with so many questions unanswered as to Why, Why and Why are such actions taking place? What do the perpetrators achieve?
Why don’t they realize and understand that the World needs Peace, Love, Progress and Prosperity; that when they first contribute and invest in Peace and Love can they expect to reciprocate likewise, “When” will they ever learn?
Life is extremely Precious and when the perpetrators just take decisions and commit unforgivable actions; they only foster more repulsion and disgust at what they are seeking to demonstrate.
By committing such actions, they are only creating more hatred for themselves primarily; as well as further distancing and surrounding themselves with a vicious circle of further infinite hatred
At this crucial moment, where we stand at the cross roads of doing our very best to comprehend the reasons for these condemnable actions; it is sincerely Hoped that decisive resolutions are identified whereby they are able to facilitate an effective mitigation right from the core roots of these elements, where they emerged.
“Understanding” the core elements relating to this process is one of the strategic and instrumental keys in effectively managing and regulating the process instead of solely combatting since the first process is to establish a platform upon which a firm foundation could be built; the foundation of Universal Hope, Peace, Trust, Love, Peace, Harmony, Progress and Prosperity
It is pursuing an hopeful and practical process; whereby anticipating, innovating and embarking onto pursuing a practical approach for adeptly and resolutely dealing with such type of condemnable actions is being encouraged; Alas what has occurred cannot be recuperated, but the sacrifice that has been made by several innocent victims over the years reminds us and encourages us to stringently identify resolutions that could effectively harness the various factors effectively and implement a resolute approach in dealing / combatting with such condemnable actions decisively and practically.
It is more easily said than done; but every step taken in the direction of seeking to identify each resolution is essential and imminently approaching
Evolution is testament and holds evidential records of various events that have occurred and it is our duty to educate and inspire the concerned to seek to “Recognize” and “Understand” the immense potential value of each and every Life, since Life is extremely Precious and Splendid; and can “NEVER” be snatched away by these type of cowardly actions on any pretext or instance whatsoever.
Each and Everyone has the rightful privilege to Live and cannot become subject to what perpetrators of such condemnable actions think and decide, it is absolutely very wrongful, punishable to the maximum possible extents and unpardonable; (Although the deviation is there when reference is made to referring to the aspect of punishment, it is but natural that when all steps that are taken to make the concerned understand the significance and importance of reality and when they refuse to understand and persistently seek to establish their own agendas, then in such contexts, this is NOT permissible since there has to be Universal Harmony, Peace and Love that is accorded contentious precedence and pre dominance since the Universe provides us and bestows us each and every Moment with the very finest of virtues but when there is an interruption or attempts made by perpetrators to change the course of what is being manifested Universally, then the perpetrators are naturally SUBJECT to pay a price for their irresponsible actions, face the consequences; they need to be accountable and responsible and essentially “Understand” that defying the Universal Principles, The Laws of Nature is having a price that NEEDS to be paid)
It is not only retribution alone, it is fairness where no sides are taken, but what is just and unjust; since Nature never discriminates or favors one over another; but tends to remind and make one aware time and again that it makes one pay for one’s wrong deeds whether now or later; but definitely has its own way of compensating those that have been made to endure and face unfortunate events due to the mindless actions taken by perpetrators; the distinguishing of those that are right and those that are wrong is already being journalized / recorded and will seek accountability accordingly.
I shall summarize the above comments on this note since it is an extensive appeal that consistently seeks to kindle the Hope for establishing Universal Hope, Peace, Trust, Love, Peace, Harmony, Progress and Prosperity; If a reference has been made to certain tendencies that reflect accountability, this is natural, since every action that is taken is linked and bound to result in a reaction; so every action that is taken must be carefully assessed and taken explicitly on the basis of establishing Universal Hope, Peace, Trust, Love, Peace, Harmony, Progress and Prosperity; it is the pursuit of a mutual process and not solely for suiting one’s agenda alone!
With sincere Hopes, Thoughts and Humble Prayers,
Vashi Ram Chandi
Right you are Gotham.
And add to that, India is a sitting duck ! India is always too timid and meek in the name of secularism, broadmindedness. Not that India should not be so, but to what extent ?
V C
One distinction I would promote: that which fills and warps the minds of the actors, in contrast to the which moves and motivates the leadership.
Just compare the existentials: the exalted few who sacrifice anything to save themselves versus the cannon-fodder with deluded thoughts of nobility and courage.
Courage and bravery? The countless acts of humanity on the part of hotel staff to secure their guests.
We don't attain enlightened mind by staring more deeply into the darkness. It's empty.
(Of course, in the end, it's a very full emptiness, but one won't appreciate that while gripped by despair! *grin*)
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