UnSaid

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and a Happy Hanukkah

My Kingdom is not of this world
- Jesus Christ

Something I liked:

Jesus Christ pointed out, “The kingdom of God is within you” (The Bible: Luke – 17, 21). In a similar vein, an ancient Tamil saint admonishes in these words – “O! Those unwise persons, who seek light from the heavens above, see this within yourselves”.

A little off topic but nevertheless relevant:

As in the case of the injured who is finally enabled to walk normally through the medium of physiotherapy, exercises and medicines, the spiritual aspirant also has to involve himself through proven techniques of obtaining spiritual strength. Exercises in right living, lifestyle and spiritual evolution through various physical and mental exercises (sadhana) have been prescribed by various schools.

Bhagawad Gita refers to this as a process of discarding passion, desire and anger (II 56 and V, 28). Such exercises for the body, mind and the spirit enable one to discover light and divinity within. This is the state, described by Gita as that state of “joy within, comfort within and light within” — antasukah, antararamah, antarjyoti (V, 24)

Updated : To add Hanukkah celebrations

This really depends upon whose side you are looking at it from. But can they really be humans?

One of the greatest living US writers has praised terrorists as “very brave people” and used drug culture slang to describe the “amazing high” suicide bombers must feel before blowing themselves up.

Vonnegut said it was “sweet and honourable” to die for what you believe in, and rejected the idea that terrorists were motivated by twisted religious beliefs.

“They are dying for their own self-respect,” he said. “It’s a terrible thing to deprive someone of their self-respect. It’s like your culture is nothing, your race is nothing, you’re nothing.”

Asked if he thought of terrorists as soldiers, Vonnegut, a decorated World War II veteran, said: “I regard them as very brave people, yes.”

Ignoring to get into the arguments whether the terrorists deserve medals of bravery or not, it makes one think whether there is a genuine human angle to solving the problem of terrorism which people have not been looking at in the humdum of all the war drumbeats? Is today’s terrorism because someone’s culture has been trampled upon or because their cultural ambitions have been trampled upon? Or just because people are playing power games with their illiterate (or misguided) followers? What can they think that they can realistically achieve to get through terrorism than normal discourse? Can terrorists ever let development take place in their regions, or even they are false prophets not unlike any other politician, except far more lethal?

Columnist Pervez Hoodbhoy gives an in-depth look into how General Musharraf survives.

Musharraf flits effortlessly between personae. At one moment he is the “responsible” world leader who speaks charmingly to the international media about moderate Islam; at the next, he is the cunning conspirator who rigs elections, destroys political opponents, breaks promises on relinquishing power, enters into mutually beneficial relationships with mullahs, and castigates human-rights activists as “Westernised fringe elements” that “are as bad as the Islamic extremists.”

He shamelessly uses all opportunities to deflect the real issues of development and stopping terrorism, as The Acorn points out in yet another example.

With virtually all of Pakistani organisations being run by ex-\serving army officers, it won’t be too tough to see that the majority of the quake aid money being pledged will either go to the Jihadi organisations or some officers’ personal bank accounts. A Kashmiri and an ex-Pakistani ambassador Maqbool Ahmad Bhatty makes a timely plea to get some accountability into all the funds flowing in, after giving another example of how things can go wrong.

The [Pakistani] prime minister announced that Rs 25,000 would be paid to each family whose house has been destroyed. This fate has befallen the bulk of the over three million people living in the earthquake-hit area. This opens up a classical opportunity for corruption. This writer’s ancestral village in Shakargarh had been occupied in 1971 by the Indian forces. When they withdrew following the Simla Agreement, they systematically demolished all houses by removing wood used in roofs, doors and windows. The government decided to pay Rs 1,000 to each house owner. The local officials entrusted with the task would pay only Rs 500, and obtain a receipt for Rs 1,000. When the amounts being disbursed are much larger, the opportunities for corruption are greater.

The Chinese have mostly escaped the Islamic terrorism scourge, with many Jihadists calling China an ally rather than an enemy. It was even reported some time back in news articles that Mullahs prayed for Chinese victory against the ‘enemy’ US.

Not much Chinese reaction has been forthcoming even with Chinese citizens getting killed in Pakistan (Engineers working at Gwadar) and recently in the Jordan blasts. Most things that the Jihadis are fighting against, are also present in China (majority non-muslim population, yearning for materialism, etc.). They have been struggling with Islamic separatism in one of their own provinces for some time, but surprisingly, the Jihadists and the Chinese have not raised their voices against each other. What does it all really mean?

Is the Chinese gameplan to let the Jihadis can do their dirty work of keeping the world bleeding and preoccupied while they raise their own profile? Does this make China an ally of Jihadis? If China is an ally of the Jihadis, why is the world silent about it?

If the Chinese are not their ally, will they ever enter this ‘war on terror’ being played out in its neighbourhoods and around the world? The Chinese are pragmatic enough to realise that the Jihadis will ultimately start targeting them for not being muslims too. They can’t keep watching the world fight its battles forever without them and take all the spoils of war (presuming that the Jihadis get defeated). Or are they waiting for a trigger (bombs going off in Chinese cities), or just a good excuse? It might just be a matter of time when bombs start going off in Chinese mainland. Can they resist joining forces with the free world, even if they are not looking for an excuse? If it happens, rather, when it happens, What will it mean for the world, especially, its relationship with US, Russia, India and Pakistan?

The Pakistani diplomat’s driver was trying to run a Rs. 1,000 note to buy a Rs.8 chole-bhature from a Street Vendor, which led to the diplomatic spat being loud mouthed by Pakistani establishment. These guys just never let an opportunity go by to decieve people and take the focus away from the real issues. I would’ve understood if the person was from a western country or even Japan or Singapore, but a driver from a developing country trying to change such a big note with a street vendor.
Now, we all know how much a driver earns in a developing country. Unless if the driver was running a narcotics ring because of the diplomatic immunity provided to his boss in an enemy country, or is a spy or something. Even in western countries, cashier clerks check even a $20. I myself would’ve checked it throughly even if the guy was not a driver.

Don’t know what Pakistanis are mad about, may be because the driver blew the cover off something fishy-fishy dealings they’d been doing. Apart from their normal practice of one-up manship they play with the Indians and steal the spotlight away from the Jihadi terrorist gangs and murderers they try to save after every murder they commit, there really aren’t many reasons to make a furore about it at a time when a peace process is going on which they claim they are doing a lot for.