By Raffique Shah
Sunday, November 30, 2008
EVEN as India’s elite military units were flushing out the remnants of the terrorists who launched a bloody, well-coordinated attack on several symbolic targets in Mumbai, the blame-game was underway. Predictably, Gujarat’s Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, openly accused Pakistan of being behind the attacks. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was more diplomatic in his comments, as was his Foreign Minister. What is clear, though, is following this multi-pronged assault on that country’s commercial capital, war between India and Pakistan is a strong possibility.
One cannot expect good sense to prevail in an environment of religious recklessness. Lal Advani’s BJP, which governed India until it lost the elections a few years ago, remains rooted to transforming the country into Hindutva-a Hindu state. The BJP is supported in this quest by groups like the VHP, the BD and more important the RSS and the SS. I have not spelt out the names because they would mean little to local readers. Suffice it to say Nathuram Godse, the man who murdered Mahatma Gandhi and who remained defiant during his trial, was a member of the RSS before he joined the even more extremist Hindu Mahasabha. Gandhi, Godse said during his trial, “was sacrificing Hindu interests in an effort to appease minority groups.”
Even though Nehru’s Congress Party opted for a secular state (there are more than 100 million Muslims living in India), the quest for Hindutva never ceased. It rears its head ever so often, most recently when Hindus attacked and killed hundreds of Christian converts. In 2002, following a fire in a train carrying Hindu pilgrims that killed scores of them, large mobs of Hindus attacked, raped and killed over 1,000 Muslims. Moti and his state police did not intervene to stop the carnage. Later, one official inquiry concluded the fire was set not by Muslim attackers, but it was accidental.
Meanwhile, across the border in Pakistan, radical imams are preaching their brand of Islam. For them, anyone who is not a Muslim is an unbeliever deserving of death: if agnostics like me lived anywhere close to their “madrassas”, I might have been beheaded! The radicals have been around long before bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda came into existence. Shortly after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1980, Al-Qaeda came into being (funded and armed by the CIA and Pakistan), as did the Taliban. They served America’s anti-communist campaign-until 9/11 and America’s invasions and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Thereafter, for the Islamists, Americans and Britons became fair game, anywhere, anytime, and by whatever means. Even Muslims who are not of their ilk are seen as fair targets: remember the assassination of Benazir Bhutto? Or their many bombings in Pakistan? It is not difficult to conclude the Mumbai-attackers belonged to one of hundreds such groups, most of which are based in Pakistan’s North-West frontier.
These religious extremists-and they come from among most religions-do not recognise people’s rights to disagree with them.Recently on Radio 95.5, one pastor Manning (no, not our PM!) from America, argued that US President-elect Barack Obama was “a false prophet”, quoting “chapter and verse”, as we say. This is a Black man, and presumably, his congregation is Black. Multiply Manning and his flock by, say, one hundred, and you have thousands of Black Christian ‘soldiers’ ready to go out there and slay Obama.
Locally, pastor Cuffie has all but declared Barack the Devil Incarnate. Since he is part of a wider group of born-again Christians, I can only imagine what these wild men preach to their captive, passive flocks. Bearing in mind it was a Black man who murdered Malcolm X, would it surprise readers that we could see a repeat in Obama’s case? With these zealots, one can never tell.
What do the mujahideens in Mumbai, the Hindutvas in India and the crusaders among Christians have in common? Religion. Dogma. Madness in the minds of preachers who believe they own the truth, the “only way”. They thrive among Zionists, too. Indeed, because Jewish extremists deny the Palestinians their humanity, their rights to land, to water, to electricity, to existence, they have helped to boost recruitment of Islamic jihadists in madrassas around the world.
Following this most recent madness in Mumbai, religious zealots have brought the world to the brink of war for yet another time. Make no mistake about it: should war erupt between India and Pakistan, we could see a nuclear conflagration. Both countries have highly sophisticated armaments, including nuclear bombs. Would the mighty China, located atop the borders of both Pakistan and India, sit idly by and watch their neighbours’ houses reduced to cinders under mushroom-clouds?
Hardly likely. Even if the two countries go to war with only conventional weapons, other world powers would be drawn into the conflict. We are treading close to a global war that devious minds (like those at Langley and the Pentagon) may see as one solution to an economic meltdown they cannot stop. Do not be surprised if they help trigger a war that will end their woes-and, possibly, end the world-according to chapter… Madmen!
I am very much in agreement with the writer of this article..
The sooner that human beings wake up from their passive slumber, and realise that religion anong other things, was instituted on them as a continuing form of slavery, taxation and “moral” control, the better it will be not only for their own spiritual development,but for civilisation as a whole. If the people who proudly walk around showcasing their religious “bibles”, re-read the countles verses of violence and other attrocities that is imbedded, comanded by, sanctioned and committed in the name of “God,” they will quickly realise that they have been misled, lied to, deceived and manipulated by entities, who’s only consideration was, and continues to be the complete domination of the people of this planet..
WAKE UP PEOPLE..STOP THE KILLING..OR WE WILL..
If my understanding of the last post; that religion is to blame for the atrocities currently grips India, then I say that is ignorant and misleading. People who adapt any form of religious are grasping to believe in; as the old saying “believe and stand for something or be weak and fall for anything.” No matter where we go or who we meet there will always be evil in this world. Whether it be Christian, catholic, Hindu, Muslim or atheist there will always be hate mongers and division among people in the name of religion.
Some are easily fallible to suggestions and it is those people that make religion dangerous. Those that kill in the name of “a god” are often misled and are weak in thier own spirit. Most religious people are good people wanting and in desperate need to find the higher power.
The devil works in mysterious ways and the most kind, generous and benevolent person if not strong and thinks for him/herself as oppsed to allow others to pave the path of reighteousness;even they can become a desstructor of human life in the name of “their” God.
‘We can only hope and pray that our generous, kind and loving neighbour, family or friend does not fall victim to another Jim Jones or Sadam Hussein or Bin Laden.
I do concur, that most religious practitioners are basically good honest and peaceful people. However, it is basically because of these attributes, that they fall easy prey and become victims to their “Predators”.and “Controllers”
There is in fact, no “devil”, never was, and never wil be if not created and given prominence, by those who will only see existence from a point of view of duality in third dimension illusion. From the point of view of reality, there is only the Prime Existence/Creator, the eternal oneness, the divine essence, which is one light, one love, one energy and one consciousness. There is no good or evil, or right or wrong in the universe, except that which was created by human beings in order to complete their earthly mission of transforming that part of their consciousness that is still in darkness into light. Everything in the universe functions perfectly according to the divine law of cause and effect.
Very soon the veil of limited consciousness will be lifted, for those who are ready, and the pretenders will be unmasked, so that all those who are awake will finally see, that which was so well hidden in plain view.
NAMASTE.
I would be interested to know which of the “Good books” you read that taught you that there is no good nor evil! I”m sure it’s not the Bhawagat Geeta or the Curan or the Holy bible; as I know that each of these teaches the doctirine of Good Vs.Evil. I am a Christian Believer and being as such along with my personal, spiritual and biblical teachings, there is such force as Evil and Goodness/Godliness in the world. Those who don’t believe in God hold steadfast that thier “conscience” is their God! Everyone is entitled to belived in whatever they so choose but to say “in-fact” there is no devil is misleading in my opinion. I respect your idealogy of the operation of the universe but I do not share your rhetoric nor your belief.
I hope that some devine intervention will help to open your virgin eyes to see the evil and the good that this world that the Good lord created, has to offer. Good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people, if we use the events of our lives to determine if there is a higher power, then sad to say a great portion of the world will never enjoy a minute of great, uplifting spiritual health and well-being.
God delivers the Bashanites into Moses’ hands and Moses kills everyone “until there was none left alive.” Num.21:34-35, BT 1000? 30,565,269
For “committing whoredom with the daughters of Moab” Num.25:9, BT 24,000 30,589,269
Midianite massacre (32,000 virgins were kept alive) Num.31:1-35, BT 90,000+ 30,679,269
The slaughter of the Anakim, the childen of Esau, and the Horim Deuteronomy 2:21-22 5000? 30,684,269
God hardened the king of Heshbon’s heart so that the Israelites could massacre his people. (included several cities) Dt.2:33-34, BT 3000? 30,687,269
God delievered the king of Bashan so that the Israelites could massacre his people. Dt.3:3-6 60,000? 30,747,269
Massacre of Jericho Joshua 6:21, BT 1000? 30,748,269
God tells Joshua to stone to death Achan (and his family) for taking the accursed thing. Joshua 7:10-12, 24-26, BT 5+ 30,748,274
God tells Joshua to attack Ai and do what he did to Jericho (kill everyone). Joshua 8:1-25, BT 12,000 30,760,274
God slaughters the Amorites and even chases them “along the way” as they try to escape. Joshua 10:10-11, BT 1000? 30,761,274
Joshua kills 5 kings and hangs their dead bodies on trees Joshua 10:24-26, BT 5 30,761,279
Massacre of 7 cities Joshua 10:28-42, BT 7000? 30,768,279
God delivers the Hazorites. Joshua 11:8-12, BT 1000? 30,769,279
Massacre of the Anakim Joshua 11:20-21, BT
etc. etc……
Sorry,
You are right. There is evil, lots of it..
It is not a matter of what the books on religion dictates. Religious zealotry and offensive behaviour is a matter of shallow and conniving people using faiths and belief systems to position their group above another. Would there have been a backward class in India if there was no religion. Well all you have to do is to examine the reasons behind the inequalities in that society and you will see it comes down to a matter of how people are interpreting what is written in their religious texts, or how that is interpreted for them.
No religion is not the single source for inequalities or other forms of human corruption. But it happens to be the most powerful. From time immemorial mankind has used religion to exercise dominion over others different from them. Whether it be Islam, Christianity or Hinduism, all of them have been and are being used today by opportunists, albeit a minority, to spread a doctrine of hate, intolerance and violence. 911, Mumbai and Gujarat are just three examples of that manifestation.