“Sometimes you feel that there’s more respect for animal rights now than there is to be a Muslim in Australia,” he (Ikebal Patel, president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils) said.
As images of Dr. Mohammed Haneef, in chains doubled up with his head between his knees being taken to a detention center for terrorists where he would be kept in 23 hours solitary confinement, are flashed across the world, the Osamas and the Al-Zawahiris must think that Christmas is early this year because this is exactly how they want the “war on terror” to be played out in the world media. Nothing enrages moderate Muslims more than to see one of their own, being humiliated and persecuted on the flimsiest of charges based on supposed facts now proven to be lies, as it confirms the Jihadi central thesis of the war of civilizations and the victim-hood of Islam in that war.
The Australian authorities through a mixture of incompetence and Jihadophobia have dug a gigantic hole for themselves [At this point of the post, inspired by the age-old habit of BBC and New York Times to point out how India is a land torn apart by caste and communal tensions in the context of most India pieces, I will add that till 1975 Australia had a “White Immigration Policy” by which a majority of non-Whites were excluded, by law, from becoming Australian citizens]. Unable to prove that Haneef had any kind of foreknowledge of the Glasgow incidents, the Australians announced that no matter what the result of the criminal case, regardless of whether he was innocent or guilty, he would be punished by the revoking of his immigrant visa.(“Cancel the certificate and get this guy out of Australia. The story ends there and he can become someone else’s problem.” said an Australian official)
If Australia’s policy towards terror is marked by more than a touch of overaggresiveness, the Indian approach ,especially under the present government, has been characterized by an over-compensating political correctness where connecting terrorism with radical Islam is seen as “Hindutva/BJP-ism”. So says Shekhar Gupta, in his editorial in the Indian Express:
The issue here is not of comparisons with its predecessor, who the UPA accuses of communalising the phenomenon of terrorism, of tarring one community and victimising citizens belonging to it. But has the UPA itself been guilty of the same charge, though in reverse? Has it served itself, and India, well by communalising the very approach to the fight against terrorism? Ask the police forces in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Hyderabad, the counter-terror veterans in the intelligence agencies and even the army, and the answer will stare you in the face. After the attacks they faced in the first flush of the Mumbai rail attacks for ‘targeting’ Muslims and the hurry in which they were forced to call off the searches and interrogations have put the fear of God in the minds of securitymen. Politics is much too complicated for them to figure, and fighting this kind of terror is an unconventional and risky business at the best of times. They have simply concluded that this is not the time to take those risks. This is reverse-communalisation of the fight against terror and the responsibility for this lies not so much with the security machinery, or the Union home ministry which controls it, as it does with this peculiar minority-ist politics the Congress has fallen prey to.
Of course, not everyone agrees with this. According to NDTV supremo, Barkha Dutt, the doyen of Indian TV journalism, India’s shocked reaction to Haneef’s fate is an expression of hypocrisy since the nation has no problem when similar things happen to minorities in India.
As an example, she mentions the case of SAR Geelani, a self-professed Kashmiri separatist and a co-accused in the Parliament attack, to show how biased the Indian judicial system is in its treatment towards Muslims.
Most people, except the severely indoctrinated ones, should have no issue with Mohammed Haneef being initially taken into custody —if your SIM card winds up in the hands of people trying to blow up an airport , it is nothing but foolishness not to believe that you will be treated as a suspect. Similarly, there should also be no ethical problems with the arrest and investigation into SAR Geelani because there existed telephonic conversations between Geelani and the Parliament attackers where it was believed that there were coded references to the attack—-a belief that the judge who sentenced Geelani to death shared with the prosecution and the Supreme Court judge who declared Geelani innocent did not (he believed the defense contention that what was being alluded to was a domestic dispute).
The crucial point that should be understood is that once the case against SAR Geelani was found unsustainable in court, he was not penalized further by the government. This is unlike what has happened in the case of Haneef who is going to be deported i.e. punished even though there is no legal case against him simply because the Immigration Minister says “I’m satisfied the cancellation is in the national interest”, a belief the Minister seems to be under no obligation to substantiate through a legally-binding argument.
Presumably, by Barkha Dutt’s line of reasoning, any person belonging to a certain religion, who is picked up by the authorities on charges of terrorism and against whom the courts ultimately return a not-guilty verdict (something that happens often due to incompetent police work or motivated pulling of strings) becomes yet another example of the system’s communal bias.
People like the Dawood brothers could presumably also claim to be of that victimized category. So would gentlemen like Bitta Karatay, the butcher of 42 Pandits and someone who is not coy in announcing how many he has slaughtered whose detention was quashed by the Supreme Court, after which he returned to a hero’s welcome in Kashmir. [Imagine for a second, the judicial system in Australia allowing a person who confesses to having killed tens of Australians to be released.]
Of course, I am not saying that the Indian justice system is doing great or is better than the Australian one. Manufacturing evidence, fake encounters, intentional bungling and politically motivated police work have been known to happen time and again. And the biggest tragedy is that each time these happen, the motivations of the honest few, fighting the thankless often morally ambiguous battle on terror, are tarnished and their hands subsequently get tied behind their backs in order to preempt charges of bias. But the point that needs to be remembered through all this is that, by and large, the judicial system in India evaluates terrorism cases on merit (as opposed to going with what the prosecution wants or what public hysteria demands), a fact that is attested to by its frequent severe reprimands to the police and the CBI when they have got it wrong. At the very least, they do not seek to punish a man against whom guilt has not been proven.
Barkha Dutt’s contention that miscarriages of justice, if they are committed against minorities in India, are insufficiently condemned is also rather harsh. There was a huge outcry at SAR Geelani’s arrest from those who believed in his innocence, and it was something that got a lot of press coverage. Legal teams representing Geelani were voluntarily formed.
Concluding with a NDTV-like hat-tip to the fashion world, JJ Vallaya, one of India’s premier fashion gurus gave Tariq Dar, the model whom Dutt mentions, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (why a relatively obscure model in the Indian fashion-world, Tariq was chosen post-arrest we can only speculate) to walk the ramp during India Fashion Week wearing Vallaya’s designer wear.
While Ms. Dutt makes a huge point of Australia’s concern through the example of a man who offered to post the bail of 10,000 dollars she of course neglects to mention the above incident.
But then again, I cannot say I am surprised by that.
The Greatbong Blog & Podcast 
Barkha Dutt and the likes of her have always bee that way.
Just wait for Arundhati Roy to mouth something.
I don’t know what’s the deal with women these days!
Isn’t it enough that we have the Surjeets, Bardhans and Yechuris to take the other side at every conceivable topic?
“…..Union home ministry which controls it, as it does with this peculiar minority-ist politics the Congress has fallen prey to”.
Its not just the Congress or the likes of Barkha Dutt. It is all-pervading, across the political spectrum, including the much maligned BJP. It truely is a nightmare for those who actually are privy to “threat perception” and are somehow responsible for making the world a better and safer place….. for everyone.
Very Well put Arnabda. I still remember me being in the US when the 7/11 bomb blasts took place in mumbai and reading the transcript of the PM’s speech. The overtone of that speech was very apparent ” I salute the spirit of the ordinary mumbaikar who goes about his work as if nothing has happened. We should continue doing that to maintain religious harmony. ” Very little was said about actually catching the terrorists ( I mean in the lines of us versus them..a hardline approach ).
I understand that India has got a sizeable Muslim population and the do present a huge votebank but in failing to take a hardline approach and following it up with action they themselves are equating terrorism with islam. This makes me insecure. I know the BJP may be more corrupt than the Congress but for sure I am going to vote for the BJP next time around for this reason alone, if nothing else
I think when it comes to the PM, besides the fact that he is always looking over his shoulders to see that she who muct not be named is fine with it, is the fact that almost any aggressive in our country follows the law of unintended consequences. So if you ask the police to take action, atrocities follow, including settling of personal scores in the guise of investigation, you ask the Army, it is even worse, as they will frequently take action without waiting for a political go ahead…
It really is an unenviable position, where we depend on a few men who dare to just go ahead and do a decent job, while being bright enough to handle the repurcussions that might follow.
GB,
With all due respect for your opinions, I think Barkha Dutt has a far better perspective of the current situation when it comes to persecution of minorities or the current Justice system as she has actually gone deep into investigating the same, field work as you may call it, while your opinions are based on information provided by news sources alone which inherently have agendas as every media house does and therefore, your opinions, might be what I’d like to call ‘diluted’.
I wouldn’t want to comment on why I believe that crimes committed against minorities in India, are insufficiently condemned due to past experience on your blog. It would start unnecessary and silly arguments and I’m sure you agree that not all the comments you gather can be called the work of sane intellectuals.
All I say is, give that lady some credit. She has far more field experience as an investigative journalist than most bloggers, including you and me, can ever gather.
“But the point that needs to be remembered through all this is that, by and large, the judicial system in India evaluates terrorism cases on merit (as opposed to going with what the prosecution wants or what public hysteria demands), a fact that is attested to by its frequent severe reprimands to the police and the CBI when they have got it wrong.”
– Really? On merit? Then why were the creeps who ran over a 10 year old after eve teasing her let go on bail after a court hearing? I could come up with a list of a 100 such cases if I had the time. The truth remains that the judicial system is just as screwed up as the administrative division in India, whether you like it or not. Reprimands do little good if a majority of the decisions by a body the entire nation looks up to, are flawed.
Priceless! Barkha is just a kid, wait till Ma Arundhati Roy joins the fun. I am betting outlook will carry a wordy essay from her in the next 2 or 3 weeks.
But that is not an excuse for atrocious writing!
I agree, but to say that the judicial system is hell bent on hounding the minorities is a leap of logic.
Its a loosing battle that we are trying to fight. SC acquits Geelani … celebrate. See we told you he was innocent. SC indicts Afzal Guru. Its biased, communal etc etc. SC passes adverse judgement in Narmada dam case, again berate the court.
These ppl are so full of themselves that they think that they are always right, the courts be damned. After dividing the society into the victims (‘minorities’, lower castes) and oppressors (upper caste Hindus); they always project this picture, even though the ‘victims’ might be fighting amongst themselves or the ‘oppressors’ were at the receiving end. Justice must be twisted to fight their world view of victims and oppressors
Indian ‘secularism’ has become a monster, where lives are sacrificed at the altar of political correctness. Perhaps when the ‘secular’ crowd is at the receiving end of terrorism, they would better appreciate the concerns of their ‘communal’ brethen.
@ Lalbadshah
“Really? On merit? Then why were the creeps who ran over a 10 year old after eve teasing her let go on bail after a court hearing? I could come up with a list of a 100 such cases if I had the time. The truth remains that the judicial system is just as screwed up as the administrative division in India, whether you like it or not.”
GB’s point was about how Indian judicial system evaluates terrorism, not its general performance.
Burka Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai ..deadly combo..ex-Start News..ex-NDTV team..
Depends on what are the priorities..NDTV and CNN IBN are 2 good news watchers [makers at times].. better then IndiaTV..StarNews..and like who offer “Sex Kaands” and “dubai ka bhai” … on everyday platters..
But when it comes to meaningful journalism..most of the times we get biased views..leftist..rightist..or from central (govt’s).
Its better to listen to both side of story and form an opinion..like i am sure we do mostly..
As far as appeasment of minorities is concerned…we are having 3 VP candidates of same community.. like we are really concerned about the cast/religion for a ceremonial post..but our policy makers are..each trying to score over other..
Mera bharat mahan…!!
@ Lalbadshah
you wrote “..wouldn’t want to comment on why I believe that crimes committed against minorities in India, are insufficiently condemned due to past experience on your blog. It would start unnecessary and silly arguments and I’m sure you agree that not all the comments you gather can be called the work of sane intellectuals”.
Dear Lalbadshah,
Please do not refrain yourself from commenting on the insufficient condemnation of crimes against minorities in India. Let the readers decide on the response of not so sane intellectuals to your comments.
A case can be convincingly made, that like any other democracy, minorities in India are give special treatment directly proportional to their vote-bank worthiness. Nothing wrong with that. It is the majority’s (Hindus) problem that they cannot unite to form their own vote-bank.
What bothers me is that the special treatments often crosses the realm of mindless self delusion and in future, possible self destruction, when it comes to treatment of the most vote-bank worthy minorities, ie, followers of Quran. The examples that Arnab gave are only actually the popular cases.
Speaking of field experience, I personally know that there are villages in India (in Bengal), where Hindus have to pay Jazia (islamic tax on kafirs), which if unpaid results in physical violence. And mind you, this is not in Kashmir, but in West Bengal (south 24 parganas to be precise).
hope to hear from you.
I could not control my anger when “the silliest PM India ever had” Dr. Manmohan Singh said on TV that he could not sleep watching the travails of Haneef’s family members. My straight question how come he was able to sleep so well after the bomb blasts in Mumbai local trains ? That Manmohan Singh is a real shit eater.
Well done !
Lalbadshah,
”Really? On merit? Then why were the creeps who ran over a 10 year old after eve teasing her let go on bail after a court hearing? I could come up with a list of a 100 such cases if I had the time. The truth remains that the judicial system is just as screwed up as the administrative division in India,”
This is a non sequitur. He was let off on bail because they were booked under section 304 rash and negligient driving which is bailable. Judges cannot write laws, they have to follow the laws the parliament gives them and if that means letting off creeps, what else can they do?
So the crucial question is: what is the government doing?
Note, they have also let off all of Dawood’s brothers because the evidence wasn’t strong enough.
I like the fact that the Australian authorities have egg on their face in this matter because I’ve encountered more than one Australian who’s been obnoxious, condescending and borderline racist towards Asian countries. The Australian expat is notorious, especially in Indonesia, where they are very patronising to the locals.
Which is not to say that I haven’t met reasonable, liberal and empathetic Australians, just that the yobs are extremely annoying.
And Barkha is wrong to equate the Geelani case with the Haneef case for all the reasons you enumerated. The very fact that Ram Jethmalani, a man who has absolutely no reason to be sympathetic to the Kashmiri separatist movement agreed to defend Geelani (without renumeration) shows that Jethmalani was acting on an innate sense of fairplay and justice which is very credible in a public figure in any civilized country.
Anyway, now that we’ve set the process in motion with the Bombay blast trials, why not redress one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in Indian history – the fact that not a single person has been sentenced to date for the 1984 Sikh massacres.
@ Thalassa
It is crucial that the Nanavati Commission Report on 1984 Riots be implemented in full for the culprits to face justice. Sadly, Sikhs who were majority of the victims, continued to vote for political parties that refused to include the implementation of the report, in their election manifesto.
Bad idea in a democracy.
Well, at least Haneef was not just killed like that Brazilian who was shot in London because Scotland Yard had the flimsiest of proofs that he could be a terrorists. Things could have been worse for Haneef….
Barkha Dutt is an idiot. Heck, I find the whole of NDTV crew and Ex-crews to be complete idiots, sardesai and roy included.
The problem with india is its votebank politics. If you want to reign, you will have to give bribe. Be it in the form of being political correct everytime you talk about Muslim terrorists, or be it everytime you talk about Ulfa terrorists.
Some people just dont get the fact that the country is suffering because of their brainlessness. The country is facing more and more injuries. More and more humiliations in the form of Kafeels. When will we realise that talking about great things (like communal harmony et al) is not going to cure the diseases India has. We need to act. When its national security we have to forget about vote bank. THe opposition is equally responsible for these kind of situations. The ruling party simply can’t afford to go hardline on the terrorism case as the oppositions will start crying about minority abuse and all bullSh*&%.
O politics!!! grow up.
@Mukul Dutt: Yes am waiting for Roy too with a piece in the Outlook.
@Rishi: Hmm
@Vishak: It is true that even associating Islam with terrorism leads to being labeled.
@Prasanna: Well thats why the judiciary is there as an independent body– to curb the aggressiveness.
@Lalbadshah:
Firstly, the point of the post was that our judicial system has not exhibited bias against minorities. It was not about non-terrorism-related cases. Secondly the question of cases like Jessica Lal and those you mentioned ——most of the time it is the fault (motivated or otherwise) of the prosecution to make their case. The judge has to operate within the limits of the law: even though as a person he may be convinced of the guilt of someone, he has to go solely on the evidence presented. I think that when the Supreme Court let SAR Geelani go and yet talked about the needle of suspicion pointing in his direction that was exactly the message they wanted to convey—that Geelani was being let go not because the Bench thought he was innocent but because the prosecution had been unable to make a legally valid case against him.
As to Barkha Dutt. Why do you think that the media houses has hidden agendas and Barkha Dutt, who herself runs a media house herself, does not?
@Sriram: Heh.
@Anonymous Coward: Hmm.
@Ravi: Yes thanks for pointing that out.
@P4u: Tokenism of the worst sort—that’s what the VP election is all about.
@Kishor: His problems in sleeping—yes let’s not even go there.
@Jay: Thanks
@Thalassa: Absolutely. However you will rarely find the present Congress government even referring to 1984 Delhi. Needless to say, we all know why.
@Supremus: True. He is lucky to be alive.
@Ankan: But alas, vote bank politics is inevitable in any democracy.
@GB:
Sorry if I missed the point. Thought you were talking about the judiciary in a generic sense. Well when it comes to such cases I guess the judges have been fair enough on grounds that I cannot remember any incident where an unfair bias was shown.
On your second point: Whether it be the prosecution or the police, don’t they represent the same system of justice/law keepers as the judges do? I am not blaming judges, I am blaming the system. Truth be told, for every SAR Geelani acquitted (BTW being a seperatist is not equivalent to being a bomber) there are hundreds of Fake encounter specialists in Gujarat and Kashmir walking scot-free. For every 100 burnt in a Godhra, there are 10000 burnt in Gujarat. No possible needle of suspicion seemed to even exist against Modi in the minds of those part of the same system. The ‘system’ here, by the mere act of ignorance, is equally complicit in these acts and that remains the fact.
As far as Barkha Dutt having an agenda, I do not deny it. But if that agenda is worth taking up, then why not? She seems to be one of the few sensible ones that speaks up, as far as I know, on the topic no one even dares to touch: Muslim criminals like those of any other religion need not be motivated by their religion for their acts. Means do not justify ends.
Barkha Dutt , Sardesai and co are indoctrined by a peculiar mindset of liberlism.
The same mindset that dwells within Arundati Roy and N.Ram.
Barkha Dutt has an Agenda. An Agenda to wipe out Hindu Fundamentalism. She is passionate about that agenda. Which is admirable. She uses all means and manipulations allowed by her profession to forward that agenda. That again cannot be criticized. Means justify the end.
For people like Dutt,Sardesia, Mehta, N.Ram radical Hinduism is the ultimate ogre that needs to be destroyed. Nothing, nothing is more horrendous than Sangh Parivar. That mindset basically drives all their view points.
Anyone remotely linked to the dreaded Sangh is an inhuman b@$#%rd for them and needs to be abhorred.
Now this wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t so one sided. Man can have real passionate views on all subjects including religious fundamentalism. The problem occurs when the same sermon givers maintain a thundering silence when an entire community is wiped out from Kashmir. When they trivialize a gory crime of roasting alive of 58 hindus including kids. They have no issues with the Nani-Yaad-Diladenge-Gandhi’s 84 riots handling when 3 times more Sikhs were killed than the next worse riots.
This selective outrage is the real issue as far as Dutt and her ilk is concerned. If these journalist were even partially honest about their views on religious fundamentalism, they would be the first one to raise a voice when a simple Hindu vegetable stall owner in UP is killed by a muslim mob for opposing Bush’s visit to India. Their collective silence and double standards echos all over.
This makes them shallow and their agenda suspect. The duplicity and the hypocrisy of these journalists than overshadows their obvious talent.
This tells us that they are not above board and are possibly even on the payroll of their masters at 10 Janpath or Beijing, depending on what corporate house or Monarchy they are enslaved to.
It is a known fact that visas to the US, UK, Australia or any EU country are often rejected (seemingly) unfairly and without explanation. This happens to students, professionals and even visitors from the subcontinent. Why is it only when Haneef’s visa is rejected do we hear ravings about racism? Even after a US visa is issued, the person can be denied entry to the US by the immigration officer and there is no appeal allowed.
I agree that after being acquitted there is no justification in deporting Haneef. However every sovereign country has the right to decide whom it will allow to stay, just like I decide who enters my house and who doesnt. SAR Geelani is an Indian citizen so he has the right to live in India, but Haneef and the millions of Indians out on visas are always in a precarious position and have to be extra careful of even committing a misdemeanour. So, while his deportation is unfair, Australia is only exercising her rights
Great Bong’s become a crusador all of a sudden! Why the sudden spate of serious posts?
Ultimately every post of a similar nature, I feel, wishes to answer the question whether this one particular minority is more sinned against than sinning. And the populace in question has always emerged the stronger as a result of the fact that dissenssions expressed by the right-wingers have generally been panned by the intellectual few. Which in turn has led to strengthen their conviction that their perceived angst is right, that their way is right and a ghettoed approach to living is the only recourse to preserve their way of life. Is it any wonder then that even the intellegentsia hailing from this class today are lured into a denial of harmony believing our intellectuals that harmony is a myth? Even if the common Indian, in fact to be specific a Hindu looks forward to a non-confrontationist and not necessarily a buddy approach, the very act is perceived as suspect by Ms.Dutt and her ilk because the simple act of non-involvement (the Geelani case as expressed by her)looks like hypocrisy to her. I am not losing sleep over Haneef’s continued detention because the bigger picture does not hit me or maybe because I am not Manmohan Singh. Its as simple as that.
But no she needs to play it out as if stonewalling is the biggest sin. Most common citizens of most nations on the planet prefer laissez faire because it helps them to get on with their lives that anyway are highly challenged. But to paint a sinister picture of a common man’s abdication and project it as ambivalence towards the followers of the particular belief, only drives the strife a little deeper. If the community starts appreciating the silence of the majority for what it truly is, a way of getting on with life, then maybe, just maybe, whispered comments about terrorism being synonymous with the religion would reduce and altogether disappear.
The death of 42 Kashmiri pandits notwithstanding, no one from the majority community went witch-hunting. Post-Godhra common Muslims did not slash and burn in the rest of the country and the Gujarat pogrom was condemned universally by nameless faces of the commons. If that does not speak for the manifestation of a collective conscience I guess then Ms.Dutt has surely lost the plot.
The intellectual community needs to stop being so defensive and innuedo-ish, when it comes to discussing issues concerning terrorism.
What the world and the western media calls terrorism today is more than a millenium old malady. Its just that technology and communication has shifted the “engagement” from a Jerusalem, a Kabul, a Tarain, a Panipat or a Vijaynagara, to the entire globe.
The lack of willingness to discuss the thought process and driving force behind motivated acts of violence between followers of belief systems is a great dis-service to the cause of humanity. And lets discuss every side of it.
Any attempt to actually look at what motivates perfectly sane individuals/societies to commit acts of Jihad (or use any other name if that makes u happier), causing extermination of millions over the past millenium, seems to be somewhat of a “no fly zone” for the otherwise straightshooting “intellectual”.
Why not actually put everything on the table and honestly look at it?
And what is this “Gujrat pogrom”?
Lets look at the causalty figures (bring in any source) and see what exactly happened and how many lives were lost and how they were lost.
Lalbadshah conveniently skipped any response to my previous comment.
I have had personal discussions with Sayon before on similar topics which I found to be very useful and enlightening.
Bondhu,
Please stop defaming “The Religion of Peace”. If you have any doubts about the veracity of the title, please get your facts straight or visit:
http://www.TheReligionOfPeace.COM
and
http://www.FaithFreedom.ORG
All you khakhi-knicker-wearing, danda-waving Hindoo fundoos should simply learn to live and let live ! 😉
@ hujur
r u the same person who once replied as “Rishi hujur” as a parody to my name.
“Bondhu”…the site links u have given r both operated by Jewish groups and former Muslims (apostates now) based in US and Israel.
I think its better to discuss here, than just give links.
Bangali Bondhu,
Who do you want to discuss with? Me or “The Red Emperor”.
What is there to discuss? The writing is clearly on the wall. A discussion is beneficial, but understanding the subject matter should precede that.
We can pick one book as a useful primer, before we begin debating.
For starters, see:
http://www.VOI.ORG/books.html
Rishi da, pick any book of your choice and let me know…. I can debate anyone on why the author, like you, is plain wrong.
@ Hujur
I do wear the khakhi chaddi and carry the staff….except when I am in Scotland when i wear the khakhi kilt and let the staff hang out.
what makes u think I am a Bengali?
i love the books at Voice of India website.
lets discuss..
My id rishi_khujur@rediffmail.com
This is quite a departure in the tone & thought of the post than the usual laugh-riot epics you spawn so often! …. but that said, its been an extremely informative post which was very interesting to read & assimilate – I was constantly following links & reading up the matter as I had not read much of it in the papers …. as usual, you took the utmost care to provide all your sources of information & presented a robust case for the subject/intention of your post.
I partially agree to the fact that both politics & media in India are very careful not to insinuate any charges against the minority community …. Islam is not a religion of hatred, yet its open to so much of subversion & misrepresentation – how else can you explain so much of extremism around the world in a religion that is the fastest growing?! …. but yes, we are reluctant as a nation & perhaps as a world to discuss the interconnection of Islam (and the concept of religion in general) with the larger issue of subversion for extremist causes – history is testament to several crusades / caliphates all of which were brought upon to protect the ‘superiority’ of a particular race / religion over another.
Anyways, what I found more interesting and engrossing were the innumerable comments – the views, counter-views which to me presented a myriad of thoughts on the issue – all of which brought up several salient points, yet were muddled up.
Of particular interest to me were comments made by Lalbadshah, Rishi & Raktim – in no specific order. I honestly can’t judge the merit of one’s argument over another but can simply say that each argument made sense to me & presented to me valid claims that enriched the impact of this post.
For this I thank the several commentators on your blog as much as I thank you. All in all, an engaging post about a very debatable issue which keep me occupied for well over two hours.
PS: The Media’s & Barkha Dutt’s hyper-sensitivity to minority’s castigation & its subsequent hyperactivity of coverage to such news is beyond the scope of this comment! Keep posting GB! Mebbe that could be another full blown post!
Great post GB, it is horrific to see the congress stall the law enforcement agencies just so that “muslims arent offended” who is the congress representing? dawood and masood azhar? even educated muslims must be getting sick of such policies that seek to equate them with the terrorists
Very relevant in this context –
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/198694.asp
Malaysia – True face of progressive Islam!!!
And Indian media’s complete silence!!!!!
When you hear the nation’s Prime Minister saying he wants the minorities to have the first claim on national resources, the 85% silent majority feels it is a crime to belong to the majority community in this country. And then when the PM says he is losing sleep over the plight of family members of Haneef, they can only pray that he doesn’t sleep for the rest of his life.
Thank you Arnab for bringing this issue up in your blog.
NDTV and IBN are the same – communist propoganda vehicles masquerading as news channels; pranoy roy must be some kind of brain-washing genius for having sown the seed (in rajdeep sardesai, barkha dutt.. long list) so effectively
@ Vinay
The sad thing is, that in the larger scheme of things, Communist or Capitalist or Oligarchist are all the same in front of the Islamic agenda.
In the subcontinent, people have short memories.
Those who call themselves “left” or believe in ideas of what they think is “left”, have been and still are, at the recieving of Jihad. They are living on borrowed time in India, when it comes to being in the good graces of the very people they bend backwards to protect.
Every Barkha, Arundhati and Selalvad should read the life of Ila Mitra of Tebhaga fame.
Looks like Haneef will be released. I guess his career in Australia though is as good as over, even if his visa cancellation is revoked his reputation would have taken a solid beating. Moreover I wonder if he would be in a frame of mind where he can peacefully work in AU.
Rishi,
Who is Ila Mitra? Is she one of your RSS heroines (khaki chaddiwali)? I don’t see any books by/about her in the “Voice of India” website. 😉
So, what is it that Burkah, Aroonduttie and Tease-tah can learn from her life?
What’s your point, man? Stop beating about the bush.
so what was suppposed to be a post on “justice/injustice” turns out to be a “bash-barkha” slugfest, talk about miscarriaged post titles !!
Barkha Dutt et al are actually doing a favor for a large part of the indian populace who remain totally/partially blind to the crystal clear truth of minority apeasement /muslim fundamentalism /islamic terrorism in india.After getting exposed to the sort of bogus,crappy,one -sided and hypocritical(and so automatically leftist)bullshit which these hacks label as reporting and analysing even the moderate amnongst the Hindus would get outraged.and the great indian tamasha (read the govt.) is doing more than it’s due.
the PM gets insomniac on hearing abt “doctor” haneef while the country lies in a slumber thanks to words like “restraint”(remixed during the kargil war),”insaaniyat”(coined by an ancient ,forgetful PM of ours) and assorted phrases like “political corresctness” ,”human right violations(esp of terrorists and other ‘misguided’ people)”.the sort of frenzy generated by the media n the govt in this case has been hilarious n sad at the same time esp to those who have followed the course of events in this country and seen the horrendous events in the future they dreamt abt and rejected outrightly becoming the present and the past in florid succession.
what next after keeping rss/vhp in the same category as L.E.T., hizb,huji….
maybe acepting that its actually hindus/jews and other non hindus who have been doing all this carnage in the name of ” the religion of peace”…??
don’t start laughing or hurling abuses boss,you are still to see the future.
n.b: btw how abt haneef getting dr.venugopal’s post at AIIMS after ramdoss will have his way(courtesy an act which limits the retirement age for the post to 65).Relaxing eligibility criteria for social justice is the “in” thing in india so his age n his qualifications n experience wouldn’t b much of a problem given his other ,more important credentials.but i will b bad n let the central govt know that it has been beaten in the race for dr.haneef by the state govt by a margin.he was offered a job minutes after he arrived in banagalore.
Well written……
Australia is, and has always been a racist society…something which is only discussed in pubs around the world and never in the mainstream media.
In fact, short of being an Aparthied state, it does everything to ensure that non-white people are made to feel as unwelcome as possible there.
And this is not just a situation where there is a lone crank who mouths obscenities against non whites. It happens all over the country.
My friend in Darwin got a bottle smashed over his head in broad daylight by a lone man walking on a main road. Not only did it take about 20 minutes for someone to come and help, he actually remembers people laughing as they passed him.
After 2 months of treatment of a broken bone in his skull, he went to Adelaide (the other coast) on work and there again he was rounded up by the cops (!) because he ‘looked suspicious’ with a bandage over his head.
How a country like this manages to get away with this attitude in this day and age beats me.
i meant non-muslims,sorry
Rishi,
Who is Ila Mitra? What is it that we can learn from her life?
Please elucidate….
The real reason closet communalists like you are excluded from mainstream media is that your grammar is as bad as your logic. You are fit only to lurk in the blogosphere.
Dear Deven,
What have you been smoking?
Arnab is Numero Uno of the Indian blogosphere. His grammar, logic and wit do not need any validation by frustrated losers.
Your pathetic tactic to intimidate him thus into conforming with your anti-Indian prejudices won’t work here, son.
Just so just enjoy the blog…. and keep coming back. It’ll be nice to watch you blubber and seethe in despair at GB’s popularity.
Hujur
Barkha is part of the same clique of leftist-liberal combine.Prannoy Roy, his niece Arundhati Roy,his sister in law Brinda Karat…..the list goes on….they want to be always seen as ‘correct’.In writing what they write,they protect their image rather than actually see the ground realities…..Arundhati has already written a wordy piece of hot air on Outlook after the mumbai attacks.
Presumably, by Barkha Dutt’s line of reasoning, any person belonging to a certain religion, who is picked up by the authorities on charges of terrorism and against whom the courts ultimately return a not-guilty verdict (something that happens often due to incompetent police work or motivated pulling of strings) becomes yet another example of the system’s communal bias.
Yup Poor Dawood Ibrahim! Poor Tiger Memon! Poor Pakistani government! Poor innocent bloodthirsty Kashmiri insurgents!
and poor EVERY a-hole (like Sanjay Dutt) who successfully used India’s murky to hide their dirty terrorist activities!